Sunday, July 31, 2016

Spend Your Summer with Sunnyside!


Cool Off During the Dog Days of Summer with



Upcoming Releases:


Upcoming Tours:

July 31 - Brooklyn, NY - Joanna Wallfisch @ National Sawdust
Aug. 17 - New York, NY - Black Art Jazz Collective @ Jazz Standard
Aug. 20 - Old Lyme, CT - Black Art Jazz Collective @ The Side Door
Aug. 26 - NYC - Dan Tepfer Trio & Strings @ Bryant Park for IN/TER\\SECT
Aug.  31 - New York, NY - Edward Simon Trio @ Jazz Standard
Sept. 3 - Detroit, MI - Luciana Souza @ Detroit Jazz Festival
Sept. 8 - Oakland, CA - Edward Simon @ Piedmont PIano Co.
Sept. 9 - New York, NY - Scott Tixier @ The Django
Sept. 9-13 - New York, NY - Steve Kuhn Trio @ Birdland
Sept. 11 - Oakland, CA - Kevin Hays & Grégoire Maret @ Piedmont PIano Co.
Sept. 12 - Tustin, CA - Kevin Hays & Grégoire Maret @ Hoson House
Sept. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Kevin Hays & Grégoire Maret @ The Blue Whale
Sept. 20 - New York, NY - Scott Tixier @ Jazz Gallery
Sept. 29 - New York, NY - Adam O'Farrill @ Birdland




Saturday, July 30, 2016

Atticus Reynolds Quartet - Live at the Sharp Nine (2016)


A live quartet recording paying homage to the great recordings that lack harmonic instruments such as Lee Konitz' Motion and Sonny Rollins' "Way Out West". Live at the Sharp Nine Gallery in Durham, North Carolina.

Released June 18, 2016

1. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To 11:19
2. Old Folks 08:13
3. Solitude 05:55
4. All of You 11:14
5. 52nd St. Theme 12:44

Aaron Hill, tenor sax 
Alan Thompson, soprano sax 
Butler Knowles, bass 
Atticus Reynolds, drums

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Geoff Gascoyne Trio - That Sunday (2016)



Geoff has been a professional musician for over 30 years. He has worked with such diverse artists as Michel Legrand, Everything But the Girl, Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, Sir Willard White, US3, Sting, Charlie Watts, Benny Golson, 

Bill Bruford, Jacqui Dankworth, Bob Dorough, Mari Wilson, Eddie Izzard, The Mingus Big Band, Peter King Quartet, John Martyn, Dianne Reeves, Guy Barker, Claire Martin, Eartha Kitt and he played a major part in the rise of Jamie Cullum with whom he worked exclusively from 2000 to 2007.

Geoff has appeared on over 100 recordings and has toured the world many times. He has performed in a West End stage show ‘Lenny’ directed by Sir Peter Hall and featured in a Hollywood Movie, ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ directed by Anthony Mingella. He has recorded 10 CDs as a band leader and has arranged and composed music for countless others.

In the last 10 years Geoff has turned his attention to music production work. As well as producing albums for Jacqui Dankworth, Jamie Cullum, Josh Kyle and San2 and his Soul Patrol he has composed music for a series of Library recordings for the legendary KPM label.Geoff is also the producer of the highly regarded series of 'Sessionband' applications for iPhone and iPad. Currently there are 8 of Geoff’s apps available in the iTunes store, Jazz Vol. 1,2 & 3, Blues, Rock, Country, Drums & Ukulele.


He is Professor of jazz bass at the Guildhall School of Music and is head of bass department at London School of Contemporary Music. (LCCM)

Geoff is married to Australian jazz singer Trudy Kerr, has 4 children, 2 dogs and lives in Kent.



