Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Cuneiform Artists on Tour - April 2017


April 2017
New Releases: Out Now / February 2017



Upcoming Shows


April 14 - Monty Hall - Jersey City, NJ [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 18 - The Shelter - Detroit, MI [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 19 - Mac's Bar - Lansing, MI [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 20 - Shank Hall - Milwaukee, WI [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 21 - The House Cafe - Dekalb, IL [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 22 - Blue Moose Taphouse - Iowa City, IA [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 23 - The Bottleneck - Lawrence, KS [opening for Thank You Scientist]

April 27 - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - 280 Fenway - Boston, MA [opening for Ruby Rose Fox]

May 6 - Waiting Room - Buffalo, NY [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 7 - The Haunt - Ithaca, NY [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 9 - The Ottobar - Baltimore, MD [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 10 - Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 11 - Canal Club - Richmond, VA [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 12 - Motorco Music Hall - Durham, NC [opening for Thank You Scientist]

May 18-21 - FIMAV - Victoriaville, Quebec G6P 6T3 - Canada

Listen to Say So


April 27 - Jazzahead! 2017 - Bremen, Germany

Listen to Out Of The Blue


May 15 - Songbyrd - 2477 18th St NW - Washington, DC 20009 (202) 450-2917

Listen to Super Petite


September 22 - tba - Hamburg, Germany

September 24 - tba - Scarbourough, UK

October 19 - Berklee School of Music - Boston, MA



September 15-17 - Rock In Opposition Festival - Cap D'ecouverte - Le Garric 81450, France



July 2 - Blazing Telecaster Madness with guitarists Anthony Pirog & Dave Chappell, John Previtti (b) & Barry Hart (d) - Bertha's - 734 South Broadway - Baltimore, MD - 3:00 til 6:00

Listen to Mother Stump


April 12 - Pianos - NYC, NY

April 13 - Wichita Jazz Festival - Wichiata, KS

April 14 - The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO

April 15 - Barleycorn's - Wichita, KS

April 20 - Musica - Akron, OH

April 21 - Community High School - Ann Arbor, MI

April 21 - Cliff Bells - Detroit, MI

April 22 - Cliff Bells - Detroit, MI

April 23 - The Trocadero - Reno, NV

April 24 - tba - Sacramento, CA

April 25 - Black Cat - San Francisco, CA

April 26 - Buchanan High School - Clovis, CA

April 27 - Blue Whale - Los Angeles, CA

April 28 - Reno Jazz Festival - Reno, NV

May 19 - SLO Jazz Festival - San Luis Obispo, CA

May 31 - New Morning - Paris, France

June 6 - Cross Club - Prague, CZ

June 8 - KSET - Zagreb Croatia

Aug 25-27 - Smida Jazz Fest - Cluj, Romania

Listen to Somnambulist


April 6 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542



April 6 - Bar Django - Thorvald Meyers gate 25 - 0555 Oslo, Norway

April 8 - Nordic Black Theatre - Hollendergata 8 - 0190 Oslo, Norway

April 29 - Jazz & Cookin' Festival - Veles e Vents, Marina Real Juan Carlos I - 46024 València, Spain - 17:00

June 7 - Palau de la Musica - Passeig de l'Albereda, 30 - 46023 València, Spain - 20:00

July 14 - White Night Music Joint - Fontanka river embankment, 59 - Saint Petersburg, Russia

July 15 - Petrojazz Festival - St Petersburg, Russia

September 7 - Amstel Arts - Veles e Vents, Marina Real Juan Carlos I - 46024 València, Spain - 19:00

Listen to Bye


April 23 -  Festival Prog-Resiste - Espace Victor Jara - 31 place van Zeeland - Soignies, Belgium

June 7 - Petit Bain - Paris, France

June 10 - Le Triton - Triton Fest - Les Lilas, France [with drummer Arthur Narcy]



April 4 - Machine With Magnets - 400 Main Street - Pawtucket, RI [opening for Calvin Johnson, Arrington De Dionyso]

April 5 - The Studio at 550 - 550 Massachusetts Ave - Cambridge, MA 02139 [opening for Calvin Johnson, Arrington De Dionyso]

Listen to Sister Death


April 8 – CREATE Festival - Firehouse 12 - 45 Crown St - New Haven, CT 06510

April 9 – CREATE Festival - Firehouse 12 - 45 Crown St - New Haven, CT 06510

June 8 – Wadada Leo Smith & Vijay Iyer - Ojai Music Festival - Libbey Bowl - Ojai, CA

