Chris Byars’s ongoing endeavour to re-discover and celebrate works by outstanding jazz composers of the past generations produced here another collection of gems by alto saxophonist Frank Strozier superbly arranged by Byars.
Born in Memphis, TN in 1937 Frank Strozier grew up playing piano in the nourishing Memphis blues/jazz environment. Strozier established himself in New York as highly acclaimed alto sax player and composer in the 1960s, performing a. o. as a member of The Miles Davis Sextet.
“The music of Duke Jordan is surely worthy of re-appraisal and when it is refurbished and re-interpreted as creatively as it is here it emerges as much more than a trip down memory lane but serves as inspirational source material upon which to build a new music.”
(Euan Dixon – Jazz Views on SCCD 31787 The Music of Duke Jordan)
Stephen Riley started his recording career with SteepleChase in 2005 with an amazing (and unusual) piano-less trio SCCD 31584 Inside Out. Since then he had more often than not opted for the piano-less format until he recorded his 2013 quartet release SCCD 31765 Lover with Peter Zak on piano. Riley and Zak started performing as duo and made their first duo release SCCD 31806 Haunted Heart to critical and public acclaim. So here’s “Deuce” to follow up by the empathic twosome. “…This session is his third meeting with pianist Peter Zak, whose sensitive accompaniment allows Riley the breathing room he thought could only be found in pianoless groups. This time, however, it’s just the pair, finding new avenues through a mix of jazz standards and gems from the Great American Songbook. Without timekeeping by a rhythm section, the players rely on intuition to anticipate their joint path…. With Haunted Heart, Stephen Riley and Peter Zak have achieved that rare chemistry that demands future projects together.” (Ken Dryden, New York City Jazz Record on “Haunted Heart” SCCD 31806)
Entre el 2003 y el 2006, esta enigmática formación grabó cuatro originales discos para este sello discográfico, que cosecharon muy buenas críticas de grandes especialistas como Ben Ratcliff (New York Times), Jordi Pujol, Roger Roca e importantes medios como Rolling Stone u All About Jazz.
Ahora, trece años después de su debut discográfico, Unexpected, formado por tres de los más valorados músicos de la esfera española, como el pianista catalán Sergi Sirvent, el contrabajista argentino Esteban Hernández y el baterista gallego Dani Domínguez, vuelve a entrar en un estudio de grabación para materializar un nuevo proyecto y seguir explorando su propio y vasto universo.
01. Samuraiarumas 5:33
02. Quintes asimètriques 3:27
03. Coso 5:03
04. Odisseo 6:00
05. Twice 4:02
06. Crazy Latin Dance for Cooking 10:21
07. Se me va la voz 4:34
All compositions written by Sergi Sirvent, except "Odisseo" and "Twice" by Dani Domínguez, and "Se me va la voz" by Guillermo Klein.
Sergi Sirvent Escué (piano, vocal on #7, ocarina on #4)
Esteban 'Tempe' Hernández (bass)
Daniel Domínguez (drums, percussions on #6)
Recorded at Estudi Laietana, Barcelona, on July 22, 23 & 24, 2013
When Dresch starts a solo, you get the feel that you are reading his mind. That little bird of a melody trembles first when it opens its wings, ventures upwards, and also ponders the depth below. It crosses forests and pastures before the journey ends. Dresch is a perfectionist, no doubt about that, but he never wanted to display fireworks, he is too straightforward not to speak his mind. Instead of positioning himself out front all alone, he was always interested in teaming up with players who think along similar terms as he does, while doing some of those things in a different way.
Potter is the perfect guest: he never becomes too talkative, nor does he just nod away at the ideas Dresch raises. Check out Legényes, the tune which is the type of music accompanying the peacock-like solo dance of young lads, first trying to catch the attention of the girls, and then speeding up into a virtuoso display of jumps and kicks, slapping their ankle proudly to the rhythm. Potter has mastered the rhythms and harmonies of the Hungarian and other ethnic components, he is able to show that there is rhapsody in his soul, too, elegantly filling the framework of the folk-songs that are in fact compositions of Dresch. In the duos with the bandleader and truly inspired by the forward-moving bandwagon you can hear hilarious dance-driven passages in which they trade solos and go all the way together. Potter proves why he has become one of the top sax players on the global scene. While the drive, the urge, the vertigo (check out the final track) are the fruits of decades of determined work by Dresch and his quartet, fitting into all that so smoothly and so creatively on both his horns, in both the accompanying and the soloing roles, you needed somebody of the stature of Chris Potter. Kornél Zipernovszky
Kontrabasists Toms Lipskis izdod debijas albumu "Holographic Projections"
Kontrabasists Toms Lipskis 23. decembrī publiskojis savu debijas albumu "Holographic Projections", ko ierakstījis džeza kvinteta sastāvā. "Mūzika ir cilvēka personības atspoguļojums. Tas ir kā garīgs ceļojums starp dažādām dimensijām. Hologramma šajā gadījumā ir domāta kā trīsdimensionāls attēls, kurš ir uzburts ar cilvēka domu palīdzību, un albumā ietvertie skaņdarbi ir šīs hologrāfiskās projekcijas, kurās tiek atspoguļots autora pasaules redzējums," albuma ideju skaidro Toms Lipskis. Toma Lipska kvintetā spēlē saksofonists Dāvis Jurka, tompetists Oskars Ozoliņš, pianists Dāvis Bindemanis un bundzinieks Rūdolfs Dankfelds. Ierakstā piedalījušies arī vijolnieki Aleksejs Bahirs un Ivars Brīnums, čellists Jānis Pauls un altu iespēlējusi Zane Dziesma. Albums ierakstīts Sound Division studijā, miskēšanu un māsterēšanu veicis Ivars Ozols.
