Julian Gerstin Sextet "The Old City" CD Release Show Thursday, October 11th 7:00pm @ Hawks and Reed Greenfield MA

Julian Gerstin Sextet

"The Old City"

CD Release Show

Thursday, October 11th 7:00pm @ Hawks and Reed

289 Main St.

Greenfield MA 01301

Tickets & Info

Julian Gerstin’s The Old City is an invigorating set of World Jazz, inspired by the music of Cuba, the Balkans, Martinique, Columbia and the United States.

The percussionist-composer’s versatile sextet plus special guests perform a set of melodic, infectious, inventive and always danceable new compositions that serve as a musical travelogue.

As a versatile percussionist, during the past 40 years Julian Gerstin has performed everything from brass band music to free jazz, Afrobeat, salsa, funk, punk and choral music. He has always uplifted other artists' music no matter what the style or idiom. In recent times, Gerstin has emerged as a talented composer and bandleader. Following on the success of 2017’s The One That Makes You Happy, The Old City is a colorful journey through the rhythms, melodies and cultures of several different areas of the world, all of it performed with a creative jazz sensibility.

For this memorable outing Julian Gerstin, who wrote all of the songs, is joined by the regular members of his quintet (clarinetist Anna Patton, Don Anderson on trumpet and flugelhorn,  pianist Eugene Uman, bassist Wes Brown and drummer Ben James), with trombonist John Wheeler, flutist Carl Clements and tenor saxophonist Jon Weeks added to the group. In addition, “Leander’s Waltz” and “The Deaf Singer” have two guest artists apiece.

Gerstin is heard throughout on congas, bongo, tanbou bele (a drum from Martinique), bells, shakers and other percussion, contributing rhythmic excitement to each of the performances.

“The Old City” opens the program with a visit to an imaginary locale, covering a variety of moods and styles. Trombonist Wheeler is well featured and the passionate horn section adds a big band feel to the music. It sets the stage for a set that includes a Cuban descarga/jam session (“Jugo de Mambo”), Balkan-inspired music (“Human Element” and “The Deaf Singer” with the latter including Matt Fass on accordion and Todd Roach on an Iranian drum), a pair of pieces (“Pwan Lajan-lan” and “Soukwe Soukwe”) that are based on the mazouk (a dance of Martinique), and a blues that utilizes Columbia’s cumbia (“Cumbia sin cambio”).

The Old City also includes some Cuban dance music (“Que guapo es mi company”), a thoughtful ballad that puts the spotlight on guests Lissa Schneckenburger on violin and guitarist Keith Murphy (“Leander’s Waltz’), and the infectious Afro-Cuban number “Santa Barbara Blues.”

While there are expressive solos throughout the program, the focus is on stirring ensembles, the harmonies played by clarinetist Patton and trumpeter Anderson, and the leader’s stimulating percussion.

In addition to American jazz, Julian Gerstin has always been greatly interested in music from across the globe, living for two years in Martinique, studying Afro-Cuban traditions with master percussionists, and working with bandleaders from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the Balkans. He has mastered a vast range of percussion instruments and has performed with such notables as Joel Harrison, Charles Neville, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Badal Roy, Ray Vega and countless others in jazz, choral, pop and traditional ensembles.

Julian Gerstin’s The Old City is a very special musical journey that takes listeners through many cultures with rhythmic drive, lyrical melodies and jazz inventiveness.

Julian Gerstin Sextet The Old City

(Zabap Music) Street Date: October 5, 2018

Anna Patton, clarinet

Don Anderson, trumpet

Eugene Uman, piano

Wes Brown, bass

Ben James, drum set

Julian Gerstin, percussion

with

Carl Clements, flute

Jon Weeks, saxophone

Jon Wheeler, trombone

Lissa Schneckenburger, violin

Keith Murphy, guitar

Matt Fass, accordion

Todd Roach, Iranian percussion