NEW RELEASE: Gerry Gibbs / Thrasher Dream Trio - Songs From My Father (August 6, 2021 via Whaling City Sound)

Celebrated Drummer and Bandleader Gerry Gibbs Announces the Release of Songs From My Father

A Celebration of the Music of Bebop Luminary Terry Gibbs,

Prominently Featuring Musical Titan Chick Corea, In His Final Recording

Out August 6, 2021 via Whaling City Sound

Songs From My Father is the much-anticipated new album from renowned musical polymath Gerry Gibbs. On his thirteenth release as a leader, drummer - percussionist - bandleader - arranger Gibbs presents a smashing double-disc masterwork featuring four iterations of his acclaimed Thrasher Dream Trio. Under his astute direction, this band of jazz titans pays homage to the musical legacy of Gerry's 96-year-old father, Terry Gibbs. To honor Terry, one of the last living architects of bebop and innovators of the vibraphone, Gerry selected 18 tunes from his father’s vast discography and interpreted the timeless material through his own refined compositional lens with inventive, modern arrangements. Notably, Songs From My Father features the last recorded performance of the great Chick Corea, and includes one of Chick's tunes composed specifically for this project. With Gibbs in the drum chair, his Thrasher Dream Trios include Chick Corea and Ron Carter; Kenny Barron and Buster Williams; Patrice Rushen and Larry Goldings; and Geoff Keezer and Christian McBride; along with percussionist Kyeshie Gibbs.

A global pandemic could not slow down this jazz luminary - instead it inspired an impressive stint of creative output. Gibbs presents Songs From My Father fresh off the heels from his 2019 epic, genre-defying opus Our People, hailed by Philip Booth of JazzTimes as “Artfully layered pieces often verg[ing] on the cinematic...Quite a feat,” as well as 2020’s Emotional Pandemic, an 18-track album fully composed, engineered and performed (all eight instruments!) by Gibbs and released, free-of-charge, to a select 500 friends and collaborators. In fact, it was this release that piqued the attention of the legendary Chick Corea who initially inquired about Gibbs’ process for writing and recording all of the instruments. The conversation evolved to the possibility of collaboration, and the concept was born of releasing a double disc filled with the product of Gibbs’ collaborations with four astounding trios, including a collaboration with Corea and Ron Carter. Corea would later ask to be more deeply involved in the music that was being recorded, composing an original piece in dedication to Terry Gibbs “Tango For Terry”, and arranging two pieces for the album.

Gerry Gibbs by Joan Carroll

Gibbs remarks “What I wanted to do seemed almost impossible with COVID, fear, traveling, safety precautions as well as logistics. How do you coordinate four trios when a disease was spreading all over America?” In the throes of a global pandemic, Gibbs found himself on a several-month nationwide journey to capture recordings of himself alongside a long list of his friends and collaborators - the finest improvisers of our time. NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter notes, “one of the fun things that I look forward to, when playing with Gerry is what part of drum history will I be able to identify when he plays...what an unfortunate surprise that the trio recording that I was a part of with Gerry would be Chick's last recording. Chick and I played on several recordings together and I cherish those moments even more now.”

“To record my challenging music,” Gibbs notes, “and not being able to rehearse because of safety protocols seemed unrealistic, so I changed course and thought it would be best to play music that would be great vehicles to do what these 8 of the greatest improvisers on the planet are known for doing, improvise!” Ultimately, the bandleader decided to perform material written by one of his all-time favorite musicians and composers, someone’s music that was deeply integrated within his own musical upbringing and the history and lineage of the jazz idiom  - the archetypal works of his own father Terry Gibbs.

