Jeff Denson - Outside My Window (RIDGEWAY RECORDS 2018)

The exceptional bassist is an expressive vocalist in both his own compositions and interpretations of Jeff Buckley, Peter Gabriel, Abbey Lincoln and Chris Cornell

At first glance, bassist Jeff Denson seems to be reinventing himself with each of his albums, and his twelfth album Outside My Window also represents a departure in a new direction. With his powerful tone and lyrical-compositional vision, this versatile musician has come to life Over the past 15 years, he has earned recognition as one of the key bassists of his generation. This album recalibrates the range of its creative expressive possibilities by attaching equal importance to his singing voice. Working with an outstanding international quartet, Denson provides an emotional and exciting program, interweaving surprising interpretations of iconic songs and deeply felt original compositions.

That Denson turns out in the middle of his career as a sensitive and enthusiastic singer is not so surprising. The 2012 released "Secret World", the first under his own name, featured two original compositions featuring Denson's vocals, establishing a pattern that continues on most of his solo albums. Last year, Sgt. Pepper's memory album "May I Introduce to You," in collaboration with the San Francisco String Trio, featured his vocal interpretation of "Fixing a Hole" as one of the highlights. Denson's music covers a wide stylistic range, "but my voice is the thread running through everything, whether I sing or not," he says. "I was a singer before I became a bassist. With my entry into the jazz world, I had to put my voice down for a long time. But that I use the voice more from year to year is a logical step for me. This is the first time I sing on an entire album and the songs are a direct continuation of the music I compose and arrange. "

Denson's arrangements of the four pieces by other artists are not so much a reinvention of the works but a new view through the filter of his rich sonic palette. The first is a version of "Grace," a piece inspired by the Negative Press Project album "Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds," which Denson produced for Ridgeway Records last year. This is followed by a simple yet touching version of Abbey Lincoln's "Bird Alone", a reharmonized version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" in 6/8 time scale and an arrangement of "Fell On Black Days" by Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell; a tribute to one of the bands that provided the soundtrack to Denson's schooldays.

"In my opinion he is the best singer of the rock / grunge generation," says Denson. "I wanted to pay tribute to him and his art. And Abbey is one of my favorite singers. I've always liked how she sings, how she pulls the beat; like Billie Holiday. She has such a full, intense sound and in particular this title has always touched me. I wanted to see what I can do with it. "

Denson's four original compositions need not hide from the cover pieces, neither "For a Brand New Day" with Beatle-like optimism nor the "We Have Really Gone This Far" clanking with a prepared piano to "Through the Mist", a melancholy piece The Denson has been fundamentally reworked with Minsarah since its original version in 2006, and sounds as if it had just been beamed across from Miles Davis' Next Universe in "In a Silent Way." The vocalist contributes a wordless vocal solo. The final piece, titled Outside My Window, is a wistful invitation to the rich musical world of Jeff Denson.

The album is based on deep musical friendships. Dayna Stephens and Denson met at Boston's Berkelee School of Music and have since played together in different constellations. Israeli-born drummer Ronen Itzig is also a Berkelee pupil, and they have built a close connection through their interplay in the rhythm section of Joe Lovano's 21st Century Ensemble. Both have their degrees at the Florida State University, where they worked together daily, recording three albums with pianist Bill Peterson and one with singer Inga Swearingen over the course of two years. The highly esteemed Finnish pianist Kari Ikonen is a relative newcomer to Denson's musical world and quickly became indispensable. Denson hired icons for a tour with legendary alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and "noted with pleasure that this was my trio with Itzig. Everything fit together and was inspiring. The next few tours with Lee Konitz were always with them. "

Konitz played a key role in rediscovering Denson's vocal voice through his encouragement after hearing Denson sing on "Secret World." During a joint performance at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, the saxophonist made the surprising announcement "Jeff is going to sing," recalls Denson. "They did not even have a microphone on stage, but I sang the tune. Then I booked a West Coast tour with him and we sang spontaneously together every night. It felt great to play the jazz standard repertoire and then sing with him on stage. On the other hand, I also knew that I wanted to make my own music and sing like I was singing; without restrictions."

Denson, born December 20, 1976 in Arlington, Virginia, grew up around Washington DC. He played alto saxophone from the third grade, but he gave up in the middle school, but the music had him back soon after as school friends committed him as a singer for rock bands. When one of these groups also needed a bassist, he also took over this role and it was not long before he discovered the divine world of electric bass players in jazz and funk. "Bassists like Jaco, Bootsy Collins, and Stanley Clarke were my entry," recalls Denson. "The virtuoso electric bass in the fusion opened the door to jazz for me." The music of Miles Davis then led him to the double bass, but it was Mingus who inspired him to hang up the Fender. "On 'Haitian Fight Song', he plays this incredible introduction. That was the key moment, "says Denson. "It was clear to me that I could never produce such sounds on the electric bass."

During his studies at Northern Virginia Community College, he earned his living as a freelance musician by playing jazz, orchestral music, rock covers, and being head of his own funk combo as bassist and singer in Greater DC. Shortly after receiving a scholarship to Berklee College of Music he made acquaintance with the German pianist Florian Weber and the Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz, two fellow students with whom founded the Minsarah. The collective trio released their debut album on Hubermusic in 2003, and in 2006 they released an eponymous, critically acclaimed album on Enja Records. In addition to international concert tours with this group, Denson managed to pursue a rigorous academic career.

