The Michael Leonhart Orchestra presents 'The Normyn Suites', due out March 25, 2022 (Sunnyside Records)

The Michael Leonhart Orchestra presents The Normyn Suites, a new masterwork to be released on March 25, 2022 via Sunnyside Records 

Featuring appearances by Elvis Costello, Bill Frisell, Joshua Redman, JSWISS, Larry Goldings, Nels Cline, Donny McCaslin and more 

Release show at Rizzoli Bookstore on April 10, 2022

‘The Normyn Suites’ is an elegy; to listen is to spend time in that space of loss, reckoning, questioning, and mourning. At the same time, though, with each note, each phrase, we are propelled back into life."

– Alexandra Horowitz, author of Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond 

"Threads the needle between pop and experimental music seamlessly… gorgeous." 

– Forbes

Sunnyside Records is proud to announce the March 25, 2022 release of The Normyn Suites by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra. The Normyn Suites is both a requiem and celebration, inspired by the life and death of the bandleader’s 15-year-old dog, a female mini dachshund named Normyn. The third album by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra features a pair of suites – the first of which is an exploration of the stages of grieving, while the second is a reflection on love and loss. In keeping with the MLO’s eclectic musical palette, the album features several collaborations with Elvis Costello, with contributions by Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and JSWISS as well as two bonus offerings with Donny McCaslin. The release of The Normyn Suites will be celebrated at Rizzoli Bookstore in New York City on April 10. 

“The Normyn Suites is an elegy; to listen is to spend time in that space of loss, reckoning, questioning, and mourning. At the same time, though, with each note, each phrase, we are propelled back into life,” reflects author Alexandra Horowitz in the stirring liner notes. The first part is titled “The Normyn Suite #1: (Soundtrack to the Five Stages of Grieving)”, and was inspired by “The Kübler-Ross Grief Cycle”, a model introduced by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book On Death and Dying. “The Five Stages of Grief” is a critically acclaimed study on how humans handle loss.

For this suite in five parts, Leonhart expands the MLO’s live performance palette of brass, woodwinds and strings to include choir and found percussion over gritty breakbeat drums. 

Leonhart shares, “I wanted “Denial” and “Anger” to have an emotional tension and raw quality, almost a whiplash effect, before the contemplative soloing of Bill Frisell over the peaceful “Catharsis”.” The fourth composition, “Nostalgia” opens with a nod to the main melody of “The Dunes Of Cahoon Hollow” (from “Suite #2), orchestrated for choir and monophonic synths before Jim Pugh (trombone) and Walt Weiskopf (tenor sax) take turns as instrumental narrators. Leonhart’s years with Pugh and Weiskopf as part of the Steely Dan horn section inspired him to choose them specifically for their expressiveness and personal experiences with loss. The final movement of the suite,“Acceptance” starts with Leonhart’s mother Donna singing a wordless melody over chamber strings. Leonhart utilizes gospel harmonies and a written soli over a soulful 6/8 groove to represent the peace and empowerment that come with the true recognition of personal heartbreaking loss. 

“The Normyn Suite #2: (Love & Loss)” is a collection of six pieces Leonhart began composing in the final weeks of Normyn’s life, when she was physically too weak to walk and began to lose her appetite. Leonhart would bring her to the studio where she would rest in her favorite bag on top of the grand piano while he played and composed. The six pieces “May The Young Grow Old” (featuring Larry Goldings), “Waking From Sedation” (featuring Bill Frisell), “Freedom From The Pain”, “Unconditional Love”, “La Preghiera”, and “The Dunes Of Cahoon Hollow” take listeners on an dazzling sonic journey.

Photos of Michael Leonhart by Shervin Lainez

In addition to the two suites, the album features three songs co-written with Elvis Costello during the quarantine. There are two versions of “Shut Him Down” bookending the suites — one with Joshua Redman, playing his late father Dewey’s newly restored tenor saxophone for the first time on record, the other with Chris Potter on bass clarinet. Costello performs spoken word on “Radio is Everything”, featuring legendary guitarists Bill Frisell & Nels Cline who also co-wrote the songs with Leonhart and Costello. The final collaboration is the driving “Newspaper Pane”.