1. a beautiful friendship 05:31
2. all the things you are 03:51
3. blue daniel 04:27
4. con alma 07:15
5. dream 07:16
6. if i should lose you 05:32
7. pennies from heaven 06:00
8. slow hot wind 07:42
9. that sunday, that summer 06:04
10. what the world needs now 06:20

geoff gascoyne - acoustic bass 
tom cawley - piano 
sebastiaan de krom - drums

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Mark Russo - New Affirmation (2016)


There has been resurgence to the Northeast Ohio Jazz scene in recent years, a resurgence that has been instigated by a few things. Through the years, many of these area musicians have decided to leave the area for other places, whether it is New York City or Chicago. But in recent years, there have been a group of Jazz musicians that have decided to stay in Northeast Ohio and build a strong Jazz scene. Part of that “building process” has been to create personal projects of original music and collaborate with musicians locally and nationally, helping to build a strong reputation for what we have here in Northeast Ohio.

Mark Russo is one of those musicians. Mark, a staple on the Northeast Ohio Jazz scene, has produced such a product, composing all original music for his first CD as a bandleader “New Affirmation”. With his strong roots in the tradition and his ability to also look toward the future of Jazz, Mark has comprised a CD of beautiful forward thinking originals that will please all Jazz Fans alike.

TD starts the CD off with a high-pulsed triplet-subdivided swing feel featuring the constant groove that Chris Baker and Ashley Summers provide throughout the whole CD. Pete Mills and Theron Brown show why they are considered consummate professionals, following Mark’s beautifully paced solo with strong solos of their own. This quintet, one of a few different ensemble setting’s Mark uses, also show their versatility on Grace and Speaking in Fluent IKEA. Sticking with the Quintet setting, he switches to alto saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio, longtime Northeast Ohio Jazz musician for Free Spirit, one of Mark’s more lyrical melodies, reminiscent of Bill Evans writing. Theron Brown accompanying is beautiful while Mark and Bobby show a more modern side weaving lines through the harmonic colors. Beautiful is just that, a duo between Mark and Theron that shows both of their mastery of the subtle.


Mark playfully experiments with different ensembles the rest of the CD, creating a sound scape of colors from song to song. Adding to the standard Quintet setting to create a sextet, he brings in trombonist Adam Machaskee, a transplanted New Yorker from Northeast Ohio, for Hear Me Twice the First Time, an extended blues that hears everyone stretching out and bringing fire. The other blues on the session Wags’s Chili, composed for Northeast Ohio saxophonist Brad Wagner’s famous chili, he brings back saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio to create a septet. Wags’s Chili is a more traditional blues in the Basie style and we hear all the musicians having a lot of fun on this one.


The last 3 songs we see the addition in various settings of guitarist Jeremey Poparad, a very versatile guitarist from Akron Ohio. New Affirmation has the original Quintet plus Jeremey on a tune very reminiscent of John Coltrane’s famous quartet. The divided unison in the opening theme played by Mark and Pete perfectly sets up the vibe for the rest of this composition. The rhythmic interplay between rhythm section and soloist is a highlight of the CD. Upper Echelon brings out Mark’s fusion side with his most involved composition on the record date. Mark, Pete, and Jeremey solo with an authority of this style of music. Rounding out the CD is Stellar, a contrafact Mark composed over Stella by Starlight. This ensemble is a classic Quintet with guitar replacing piano. The melody intertwines great lines with rhythmic ideas reminiscent of the Lennie Tristano school of thought.

For his first CD, Mark Russo doesn’t hold anything back. He shows his knowledge of the music and the history and tackles it all with pure joy. New Affirmation isn’t about pyrotechnics, it’s about moods and emotion and conversation, all the elements blended together perfectly for a wonderful session. - Bobby Selvaggio, Jazz Saxophonist & Composer


