Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Jazz at Home Watch the JLCO, Paquito D'Rivera, and Lakecia Benjamin Live; Plus, The LA Scene and FREE Access to Jazz Congress

2020-21
 

Witness the World Premiere: Freedom, Justice, and Hope

Featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Social Justice Advocate Bryan Stevenson
Premieres May 21 at 7:30pm ET
On-demand through May 26
Virtual ticket: $20  

In collaboration with Bryan Stevenson—a globally acclaimed activist, public interest lawyer, and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative—the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis will perform compelling and deeply personal new music by emerging composers Josh Evans (trumpet) and Endea Owens (bass; Jon Batiste’s Stay Human). Join us for this inspiring night of music.

Leadership support provided by Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg  

In these trying times, we plan to continue entertaining, enriching, and expanding the global community for jazz through online education and our social platforms. Please consider supporting Jazz at Lincoln Center at whatever level you can. 

Live from Dizzy's Club is Back!

Join us from the comfort of your own home as we bring stunning New York views and the live jazz club experience to your living room. See the upcoming shows listed below and get your virtual ticket today.

Thursday, May 6 - 7:30pm ET
Paquito D'Rivera & Alex Brown (Buy Tickets)

Thursday, May 13 - 7:30pm ET
Lakecia Benjamin (Buy Tickets)

Thursday, May 27  - 7:30pm ET
Sullivan Fortner (Buy Tickets)
Register for Jazz Congress 2021

Registration is open for Jazz Congress, which will take place virtually on May 17-20, 2021. Presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center and JazzTimes, the conference for artists, media, and industry leaders in the global jazz community is free this year!

For a sample of what went down at last year's Jazz Congress, check out  "We Insist: Speaking Truth to Power,” the newest episode of the Jazz Congress Podcast, available now on all platforms.

Swing U Spring Term Now in Session!
 
Swing University - Spring Virtual Term
Now–June 30
$10-$12 for individual classes
All-Access package available

Swing University offers engaging virtual classes for jazz fans, enthusiasts, and students of all backgrounds and levels. This term, learn more about jazz legends like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, and more!

Our fun and informal classes are taught by industry experts like Seton Hawkins, Todd Stoll, and Justin Poindexter as well as members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra including Victor Goines, Vincent Gardner, and more. Explore jazz history, discuss new and classic tunes, and discover listening methods that will improve your concert experiences.

ALL-ACCESS PACKAGE RATE: $200 (to purchase, please email swingu@jazz.org or call 212-958-9877

SINGLE CLASSES:  
$10 - pricing available through the Saturday prior to class
$12 - starting Sunday prior to class

Watch: “It Come ‘Round ‘Gin”

In the spirit of #JusticeAndHope, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis gives a lively performance of “It Come ‘Round ‘Gin” from The Democracy! Suite. Listen to the full album out now on Blue Engine Records.

Listen to the Sounds of Los Angeles With Our Playlist

From Lionel Hampton to Gerry Mulligan to Kamasi Washington, the City of Angels has been a West Coast hotspot for jazz innovation. Explore the evolution of LA jazz through our kaleidoscopic playlist.


Watch JALC Live and Create Your Own House of Swing

Check out this week's digital offerings (all times ET) and view our full schedule here.

Wednesday, May 5

7pm - Swing University: Jazz 101 (Register)

Thursday, May 6

12pm - A Closer Listen with Seton Hawkins and Yunie Mojica (Zoom and Facebook Live)

7pm - Swing University: Boss Guitar: The Music of Wes Montgomery (Register)

7:30pm - Live from Dizzy's Club: Paquito D'Rivera & Alex Brown (Buy Tickets)

Friday, May 7

7pm - Swing University: Pops is Tops: Celebrating Louis Armstrong (Register)

Saturday, May 8

3pm - Swing University: 88 Keys: Iconic Jazz Pianists (Register)

Sunday, May 9

2pm - Swing University: Change of the Century: Ornette Coleman's Genius (Register)

Tuesday, May 11

12pm - A Closer Listen with Seton Hawkins and Yunie Mojica (Zoom and Facebook Live)

7pm - Swing University: The Life of John Coltrane (Register)
a la dirección

Rino Arbore - Temporary Life? (May 4, 2021 Dodicilune / Ird)

