NEW RELEASE: Trumpeter Tim Hagans To Release New Album, ‘A Conversation’ with the NDR Bigband on June 4 via Waiting Moon Records

Celebrated Trumpeter and Composer Tim Hagans Announces the Release of A Conversation, Commissioned and Performed by the NDR Bigband,

To Be Released on June 4, 2021 on Waiting Moon Records

3x GRAMMY-nominated composer and trumpeter Tim Hagans is pleased to announce the release of A Conversation, an all-new, original multi-movement concerto performed by the NDR Bigband. On A Conversation, Hagans introduces a musical narrative that is meant to explore, to illuminate, and perhaps, to resolve an exchange of ideas. Hagans’ latest addition to his canon of inventive large ensemble albums will be released on June 4, 2021 via the artist’s own Waiting Moon Records label. A Conversation is Hagans’ 17th recording as a leader, and his fourth recorded collaboration with the NDR Bigband.

Tim Hagans’ illustrious career as a composer began with his tenure performing and recording with the great Thad Jones. “To me, the power of Thad’s writing was that it came directly from his own distinct voice on the trumpet. I remember visiting him in his home. Thad would sit at a table with score paper and his cornet. Those were all the tools he needed to create extraordinary music,” recalls Hagans. It was Jones who encouraged Hagans to write music, and Hagans’ first composition appeared on his Live at Slukefter LP. This propelled Hagans’ career forward; one that includes a 15-year tenure as Artistic Director and Composer-In-Residence for the Norrbotten Big Band, three years as a member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, six recordings as a leader for the Blue Note label, and fruitful collaborations with such luminaries as Dexter Gordon, Joe Lovano, Bob Belden, Ernie Wilkins as well as with the innovative Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble.

For two decades, Hagans has collaborated with the NDR Bigband (also known as the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra) in a variety of roles including guest composer, conductor, arranger and soloist. “Part of what excites me about composing and arranging for the great NDR Bigband is to meet the challenge of creating a sophisticated score while at the same time preserving the spontaneity of a trio or a quintet,” says Hagans. On this five-movement exploration, the composer’s musical conception and innovation extends far beyond the physical score – its emotional intrigue and unique overall sound is affected by Hagans’ decision to physically group the musicians not by section as is traditional, but by sonic and emotional divisions – each one of the four ensembles assembled by the composer charged with different objectives. Hagans’ singular and evocative improvisational prowess is portrayed here beautifully throughout the concerto.

“Movement I” of A Conversation introduces audiences to the NDR Bigband’s spirited ensemble sound. Repeated refrains ricochet from ensemble to ensemble with varying degrees of intensity and with increasing harmonic and rhythmic intrigue before the ensemble falls into a groove driven by a piano and bass ostinato. The piece features transportive improvisation from pianist Vladyslav Sendecki. “When I compose, I’m drawing on my own musical voice to create melody and form,” reflects Hagans, adding “…my writing also reflects musical events that happen often in small group settings—tempo changes, free playing, and so forth—and these become expanded to a big band setting.”

“Movement II” begins on a serene note, exploring elements of ambience and gradually descending into cacophony before establishing a pared down central theme. Baritone saxophonist Daniel Buch and bassist Ingmar Heller offer stunning solos in this movement. “Movement III” begins with Sendecki and Heller performing in a duo context, as the piece expands in instrumentation, entropy reigns with discordant refrains echoed by the horns. Tim Hagans with trumpeters Stephen Meinberg and Claus Stötter, saxophonist Peter Bolte and trombonist Stefan Lottermann are all featured soloists on this vibrant selection.

“Movement IV” kicks off with a passionate solo trumpet by Hagans, leading into a stately, deliberate groove. Cleverly executed feel changes underscore improvisation by saxophonist and flutist Fiete Felsch, percussionist Marcio Doctor as well as by the composer. A Conversation’s final piece, “Movement V” begins by painting an idyllic landscape which transitions into a calming duet for Hagans and pianist Sendecki, followed by a driving, bright-tempoed section featuring a solo by trombonist Klaus Heidenreich. The movement concludes by returning to the spirited themes presented in the beginning, bringing the conversation full circle to a questioning close. Hagans notes “Ultimately, I wouldn’t mind if the listener agrees with a quotation I very much like from Guy de Maupassant: “Conversation … What is it? A mystery!”’