While air travel, formal jazz education, and easy access to recorded music have reduced the regional differences in the sounds of jazz musicians that used to be more pronounced, certain similarities in players who hail from the same place remain. One can hear it in the way Cleveland trumpeter Mark Russo approaches his instrument on his debut date as a leader, New Affirmation. Mark shares that sense of melody-focused, linear improvisation that characterizes trumpet players from Northeast Ohio stretching back to bebop legends Freddie Webster and Benny Bailey and continuing today with brass men like Kenny Davis and Jack Schantz. Mark continues his city's trumpet tradition - one that is centered on crafting solos that have a strong tie to melody, are linear in nature, and seem to swing effortlessly. Mark is an active part of the Cleveland Jazz scene. A graduate of both Bowling Green State University and Kent State University, Mark leads Buhania's Delight, a band that celebrates the rich legacy of the music that Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers made. When he isn't on the bandstand, Mark is sharing his knowledge with students in the classroom and as a private teacher. 
Mark’s pupils would be wise to heed the chief lesson he and his band mates drop on New Affirmation - that swinging jazz played honestly is forever new. - Dan Polletta, 90.3 WCPN ideastream® personality


T.D. Written for my BGSU trumpet instructor Todd Davidson (T.D.). This tune started out with a series of chord changes that sounded like something he would of tore up back in the day!

Free Spirit: I penned this melody after watching my youngest daughter Molly dancing in the living room one day. The playful melodic line and piano solo over the bridge captures her “Free Spirited” personality.

Speaking In Fluent IKEA: If you’ve ever bought anything at IKEA and have struggled with the instructions on how to actually put the furniture together, this song is for you. The complex harmonic structure and complex groove at the end suggest the hours of frustration one might go through.

New Affirmation: This tune was inspired by the culmination some life events my wife and I went through.

Hear Me Twice The First Time: Based on a 16 bar blues form, this tune captures the essence of the blues with a nod towards a modern harmonic approach.

Grace: I wrote this tune back in 2004. This is the first melody that popped into my head when I held my newborn (now oldest) daughter for the first time. The interplay between the trumpet and saxophone simulates the playfulness and interaction I could only imagine I would have for years to come.

Stellar: A simple bop-based contrafact based on Stella By Starlight.

The Upper Echelon: Based on a 2-note ostinato that plays through out the tune, the harmonic and rhythmic tension and distorted guitar give reference to a “higher society” or “higher social class”. The solo section mellows out a bit harmonically, but picks back up leading to the dense harmonies at the end of the tune.

Wags’s Chili: written for local Akron, Ohio saxophonist Brad Wagner. If and when you have his homemade Chili, you’ll understand why I wrote this song….

Beautiful: This song was inspired by my wife, Laura and has a harmonic sense that reflects the “ups” and “downs” of a happily married couple. The melody is beautifully (no pun intended) simplistic in nature and took on a new meaning once my Father passed away just months before this session. This song reminds me to celebrate in the present life as well as in the memories of the ones we’ve lost.


1. T.D. 07:18
2. Free Spirit 06:59
3. Speaking In Fluent IKEA 06:33
4. New Affirmation 10:00
5. Hear Me Twice The First Time 04:32
6. Grace 05:57
7. Stellar 05:44
8. The Upper Echelon 06:11
9. Wags's Chili 06:51
10. Beautiful 05:08

Mark Russo, Trumpet
Pete Mills, Tenor sax 
Adam Machaskee, Trombone 
Bobby Selvaggio, Alto sax 
Jeremey Poparad, Guitar 
Theron Brown, Piano 
Ashley Summers, Bass 
Chris Baker, Drums

Released July 21, 2015 


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Life and Other Transient Storms - Life and Other Transient Storms (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS



Trumpeter Susana Santos Silva became one of the most important ambassadors of Portuguese jazz in the world, and in this new opus we find her in notable company – a quartet of amazing musicians picked among the many with whom she’s playing with these days, like Joe Morris, Mats Gustafsson, Fred Frith, Christine Wodrascka, Mat Maneri, Craig Taborn, Thomas Morgan and Tom Chant, to name just a few. The first impression you have when grabbing this CD is that you’re going to hear a dream band. Santos Silva with Lotte Anker, Sten Sandell, Torbjorn Zetterberg and Jon Falt? No way! But it’s true and that is the kind of truth which transforms something into a gem. More special even when the music reflects a spiritual discovery, in this case «the blessing and beauty of impermanence in my life, in the world and in all the things that are», as Susana puts it herself on the liner notes.   How does that mirror effect happen? Giving you a only apparently contradiction, a «peaceful state of being» manifesting in a «restless and resilient» way. To play life means to play urgently, intensely and honestly, and that’s precisely the peace of mind Susana Santos Silva need to create a map of sounds. You don’t want to miss this.


