Telemakus - The New Heritage (October 13, 2021 Radio Juicy)

Northern Californian composer/pianist Telemakus prepares the release of his LP ‘The New Heritage’, taking a step into a new artistic beginning. His work has stemmed to highly creative composition and arrangement, generating a spirited album tackling the themes of exploration, wonder, and innocence. This album’s foundation lies at the intersection of jazz and hip hop, playing into the heritage of jazz-sampling artists who turned their hands to instruments, and discovered new musical dimensions and complexities. Fruiting from the year-long COVID-19 lockdown, the album was created virtually with musicians from 11 countries, with a focus on maintaining a live sound while exploring ideas the producer normally wouldn’t have considered. The LP is releasing via Radio Juicy on the 13th October 2021.

‘The New Heritage’ represents Telemakus’ lineage growing up in the jazz scene, gigging locally in the Bay Area. Being a self-taught pianist, the artist has a unique gift for harmony which evidently translates into the LP’s tracks as a continuous flow of inspiration. Having found his own sound listening to the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, DJ Harrison, and Robert Glasper, Telemakus’ has developed a deeply personal style, as he likes to define it, “off-kilter and unique”.

Having written all the album’s instrumental parts, Telemakus joins forces with a host of incredible musicians to paint a series of stunning soundscapes. ‘Mars Blues’ (Releasing on 21st July) is the first single lifted from the LP witnessing the contribution of Chino Corvalán, Ted Taforo and Corydrums. This track documents the strong connection developed between the musicians, who the producer sees as “incredible people who sometimes mentored me and taught me a lot about how my music can sound”. The track explores an expressive sci-fi-esque sound palette, referencing Telemakus’ fascination for outer space and astronomy.

1. Awaken - Intro

2. You Ready (feat. Marcelo Soler, Tane)

3. Jacochi (Phrases) (feat. Chino Corvalán)

4. Mars Blues (feat. Chino Corvalán, Ted Taforo, Corydrums)

5. All of This (feat. Ted Taforo, CARRTOONS, Tamuz, David James, Phøn, Gavin Grant)

6. The New Heritage (feat. Kosie, Chino Corvalán, David James)

7. City Dreams (feat. Phøn, Javier Santiago, Tamuz)

8. Stoplight (feat. bastrd)

9. Spirit C (Interlude)

10. Awaken - Sunrise (feat. Alissa Johnson, Chino Corvalán)

11. Moondrive

12. You Ready Reprise (feat. CARRTOONS, David James, Ted Taforo)

13. Third Sun (feat. Thomas Pridgen, Joey Garcia)

14. After Hours - Outro

All compositions and arrangements by Telemakus

Telemakus - Piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Synths, Synth Bass, Clavinet, Drum Production and Programming

FEATURING:

Chino Corvalán - Bass (3,4,6,14), Composition/Vocals (14)

Marcelo Soler - Drums (2)

Kosie - Alto Sax (6)

Javier Santiago - Trumpet/Additional Composition/Arrangement/Piano/Rhodes (7)

CARRTOONS - Bass (5,12)

David James - Drums (5,6,11)

Alissa Johnson - Drums (10)

Phøn - Trumpet (5,7), Additional Arrangement (7)

Ted Taforo - Tenor Sax (4,5,12), Composition/Arrangement (5)

Tamuz - Drums (5,7,12)

Corydrums - Drums (4)

bastrd - Drum Programming (8)

10.4 ROG - Additional Drum Programming (5)

Tane - Guitar/Bass/Composition (2)

Gavin Grant - Vocals (5)

Joey Garcia - Guitar/Composition (13)

Thomas Pridgen - Drums (13)

Artwork by Dohee Kwon (@kimchisuperpower)

Mastering by sterilone at STAUB

Published, manufactured and distributed by Urban Waves

Radio Juicy © 2021 

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Thollem / Avreeayl Ra / Matt Lux - Thollem's Astral Traveling Sessions (2021 Astral Spirits)

Thanks to Josh Berman, Mike Reed and Hungry Brain for hosting us as part of the Sunday Night Jazz and Improvised Music Series and the lovely audience that came out for it. This was the first time Avreeayl and I played together. Matt and I had played a bit previously.