More About the NDR Bigband:

Unique among Germany’s radio big bands, the NDR Bigband is a jazz ensemble composed of premier soloists of diverse backgrounds and influences whose collective endeavors coalesce to produce an original and striking group sound for a large ensemble.

After leaving behind traditional radio entertainment, prime-time TV shows and the rest of everyday light music, the ensemble has focused their energies on pursuing creative music. Known to perform various stylistic programs ranging from swing, latin, to avant-garde, the NDR Bigband sounds different on each occasion, yet retains a unifying character that is immediately recognizable.

The NDR Bigband includes saxophonists Fiete Felsch, Frank Delle, Peter Bolte, Daniel Buch, and Christof Lauer; trumpeters Ingolf Burkhardt, Clause Stötter, Stephan Meinberg, and Thorsten Benkenstein; trombonists Klaus Heidenreich, Dan Gottshall, Stefan Lottermann and Ingo Lahme; percussionists Jukkis Uotila and Marcio Doctor; guitarist Ed Harris, bassist Ingmar Heller and pianist Vladyslav Sendecki.

1. Movement I 14:46

2. Movement II 12:01

3. Movement III 12:51

4. Movement IV 16:16

5. Movement V 11:50

All music composed and arranged by Tim Hagans

In A Conversation, the musicians are grouped not by section, as it might normally be done, but by sonic and emotional divisions, each one charged with different objectives.

TIM HAGANS, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpet

(Solo on Movements III, IV & V)

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Mark Masters with Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Mark Turner and more - Sept. 21 on CAPRI RECORDS

Composer and arranger Mark Masters paints compelling jazz landscapes for eight original works on new Capri Records release Our Métíer

With Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Mark Turner, Tim Hagans, Gary Foster,

Dave Woodley, Putter Smith, Anna Mjoll and more

"Masters' arrangements allow the freedom for solos that are creative in the extreme."

- Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

"Masters' arrangements are, no pun intended, masterful."

- Scott Albin, JazzTimes

With his Capri release Our Métíer (September 21, 2018), Mark Masters applies his prodigious talent for painting brilliant, complex, and satisfying jazz landscapes.  The eight Masters compositions featured on the album showcase some of the most adventurous creative improvising musicians in jazz today: Andrew Cyrille, Mark Turner, Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Gary Foster, Dave Woodley and Putter Smith. In addition, Masters incorporates the unique voice of Anna Mjoll as an orchestral color, mixing with the instrumental waves in wordless swirls of sound. 

The ensemble that supports these improvisers includes Scott Englebright and Les Lovitt (trumpet), Stephanie O'Keefe (French horn), Les Benedict and Ryan Dragon (trombone), Jerry Pinter, Kirsten Edkins and Bob Carr (woodwinds), Ed Czach (piano), and Craig Fundyga (vibes). The group's big band sound is augmented by bass clarinet and vibes giving the project, at times, an ethereal personality.

In his ten previous projects for Capri Records, Masters has reimagined the music of Lee Konitz, Gary McFarland, Dewey Redman, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Grachan Moncur III and Clifford Brown.

With Our Métíer, Masters has produced a classic "free-bop" large ensemble statement.  One key to the success of the recording is the combination of improvisers completely simpatico with the compositions. In fact, the music was conceived and written specifically for these soloists. The music itself is an artist's canvas filled with all the hues and textures that flow from Masters' creative core.