1. Life 30:08
2. Other Transient Storms 18:56

Susana Santos Silva  trumpet and flugelhorn
Lotte Anker  tenor and soprano saxophone
Sten Sandell  piano
Torbjörn Zetterberg  double bass
Jon Fält  drums

All Music by Susana Santos Silva, Lotte Anker, Sten Sandell, Torbjörn Zetterberg and Jon Fält

Recorded November 1, 2015 at Tampere Jazz Happening, Finland by Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. Recording engineer Andy Snellman | Mixed by Torbjörn Zetterberg | Mastered by Mats Äleklint

Originally produced for YLE by Markus Partanen | Executive Production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design and Art Work by Travassos


Carate Urio Orchestra - Ljubljana (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS



Recorded live in the Ljubljana Jazz Festival (Slovenia), the Carate Urio Orchestra isn’t really a big band – and indeed it can sound like one – but a septet. One piece can go from the most sweet pop song format (all the musicians sing) to extreme noise music, with several shades in between, covering a multitude of trans-idiomatic situations, be it psychedelic rock ambiances, Mingus-like orchestrations or something else yet to define. Coming from different European origins, the musicians involved – Joachim Badenhorst, Eirikur Orri Olafsson, Sean Carpio, Brice Soniano, Pascal Niggenkemper, Frantz Loriot and Nico Roig – go through all those metamorphosis with the same naturalness and savoir-faire. The message is self-evident: in today’s creative music, every vocabulary and process is not only permissible but also desirable. If jazz is an inclusive music genre since its start, that’s what you have here, taking that principle to the last consequences.


Carate Urio Orchestra

Joachim Badenhorst  clarinet, bassclarinet, tenor saxophone | Eirikur Orri Olaffson  trumpet, electronics | Sean Caprio  drums, guitar, lead vocal on track 5 | Brice Soniano  double bass | Pascal Niggenkemper  double bass | Frantz Loriot  viola, lead vocal on track 7 | Nico Roig  guitar, vocal impro on track 7 | Everyone  vocals on track 1 and 5

1) P. Niggenkemper | 2) N. Roig | 3) J. Badenhorst, B. Soniano / C.U.O. | 4) E. O. Olafsson, N. Roig, F. Loriot | 5) Lin Chui Li  arranged by S. Carpio | 6) J. Badenhorst | 7) F. Loriot | 8) S. Carpio | 9) C.U.O. | 10) F. Loriot

This music was constructed on June 30 and recorded on July 1 without- and July 2 with audience at Cankarjev Dom on the Ljubljana Jazz Festival 2015.
This album follows the same setlist as the concert on July 2nd, but some of the chosen takes are from the day before without audience.

Recording, mix and master by Luis Delgado | Design and layout by Travassos| Cover photo by Jailbeit | Group photo by Nada Zgank
C.U.O. sends the biggest thanks to Bogdan Benigar of Ljubljana Jazz Festival en Pedro Costa of Cleanfeed for inviting us over to work, perform and record this album. Also to Katka Pohar for taking good care of us, to Nada Zgank, Jailbeit, Luis Delgado and Travassos.

The cover photo was taken in Ljubljana’s Tivoli park, on a sweaty stroll during the days we recorded this album. It was a beautiful time.



ROJI - The Hundred Headed Women (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS



A project-oriented bassist, Gonçalo Almeida debuts with “The Hundred Headed Women” one more amongst the several he is involved with, simply presented as Roji, the Japanese word for “dewy ground”. Being a duo with a drummer (Jörg A. Schneider), we start the listening with the idea that a rhythmic and textural approach to improvisation waits us, not very far from the one developed together by John Edwards and Mark Sanders. That mistakes vanishes very rapidly, and not only because there’s just one “song” without a guest playing a melodic instrument, either trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and baritone saxophonist Colin Webster. It happens that Almeida’s electric bass is wildly processed, functioning many times as a noise generator or, thanks to all the electronics used, as an orchestral conductor. 