“WARNING! This album truly needs a warning label, because the music you’re about to hear is at a level of dangerous intensity. I remember this concert well. The sun had already set on that brisk Chicago evening, and people were starting to make their way to the Hungry Brain. My brain was certainly very hungry. I came in thinking I might need a coffee, but upon hearing a few minutes of the trio’s quick sound check, I realized all the energizing power I needed was about to be given to me by these three improvisational monsters! Absolute creative masterminds! Hearing Thollem play is quite the experience on its own, but the addition of Matthew Lux and Avreeayl Ra was something of a whole new category. Each of these creators pushed each other in new directions and new heights, each knew exactly when to let it all out, and when to play as softly as possible; when to start a new piece, and when to let it ride. I am so thankful that evening was captured for posterity. Listeners will be wrapping their minds around this for centuries to come." - Matt Scutchfield

Chicago master drummer / percussionist AVREEAYL RA was born in Chicago on May 21st, 1947 and still lives there today. He is a renowned musician always in demand among visiting jazz artists in Chicago. Avreeayl’s father, Arthur “Swinglee” O’Neil, was a tenor saxophonist who was mentor to many young Chicago musicians, including John Gilmore, later the mainstay of Sun Ra’s Arkestra. (Avreeayl reports that John Gilmore had a crush on Avreeayl’s sister and so spent as much time as he could at the family house.) Swinglee O’Neil played in one of Sun Ra’s early Chicago bands, and Sun Ra played in one of Swinglee’s groups as well.Avreeayl is a long-term member of the Chicago AACM, his relationship with the seminal music organization having begun with early studies with AACM co-founder Kelan Philip Cohran. Avreeayl has performed and / or recorded with Fred Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Ari Brown, Oscar Brown, Jr., Henry Butler, Henry Byrd (”Professor Longhair”), Hamid Drake, Malachi Favors, Donald Raphael Garrett, Charles Gayle, Henry Grimes, Billy Harper, Joseph Jarman, Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Nicole Mitchell, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Malachi Thompson, and many more.Avreeayl considers himself greatly blessed to have come up in the richly progressive Chicago “avant-garde” jazz community. Though he has lived briefly in New Orleans and New York and has toured widely in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Far East, and Africa, he has always returned home to live in Chicago.

Matthew Lux (1973, Chicago) Known primarily from group Isotope 217, Iron & Wine, and his association with Rob Mazurek’s various ensembles. Performing and recording with musicians such as - Peven Everett, Bill Callahan, Pharoah Sanders, Nobukazu Takemura, George Freeman and Eddie Kirkland over his 30 year career. His first release as a leader, Contra/Fact came out in 2018 on Astral Spirits. 

1. Thollem / Lux / Ra 1 25:34

2. Thollem / Lux / Ra 2 16:53

Avreeayl Ra, Drums

Matt Lux, Bass

Thollem, Piano

Live concert recording September 14th, 2019 at the Hungry Brain Chicago, IL

Edited by Thollem

Mastered by Drake Hardin

Cover Art by ACVilla

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RoD - Standards Vol. 1 (July 2021)

First EP featuring some of my all-time favorite Jazz Standards.

Much love and respect to everyone that made this possible. Thank you for supporting and giving it a listen. Enjoy!

1. Monk's Dream 07:28

2. Background Music 04:19

3. Weaver of Dreams 05:01

Antonio Alonso, drums (tracks 1 & 2)

Manuel Requena, bass (all tracks)

Jonathan Purizaga, keys (tracks 1 & 2)

Edgardo Benedetti, trumpet (track 1)

Julio Flavio Maza, tenor sax (all tracks)

Rodrigo Romero (RoD), alto and tenor sax (all tracks)

Produced by RoD

Mixing and mastering by Diego Surichaqui

Artwork by Sebastian Koc

Recorded at Andex Studios. April 27th, 2021

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Bobby Hackett - One of Us (July 2021 nagel heyer records)

Bobby Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was an American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.

He also played lead trumpet in the Vic Schoen Orchestra which backed the Andrews Sisters.

Hackett was featured as a cornet soloist on six of the Jackie Gleason mood music albums. The records all went gold for over 500.000 copies sold.

1. In a Mellow Tone 05:04

2. Indiana 06:09

3. When Your Lover Has Gone 04:24

4. Fidgety Feet 07:27

5. Muskrat Ramble 04:34

6. Basin Street Blues 07:28

7. There'll Be Some Changes Made 03:36

8. Struttin' with Some Barbecue 07:17

9. Satin Doll 04:24

10. Poor Butterfly / Manhattan / September Song / Slow Mood / Lazy River 07:07

11. You Do Something to Me 03:26

12. Sweet Georgia Brown 07:00

13. Bank Commissioner's Blues 06:16

14. Take the "A" Train 08:03

15. Perdido 06:38

16. Exactly Like You 05:57

17. China Boy 06:54

Bobby Hackett - trumpet, cornet

Vic Dickenson - trombone

Edmond Hall - clarinet

plus

Various Artists

Recorded live in New York City

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Frankie Laine / Buck Clayton / Michel Legrand - Back in Swingtime (July 2021 nagel heyer records)