Throttle Elevator Music's "Retrorespective" reunites Gregory Howe and Matt Montgomery with tenor Saxophonist Kamasi Washington for a fifth recording. This release contains nine original new compositions by Matt Montgomery, Gregory Howe and Kamasi Washington. Throttle Trumpet player Erik Jekabson and Kamasi sound amazing together throughout the title. This time around they are joined by rhythm section drummer Thomas McCree, guitarist Ava Mendoza, and bassist/pianist Matt Montgomery.
1. Liminality 8:21
2. Playing The Alleyway 5:25
3. February Drift 7:01
4. Flux And Solder 3:26
5. Retrorespective 2:43
6. Second Liminality 5:54
7. Subtract Limited 4:03
8. Rapid Rotation 2:22
9. February 15 7:51
Erik Jekabson
Erik Jekabson is an American trumpet player, composer, and music educator from Berkeley, California. He appears on Throttle Elevator Music IV and Throttle Elevator Music Area J.
Gregory Howe
Gregory Howe is a producer, engineer, musician and owner and founder of Wide Hive Records. Howe is an accomplished producer who has released over thirty albums through Wide Hive Records.
Kamasi Washington
Kamasi Washington is featured Saxophonist on Both Throttle Elevator Music and Phil Ranelin's Perseverance. Also as a composer Kamasi has scored for several films including Stacey Peralta's recent Independant Lens feature: Crips and Bloods: Made In America.
Matt Montgomery
Matthew Montgomery has performed or recorded with, abbreviated for brevity’s sake would include: Faye Carol, Calvin Keys, Donald “Duck” Bailey, Graham Connah, Hafez Modirzadeh, Eddie Gale, Mark Levine, Kevin Carnes and David Boyce (Professor Borris Karnaz and Black Edgar Kenyatta of BROUN FELLINIS), and Kat Ouano (CROWN CITY ROCKERS).
JOE LOVANO: tenor saxophone (1 &7), G mezzo soprano (8)
LAWRENCE FIELDS: piano
GERALD CANNON: bass
ROMAN DIAZ: congas (1, 8 & 9)
BILL STEWART: drums
All compositions by Steve Slagle,
Except “Body & Soul” by J. Green;
“Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry”;
J. Styne & S. Cahn; ”Inception” by M. Tyner
Produced By: Steve Slagle
Executive Producer: Rick Simpson
Recorded August 6, 2016 At Trading 8’s Studio, Paramus, NJ Recording & Mix Engineer: Chris Sulit
Photography & Graphic Design: Christopher Drukker
Steve Slagle on Alto Sax and Flute leads a new recording with a great line-up of diverse players who inspire a wide range of music playing five new exciting originals for the first time, as well as two classics and one solo alto sax piece. Alto Manhattan, is latino for the NYC neighborhood steve lives in-‘upper manhattan’or ‘the heights’ and the program here is: FAMILY—This composition for 2 saxes+2 drums is pure jazz, with Cuba and Africa in the make-up of what is a big family. Note Roman Diaz,from Cuba, and his great sound on Conga, as well as the whole group inter-play--all in the family! ALTO MANHATTAN, song #2 is so nice they play it twice! The first fiery take is with quartet and then later down the line Joe Lovano is added on tenor to create another harmony ( A.M.) Bill Stewarts contribution,on both takes, proves,as many know, he is one of a kind as a drummer. I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW is a lyrical alto blues oriented song that allows everyone to ‘let their hair down’. Bassist Gerald Cannon gets all the way down here! BODY+SOUL showcases Steve’s Alto alone, joining the canon of sax players who have attempted this classic ballad as a solo piece. Done in one take, Steve references Monk,Duke,’Bird and Ornette (twice!) within the structure of this classic song. INCEPTION came about after Slagle recently was asked to play with McCoy Tyners Quartet. This challenging McCoy composition eventually opens up into an extended minor blues. This is the first take of the date and notice the immediate empathy of all the players! I GUESS I’LL HANG MY TEARS OUT TO DRY, a beautiful ballad starting with the often forgotten verse, is given the romantic treatment here..Lawrence Fields piano mastery helps make this a shining version of a deep song. Finally Alto Manhattan ends with two flute pieces which are also very central to the sound of the record. HOLIDAY, the most thru-composed piece of the date,Slagle first wrote with harmonica master Toots Thielman in mind and dedicates this first recording of the song in memory of maestro Toots. Joe Lovanos G mezzo soprano along with the sound of the flute really takes the listener on a musical vacation. And with that, we have VIVA LA FAMALIA to end the proceedings -- a jam for 2 drums,bass and the flute lead. A fresh,original first take played spontaneously at the end of this unique and outstanding recording. Yes,Viva la Famalia!!
JIM EIGO, JAZZ PROMO SERVICES
272 State Route 94 South #1, Warwick, NY 10990-3363