Hired by Florida State University, he earned a Master of Music title in Jazz and discovered his penchant for teaching. After graduating from Magna Cum Laude in 2005 and preparing to move to New York City, he happened to meet bass guru Mark Dresser. He had just accepted a professorship at the University of California in San Diego and convinced Denson to relocate to Southern California. There he got, again with full scholarship, the doctorate in Contemporary Music Performance with a focus on composition. During his stay in San Diego Denson also toured extensively with Minsarah. Lee Konitz heard the band in 2006 on a concert series in Germany. "The beginning of a great adventure," says Denson.

With Minsarah in the role of his band, the critically acclaimed 2007 Lee Konitz New Quartet released his first album, Deep Lee. This was followed in 2009 by the album Live at the Village Vanguard, which won the 2010 Album of the Year award from French Jazzman Magazine, and 2014 standards Live: At the Village Vanguard (all on Enja). In 2012, Denson debuted as a bandleader with his album Secret World and demonstrated his versatility with the simultaneous release of two duo albums: I'll Fly Away, inventing American hymns and spirituals from scratch with San Diego-based pianist Joshua White The Swiss clarinet virtuoso Claudio Puntin freely improvised dialogues on the album Two.

In 2011, Denson moved to San Francisco and accepted the appointment to full professorship at the California Jazz Conservatory. In the following years, he worked closely with some of the best musicians in San Francisco Bay, including bassoon virtuoso Paul Hanson, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, guitarist Mimi Fox, and violinist Mads Tolling (his fellow San Francisco String Quartet) , Denson is also a prolific composer and arranger whose work includes a whole range of different jazz formats, as well as string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera.

With the unveiling of Ridgeway Arts, a nonprofit organization, he has united his diverse fields of activity under one roof. Ridgway Arts aims to expand and strengthen the San Francisco metropolitan area and make a significant contribution to the American jazz landscape and art in general through a focus on four approaches: expression, education, presentation and documentation. He introduced the initiative with The Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz and subsequently Arctic from Alan Hall's critically acclaimed Ensemble Ratatet. Meanwhile, the label has developed into an important channel of connection to a roster of international musicians and serves as a portal to Denson's multifaceted musical imagination.

"Artists are always fantasizing about new projects," he says. "My clear goal has always been to create my own musical world."

Grace

In Your Eyes

For a Brand New Day

Have We Really Gone This Far?

Through the Mist

Bird Alone

Fell On Black Days

Outside My Window

Jeff Denson - vocals & double bass

Dayna Stephens - tenor, soprano & bari saxophones & EWI

Kari Ikonen - piano, Fender Rhodes & Moog Synthesizer

Ronen Itzik - drum set & percussion

SHOWS

• May 24 – The Sound Room, Oakland, CA

• May 25 & 26 – Moody’s Bistro, Bar & Beats, Truckee, CA

• May 27 – 30 – Black Cat, San Francisco, CA

• May 31 – SoHo Restaurant & Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA

• June 1 – Dizzy’s, San Diego, CA

• June 2 – Alvas Showroom, Los Angeles/San Pedro, CA

• June 3 – D’Anbino Vineyards & Cellars, Paso Robles, CA

• August 11 San Jose Jazz Festival, San Jose, CA

• September 7 & 8 – The Velvet Note, Atlanta, GA

• October 12 – Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC

• October 13 – An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD

• October 26 – California Jazz Conservatory, Berkeley, CA

• October 27 – North Coast Brewery, Fort Bragg, CA

Alan Hall and Ratatet - Heroes, Saints and Clowns (RIDGEWAY RECORDS 2018)

Ratatet sprung from a collective trio named Electreo, which featured bassoon, bass and drums.

Seeking a fuller sound and more musical options; San Francisco based leader, composer, and drummer Alan Hall added trombone, vibes and keyboards.

1. Demographic Shift 02:50

2. Lane and Joanna 05:33

3. Heroes, Saints and Clowns 05:39

4. A Short Poem for a Shattered Age 03:11

5. Grattitude 05:06

6. Michael Shannon 04:25

7. Agnes Martin 02:51

Ratatet Is: 

Paul Hanson - bassoon, tenor sax

John Gove - trombone

Dillon Vado - vibes

Greg Sankovich - piano, organ

Jeff Denson - electric and acoustic bass

Alan Hall - drums, composer, leader

w/ special guests: Joseph Hebert - cello, Paul McCandless - oboe

and "One Planet Drum Corps"

Produced by Alan Hall and Jeff Denson

Co-produced by Dan Feiszli

Recorded and Mixed by dan Feiszli

Mastered by Ken Lee

NEGATIVE PRESS PROJECT: 'ETERNAL LIFE | JEFF BUCKLEY SONGS AND SOUNDS' (RIDGEWAY RECORDS NOV. 17, 2017)

With the Ravishing Second Album Eternal Life | Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds  the San Francisco Bay Area’s Negative Press Project Takes a Revelatory Instrumental  Journey into the Heart of the Singer’s Music 

Recording Release Tour October 27 – December 3, 2017 

Stops in San Francisco, Oakland, LA, Albany, Sacramento, Redding, Pasadena, CA; Seattle, WA;  Portland, Bend and Eugene, OR 

