Jocelyn Michelle - Live at Viva Cantina (CHICKEN COUP RECORDS 2018)

HAMMOND B3 PLAYER JOCELYN MICHELLE RELEASES LIVE AT VIVA CANTINA ON TONY MONACO’S CHICKEN COUP RECORDS

Organist JOCELYN MICHELLE’s newest CD, LIVE AT VIVA CANTINA (Chicken Coup Records, June 8, 2018), is a toe tapping, festive project of serious music that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Although she’s lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for several years, she decided to record this CD back in Los Angeles, her old stomping ground, where she and her husband, guitarist JOHN RACK, lived and worked for many years. Viva Cantina is a Mexican restaurant and music performance venue with two stages in Burbank. It has the kind of party atmosphere that Jocelyn thought would be a good fit for a live performance with her band. 

LIVE AT VIVA CANTINA is a follow-up to Jocelyn’s acclaimed debut CD, TIME TO PLAY. She recorded both CDs for Tony Monaco’s Chicken Coup Records. Monaco is a highly respected organist and teacher whom Jocelyn studied with for several years before inviting her to record for his label. Chicken Coup Records, a subsidiary of Summit Records, features some of the finest B3 players around today.  

Jocelyn arranged all the tunes on this project and brought on board players based in Hawaii and Los Angeles. The Hawaiian component of her band includes sax player BILL NOBLE, trumpet player ANDREA LINDBORG, and her husband JOHN RACK. The L.A.-based contingent includes STEVE MANN on sax, TONY FARRELL on trumpet, drummer SAMMY K, and AL PERSON on percussion.

Jocelyn is also a top-notch composer, and the CD includes four of her compositions, including “Englewood Cliffs,” “Oh No, Could I Be in Love,” “A Sister’s Love,” and “Sylvia’s Song.” Those four tunes also appeared on TIME TO PLAY, but as with any great jazz band in live performance, their spontaneity creates a brand-new experience of the music.  

“Englewood Cliffs” is an homage to the soul jazz sound from the late 1960’s and Rudy van Gelder, who recorded some of the most the most important albums in the history of jazz. His studios were in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Jocelyn also wrote the lyrics to “Oh No, Could I Be in Love,” sung on this disc by acclaimed vocalist LAURA DICKINSON, whose lilting voice is heard on animation features on the Disney Channel. Dickinson also sings on Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” a song Jocelyn and the band play frequently back in Hawaii.

Jocelyn and the band perform two other songs that appeared on the previous studio album as well, “The Pink Panther Theme,” and “Last Tango in Paris.” Jocelyn, who was inspired by Jack McDuff’s version of “The Pink Panther,” arranged the tune for sax and trumpet, giving it an ultra-hip treatment. “Last Tango in Paris” is Gato Barbieri’s sexy composition from the eponymous movie. Jocelyn adds a funky groove to the piece but keeps its sensual mood.  

The band keeps the seductive ambience going with “The Look of Love,” the 1967 Burt Bacharach/Hal David song. Jocelyn was particularly inspired by guitarist Bob DeVos’ rendition of the tune. 

Jocelyn opens the CD with a swinging version of Carl Perkins’ “Groove Yard,” made famous by the Montgomery Brothers on their 1961 release. “Groovin” is the Young Rascals hit from 1967. Jocelyn arranged it with a relaxed, funky groove.  

LIVE AT VIVA CANTINA is the kind of music you put on to get the party going. Jocelyn is adept at different musical styles, honing her chops on the club circuits on the East and West coasts and Hawaii. LIVE AT VIVA CANTINA captures the energy, spontaneity, and fun of Jocelyn Michelle’s live performances.