Terry Gibbs first earned international recognition touring with Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich and Woody Herman. In 1951, he joined the Benny Goodman Sextet. Subsequently, he toured with his own quartet where he won the title of "# 1 Vibraphonist in the world," in both the Downbeat and Metronome polls from 1950 to 1955. Gibbs also played a role in breaking down the race and sex barrier in music by employing pianists Terry Pollard, who he often featured in vibe duos, Pat Moran, and Alice Coltrane. Throughout his illustrious career Gibbs has enjoyed world acclaim playing with greats such as clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and Tito Puente. With 65 albums to his credit, Gibbs is the composer of 300+ compositions that were recorded by Nat “King” Cole, Les Brown, Cannonball Adderly, Count Basie, George Shearing and many more. 

Gibbs indicates that  “for the longest time, I wanted to do a tribute to him while he was still here. He is getting ready to turn 97 this year and still in great shape. He is, of course, known for being one of the last original BeBoppers alive and innovators of the vibraphone. As you will hear, he composes in many different ways making it a lot of fun to reimagine his music through these 8 true giants in music - his melodies inspired some incredible solos from all 9 of us.”

During the process of recording, a huge tragedy occurred with the untimely and completely unexpected passing of Chick Corea. Gibbs notes “I, like everyone that’s my age, grew up learning from and idolizing Chick. For the last 5 months of his life we spoke weekly on the phone. Sometimes it was about future plans to do more music together, sometimes it was to talk about new music he or I was working on. Sometimes it was just to say hello. What an honor to have had those last 5 months becoming friends with him.” Songs From My Father is the last recording Chick Corea played on, a testament to Corea’s stellar creative output right up until the very end.

Gerry Gibbs by Joan Carroll

Disc 1 of Songs From My Father features Chick Corea and Ron Carter on “Bopstacle Course”, composed in 1974 and “Sweet Young Song of Love” composed in 1985, and arranged by Gibbs and Corea. The first disc’s final track, “Hey Chick”, is a special homage to the memory of Chick Corea. Conceived and compiled by Gerry Gibbs, this monumental performance features every musician from all four iterations of the Thrasher Dreams Trio as well as the audio from Terry Gibbs’ original 1961 recording of the composition, then titled “Hey Jim” (which also included pianist Pat Moran bassist Max Bennett and Mike Romero on drums). The melody of the piece is first stated by a trio with Geoff Keezer, Ron Carter and Gibbs on drums, seamlessly transitioning into the track’s first solo which features a recording of several choruses from Terry Gibbs’ solo from the original 1961 recording, which Gerry Gibbs fused with overdubbing from Larry Goldings on organ, and himself on drums. The piece then transitions through five additional solos featuring various trios with Gerry Gibbs alongside Larry Goldings and Ron Carter; Kenny Barron and Buster Williams; Patrice Rushen and Larry Goldings; Geoff Keezer and Christian McBride; and Ron Carter, Buster Williams, Larry Goldings and Christian McBride respectively. Upon listening to this special compilation of masterful performers, Gerry and Terry discussed the matter and decided to retitle the tune “Hey Chick” as a dedication to the late musical titan. The Thrasher Dream Trio iteration with the inimitable Kenny Barron and Buster Williams is featured on the album opener “Kick Those Feet” and “Take It From Me” both composed in 1964. “Smoke Em Up” (1968) and “Lonely Days” (1955) both feature Gibbs alongside pianist Patrice Rushen and organist Larry Goldings. Gibbs performs with pianist Geoff Keezer and bassist Christian McBride on 1955’s “Nutty Notes”, and 1958’s “The Fat Man”.

Disc 2 provides audiences with further arrangements of timeless Gibbs compositions including 1949’s “T & S” and 1955’s “Lonely Dreams” featuring Barron, Gibbs and Williams; 1978’s “Townhouse 3”, 1961’s “Hippie Twist” and 1958’s “Pretty Blue Eyes” featuring Rushen, Gibbs and Goldings; 1978’s “4 A.M”, 1961’s “For Keeps” and 1955’s “Gibberish” featuring Keezer, Gibbs and McBride; and 1964’s “Waltz For My Children”  featuring and arranged by Chick Corea, alongside Gibbs and Carter as well as the final piece on the album - “Tango For Terry” written and performed by Corea for his old friend Terry Gibbs.

