Friday, August 31, 2018

Lucia Jackson “You And The Night And The Music” CD Release Show @ Zinc Bar Monday, September 10th


Lucia Jackson
CD Release Show
“You And The Night And The Music”
@ Zinc Bar 
82 W 3rd St
New York, NY 10012
212-477-ZINC (9462) 
Monday, September 10th 7pm

Featuring
Ron Jackson 7 String Electric Arch Top Guitar, 7 String Acoustic Classical Nylon String Guitar, Steel 7 String Guitar
Yago Vazquez Piano
Matt Clohesy Double Bass
Corey Rawls Drums

Special Guests
Daniel Garcia Flamenco Classical Guitar
Samuel Torres Cajón, Congas, Percussion
Javier Sanchez Bandoneón
Frederika Krier Violin


You And The Night And The Music is the debut of Lucia Jackson, a promising young jazz singer who displays a fetching voice on a set of standards along with a few surprises.  

With her father, jazz guitar great Ron Jackson, contributing arrangements and leading an impressive rhythm section joined by guests, Lucia Jackson creates fresh variations of timeless material.

Lucia Jackson has had busy careers as both a dancer and a model. However her love of singing, her obvious talents as a vocalist, the encouragement of her father, and very favorable receptions at many venues in the New York area have led her to release her debut recording. Her many fans raised $15,000 through Indiegogo for the project. With the vocal coaching of the world renowned bassist-vocalist Nicki Parrott and an inspired repertoire, Lucia is heard at her very best throughout the program.

For the memorable effort, Lucia Jackson is joined by her father Ron Jackson on guitars, pianist Yago Vazquez, bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Corey Rawls, with guest appearances by Daniel Garcia on flamenco guitar, violinist Frederika Krier, Javier Sanchez on bandoneon and percussionist Samuel Torres playing cajon and congas.

The music on You And The Night And The Music features new twists on classics from the Great American Songbook, many of which are arranged in tango, bossa-nova or bolero styles by Ron Jackson, who is also the set’s producer. The song choices, which include not only vintage tunes that have special meanings for the singer such as “Beautiful Love,” “Sophisticated Lady” and “Never Let Me Go,” but Julia Michael’s recent “Issues,” the Beatles’ “And I Love Him,” and Ms. Jackson’s original “Feel The Love,” give the set both variety and consistent high quality. While the supporting cast is strong and Ron Jackson’s solos are colorful and tasteful, the main focus is on the young singer, who comes through in winning fashion.



Some of the highlights on You And The Night And The Music include:

“Just One Of Those Things”:  – The 1930s standard is taken uptempo, includes some superior and straightforward jazz singing, and has a hot guitar-drums tradeoff.

“And I Love Him”; - The Beatles classic is transformed into a vocal-guitar duet and sung with great tenderness.

“I’m A Fool To Want You”: - Lucia Jackson’s interpretation is full of quiet longing, accentuated by Frederika Krier’s passionate violin.

“Feel The Love”: - An original by the singer and Daniel Garcia, this piece gives her an opportunity to sing over a funky rhythm that, with Garcia’s acoustic guitar, also has the feel of flamenco.

“No Regrets” and “When You’re Smiling”: - The pair of joyful swingers are each given exhilarating treatments with Ms. Jackson also scatting quite effectively on the latter.

You And The Night And The Music is a significant recording debut for it introduces Lucia Jackson as a subtle and lightly swinging jazz singer, one with a very attractive and often-fetching voice who displays a quiet intensity and a real feeling for the lyrics that she interprets.

Lucia Jackson, who was born in New York, grew up in Madrid, Spain where she started singing when she was ten. She studied voice and piano at the prestigious Escuela de Musica Creativa when she was 13 and also ballet and flamenco at the Professional Dance Conservatory. Returning to New York when she was 18, she has since danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as a guest student, at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival and, as a member of FJK Dance, toured China for two months. As a jazz singer, she has performed with many groups including the Bud Maltin Orchestra, Marty Schwartz, and the Art Lillard Big Band.

At age 26, Lucia Jackson is set to make a major splash in the jazz and music worlds with the release of You And The Night And The Music from the Roni Music label.  Her large fan base, which through the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign made the recording possible, will be pleased.