NEGATIVE PRESS PROJECT FALL 2017 SCHEDULE

Upcoming performance dates for 'Eternal Life' Recording Release Tour 2017:

Fri, Nov 17 - Doc's Lab, 124 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA

Negative Press Project (Official Album Release) with Special Guests + Moorea Dickason featuring members of MoeTar + Mia Pixley (Singer/Cello/Loops). Doors 7 PM, Show 8 PM (docslabsf.com)

Sun, Nov 18 - Avonova, 417 Avon St, Oakland, CA

Negative Press Project Album Release Wine/Food/Music Experience - RSVP required to info@negativepressproject.com  (avonovamusic.com)

Sun, Dec 3 - Chez Hanny, 1300 Silver Ave, San Francisco, CA

Negative Press Project  4 PM (chezhanny.com)

LA & NYC 2018.

Jeff Buckley released one album during his all-too-brief life, but 1994’s Grace catapulted the beautiful young artist into the pop cultural firmament, where he remains an incandescently glittering presence two decades after drowning in the Wolf River. Dozens of singers have covered his songs in the ensuing years, but there’s never been a tribute like Negative Press Project’s Eternal Life | Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds, which was produced by bass master Jeff Denson and is slated for release on his non-profit label Ridgeway Records on November 17, 2017.

Co-led by bassist Andrew Lion and pianist/keyboardist Ruthie Dineen, the expansive electro-acoustic ensemble brings a supple textural palette to Buckley’s material, transforming his emotionally wrought, show-stopping vocal vehicles into strikingly beautiful instrumental settings. Erasing distinctions between jazz and chamber music, rock and instrumental pop, NPP expands Buckley’s legacy by tapping into his beatific lyricism. 

With a background in rock and pop, Lion came up with the idea of a Jeff Buckley project while “looking for music underserved in the modern jazz canon,” he says. “I’ve heard Brad Mehldau play some Buckley but not too many other instrumental versions. I think it’s such exalted material with a certain generation that it felt off limits.” 

When he approached Dineen, a player versed in classical music and Latin jazz, about arranging some Buckley songs for a concert he found an eager co-conspirator and fellow Buckley aficionado. NPP was already a talent-laden working ensemble with its original cohorts, tenor saxophonist Tony Peebles (of the Grammy Award Winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra), trumpeter Rafa Postel (Katchafire), and alto saxophonist Chris Sullivan; but this was further affirmed after a series of concerts with the addition of saxophonist Lyle Link, drummer Isaac Schwartz, and the brilliant young guitarist Luis Salcedo (who introduced his gorgeous collaboration with Colombian vocalist Susana Pineda on the 2016 eponymous Ridgeway album Opaluna). 

One reason the Buckley material succeeds so vividly is that Lion and Dineen have attracted a similarly stellar community of musicians to augment the ensemble, bringing their vision to life in the studio, with performances from the highly musical drummer Mike Mitchell, veteran altoist James Mahone, and trumpeter Max Miller-Loran.

Eternal Life opens with Lion’s original requiem for Buckley, “Wolf River,” a haunting theme that evokes the beauty of Buckley’s sound and the inconceivable tragedy of his death at the age of 30. Chris Sullivan’s solo alto sax delivers the aching prelude for “Mojo Pin,” a languorous dreamscape that seems to waft in the summer breeze. “Grace,” one of several pieces that Buckley co-wrote with guitar explorer Gary Lucas, is one of the album’s most intricate arrangements, a gossamer matrix of guitars, effects and intertwined saxophones. While staying close to the original song, Lion’s arrangement also gives the players a degree of freedom to improvise around the edges. “Many of the players didn’t have a direct connection to the source material and they could bring their own voices to the project,” Lion says.

“We had some opportunities to make choices about where to open it up,” Dineen adds. “With all the voices, we could arrange as densely or as open as we wanted. Sometimes decided to play a shell game with the instrumentation and pared it down to a quintet.” 

Dineen’s simmering arrangement of “So Real” is one of the sinewy quintet tracks, a piece that takes considerable liberties with the song by unleashing Salcedo’s expressive guitar while remaining entirely recognizable. Lion’s three-horn interpretation of the harmonium prelude to “Lover, You Should've Come Over” provides a moment of reflection before his passionate, gospel-infused take on the song. The album closes with Dineen’s rapturous arrangement of “Anthem (For Jeff Buckley),” a piece that feels like it could have come from the pen of Abdullah Ibrahim, if he’d been an indie rocker.

Negative Press Project is the latest singular ensemble to emerge from the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. The band released an impressive debut album see evil eyes | civilize in 2015 focusing on original compositions by Dineen and Lion. He first hit on the idea of assembling the music collective while preparing for a hike up Yosemite's iconic Half Dome, but "it didn't really come together until I connected with Ruthie at the CJC," Lion says, "and because of her we've been able to establish a purpose and mission." He also credits Jeff Denson, the bassist, CJC professor and founder of Ridgeway Records, as the driving force behind their latest recording, Eternal Life, as he approached the band about producing the album after they performed several Buckley arrangements at the CJC.

With encouragement from their closest associates in the group, Lion and Dineen "started writing a lot," she says. "The format meant we were working with great musicians, creating arrangements based on our experience in the Bay Area. That's my favorite thing in the world, pulling people together who are serious to create group identity and group story. There are many voices, but we all come together to tell one story. We're both really driven to create new art."

