Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Jared Sims - Change of Address (ROPEADOPE RECORDS 2017)



After two decades in New England, where multi-reed virtuoso Jared Sims made his mark as an instrumentalist, bandleader, educator, and all-around musical provocateur, Sims celebrates his return to West Virginia with "Change of Address," his fifth album as a leader. On the new CD, which will be released April 14 by Ropeadope Records, Sims sticks to his favorite instrument—the baritone sax—in the company of an airtight, organ-dappled quintet.

"Change of Address" commemorates Sims’s homecoming to his alma mater, West Virginia University in Morgantown, which has named him Director of its Jazz Studies Department 20 years after he earned his own jazz studies degree there.

The music on the album is notable for instilling the jazz-soul tradition with an up-to-the-minute sensibility and is deftly interpreted by the leader, joined by an intriguing collection of players for whom he wrote its tunes, Ellington-style. They include the wife-and-husband team of organist Nina Ott and bassist Chris Lopes (a longtime crony of guitarist Jeff Parker), and a pair of young Boston-area veterans in guitarist Steve Fell and drummer Jared Seabrook (older brother of guitar provocateur Brandon).


Among the highlights on "Change of Address" are “Ghost Guest 1979,” which showcases a full range of textural effects from Fell and seamless interaction between bass and Hammond B-3; the sprightly, wide-open “Lights and Colors”; and “Forest Hills,” inspired by the Boston neighborhood in which he lived.

Sims (b. 1974) started playing the baritone in the fifth grade in his hometown of Staunton, Virginia, but only became dedicated to this most colossal of saxes after bringing a tenor to a class at the New England Conservatory (NEC) and having his instructor chide him he would never be great on it because he would be following in the footsteps of too many legends.

Far from taking offense, Sims took his teacher’s words to heart. “There are a lot of gold standards on tenor,” he says. “I was trying to find a way to move past those influences. Playing the baritone felt really natural to me. I felt like I could do something personal and interesting with it.” A compelling example of this is Sims’s “Seeds of Shihab,” a tribute to baritone great Sahib Shihab, which like the other tracks on "Change of Address" luxuriates in the brawny, bottom-rich sound of the instrument.

Sims attended his first jazz concert, by Michael Brecker, in tenth grade, and saw the World Saxophone Quartet perform the following year. His fascination with the saxophone went “over the top” after he spoke with members of the WSQ following the show.

At WVU, he had a strong saxophone teacher in David Hastings, who schooled him in traditional styles. At NEC, where he played clarinet in addition to baritone, alto, and tenor, he tried to catch up to all the kinds of music he hadn’t been exposed to, including Third Stream, under the wing of distinguished faculty members Gunther Schuller, George Russell, and Ran Blake.

Sims went on to study for his doctorate in classical music performance at Boston University, where his lecture recital was on the modern Italian composer Luciano Berio and his solo Sequenza pieces. He also did research work on Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, and American popular music.


While in Boston, where he earned a reputation as a “saxophone colossus,” Sims roomed for four years with standout baritone saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase, a cog in Either/Orchestra, who turned him onto Shihab. One of his mentors at NEC was Allan Chase, with whom he continues to play in a band, Blow-up!, dedicated to the music of bebop baritone legend Serge Chaloff (they recorded in March 2017). He also played in numerous Boston-based bands including the Afro-Latin group Mango Blue (in which he continues to perform); the organ funk outfit Akashic Record; Blueprint Project with guitarist Eric Hofbauer, and the jazz-rock quartet Miracle Orchestra. The list of artists he has collaborated is an eclectic one and ranges from the late Bob Brookmeyer, Han Bennink, Matt Wilson, Dave Liebman, and Anat Cohen to the Temptations, 10,000 Maniacs, and Oasis’s Noel Gallagher.

Sims made his recording debut as a leader with the trio effort "Acoustic Shadows" (2009). He followed it with another three-man outing "Convergence" (2011), the collective quartet album "The New Stablemates" (2012), and "Layers" (2016), on which he overdubs himself playing saxophones, clarinets, and flute on tunes by Ellington, Monk, and Mingus.

Offer for Wilson
Seeds of SHihab
Ghost Guest 1979
Leap of Faith
Forest Hills
Tower of Fazenda
Lights and Colors

Jared Sims: baritone saxophone
Steve Fell: guitar
Nina Ott: organ
Chris Lopes: bass
Jared Seabrook: drums

Playlist for Tom Ossana – The Thin Edge – September 6, 2017 MST 7:00 to 9:00p.m.


http://www.kzmu.org/listen.m3u ~ Use this link to access the show online.