(Roni Music 6672)



Contact
Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
E Mail: jim@jazzpromoservices.com
"Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

Vivian Lee New CD "Let’s Talk About Love" + Upcoming Live Appearances


Upcoming Live Appearances

Saturday September 29 - Scarlett Productions presents Jazz at the Buddhist Church 1401 Riverside Blvd, Sacramento - The Blues and the Abstract Truth - Rick Shaw Septet with guests Vivian Lee Quartet, 6-9pm, $25 general admission. $10 students w/ID (night of)

Saturday October 20 - Red Tie Arts and the McHenry Museum - Vivian Lee Quartet - details TBA

Monday December 3 - Sacramento Jazz Coop presents - Vivian Lee Quartet Holiday Concert - Masonic Temple, 1123 J St, Sacramento 7-9, $25

Backed by an empathetic rhythm section, the vocalist shines on an amalgam of haunting ballads and swinging standards.


Vivian Lee is a musical raconteur. An evocative vocal instrument and impressive technique are certainly part of her package, but the jazz singers we prize are musical storytellers. On “Let’s Talk About Love,” Vivian Lee spins eleven memorable tales. Ms. Lee and her musical collaborators, including pianists Brenden Lowe and Joe Gilman, bassist Buca Necak, and drummer Jeff Minnieweather, offer the type of cohesive, group interplay that only comes from playing together on a consistent basis. When that happens, it’s as if the musicians are breathing in sync. Accordingly, the rhythm section provides the perfect magic carpet for Ms. Lee’s musical peregrinations. She has been recognized as one of the premiere jazz artists in Sacramento and this recording shows why audiences so appreciate her talent. 

As always, Vivian focuses on standards from the great American songbook. Here, the program is love, plain and simple. Keeping with the many aspects of love theme, but off the standards tracks, she includes notable exceptions: “Bein’ Green,” from Sesame Street and Bill Evans’ jazz classic, Waltz for Debby. 

Ms Lee certainly knows the meaning of swing, and it’s out front on the Bachrach/David’s “Wives and Lovers.” The track is driven by the swinging, perfectly in sync interconnection of the musicians. On “Before We Fall in Love,” music by John Clayton (the bassist), lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, a more, gentle swing emerges as Vivian urges us not to rush into the one thing we all seek. On “Some Other Time,” a luscious ballad, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green she laments not having enough hours in the day to spend with the one she loves. On “Secret Love” she reveals her love is a secret no more her vocal is joyful, celebratory and tangible. Jazz listeners prize Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of “You Turned the Tables on Me,” and it’s her phrasing that we love.

Once again, Vivian’s phrasing and the way she articulates the notes comes from that deep well of emotional reserve. Clayton brother Jeff guests on Johnny Mandel’s memorable ballad, “Emily,” with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love,” another medium tempo swinger, finds Vivian looking for love, wondering what could be. The pace quickens with “Out of Nowhere,” which also showcases pianist Brenden Lowe’s up-tempo chops. “Didn’t We” provides a platform for Ms. Lee’s musical meditation. She returns to a more joyful perspective on Bill Evans’ “Waltz for Debby,” with lyrics by Gene Lees, true jazz classic. “Bein’ Green,” from Sesame Street, is wrapped in poignancy. But it also strikes a blow for being unique, which ain’t easy, whether you’re a frog, or just an ordinary guy. 

The musical artistry of Vivian Lee is far from ordinary. On “Let’s Talk About Love,” we learn she’s truly a singer’s singer, with her own unique emotional approach to love and how to express it.


Brenden Lowe piano
Joe Gilman piano (Track #3)
Buca Necak bass
Jeff Clayton alto sax (Track #6)
Jeff Minnieweather drums

WIVES AND LOVERS
BEFORE WE FALL IN LOVE
SOME OTHER TIME
SECRET LOVE
YOU TURNED THE TABLES ON ME
EMILY
OUT OF NOWHERE
THE MAN I LOVE
DIDN'T WE
WALTZ FOR DEBBY
BEIN' GREEN


Contact
Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
E Mail: jim@jazzpromoservices.com
"Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

"Malita-Malika" by Carol Liebowitz & Birgitta Flick (LEO RECORDS 2018)


Carol Liebowitz
Birgitta Flick
MALITA-MALIKA 

New Release

With this duo's first CD, the New York based pianist and singer Carol Liebowitz and Berlin based tenor saxophonist Birgitta Flick create an extraordinary soundscape  —  where freedom of expression connects with an intense lyricism in original compositions, spontaneous improvisations, and inspired explorations into the Great American songbook. Whether it is a spontaneous free improvisation or a standard that dates back nearly a century — to them it's all one: they are guided by the spirit and the intuition of the very moment the music comes into being. A continuity of feeling and inspiration, each time anew.