1. GROOVE YARD (7:43)

2. ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS (10:24)

3. GROOVIN’ (5:32)

4. LAST TANGO IN PARIS (7:36)

5. THE LOOK OF LOVE (6:38)

6. OH NO, COULD I BE IN LOVE (5:15)

7. ONE NOTE SAMBA (6:05)

8. THE PINK PANTHER THEME (6:25)

9. A SISTER’S LOVE (5:51)

10. SYLVIA’S SONG  (7:51) 

JOCEYLYN MICHELLE  organ

JACK RACK  guitar

BILL NOBLE  alto & tenor sax 

STEVE MANN alto & tenor sax

ANDREA LINDBORG trumpet

TONY FARRELL trumpet

SAMMY K drums & percussion

AL PERSON percussion

LAURA DICKINSON vocals 

Arranged by Jocelyn Michelle Produced by Tony Monaco

About Jocelyn Michelle

Jocelyn Michelle was born in Florida but raised in New Jersey. Her parents were both musical, her mother was a semi-professional pianist and opera singer, and her father played some trumpet. Jocelyn began piano lessons when she was just 7 years old when her parents discovered that she could already play melodies by ear. She eventually gravitated to guitar and played rock in her teens. She went to the University of Miami School of Music as a Music Merchandising Major for a while and returned to the keyboards when she left school.  

She had been playing on the club circuit in the Miami area when she met her husband, John Rack, who had his own musical project. Jocelyn joined his band as a keyboard player, and the two went on to become both musical and life partners. They eventually released three CDs together. The couple moved to Los Angeles where they lived for many years, performing with their re-constituted blues band. In 2013, they took a trip to Hawaii, fell in love with the Big Island, and in short order, made Hawaii their permanent home where they play jazz and blues and make occasional trips to the mainland to perform.

Gary Brumburgh - Moonlight (CAFE PACIFIC RECORDS 2018)

For vocalist GARY BRUMBURGH, the lyrics of a song are like dialogue from a play, and when he sings, he approaches the material much like an actor prepares for a role. The lyrics, along with the music, suggest to him a scene and a persona with distinct emotions and motivation. This technique allows him to pour himself into a song, creating a highly personalized interpretation of the lyrics. Thinking like an actor comes naturally to Brumburgh, who has a long stage and screen acting resume that dates back to the 1970s. 

Now, on MOONLIGHT, Brumburgh’s second CD, his distinctive style takes center stage in an eclectic program of modern jazz tunes, songs from the Great American Songbook, and re-invented pop numbers from the 60s and 70s. 

Hailing from a suburb of Buffalo, NY, Brumburgh began acting when he was just 14 years old, performing in school musicals and becoming a soloist in his high school’s advanced chorus program. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Florida State School of Drama while touring several southern states as the lead singer of a jazz/rock fusion band. He decamped to Los Angeles in 1978 to continue his performance career, where he worked extensively in theater and had camera time in several movies and television shows. He also found work in Las Vegas, backing up Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé in an MGM extravaganza. 

In 2003, he decided to focus solely on music and began performing regularly in jazz clubs around Los Angeles. He produced his first CD, UP JUMPED SPRING, in 2008 with some of the top, L.A.-based jazz veterans. Unfortunately, cancer sidelined his performing career for several years as he struggled to get the disease under control. 

Brumburgh was diagnosed with neck and tonsil cancer in 2012, which metastasized into his lymph nodes in 2014. After many grueling radiation and chemo sessions, his disease finally went into remission in 2016. Although the treatments caused permanent damage to that area of his neck, his vocal cords and throat were miraculously unaffected, and he was able to return to performing. 

BARBARA BRIGHTON, the music producer who has worked with Mark Winkler, Judy Wexler, and Julie Kelly, heard Brumburgh when he sat in as a guest performer at a show at Vitello’s, a very popular jazz room in Studio City.  Brighton was impressed with his performance and offered to work with him if he ever decided to make another CD. It was an offer that Brumburgh could not pass up.

One of the first things Brighton did was to bring on board JAMIESON TROTTER, who has made a name for himself as a top-notch pianist, composer, and arranger. Trotter wrote the arrangements on the CD and plays piano on eight of the 11 tunes. Jazz icon TERRY TROTTER, who has recorded with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, and Celine Dion, among many others, plays on the other three tunes. Terry Trotter is an old friend of Brighton’s and just happens to be Jamieson’s father. This is the first time the two of them have appeared together on the same project. 

