JAZZ NEWS: DC Jazz Festival Announces We Get to Talk Podcast Series

DC Jazz Festival Announces We Get to Talk Podcast Series

Hosted by DCJF Executive Director Sunny Sumter Starting Wednesday, April 14

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 14, 2021 – DC Jazz Festival today announces a new podcast series titled We Get to Talk, where DCJF Executive Director Sunny Sumter engages jazz artists in captivating conversations that revolve around relevant topics, people and places. We Get To Talk launches Wednesday, April 14, with episodes being released on a bi-weekly basis. Listeners can tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Crossover Media or wherever they get their podcasts.

The first round of episodes will feature a wide-ranging cast of guests who each have a unique story to share. In our first episode, piano prodigy Matthew Whitaker, who is blind, offers ways we can create a more inclusive and accessible world for the disabled community, particularly in music and the arts. In the second installment, Sunny and soul singer-songwriter Cecily discuss the power of mindfulness and music’s healing ability. In episode three, Allyn Johnson, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of the District of Columbia, shares his experiences as an arts educator and talks about the inspiration we can all find from love. Next, harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet sits down with Sunny to discuss what it means to truly be part of one’s community and the strength that comes from knowing your neighbors. From there we hear from Afro Blue alumnus Christie Dashiell as she shares her thoughts on how artists have been and can continue to adapt to the times. Finally, Sunny explores the importance of heritage and identity with hip-hop artist Maimouna “Mumu Fresh” Youssef and how they influence her musical stylings.

We Get To Talk will be presented in collaboration with Crossover Media. Each episode features snippets of guests’ past DC JazzFest performances and a segment dedicated to discussing each artist’s motivations and inspirations. “We are thrilled to welcome Sunny Sumter to the Crossover Podcast family,” said Crossover Media founder Alex Hollingsworth. “Whether discussing the latest Verzuz, politics, music or social issues, our hosts cover a variety of topics.” Join DC Jazz Festival and host Sunny Sumter on Wednesday, April 14, when We Get to Talk welcomes its first guest, jazz prodigy Matthew Whitaker.

For press inquiries or requests for information, contact Lydia Liebman, DCJF publicist, at lydia@lydialiebmanpromotions.com. 

 

Learn more about the DC Jazz Festival and all of our programs by visiting www.dcjazzfest.org.

Keep up with DCJF:

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Everything Else

Mila Ogliastro - The Wisteria Suites (April 20, 2021 Dodicilune / Ird)

Prodotto nella collana Koinè dall'etichetta pugliese Dodicilune, distribuito in Italia e all’estero da IRD e nei migliori store on line da Believe Digital, martedì 20 aprile esce "The Wisteria Suites" di Mila Ogliastro

Nel suo esordio discografico, la cantante, compositrice e arrangiatrice ligure propone alcuni brani originali che guardano nella direzione del jazz contemporaneo ("7 Meters Tall", "Waltz Me To The Moon", "Wisteria", "Prima" e "The Consequences of Love"), alcuni "grandi classici" del repertorio del rock internazionale ("Message In A Bottle" dei Police, "Move Over" di Janis Joplin, "Come Together" dei Beatles e "We Will Rock You" dei Queen) e un'intensa versione di "‘Na Stella" di Fausto Mesolella, compianto chitarrista degli Avion Travel.

In questo viaggio sonoro l'artista sceglie come compagni di strada il batterista Giorgio Griffa, il bassista elettrico Nicola Bruno e il pianista Andrea Pozza, «il cui profondo rapporto con la storia del jazz non solo italiano è un dato di fatto testimoniato dalla sua biografia artistica», scrive nelle note di copertina Pietro Leveratto. «Registrare un disco significa anche decidere cosa si vuole fermare nel tempo e mai come in questi anni la scelta del repertorio, inteso come il veicolo che rende esplicita la propria poetica musicale, rappresenta una sfida», prosegue il musicista e scrittore. «Se il giacimento della canzone americana storica pare sfruttato fino all’ultima pepita, è altrettanto vero che molto del catalogo del song moderno e contemporaneo non sembra sempre adatto a contenere le peculiarità del linguaggio del jazz, vuoi per la forma, vuoi per l’evidente modestia del substrato armonico, vuoi per la difficoltà di scindere l’interprete - la pop star - da quello che esegue. Occorre quindi avere coraggio per mettere le mani su materiale che proviene da altre derive, magari estraneo al songbook tipicamente jazzistico e ancora più ne occorre per scrivere la musica che si vuole cantare e suonare».

«Quanti musicisti straordinari, nel corso degli anni, ci ha dato la Liguria! Ed ecco un nuovo bellissimo regalo. Una gran voce, un senso del jazz fuori del comune e soprattutto una notevole originalità sia come cantante che come compositrice: Mila Ogliastro. Benvenuta"», è il messaggio di rimasto colpito dalla freschezza di questo lavoro: composizioni raffinatissime e mai banali», sottolinea Fabrizio Bosso. «Una voce quella di Mila che oltre ad essere tecnicamente ineccepibile, regala all’ascoltatore tante sfumature e colori diversi. Importante il contributo di bravissimi musicisti tra cui spicca il sempre ispirato pianoforte del grande Andrea Pozza».