Photo © Kate Koenig

Carol Liebowitz, piano, voice
Birgitta Flick, tenor saxophone

1. Moon
2. Portrait 
3. Visions
4. Malita-Malika (for Johanna)
   (Birgitta Flick, GEMA)
5. Hummingbird
6. Marionette/September in the Rain*
    Marionette (Billy Bauer); September in the Rain (Harry Warren & Al Dubin)
7. Jasmine
8. You Don’t Know What Love Is*
    (Gene De Paul & Don Raye)
9. Sehnsucht
10. Crossed Lines
11. Reflections

All tracks by Carol Liebowitz and Birgitta Flick (GEMA), except where noted. 
Published by Alissa Publishing / PRS
Recorded November 4 & 6, 2017 by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY
Mixed by Brian Montgomery
Mastered by Jim Clouse, Park West Studios, Bklyn, NY
Photography by Kate Koenig
Produced by Birgitta Flick, Carol Liebowitz & Leo Feigin
Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe


Carol Liebowitz, piano/voice

Pianist Carol Liebowitz brings a uniquely expressive and personal sound to the jazz and free improvisation scene. After focusing on classical repertoire at the High School of Performing Arts and NYU, her musical direction turned to improvisation and she began studying with Connie Crothers. Other influential teachers have included Sal Mosca, Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan. She has performed in Europe and throughout the New York City metropolitan area in venues such as Roulette, The Stone, Cornelia Street Cafe, IBeam, The Firehouse Space, Arts for Art, Spectrum, and Birdland. In addition to frequent solo concert appearances, Carol has worked in various groups with musicians including Tom Blancarte, Adam Caine, Daniel Carter, Claire de Brunner, Maryanne de Prophetis, Andrew Drury, Ken Filiano, Andy Fite, Birgitta Flick, Ratzo Harris, Ron Horton, Louise D.E. Jensen, Adam Lane, Eva Lindal, Nick Lyons, Ryan Messina, Kevin Norton, Bill Payne, John Pietaro, Lorenzo Sanguedolce, John Wagner, Michael Wimberly, and Andrea Wolper.  

Her CD “Payne Lindal Liebowitz” on Line Art Records with clarinetist Bill Payne and violinist Eva Lindal was voted one of the Top Ten Jazz CDs in the 2015 NPR Jazz Critics Poll by Art Lange. Also on Line Art Records are “First Set” (a duo with alto saxophonist Nick Lyons), “Poetry from the Future” (To Be Continued, a quartet with Claire de Brunner, Daniel Carter, and Kevin Norton), and most recently in 2018, “Spiderwebmandala,” a duo with Bill Payne, featuring poet Mark Weber. Carol has two releases on the New Artists label: “Waves of Blue Intensities,” a duo with tenor saxophonist Bob Field, and “Time on My Hands,” a voice/guitar duo with Andy Fite.

“...three-dimensional kaleidoscopic displays.” —Mel Minter (musically speaking), melminter.com

“...chords that brim with ardent energy and hypnotic beauty.” — All About Jazz

Birgitta Flick, tenor saxophone

Birgitta Flick is a saxophonist and composer and lives in Berlin. She studied saxophone and Jazz at the Jazz-Institut Berlin (UdK) and the Royal College of Music, Stockholm. Current projects—besides her Duo with Carol Liebowitz—are her Berlin-based quartet and the German-Swedish-Finnish band Flickstick, with whom she won the 2012 Jazz Baltica Förderpreis and released the 2nd album in January 2018. Ms. Flick’s other work includes playing in the Nico Lohmann Quintet, and in drummer Sebastian Voegler’s Stockholm-based band Fluxmaschine and the German Women’s Jazz Orchestra.

In 2011–12 her research and composition project on traditional Swedish music was sponsored by the Elsa Neumann Scholarship of the state of Berlin. The resulting suite for the Swedish singer Lina Nyberg, Silke Eberhard (bass clarinet), Nico Lohmann (alto saxophone, flute) and the Birgitta Flick Quartet was released in April 2016 by Double Moon Records. The quartet’s debut CD, “Yingying” was released in 2013 by Jazz thing Next Generation. In autumn 2018 the new CD “Color Studies” will be published by Double Moon Records/Challenge, supported by the Initiative Musik gGmbH. Further CD productions include those with the Nico Lohmann quintet, Esther Kaiser and Z’lil schel bet Haskala, amongst others. 