RINO ARBORE
TEMPORARY LIFE?
DODICILUNE / IRD
After having explored the world of rituals and grief in his album “The Roots of Unity”, Rino Arbore - in this record titled “temporary life?” - deals with several thorny ethical issues: the ability to resist evil, indifference or empathy with other people’s suffering and the value of life. As starting point there are three mug shots of Czeslawa Koka, a Polish girl interned in Auschwitz who died in 1943 at 14 years old, after only three months of detention. She was probably killed by a phenol injection. Wilhelm Brasse, the photographer of the camp, portrayed her posing in three different ways, as Nazi used to “identify” their prisoners: a frontal photo and two profile photos. His shots depict a terrified little girl, with her head shaved and a wound on her lip: the same Brasse then reported that the girl, who couldn’t grasp a single word of German and that felt like she was thrown with her mother in an incomprehensible horror, in the picture had just been beaten by a Kapo with a stick.

In the photos she stays motionless in shock and with fear. The album “temporary life?” is dedicated to Czeslawa Koka and to Brasse. In fact the titles of the tracks are conceived to suggest a sort of narration of their life stories. The powerful and tense music is entrusted to a classical jazz quintet, that is classical on paper alone: you are not going to listen to unison themes and long solos accompanied by rhythmic music. The music texture is more complex and free, as it follows a chamber-music cosmetic that continuously divides the group in smaller units, until the rhythm is entrusted to single musicians. More compact tracks in the name of free-bop, like “Czeslawa cries”, “The train at dawn” or “Dance of pigs”, alternate with more sophisticated tracks like “Temporary life?” or the final “Corpi inutili” (Useless bodies). The tune is suggestive and alienating in “L’amore in fondo” (Love at the bottom), a typical shady ballad whose secret is known by Arbore.

All the involved musicians play in a marvellous way: Rubini with his zigzagging paths, Distante with is lyric pathos, Vendola with his warm presence and D’Ambrosio with his always dramatically meaningful contribution, to end with Arbore’s guitar, that directs the rhythm and colour of music. All this contributes to mark a work whose beauty and stunning depth will stay with us for a long time. Fabrizio Versienti
1 - Temporary life?
2 - Czeslawa cries
3 - Nie rozùmiem ci
4 - The train at dawn
5 - Dance of pigs
6 - Fabrika
7 - L'amore in fondo
8 - Block
9 - Wilhelm Brasse
10 - Corpi inutili  

All compositions by Gennaro Arbore

Rino Arbore - guitar
Giorgio Distante - trumpet
Mike Rubini - alto sax
Giorgio Vendola - double bass
Pippo D’Ambrosio - drums

Produced by Maurizio Bizzochetti, Gabriele Rampino, Dodicilune, Italy
Label manager Maurizio Bizzochetti (www.dodicilune.it)
Recorded 15, 16 February 2018 at Studio Sorriso, Bari, Italy
Mixed and mastered 18 April 2018 at Studio Sorriso, Bari, Italy
Sound engineer Tommy Cavalieri
Photos by Lorenzo Zitoli, Alessandro Pensini, Giovanna Sodano, Marina Damato
a la dirección

Grammy-Nominated Brazilian Guitarist Ricardo Silveira Releases SOLO

ACCLAIMED BRAZILIAN GUITARIST RICARDO SILVEIRA RELEASES SOLO


Renowned Brazilian guitarist RICARDO SILVEIRA is releasing his first solo album, aptly titled SOLO (April 16, 2021, Moondo Music LLC). Silveira is a prolific recording and performing artist in both Brazil and the United States. He has worked with a Who’s Who of legendary Brazilian artists, and he has recorded over a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader. He has also appeared on numerous CDs as a sideman for other artists, including Elis Regina, Milton Nascimento, Wayne Shorter, Gilberto Gil, Ivan Lins, Joao Bosco, Gregg Karukas, Marcos Ariel, Diana Ross, Vanessa Williams, and others.

Silveira grew up in Rio de Janeiro, surrounded by the lush rhythms of Brazilian music. Attracted to the top rock and blues acts of the day, like the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and BB King, he began playing guitar at the age of 11. He also started exploring jazz artists like Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Joe Pass, George Benson, and Wes Montgomery.