June 15 – Wadada Leo Smith & Vijay Iyer - Zellerbach Hall - Berkeley, CA

July 18  – Wadada Leo Smith & Vijay Iyer - Molde Jazz Festival - Newport, RI

August 4 – Wadada Leo Smith & Vijay Iyer - Newport Jazz Festival - Newport, RI

October 13 – Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet - performing 'Ten Freedom Summers' - tba - Houston, TX

October 14 – Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet - performing 'Ten Freedom Summers' - tba - Austin, TX

October 15 – Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet - performing 'Ten Freedom Summers' - tba - New Orleans, LA



June 3 - Birdsongs of the Mezoic will rise from Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction to unleash a rollicking set of their primordial punk jazz classical car-wreck ouevre - ONCE Lounge & Ballroom - 156 Highland Ave - Somerville MA - 10 PM harpist Audrey Harrer / 10:45 Birdsongs - $10.00

and related:
April 23 - Brockton Symphony will perform Erik Lindgren’s 25-minute orchestral suite “Extreme Spirituals” featuring Atlanta bass baritone Oral Moses - Christ Congregational Church - 1350 Pleasant Street - Brockton MA - 3 PM $20 / $15 seniors/students & kids free

The Bespoke Consort will perform an invigorating concert of crossover classical chamber music sans boundaries featuring Thomasine Berg on flute, Vessela Stoyanova on vibraphone, Valerie Thompson on cello, and Erik Lindgren on piano

May 6 - Johnson Strings - 1039 Chestnut Street - Newton Upper Falls, MA - 7:30-9:30 followed by reception $10

May 7 - First Unitarian Universalist Church - 25 South Main Street - Middleboro, MA - 10:30-12:00 free Note: musical selections will be performed during the service

May 7 - Middleborough Public Library - 102 North Main Street, Middleborough, MA - 2-4 free

June 24 - Private Party evening performance TBA

June 25 - Plymouth Center for the Arts - 11 North Street - Plymouth MA - 4 PM wine & cheese reception followed by a 5-7 performance - $12



July 31 - Beat Kitchen - 2100 W. Belmont Ave - Chicago, IL 60618 [opening for Free Salamander Exhibit!]

September 15-17 - Rock In Opposition Festival - Cap D'ecouverte - Le Garric 81450, France



April 25 - 29 - 'Pop-up Jazz Lounge' - Unit 30 - Great Western Arcade at Birmingham's Coleman Business - near Snow Hill Station - Birmingham, UK

June tba - 'Pop-up Jazz Lounge' - Old Street Underground station - London, UK

September tba - 'Pop-up Jazz Lounge' - Liverpool, UK


May 6 - Apollo - Shimo-Kitazawa - Tokyo, Japan

May 7 - Gig - Yokohama, Japan

May 8 - Star Eyes - Nagoya, Japan

May 9 - Mokkiriya - Kanazawa, Japan

May 10 - UrBANGUILD - Kyoto, Japan

May 11 - Left Alone - Ashiya, Kobe, Japan

May 13 - Bird - Hiroshima, Japan

May 14 - Candy - Chiba, Japan

May 15 - Tokyo Club Meguro - Meguro, Tokyo, Japan

May 16 - Airegin - Yokohama, Japan

June 11 - Hot Club Ghent - Ghent, Belgium

CD out in May!


May 14 - The Legion Bar - 790 Metropolitan Ave - Brooklyn, NY - 9:00



April 13 - Jazz Spot Candy - Chiba, Japan

April 14 - Velvet Sun - Tokyo, Japan

April 15 - tbd - Tokyo, Japan

April 16 - Nanya - Nogoya, Japan

April 17 - Big Apple - Kobe, Japan

April 18 - Pepperland - Okayama, Japan

April 19 - Jazz Riverside - Fukuoka, Japan

May 3 - Vortex - London, UK

May 4 - Vortex - London, UK

May 5 - Blue Orange Theatre - Birmingham, UK

May 6 - Fuse Art Space - Bradford, UK

May 7 - The Bridge Hotel - Newcastle, UK

May 8 - Bramley's Bar - Canterbury, UK

May 12 - Jazztage Goerlitz - Goerlitz, UK

Listen to The Good Egg


April 3 - 5 - Experimental Sound Studio - 5925 No. Ravenswood - Chicago, IL 60660



September 15-17 - Rock In Opposition Festival - Cap D'ecouverte - Le Garric 81450, France

September 22 - La Casa di Alex - Milano, Italy

September 23-24 - Freakshow Art Rock Festival - Wurzburg, Germany

Listen to Cobra Fakir


April 1 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542

April 10 - The Iridium - 1650 Broadway - NYC, NY

May 8 - The Iridium - 1650 Broadway - NYC, NY

June 3 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542

June 19 - The Iridium - 1650 Broadway - NYC, NY

August 19 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542

August 21 - The Iridium - 1650 Broadway - NYC, NY

October 28 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542

December 23 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542



July 2 - Blazing Telecaster Madness with guitarists Joel Harrison & Dave Chappell, John Previtti (b) & Barry Hart (d) - Bertha's - 734 South Broadway - Baltimore, MD - 3:00 til 6:00