Los Angeles is home to many of the finest jazz musicians in the country, and Brighton also enlisted some outstanding veteran and younger musicians, including BOB SHEPPARD on tenor sax & flute, PAT KELLEY and LARRY KOONSE on guitar, GABE DAVIS on bass, and CHRISTIAN EUMAN and CONOR MALLOY on drums. 

Brumburgh opens the CD with one of his favorite tunes from the 1960s, “Day Tripper.” Brumburgh and the band turn the song, which is one of the Beatles’ earliest forays into psychedelia and the drug culture, into a hip, swinging, contemporary jazz tune. Brumburgh also performs a heartfelt version of “Wichita Lineman,” which was written by Jimmy Webb and made famous by Glen Campbell in 1968. Jamieson’s arrangement of “My World Is Empty Without You” changes the mood of the original 1966 Supremes song from a bouncy, upbeat tune to a somber reflection on loss and loneliness. Brumburgh’s rendition of “Just A Little Lovin’,” originally written as a waltz, here is arranged as a bossa and captures the sexy feel of Dusty Springfield’s 1968 hit. GAIL PETTIS, the Grammy-nominated singer based in Seattle, joins Brumburgh on Kenny Rankin’s “Haven’t We Met,” which was first recorded by Carmen McRae in 1965. Jamieson Trotter’s arrangements infuse each of these 50-year old tunes with a contemporary sensibility that makes them sound like they could have been written just yesterday. Brumburgh’s mellow, velvety tone makes a perfect pairing for these romantic odes.

Terry Trotter is known as a sensitive, intuitive musician. He knows how to leave space for a song to express its emotional core. His delicate playing is featured on “Wichita Lineman,” “Moonlight,” the title song composed by John Williams with lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman from the movie “Sabrina,” and “What’ll I Do,” by Irving Berlin.

Brumburgh also does a bluesy version of Sting’s “Heavy Cloud No Rain.“ He’s joined by PAULETTE McWILLIAMS, the sultry singer who’s sung back up for Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Billy Idol, Luther Vandross and many more. On “Dig/Georgia Brown,” Jamieson Trotter’s arrangement turns the old chestnut “Sweet Georgia Brown” into a hip, bebop tune with the band playing Miles Davis’ “Dig” underneath Brumburgh’s rendition of the older tune.  

“I’ll Close My Eyes” was written in 1945 by Billy Reid, who composed the music and wrote the original lyrics. The American songwriter Buddy Kaye changed the lyrics to make them more upbeat, and it has since become standard jazz fare. The song has personal resonance for Brumburgh, who used it in his commitment ceremony with his partner. Brumburgh has also been a longtime fan of Michael Franks, and wanted to include “Eggplant,” one of Brumburgh’s favorites, to add a lighter note to the selections. 

Gary Brumburgh is an appealing performer whose warm voice and sensitive approach to lyrics make MOONLIGHT an engaging project and a superb introduction to a performer who is well-known to jazz aficionados in LA and is now poised to receive much wider recognition.

1. DAY TRIPPER (4:32)

2. I’LL CLOSE MY EYES (6:08)

3. DIG / SWEET GEORGIA BROWN (3:25)

4. WICHITA LINEMAN (5:53)

5. MOONLIGHT (4:50)

6. HEAVY CLOUD NO RAIN (4:30)

7. EGGPLANT (4:42)

8. MY WORLD IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU (4:14)

9. JUST A LITTLE LOVIN’ (EARLY IN THE MORNIN’) (4:55)

10. HAVEN’T WE MET (4:40)

11. WHAT’LL I DO (3:57) 

GARY BRUMBURGH  vocals

TERRY TROTTER  piano (4,5,11)

JAMIESON TROTTER piano

BOB SHEPPARD sax & flute

PAT KELLEY guitar (1,4,5,6)

LARRY KOONSE guitar (2,9)

GABE DAVIS bass

CHRISTIAN EUMAN drums (1,3,4,5,7,11)

CONOR MALLOY drums (2,6,8,9,10) 

Arranged by Jamieson Trotter

Additional arrangements by Dave Ferris & Gary Brumburgh

Produced by Barbara Brighton

Arnan Raz: Next Show + New Live Video

TICKETS

We are having a summer show in NY - If any of you are here in the city during this time, come join us- it will be my band and Zoo Berries who are so good!