Her concert tours have taken her to several European countries, the USA and the Middle East, and in winter 2014–15, to New York for a three month stay including private studies with Connie Crothers. Festival concert appearances include XJazz Berlin, Elbjazz in Hamburg, JazzBaltica, Jazzwoche Burghausen, Jazzahead German Jazz Meeting and Cairo Jazz Festival. Since 2013 Birgitta also contributes to the monthly Psalmton Jazz Pop Services at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche in Berlin—both as a performer, composer and coordinator. Since 2015 she also serves as the artistic director of the summer concert series “InSpirit“ at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis- Kirche.

In 2017 she received a scholarship of the City of Berlin to realize a new improvisation project and the CD recording for “Malita-Malika" together with Carol Liebowitz. 

“An excellent tenor-saxophonist based in Berlin, Birgitta Flick has an original sound on her horn, not sounding like any of her historical predecessors.” —Scott Yanow

“The large scale of Flick’s music is testimony to her rich orchestral experience, and this album first of all surprises the listener with her outstanding talent as a composer.” —Kayo Fushiya, JazzTokyo

Contact
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services
Ph: 845-986-1677 / jim@jazzpromoservices.com
"Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

Vinyl Hampdin's Lisa Dodd nominated as CCMA Bass Player of the year … again

Read the full story HERE

In 2012, I very proudly became the first and only female to win the CCMA award for Bass Player of the Year, repeating that honor in 2015 and again in 2018.

My most recent project has been singing with Vinyl Hampdin, a rocked out, incredibly funky, jaw dropping, epic ear candy, thriller of a band and the most talented group of jazz and pop musicians that has ever existed.  We just dropped our first video onto the world wide web, please check out our Facebook page and give us a listen, a like, a follow, a share!



Rocked Out Seriously Funky Jaw Dropping Ear Candy! is the subtitle/explanation tothe name of the spectacular group Vinyl Hampdinwhose debut album Red(Armored Records) provides undeniable testimony to every word of that heavily promising description. Founded by the remarkable trombonist/composer-arranger Steve Wiest, the band is a powerhouse of highly acclaimed award-winning musicians whose wide range of credentials covers a full swath from Maynard Ferguson and Carmen McRae to DJ Logic and the current aggregation of the legendary super-group Chicago.

That last credit is quite appropriate as Steve’s concept behind this group is “What would Chicago, Blood Sweat &Tears and Tower of Power sound like if they started out today?” This remarkable recording provides an excellent answer, especially if you roll the lean and mean funkiness of Fred Wesley’s and Maceo Parker’s JBs into the mix. Steve also applies the unfailing Charles Mingus recipe of… if you want a band that sounds big; bring in musicians with big sounds. And every member of Vinyl Hampdin– from horns to rhythm to the explosive vocal dynamo Lisa Dodd – owns a very big voice, making this 4-horn, 4-rhythm ensemble thunder like a big band.

Joining Steve and Lisa in the group are Art Bouton on baritone sax and flute; Ray Herrmann on tenor sax and flute; trumpeter Frank David Greene; guitarist Ryan Davidson; Eric Gunnison on keyboards; and Gerald Stockton and Stockton Helbing on bass and drums respectively.  The musicianship is virtuosic, with Lisa’s sensational vocals as the nucleus – and always fully in place as part of the ensemble sound. Both the horn tandem and rhythm section play with a synergy of purpose that locks them together not only as individual components of the music, but also in symbiotic fashion to create a unified sound that can deliver the bounty with seismic intensity or subtle gentility, even with just a quarter-rest for the transition. The solos – exceptional, but short and no-nonsense – abstain from virtuosity for its own sake, but are there as part of the overall context to enhance the unified sound.

The outstanding repertoire of 11 songs – all flawlessly arranged by Steve – is comprised of six covers and five Wiest originals (two with lyrics by Dodd). The covers remain faithful enough to the source material of these highly popular songs, but the stunningly original arrangements certainly qualify them as re-imaginations. One possible exception to this is the opening track’s adherence to Stevie Wonder’s brilliant horn and synthesizer lines on Superstition,as even a writer as enormously talented as Wiest knows there’s no purpose in messing with perfection. But his superb arrangement using the baritone sax as the main engine of the horns, along with infectious syncopation, exciting call-and-response and Gunnison’s terrific piano solo make it totally fresh.