And as if it wasn’t enough, the coordinates of the proposed music come from metal, with the attitude picked from punk To simplify, we can say that this recording sounds almost like an encounter between Bill Laswell and Mick Harris (Napalm Death), but simultaneously more trashy and more jazzy, more Public Image Limited and more Sunn 00))). We can compare Roji with the Italian band Zu, but there’s a fundamental difference: this isn’t fun. It’s amazing, in a very dark, frightening way. The movie “Antichrist” by Lars von Triers found a better soundtrack.

1. Inner Roji (de Roji & Susana Santos Silva) 6:53
2. 2 Sisters (de Roji) 2:18
3. Sounding Restraint (de Roji & Colin Webster) 6:30
4. 1 1=3 (de Roji & Susana Santos Silva) 2:47
5. Pacific (de Roji & Colin Webster) 4:18
6. Prelude to a Broken Sax (de Roji & Colin Webster) 6:38
7. The Hundred Headed Women (de Roji & Susana Santos Silva) 9:13

Gonçalo Almeida  bass and loops | Jörg A. Schneider  drums

Guests:

Susana Santos Silva  trumpet (Tracks #1,#4,#7)
Colin Webster  baritone sax (Tracks #3,#5,#6)


Thursday, July 28, 2016

Cortex - Live in New York (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS


On Cortex second release with Clean Feed Records you’ll find them again in the best context possible: in concert. Considering that the band works in the tradition pioneered by Ornette Coleman, this concert recording has a special significance, because it took place in the world capital of jazz, New York.

The approach may be somewhat European, but the music registered here seemed (and seems) at home. Critics wrote at the occasion that Cortex is walking the same routes where we can find John Zorn’s Masada. This means the music is energetic and robust, with a frenetic rhythm section and a trumpet / sax frontline very exact when delivering unisons and counterpoints and free in the improvised solos. The music is simultaneously heavy and agile, flowing as a bird of prey in open air, and defying gravity. A must have, must listen!


1. Higgs 7:56
2. Fall 7:05
3. Ghost March / Ahead 20:25


Thomas Johansson  trumpet
Kristoffer Alberts  saxophones
Ola Høyer  double bass
Gard Nilssen  drums

All compositions by Thomas Johansson (TONO)

Recorded live by Randy Thaler at IBeam Brooklyn, September 18th 2015 | Mixed by Ingar Hunskaar, February 2016 | Mastered by Fridtjof Lindemann and Ingar Hunskaar at Strype Audio, April 2016

Produced by Cortex  | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos


Steve Lehman Camouflage Trio - Interface (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS


When the re-edition of past works of an artist has no immediate commercial justification, the motivations of a particular label and the musician himself can only be one of two: to show from where he came from, in order for the listener to compare recent achievements with old developments, or to give a broad perspective of his path as a flux of equally considered ideas and performative realizations, if that same artist dedicated his life to an unified musical vision. This last context explains the re-release of “Interface”, the sold out album recorded live in Coimbra, Portugal, back in 2003, by the now inactive Steve Lehman’s Camouflage Trio. At that time, Lehman was far from the spectral jazz researches of “Travail, Transformation and Flow”, but he was already focused on the principles which brought him to record that masterpiece: to discover in history the premises for the construction of the future, but doing that very much in the “present”. “Interface” follows a still valid concept – it continues, taking it to other consequences, the formulas for the alto sax-double bass-drums trio debuted by the Ornette Coleman Trio and by a band of his special liking, Air (Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall). The enterprise was brilliantly accomplished , and in such a way that the New York saxophonist and composer wouldn’t be able to create something like “Dialectic Fluorescent”, his trio CD from 2012, without that first earthmoving action with Mark Dresser and Pheeroan akLaff. Haven’t you heard it yet? Well, don’t waste more time and get the entire picture…


1. Structural Fire 15:27
2. Hamlet 5:13
3. Complex C 7:07
4. Huis Clos 4:02
5. Rison 8:02
6. Motion 19:27
7. Interface 13:00