Goran Bregovic - Three Letters from Sarajevo (2017)


Nouvel album Three Letters from Sarajevo
Avec les participations de Bebe, Riff Cohen, Rachid Taha, Asaf Avidan
Sortie le 06/10 chez Mercury/Universal


Goran Bregovic est de retour le 06 octobre avec son nouvel album Three Letters from Sarajevo. Ce disque raconte l'histoire de Sarajevo avec son identité, ses multiples croyances, ses mélanges et ses paradoxes complexes. Sur ce nouvel enregistrement de Trois Lettres de Sarajevo, Goran  utilise le violon comme instrument métaphorique qui fait coexister les styles klezmer, classique et oriental, sur trois pièces instrumentales pour des solistes originaires des Balkans, du Maghreb et d'Israël. 

Avec son Orchestre des Mariages et des Enterrements, l'album est également composé de titres étonnants et détonants chantés par Bebe, Riff Cohen, Rachid Taha, Asaf Avidan, Sifet et Mehmed (interprétés en espagnol, hébreu, arabe, anglais et serbo-croate). 

Très peu de musiciens ont réussi à développer un art d'une telle amplitude qui combine de manière cohérente une si grande variété de styles et de techniques sans perdre son identité. Un morceau de Goran Bregovic est toujours identifiable dès sa première écoute et semble s'adresser à toutes et à tous sans distinction de race, de sexe, d'âge ou de religion. On le vérifie une fois encore avec Three Letters from Sarajevo.

Compositeur contemporain, musicien traditionnel ou rock star, Goran Bregovic n'a pas eu à choisir - il lui a suffit de vivre et mêler toutes ces expériences pour inventer une musique à la fois universelle et très personnelle. Même dans la Yougoslavie de Tito, le rock n 'roll met le feu aux années soixante et devient la bande originale de la révolte adolescente et du souffle du changement. Poursuivant des études de philosophie et de sociologie, Goran forme un groupe de rock Bijelo Dugme (White Button) qui allait marquer l'histoire de l'ex Yougoslavie.

Leur premier album est un succès immédiat qui irradie toute l'Europe de l'Est. Bjelo Dugme vend des millions d'albums et réunit des dizaines de milliers de personnes chaque fois que le groupe joue en public. Fils d'une mère serbe et d'un père croate, Goran Bregović, auteur compositeur et leader de Bjelo Dugme, devient le héros de tous les Yougoslaves. Ayant enregistré 12 albums en 14 ans avec son groupe, ressentant qu’une fièvre fanatique nationaliste s'empare du public dans ses concerts, Goran Bregović décide en 1989 de dissoudre Bijelo Dugme.


À la fin des années quatre-vingt, le cinéaste Emir Kusturica, un fan de la première heure, convainc Bregović de participer à son prochain projet de film. La création de la  musique pour «Le temps des Gitans» permet à Goran d'affiner son sens de la dramaturgie musicale et de travailler autour de la musique gitane qui le fascine. La combinaison des images de Kusturica et des notes de Bregović sublime une histoire poignante et inoubliable. Puis pour «Arizona dream», les deux voyagent aux États-Unis:  Kusturica dirige Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis et Johnny Depp tandis que Bregović invite s le Parrain du punk rock, Iggy Pop sur quelques chansons de la BO.

En 1994 dans «La Reine Margot» de Patrice Chereau, la musique  de Bregović allume d' étincelles la destinée d'Isabelle Adjani, mais résonne également comme l'écho du siège en cours à Sarajevo. Alors que la guerre ravage leur pays, Bregović et Kusturica collaborent une dernière fois sur «Underground», le film qui obtient la Palme d'Or à Cannes en 1995.

Goran Bregović décide alors de reprendre la route et crée son Orchestre des Mariages et des Enterrements.  Avec cet ensemble, il marie les musiciens/cuivres Gitans avec des percussions orientales, mélange les polyphonies féminines bulgares avec un chœur d'hommes classique, mixe des sections de cordes avec des programmations électroniques. Depuis plus de vingt ans, Goran Bregović et son Orchestre des Mariages et des Enterrements ont parcouru tous les continents du monde connu sur une tournée sans fin (jusqu'à présent plus de 3000 concerts).

Bregović collabore également avec les regrettées divas Cesaria Evora et Ofra Haza, le cultissime Scott Walker.... et en parallèle compose un oratorio «Mon cœur est devenu tolérant» autour des trois religions monothéistes, ou même, comme un clin d'œil à Bizet, propose le premier opéra gitan, "Karmen avec une fin heureuse». Tl revient le 06 octobre avec l'album Three Letters From Sarajevo.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - All Jazz Is Modern: 30 Years of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Vol. 1 (2017)


30 years ago today, Jazz at Lincoln Center staged our very first concert. We're marking the milestone with a new series of digital singles titled All Jazz Is Modern: 30 Years of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Throughout the 2017-18 concert season, Blue Engine Records—our in-house record label—will be releasing a total of 30 previously unheard tracks that were recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center performances over the past 30 years. Hand-picked by JALC's Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, these songs represent memorable, surprising, and unique moments from throughout the organization's history.

The first three singles from “All Jazz is Modern” were recorded more recently but are deeply symbolic of JALC's mission and identity. “The Strawberry,” for example, is a composition by guest pianist Myra Melford that was recorded with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra during the 2016-17 concert season. It demonstrates our commitment to the idea that “All Jazz Is Modern” with its bold, playful ménage of the blues, Latin rhythms, and avant-garde harmony. 

“Ring Shout - 'Peace of Mind,'” a Marsalis original, was recorded during the JLCO’s history-making trip to Cuba, which also provided the material for Live in Cuba,Blue Engine’s inaugural release. And “Single Petal of a Rose” is a poignant ballad featuring Joe Temperley, a long-time member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra who occupied the JLCO’s baritone saxophone chair from the group’s inception until his passing last year at the age of 86.

We'll be rolling out new tracks throughout the year, but for now, you can listen to the first three All Jazz Is Modernsongs at Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes, or right here!

The Strawberry – by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis featuring Myra Melford 9:17
Ring Shout - ‘Peace of Mind’ – by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 19:51
Single Petal of a Rose – by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis ft. Joe Temperley and Dan Nimmer 7:22


Braxton Cook - Somewhere in Between (FRESH SELECTS 2017)



1. Millennial Music (Intro) 01:21
2. You're The One 05:08
3. FJYD 03:11
4. I Can't 04:21
5. Hymn (For Trayvon) 05:12
6. Until 03:32
7. Mathis' Tune (Interlude) 01:37
8. Somewhere In Between 03:28
9. Run Away 02:50
10. Pariah (feat. Samora Pinderhughes) 05:03
11. Never Thought 03:32
12. The Gospel 05:28

Braxton Cook - vocals, alto saxophone, aux keyboard
Mathis Picard - piano, fender rhodes
Andrew Renfroe - guitar
Joshua Crumbly - electric bass
Jonathon Pinson - drums
Lauren Desberg - backing vocals (2, 8)
Samora Pinderhughes - piano (10)

All lyrics & music composed by Braxton Cook (BMI)

Produced by Braxton Cook
Mixed by Drew Moore
Recorded at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert @ Almachrome

Illustration by Max Etienne
Design & Layout by Tawfiq Mardini & Rob Lewis

Executive Producers: Braxton Cook & Kenny / Fresh Selects

FSX-022 © 2017 Fresh Selects


Mark Whitfield - Live & Uncut (CHESKY RECORDS 2017)



Come along for the ride as Chesky Records transports you to the Lower East Side of Manhattan for a live Jazz performance from Mark Whitfield and his band consisting of Billy Drummond and Ben Allison. Recorded live at Rockwood Music Hall, experience the interplay between three seasoned Jazz veterans embracing the moment on Live & Uncut. 

Mark Whitfield has been a celebrated guitarist for nearly three decades, performing with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Carmen McRae, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry, Shirley Horn, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joe Williams, Stanley Turrentine and his greatest teacher and mentor George Benson.


Released September 1, 2017 

1. Without A Song 10:16
2. Invitation 07:32
3. Willow Weep For Me 09:36
4. Changes For Monk and Trane 08:05
5. Jackie-ing 06:17
6. Dubai 07:43

Band:
Ben Allison: Bass
Billy Drummond: Drums
Mark Whitfield: Guitar

Produced by: David Chesky
Executive Producer: Norman Chesky
Recorded, edited, and mastered by Nicholas Prout
Second Engineer: Mor Mezrich
Assistant Engineer: Janelle Costa
A&R: Jeff Lanier

Recorded February 19th, 2017 at Rockwood Music Hall, New York
Equipment Used: B&K Binaural Head, MSB A/D Converter, and Crystal Microphone Cable