Bookending this as the closing track is a more liberal interpretation, with rolling horns providing extra jetpower for the rhythm section-driven exploration of Bill Withers’ classic Use Me; filled with sparkling syncopation, tantalizing suspensions, a rip-roaring wah-wah guitar solo and a smoking Afro-Cuban flavored climax. Back into the big-sound root source is Rare Earth’s I Just Want to Celebrate, with its multi-layered horns, vibrant vocal and Steve delivering a pair of energetically hollerin’ trombone solos. 


Transforming the source material into larger sound is at the core of the remaining three covers. Bonnie Raitt’s The Road’s My Middle Nameretains its country blues roots with Lisa’s blues-drenched, soulful vocal but with punchy horns replacing the harmonica obbligato of the original and a delightful two-step danced by vocal and guitar. The Statler Brothers’ Flowers on the Wall, with dueling and suspended horn lines and a starkly syncopated rhythm section with a growling bottom pushing the vocal produce a palpable sense of the ominous throughout. Linda and Paul McCartney’s captivating Wings ballad My Lovereceives a straightforward, lovely take with the rich horn arrangement providing a lustrous canvas for Lisa’s winsome vocal.

Wiest’s five originals are all perfectly complementary to the hit tunes contained on this delightful album, with Lisa offering the compelling lyrics for two of them. Pay for Itfollows its N’Orleans funeral march-like opening with an unfettered kick-ass soul-fest. Deliciously suspended horns with wailing trombone and trumpet usher in a gutty Herrmann tenor solo and riveting call-and-response between horns and vocal, spiraling into a closing tornado. Billionswith powerful, sobering lyrics is a dramatic, narrative-driven piece with staccato horns that swells to a vivid climax, downshifts into a slow boil of horns and syncopated rhythm, then soars to a second staggering climax – truly a song for our challenging times. 

Steve also wrote the intriguing lyrics for the remaining three songs, which further demonstrate Wiest’s impressive range as a composer. Gottaluvitis a hard-rocking kicker built on the sound of the title, stoked by Afro-beat style, chicken-scratch guitar. With horn/voice unison chant on the title refrain, it also features a round-robin of blazing horn solos. On Diamonds,richly lustrous horns drape, cushion and prod Lisa’s passionate vocal, setting the scene for sprawling guitar interwoven with swirling horns and closing on a group vocal chant. Essentially a four-movement suite, One Song’s opening fanfare morphs into a gentle vamp that evokes the intro to Stairway to Heaven and flows into an anthem-ish ballad buoyed by sumptuous horns and dramatic drums. Then a sinuous build to a crescendo with wailing guitar, ultimately closing out amid densely textured horns.

Blending its heavy focus upon hard-blowing, high-gear, take-no-prisoners explosiveness with subtle and entrancing imagination, Vinyl Hampdin’s Redis a marvelous debut and a portent of great things to come.


For more information


Contact
Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
E Mail: jim@jazzpromoservices.com
"Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band “West Side Story Reimagined” Friday, September 14th 7:00pm Marcus Garvey Park FREE

MARCUS GARVEY PARK ALLIANCE / JAZZMOBILE - SUMMERFEST 55 - LATIN JAZZ FESTIVAL  Multi-Grammy nominated BOBBY SANABRIA MULTIVERSE BIG BAND

Friday, September 14th 7:00pm - 8:30pm
RICHARD RODGERS AMPHITHEATER IN MARCUS GARVEY PARK, ENTER AT
FIFTH AVENUE & WEST 124th Street

Led by 7X Grammy nominee as a leader - drummer, percussionist,  composer, arranger, educator, activist Bobby Sanabria's 21 piece Multiverse Big Band is a musical juggernaut that easily straddles multiple worlds from complex concert repertoire to hardcore dance music. All of their CD's have been Grammy nominated and their new double CD release, WEST SIDE STORY REIMAGINED, a total Latin jazz reworking of Maestro Leonard Bernstein's iconic score, is proving to be their greatest work being hailed by the critics as a masterpiece. Partial proceeds from its sale go to the Jazz Foundation of America's Puerto Rican Hurricane Relief Fund for musicians. This upcoming concert at Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park will feature excerpts from West Side Story Reimagined as well as new works covering everything from salsa, samba, bomba, bossa, funk, Latin boogaloo and more fused with jazz and the majesty of the big band for an explosive end of summer dance party.