Born and raised in the Northern California town of Fairfield, Ruthie Dineen was drawn to music as a child, studying and playing jazz and classical music throughout adolescence. Music remained a central force in her life throughout her undergraduate years at UC Berkeley studying history and music, and graduate studies in social work at Cal State East Bay. Over the past decade she's focused on music performance and community arts, and since the fall of 2011 she's served as deputy director of programs at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, Calif.  At the same time, she immersed herself again in jazz, earning a performance degree in jazz studies from the California Jazz Conservatory (where she received the Jamey Aebersold Scholarship).

A prolific composer, Dineen is also a founding member of RDL+, a collective quartet that hosts the monthly Bay Area Bridges concert series at Oakland's Studio Grand (where Dineen collaborates with different performing artists each month creating new multi-discipline works encompassing theater, music, dance, poetry, and visual art). When not working with NPP or RDL+, Dineen can be found collaborating with a wide range of jazz, Latin, and classical musicians, including vocalist Amie Cota, members of the Amaranth String Quartet, Bululú, and the salsa groups N'Rumba, Candela, and Somos el Son.

Fellow CJC alumnus Andrew Lion was born in Oakland and raised on a rich musical diet from his parent's record collection, absorbing the sounds of Motown, Led Zeppelin, Duke Ellington, the Beatles, David Bowie, and Pat Metheny Group. He started his musical journey on piano, then tried out the guitar before settling on electric bass as a young adult. A mainstay on the Bay Area music scene, he's toured with the rock band Spoke and the Dave Tweedie-directed pop combo OONA featuring vocalist Oona Garthwaite. He's also worked widely with San Francisco singer/songwriter Jeff Campbell, with whom he performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

In the midst of his rock and pop career (which continues today), Lion decided in 2006 to expand his instrumental arsenal to include double bass under the guidance of veteran bass expert Glenn Richman. With encouragement from pianist Susan Muscarella, the founder of the California Jazz Conservatory, Lion plunged into jazz studies and graduated from the CJC. Steeped in the expansive history of jazz and creative music, he continues to look for new ways to build on the music scene, such as his long-form interview series and podcast On the Scene SF/O. Presented by Ridgeway Radio (part of Denson's 501c3 Ridgeway Arts organization), the series features discussions with established artists such as jazz saxophonist Dayna Stephens, drummer Michael Shrieve (Santana), trumpeter Cuong Vu (Pat Metheny), and many others. More information can be found at www.otssfo.com, and on Apple iTunes.

Lion has found an ideal creative partner in Dineen, and a subject ripe for musical exploration in Jeff Buckley. In many ways, Eternal Life is an arrestingly vivid snap shot of a tableau that continues to evolve. As the ensemble continues to distill and expand the arrangements "we have to reevaluate notions of how we perform and play every note, even how we set up in a performance," Dineen says. "We're still learning how  our different voices can build together. Performance is really exciting right now."

With Eternal Life as the starting point, music fans of every stripe can experience Jeff Buckley's music with new ears. It's a sonic sojourn unlike anything else in jazz and beyond.

Mimi Fox, Mads Tolling, Jeff Denson: San Francisco String Trio - May I Introduce to You (RIDGEWAY RECORDS 2017)

The San Francisco String Trio celebrates the 50th Anniversary of

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with May I Introduce to You, a

Kaleidoscopically Creative Reimaging of the Beatles’ Epochal Album

Bay area super group with guitarist Mimi Fox, bassist/vocalist Jeff Denson, and violinist Mads Tolling

Available September 8, 2017 via Ridgeway Records

In Concert  o Sunday, August 13 - San Jose Jazz Festival, San Jose, CA

o Thursday, September 7 - The Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA

When Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play, he couldn’t have foreseen the extraordinary San Francisco String Trio. The Bay Area super-group featuring guitarist Mimi Fox, bassist/vocalist Jeff Denson, and violinist Mads Tolling has found a consistently enthralling vehicle for musical exploration in the 1967 masterpiece. Slated for release on Ridgeway Records on September 8, 2017, May I Introduce to You is the trio’s debut album and a loving homage to the classic Beatles record on its 50th anniversary.

The SF String Trio brings together three celebrated masters who have each recorded critically acclaimed albums as bandleaders. Much like the Beatles drew on an array of traditions and styles in crafting Sgt. Pepper’s, the cooperative ensemble approaches each track as an opportunity to imbue supremely familiar songs with a sense of delight and surprise. “The idea was to do something different to shake up these fantastic songs, but not just for the sake of doing something new,” says Fox. “We’re all coming from a jazz background and we like to mix things up.”

“We love to blend genres and you can hear tango, R&B, pop and classical influences too,” Tolling adds. “We’re all arrangers and we’d work on pieces individually then bring them in and work on them as a group and really make them come to life.”

Though the musicians grew up in different generations (and different countries), they’re united by vaunted reputations as improvisers, abiding love of the Fab Four, and faculty positions at the California Jazz Conservatory. As the senior member of the ensemble, Fox remembers the explosive impact of Sgt. Pepper’s release as a child growing up in New York. Tolling, a classical prodigy, fell in love with the Beatles as his gateway to pop music as a teenager coming of age in Denmark in the mid-90s. And Denson heard the album in regular rotation amidst his mother’s records while growing up outside Washington D.C. in the 1980s. The universally beloved album left a deep and enduring impression on each of them that has continued to provide inspiration in their work as jazz artists.