Two bonus tracks, “Kenny Dorham” and “Wayne Shorter”, present the debut recording of Leonhart’s organ quartet featuring Donny McCaslin. These two songs were initially composed as a birthday tribute to each of these jazz legends, two of Leonhart’s favorite small group composers.

The Michael Leonhart Orchestra developed its singular sound over the course of its monthly residencies at Jazz Standard, one of New York’s most prestigious jazz rooms. Pre-pandemic, Leonhart was steadily honing his vision there, with unconventional instrumentation and a shapeshifting community of sought-after players from a variety of cutting-edge scenes and disciplines. Leonhart’s approach to the MLO is informed by his many other activities and wide-ranging credits: he’s a top-level jazz trumpeter and longtime member of Steely Dan; a gifted and distinctive pianist; a singer, songwriter and film composer; a session player with credits including the Bruno Mars/Mark Ronson megahit “Uptown Funk“; an accomplished orchestrator (Nels Cline’s Lovers) and producer (Donald Fagen’s Sunken Condos, Sachal Vasandani’s Slow Motion Miracles). The polyglot musical worldview Leonhart has developed as a result stamps the MLO’s work at every moment. And the joy he gets from it is infectious. 

Hailed as “a blazing hot mess of awesome” by The New York City Jazz Record, the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO) traverses a huge swath of musical terrain, guided by the highly developed ears, ceaselessly omnivorous tastes and playful yet meticulous artistry of its leader, Michael Leonhart.

The Michael Leonhart Orchestra features a who’s-who of today’s contemporary musical talent including Keyon Harrold, Catherine Russell, E.J. Strickland, Freddie Hendrix, Eric Friedlander, Ryan Keberle, and more.

1 Shut Him Down

2 The Normyn Suite #1: Denial

3 The Normyn Suite #1: Anger

4 The Normyn Suite #1: Catharsis

5 The Normyn Suite #1: Nostalgia

6 The Normyn Suite #1: Acceptance

7 Radio Is Everything

8 The Normyn Suite #2: May the Young Grow Old Featuring

9 The Normyn Suite #2: Waking from Sedation

10 The Normyn Suite #2: Freedom from the Pain

11 The Normyn Suite #2: Unconditional Love

12 The Normyn Suite #2: La Preghiera

13 The Normyn Suite #2: The Dunes of Cahoon Hollow

14 Shut Him Down (Video Edit)

15 Newspaper Pane

16 Kenny Dorham

17 Wayne Shorter

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Tigran Hamasyan - StandArt (April 29, 2022 Nonesuch Records)

Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan’s StandArt —his first album of American standards— on April 29, 2022. StandArt includes songs from the 1920s through the 1950s, by Richard Rodgers, Charlie Parker, Jerome Kern, David Raksin, and others; it also includes a piece Hamasyan improvised with his bandmates —bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Justin Brown —and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who is featured on two of the album’s tracks. Other special guests include saxophonist and label-mate Joshua Redman on Charlie Parker’s “Big Foot,” as well as saxophonist Mark Turner on Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are.” Produced by Hamasyan and recorded last spring in Los Angeles, StandArt is Hamasyan’s first release of American music, having previously only released original compositions and traditional Armenian music.

1. De-Dah

2. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

3. Tigran Hamasyan, Mark Turner - All the Things You Are (feat. Mark Turner)

4. Tigran Hamasyan, Joshua Redman - Big Foot (feat. Joshua Redman)

5. When a Woman Loves a Man

6. Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise

7. Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire - I Should Care (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire)

8. Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire - Invasion During an Operetta (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire)

9. Laura

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Relief: A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians’ Emergency Fund | Mack Avenue Music Group

AVAILABLE NOW, RELIEF: A BENEFIT FOR

THE JAZZ FOUNDATION OF AMERICA’S MUSICIANS’ EMERGENCY FUND

(PURCHASE/SHARE HERE)

 