April 30 - Cheltenham Jazz Festival - Cheltenham, UK

May 1 - Sproggits - Wharf Chambers - Leeds, UK

May 2 - Number 39 - Darwen, UK

May 3 - Kazimier Garden - Liverpool, UK

May 12 - Jazz Live Im Speicher - Leer, Germany

May 14 - Moods - Zurich, Switzerland

May 19 - AMR - Geneva, Switzerland

May 28 - Theatre 2.21 - rue de l'Industrie 10 - Lausanne, Switzerland

June 4 - Bad Bonn Kilbi - Düdingen, Switzerland

July 4 - Resonance(s) Festival - Perryscope - Lyon, France

July 5 - Parquet Sonare - Grenoble, France

August 4 - Bambole Openair - Winterthur, Switzerland

Listen to X


April 17 - Live Spot RAG - Empire Building, 5th floor, 521 Kamiosaka-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

April 18 - Mokkiriya - 3-6 Kakinokibatake, Kanazawa 920-0999, Ishikawa Prefecture, Kanazawa, Japan

April 19 - Jazz Flash, Giappone, 951-8065 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan

April 20 - Rakuya - Tokyo, Japan

April 21 - Nardis - Kashiwa, Japan

April 22 - Candy - 3 Chome-10-12 Inagehigashi, Inage Ward, Chiba, Chiba - Inage, Japan

April 23 - Airegin - 5-60 Sumiyoshicho, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa - Yokohama, Japan

Listen to Black Light


20 U.S. Communities celebrate 26 "Jazz Heroes" Announced by Jazz Journalists Association


20 U.S. Communities celebrate 26 "Jazz Heroes"
Announced by Jazz Journalists Association

Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation ED,
Educators, Presenters, Jazz Police, 
Asian Improv aRts Co-Founders,
and a Native American Family Jazz Band
Are 2017 'Activists, Advocates, Altruists
Aiders and Abettors of Jazz'


More than two dozen "Jazz Heroes" -- people exerting unusual positive musical influence on their communities, whether they're musicians or not – are to be celebrated in 20 U.S. locales throughout April, Jazz Appreciation Month, as announced by the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit organization of media professionals in collaboration with diverse jazz grassroots groups, institutions and supporters.

The complete list of Jazz Heroes, with their portraits, detailed bios and Awards celebration information, is at the JJA Jazz Heroes webpage

From Atlanta to Washington State, Minnesota's Twin Cities to New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay Area to Brooklyn, individuals identified locally as "activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz" and further certified by a JJA process launched in 2001 will receive engraved statuettes at public presentations, often accompanied by official proclamations from municipal and/or state officials.

This year's roster includes Jazz Heroes of immigrant backgrounds and descent – San Diego trumpeter-band director-mentor Gilbert Castellanos, for instance, and Asian Improv aRts co-founders Jon Jang and Francis Wong – as well as women who are changing the sound of jazz (Chicago's improvising cellist Tomeka Reid), documenting it (photographer/historian Andrea Canter of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Judith Korey of the Felix Grant Jazz Archives) and sustaining its humanitarian legacy (Fran Morris Rosman of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation). Tallahassee hero Adam Gaffney teaches jazz appreciation from his special perspective as a blind listener. There are veteran presenters such as Jack Kleinsinger (producing Highlights in Jazz in Manhattan for 45 years), Marty Ashby (30-year executive producer of MCG Jazz, Pittsburgh), Viola Plummer (22 years running Sistas' Place in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood), Sam Yi (formerly of Churchill Downs, Atlanta) and Jason Patterson of New Orleans' Snug Harbor. Also entrepreneurial musicians including pianists Wayne Horvitz (Seattle) and Darrell Grant (Portland, OR), and broadcasters and journalists (Lew Shaw, W. Kim Heron, J. Michael Harrison and Richard Henderson). All work to advance jazz beyond requirements or duties of their employment.

Organizations collaborating on Jazz Hero events this year include the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Philadelphia), the Mason Tavern (Atlanta), Jazz in the Neighborhood (San Francisco), Experimental Sound Studio (Chicago), B Sharps Jazz Café (Tallahassee), Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar (St. Paul), Black Dog Coffee and WIne Bar (St. Paul), Portland PDX Jazz Festival, the Arizona Classic Jazz Society, the International Jazz Day AZ Foundation and the Calvin Jones Big Band Festival at University of District of Columbia.