“When I first moved out here I taught a class on the Beatles at the California Jazz Conservatory,” says Denson, who became the first full professor in the CJC’s newly accredited Bachelor of Music program in 2011. “When I first went to Berklee, where Mads and I met, I took an arranging class and wrote a chart for ‘She’s Leaving Home.’ It’s always been a really special album to me and part of my life.”

The trio’s emotional connection to Sgt. Pepper’s is evident throughout May I Introduce to You, and every track sheds a bright and revealing light on the genius of the Beatles. Tolling transfuses some of Joe Cocker’s gospel fervor into his ballad arrangement of “With A Little Help From My Friends,” and sets a good deal of “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” to a crunching 5/4 beat. Fox evokes George Harrison’s sitar with a sleek modal interpretation of “Within You Without You” and delivers a ravishing solo rendition of “She’s Leaving Home.” Denson’s arrangement of “Fixing A Hole” incorporates his striking vocals, as does his multilayered unpacking of “A Day In the Life,” another tour de force that distills the song’s chord. “Essentially we have three drummers in the group, as we’re all comfortable with our instruments’ percussive qualities,” Fox says, “as well as the harmonic and melodic possibilities.”

It’s hard to overstate the wealth of experience the trio brings to this project. An internationally acclaimed touring artist for the past quarter century, Fox has performed/recorded with horn heavy weights (Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez, Houston Person), fellow fret masters (Charlie Byrd, Stanley Jordan, Charlie Hunter), Hammond B-3 greats (Joey DeFranceso, Barbara Dennerlein, Dr. Lonnie Smith), and vocal stars (Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Kevin Mahogany). She’s shared the stage with legends Stevie Wonder and John Sebastian and Patty Larkin featured her on the Vanguard Records project La Guitara. Fox has released 10 critically acclaimed albums as a leader, including three on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. Her YouTube videos have received hundreds of thousands of views. In conjunction with Heritage’s 30th anniversary, the Kalamazoo guitar company has rolled out the Mimi Fox Artist signature model.

Born and raised in Copenhagen, Tolling was on his way to a successful career as a classical soloist when he discovered Miles Davis. His growing passion for jazz brought him to Berklee in 2000, where at the recommendation of Jean-Luc Ponty bass luminary Stanley Clarke recruited him for his touring band.

He moved to the Bay Area in 2003 to join the pioneering crossover string ensemble Turtle Island Quartet, an eight-year run that included two Grammy Awards for 2006’s 4+Four, and 2008’s A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane (both on Telarc). Since setting out on his own in 2012, Tolling has established himself as an ambitious bandleader, accomplished composer, and daring improviser committed to expanding the violin’s sonic parameters. A Yamaha clinician who’s given workshops in the US, Canada, Japan and Dubai, Tolling earned the #1 slot as Rising Star Violinist in the 2016 DownBeat Critic’s Poll. His latest album, 2017’s Playing the 60s (Madsman Records), mines the New Frontier era for powerfully engaging but oft-overlooked material while introducing an ardently grooving group sound.

Denson first gained international attention in the cooperative trio Minsarah with Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz and German pianist Florian Weber. It was the group that caught the ear of alto sax legend Lee Konitz, who adopted the combo as his rhythm section on 2007’s Deep Lee, 2009’s Live at the Village Vanguard, which earned the 2010 Album of the Year Award from France’s Jazzman Magazine, and 2014’s Standards Live: At the Village Vanguard (all on Enja). A prolific composer and arranger, he’s written music for an array of jazz settings, from big band to trio, as well as for string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera. Since settling in the Bay Area, Denson has released five solo albums in six years and continued to tour internationally with Lee Konitz and his own projects along with forging new creative alliances with some of the West Coast’s most prodigious improvisers. He’s explored intricate harmonic soundscapes with drummer Alan Hall and bassoon and electronics virtuoso Paul Hanson, and recorded with Konitz again, this time under his own name, on 2015’s The Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz. The album introduced Denson’s Ridgeway Records label, which over the last two years has become an essential outlet for brilliant young artists and established masters in the Bay Area and beyond.

Denson first met Fox shortly after he arrived in the Bay Area and was immediately impressed by her musicality. “We started getting together and playing duo, and talking about different possibilities,” Denson says. “Mads and I had met at Berklee but really got a chance to play together after I moved here and I did some things with his band. Mads and Mimi had also been talking about playing together. Finally, we connected all the dots and we had great musical chemistry right away.”

Their formidable chemistry ignites on May I Introduce to You, a project that sets a new standard for jazz interpretation of the Beatles. Inspired by each other and an era-defining album, the San Francisco String.

Trio pays the ultimate compliment to the Liverpool lads by treating their songs as an extension of the Great American Songbook. “The Beatles have spanned generations,” Fox says, “and their melodies, particularly Paul’s ballads, hold their own with Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Musically, emotionally and creatively, this project has everything going for it.”

www.sfstringtrio.com

Ian Faquini + Paula Santoro - Metal na Madeira (2016) RIDGEWAY RECORDS

Ian Faquini + Paula Santoro

Metal na Madeira (Metal on Wood)

Now Available via Ridgeway Records Rising Stars

Once you've heard the luminous voice of Paula Santoro and the enthralling guitar virtuosity of Ian Faquini, their sound will become permanently etched into your heart. Metal na Madeira (Metal on Wood), their new collaborative album, takes inspiration from Xylography, a traditional art form from Northeastern Brazil in which the artist develops an image by engraving wood with a metal object. Likewise, Faquini and Santoro create their intoxicating music from the way in which the metallic harmonics of her voice affect and enrich the woody tones of his guitar.

