Martin Wind / New York Bass Quartet - AIR (Four double bassists in Martin Wind's "tour de force") Available February 25, 2022 via Laika Records

Martin Wind presents the double bass in an entirely new way with his New York Bass Quartet album AIR

Available February 25, 2022 via Laika Records

Featuring bassists Wind, Gregg August, Jordan Frazier and Sam Suggs 

plus Matt Wilson, Lenny White and Gary Versace 

“... a tour de force.  Each of the quartet members are virtuosos on the double bass collaborating to present a fun, unique, and accessible program of eclectic music from J.S Bach to Paul McCartney to Martin Wind....this recording has raised the bar to a higher level for the 21st Century Double Bass community and music lovers, alike. BRAVO GENTLEMEN!  I love it!”

– jazz bassist/composer Rufus Reid

Air, the new album by bassist Martin Wind,  presents the double bass in an entirely new way: making it the center of the action. Wind, born in Flensburg, Germany, emigrated to New York a quarter of a century ago to seek his musical fortune in the world capital of jazz, and found it. Now, on Air, he introduces us to his New York Bass Quartet.

The idea of forming an all-bass ensemble came to Wind about ten years ago when he began teaching at Hofstra University. "For this group I wanted to gather students from different stylistic backgrounds and expose them to a wide repertoire of pieces - from Bach chorales to pop songs to jazz adaptations. And because I didn't want the material to be repetitive week after week, my students and I started writing arrangements," Wind recalls. 

On Air, Wind documents eight of these arrangements with the support of several of New York’s world-class musicians. They include Jordan Frazier (principal bass with the renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra), Gregg August (2020 Grammy nominee in the "Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording" category), and Sam Suggs, who at 30 sounds "outrageously mature," as Wind puts it.

"I consider them the A-Team for this kind of a project. Thanks to their versatility and perfect bowing technique, I was able to explore the immense tonal possibilities of the instrument, as well as the entire scope between classical, rock and jazz."

Photo by Pete Coco

The result delivers numerous moments of surprise while covering a sonic range of over four octaves. On the title track "Air," the ensemble starts off measured and close to the original by Johann Sebastian Bach. “(Give Me Some) G-String” also seems similar at first, before completely spinning into a different direction. Here, drum legend Lenny White ("Return to Forever") and Gary Versace on the Hammond B3 ensure that the piece grooves mightily.  On the Weather Report anthem "Birdland," White again puts his stamp on the arrangement with his uncompromising backbeat.

With his Beatles medley, Martin Wind demonstrates why he’s been making a name for himself as an arranger, as well. He weaves "The Long and Winding Road," "Here, There and Everywhere," "She`s Leaving Home" and "Lady Madonna" into a polyphonic work of art. The starting point for Wind's adaptation of Charlie Haden’s “Silence” is a chord progression of only eight measures, from which Wind creates an eight-minute opus. "Starting with a musical cell and expanding it - that's something that particularly appeals to me," reveals Wind, who  n achieves a special coup with Air - both musically and in terms of personnel.

The liner notes by Ron Carter, who played bass for Miles Davis,  reflect respect and admiration: "Imagine an album on which four bassists and some guest musicians dare to play exceptionally difficult arrangements - and succeed thanks to their outstanding skills. Well - stop just imagining it. Because this album is the sounding proof that it can succeed."

1. Air [Quartet Version] (J.S.Bach) 2:55

2. [Give me some] G-String (Martin Wind) 7:15

3. Beatles Medley (Lennon /McCartney) 8:48

4. Birdland (Joe Zawinul) 6:02

5. Silence (Charlie Haden) 8:06

6. I'd Rather Eat (Martin Wind) 6:50

7. Tell Her You Saw Me (Pat Metheny) 4:17

8. Iceland Romance (Martin Wind) 6:14

9. Air [Trio Version] (J.S.Bach) 3:33

Martin Wind (upright bass)

Gregg August (upright bass)

Jordan Frazier (upright bass)

Sam Suggs (upright bass)

Special guests

Matt Wilson, drums & percussion

Lenny White, drums

Gerry Versacepiano, organ, accordion

Produced 2021 by Martin Wind. Executive produced 2021 by Peter Cronemeyer.

Recorded by David Kowalski at Teaneck Sound Studio in Teaneck, New Jersey on March 19 and 27, 2021.

Mixed by Tyler McDiarmid in April/ May 2021 in Astoria, New York.

Mastered by Gene Paul in May 2021 at G and J Audio, Union City, New Jersey.

Photos by Pete Coco, Garden City, New York.

Laika Records

PRE-ORDER

MARTIN WIND QUARTET

My Astorian Queen

November 12, 2021 – Laika Records 

Martin Wind • Scott Robinson • Bill Mays • Matt Wilson

in Republic of Jazz

JD ALLEN / BART BABINSKI Kick-Off Day In Celebration of *LOVE STONE* (6.15, Savant) at NYC's Hasselblad Experience Studio on 6.15 from 6-9pm *RSVP ONLY* + NUBLU 151 on 6.18 at 8pm & 10pm

Please join us for this very special evening on June 15th from 6-9pm at the new Hasselblad Experience Studio to celebrate the release of JD’s stunning collection of ballads, LOVE STONE along with the photographs and short film that were shot along with these siren songs, hitting the streets the morning of June 15 on Savant/High Records. Collector’s photos and CDs will be for sale with part of the proceeds going to help fuel the dreams of future photographers and musicians around the world; both charities of the artists and photographers choice will be announced ahead of the evening.