The opening track "Borne Towards the Stars," inspired by the conclusion of Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano," shimmers with atmospheric gravity and features explosive solos by Lake and Hagans.  In "51 West 51st Street," drummer Cyrille establishes the groove after an opening steeped in funk featuring Mjoll and Carr's bass clarinet.  When Hagans and Foster boogaloo into the musical space you can close your eyes and imagine being in Toots Shor's legendary New York City bar.  "Lift" is an understated blues featuring Mjoll's exquisite voice and solid solo work from Mjoll, Lake, Smith and Fundyga.  The harmonically engaging "Ingvild's Dance" with Foster and Turner brings to mind the classic pairing of Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. "A Précis of Dialogue" is the first of two collective improvisations demonstrating clear textures and sparkling musical interplay with Turner, Foster, Cyrille and Smith.  Foster, Smith, Woodley, and Turner deliver emotionally charged solo statements on the heartbreakingly gorgeous ballad "Dispositions of the Heart."  "Obituary" is Masters' tribute to friends and teachers no longer living.  Far from a dirge, the composition is an up- tempo, celebratory romp that shows off the ensemble in top form.  From the haunting opening and trombone clusters aided by Mjoll to the sophisticated tenor sax and trumpet solos that follow, "Luminescence" brings you the blues in an entirely different way. "In Our Time," the second of two collective improvisations is wildly exploratory, conversational and always compelling.  The title track closes the recording with a powerful, quintessential "free-bop" statement.

Mark Masters Biography

Mark Masters (b. 1957) has earned wide acclaim as an inventive and prolific composer and arranger. All About Jazz calls him "one of the great jazz arrangers of the late 20th and 21st centuries."  Born in 1957 in Gary, Indiana, Masters studied jazz at California State in LA. He organized his first ensemble in 1982 and has never looked back.

"A strikingly creative spirit," (Jim Santella, All About Jazz), Masters has led numerous recording sessions, almost all for Capri Records. Among them are Priestess (Capri, 1990) that Masters wrote to feature Billy Harper and Jimmy Knepper.  A subsequent recording with Knepper, The Jimmy Knepper Songbook (Focus, 1993), featured arrangements by Masters of Knepper's compositions.

Masters' most recent recording Blue Skylight (Capri, 2017), features his innovative ensemble writing and unique approach to the music of Gerry Mulligan and Charles Mingus.  Farewell Walter Dewey Redman (Capri, 2008) features Masters' "in and out" approach and re-casts Dewey Redman's music while retaining its substance.  The project features Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Dave Carpenter, and Peter Erskine. Other recordings include Wish Me Well (Capri, 2005) with Steve Kuhn, Gary Smulyan, Gary Foster, and Tim Hagans, Exploration (Capri, 2004) with Grachan Moncur III's octet arranged by Masters, One Day With Lee (Capri, 2004) featuring alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, and The Clifford Brown Project (Capri, 2003) featuring Jack Montrose, Gary Smulyan, Tim Hagans, Cecilia Coleman, and Joe La Barbera. In addition, in 2013 Capri released two recordings, Ellington Saxophone Encounters and Everything You Did: The Music of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen.

Masters' 2005 recording Porgy and BessŠRedefined! (Capri) is a more harmonically adventurous approach to Gershwin's classic folk opera than what has come before.  John Kelman, writing for All About Jazz said "ŠMasters' score is the real star here.  From the opening fanfare he introduces two contrasting elements that, to a large part, define the approach to the whole suite-vibrant swing and some surprisingly free passages.  He clearly proves that it's possible to take a piece that has been approached from a variety of angles and still find a new way in."

Since 1998, Masters has been president of The American Jazz Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment and enhancement of the appreciation of jazz. Under Masters' direction, the AJI supports activities that educate and expose the public to jazz through live performance and an oral history project, as well as by supporting charitable endeavors that advance jazz music. One such endeavor is the AJI's Find Your Own Voice mentoring program that takes professional musicians to middle and upper school campuses to present clinics and master classes to student musicians. 

Masters served as a guest lecturer at Claremont McKenna College (1999 - 2006) where he was involved with the History of Jazz class, overseeing an oral history project, and writing for and producing a series of concerts that brought such notable artists to the college as Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Bennie Maupin, Rufus Reid, Sam Rivers, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Turner, Gary Foster, Lee Konitz, Jack Montrose, John La Porta, Tim Hagans, Gary Smulyan, Ray Drummond, Steve Kuhn, Peter Erskine, Joe La Barbera, Ted Brown, Grachan Moncur III, Henry Grimes, and Dewey Redman.

Masters has been named a Rising Star Arranger in DownBeat Magazine's Annual Critics Poll multiple times.

caprirecords.com

Charles Pillow Large Ensemble - Electric Miles (SUMMIT RECORDS 2018)

NYC seasoned BIG band led, conducted and arranged by Charles Pillow celebrate the early electric period of Miles Davis!