An Unprecedented, Star-Studded Collection from

America’s Top Jazz Labels in Support of Musicians

Affected by the Pandemic

 

2-LP Set, CD and Digital Album Features Herbie Hancock,

Wallace Roney, Buster Williams, Jimmy Heath, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, IRMA and LEO (Esperanza Spalding & Leo Genovese), Cécile McLorin Salvant, Charles Lloyd, Hiromi, Kenny Garrett, Jon Batiste,

and Other Jazz Greats

A consortium of major jazz labels – Concord Music Group, Mack Avenue Music Group, Nonesuch Records, Universal Music Group’s Verve Label Group and Blue Note Records, and Warner Music Group – has taken the unprecedented step of joining hands for Relief, an all-star compilation of previously unreleased music on LP, CD and digitally November 12, continuing the non-profit Jazz Foundation of America’s (JFA) ongoing efforts to aid musicians affected by the international shutdown of venues and other performance opportunities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. PURCHASE/SHARE HERE.

 

All net proceeds from the package – comprising studio and live tracks by top-flight jazz artists – will benefit the JFA’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund, established in the spring of 2020 after the pandemic ground the music industry to a sudden, catastrophic halt.

 

JFA executive director Joe Petrucelli says, “The Jazz Foundation of America deeply appreciates the artists, songwriters and label teams who contributed to this project with such compassion and generosity. As pandemic restrictions continue to lift, we recognize that musicians will face a particularly lengthy recovery. They were among the first to be hit by the effects of the crisis and will be among the last to achieve a true sense of normalcy or stability. We and our partners are here for the long haul.”

 

Relief commences with a recording that exemplifies the extreme challenges faced by musicians in the depths of the 2020 health emergency: “back to who,” a track by vocalist Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leo Genovese, recording as IRMA and LEO, was created remotely at home studios in Hillsboro, OR and Brooklyn, NY.

 

The compilation concludes with a live quintet performance captured at the JFA’s 2014 “A Great Night in Harlem” benefit show at New York’s historic Apollo Theater. It features pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Wallace Roney, who died after contracting the coronavirus, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath and tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath, the composer of the number, who died at the age of 93 in January 2020, in a poignant version of “Gingerbread Boy.”

 

“I'm honored to be part of this meaningful project that supports the important work of the Jazz Foundation, who has always been there for musicians going through tough times. They have been an especially critical resource for the community during the pandemic, helping those in need of medical care, putting food on the table and paying their rent,” says Hancock. 

Offering a compact overview of jazz’s past, present, and future, the album also presents fresh tracks from bassist Christian McBride, vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, saxophonists Kenny Garrett, Charles Lloyd, and Joshua Redman, pianist Hiromi Uehara, and pianist-vocalist Jon Batiste.



The set is merely the latest pandemic relief effort mounted under the aegis of the JFA’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund. 2020 benefit events included the virtual concert #TheNewGig in May, an international “Gershwin Global” online performance led by Israeli pianist Guy Mintus in July, and the Charlie Parker-themed “Bird Calls” streaming fundraiser in December.

 

Mack Avenue Music Group president Denny Stilwell, who spearheaded the formation of the label consortium with longtime JFA board member and entertainment lawyer Geoffrey Menin last spring, says, “We had met via conference call for about two months before the idea of putting an album together came up. The initial impetus was to raise money for the fund. Sometime around eight weeks in, Blue Note’s president, Don Was, said, ‘Why don’t we make a record? Let’s all contribute some tracks.’ There was a nanosecond of silence, and then everybody in our core group – including John Burk at Concord, Jamie Krents at Verve – said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’

 

“We all decided that we were going to look into the vaults and agreed that we wanted to have unreleased tracks…it just came together organically. Once we got all the music together, we traded some ideas and Joe Petrucelli, John Burk and Will Wakefield laid out the final sequence of how the tracks would flow. I think it works great!”

 

Relief marks the first appearance on record of a performance from one of the JFA’s annual benefits at the Apollo. (The 2020 “A Great Night in Harlem” show, which had been set for April 14, was postponed due to the COVID outbreak.)