Swing is the thing

Let the good times roll

1. Stars Fell on Alabama 05:21

2. Baby, Just for Me 02:55

3. Lover Come Back to Me 03:36

4. If You Were Mine 04:31

5. You're Just the Kind 02:52

6. That Old Feeling 06:13

7. Dream a Little Dream of Me 03:43

8. Roses of Picardy 05:29

9. Until the Real Thing Comes Along 04:22

10. Taking a Chance on Love 02:48

11. Blue Moon 05:17

12. S'posin' (I Should Fall in Love) 04:02

13. Too Marvelous for Words 03:17

14. Marie 02:35

15. September in the Rain 03:12

16. You Can Depend on Me 05:45

17. To My Wife 02:54

18. Baby, Baby All the Time 04:05

19. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 03:18

Frankie Laine - vocals

Buck Clayton - trumpet, arranger

Michel Legrand - piano, arranger

plus

Various Artists

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Detroit Composers' Collective - Realism (July 2021)

1. The Masters 07:23

2. Tony's Trip 06:43

3. Cuernavaca 08:24

4. Samba de Romance 08:22

5. Realism 05:06

6. Existentialism 06:08

7. PJ Lids 09:01

8. Spinning 08:40

Tracks 1, 2, 5, and 8 composed by Mark Lipson. Published by Detroit Composers' Collective.

Tracks 3 and 4 composed by Kenn Cox, Published by Synergy Music Company

Tracks 6 and 7 composed by Brad Felt, Published by Dart Blef Music

Tracks 1, 5, 8:

Dwight Adams - trumpet

Andrew Bishop - tenor saxophone

Cliff Monear - piano

Miles Brown - bass

Jesse Kramer - drums

Tracks 2-4, 6-7:

Dwight Adams - trumpet

Rafael Statin - flute, tenor saxophone

Terry Kimura - trombone

Michael Malis - piano/keyboards

Jeff Pedraz - bass

Sean Dobbins - drums

Pepe Espinosa - percussion

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Camila Nebbia & Patrick Shiroishi - The Human Being As A Fragile Article (July 2021 Trouble In Mind Records)

The eleventh entry in Trouble In Mind's Explorers Series pushes forward with a dazzling duo exchange from Buenos Aires-born, Stockholm-based saxophone player, composer, improviser, multidisciplinary artist and activist Camila Nebbia & Los Angeles saxophone player & multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi. Utilizing two saxophones, electronics and ambient/found sounds,"The Human Being As A Fragile Article" is an intuitive and expressive conversation between two prolific vanguards of brass; at times minimal and purposeful, and other times explosive and lyrical, exploring the physical, mental and emotional layers within the brittle facade of the human shell.

1. Un nino llamado cuervo -「からす」という名の少年 03:49

2. El ser humanx como un articulo fragil - 壊れやすい人間 02:19

3. Al costado de los recuerdos - 思い出の隣 07:09

4. Olvido - 忘却 02:25

5. Mis pies son tan fuertes como mi corazon - 僕の足は　僕の心臓と同じ位強い 03:00

6. Mentiras y silencio - 嘘と沈黙 03:04

7. El espacio entre el lenguaje - 言語の間 03:39

8. Tierra seca - 乾燥した土地 01:16

9. Apagar el televisor - TVを消して 01:55

10. Mientras el cisne blanco se eleva al cielo no deja rastros aca abajo - 白鳥が天に昇る時 地上には何も遺さない 11:15

www.camilanebbia.com

www.patrickshiroishi.com

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Dayna Stephens - Pluto Juice (July 2021)

For nearly 15 years, having achieved international renown as a saxophonist (#1 Rising Star Tenor, 2019 Downbeat Critics Poll), Dayna Stephens has worked assiduously to create a musical voice on the Akai Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI). Following in the footsteps of Bob Mintzer and the late Michael Brecker, and like his EWI-exploring peers Morgan Guerin, Mark Shim and Seamus Blake, Stephens has featured the EWI in select contexts with his own bands, on Gilad Hekselman’s 2019 release Further Chaos and other projects. With Pluto Juice, co-led and co-produced by drummer and composer Anthony Fung, Stephens turns the spotlight fully on EWI for the first time, in an adventurous electric quartet setting with the stellar Canadian musicians Andrew Marzotto (guitar) and Rich Brown (bass).