After 10 months and 15,000 miles of car travel to assemble the recordings for this masterpiece, Gerry Gibbs’ newest outing will finally be in the hands of listeners. Songs From My Father acts as a document to the memory of the fallen jazz titan who graces many of its tracks, Chick Corea, and the legacy of the luminary whose work the album reflects, bebop architect Terry Gibbs. With this monumental new recording, Gerry Gibbs cements his standing as one of the most creative and forward-thinking musicians on the contemporary jazz scene.

TRACKS – Disk 1

1. Kick Those Feet

2. Smoke 'Em Up

3. Bopstacle Course

4. Nutty Notes

5. Take It From Me

6. Sweet Young Song Of Love

7. The Fat Man

8. Lonely Days

9. Hey Chick

TRACKS – Disk 2

1. Townhouse 3

2. T & S

3. 4 A.M.

4. Waltz For My Children

5. Hippie Twist

6. Lonely Dreams

7. For Keeps

8. Pretty Blue Eyes

9. Gibberish

10. Tango For Terry

Featured

Thrasher Dream Trio #2

disc 1 – tracks 1,5 / disc 2 – 2,6

Gerry Gibbs / drums, percussion

Chick Corea/ acoustic piano, minimoog

Ron Carter/ acoustic bass

Thrasher Dream Trio #2

disc 1 – tracks 1,5 / disc 2 – 2,6

Gerry Gibbs / drums, percussion

Kenny Barron/ acoustic piano

Buster Williams/ acoustic bass

Thrasher Dream Trio #3

disc 1 – tracks 2,8 / disc 2 – 1,5,8

Gerry Gibbs / drums, percussion

Patrice Rushen/ acoustic piano

Larry Goldings/ Hammond B3 organ

Thrasher Dream Trio #4

disc 1 – tracks 4,7 / disc 2 – 3,7,9

Gerry Gibbs / drums

Geoff Keezer/ acoustic piano

Christen McBride/ acoustic bass

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Rale Micic - Only Love Will Stay (May 7, 2021 Whaling City Sound)

A World of Talent

Rale Micic's heartwarming fusion of heritage, taste, and jazz guitar sophistication shines on

Only Love Will Stay

It goes without saying, though we’ll say it once, right from the top here, that Rale Micic is a unique voice in jazz guitar. He combines an absurdly melodic approach and an intricate insight into harmonies, with a sort of deep personal story from his native Serbia. His life experience and heritage exert a soft and loving influence on his artistic approach: the rhythm, tone, and feel of the music of his life. This approach, in the works for a while now, culminates on his new recording, Only Love Will Stay.

Micic has played with such artists as Tom Harrell, Don Friedman, Peter Bernstein, Eric Alexander, and Greg Hutchinson, but it’s the striking originality with which he plays his own music that really distinguishes him from other jazz guitar talents. The session, with Jared Gold on keys and Geoff Clapp and Johnathan Blake on drums, is both relaxed and substantial, joyful and chill, starring the filigreed sounds of Micic’s Sadowsky archtop and the tasty choices of empathic accompanists. “I first played with Johnathan Blake when we were in Tom Harrell’s group,” says Micic. “We have been playing together for over 10 years and he was also on my previous album, Night Music. Geoff is another great drummer and we have toured and played quite a bit in the last four, five years. It’s great how both of them brought something special to the music. This is the first time I worked with Jared Gold, but it felt so nice and easy. I think the musical chemistry is pretty apparent.”

Only Love Will Stay features Micic and the band creating layers of original sounds, featuring a backbone in acoustic jazz ala John Abercrombie, the intricate textures of his internal conversations, and continuing through the loving melodic rhythms of his native Serbia. “Early on,” he says, “I loved listening to the very different way that John Abercrombie was using organ with his groups and keeping it very open and cool sounding. So, I guess this record is a nod to John. He was a big influence on me. I was fortunate to play and record with him before he passed away. That’s one of the reasons I included his song ‘Even Steven’ on the album.”