It will be the last Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit Records night at Nublu. We are having a lot of fun there so far so come witness it!

The video below was filmed at our last show at Nublu, and it's a new tune of mine. I hope you enjoy the music.

There will be one show in Tel Aviv in August. Details soon!

Have a great week!

Love, Arnan

Adriano Clemente - Cuban Fires (performed by Akashmani Ensemble) DODICILUNE / IRD July 3, 2018

ADRIANO CLEMENTE 

performed by AKASHMANI ENSEMBLE

CUBAN FIRES

FONOSFERE by DODICILUNE / IRD

Mercoledì 4 luglio esce in Italia e all’estero distribuito da Ird e nei migliori store digitali da Believe Digital, "Cuban Fires" di Adriano Clemente. Dopo "The Mingus Suite” e “Havana Blue” prosegue infatti la collaborazione tra l'etichetta Dodicilune (nella collana Fonosfere) e il compositore, pianista e arrangiatore salentino. Un nuovo progetto di composizioni originali, un viaggio immaginario nei vari stili e tradizioni della musica cubana. Registrato a L'Avana di Cuba, il disco ospita nove musicisti che interpretano le otto composizioni di Clemente. La line up include Thommy Lowry (tromba, flicorno), Eduardo Sandoval (trombone), Michel Herrera (sax alto/baritono e tenore), Emir Santa Cruz (sax tenore e clarinetto), Alejandro Falcòn (piano), Roberto "El Chino" Vàsquez (basso), Eduardo Silveira (congas, bongò, güiro, cowbell), Deivys Rubalcaba (timbales, güiro, cowbell, maracas), Degnis Bofill (batteria e percussioni). 

“Ho inizialmente concepito Cuban Fires come il seguito di Havana Blue, con l’idea di approfondire alcuni aspetti della tradizione musicale cubana. Volevo anche esplorare sonorità differenti, e per questa ragione in occasione del mio secondo viaggio a L’Avana nel dicembre del 2016 ho contattato Eduardo Sandoval, un giovane musicista e trombonista di talento il cui primo cd Caminos Abiertos mi aveva particolarmente colpito", racconta il compositore. "Il disco si apre e chiude con due versioni di Cuban Fires, omaggio alle sue radici africane, che a loro volta iniziano e terminano con brevi canti Yoruba eseguiti da Eduardo Sandoval e suonati sui tre tradizionali tamburi batà. Ritmicamente basata sulla clave di rumba o guagancò, è una lunga composizione modale che alterna parti scritte a improvvisazioni. Inizia com un’invocazione all’oricha (santo) Obatalà, il padre dell’umanità secondo il culto Yoruba conosciuto anche come Santeria: Iyalawa Oricha o Iyalawa Akakioke, Awanile Oricha o Iyalawa Akakioke". 

Il disco è completato da altri sei brani. Con Alma è l’adattamento in forma di bolero di un breve brano che Clemente aveva originariamente scritto per due violoncelli. Mango Cha è eseguito nel classico stile cha cha cha. Nueva Alegria, il cui tema è eseguito dal trombone, è ritmicamente più vicino all’attuale salsa cubana. Mambo House è ispirata al celebre “Mambo Inn” di Mario Bauza che è diventato uno degli standard più eseguiti nel latin jazz. G Son, il cui tema è suonato dal clarinetto, è eseguito ritmicamente nello stile di un changüi. Olvidado, interamente scritto e senza improvvisazioni, consiste di due sezioni, la prima in 7/8 e in forma di duetto di piano e clarinetto, e la seconda, racchiusa nella prima, nello stile di una guajira. "L’ultimo brano è una ripresa di Cuban Fires in versione abbreviata con un assolo al sax tenore di Michel Herrera, la quale termina con un’invocazione a Elegguà, l’oricha che apre e chiude tutti i cammini e assicura la stabilità", conclude Clemente.