BOBBY SANABRIA MULTIVERSE BIG BAND 

RHYTHM:
Bobby Sanabria - drums, musical director, vocals
Oreste Abrantes - congas
Matthew Gonzalez - bongó/cencerro, vocals
Takao Heisho - percussion
Darwin Noguera - piano
Leo Traversa - bass

TRUMPETS:
Kevin Bryan
Shareef Clayton
Max Darché
Andrew Neesley

SAXOPHONES:
David Dejesus - alto, soprano, flute
Andrew Gould - alto, flute
Peter Brainin - tenor, flute
Jeff Lederer - tenor, clarinet, flute
Danny Rivera - bari

TROMBONES:
Dave Miller
Tim Session
Armando Vergara
Chris Washburne

FLUTE, PICCOLO:
Gabrielle Garo

ELECTRIC VIOLIN:
Ben Sutin


"There’s every reason to hope that Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story” will improve upon the 1961 film, but I doubt if we’ll ever hear a more thrilling interpretation of that immortal score  than that of the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band."
Will Friedwald - Wall Street Journal 

"Congrats on the album of the year!."
Marc Myers Jazz Wax

"It’s the most ambitious reimagining of the music I have ever heard!” 
Jamie Bernstein

"You have never heard such an ambitious, complex, and satisfying remake of that classic. Sanabria, an amazing drummer, draws deep from his Puerto Rican heritage to give this Leonard Bernstein masterpiece a roots-authentic update that’s heavy on Latin jazz influences and full of peppy, energetic rhythms."
Tom Henry - Toledo Blade

"Among other things, it’s a master class in Latin rhythms. Just get it."
Ken McCarthy - Jazz on the Tube

"If you're a fan of either Latin jazz or West Side Story, this album is a feast of those flavors."
Marc Phillips - thevinylanarchist.com/blogspot

"The infusion of Latin rhythms that Mr. Sanabria uses is a big part of what makes this album so stunning."
Dick Metcalf - Contemporary Fusion Reviews

"It’s a love letter to Bernstein as well as a reclamation, tracing his evocation back to the source."
Nate Chinen - WBGO

"A triumphant, Latin-flavored reimagining of Leonard Bernstein’s masterwork West Side Story."
Bill Milkowski - Downbeat

"A captivating and fulfilling recording that more than reimagines this enduring masterpiece." 
Pierre Giroux Audiophile Audition

"West Side Story Reimagined is Bobby’s retelling of the story in his way, seen through the eyes of love and gratitude and, often, uncertainty.

As Bobby says, this is “a reimagining from the perspective of a Jazz musician, a Latin musician, and a native Nuyorican son who is proud to say he is from the city that defines aché, hipness, and cool.” Aché is Energy.

In my review of Bobby’s album, Multiverse, I said that “Bobby is a prophet of life.” That was never truer than with West Side Story Reimagined."
Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band
“West Side Story Reimagined”
(Jazzheads JH1231)
Street Date: 07/20/2018
West Side Story Reimagined is now LIVE on



Andrea Brachfeld - If Not Now, When? (JAZZHEADS RECORDS 2018)


On her third straight-ahead jazz album in the last six years, and second for Jazzheads, flutist Andrea Brachfeld is backed by her exceptional and simpatico working band Insight, with bassist Harvie S, drummer Jason Tiemann, and pianist Bill O’Connell, an invaluable longtime collaborator who along with Brachfeld, produced and arranged the CD. It features primarily originals by Brachfeld and O’ Connell, five of them written under a grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The album’s closing track, her rendition of the beloved “Amazing Grace,” is the sole non-original.

Brachfeld is highly esteemed as a flutist, bandleader, and composer, and this new recording is sure to find a warm welcome at jazz radio as well as with the jazz press. Continuing the momentum of her previous Jazzheads release, which earned a 4-star review in DownBeat, a publicity campaign is planned to highlight Brachfeld’s recent forays back to her original love—be bop—after many years of recording and performing Latin music to great acclaim. This soulful album makes the case that she is deeply connected to that first love.