The image that ultimately emerges from Metal na Madeira is more than a portrait of two artists creating together. It also conjures the timeless landscape of the Brazilian Northeast, from which both artists originally hail. Into that space, Faquini and Santoro invite an all-star cast of collaborators, including Brazilian saxophone great Spok, leader of Recife's Spok Frevo Orquestra; Bay Area multi-reedist Harvey Wainapel; trombonist Jeff Cressman; keyboardist and accordion player Vitor Gonçalves; bassist Scott Thompson; drummer/percussionist Rafael Barata; and pandeiro player Sergio Krakowski.

The album consists of nine original compositions by Faquini and presents a fresh take on traditional Northeastern rhythms such as Maracatu, Frevo, Baião, Xote, and Toada. Faquini's music keeps one foot firmly planted in the past while stepping briskly towards the future with modern harmonic and melodic structures. The songs' lyrics describe the exuberance and poverty of that region of Brazil -the joy, colors and natural beauty, but also sadness, drought and longing of a people who are accustomed to living with extremes. Their stories are movingly and compellingly expressed through Santoro's gift for storytelling and painting with words.

Ian Faquini was born in Brasília and has lived in Berkeley, California since he the age of eight. He graduated from the California Jazz Conservatory and was immediately invited to join the faculty, teaching guitar and Brazilian music. Influences include Guinga and Marcus Tardelli, with whom Ian studied for six years. 

Paula Santoro was born in Minas Gerais, where she began her career as part of the local vocal group Nós & Voz and toured the country as lead singer of the progressive rock band Sagrado Coração da Terra. Her enticing blend of jazz and Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) has since become well known through her recordings and frequent TV appearances. 

She won the Troféu Faísca Award, the Visa Award and was nominated for the Rival Petrobrás Music Award, all as best vocalist.  Santoro has performed with a range of luminaries including Edu Lobo, Yamandú Costa, Mário Adnet, Monica Salmaso, Renato Braz and the Muiza Adnet releasing the álbum Mario Adnet - a look on Villa-Lobos nominated for Best Classical Album in the Latin Grammy Awards.

She has earned wide critical acclaim in Brazil and Europe, and released numerous albums including Mar do meu Mundo on the Borandá label with special guests including UAKTI, and Paula Santoro, released by Biscoito Fino label, featuring special guests Chico Buarque, Toninho Horta and Jaques Morelenbaum.

Paula and Ian were introduced in 2007 by the influential Brazilian composer Guinga in Rio when Paula was collaborating with Guinga on a recording and tour. Ian had met Guinga at the age of 16, an encounter that changed his life and music. Hearing and falling in love with Guinga's music led Ian to devote himself to exploring his own Brazilian roots through music. Paula and Ian came together musically in 2014 when both were part of the faculty at California Brazil Camp, a performing arts camp focused on Brazilian music and dance. Their mutual admiration sparked a desire to work together, resulting in Metal na Madeira, recorded at the famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA in September of 2015.

BIOGRAPHY PAULA SANTORO

"I'm glad every time I hear my songs interpreted with freedom and, above all, a lot of talent. Bravo!" – Edu Lobo about Paula and Daniel’s recording of his compositions

“Paula Santoro is one of those perfect singers: beautiful voice, perfect tuning and good taste in repertoire." – Antonio Carlos Miguel, 'O Globo' newspaper

Already critically and popularly acclaimed in her native Brazil, where her enticing blend of jazz and Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) has become well known through her recordings and frequent TV appearances, Paula Santoro is poised to bring her luminous voice and infectious sounds to listeners around the world.

Paula was born in Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte) and began to sing with the encouragement of her grandfather, a physician as well as an amateur violinist. She began her career as part of the local vocal group Nós & Voz, through which she was discovered by violinist Marcus Viana, leader of the renowned Brazilian progressive rock band Sagrado Coração da Terra. She soon became the band’s lead singer, recording several albums and touring extensively throughout the country.

In 1998, soon after releasing her debut solo álbum, Santo, Paula moved to Rio de Janeiro and was invited to take part in the Brahma Brasil Festival in France, one of the highlights of the events surrounding the 1998 World Cup, where she shared the stage with the legendary Gilberto Gil. Two years later she was one of the vocalists chosen for the pioneering project Novo Canto (New Singers), which gave incentives to young and talented artists in Brazil. She performed with Elza Soares and Chico César, among others, at Canecão, one of Rio’s best-known music halls, having hosted everyone from Pixinguinha and Antonio Carlos Jobim to Ray Charles and Black Sabbath.

That same year, Paula’s voice reached millions of television viewers throughout the country when she became the singing voice of actress Maria Fernanda Cândido, star of the incredibly popular TV Globo soap opera Aquarela do Brasil. Paula was soon featured in every major Brazilian magazine and made the rounds of the country’s most popular TV talk shows. 