 

Stilwell recalls, “Joe Petrucelli was pretty excited about including a live track. The thing that makes that track heartbreaking and relevant is the inclusion of Wallace Roney, who was one of the first of our community to pass from COVID. I think that track, which also features Jimmy Heath, who also left us last year, has some extra weight and meaning for all of us.”

 

In his notes for the album, Rolling Stone senior music editor Hank Shteamer writes, “Even in a pandemic, the jazz ecosystem – not just its practitioners and facilitators but those who value the music as a lifelong sustenance – has managed to summon grace, dignity and unexpected joy. That spirit extends to Relief, a compilation which continues the relief efforts undertaken last year. This album reflects the duality at the heart of jazz: It's a music of cooperation, of intuitive teamwork, that also leaves room for a broad array of personal idiosyncrasy. Differences of generation, heritage, methodology…strengthen the music's vast collective mesh.”

Album Tracklist:

1. IRMA and LEO back to who feat. Esperanza Spalding and Leo Genovese 4:41

2. Christian McBride Brother Malcolm 4:47                  

3. Cécile McLorin Salvant Easy Come, Easy Go Blues 2:32

4. Kenny Garrett Joe Hen’s Waltz 8:07

5. Jon Batiste Sweet Lorraine 3:52

6. Hiromi Green Tea Farm [2020 version] 7:52

7. Joshua Redman Facts feat. Ron Miles, Scott Colley, Brian Blade 3:39

8. Charles Lloyd & Kindred Spirits Lift Every Voice and Sing [live] 8:26

9. Herbie Hancock Gingerbread Boy feat. Wallace Roney, Jimmy Heath, Buster Williams, Albert “Tootie” Heath [live] 6:54

Relief – A Benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund

Various Artists · Mack Avenue Records

For more information on Jazz Foundation of America, please visit:

JazzFoundation.org | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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Vince Mendoza | "Freedom Over Everything" | Available July 2 via Modern Recordings

Celebrated Multi-GRAMMY® Award Winning Arranger,

Composer and Conductor Vince Mendoza

Brings Forth a Life Affirming Cross-Genre Collaboration

Freedom Over Everything,

a Revelatory and Politically Charged Album Set

for July 2 Release on BMG’s Modern Recordings Imprint

Guest Artists include

Joshua Redman, Antonio Sanchez, Derrick Hodge,

and The Roots' MC Black Thought

Six time GRAMMY® Award-winner, and 34-time nominee, Vince Mendoza is considered the foremost arranger of his generation, working with legends such as Björk, Elvis Costello, Sting, and Joni Mitchell. In a new star-studded release, Mendoza returns to his roots as a composer and conductor with a remarkable collaboration—highlighting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, soprano Julia Bullock, guest artists Joshua Redman, Antonio Sanchez, Derrick Hodge, and The Roots' premier MC Black Thought—for his forthcoming album, Freedom Over Everything, on BMG’s Modern Recordings label imprint.

The album opens with Mendoza’s Five movement “Concerto for Orchestra” which was commissioned by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, with whom Mendoza has had a working relationship for the last several years. The collaboration aimed to create a work that would feature soloists in the orchestra but to somewhat forge a new direction in this revered form. “My approach is a departure from the traditions of an orchestra concerto. For me it was more about having an arc that tells a particular story but also incorporates rhythmic and melodic aspects of African American music and improvisation.” explains Mendoza. 

“Coinciding with the composition of the concerto was the 2016 [American] saga of the election of ‘45’ and the resulting tremendous discord in the U.S. during that time. While writing this piece, the events happening in our country invaded my artistic space. For the first time I felt I couldn’t really write music and be removed from what was going on in our environment. I started seriously considering the importance of an artist to reflect the times and how I could make my music a reflection not only of what I was witnessing but what I hoped would occur. So that’s when the arc of this concerto started to take shape.” 