Sponsors of the Jazz Heroes initiative and the subsequent 21st annual JJA Jazz Awards include the Jazz Foundation of America, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, Century Media Partners, Sunnyside Records, Scott Thompson Public Relations, High Note/Savant Records, Motéma Music, Braithwaite & Katz Communications,Thirsty Ear Records, Jazz Promo Services and the Tucson Jazz Festival.


For further information on the 2017 Jazz Heroes, Jazz Awards, memmbership or support of JJA activities, contact Howard Mandel, President@JazzJournalists.org or Jim@JazzPromoServices.com

Monday, April 3, 2017

David Milzow & Jean-Louis Rassinfosse - Flowers for Harry (2017)


Baritonsaxophonist David Milzow und Bassist Jean- Louis Rassinfosse veröffentlichen ihr Duoalbum "Flowers for Harry", einen Tribute für Harry Carney.

Das Duoalbum "Flowers for Harry" mit Bariton- und Basssaxophonist David Milzow und dem Brüsseler "elder statesmen" - Jazzbassisten Jean- Louis Rassinfosse ist eine Hommage, etwas persönliches:  eine musikalische Verbeugung vor einem der größten Solisten des Duke Ellington - Orchesters, an dessen langjährigen musikalischen Weggefährten, den "Daddy" des Baritonsaxophons, Harry Carney. 

Bereits im Jahr 2009, nach einem gemeinsamen Jazzkonzert mit dem US- Pianisten Richie Beirach, gingen die beiden Protagonisten Milzow und Rassinfosse in Hannover ins Aufnahmestudio, um die Idee eines Albums zum 100. Geburtstag von Harry Carney zu verwirklichen.

Neben dem Tributegedanken war es die Idee, die ungewöhnliche Duokombination der beiden "Tieftöner" Baritonsaxophon und Kontrabass musikalisch kommunikativ und luftig zu gestalten und dennoch den orchestralen Gestus der ausgewählten Stücke zu erhalten: Denn das Repertoire hierzu ist quasi "hausgemacht" und stammt aus dem Ellington- Strayhornfundus. Neben altgedienten Schlachtrössern wie "Sophisticated lady" gibt es aber auch einige selten gehörte Feature- Nummern Harry Carneys zu hören, so z. B. "Frustration", "Lotus Blossum", bzw. "außer der Reihe" als besonderes Bonbon "Come Sunday", vorgetragen auf dem seltenen Basssaxophon.



In der transparenten Produktion ergibt sich ein dynamisches, vielschichtiges und spannendes Klangbild, wobei Milzow und Rassinfosse ein weiteres Kunststück gelingt: David Milzow öffnet den mächtigen Harry Carney- Sound für eine spontan- wendige, zeitgenössische Spielweise und Jean- Louis Rassinfosse erspielt sich mit seinem melodischen Spiel Freiräume, die weit über die traditionelle harmonische Basisrolle des Kontrabass hinausgehen und ihn zum gleichwertigen Gesprächspartner machen.

So ist ein spannendes Album entstanden, das dem Jazzliebhaber großes Vergnügen beim Anhören bereiten dürfte. Erhältlich ist es online bei den gängigen Anbietern wie iTunes oder Amazon.


David Milzow - Sax-Fantasies in Eb-Baritone (2017)


Erstmals stellt sich David Milzow exklusiv als Baritonsaxophonist in einem a cappella- Konzeptformat vor.

In fünf unterschiedlichen Fantasien erforscht er die klanglichen Möglichkeiten des Baritonsax.


In ambitionierten Eigenkompositionen, die den klanglichen Möglichkeiten des Instruments auf den Grund gehen, gibt er ein einmaliges Beispiel, wie das altehrwürdige Harry Carney- Erbe mit erweiterten Spieltechniken und zeitgenössischen Harmonien aktualisiert in die Gegenwart übertragen und erweitert werden kann.

In ambitionierten Eigenkompositionen, die den klanglichen Möglichkeiten des Instruments auf den Grund gehen, gibt er ein einmaliges Beispiel, wie das altehrwürdige Harry Carney- Erbe mit erweiterten Spieltechniken und zeitgenössischen Harmonien aktualisiert in die Gegenwart übertragen und erweitert werden kann.

Trotz des Solo- , bzw. Duoarrangements in dem "tour de force"- Titel "Baritone Storm" (entstanden durch Overdubverfahren) produziert David Milzow eine derart abwechslungsreiche, dynamische Klangfülle auf dem "Big horn", das fast schon ein orchestral anmutender Höreindruck entsteht.

Auf natürlich wirkende Weise integrieren sich dabei die Improvisationen in die jeweilige Atmosphäre der einzelnen auskomponierten "Charakterstücke". 