In 2002 Paula was one of three winners of the vaunted Visa Music Awards, which attracted more than 2,000 candidates from all over the country. The following year she left Brazil for her first solo tour in Europe, where she performed to enthusiastic and receptive audiences in Luxembourg, Germany and England. Her London appearance at Momo’s Kemia Bar, prompetd an invitation for her to return for a performance at the London Forum in November, as part of the Brazilian Contemporary Arts project Forever Samba, where she performed with 2003 Grammy winner, Alcione. 

While in London for her Forum concert, Paula performed live on BBC Radio and on Britain’s top televised music program, Later with Jools Holland – appearing on the same episode as Amy Winehouse, at the beginning of her own remarkable career. Paula also contributed to a tribute album to Tom Jobim that was released in the UK by Union Square Music in 2004. 

Throughout her recording career, Paula has worked with such greats of Brazilian music as Ivan Lins, Chico Buarque, Toninho Horta, Jaques Morelenbaum, Nélson Motta, Wilson das Neves, Rodolfo Stroeter and Rafael Vernet. She has graced the stage at popular festivals and events including Tudo é Jazz in Ouro Preto and Projeto Pixinguinha, and performed at important jazz clubs and cultural centers like Jazzkeller in Frankfurt, Gasteig in Munich and Guanabara in London, among others. Alongside these successes, she’s also performed as both singer and as an actress in a number Brazilian musicals, with scores by the likes of Horta and Buarque.

Recently, Paula has toured internationally with the virtuoso guitar player Daniel Marques, considered one of the most important musicians of the new Brazilian generation, and performed in Austria with guitarist/composer Alegre Correa, a veteran of Weather Report co-founder Joe Zawinul’s band, the Zawinul Syndicate.

Paula’s most recent release is “Metal na Madeira,” a collaboration with the talented young composer and acoustic guitar player Ian Faquini, which also features guest appearances by a host of amazing musicians from Brazil and the U.S.

About Paula Santoro

"I am very happy for having participated in Paula Santoro’s CD, which in my view is one of the great new Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) artists, in addition to being one of the best singers in Brazil. Her voice rings smooth when required, but can also cut through space with firmness, clarity and even poetry, depending on the music style. It was a pleasant surprise to meet a singer with a differentiated voice timbre, fine-tuned and musical and with a first class repertoire. Congratulations, Paula, I am your great fan! I wish you great success, which you so much deserve.” Toninho Horta

“From the lyric elegance of Madame Butterfly to the melodic chanting of the washerwomen, to the melancholic wailing of lamenting mourners, to the sultry huskiness of Clementina, Satchmo and Nélson Cavaquinho, all would not amount to more than cries and whispers, breeze and silence, for the voice is but an instrument. The difference, and a place also reserved for Paula Santoro, is when the voice is indeed the instrument and life is thus the argument.” Guinga

"In recent decades, Brazil has shown great singers who gave life and consolidated the 'Brazilian Songbook' around the world. To honor this tradition, and for the happiness of we all, from time to time, an special artist arises as the unique singer Paula Santoro. A performer of a highest quitate, combining vocal technique, soul and sensibility - bringing to each song, rare moments of beauty." Chico Pinheiro

“...Brazil also does a fine line in winsome, girlie singers, and this MPB double bill features the wonderful Paula Santoro. Santoro doesn’t yet have the profile of Bebel Gilberto or Cibelle, but she’d certainly impress the millions who’ve bought their albums. She specialises in beautifully arranged bossa nova classics and samba-pop ballads, switching between Spartan acoustic guitar or piano backing, jazz-edged rhythm sections or elegant string orchestrations. Oddly for a Brazilian singer, you’ll also hear touches of Portuguese fado, flamenco or even some of more stately Cuban folk forms. Proof  that the samba can continually reinvent itself for every generation.” John Lewis - "Time Out" - London, 2003

"...The new Rio sensation, Paula Santoro, skipped on stage with a rock star`s exuberance, but the intimate jazz style of her young trio and her versatile vocal style, with its Satchmo growls and luscious bossa notes, indicated a personally crafted samba-jazz..." Sue Steward - "Evening Standard" – London, 2003

“Paula Santoro from Minas Gerais is one of those perfect singers: fine voice, perfect pitch and excellent repertoire. As shown is the CD in her own name (Biscoito Fino), which among other hits, opens with a little remembered partnership of Moacir Santos and Vinícius “Se você disser que sim”, includes “Sem Fantasia” by Chico Buarque with his participation, and a pearl from Vitor Ramil “Não é Céu”. Antonio Carlos Miguel – O Globo – Rio de Janeiro, November 2005

www.paulasantoro.com

RIDGEWAY RECORDS

Opaluna - Opaluna (August 26, 2016) RIDGEWAY RECORDS

Opaluna Spans Cultures, Styles and Sounds on Vibrant Self-Titled Debut

Versatile Colombian singer Susana Pineda and inventive Bay Area guitarist Lu Salcedo meld modern jazz, electronic rock, acoustic folk and pan-Latin rhythms on

Opaluna, due out August 26 on Ridgeway Records

"Opaluna's music is filled with creativity and passion. They inhabit a colorful world of sound, beauty and social consciousness that crosses cultural and musical boundaries and really draws you in."