1 - 7 Meters Tall

2 - Waltz Me To The Moon

3 - Message In A Bottle

4 - Wisteria

5 - Move Over

6 - ‘Na Stella

7 - Come Together

8 - Prima

9 - We Will Rock You

10 - The Consequences of Love  

All compositons by Mila Ogliastro except 3 by Sting, 5 by Janis Joplin, 6 by Fausto Mesolella, 7 by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, 9 by Brian May

Mila Ogliastro - vocals, arrangements, piano (10)

Andrea Pozza - piano

Nicola Bruno - electric bass

Giorgio Griffa - drums

Recorded 29 August 2020 at Indiehub Studio, Milan, Italy

Mixed and mastered 30 September 2020 at Indiehub Studio, Milan, Italy

Sound engineer Stefano Giungato

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Storione / Rossy / Schürmann - This Time the Dream's on Us (April 2021 Challenge Records)

"This Time the Dream’s on Me" is the name of Harold Arlen's 1941 song, which made it into the charts twice in the same year with none other than Glenn Miller and Woody Herman. It was composed for the film "Blues in the Night" with lyrics written by the famous singer and songwriter Johnny Mercer. Ella sang it especially tenderly, including it in her two Arlen and Mercer songbooks. It has been covered by many other great artists over the years, from Bird to Miles.

And now we have a technically stupendous pianist at the relatively young age of 27, a classic jazz trio and an album title referring to the Great American Songbook. What could go wrong? The temptation, especially with young jazz musicians (less often with female artists), is well known: to dazzlingly display their instrumental skills over a traditional framework, like a gymnast vigorously working out on the high bar. Unfortunately, the dismount often ends up, despite their virtuosity, stumbling into the mainstream of mediocrity.

Pianist Yuri Storione excels in this endeavour by teaming up with two experienced musicians: the deliberate, steady and precise bassist Dominik Schürmann, and one of the world's best drummers, Jorge Rossy. The balance between the players is already expressed in the trio’s name. Apart from the Arlen tune, another milestone in jazz history, Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear" is the only other work from the Great American Songbook. The remaining ten compositions are Storione’s and Schürmann's own creations – consistently melodic and, in their creative interplay

brilliantly accented music — all of which reward the attentive listener with music that avoids all superficial gimmickry.

The bass is strikingly elegant: Dominik Schürmann is a team player who, from soulful ballads to up-tempo tunes, maintains a clear, reliable beat and a gentle touch. He creates stirring melodic lines that contrast with the piano, and short solos that are as honest as they are clean and inspired. Jorge Rossy’s contribution is an amazingly responsive, imaginative and sensitive drumming: it orders and underlines, decisively shapes, and in a restrained but effective manner accompanies his partners’ solistic excursions. This, like his entire presence here, is truly invaluable.

Within this flexible framework, where both of these stimulating and well-grounded musicians know how to let their vast experience flow fully into each musical moment, Yuri Storione's pianistic exuberance can wholly unfold, blossoming in all its splendor.

What were the last lines of the Mercer lyric? "It can't be true, but / This time the dream's on me." The Storione-Rossy-Schürmann Trio playfully twists and turns this dream. Without bombast and without hesitation, it transforms it in the most satisfying way: directly, easily, with depth and drive, into the reality of a surprising and captivating music: Yes, it can be true.

1. Father and Son 06:56

2. Violeta 06:07

3. Happy Hour 07:46

4. Ms. G. R. 05:23

5. One for Doris 06:21

6. This Time the Dream's on Me 05:17

7. Sambâle 05:48

8. Ruby My Dear 04:01

9. Viva Bud Powell! 05:29

10. Iberica 06:38

11. Lonely Owl 05:38

12. Holding Line 06:47

Yuri Storione - piano

Dominik Schürmann - bass

Jorge Rossy - drums

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© 2021 - NewArts International / Challenge Records Int.

xLWBxDRx - Prairie spells, a ribbon wove (2021)

"Prairie spells, a ribbon wove" is the outcome of a long-distance collaboration between Lightning White Bison (Adam Parks, also of Timber Rattle) and Drekka (Mkl Anderson), who at the time of its culmination were in eastern Czechia and central Indiana respectively.

The four 11-minute tracks are a sonic document of the exploration and reconciliation of geographic disparity, the distance between the places in which the collaborators each found themselves in a time of isolation. That document is here assembled as a quadripartite image of unity in concept and sound.

Built from a simple palette of exchanged raw materials, minimal drones, and field recordings from Mkl’s and Adam’s individual wanderings and past travels together, “Prairie spells, a ribbon wove” towers like a structure of unknown origin in a frosty plane, looming and beautiful and committing to neither threat nor its counterpart. These recordings call to mind the masterful tension of Fatima al Qadiri’s "Atlantique" score or Tim Hecker’s gentler moments. And although the music never tips into the pulsating realms that Coil’s "Hellraiser themes" do, this work similarly dances the line between pleasant and unsettling.