Denn dies ist ebenfalls die Stärke dieses Konzeptalbums: Komposition und Improvisation fallen nicht auseinander, sondern fließen so nahtlos ineinander über, dass sie wie aus einem Guss wirken.

Als Komponist, Improvisator und Instrumentalist versteht es David Milzow auf dem Baritonsaxophon, traditionelle ebenso wie zeitgenössische Elemente aus Jazz und moderner Konzertmusik miteinander zu verschmelzen.

So gelingt ihm im Ergebnis etwas, was heutzutage schon ein kleines Kunststück an sich ist: 

Am individuellen Sound erkannt zu werden und unter Verarbeitung der Tradition selbiger musikalisch selbstbewusst etwas eigenes hinzuzufügen. Erhältlich ist das Album bei den gängigen Portalen wie iTunes oder Amazon.

AQUAPIT - Dance with Ancients (T5Jazz Records 2017)



AQUAPIT marks 20th anniversary with a danceable organ jazz album focusing on their basics to make the listeners ‘dance’!

Through most of its career, AQUAPIT has been organist Yuta Kaneko, guitarist Yosuke Onuma, and drummer Hidenobu “KALTA” Otsuki. This album marks the debut of AQUAPIT as bandleader Yuta Kaneko’s solo unit. With buzzing young artists, namely Satoshi Yoshida on guitar and Kazuaki Yokoyama on drums as sidemen, the sound they create together is more energetic and groovy than ever. Along with danceable covers of Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”, there is also a jazzy cover of Thelonious Monk’s “Monk’s Dream”! The original tunes are based on the unwavering world of Kaneko, combined with a drastic change brought by having young musicians on guitar and drums, which together create a chemistry that results in a significant evolution as an album. Especially notable is Kaneko’s sense of chords and voicing, which has always been his big appeal but has refined even more to shine brilliantly.

Four years since “Orange” in 2013 which was T5Jazz Records’ very first release, AQUAPIT has reinvented itself with a significant evolution. This is something to tune your ears to!

1. MKW
2. Linda
3. Never Can Say Goodbye
4. Coney Island
5. Half Moon
6. Monk’s Dream
7. The Baby Boomers
8. I Wish


Andrea Bazzicalupo GREAT DEBATERS - Mattoni (UNIT RECORDS 2017)



The music consists of only original compositions, informed by a multitude of influences. Mattoni (bricks – in Italian), represent the essence, the foundations, as well as an idea, a choice, as the source of a concrete consecutive blossoming. Short scenarios or incandescent extended sound paths display a band essentially stretching out to beauty. Collective creation, taste for improvisation and melody, strong feelings feature the spirit of this debut Album.


1. Baz (Guitar) 1:20
2. Patéras 5:32
3. Mattoni 1:32
4. Full Of Wonder 8:54
5. Las Ilusiones 3:10
6. Days Of Erl 8:11
7. The Sacred Habits Of Marcus 1:13
8. D.O.C. 6:34
9. For The End Of A Night 8:29
10. Jazz-Marc (Mattoni) 0:57

Jean-Marc Baccarini - tenor, alto and sopranino saxophones
Pierre Marcus - doublebass
Jérôme Achat - drums, percussions


Domenico Cartago - Chromos (AUAND RECORDS 2017)



Prodotto dalla Auand di Marco Valente, “Chromos” è l’album dove il pianista Domenico Cartago mette in fila sette brani originali insieme al suo trio completato da Giorgio Vendola al contrabbasso e Pippo D’Ambrosio alla batteria. Si tratta di brani dal profondo scavo melodico, sempre cantabile, nei quali Cartago mette a reagire un ampio catalogo di timbri, “colori”, suggestioni ed equilibri, per dare luogo a spazi sonori che sanno essere sia suggestivi e pensosi, sia ritmicamente trascinanti. In Gamma, il cui breve testo riportato nel booklet ben identifica le intenzioni dell’intero lavoro, possiamo apprezzare la voce dell’ospite Elisabetta Pasquale.


01 Anatema
02 Indaco
03 Ocra
04 Gamma
05 Krene
06 Elisheba
07 Chromos
08 Onion
09 Psyche

Domenico Cartago piano
Giorgio Vendola double bass
Pippo D’Ambrosio drums
Elisabetta Pasquale voice on #4

Cettina Donato Quartet - Persistency (The New York Project) ALFA MUSIC 2017



You can do anything you set your mind to,
but it takes action, persistency and facing your fears.
This is the reason why I call my new work Persistency.
Nothing is impossible and we have no limits.
The only limit we have is ourselves.
Everything is set up for all of us.
We just have to believe in ourselves.
I hope you will enjoy the music on this album
because we put our love and heart in to make it.