- Ridgeway Records founder and bassist Jeff Denson

Bridging continents, cultures, languages, and musics, Opaluna weaves together a rich variety of influences and impressions to craft a vivid and decidedly modern spectrum of sound. On their self-titled debut, due out August 26 via Ridgeway Records' Rising Star series, versatile vocalist Susana Pineda and inventive guitarist Lu Salcedo freely explore Latin rhythms, electronic textures, rock grooves, folk expressiveness and genre-spanning jazz freedom in a distinctive and entrancing duo setting.

"Opaluna" combines the name of a multicolored gemstone with the Spanish word for "moon," capturing the duo's hybrid identity in a single word: two languages combining to form one meaning, a combination of vibrant colors and bold luminescence. Like their name, Opaluna's sound is also a portmanteau, bringing together two singular voices into one harmonious sound. Pineda melds the sounds and traditions of her native Colombia with a passion for modern jazz, while Bay Area native Salcedo brings his rock background and penchant for experimentalism together on the frontiers of Latin-inflected jazz.

"Our music is a blend of two cultures, two stories, two backgrounds and two languages creating one," says Pineda. Salcedo continues, "We didn't want to do something that had been done before. Working together, we got very excited about how much we could do."

The pair met while both were students at Berkeley's California Jazz Conservatory. Pineda began studying jazz in her hometown of Medellín but decided to move to the States in 2013 at the encouragement of her mentor, singer Claudia Gómez. She chose CJC due to the program's emphasis on a range of Latin traditions supplementing its core jazz focus. Salcedo came to the school with a more straight-ahead jazz interest, but his partial Mexican heritage led him to begin exploring Latin music. He and Pineda came together in a class on Afro-Venezuelan music and soon recognized their shared passions.

Soon the duo embarked on a journey of sonic experimentation, at first playing music for one another, then arranging jazz standards together to determine a common ground, and finally improvising together in an effort to discover a unified voice. "We would start from scratch, just improvising out of nowhere and seeing what happens," Pineda recalls. "We knew that we didn't want to do the traditional swing thing or play bolero normally. We wanted to blend everything we are, and we wanted to do it in a modern way."

A professor at CJC, Ridgeway Arts founder Jeff Denson heard the burgeoning duo during a lesson and immediately sensed a special chemistry in the nascent pairing. He invited them to record for the San Francisco-based non-profit's Ridgeway Records label, mentoring them through the process from a crowd-funding campaign through recording and post-production, producing the album at the legendary Fantasy Studios and also contributing his remarkable bass sound to three tracks. Fellow CJC faculty member and Bay Area percussion legend John Santos also guests on two cuts.

"I was drawn to Opaluna's music and wanted to produce them because of their creativity and passion," Denson says. "They inhabit a colorful world of sound, beauty and social consciousness that crosses cultural and musical boundaries and really draws you in. Working with Susana and Lu at the California Jazz Conservatory, I found them to be sincere, motivated young artists that care deeply about their craft. I wanted to mentor them further with the creation of their debut recording because I believe in their vision and see their great potential. Now more than ever, the world desperately needs art and music that inspires creative thought, generosity and compassion and Ridgeway Arts seeks to promote artists and projects with this same goal in any way that we can!"

Both members of Opaluna give Denson ample credit for helping to hone their sound and teach them invaluable lessons. "Jeff is an amazing musician, and having the opportunity to engage in a back and forth with him about musical aesthetics was extremely helpful," says Salcedo. To which Pineda adds,  "He always wanted to keep Opaluna and not change who we are. He just wanted to take our music and our sound to another level."

Opening track "Bridges" sums up Opaluna's approach while paying homage to the multi-cultural diversity of their Bay Area home. "It's pretty startling to be able to walk down one street and travel the world at the same time," Salcedo says. "The song is a metaphorical journey form one side of a bridge to the other, and during that trip across the bridge it changes feels and tempos from one cultural subject to another, which is something that really resonates with us because we're trying to bridge all these different stories and backgrounds."

The album is itself a journey, beginning with the chirping samba-funk of the co-written "Bridges" and continuing through the intoxicating sway of "Instinto Ornitológico," with Denson on bass and backing vocals. The Cuban classic "Dos Gardenias" is rendered with a swirling romantic atmosphere, cut through by Salcedo's incisive solo, while Wayne Shorter's "Mahjong" starts as a folk tune with a supple wordless vocal and percussive acoustic guitar before being subsumed in a psychedelic haze.

Salcedo wrote the intense "Does It Rain on the Moon?" with lyrics taken in part from the immortal children's tale "The Little Prince." A fluid Afro-Caribbean groove fuels "Champeterapia," while both the wistful "Young Bonds" and the ethereal "Once We're Gone" were built around Pineda's evocative poetry. Pineda's "Pétalos" is an intimate take on modern jazz, while "Baile de Opuestos" reimagines the childlike standard "Inchworm" as a Colombian joropo.

After spending three weeks touring Colombia this summer, Pineda and Salcedo's collaboration has truly bridged the duo's respective cultures. Their musical partnership has been an ongoing voyage of discovery, resulting in an uncategorizable sound that finds them meeting somewhere in the middle - or, perhaps, some other, completely unexplored new territory. "After all this time playing together," Salcedo says, "everything morphs into what we both need it to be."

WWW.ridgewayrecords.net

WWW.susanapineda.com

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