At this point in Drekka’s quarter century career, it would make sense to acknowledge his own hearty catalogue as an antecedent to this work. But like many of the most engaging collaborations, it’s difficult to decipher where one’s vision ends and another begins. And this can be said of the aesthetic of these recordings as well. Sight and site and sound and memory seem to all play a significant role. The result is rich and haunted.

1. untitled, at sinjin 11:00

2. through creatures, night return 11:00

3. bird and savior, sacred illness 11:00

4. at telč, an empress embalmed 11:00

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Out Friday, April 16 – Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta – SALSWING!

Rubén Blades has a fabulous new album that defies the SALSWING genre! with the Roberto Delgado Orchestra. Fusing salsa and jazz, the album comes out this Friday, April 16.

The album will also be released in separate editions, SALSA PLUS! on April 23 and SWING! April 30. For now it is digital, but there will be physical copies at a later date.

“SALSWING! As an album it has different purposes. One, to present the Roberto Delgado Orchestra as an ensemble capable of expanding its original Panamanian roots to encompass other musical genres, ”says Blades. “Another, to present my interest in exploring other vocal directions and thus eliminate the stereotype that affirms that we are conditioned to exist only artistically within specific limits, according to our nationality. Perhaps the most important point is to exemplify that, as artists, we direct our music to the world, not just to a specific segment of its population. "

rubenblades.com

Saskatchewan All Star Big Band - Saskatchewan Suite (April 30, 2021 Chronograph Records)

Through this recording project, the Regina Jazz Society seeks to communicate the beautifully unique history of Saskatchewan in the vernacular of jazz, by offering a live recording of a commissioned work by one of Canada’s most talented composers, Fred Stride. Recorded live at Casino Regina on December 28, 2019, the event featured many of the best local and ex-patriate musicians of the province in a truly special performance of Stride’s unique composition. It was an evening which allowed a fantastic group of artists to tell Saskatchewan’s story through music for the very first time ever.

The group of musicians on stage that night was one of the most impressive gatherings of talent in Saskatchewan’s history, and resulted in a caliber of performance unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. The Saskatchewan All Star Big Band is comprised of players that grew up here, got their musical start here, and were then exported to every corner of the globe to share their craft. They are joined by other players who came here to live, teach, and perform because Saskatchewan affords them that grand opportunity.

So, what is “The Saskatchewan Story”? It is the stories of everyone living here and all those that have gone before us. It is more than 150 years of narrative threads, weaving the canvas of our history since the days when Saskatchewan was ruled by the thundering hooves of the buffalo. It tells the story of how people arrived here. You will hear the train whistle bringing all the various settlers and immigrants to the province. It tells of the initial clash of cultures, followed by the important journey towards inclusiveness that has culminated in our society today. It tells the story of the seasons. You will hear the biting sounds of winter, the fierce wind howling at you over the brittle crunch of snow underfoot. You will also hear the soft, carefree nights of summer, with their cool refreshing breeze and orchestra of frogs croaking, crickets chirping, and songbirds singing sweet lullabies.

You will hear that Saskatchewan folk are farmers, businesspeople, potash workers, railroaders, hockey players, story tellers, writers, artists, and soldiers marching off to war. We are all The Saskatchewan Story, and that is what the Saskatchewan Suite is all about. This is the most novel, ambitious, progressive, and challenging project in the history of the Regina Jazz Society, and they are thrilled at the opportunity to share it with the world.

The Saskatchewan Suite will be released April 30th, 2021 by Chronograph Records

The Saskatchewan Suite: The Story of Us

1. I. The Place 11:18

2. II. The First 8:52

3. III. The Newcomers 5:34

4. IV. The In-Between 4:52

5. V. September 1905 4:58

6. VI. Saskatchesport 9:08

7. VII. Thank You, Mr. Douglas 5:02

8. VIII. Saskatchejazz 19:38

Fred Stride – Musical Director, Composer, Keyboards

Dean McNeill – Lead Trumpet

Al Muirhead – Trumpet

Andy King – Trumpet

Brent Ghiglione – Trumpet

Dave Mossing – Trumpet

PJ Perry – Lead Alto Saxophone

Donny Kennedy – Alto Saxophone

Kelly Jefferson – Tenor Saxophone

Steve Kaldestad – Tenor Saxophone

Trent Reschny – Bari Saxophone

Shawn Grocott – Lead Trombone

Ross Ulmer – Trombone

Tom Richards – Trombone

Dave Dick – Bass Trombone

Jon Ballantyne – Piano

Jack Semple – Guitar

Miles Foxx Hill – Bass

Ted Warren – Drums

Dylan Weist – Vibraphone/Percussion

Ed Minevich – Violin

Cam Wilson  – Violin

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