Cettina Donato


1. The Sweetest Love 5’21
2. Take It Easy 6’09
3. Think About 6’20
4. Undecided minuet 6’35
5. Persistency 4’11
6. Lawns 4’30
7. Sing a song 5’56
8. Gershwin Dixit 12’06

Matt Garrison sax
Curtis Ostle double bass
Eliot Zigmund drums

Produced by Cettina Donato for AlfaMusic Label&Publishing
Production supervisor Fabrizio Salvatore
Cover photo Paolo Galletta
Studio photos Marzio Fulfaro
Graphic project Riccardo Gola
Recording Data

Recordings Systems Two Recording Studios - Brooklyn, NY, USA
Sound Engineer Max Ross
Assistent Andrew Cavaciuti

Mix and mastering AlfaMusic Studio – Rome, Italy
Sound engineer Alessandro Guardia


Billy Likitsakos - Urban Travelers (2017)


My name is Billy Likitsakos; I play Electric Bass and compose music too. I studied at Ithaca College and NYU. I decided a few years ago that I wanted to record my music; to leave a record of my creative existence in the world. Tony Moreno is one of my favorite drummers in NYC and a very important teacher of mine at NYU. I am beyond thrilled that he played on and also produced this recording. Chad Mclouglin is a brilliant guitarist and an old friend and mentor. I am so happy that I got to record with these two musicians on my first record. I hope you enjoy!

1. Ralos 5:21
2. The Salton Sea 5:34
3. Highway Robbery 4:33
4. Radiant One 2:38
5. Carmen and Lola 4:25
6. As of Yet 5:40
7. Text 3:58

Chad Mcloughlin, guitar
Tony Moreno, drums


Phelan Burgoyne Trio - Unquiet Quiet (2017)



1. Imubasam 03:17
2. The Midnight Train To Malmo 07:30
3. Thomas 04:29
4. Quiet Unquiet 1 00:56
5. Green T 06:16
6. Purple Z 08:29
7. Quiet Unquiet II 00:19
8. Afterthought 02:39

Martin Speake (alto saxophone)
Rob Luft (electric guitar, acoustic guitar)


Sunday, April 2, 2017

Claudio Airo - Omninside (MUSICISTI ASSOCIATI PRODUZIONI M.A.P. 2017)



Adesso viene il bello (e il difficile ...)
Neanche troppo distante dalla boa dei quarant'anni (è nato a Milano nel 1967, anche se dal '91 vive in Toscana), il pianista Claudio Antonio Airo (originariamente Airò; poi, con gli spostamenti del nonno dalla natia Sicilia, l'accento si è perso per strada) decide di documentare la propria musica attraverso il primo lavoro discografico a suo nome.


Segnato dalle frequentazioni di Arrigo Cappelletti prima e di Umberto Petrin poi, dentro alla valigia si porta anche un certo legame con la musica leggera, nel cui circuito si è mosso poco più che ragazzo, e con programmazione e registrazione, anche su sistemi computerizzati. Poi, con l'avvento del nuovo millennio, il jazz finisce per assorbire tutte le sue energie creative (che sono, specificatamente, anche quelle di chi scrive musica prima ancora di suonarla). Nell'ambito di Siena Jazz conosce colleghi di strumento del valore di Paolo Birro e Stefano Battaglia (anche lui milanese di stanza in Toscana), nonchè, ai seminari sardi di Sant'Anna Arresi, i vari Schiaffini, Braxton, Muhal Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Tim Berne, tutta gente che non può non lasciare un segno in chi vi si imbatta.

Tutto questo bagaglio rifluisce oggi in "Omninside", il cui elemento fondante appare di primo acchito un'estrema cantabilità. Prendiamo il brano iniziale, Dissoluzione, uno dei quattro a firma di Airo: è il solo pianoforte ad aprirlo, e sembra che da un momento all'altro debba entrare in scena una voce. Quella voce, di fatto, si materializza nel sax soprano di Klauss Lessmann. Non è del resto il sax soprano, col suo rievocare la voce lirica per antonomasia, quella delle Callas e delle Tebaldi, lo strumento più prossimo all'umano lirismo? Steve Lacy, imprescindibile maestro del sassofono diritto, ne era più che convinto: "Il soprano è la voce, il canto per eccellenza", dichiarava. Non si può certo dargli torto.