Nato a Lecce nel 1958, cresciuto a Napoli, inizia a suonare la chitarra e il pianoforte in tenera età. Dal 1978 al 1980 guida un quartetto (chitarra, liuto, flauti, voce), ispirato alla musica celtica e rinascimentale, mettendo in musica le poesie di William Blake. Nel 1982 trascorre molti mesi in India e Nepal per studiare il sarod, strumento a corde della tradizione Hindustani, e lo stile vocale khyal. Nel 1986 collabora con Costantino Albini alla colonna sonora del film tv "Cinque Piccoli Indiani" di Paolo Brunatto, suonando sarod, dulcimer martellato e percussioni. Nel 1991 torna in India per studiare lo stile vocale dhrupad. Nel 1996 Amiata Records pubblica "Akashmani: Across the Sky", musica minimalista nella tradizione di Terry Riley e Steve Reich eseguita su tastiere Yamaha e Roland. Alla fine degli anni Novanta forma il Vajra Trio con Costantino Albini (sitar, percussioni) e Bernhard Siegel (flauto, megaharp). Dal 2000 studia pianoforte jazz, arpa venezuelana, sax soprano e improvvisazione, ritmi latini e percussioni. Nel 2011 fonda l'Akashmani Jazz Ensemble con il quale si esibisce in vari concerti. Con l'etichetta Dodicilune ha pubblicato  "The Mingus Suite” (2016), “Havana Blue” (2017) e "Cuban Fires" (2018).

L’etichetta Dodicilune è attiva dal 1996. Dispone di un catalogo di oltre 220 produzioni di artisti italiani e stranieri ed è distribuita in Itali a e all'estero da IRD in circa 400 punti vendita tra negozi di dischi e store. I dischi Dodicilune possono essere acquistati anche online, ascoltati e scaricati su una cinquantina tra le maggiori piattaforme del mondo.

1 - Cuband Fires

2 - Con Alma (For Enrico)

3 - Mango Cha

4 - Nueva Alegria 

5 - Mambo House

6 - G Son

7 - Olvidado

8 - Cuban Fires (Reprise)

All Compositions and Arrangements

by Adriano Clemente, Dodicilune Edizioni

Thommy Lowry - trumpet, flugelhorn

Eduardo Sandoval - trombone

Michel Herrera - alto/baritone sax, tenor sax (8)

Emir Santa Cruz - tenor sax, clarinet

Alejandro Falcòn - piano

Roberto "El Chino" Vàsquez - bass

Eduardo Silveira - congas, bongò, güiro, cowbell

Deivys Rubalcaba - timbales, güiro, cowbell, maracas

Degnis Bofill - batà drums, percussions

total time 58:21   

stereo ddd     

fonosfere fnf114

2018 fonosfere records, a dodicilune label

p + c dodicilune records, all rights reserved

8033309691145

Produced by Adriano Clemente

and Gabriele Rampino per Dodicilune

Label manager Maurizio Bizzochetti

(www.dodicilune.it)

Recorded 21, 22 December 2016

at Abdala Studios, La Habana, Cuba

Sound Engineer Jose Raul Varona

Edited Mixed and mastered March 2018

at Music Factory Grosseto, Italy

by Piero Lanza and Adriano Clemente

Paintings by Antonio Iannece (1957 - 2016)

Cover artwork by Cecilia Damiani

Photos by Dina Priymak, Luigi Vitiello (paintings)

Contact: adrianocle@gmail.com www.adrianoclementeakashmani.com

Thommy Lowry plays trumpet and flugelhorn

courtesy of Eclipse Trumpets

“I wish to thank Eduardo Sandoval for organizing the recording sessions in La Habana, saxophonist Aldo Milani for his generous help in Mambo House, Eliana Iannece for permission to use his father’s painting for the cover, Fabio Tomassoni for his helpful suggestions, and my wife Dina Priymak for her constant help and support.” Adriano Clemente

Tito Allen and Henry Cole remake El Diablo

Henry Cole & Villa Locura - El Diablo (featuring Tito Allen) 2018

You Funky Devil: GRAMMY-winning drummer Henry Cole’s Bomba-Powered Reinvention of Salsa Classic, “El Diablo”

Exuberantly inventive drummer Henry Cole was listening to a favorite album one day, when a whole new arrangement for a classic song leaped into his head. The result was “El Diablo (Espiritu Burlon),” the first song from SIMPLE, the long-awaited follow up his 2012 debut, Roots Before Branches.

The new song, like a lost Latin track off Maggot Brain, embraces Cole’s vision for 21st-century Puerto Rican music, encompassing a wide range of global influences from folkloric rhythms to jazz, rock, and funk. These influences are second nature to Cole, who’s played with jazz (luminaries Miguel Zenón, Ben Wendel, and Gary Burton, as well as Chambao, Residente/Calle 13, and Draco Rosa.

“El Diablo” was written by the iconic Puerto Rican songwriter Rafael Hernández nearly 80 years ago and was made famous by legendary percussionist Ray Barretto on his 1973 Fania Records album Indestructible. Singer Tito Allen was the lead singer in Barretto’s band at the time, and he repeats that role here, despite declaring he would never do another version. Some songs find the perfect recorded form, something so good it makes covers feel impossible. That’s what Tito Allen felt about “El Diablo,” and he swore was the only version the world needed.

Cole’s arrangement swayed him in the end. “I did that song with Ray and it made no sense to do it again without him, though lots of people asked,” says Allen. “Then Henry told me he wanted to record it. The group he had was so different. I was still thinking I might want to turn it down but then I heard the tunes a couple of times, and heard a lot of different stuff here. So I said yes. We did it and whoa, it sounded good. The guys he had were amazing, I felt so good there with them.”

The track shows how firmly Cole is pushing Puerto Rican forms forward. “‘El Diablo’ was purposely chosen as the first song I wanted people to hear from this new project,“ says Cole, who was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. “Rafael Hernández is the most beloved songwriter ever to emerge from Puerto Rico, and Ray Barretto is easily one of the greatest Latin jazz and salsa percussionists of all time. These are my roots, my heroes. So ‘El Diablo’ is my tribute to them.” Cole had a chance to play with Barretto several years ago as part of a jazz project Barretto spearheaded.

Cole burrows into the heart and pulse of the folkloric Puerto Rican bomba rhythm and rebuilds the track from there. Cole and his band Villa Locura freely wed a deeply churning polyrhythmic base to big band horns, rock guitars, electric piano and chanted call-and-response choruses. Tito Allen’s singing rides over all of it like a wicked master of ceremonies, egging the musicians on.

“Having Tito Allen on this song was a dream come true,” says Cole. “He told me that he’d turned down all requests since 1973 to re-record the song because the original was the unbeatable standard, but he thought my arrangement was different, so he agreed to join us.”

The musicians on El Diablo are a veritable who’s who of international artists who either call New York City home or are part of the constant Nuyorican/Puerto Rican back and forth. Bassist Panagiotis Andreou was born in Greece while guitarist Guilherme Monteiro hails from Brazil and pianist Luis Perdomo from Venezuela. Percussionist Mauricio Herrara is from Cuba, while Obanilu Allende, Beto Torrens, and Bryant Huffman are from Puerto Rico, as are the singers joining Allen on vocals, Jeremy Bosch and Cheito Quinõnes. Rounding out the band are American trumpeter Jonathan Powell, guitarist Adam Rogers, and saxophonists Chris Creek and Mario Castro (also from Puerto Rico).

“El Diablo and all the songs I wrote for SIMPLE are inspired by my land and the things I miss when I’m away from my roots, away from the coast of Puerto Rico, the feeling of not having to rush and not feeling stress at all, just joy,” says Cole. “I wanted to keep it simple. My focus was on feeling good, on how the musical parts worked together, and how I danced to it. I wanted people to enjoy it and make them feel like dancing and I wanted musicians in the band to enjoy themselves playing it.”