One of the band’s first pieces, “Approaching Pluto,” was composed by Stephens when NASA’s New Horizons craft completed its long-awaited flyby of the dwarf planet in the summer of 2015. The music that followed was conceived specifically for the group, and the theme of space travel stuck. Stephens’ “Welcome to Our Snow Globe” leads off with a focus on Earth, while “Outskirts of Neptune” strives to capture the journey through the outermost solar system as Pluto grows momentously near. Fung’s “Pluto and Beyond” follows New Horizons past its final destination and further into the void, while two more Fung compositions, “Trial on Mars” and “Green Gargantua,” deal respectively with imagined conflict on other worlds and the unfathomably massive emptiness of a black hole. The writing, full of complexity, rhythmic urgency and sonic adventure, represents a thrilling new departure for the two co-leaders.

Fung, a Toronto native now based in Los Angeles, has two fine albums to his credit, Chronicles (2014) and Flashpoint (2018, awarded four stars in Downbeat). He first played with Stephens when called to sub on a trio gig at the LA club Sam First. Sparks flew right away, and Fung invited Stephens up to Toronto to pursue the EWI-driven collaboration that became Pluto Juice. “The first Pluto Juice gig in January 2019 was immediately awesome,” recalls Stephens, “and by the time we played the Toronto Jazz Festival we knew we had to record, because this was some serious s**t.”

The group takes full advantage of the EWI’s capabilities in creating what Stephens calls “a sea of infinity in terms of sound production.” Stephens employs synth interfaces, copious guitar pedals and other wares, imbuing Pluto Juice with a wealth of sonic color and mystery. The EWI has the unique advantage of being terra incognita, far more so than the tenor saxophone, Stephens notes: “There’s a lot less pressure, and you can really develop your own approach to it. It’s got eight octaves like a piano as opposed to two and a half on sax, so it’s a completely different universe.” The EWI can also function harmonically: you will often hear Stephens comping two-note dyads under Marzotto’s solos. “There’s an expression I’ve heard regarding tenor players, ‘You’ve got to fight for your sound,’ and that’s what I feel like I’m still doing on EWI,” he muses. “I’m still just getting started on this axe. The possibilities are so endless.” In fact, constant innovation in synth technology (physical modeling, wavetables, harmonizers, all too involved to attempt to explain here) assures that the possibilities are growing more endless still.

At times Stephens will tap into a lyrical woodwind tone, or conjure a broad open soundscape, or dig in with something reminiscent of a Hammond B3 with Leslie speaker. Or he’ll launch into gnarled, overdriven lines and phrases, equal parts John Scofield and some unknown instrument from the beyond.

The blend of EWI with Marzotto’s fluid guitar lines and celestial harmonies, and the supple rock-solid feel of Brown and Fung, makes Pluto Juice all the more striking. “I’ve known Andrew since we were kids,” says Fung. “We went to Berklee together, he’s one of my closest buddies from Toronto. He had his own thing from the start and that’s why I love calling him for projects.” Rich Brown made waves as the original bassist of Andy Milne’s Dapp Theory and has done groundbreaking work as a leader with rinsethealgorithm, Abeng and the solo bass album Between Heaviness & Here. His effortless facility and deep tone help make Pluto Juice the captivating listen that it is. 

1. Welcome to our Snow Globe 06:55

2. Pluto and Beyond 05:29

3. Outskirts of Neptune 08:53

4. Rolly Polly 06:20

5. Trial on Mars 04:54

6. Zoomed Out 07:37

7. Green Gargantua 04:01

8. Approaching Pluto 06:30

9. Lies That Tell the Truth 02:53

Dayna Stephens - Ewi & Soprano Sax

Anthony Fung - Drums

Andrew Marzotto - Guitar

Rich Brown - Bass

Pete Rende - Synth (only on Track 5)

Produced by Anthony Fung & Dayna Stephens

Recorded October 27, 2019 by Chris Stringer at Unknown Sound Company in Toronto, Canada

Mixed by Pete Rende

Mastered by Nate Wood

Artwork by Dayna Stephens & Christopher Drukker

Graphic design by Christopher Drukker

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Keiichi Hashimoto - Starry Night (July 2021)

Keiichi Hashimoto is a Japanese professional jazz pianist. He performed at Shinjuku PIT INN and many jazz clubs in Japan. He has composed music of theater such as “GOKUJO BUNGAKU” series and produced also performed as a musician as well.

1. Star Tour Song 05:30

2. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 02:29

3. Get Closer to the Lord 03:54

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