Tale tratto - la cantabilità, appunto - permea di sè ogni passaggio del primo trittico di brani. Che, emblematicamente, si chiude con una canzone, Senza fine di Gino Paoli, che a chi scrive - naturalmente anche per il suo svilupparsi su tempo ternario - ha sempre dato l’idea di una specie di My Favorite Things di casa nostra. E qui le gerarchie (magari non l'andamento, più lineare, fluido, a tratti quasi bossanovistico, quindi non altrettanto squassante, vorace, onnicomprensivo) riecheggiano quelle del capolavoro che Coltrane fece proprio, iscrivendolo fra le massime icone della letteratura jazzistica: un sax soprano, un pianoforte, un contrabbasso, una batteria.

Più avanti Lessmann passa al clarinetto, quindi al sax tenore (sul quale mostra di aver ascoltato con attenzione un certo Wayne Shorter), e i tracciati finiscono per indirizzarsi anche altrove, facendosi ora vagamente cameristici, ora di più stretta osservanza post-bop.


Rimane, alla resa dei conti, l'immagine di un lavoro composito (come molte opere prime, del resto, in cui sembra una sorta di imperativo categorico dire un po' tutto di sè, riassumere ogni personale sfaccettatura), frutto del lavoro di un gruppo ottimamente coeso ed efficiente. Come sempre in questi casi, adesso comincia il difficile.

1. Dissoluzione (C. Airo)
2. Omninside (C. Airo)
3. Senza Fine (G. Paoli)
4. MO (C. Airo)
5. Box and One (K. Lessmann)
6. Amennema (F. Fabbrini)
7. W Ernest (F. Fabbrini)
8. Work (T. Monk)
9. Mimando (C. Airo)

Claudio Airo - piano
Klauss Lessmann - sax, clarinet
Franco Fabbrini - bass
guest Francesco Petreni - drums


Josh Green's Cyborg Orchestra in Telepathy & Bop (2017)


Composer Joshua Green takes a quirky, colorful approach to melding modern jazz and contemporary classical music on Telepathy & Bop

Green’s 16-piece Cyborg Orchestra will celebrate the irreverent album’s release on March 2 at National Sawdust

"Josh Green's music is full of surprises and left me smiling. If Fellini directed a Twilight Zone episode about the artist Paul Klee, this would be the soundtrack. It is evocative and playful, and certainly does not fit in a box, a quality I wish more composers would find.  Mr. Green has found a truly original and engaging voice." - Ted Nash


Combining lively modern jazz, contemporary classical richness, cinematic narratives and an offbeat sense of humor, Josh Green & The Cyborg Orchestra offer a skewed but vibrant take on the big band tradition. On their debut album, Telepathy & Bop (due out February 24, 2017), the 16-piece Orchestra draws inspiration from surreal visual art, jazz and classical icons, and an accidental stalking episode briefly intertwining the fates of the bandleader and a certain Today Show host, all of which converge to craft a strikingly unique and off-center sound.

By day, Joshua Green, recently awarded a Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award from ASCAP, plies his trade as Music Supervisor for ITV America, the world’s largest unscripted television company. While devising the perfect soundtrack for battling housewives, rampaging bridezillas and scheming chefs comes with its own rewards, Green found himself in need of a creative outlet apart from the voyeuristic pleasures of reality television. Enlisting some of the finest musicians he’d discovered while working on film and TV soundtracks and Broadway musicals, Green assembled a singular ensemble that deviated from the standard big band to incorporate unexpected voices, including accordion, bass clarinet, Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI) and strings.

Band members include Charles Pillow (oboe, alto sax, tenor sax), Todd Groves (EWI, flute, alto sax, tenor sax, Eb clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Jay Hassler (Bb clarinet, bass clarinet), Nathan Schram (viola), Nick Revel (viola), Clarice Jenson (cello), the adventurous PUBLIQuartet – Curtis Stewart (violin), Jannina Norpoth (violin), Nick Revel (viola) and Amanda Gookin (cello) – John Lake (trumpet), Chris Misch-Bloxdorf (trombone), Nathan Kochi (accordion), Sungwon Kim (guitar), Michael Verselli (piano), Brian Courage (bass), Josh Bailey (drum set).


The initial stirrings of inspiration for the Cyborg Orchestra, though, date back nearly a decade, to a time when Green had shifted focus from his jazz studies to concentrate on composing contemporary classical music. He was studying at the University of Vienna in early 2007 when the news reached him of jazz great Michael Brecker’s untimely death. Distressed at the passing of one of his musical heroes, Green was moved to try his hand at writing a jazz piece inspired by Brecker’s legacy.

“I really looked up to Michael Brecker,” Green says, “and when I found out he’d died it was a trigger for me to go back to my jazz roots. I wanted to write something that showcased the jazz language, bebop in particular, in a contemporary classical setting. It evolved over a really long time until it became ‘Telepathy & Bop.’ I had no idea what the piece was going to be until it became what it was, but that was the impetus to create this ensemble.” That piece, which gives the album its title, is a constantly surprising three-part suite that refracts the angularity of bebop through an avant-garde classical lens, creating a tumult of acute swerves and clamorous textures.