What critics, scholars, and Puerto Rican master musicians are saying about “El Diablo:”

“By removing ‘El Diablo’ from the Cuban Son Montuno, also known as ‘Salsa,’ and placing it on top of one of the many variations of the old Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythm, Cole open his mind to a whole new world of possibilities and he goes to them without fear. You get strong sound of the “Bomba Barriles” ( Puerto Rico’s version, if you will, of the congas, but with a much bigger and richer sound, used to play bomba rhythms.), full rock and jazz sounding guitars, full brass section playing counterpoint and rhythmic melodies and of course, there’s Cole’s beautiful drumming driving the whole band. This is a definitely new look to Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms. You will dig this!” --Gary Nunez, founder of GRAMMY-winning ensemble Plena Libre.

Ibrahim Maalouf - Levantine Symphony N°1 (UNIVERSAL MUSIC September 14, 2018)

Ibrahim Maalouf

Nouvel album Levantine Symphony n°1

Sortie le 14/09/2018 chez Mister Ibe / Universal Music

En concert les 18/19 janvier 2019 à la Seine Musicale

Levantine Symphony N°1 a été créée en première mondiale le 01 mars 2018 au Kennedy Center à Washington DC. On retrouve sur cette suite symphonique de quarante-cinq minutes l'orchestre symphonique Paris Symphonic Orchestra, le choeur d’enfants représenté par la Maîtrise des Hauts de Seine, et Ibrahim Maalouf accompagné de François Delporte, Frank Woeste, et Stéphane Galland.

Ibrahim Maalouf, compositeur et directeur musical de ce projet, fait à la fois intervenir son groupe historique, un orchestre symphonique, un choeur d'enfants et un ensemble de cinq trompettes microtonales. Levantine Symphony n°1 est un nouveau défi pour Ibrahim Maalouf qui dépasse le cliché des unions communautaires en cherchant des éléments musicaux, rythmiques, mélodiques et harmoniques qui unissent ce riche ensemble éclectique. Par la superposition d’éléments variés, le Levant est ainsi représenté sous une même voix et sous une même mélodie. Voici une vidéo permettant de découvrir les coulisses de l'enregistrement de Levantine Symphony N°1.

Levantine Symphony N°1 est une pièce symphonique à la fois classique, jazz et moderne, qui s’inspire de toutes les musiques du monde. Cet album qui sort le 14 septembre 2018 sur le label Mister Ibe distribué par Universal Music a pour ambition de rassembler les cultures musicales du Levant et de les unifier sous un même hymne.

Le Levant est une partie du monde assez méconnue mais souvent fantasmée. Cette création musicale a été composée en collaboration avec la New Levant Initiative, une organisation américaine qui aide à la compréhension et au développement culturel et économique du Levant.

Ibrahim Maalouf, compositeur et directeur musical de ce projet, fait à la fois intervenir son groupe historique composé de François Delporte, Frank Woeste, et Stéphane Galland, un orchestre symphonique, le Paris Symphonic Orchestra, un choeur d'enfants, la Maîtrise des Hauts de Seine et un ensemble de cinq trompettes microtonales. L’album rassemble différentes inspirations et se veut fédérateur.

Ibrahim Maalouf s’est donné le défi de dépasser le cliché des unions communautaires en cherchant des éléments musicaux, rythmiques, mélodiques et harmoniques qui unissent ce riche ensemble éclectique. Par la superposition d’éléments variés, le Levant est ainsi représenté sous une même voix et sous une même mélodie. Ibrahim Maalouf jouera la Levantine Symphony N°1 les 18 et 19 janvier à Paris à la Seine Musicale.

Kamasi Washington - The Choice EP (YOUNG TURKS RECORDINGS 2018)

Previously only found with first pressings of his new album Heaven and Earth

Kamasi Washington has shared a new EP, The Choice, on streaming platforms. It’s a companion piece to his recent album Heaven and Earth. Listen to it below. Fans who received the first pressing of Washington’s new album on CD and vinyl received a free copy of the EP. Among the five tracks are two covers: Carole King and Gerry Coffin’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (originally recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles) and the Five Stairsteps’ 1970 song “Ooh Child.”