Mendoza, as a skilled practitioner of the classical-jazz fusion that Gunther Schuller once called third stream, was and is ideally suited to meet this challenge. “I sought to design the structure of the concerto to be inspired by M.L. King’s remarks on the moral universe, that the arc is long, but it bends toward justice. The beginning of the concerto (the first movement is called ‘American Noise’) reflects the discord that began leading up to the 2016 election. Of course, it pales in comparison to what we dealt with in 2020 and now 2021,” says Mendoza, “but the arc of the composition goes through that process of pure noise, much needed consolation and the need for ‘hitting the streets’. The end of the concerto seeks to reflect justice and the hope for a peaceful resolution to what we were only entering in 2016. Arguably in 2021 we still haven’t quite gotten there.” 

Throughout the “Concerto for Orchestra,” drummer Antonio Sanchez provides rhythmic  textures using color, placement and variation accenting the various motifs and ideas expressed in Mendoza’s score. “Antonio thinks and plays like a composer,” says Mendoza. “He was the perfect person to step into this music. He was very sympathetic to what I wanted to achieve, while never losing his voice in the process.” Joshua Redman’s saxophone performance in “Meditation” provides an important improvisational voice to the movement. Mendoza points out that the piece was not originally conceived to have improvised commentary in it. “Once we recorded it, I thought that the music asked for Joshua’s dialog with the orchestra. Joshua understood the purpose and the mood that was needed in that moment, and he played so beautifully.” 

The fifth movement of the concerto, “Justice and the Blues,” is a sly reference to two famous quotations from philosopher and public intellectual Dr. Cornel West: “Justice is what Love looks like in public,” and "The Blues responds to the catastrophic with compassion, without drinking from the cup of bitterness." “When we recorded this piece last year in July (of 2019) in particular that last movement – the middle section of that piece that has the groove and the vamp, was originally going to be an instrumental solo,” Mendoza recalls, “I thought we should really have a message there through rap instead. Listening to the recordings of Black Thought, his work seemed to reflect a certain awareness of message I wanted to bring out in this piece. When he agreed to record, Covid hit the U.S. and we were delayed. And then (the death of) George Floyd happened – and then the reaction to George Floyd happened. And so, the shift of consciousness of what we thought was going to be in Black Thought’s performance was entirely different. Then he came up with this amazing heartfelt text,” Hodge provides a foundation of groove for the music and Black Thought’s text of Freedom Over Everything.

“In a way, my plan for a long, constructed arc was interrupted by reality. That’s sort of Jazz sensibility. You can plan your structure but then somebody comes in with their voice and completely changes your point of view. And I love that part of it – things are going to change when the human spirit gets put into it. Improvisation gives us that,” says Mendoza. He is uniquely suited to address these challenges with the ability to speak in the language of the composer and the language of the improviser. It is this denouement which allows for the transition from the end of the “Concerto for Orchestra” to “The Edge of Longing.”

When Mendoza finished writing the concerto the years of turbulence portrayed in the narrative arc of the music seemed to cry out for a piece that might serve as consolation communicating that ‘it’s going to be okay.’ “I wanted it also to be somewhat of an encouraging text that was going to bring people together and bring light into our situation,” Mendoza explains. “To The Edge Of Longing” is an extraordinary art song setting composed by Mendoza for Julia Bullock with orchestral accompaniment, based on verses from the “Book of Hours” by the late 19th, early 20th century poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke. 

Ms. Bullock described her approach to the material this way: “Vince wrote a poignant setting of an English translation of the German text by Rilke, which is what first got me excited about the project. There’s an intimacy in what is said, but the intensity of the words makes the scope far reaching, and Vince’s music follows that framework. The singers and interpreters I most respect and admire have clear intentions in the delivery of whatever music they share, and I aim for that same kind of immediacy—whether it was music written centuries ago or with my voice in mind. As long as there’s a message to be communicated and a genuine connection to that message, I find no reason to limit how to use my voice, or in which context. So, in that respect, it’s wonderful to participate in a project that is also uninhibited.”

There’s a through line music lovers can identify from Mendoza’s body of work as an arranger and from his previous long form orchestra works as a composer; especially Epiphany (1999) and Constant Renaissance (2019.) “New York Stories,” a Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra, was commissioned by the Czech National Symphony featuring trumpeter and orchestra founder Jan Hasenöhrl.