It was a number of years before Green finally put together the Cyborg Orchestra to bring “Telepathy & Bop” and other pieces to life. In the meantime, he’d worked on films by directors like Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson and David Cronenberg while writing orchestral arrangements for the New York Pops, Emmy Award-winning television shows and Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals in New York and London. He’s carried his gift for scoring narrative ideas into the Cyborg Orchestra, finding the spark for several compositions in visual art and personal stories.

“The Lauer Faceplant” sonically recounts the story of one of Green’s awkward brushes with fame (since moving to New York in 2009, he’s tallied quite a few, which he’s in the process of turning into a suite). Shortly after arriving in the city his not-yet-developed urban compass led him into a face-to-chest collision with Today Show host, journalist and recent Presidential Forum moderator Matt Lauer. Their destinations being in the same direction, Green then proceeded to follow Lauer, giving the bandleader the uneasy sensation of being an inadvertent celebrity stalker.

The composition born from that encounter plays like a clumsy spy-movie soundtrack, capturing the accidental intrigue and only-in-NYC hilarity of the incident. “I hate to take myself too seriously,” Green explains. “I’m a very lighthearted person, and while I can get inside my own head a lot when I’m trying to write, the thing that speaks to me the most is that wackiness in life. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in Seinfeld and I see this as a great opportunity to express the fun I get to have in life in a way that’s meaningful to me.”


Frenetic album opener “Boy & Dog in a Jonnypump,” the mysteriously tropical “La Victoire,” and Paris-by-way-of-the-circus rag “Soir Bleu” all have their origins in paintings. The first is based on a work by the influential, graffiti-inspired artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, while “La Victoire” is taken from René Magritte’s curious image of a cloud floating through an isolated door by a seashore – an image that was through an odd coincidence invoked by a condominium commercial that Green was tasked with scoring. “Soir Bleu” comes from an Edward Hopper scene that finds a smoking clown amidst a group of Parisian diners.

“I always start writing with a narrative in mind when I write,” Green explains. “In all of the paintings that have inspired me, there’s a narrative that’s beyond what’s right in front of us.”

The same could be said about the photograph of a cobblestone street in Cuba, lined with classic American cars, that inspired “Reverie Engine: The Ambiguous Rhumba.” The driving rhythms of Cuban music are hinted at but subdued by a sense of uncertainty in Green’s conception. Finally, like “Telepathy & Bop,” “Improvisation & Nebula” nods to another of Green’s musical influences, Hungarian composer György Ligeti. The piece’s stark atmosphere, dark harmonies and spectralism all have their roots in Ligeti’s music.

Having realized Green’s musical vision on record, the Cyborg Orchestra will take on full-blooded human form for its live debut at National Sawdust on March 2 to celebrate the album’s release. Meanwhile, Green is hard at work on a new batch of music for the band while trying to avoid literally bumping into stars on the street. Regardless, it will no doubt combine the accessible with the avant-garde, the zany with the zeitgeist.


Green's awards and accomplishments include:

- ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award

- Music Supervisor for ITV America

- Music for films by directors including Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson, David Cronenberg

- Orchestral arrangements for the NY Pops, Broadway musicals (NY and London), Emmy Award-winning TV shows

- Studies at New York University, Berklee College of Music, University of Vienna

- Saxophone studies with Todd Groves (Radio City Music Hall, NY Phil, Broadway) and Lenny Pickett (Saturday Night Live)

- Worked with film composer Howard Shore for several years

About the CD and beyond:
- Green is creating a suite based on a series of awkward encounters with famous people. One such encounter is sonically expressed in a track from his new CD, "The Lauer Faceplant." Shortly after arriving in the city Green found himself in a face-to-chest collision with Today Show host Matt Lauer.

- Green wrote the record's title track in response to the death of jazz great Michael Brecker. Says Green, "I really looked up to Michael Brecker, and when I found out he'd died it was a trigger for me to go back to my jazz roots. I wanted to write something that showcased the jazz language, bebop in particular, in a contemporary classical setting."

- Several of the tracks on Telepathy & Bop are based on paintings, including "La Victoire," based on an image by Magritte, one that also played a role in a condominium commercial scored by Green.

- "Improvisation & Nebula" is a nod to another of Green's influences, the Hungarian composer Ligeti.

- One of Green's first compositions was a wind quintet that replaced the French horn with an alto-sax and featured a bebop-style fugue.

- Green's arrangement of "Sesame Street" was presented by the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, with all the Muppets on stage.