Friday, July 28, 2017

Cuneiform Artists on Tour - August 2017

August 2017

New Releases: Spring-Summer 2017


UPCOMING SHOWS

September 7-10 - Hopscotch Festival - Raleigh, NC
August 15 - Sunset Tavern - Seattle, WA


August 1 - Analog Cafe - Portland, OR
August 2 - Volcanic Theatre Pub - Bend, OR
August 4 - Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, CA
August 5 - Bootleg Theater - Los Angeles, CA
August 7 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA

Listen to Say So:

August 12 - Homiefest - Mt. Hood Forest - Portland, OR
August 20 - Montavilla Jazz Festival  - Portland, OR

Listen to Swim:

Raoul Björkenheim will release a new album in October 2017

August 4 - with Tatu Rönkkö - Norpas Festival - Taalintehdas, Finland
September - tour of Finland with the eCsTaSy band. Details TBA

Listen to Out Of The Blue and eCsTaSy:

Celebrating their new release on Cuneiform: Edit Peptide!

September 2-3 - ProgDay - Storybook Farm - Chapel Hill, NC

Listen to Edit Peptide:

August 1 - Three's Brewing -  Brooklyn, NY

Listen to Ambit:

European Tour: Spring 2018. Details TBA


Celebrating their new release on Cuneiform: Putting Off Death

August 1 - Radio Radio - Indianapolis, IN
September 15 - Rock In Opposition Festival - Cap D'ecouverte, France
September 16 - TBA - Lyon, France
September 17 -  Une Figue dans le Poirier - Girmont Val'D'Ajol, France
September 19 - Mora Mora -  Orleans, France
September 20 - TBA - Metz, France
September 22 - Freakshow Art Rock Festival - Würzburg, Germany
September 23 - OFF -  Basel, Switzerland

Listen to Putting Off Death:

Empirical's radical musical experiment - bringing jazz directly to the public via Pop-Up Jazz Lounges - goes nationwide!

September 18-23 - 'Pop-up Jazz Lounge' - Liverpool, UK
October 4 - Symphony Hall - Birmingham, UK

Listen to Connection:

Celebrating his 80th birthday with a tour of big band performances!

September 22 - TBA - Hamburg, Germany
September 24 - with the Hans Koller Big Band - Scarborough Jazz Festival - Scarbourough, North Yorkshire, UK
September 25 & 27 - Vortex Jazz Club - London, UK
September 26 - Watermill Jazz Club - Dorking, Surrey, UK
September 28 - CBSO Centre - Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
September 29 - Turner Sims Concert Hall - Southhampton, Hampshire, UK
October 19 - with Bill Frisell and Gary Burton, Berklee School of Music - Boston, MA 

[w/ Bill Frisell & NDR BigBand] &
In My View [w/ NDR BigBand]:

Cyrus Chestnut – There’s a Sweet Sweet Spirit (HIGH NOTE RECORDS 2017)



Cyrus Chestnut's 2016 effort, the superb Natural Essence, benefitted greatly from his pairing with the duo of bassist Buster Williams and drummer Lenny White. Thankfully, the pianist has followed up with another engaging set featuring the same veteran luminaries. An adept virtuoso talent, Chestnut soars alongside Williams and White on 2017's There's a Sweet Sweet Spirit. Elder jazz statesmen, Williams and White have decades of experience under their hats with credits for such legends as Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, and many others. Similarly, Chestnut has worked with such luminaries as Terence Blanchard, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, and more. While all of his albums are worth checking out, there is something inspired and kinetic about his playing with Williams and White, as if they are all three pushing each other to discover new avenues of expression. Joining them this time on several tracks is yet another volcanic talent in vibraphonist Steve Nelson.

Though he only appears on three cuts, his warm harmonic resonance contrasts beautifully with Chestnut's as they dig into an expansive late-'60s jazz sound on two of vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson's best-known compositions, "Little B's Poem" and "The Littlest One of All." Away from Nelson, Chestnut displays his genre-bending skills on "Chopin Prelude," transfiguring the classical piece first with a cubist Thelonious Monk-style intro and later with a swinging Ellingtonian mid-section. Similarly compelling are the group's muscular and exotic take on Miles Davis' "Nardis" and a spritely reading of Williams' "Christina." Elsewhere, they deliver a languid and romantic take on the Stylistics' 1973 classic "You Make Me Feel Brand New," and dive headlong into the pianist's own Latin-infused "CDC." Ultimately, if there's one overriding sentiment that drives all of There's a Sweet Sweet Spirit, it's Chestnut and his band's spirit of soulful camaraderie. ~ Matt Collar

The Littlest One of All
Chopin Prelude
Nardis
Little B's Poem
Christina
CDC
You Make Me Feel Brand New
Easy Living
Rhythm-A-Ning
There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit

CYRUS CHESTNUT, piano
Buster Williams, bass
Lenny White, drums
Steve Nelson, vibes

Lee Konitz - Subconscious-Lee (2017)


O1. Subconscious-Lee
02. Donna Lee
03. Lover Man
04. Oh, Lady Be Good
05. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
06. Ronnie's Tune
07. Sextet
08. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
09. Two Not One
10. Don't Squawk
11. There Will Never Be Anoher You
12. Background Music
13. These Foolish Things
14. Broadway
15. All The Things You Are
16. I Can't Get Started
17. Too Marvelous For Words
18. Ezz-Thetic
19. Topsy