''Electric Miles'' celebrates the music of the early electric period of Miles Davis with big band arrangements of classics from Bitches Brew, On the Corner, Jack Johnson and In a Silent Way.

Trumpeters Tim Hagans and Clay Jenkins are featured as the Miles voice with Dave Liebman appearing on Black Satin and Yesternow. Also featuring trombonist Michael Davis, Pillow on alto sax/alto flute; the band is powered by the rhythm section of drummer Jared Schonig and bassist Chuck Bergeron.

The band is full of NYC seasoned pros and peppered with up and coming musicians. conducted and arranged by Charles Pillow.

Charles Pillow comes from Baton Rouge, LA. After college at Loyola University, he pursued his Masters Degree in Jazz Studies at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, in Rochester, NY. Since moving to NYC in 1987, he has appeared on over 100 recordings of jazz, pop luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Jay Z,Luther Vandross, Paul Simon, Michael Brecker, Bruce Springsteen, John Scofield, Tom Harrell, Dave Liebman, David Sanborn, to name a few. In addition to an active performing and recording schedule, he is an Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music.

Over his long and varied career, Miles Davis recorded several seminal jazz orchestra albums in collaboration with the great arranger Gil Evans. Those disciplined affairs (''Sketches of Spain'' and others) were in stark contrast to Miles's wild, improvised, ''electric'' period that produced records like ''Bitches Brew.'' Charles Pillow Large Ensemble's ''Electric Miles'' brilliantly fuses these two aspects of Miles's oeuvre with gorgeous big band arrangements of tunes from ''Bitches Brew,'' ''Jack Johnson,'' and ''In a Silent Way.''

Featured soloists Tim Hagans and Clay Jenkins ably take on Miles's role on trumpet while Pillow takes flight on alto sax and alto flute. Dave Liebman, who participated in the original sessions a half-century ago, contributes soaring soprano sax solos on ''Yesternow'' and ''Black Satin.'' All of the soloists, including Michael Davis (trombone) and Luke Norris (tenor sax), are outstanding, but the stars here are Pillow's arrangements, with beautiful voicings on more subtle tunes like ''Sanctuary'' and a powerful punch on compositions like ''Pharaoh's Dance.''

Ron Netsky -- Rochester City Newspaper

1 Pharaoh's Dance 9:03

2 Bitches Brew 7:59

3 Black Satin 8:02

4 In a Silent Way 6:43

5 Directions 7:35

6 Sanctuary 5:13

7 Yesternow 9:26

8 Spanish Key 7:14

Charles Pillow, arranger, alto sax, soprano sax. flute, alto flute

Colin Gordon, alto sax, soprano sax, flute

Luke Norris, tenor sax, clarinet

CJ Ziarniak, tenor sax

Karl Stabnau, bass clarinet

Michael Davis, trombone

Abe Nouri, trombone

Jack Courtright, trombone

Gabe Ramos, bass trombone

Tony Kadleck lead trumpet

Charlie Carr, trumpet

Clay Jenkins, trumpet

Tim Hagans, trumpet

Julian Garvue, electric piano / Chuck Bergeron, electric bass/ Mike Forfia, acoustic bass on “Sanctuary”, “In a Silent Way”/ Jared Schonig, drums

Special Guest:

David Liebman, soprano sax

Jon Irabagon Quartet w/ special guest Tim Hagans - Dr. Quixotic's Traveling Exotics (IRABBAGAST RECORDS May 15, 2018)

Recorded while on tour in South America, Dr. Quixotic's Traveling Exotics finds Jon Irabagon's long-standing quartet (the same rhythm section from his 2015 album Behind the Sky) teamed up with trumpet wizard Tim Hagans. Together they bop, weave, dance and fly through six of Irabagon's labyrinthian compositions, with each one getting the funhouse mirror treatment and the freak show send off. This recording captures a band in full flight mode in the middle of a lengthy and successful tour.

1. The Demon Barber of Fleet Week 10:52

2. Emotional Physics/The Things 13:19

3. You Own Your Own 14:09

4. The Bo'ness Monster 06:39

5. Pretty Like North Dakota 15:01

6. Taipei Personality 12:11

Jon Irabagon- tenor saxophone

Tim Hagans- trumpet

Luis Perdomo- piano

Yasushi Nakamura- bass

Rudy Royston- drums

Nils Landgren Funk Unit - Unbreakable (ACT MUSIC 2017)

Mr Redhorn, Nils Landgren would never, ever mess with a good recipe.