Elsewhere, tunes like the dark and dramatic title track which opens the record, right through to the lush, atmospheric closer “Lipe Cvatu,” in 7/8, are enrapturing without going too far astray, too deep into the margins. They are intoxicating without over-exerting. Micic’s Only Love Will Stay is a joyful experience and a stunning excursion into the mind of a truly original artist.

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Dorian Komanoff Bandy & Paul Cienniwa - Telemann: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord (Frankfurt, 1715) WHALING CITY SOUND 2018

Telemann sonatas freshly played; Bandy, violin and Cienniwa, harpsichord

Whaling City Sound is delighted to present Telemann: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord (WCS108), expertly performed by Dorian Komanoff Bandy, baroque violin and Paul Cienniwa (SIN-uh-wah), harpsichord.

German Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was one of music’s great mavericks, an aesthete with a restless mind and cosmopolitan tastes. During his nearly seven-decade career, he sampled every conceivable genre, idiom, and national style, and incorporated a dizzying number of them into his music.

The Violin Sonatas of 1715 are so wide-ranging in both idiom and expression that, heard together, they constitute a microcosm of Telemann’s art. Other recordings of these works often include cello. These pieces, however, were written specifically for the duo instruments — just violin and harpsichord. In this inventive presentation, Bandy and Cienniwa didn’t think of them as six individual pieces, but a single big piece with 24 movements. 

The Sonata in F sharp minor is a real rarity and this may be its world premiere recording. Unpublished in his lifetime, the manuscript is signed as George Melante, a nearly-anagrammatic pseudonym.

Comparing the seven works on this recording, it is clear that Telemann had no simple schema, no formula that would produce a single piece of music over and over. These are seven truly distinct sonatas: each unique, daring, and extraordinary in its own way.

Recorded in high-resolution at WGBH Studio, Boston, the album is offered on CD, high-resolution and conventional downloads and streaming services. 

With a repertoire spanning 400 years and six instruments, Dorian Komanoff Bandy is one of the most versatile talents to emerge on the early music scene. His “spectacular violin playing” (PlanetHugill), marked by “sensibility and virtuosity” (Musical Pointers), has charmed audiences in venues ranging from London’s Wigmore and Cadogan Halls to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and New York’s Symphony Space. For four years he was leader and co-director of Musica Poetica (London); he is now a frequent guest concertmaster/soloist with the Rococo Consort, Sinfonia New York, the Amphion Consort (London), Musical Offering (Boston), and other groups across Europe and North America. Dorian holds degrees from London’s Royal Academy of Music and Cornell University, and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Glasgow. In 2010 he was awarded the coveted Marshall Scholarship.

Cited by the Huffington Post for his “inner sense of creative flow, fueled by an abundance of musical imagination and desire,” harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa has an active career as a soloist, ensemble player, recording artist, and teacher. In 2017 he began as Director of Music Ministries at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach, FL. Prior to that, he was music director at First Church in Boston; Chorus Master of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra; and served on the faculties of the Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Framingham State University, and UMass-Dartmouth. He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in harpsichord from Yale University in 2003. This is Paul's third recording for Whaling City Sound.

Founded in 1999, Whaling City Sound was established to provide the musical audience with a bit of our abundance of outstanding musicians. We strive for innovative musicianship and impeccable recording quality; a platform for our artists to be heard and enjoyed by a wider audience.

www.doriankomanoffbandy.com

paulcienniwa.com

Debra Mann "Full Circle The Music of Joni Mitchell " on WHALING CITY SOUND (August 24, 2018)

Joni Mitchell’s metamorphosis from acoustic chanteuse of folk music to sophisticated performer of jazz (accompanied by geniuses like Pastorius, Shorter, Metheny, and Brecker) made an indelible impression on Debra Mann. “Joni’s lyrics, combined with her gorgeous melodies, carried on the wind of her unique voice, struck deep chords of feeling within me.”