Ahead of Heaven and Earth’s release, Washington shared an epic music video for his track “Street Fighter Mas.” Read Pitchfork’s “9 Artists Carrying the Torch for Cosmic Jazz.”

1 The Secret of Jinsinson

2 Will You Love Me Tomorrow

3 My Family

4 Agents of the Multiverse

5 Ooh Child

Noah Baerman Resonance Ensemble - The Rock and the Redemption (July 20, 2018)

This album is lovingly dedicated to Claire Randall (1989-2016) and all proceeds will go towards Claire’s Continuum, an initiative of Resonant Motion 

www.clairescontinuum.com 

www.resonantmotion.org 

1. Keep On

2. Hubris (Sisyphus' Swagger)

3. Run On

4. Wrath

5. Another Man Done Gone

6. Boulder 08:12

7. I'm On My Way 04:15

8. Transformation

9. Glory Glory, Hallelujah

10. Redemption

11. Keep On - Reprise

All tracks composed by Noah Baerman (except tracks 3, 5, 7, and 9: Traditional, arranged by Noah Baerman) and published by Chedda Chowda Music, ASCAP

Noah Baerman Resonance Ensemble

Noah Baerman – Rhodes electric piano, synthesizer, organ, slide guitars

Kris Allen – alto saxophone, flute

Chris Dingman – vibraphone

Melanie Hsu – cello, vocals

Henry Lugo – acoustic and electric bass

Bill Carbone – drums, tambourine

Claire Randall – vocals

Garth Taylor – vocals

Latanya Farrell – vocals

Recorded live on April 26, 2015 at Green Street Teaching and Learning Center, Middletown, CT

Recorded on location by Jared Paul

Mixed by Joshua Kwassman at SquarEast Studios in Brooklyn, NY

Mastered by Mike Pope at Vatican City Sound, Marriottsville, MD

Album Design by Dave Kopperman

Drawing by Kate Ten Eyck

American Vanity explores the many faces of hubris in american culture, government and society. the concept of vanity is fascinating to me. at first, america’s bloated egotism and its’ presumptuous smug attitude, reoccurring themes in the history of our politics and culture, was plenty of material to get my blood boiling and the project started. the real challenge was to dig deeper, and get past the finger pointing and realize that vanity just may be a corner stone of the american way. in fact, our whole way of life, perhaps staring with those overly-confident and demanding colonists refusing to pay taxes , is built on vanity. however, excessive egotism suggests emptiness and hollowness, that some argue has irreparably damaged our culture. “the masses are asses” or so the saying goes, and is seems we get dragged from fad to fad because the media tells us what to do and who to listen to and what to wear etc… along the way, some innovative gems of “americana” become more than just passing fancies signifying nothing, but instead offer us a glimpse into a time that was or a time that is or even can be. my goal was to mine for these “gems” through improvisation, composition and re-interpretation. as americans we are simultaneously victims and purveyors of vanity and this...  more

1. The Fad 01:54

2. Coke (for our addicts) 02:06

3. Gnossienne #1 04:56

4. Mandrake 03:55

5. American Eulogy 02:17

6. Better Get Hit in Your Soul 03:39

7. BA-DEE Image 02:28

8. Greensleeves in Vermont 03:37

9. Ode to Little Drummer Joy 03:20

10. $...(part 1) 00:37

11. Old Man River (for our lost ones) 06:19

12. New Coke (part 1) 00:36

13. Driftin' On A Reed 02:11

14. American Innocence 02:29

15. $...(part 2) 00:40

16. Dukes of Hazzard 03:22

17. Take on Me 03:41

18. Femme Fatale 03:37

19. New Coke (part 2) 00:48

20. Display Window Strut 03:30

all arrangements by eric hofbauer, tracks 1,2,5,7,10,12,14,15,19,&20 by hofbauer (spice-E music, BMI), c+p 2002 Creative Nation Music Productions

recorded by eric hofbauer at CNM studios (aka his living room), Somerville, MA, summer 2002

mastered by warren amerman and eric hofbauer at rotary records, Springfield MA, oct. 2002

graphic design by rich cole

produced by eric hofbauer