Unbreakable opens with the title song, Nils Landgren’s own composition. It  begins with an unmistakeable guitar intro by Detroit funk legend Ray Parker Jr. (for the occasion an “Honorary Funk Unit member”) a funky riff that sets the pace for what’s to follow; a nonstop funk blowout. The Funk Unit rhythm section is tighter than ever before and lays down a groove like no other band. The horn arrangements (by band member Jonas Wall) are exquisitely precise and the process of arranging, mixing and performing they have developed over the years is unique and totally their own. If you add to that an outstanding trombone player/lead vocalist you have one of the most dynamic groups of musicians ever to hit the stage in Europe. Some funk, some jazz and some straight-out party music, and when the likes of Ray Parker Jr., Randy Brecker and Tim Hagans are willing to come along for the ride, it’s bound to keep the recipe going and some good music playing. The title is important to Nils and marks something of a turning point in the history of his band: “Throughout all our years together, there have been countless moments of great joy and laughter, but also times when we had to fight to stay on the right track. Remembering the highs always helped us to face the lows and to get back up on our feet. The love for the music and for each other has always won and always will. We are unbreakable”.

Nils Landgren, one of the most successful European jazz musicians ever, has received a plethora of jazz awards and other honours, including the Swedish Grammy for “lifetime achievement” and the Royal Swedish medal ”Litteris et Artibus” from the hands of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, for his outstanding achievements.

When ACT Music founder Siggi Loch, first heard Landgren play in 1994, the band was called Unit. ”Why don’t you call it what it is?", Loch said, and from that moment Funk Unit was born.

The first album on the - then young - ACT label would be Live in Stockholm, recorded in summer 1994 with Maceo Parker as special guest, and that would soon be followed by a string of Funk Unit records released on ACT. Some of the notable highlights are the Cannonball Adderley tribute Paint It Blue (1996) featuring Bernhard Purdie, Michael and Randy Brecker. Funky Abba (2004) and Funk For Life (2010) supported, together with Doctors without Borders, a project to support children and teenagers with their music in Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ray Parker Jr., guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. Previously lead guitarist with Stevie Wonder. Parker wrote songs and did session work for Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Diana Ross and many others. Parker has scored six Top 40 hits as a solo artist; including the million selling hit single Ghostbusters in 1984.

Randy Brecker, trumpet player. Six-time Grammy award winner. Started his career as a member of Blood Sweat and Tears, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His collaboration with younger brother Michael led to some of the most notable albums in the fusion genre, Brecker Brothers.

Tim Hagans, jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer from Dayton, Ohio. USA. Three-time Grammy Nominee. In his early years he toured with Stan Kenton and Woody Herman. Among other artists Tim has recorded with Steps Ahead, Maria Schneider, Joe Lovano.

Unbreakable was recorded in November 2016 in the legendary Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, also the recording site for artists like ABBA, Scorpions, Elvis Costello and Esbjörn Svensson.

1 Unbreakable with Ray Parker Jr.

2 Just a Kiss Away

3 Get Down on the Funk with Ray Parker Jr.

4 Friday Night

5 Stars in Your Eyes with Ray Parker Jr.

6 Rockin’ After Midnight with Ray Parker Jr. feat. Randy Brecker

7 Soulchild

8 Old School

9 Nlfu Funk feat. Tim Hagans

10 Bow Down with Ray Parker Jr.

Nils Landgren Funk Unit:

Nils Landgren / trombone & vocals

Magnum Coltrane Price / bass & vocals

Andy Pfeiler / guitar & vocals

Jonas Wall / saxes

Petter Bergander / keyboards

Robert Ikiz / drums

Honorary Funk Unit Member - Ray Parker Jr :

Guitar on Unbreakable,

Rockin’ After Midnight (& vocals),

Just A Kiss Away, Stars In Your Eyes

& Bow Down

Randy Brecker / trumpet on 06

Tim Hagans / trumpet on 09