Mann was first introduced to the music of Joni Mitchell in a poetry appreciation class in junior high school. “We listened to songs by various artists and discussed the hidden meaning in the lyrics.” She hadn’t heard of Joni Mitchell until then, but once she had, her world would be forever changed, as she was awakened to her own emerging voice as a musician. “I was of the impressionable age of fifteen, when I had a great curiosity and openness to the world and was sorting out the landscape of life and love, with its hopes and promises, as well as its disappointments. Joni’s music helped to frame and clarify that world through her honest self-reflection and keen insight.”

Fast forward a few years. Mann has graduated from Berklee College of Music, performed at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as a featured guest soloist with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra, performed at the request of Frank Sinatra, and performed with her trio on Ron Dellachiesa’s WGBH radio program “Music America” in celebration of Women’s History Month. Mann, a piano and voice teacher (Brown University and Wheaton College), continues to perform in clubs and concert halls throughout New England. Five years ago, she began performing interpretations of Mitchell’s music with her jazz quintet. The concept caught on quickly.

Full Circle: The Music of Joni Mitchell (Whaling City Sound) reflects on a lifetime of admiration for an artist who has been uncompromising in her approach to music, and celebrates the occasion of Mitchell turning 75 years old this year. “This is very inspiring material to work with,” says Mann. “Joni’s music stirs powerful emotions with its universal themes and timeless beauty.”

Dori Rubbicco with the John Harrison Quintet - STAGE DOOR LIVE! (WHALING CITY SOUND June 22, 2018)

AN OPEN DOOR: 6.22.18 Dori Rubbicco and the John Harrison Quintet release STAGE DOOR LIVE! on Whaling City Sound

Dori Rubbicco’s musical marriage with John Harrison is the perfect arrangement. While Dori explores the nearly spiritual meaning of some of her well-chosen covers and original compositions, Harrison does his own exploration on piano, laying down lovely melodies for Rubbicco to fall back on. Harrison and his band are wonderful here, and Rubbicco’s interpretive styles serve as the ideal complement. 

Emotional, magical, and unmistakably original, STAGE DOOR LIVE! was recorded at New Bedford’s intimate Zeiterion Theater. The backdrop is ideal for such a captivating live session. As a singer-songwriter inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell—which makes perfect sense given her penchant for ambitious musical searching—as well as vocal stylists like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, Dori understands the power of both style and substance and her performance conveys that power to the audience. Her set list is full of unique interpretations and elegantly imagined covers, revealing an artist able to both compose and interpret with equally successful results. 

The band, Harrison’s quintet, is excellent; full of melodic romanticism and jazzy chops. Bill Miele plays the bass, Yoron Israel on drums, Donn Legge on guitar, Bryan Steel on the saxes, and Ian Rubbico Legge (notice the surnames!) on cello. Harrison leads with his customary elegance. It’s traditional without being too staid. Straight-up without being reserved. It helps that Dori finds her way through the instruments with her probing vocals. 

Both Dori and Harrison have performed across the country, together and separately. Rubbicco has worked as a solo singer-songwriter and with groups, including the Miami Jazz Ensemble, the Gerald Wiggins Trio, and the Blues Train Band. Her work here with Harrison brings out the best in both artists, with Harrison’s extraordinary piano laying lush melodies down for Dori to revel in, on covers like “Imagine” and “I Can See Clearly,” and Jobim’s “Two Kites,” as well as an entertaining original, “Right Here Waiting.” 

Benito Gonzalez / Gerry Gibbs / Essiet Okon Essiet - Passion Reverence Transcendence (WHALING CITY SOUND 2018)

The title says all you need to know about how three musicians—Gonzalez, Gibbs and Essiet—tackle the music (and more) of legendary pianist McCoy Tyner. Pianist Benito Gonzalez, drummer Gerry Gibbs and bass player Essiet Okon Essiet rally around the music of McCoy Tyner on their new Whaling City Sound recording and the result is pure jazz joy.