Silveira started developing his chops by jamming with friends and playing at various school shows and festivals. He decided to become a professional musician and began studying classical guitar and music theory to pursue his music studies in college. Although Brazilian universities at that time offered courses in music, they didn’t offer courses specifically designed for guitar, so Silveira signed up for a summer course at Berklee College of Music in Boston. That summer course changed his life as he got a scholarship to continue studying at Berklee. He also began shuttling regularly back and forth between Brazil and the U.S.

While in Boston, he met guitarist Bill Frisell, who recommended him for a salsa band called Latin Stars. It was the beginning of Silveira’s career as a professional musician. When he wasn’t in school or playing gigs, Silveira also started travelling back and forth to New York City to play music and hang out with friends. Another Brazilian guitarist, Claudio Roditi, soon told renowned flutist Herbie Mann about Silveira.

Mann was one of the pioneers of fusing jazz and World music. At the time, he was looking for a Brazilian guitarist who could play Brazilian rhythms as well as straight-ahead jazz, blues, and other styles. He hired Silveira on the spot. Silveira quit Berklee, moved to New York, and spent two years performing and recording with Mann. While living in New York, he also began working as a studio musician with some of the top jazz musicians around, like Steve Gadd, Richard Tee, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Jason Miles, and Nana Vasconcelos. He has shared the stage with Sergio Mendes, Dave Grusin, Oscar Castro Neves, Dori Caymmi, Diana Ross, Justo Almario, Toots Thielemans , Baby Face, Pat Metheny, Ernie Watts, and Abe Laboriel, among many others. He toured Europe and made eight trips to Japan with Sadao Watanabe and Don Grusin.

Silveira recorded his first album as a leader in 1984 for the Polygram label. The album, Bom De Tocar (Good to Touch), became a huge radio hit and established his reputation as a top recording artist in his own right. He moved to Los Angeles not long after the album was released. He explains, “I travelled to Southern California several times to perform, and after living in Boston and New York for several years, I just wanted a change. And coming from Brazil, I really wanted to move to a warmer climate.”
Silveira became a regular on the California jazz scene and went on to record albums for several labels, most notably four CDs for Verve Forecast between 1988 and 1992, and an album for Kokopeli, Herbie Mann’s label, in 1995. He also released six albums for the Adventure Music label, the New York-based label which became a home for many Brazilian, African, and New Age musicians. His first release for Adventure, Noite Clara, received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Album in 2004.

Silveira played on Randy Brecker’s Randy in Brazil, which won a Grammy in 2009 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Also in 2009, Silveira was the music director for singer-songwriter Joao Bosco’s I'm Not Going to Heaven, But No Longer Live on the Ground, which was nominated for the Brazilian Music Award and a Latin Grammy Award in 2010.

Like almost all musicians, Silveira’s normally busy touring schedule became wide open because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Quarantined at home, he decided it was a good opportunity to finally record a solo album. At first, he considered just putting out his music on YouTube, but he changed his mind after talking with Colombian-American guitarist, Juan Carlos Quintero, who recently revived his label, Moondo Music LLC. Silveira’s album was a perfect fit for the high-quality, artistically rendered jazz and World Music that Quintero envisions for his label.

SOLO is an atmospheric, romantic album that pairs well with a glass of wine on a balmy night. JazzTimes Magazine has said, “Silveira chooses each note carefully, and his compositions are wonderfully detailed yet understated.” Silveira included six of his original tunes, all of which he recorded on previous albums but re-imagined here for solo guitar, as well as songs by great Brazilian composers Marcos Valle & Paulo Sergio Valle, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Johnny Alf, as well as a gorgeous rendition of Rodgers & Hart’s “My Romance.”

Silveira’s music is graceful, and his style is straight-ahead, contemporary, and audience friendly. Although Latin jazz and Brazilian flavors are sprinkled throughout this album, the music is reflective and airy while still maintaining its groove-based roots.

1. Rio Texas
2. Preciso Aprender A Ser So
3. That Day in Tahiti
4. Tango Carioca
5. Luiza
6. Francesca
7. My Romance
8. Zingaro/Retrato em Branco e Preto
9. Noite Clara
10. Eu e Brisa
11. Amazon Secrets

SOLO will be available on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes and all digital platforms

a la dirección