Steve Lehman  alto and sopranino saxophones
Mark Dresser  double bass
Pheeroan Aklaff  drums

All Compositions by Steve Lehman (Density Music, BMI)

Recorded by Pedro Santos on May 7th, 2003 Live at Teatro Académico Gil Vicente, Coimbra, Portugal | Original mixing by Pedro Rego at Xangrilá Studios, Lisbon | Re-mixed by Liberty Ellman, New York | Original mastering by Fernando Rascão | Re-mastered by Luís Delgado
Produced by Steve Lehman | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Original design by Rui Garrido | Re-designed by Travassos |

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Xabregas 10 - Lume (2016) CLEAN FEED RECORDS


A live recording of the concert presented by the very peculiar big band LUME (acronym of Lisbon Underground Music Ensemble) in the 2014 edition of the festival Jazz em Agosto, “Xabregas 10” documents a particularly successful gig with the participation of the recently deceased saxophonist Jorge Reis, to whom the CD is dedicated. And peculiar because, being a jazz orchestra, its leader and composer Marco Barroso comes from contemporary classical music and has a strong devotion for rock and funk, two factors immediately recognized in the groovy and heavy, but very complex, pieces here assembled – beginning immediately with “Astromassa”, a metal-like composition in which the 12 blowing instruments (four saxophones, a clarinet, a flute, three trumpets, three trombones) can be more powerful than a couple of over-amplified and distorted electric guitars. This same piece includes an alto sax solo by Ricardo Toscano, a young wonder player who recorded it in the post-production process: he was invited for the project after Reis death, and his inclusion here is somewhat symbolical. LUME has a post-modernist attitude, mixing elements from distinct origins in an unprejudiced way and doing it with a statement («we’re here and we’re not going anywhere; deal with us»), not very common before in the Portuguese jazz scene. And if the collective behaves with that mood, very affirmatively, it also defines the solos by Eduardo Lála (trombone), José Menezes (tenor saxophone) and Gonçalo Marques (trumpet). In one word: stratospheric.

1. Astromassa
2. Sandblast
3. Polén
4. LSW

Marco Barroso  direction and piano
Manuel Luís Cochofel  flute
Paulo Gaspar  clarinet
Jorge Reis  soprano saxophone
João Pedro Silva, Ricardo Toscano (on track 1)  alto saxophone
José Menezes  tenor saxophone
Elmano Coelho  baritone saxophone
Sérgio Charrinho, Pedro Monteiro, Gonçalo Marques  trumpets
Luís Cunha, Eduardo Lála, Mário Vicente  trombones
Miguel Amado  electric bass
André Sousa Machado  drums

All compositions by Marco Barroso

Recorded at Jazz em Agosto, August 10th, 2014 by João Paulo Nogueira | Mixed and mastered by João Paulo Nogueira

Produced by Marco Barroso | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos

In memoriam Jorge Reis

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Viktor Olofsson / Henrik Aronsson / Per Boqvist - Skogsväldet (2016)


Trion Skogsväldet släpper sin första skiva 
digitalt och firar givetvis detta på Playhouse. 
Viktor Olofsson bestämde sig för att satsa på 
ett litet format för ett gäng nyskrivna låtar. Han 
lockade med sig gamle vapendragaren Per Bokvist. 
I replokalen vässades låtmaterialet och trion 
Skogsväldet var ett faktum. Nu finns en färsk 
platta med Viktors intrikata, sofistikerade 
klangvärld och dessa låtar framförs under 
kvällens första del.

Viktor Olofsson, guitar
Henrik Aronsson, bass, Jamvärd
Per Bokvist, drums

1. Önnarp 3:55
2. Hanna & Ebbe 5:18
3. Fönsterblecket 4:14
4. Nalkandes Oktober 5:19
5. Invecklingen 5:15
6. Hemma 4:08
7. Hägnen 5:48
8. Solhaga 6:23
9. Esbjörnarp 6:26
10. Vaggvisa 2:54