This event will lead us into our LPR presents NUBLU (151 Ave C) CD Celebration on Monday, June 18th at 8pm & 10pm. Doors at 7pm. This official NYC CD release event will feature JDs trio, “…the almost telepathic, three-headed machine, making some of the most exciting jazz around” (Burning Ambulance) with Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums.

Come and celebrate with us for a few nights kicking off at Hasselblad in NOHO with JDs gorgeous solo saxophone, short film/slide show premiere, collection of photos by photographer Bart Babinski, Love Stone CDs, light snacks, summer drinks, good vibes + good company on release day and then again on Monday, June 18th when LPR presents at NuBlu 151 two sets with the JD ALLEN TRIO featuring Gregg August & Rudy Royston.

**RSVP FOR JUNE 15TH ASAP** --- SEATING IS LIMITED

6.15 RSVP for HASSELBLAD EVENT: HERE

6.18 NUBLU/LPR PRESENTS Event Page

6.18 FACEBOOK EVENT - NUBLU/LPR Presents

JD Allen - Love Stone (SAVANT RECORDS June 15, 2018)

Tenor saxophonist JD Allen's output on Savant Records has been steady since his 2012 album The Matador and the Bull, and this beautiful and intensely interesting ballads album is an assured milestone in his career to date. There are patented JD-isms: that almost operatic-like swoon and smear of tone; deconstructed themes full of non-linearity and melodic asides arriving unforeseen. As in all of Allen's recordings, there is also a spare Chopin-like quality, with a shadowy, crepuscular character to much of the material. An album made up entirely of ballads requires a first-rate harmonic foundation and guitarist Liberty Ellman once again proves himself to be the most sensitive of accompanists, alternating between full harmonic richness and skittering, almost pointillistic lines which merely hint at the harmonies. The depth of Allen's timbre and phrasing is such that the absence of a keyboard is not really felt, and his quartet proves again that it is one of the most highly accomplished small groups in contemporary jazz.

1. Stranger in Paradise

2. Until the Real Thing Comes Along

3. Why Was I Born

4. You're My Thrill

5. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies

6. Put on a Happy Face

7. Prisoner of Love

8. Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)

9. Gone with the Wind

JD Allen, tenor saxophone

Liberty Ellman, guitar

Gregg August, bass

Rudy Royston, drums

JD Allen - Graffiti (2015)

Graffiti, tenorist JD Allen’s ninth album as a leader and his fourth consecutive project for the Savant label, could be considered a back-to-basics affair. The piano component that altered his core trio concept is gone. His regular sidemen, bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston, are back on board. At this point their relationship the three players are so aligned and intuitively responsive to each other that the challenge for Allen amounts to devising variable means to confront and test these bonds while keeping the processes and outcomes accessible to an audience. Turn the focus too far inward and the risk becomes potential estrangement. It’s a balancing act that these musicians have become experts at accomplishing.

Allen’s also onto something with his candid self-penned liners, which begin with a sincere expression of gratitude to listeners for spending time with his music. Next come edifying annotations for the disc’s nine tracks that express his general intent and designs on each. That’s it. Yet another manifestation of the no-nonsense approach he’s become known for over the course of his career. The compositions reflect the same in aural form, presenting a series of friendly obstacle courses hinged on spontaneous and collective choice-making. Each piece presents a clear set of parameters while ensuring that the ensuing permutations retain both momentum and flexibility. Allen even inserts a (relatively) straightforward swinger “Indigo (Blue Like)” replete with a walking bass line almost as a palate cleanser.

August sits out on the opening “Naked” leaving Allen and Royston to negotiate a melodic progression within an illusory, but finite bar structure with explosive results. “Jawn Henry” references the eponymous folk song in feel with Allen going for a vocalized tone on his tenor against a vaguely calypso vamp. “Third Eye” sets up the instruments in potentially oppositional roles in the service of tension and the title piece takes the conceit even further in transposing a completely different piece on top of a preexisting tune to once again force the players to pick sides, this time with tenor and drums converging in confluent contrast to the bass, which tethers loyally to the original line.

Blues forms also factor prominently into the program with “Little Mack” and “Sonny Boy” reflecting two facets. The first works off an earlier melodic kernel while the second presents another example of Allen transposing another vocal syntax, this time based in the idiosyncratic inflections of John Lee Hooker, through his horn against a gospelish vamp. “G-dspeed, B. Morris” honors the titular composer, forgoing complexity in favor of a loping groove and lilting melody that carries distant echoes of Coltrane’s “Naima”. Once again August and Royston operate on parallel planes in buttressing Allen’s lead.

Three-quarters of an hour evaporates in a flash, but the LP-sized length feels just right. Rather than inciting a longing for additional material the impulse instead is for an immediate repeat trip through the itinerary that exists. Derek Taylor

JD Allen (tenor sax)

Gregg August (bass)

Rudy Royston (drums)

1. Naked

by Jd Allen

2. Jawn Henry

by Jd Allen

3. Third Eye

by Jd Allen

4. Graffiti

by Jd Allen

5. G-dspeed, B. Morris

by Jd Allen

6. Little Mack

by Jd Allen

7. Sonny Boy

by Allen, JD

8. Indigo (Blue Like)

by Jd Allen

9. Disambiguation

by Jd Allen

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi