Michael Feinberg’s HARD TIMES (w/ Orrin Evans, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts) is out October 22 via Fresh Sound

Bassist Michael Feinberg Releases Provocative New Album HARD TIMES, due out October 22, 2021 via Fresh Sound

Bassist and composer Michael Feinberg issues Hard Times, out on October 22, his eighth album as a leader spotlighting a fiercely integrative sound. At once stark and uplifting, the Fresh Sounds release expresses his layered response to the pandemic that, “offered some challenging opportunities,” according to the New York-based artist, who contends Hard Times “is the culmination of those challenges and opportunities.”

Primed for spontaneous expansion, the collection of largely original compositions reflects an aesthetic containing multitudes. “It’s a pretty diverse album in terms of the music,” he says. “It’s pretty eclectic.” Serving as co-producer alongside Jordi Pujol, Feinberg booked David Amlen to record the music at Sound on Sound Studios in Jersey, and Michael Perez-Cisneros to mix and master the album at Big Orange Sheep. 

For Feinberg and his collaborators, Hard Times offers room to wail and room to contemplate and, at its core, room to stretch. As a result of the lockdown, he seized an opportunity to assemble a band of perennially touring artists, including Leo Genovese on keyboards and synths, Billy Buss on trumpet, Godwin Louis on alto, Noah Preminger on tenor, Gabriel Globus-Hoenig on percussion, Orrin Evans on piano and special guest Randy Brecker for one texturally lavish, melodious track. 

Once he secured Jeff “Tain” Watts for the studio date, Feinberg began composing much of the music as well as the arrangements with the drummer’s nuanced expression in mind. “He’s someone who I’ve listened to for so long and have such deep respect for,” says Feinberg. “I wanted to bring out elements of his playing I really like.” 

Partly for Tain, partly in service of his own expression, Feinberg sought to create a groove-driven album that welcomes dualities and apparent contradictions. “A lot of the interest I have in music comes from disparate worlds combining — the order in the chaos,” he says. “Not that it’s always chaos [laughs]; it can be beautiful, tranquil.” Hard Times presents structured concepts of patterns and groove, allowing Feinberg and his fellow artists to respond with an elasticity and a pervading freedom to take scripted music and spontaneous melodies wherever they mean to go. “It creates the tension and release within the ensemble,” he says, “rather than just with the notes on the page.” 

Photos of Michael Feinberg courtesy of the artist

From opening colors on track one’s dedication to master forgers Pei-Shen Qian and Rudy Kurniawan, Hard Times reveals inquiry within the music. In addition to his strength and subtlety on the kit, Tain’s attention to leaving and creating space for idea development persists across the album. Through his arrangement of “Nardis,” Feinberg seeks to honor the pivotal apprenticeship gig with Russell Gunn he landed when he was coming up in Atlanta. Full on the low-end, the groove swells and recedes, arcing the music from one section to the next. “Husafell Stone” hits the listener with a fullness up front. Taking the first solo, Evans allows the composition’s syncopated melody to serve as point of origin before Buss delivers his own swinging response. 

Twin McCoy tracks “Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit” and “Three Flowers” pay tribute to a recently departed hero of Feinberg’s, the latter piece featuring a dualism is his bass solo characteristic of the entire record: strength in sensitivity. “These performances are intended as a tribute to him, as well as keeping the flame lit for those who love his music,” he says in his album notes. Written as a feature for Louis and Buss, “Janky in the Middle” spotlights the artists’ interplay, offering each opportunities to play with, alongside and against what the other proffers. The resulting dialogue creates smaller arcs in the music that punctuate the movement of the tune. Feinberg has played together with both artists for the past decade and a half. “We have that comfort to take those chances,” he says, “knowing we can find our way back once we get out there [laughs].” 

Flush with lamentation, “Every. Damn. Day. (Burn it down blues)” acknowledges and honors the continued generational trauma inflicted on the Black community as a result of racism, police brutality and gun violence. “Lauren’s Song” features another of Feinberg’s beautiful and tender melodies. In his signature language, Brecker speaks in full voice on “Monkeys Never Cramp.” Concluding on a note of jubilance and healing, “Hard Times” features Feinberg’s resonating walk and swinging melodies. He admits, however, he can only make suggestions; in the moment, sound is fluid. “Everything’s always in flux in the music,” he says. “It can go anywhere at any time, and everyone in the band knows that so we’re ready for it.” 

Fresh Sound Records Website

Benito Gonzalez - Sing to the World (May 14th, 2021 via Rainy Days Records)

Emerging Piano Talent Benito Gonzalez

Releases his Fifth Recording of Originals:

the Inspired, Moving, Dancing Sing to the World 

on St. Petersburg, Russia-based Rainy Days Records

With propulsive pulse and Afro-Latin percussive drive, Benito Gonzalez places rhythm at the core of his exhilarating new album, Sing to the World, set for a May 14 release. All of the ten songs on his fifth album, and first released on the St. Petersburg, Russia label Rainy Days Records, combine to create a sense of wonder and enchantment as Gonzalez takes a stellar step into the future of his jazz journey. He’s assembled an impressive team of collaborators, including Christian McBride, Essiet Okon Essiet, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Nicholas Payton as well as rising stars Russian drummer Sasha Mashin, trumpeter Josh Evans and saxophonist Makar Kashitsyn.

Sing to The World is a musical exploration into the concept of freedom that recognizes the dignity of us all as individuals. Music is the most powerful tool we have to make a change in the world, uniting as one outside of cultural or religious differences. We are living in a world where all are searching for freedom because its inherently valuable role in human progress. Sing to the World is about this universal search for freedom, about being present, being aware, and trying to allow the moment to come to us.

The title track of Sing to the World, with its harmonic invention and pianistic power, is influenced by two McCoy Tyner tunes, “Fly with the Wind” and “Song of the New World.” “McCoy played with so much energy and with such a depth of harmony. If you hear that kind of harmony, you can push the music to its limit. It’s open to infinity. That’s my concept for the whole album—play with openness and trust. That’s what I want to give to the world,” says Gonzalez.

As for enlisting jazz powerhouses in the new album, Gonzalez says McBride and Watts embrace the rhythmic core. “They hear the way I perceive the music. They understand where I’m coming from and execute brilliantly. I like strong beats rooted in Africa which is where my father’s ancestors came from. I like it when people dance to this music. Tain and Christian come from the same place. You can hear the dance beats when they play,” says Gonzalez. “The African sensibility and relationship with the drums has usually permeated the best of jazz and American music. Benito embraces that language as part of his commitment to the spiritual, healing part of the music. As a drummer, it’s really fun to play with and bounce off of, in order to get to a vibration that’s vital and always in style.” explains Watts.

As for bringing Payton on board, Gonzalez says, “Nicholas is the best trumpet player today, and I thought he would be a great addition for my album giving his direction in the music,” says Gonzalez.

Highlights on Sing to the World include Gonzalez’s dazzle of keys on “Sounds of Freedom” which he says is inspired by “the troubling situations in our world today. People are looking for freedom in places like my home Venezuela, in Russia, the U.S. People are searching, fighting for freedom,” says Gonzalez.

Others include “Views of the Blues,” an energized outing inspired by Coltrane’s open-sound sensibility of playing the blues, and the moving, lyrical “Offering,” featuring a terrific McBride solo. “When I was seven years old in Venezuela, I played the organ at church. I was playing beautiful melodies. This song is based on that. It’s not a hymn but a reminder of the hymns I played as a kid. It’s a story. It’s my interpretation of that period in my life,” says Gonzalez.

In addition to his slow-to-upbeat originals, Gonzalez adds to the set list two compositions that have never been recorded by their composers: Roy Hargrove’s soulful “Father”and Jeff “Tain” Watt’s beauty “412.” Benito singles out ”Father” as one of his favorite songs on the album. “It’s about my personal relationship to Roy. In 2006, we attended jam sessions every Thursday night. He sat down at the piano one night and taught me the changes to this song. We played it often, but he never recorded it” he says.

As for the Tain tune, Gonzalez learned it when the two were both teaching summer jazz camp at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC ). “Having known Benito for years, it’s been a pleasure to witness both his growth, and his love and respect for the music in notes and spirit. His seriousness and focus were apparent years ago in the young man I’d chat with during trips; always friendly and seeking, never pushy. I’m proud to see him today as a bright light and leader in the music” says Watts. “I was messing around on the piano one day, and Tain gave me the chart. I’ve always loved this ballad. He’s played it on occasion but never recorded it,” says Gonzalez about “412.”

What’s impressive about Gonzalez is that he’s not willing to sit still for too long. He’s already got future projects in mind. Recently named a Steinway & Sons artist in 2020, emerging piano talent Benito Gonzalez continues to reveals himself as an inspired and versatile artist on his fifth album, Sing to the World.

1. Sounds of Freedom

2. Views of the Blues

3. Father

4. Offering

5. Visionary

6. Smile

7. Sing to the World

8. 412

9. Flatbush Avenue

10. Colors

Benito Gonzalez — piano

Nicholas Payton — trumpet (1,3,6,8)

Christian McBride — bass (2-10)

Sasha Mashin — drums (1,3,6,7,9,10)

Jeff “Tain” Watts — drums (2,4,5,8)

Essiet Okon Essiet — bass (1)

Josh Evans — trumpet (9)

Musical producer — Benito Gonzalez

Co-produced by Sasha Mashin

Executive producer — Eugene Petrushanskiy

Recorded at Big Orange Sheep Brooklyn, NY

Recording Engineer — Chris Benham

Assistant Engineer — Kevin Thomas

Additional recording at Cinelab Studio, Moscow

Recording Engineer — Igor Bardashev

Mixed and Mastered by Mike Marciano of Systems Two

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Dan Wilson - Vessels of Wood and Earth (April 23, 2021 Mack Avenue Records)

Guitarist/Composer Dan Wilson Calls Attention to the

Beauty of Often Ignored Structural Foundations

of Music and Life with Debut Label Release

Vessels of Wood and Earth, Due April 23,

Marks Second Release on Christian McBride’s Mack Avenue Music Group Imprint, Brother Mister Productions

Wilson Joined by Christian Sands, Marco Panascia,

Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Guest Vocalist Joy Brown

In today’s society, perception over reality influences everyday life. Grand offerings of seemingly luxurious lifestyles flood social channels, offering a glimpse of false security and achievement that rarely lie on a strong foundation. Just as a beautiful house is finished with vessels of silver and gold, underneath lies wood and earth.

On his marvelous new album, Vessels of Wood and Earth, guitarist/composer Dan Wilson takes the title to mean that we as a society tend to look at the shiny exteriors that attract us in an instant, rather than appreciate the less readily apparent structures that actually support the house. Through 11 joyfully dynamic compositions ranging from takes on classic songs from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Ted Daffan mixed with a nod to the spiritual master John Coltrane as well as five original compositions, Wilson builds a foundation rooted as much in tradition as it is in moving the music irresistibly forward into the modern world.

That structural integrity was front of mind when Wilson set out to craft his label debut for bassist/composer Christian McBride’s new imprint Brother Mister Productions — the label’s second release. “In 2014, I was Artist-in-Residence at the Tri-C Jazz Festival in Cleveland, Ohio,” reflects McBride. “I was involved in numerous performances and outreach events over the course of maybe four days. Terri Pontremoli, director of the festival, has been one of my closest confidants and collaborators over the course of 20-plus years. One thing she had never done during the course of our friendship was the old, ‘I got someone you need to hear’ bit. For that reason, when she did it that year, I was quite surprised. The person she wanted me to hear was guitarist Dan Wilson. When I got to Mahall’s that night and heard him playing solo guitar, I was quite impressed. He was coming straight from that Montgomery/Benson/Burrell/Martino bag that Terri knew I would like. After it was over, I knew that I’d just met someone I should have met a long time before. Dan Wilson is an absolute monster! He has an enviable technique that comes so seemingly easy to him and his pocket is very deep. Now it’s my honor to introduce you to him as a Brother Mister artist. In the words of Terri, "I got someone you need to hear."

Joined by pianist Christian Sands, bassist Marco Panascia, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts and guest vocalist Joy Brown, the virtuosic guitarist’s broad musical roots inspired by Motown, gospel and jazz tradition result in a remarkable feel for arrangements. Wilson’s musical explorations allow the band to elevate each passage, aided by his fluid and melodic expression.

Due out April 23, the vividly expressionist recording finds Wilson in the purest of creative strides. “I try to elicit the same kind of visceral response to the music that I get in my gut while making it,” comments Wilson. “I want to convey the joy I get out of making the music.” That joy is deeply rooted in his musical beginnings in the church community, where he was quickly immersed in the rich gospel tradition. But at home, he was exposed to a wealth of music from his father, who played drums and bass, and his mother, a gifted singer.

“My parents loved Motown,” states Wilson. “My father only played at church, never at home, but my mother’s influence on me was amplified by her knowledge of standards and incredible memory for recalling lyrics and God-given natural talents as a singer.” Wilson’s parents exposed him to the great singers like Dinah Washington, Gloria Lynn, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald, which he credits for his arioso approach to solos.

This strong sense of familial leadership continued when Wilson’s uncle introduced him to the world of jazz through the music of Wes Montgomery and his duets with jazz organist Jimmy Smith. “I was maybe 14 or 15,” Wilson reflects, “and my uncle took me into his basement and played me Wes and Jimmy and I was like, ‘Oh, this is it for me. I want to do that! I just want to do that forever.”

Wilson’s career took him on an exploratory journey into those foundations laid down by the guitar/organ tradition, eventually leading to an invitation to perform with jazz great Joey DeFrancesco’s quartet with which Wilson went on to earn a GRAMMY® Award nomination for DeFrancesco’s Project Freedom album (Mack Avenue Records, 2017). This collaboration allowed the guitarist to insert his own dialect into the musical prowess and respect that DeFrancesco had earned throughout his journey. Wilson had been playing with DeFrancesco for a few years when he met bassist, composer, arranger, Christian McBride. “It was just like the first time I met Joey – magic. We played three tunes and from note one, it was like ‘Yeah, we were born to play together.’” From there, Wilson went on to tour with McBride’s trio Tip City, eventually leading McBride to serve as producer on Vessels of Wood and Earth and release the album on his newly formed imprint Brother Mister Productions through Mack Avenue Music Group.