Lavishly arranged and beautifully played Passion Reverence Transcendence is an unequivocal triumph of sound and spirit. Gonzalez, Gibbs, and Essiet celebrate Tyner with gusto. Gonzalez interprets Tyner’s stuff aggressively, passionately, with modern flourishes to keep pace with Gibbs’ driving rhythms. Gibbs, in typical fashion, charges into it with his brawny, supersonic jazz drumming. Essiet is critical and fabulous in his support role, diving into a blend of traditional, contemporary and fusion lines that push the arrangements into some seriously sparkling terrain.

Produced by Gibbs and beautifully captured, the recording feels live without the rawness. 

And it’s all ridiculously high energy. The trio doesn’t bother kicking back much. Gibbs and Essiet drive the opening tunes, “Fly With the Wind” and “Just Feelin’,” along with “The Greeting,” which features a nice interlude from Essiet. Some of it’s playful, like “Inner Glimpse,” which finds Gonzalez and Gibbs holding onto the rhythmic motif while Essiet dances playfully around. After digging into nine Tyner compositions, the three artists each contribute one of their own tunes to close the record. Essiet launches into the wryly elaborate “Tyner/Train Express” and Gibbs serves up the stylish, bluesy jazz of “Between Friends.” The closer, Gonzalez’s “Brazilian Girls,” explodes with melody about a minute in and spends the rest of its seven-minute length making good on that initial promise. While they are not Tyner compositions per se, they are in the spirit of the great pianist and they settle in nicely with the compositions that came before it on the recording.

Together, the trio embraces, and even supercharges Tyner’s vibe without succumbing to cliches. The material is always melodic, always together, thanks to the dexterity and high energy you’d expect from each of these musicians. They’ve proven themselves on their independent projects, and they prove themselves on Passion Reverence Transcendence: The Music of McCoy Tyner.

1. Fly With The Wind

2. Just Feelin'

3. Rotunda

4. Festival In Bahia

5. Blues On The Corner

6. The Greeting

7. You Taught My Heart To Sing

8. Atlantis

9. Inner Glimpse

10. Naima

11. Tyne/Trane Express

12. Between Friends

13. Brazilian Girls

Gerry Gibbs - drums, percussion, voices

Benito Gonzalez - piano

Essiet Okon Essiet - bass

Monika Herzig releases "SHEROES" on Whaling City Sound coinciding with Women's History Month

MONIKA HERZIG'S SHEROES

"The jazz supergroup of the year is right here – SHEROES!”

Howard Mandel – Author, Jazz Journalist

The timing couldn’t be better for the release of this remarkable recording. SHEROES, created and led by pianist/composer Monika Herzig, features an international cast of virtuoso players - all women, all first-call talents - including Jennifer Vincent (bass, USA), Rosa Avila (drums, Mexico), Mayra Casales (percussion, Cuba/USA) Leni Stern (guitar, Germany/USA), Jamie Baum (flutes, USA), Reut Regev (trombone, Israel/USA), and Ingrid Jensen (trumpet, Canada/USA) rounding out the lineup extending the group’s serious pedigree on its second Whaling City Sound release.

Ably supported by this great band, pianist Herzig is its catalyst. As a Doctor of Music Education at Indiana University, she serves as a Senior Lecturer in Arts Management. Named the 2015 Jazz Journalist Association Jazz Hero for the city of Bloomington, she has also authored two critically praised books, Dr. David Baker – A Legacy in Music, foreward by Quincy Jones (IU Press 2011) and Experiencing Chick Corea – A Listener’s Companion (Rowman & Littlefield 2017).

As an ensemble of empowerment, SHEROES is a musical force, operating with deftness, invention, enthusiasm and ambition. Herzig does much of the writing and arranging, but Regev, Baum, Vincent, and Stern all contribute compositions alongside covers, including “House of the Rising Sun” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” prompting Valerie Simpson, its composer, to write “I honestly really really liked it,” and jazz phenom Terri Lyne Carrington to write “a brilliant project…soulful and thoughtful, it captures the spirit of this group because there’s no stopping great artists from making great music as demonstrated by this stellar recording.”