Harvie S: bass
Bill O'Connell: piano
Jason Tiemann: drums

The Listening Song
Steppin'
Creating Space
The Silence
Anima Mea
Movers And Shakers
Deeply I Live
Moving Forward
The Opening
Amazing Grace


Sam Wilkes - Wilkes (LEAVING RECORDS October 5, 2018)


Listening to Wilkes numerous times, considering 
what I might write about it for a Press Release, (which I 
agreed to do because I'm a fan of his Music and his 
collaborations with Sam Gendel and Louis Cole / Knower,) 
I was growing in enthusiasm, looking forward to my 
next radio show or DJ set including the song "Today" 
so I could hear it bump in a nice system. I was hyped 
the more I took in this 6 song offering. I thought to ask 
Sam about his new record and use his answers as aid 
to illustrate some of my feelings, but when I read his 
reply I thought you should too. It's so descriptive 
and visual, perfect to pull from and quote.



1 Welcome* (J. Coltrane)
Alto Saxophone- Sam Gendel
All other instruments-Sam Wilkes
recorded by Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes and Chris Sorem

2 Today 
Alto Saxophone- Sam Gendel
All other instruments-Sam Wilkes
recorded by Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes

3 Run 
Alto Saxophone- Sam Gendel
Drums- Christian Euman
Electric Bass- Sam Wilkes
Keys- Sam Wilkes
recorded by Chris Sorem and Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes and Chris Sorem

4 Tonight 
Alto Saxophone-Sam Gendel
Drums- Louis Cole
Acoustic Guitar- Brian Green
All other instruments- Sam Wilkes
recorded by Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes and Chris Sorem

5 Hug 
Alto Saxophone- Sam Gendel
Drums- Christian Euman
All other instruments- Sam Wilkes
Sonic Manipulations- Chris Sorem and Sam Wilkes
recorded by Chris Sorem and Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes and Chris Sorem

6 Descending
Guitar- Brian Green
Vocals- Louis Cole, Genevieve Artadi, Sam Wilkes, Joey Genetti, Brian Green, Rozzi Crane, 
Luc Kleiner, Avi Buffalo, Kenton Chen
Snare Drum- Kyle Crane
Alto Saxophone- Sam Gendel
All other instruments- Sam Wilkes
recorded by Sam Wilkes
mixed by Sam Wilkes and Chris Sorem

Pete Beardsworth - Pour Un Homme Seul (RUNNING CIRCLE September 14, 2018)


The debut EP from Pete Beardsworth, is a cathartic exploration of the spiritual world of jazz and the healing force within..  Charting a journey of hope and rediscovery, the tracks are aural fragments of a voyage through a harsh, personal wilderness, and back again to civilization and consciousness.


1. To The Place
2. Buried
3. Purify
4. Pour Un Homme Seul
5. Back To You


Thursday, August 30, 2018

La música vuelve a Dúrcal este viernes con Durcalling Music Festival


Durcalling Music Festival vuelve este viernes al Valle de Lecrín

Tras el éxito de su primera edición, en el Valle de Lecrín volverá a resonar la llamada de la música el próximo 31 de agosto.

O'funk'illo, Vinila Von Bismark, y María del Mal encabezan un cartel 100% andaluz, y con marcado apoyo a las bandas locales.

El festival consolida a Dúrcal como epicentro musical de la provincia, uniéndose a citas como el Día de la Música en la Calle.

Coincidiendo con las fiestas patronales de San Ramón, la antigua Fábrica de Orujo de Dúrcal se volverá a llenar de vida por una noche, como ya sucediera el pasado año. El éxito de la primera edición, que encabezaron los granadinos Eskorzo y los cordobeses Aslandticos, ha sido clave para que el Ayuntamiento de Dúrcal vuelva a hacer esta llamada, consolidando la cita, y demostrando que más allá de la capital, la provincia de Granada cuenta con auténticos epicentros de actividad artística.

Los sevillanos O'funk'illo, de vuelta a su formación original tras más de una década recorriendo caminos separados, encabezarán el cartel con su "funky andaluz embrutessío"; Vinila Von Bismark llegará con el quejío nazarí de "Motel Llamado Mentira", donde ha dado un nuevo rumbo a su música y con el que está cosechando un éxito sin precedentes; desde Padul y tras años de silencio, el regreso de María del Mal; y completando el cartel, una excelente representación de talento durqueño: el nuevo flamenco de Compás Canalla, las contundentes versiones de Made In Kopón, y la vuelta al mundo en 80 músicas de los hijos adoptivos de la localidad Dj Benas & Compay Lion.

Los horarios ya están disponibles, y quienes lleguen a primera hora serán obsequiados con una cerveza o refresco.