“He’s the same as a producer as he is as a person – what you see is what you get,” laughs Wilson. “Christian understands what it means to be both a bandleader and sideman, so he’s got that unique musical perspective. I’m grateful to experience both the shock and the honor of being on Christian’s label.”

1. The Rhythm Section

2. Bird of Beauty

3. The Reconstruction Beat

4. Vessels of Wood and Earth

5. Who Shot John

6. fter the Rain/Save the Children

7. Inner City Blues

8. Juneteenth

9. Cry Me a River

10. James

11. Born to Lose

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Greg Murphy - Cool Water (2021 Whaling City Sound)

It is glad tidings indeed that Whaling City Sound announces the release of a new Greg Murphy recording. In fact, the news is almost as joyous as the sound of Murphy’s piano. Cool Water is both heartwarming and exhilarating. Greg’s fingers find delicate and exciting ways of expressing themselves across the keys

It is the sound of a blissful talent given a new lease in both life and career, as well as the opportunity to rediscover his true and glorious gift. The recording opens with the ebullient “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” segues into a chancy take on Steely Dan’s “Green Earrings,” careening through a battery of brisk melodies and beautiful playing, including the astonishing “Cuttin’ Trane’s Corners,” a dark, surprising cover of Wayne Shorter’s “Lost,” and the funk-filled closing celebration, “You Decide.” Featuring Murphy’s bandmates Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums, Eric Wheeler on bass, and a bevy of special guests, Cool Water is just that, long and fresh, a ride with the top down, rife with optimism and full of freedom and discovery.

Greg Murphy is clearly glad to be back and playing music again, and we should all be thankful for it.

1. Chim Chim Cher-ee

2. Green Earrings

3. My Life

4. Theme For Ronnie

5. Friendship

6. Free Fur Nina

7. Enkare Nairobi

Greg Murphy / piano, keyboards

Eric Wheeler / bass

Jeff "Tain" Watts / drums

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Jeff "Tain" Watts - Travel Band - Detained in Amsterdam (June 29, 2018)

Tain spent his formative years with Wynton & Branford Marsalis and his writing skills now command equal attention, highlighted by a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition. Watts has recorded and toured with George Benson, Harry Connick Jr, Kenny Garrett, Michael Brecker, Kenny Kirkland, Courtney Pine, Geri Allen, Alice & Ravi Coltrane, Greg Osby, McCoy Tyner, Steve Coleman & Fort Apache.

1. Brilliant Corners

2. 14E Intro

3. 14E

4. Brekky with Drecky

5. Ice Age Intro

6. Ice Age 07:11

7. Brainlifter 06:01

8. Vodville 05:15

9. A Wreath for John T. Smith

10. Merango Nights

11. Snarchasm Rant

12. Snarchasm

13. Blakzilla Intro

14. Seed of Blakzilla

15. Blutain

Recorded live at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam on Saturday Feb 11, 2017.

Released by Dark Key Music June 29, 2018.

Jeff "Tain" Watts - drums and compositions

Paul Bollenback - guitar

Orlando le Fleming - double bass

Produced by Jeff "Tain" Watts 

Recording Engineers: Onno Prillwitz and Marc Schots 

Mix Engineer: Patrick Smith 

Mastering Engineer: Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound NYC 

Additional edits by Laura Watts 

Package design by Jeff Watts and Laura Watts

Rostislav Fraš Quartet (feat. Antonio Faraò & Jeff "Tain" Watts) - Use the Moment (ANIMAL MUSIC 2017)

Rostislav Fraš, the first-class Czech jazz saxophonist and composer, has invited two giants of the world jazz scene to record his new album with him – Italian pianist Antonio Faraò and the legendary American drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts. The fourth in the band is the bassist Josef Fečo.

 The album has been recorded at the end of the short tour of this line-up and it brings a collection of Fraš's and Faraò's own compositions performed with fantastic and driving delivery.

1. Use the Moment (Rostislav Fraš)

2. N.W. (Rostislav Fraš)

3. Black Inside (Antonio Faraò)

4. Blues After Showers (Rostislav Fraš)

5. Arabesco (Antonio Faraò)

6. Silent Yearning (Rostislav Fraš)

7. Dark Side (Rostislav Fraš)

Rostislav Fraš – tenor saxophone

Antonio Faraò – piano

Jeff “Tain” Watts – drums

Josef Fečo – acoustic bass