Says Herzig of her colleagues, “these are all incredibly accomplished musicians, often sacrificing other opportunities, family time and resources to perform in this group. They are my idols in terms of tenacity and accomplishment and should be more widely heard and appreciated." In a sense, SHEROES also heralds an era of greater and deeper consideration for women in jazz. Says Jazz Journalist Association President, Howard Mandel in his liner notes, “That’s exactly what Monika and company does: Present a model of empowerment with results that are good for everyone.  Wherever you are on the gender continuum, you’ll like it. SHEROES make music!

Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal agrees: “Female musicians are now prominent practitioners on all instruments. They win competitions and polls, lead bands large and small, and set new trends in improvised music. Herzig herself is a visionary artist and educator, a true jazz warrior with an already fascinating career.”

Each song is engaging, the playing accomplished and inspiring - JAZZIZ

CONCERTS

New York, NY •  Wed Apr 4 The New School in the Jazz Performance Space, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 5th Floor. Panel discussion with SHEROES from 4:30 - 5:30. Concert 6:00 - 7:00. Free event but seating is limited, first come first served.

Newark, NJ  •  Thu Apr 5 Roundtable Presentation on Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener's Companion Rutgers University 7-9pm

Baltimore, MD  •  Fri Apr 6 SHEROES CD release An Die Musik live 409 North Charles Street Second Floor 6pm

Cleveland, OH  •  Sun Apr 8 SHEROES CD release Nighttown 7pm

Jay Rodriguez - Your Sound (Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola) WHALING CITY SOUND 2018

You might hear Jay Rodriguez and wonder, "Is there anything you can't do?" The fact is, it might be tough to track down something along Jay's musical continuum that he hasn't done. In fact, he may be one of the busiest men in jazz, and one of the few playing most all the reeds as a leader and sideman with a wildly diverse cadre of musicians, synthesizing these experiences within his own projects.

Rodriguez's original work is daring, groovy, breathtaking and soulful, sometimes all at once. Your Sound: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, captures all of that exhilarating rawness in real time. It is loose and lovely, with both rough and smooth edges and flourishes that reflect his ample international experience. Songs like the opener, "Ghost Dancer, " kick off forcefully, with a propulsive bass and a frisky tropical feel, while on the flip side, Rodriguez lays into romance, with a flute tour de force on "When the Stars Fell." The record closes with a bold cover of "Kiss and Say Goodbye."

Accompanied by Billy Harper on tenor sax, Larry Willis on piano, Eric Wheeler (also on Greg Murphy's Summer Breeze) on bass, JT Lewis on drums, and percussionist Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin & Wood), Rodriguez frees himself up to showcase his work on saxes, flutes, and bass clarinet. The result is magical. Over his career, Rodriguez has tackled composition, arranging, accompanying, and leading. It is high time for the world to hear all the wonderful things Jay Rodriguez—musician, personality, iconoclast, and innovator—has to offer.

A versatile bandleader, with flute, clarinet and saxophone chops, the Colombia-born, New York City-bred musician is profoundly talented and incredibly prolific. He graduated with the highest honors from New York City's renowned High School for the Performing Arts and continued his studies at Manhattan School of Music and The New School's School of Jazz.

Since then he has had musical adventures in salsa with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Paquito D'Rivera, pop/hip-hop with Prince, Guru, the Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Premier and Groove Collective, straight-ahead with Doc Cheatham, Mingus Big Band, Chucho Valdes, David Murray, Craig Harris, Jason Miles and Miles Davis. He has played alongside Joe Lovano, Gil Evans, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Bernie Worrell and Joan Osborne, to name a few. Awards follow that kind of pedigree, and so should your attention. Rodriguez is quite simply a giant talent and Your Sound is just the beginning of his story.

Prolific. Prodigal. Profound. That is Jay Rodriguez. Sometimes the sound is explosive, wild and full of fury, other times his music aches with a passion that’s painful and bare. Always modest and reverent, Rodriguez harnesses the unbridled audacity of youth and melds it with the uncanny discipline of a hardened New York jazz veteran. Married to the song while sleeping with the groove, his sound sings of commitment to an ideal—it is spontaneity, culturally untethered and unpretentious, the excitement of far flung love at all costs. It is perfectionism kissed by chaos. 

– THE NEW YORKER

He could be breathy and insinuating on a ballad, brawny and extroverted in an uptempo… 

– THE NEW YORK TIMES

Fleet-fingered saxophonist Jay Rodriguez has played it all in New York: salsa with Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, hip-hop with DJ Premier and Groove Collective, straight-ahead with Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Barron and Doc Cheatham. His new band, SEVEN, pays homage to a recent discovery: the free jazz of saxophonist Ornette Coleman. “I felt like one of those folks who just learned the earth is round,” he says. Rodriguez took a deep dive into Coleman’s repertoire and came up with a brass and string ensemble inspired by the legend’s 1960s double quartets performING Coleman-inspired originals like “Your Sound,” as well as Coleman classics like “Lonely Woman,” at Winter Jazzfest. 

– NPR

Mr. Rodriguez is more than a musician. He is a visionary. Jay Rodriguez is the Latin American Answer to James Carter and a true light to hear and see. 

– Arnie Lawrence, Founder of THE NEW SCHOOL for Jazz and Contemporary Music

Havana International Jazz Festival Reedman / Saxophonist Jay Rodriguez, down from New Y0rk for the festival says, ‘I have admiration for the people and the culture and the way they persevere and are educated, in general culturally and musically. They are supportive of their own musicians, and the young musicians are skilled and well trained.’ 

– JAZZTIMES

His work is defined with versatility, humor and heart. His jazz playing is full of blues and soul. It is one of those voices that are hard to describe with words, and that is much closer to the spirit.

– EL HERALDO, Colombia

01. Ghost Dancer

02. Golden Earring

03. Clouds

04. Silk Stockings: All of You: All of You

05. Your Sound

06. When the Stars Fell

07. Spirits

08. Inolvidable

09. Love me Tonight: Lover: Lover

10. Kiss and Say Goodbye: Let's Just Kiss and Say Goodbye

Jay Rodriguez Website

Dave Zinno Unisphere - River of January (WHALING CITY SOUND 2017)

The songs on Dave Zinno Unisphere’s River of January are lavish jazz adventures, rich with texture, ripe with melodicism, and simply joyful audio journeys. The band is spectacular: Unisphere includes the talents of sax man Mike Tucker (Arturo Sandoval), drummer Rafael Barata (Milton Nascimento, Marc Johnson), Leo Genovese (Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spaulding), and Crescent City trumpeter Benny Bloom. Zinno leads them the way a hopeless romantic treats a first love: gently, understanding and worshipful. He glorifies his accompanists and allows them to go on at length, indulging their considerable talents and making River of January a wall of glorious of sound.

This isn’t to say that it’s stodgy. Zinno infuses the work with progress. The band takes the vibe of traditional jazz and reverses the paradigm, so the songs, while familiar, certainly don’t remain the same. There are many highlights here, and while it wouldn’t be a waste of space to speak about them individually, it would be easier to say that these tunes all include rushes of adrenaline, sweetness of melody and serious elements of style. River of January is a work of forward thinking tradition and one that has much substance within it to discover.

1 Babycakes

2 Remember When

3 Petra Hippie

4 Inverno Sem Rio

5 Little Lilli

6 Recife Blues

7 Wichita Lineman

8 South End Blues

9 Rapanui

10 Um a Zero

Dave Zinno - double bass

Mike Tucker - tenor saxophone

Leo Genovese - piano melodica

Rafael Barata - drums

Eric " Benny" Bloom - trumpet