As with the artists and the orchestra, Mendoza selected a co-producer and engineer with the capability and experience to be able to work in both the jazz and classical idioms equal to his own whom he knew from his work with the Metropole Orchestra. Jonathan Allen — formerly the chief engineer at the most famous recording studio in the world, Abbey Road — was responsible for the recording, mixing and mastering of this album. If it is true, as Aristotle once said, that “Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul,” then Vince Mendoza’s Freedom Over Everything is sure to be received as a welcome addition to the times in which we live.

Vince Mendoza | Freedom Over Everything

Modern Recordings | Release Date: July 2, 2021

For more information on Vince Mendoza, please visit:

vincemendoza.net | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

For more information on Modern Recordings, please visit...

Joshua Redman Pre-Order | David Byrne, Brad Mehldau, Laurie Anderson, Kronos Quartet News

Joshua Redman, Ron Miles, Scott Colley, Brian Blade

Still Dreaming

Release date: May 25

Joshua Redman is joined by drummer Brian Blade, bassist Scott Colley, and trumpeter Ron Miles for Still Dreaming, an album inspired by his father Dewey Redman's band Old and New Dreams. That band had an all-star lineup of Ornette Coleman collaborators: Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell. Still Dreaming features six new compositions by the new band plus one tune by Haden, one by Coleman. "Consistently riveting," says the Washington Post.

Pre-order to download the track "Unanimity" now.

Watch: David Byrne Performs on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

David Byrne was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss his new album, American Utopia, and give an immersive performance of "Everybody's Coming To My House," with a special assist from Colbert.

Watch the performance plus web exclusive ...

David Byrne Releases "Everybody's Coming To My House" Video Performed by Detroit Students

David Byrne has shared a video for "Everybody's Coming To My House" featuring a performance by Detroit School of Arts Vocal Jazz Ensemble students.

Watch the video ...

Brad Mehldau's After Bach on BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum

Brad Mehldau's new album, After Bach, was featured on BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum show. "Absolutely beautiful," says Cullum. "It's one of those records you listen to from beginning to end and it leaves something behind in your heart afterwards." 

Listen to the episode ...

Listen: Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet's Landfall on NPR's Fresh Air

Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet's first album together, Landfall, results "from years of practicing, performing, refining and tweaking the collaborations," says NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. "You can hear how the time and care have paid off."

Hear the review ...

Joshua Redman

Still Dreaming

John Adams

Violin Concerto

Lake Street Dive

Free Yourself Up

David Byrne

American Utopia

Brad Mehldau

After Bach

Laurie Anderson &

Kronos Quartet

Landfall

Joey Alexander - Eclipse (MOTEMA MUSIC May 4, 2018)

This sophisticated yet explorational recording features bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland with guest appearances on three tracks by saxophonist Joshua Redman. Recorded in Woodstock on August 21, 2017, the day of the solar eclipse, the track “Eclipse” became the centerpiece of the album. The musicians’ spontaneous expression of their experience viewing this rare astronomical event signifies Alexander’s movement into a freer expression.

1. Bali

2. Faithful

3. Draw Me Nearer

4. Moment's Notice

5. Blackbird

6. Eclipse

7. Fourteen

8. The Very Thought of You

9. Space

10. Time Remembered

11. Peace

Buy

Walter Smith III - Twio (WHIRLWIND RECORDINGS February 16, 2018)

The joyful freedom of Ferde Grofé’s ‘On the Trail’ captures precisely the intended spirit of Walter Smith III’s new album Twio. Collaborating closely with established colleagues in double bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland, the ​Texas-native, California-based tenor saxophonist & composer presents his own illuminating vision of the saxophone trio while also inviting, along the way, guest appearances by Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone) and Christian McBride (double bass). 

Working and touring for the last fifteen years, playing multi-layered compositions in different configurations with artists such as Terence Blanchard,​ Roy Haynes,​ Sean Jones, Ambrose Akinmusire and with his own bands, Smith also began to revisit classic jazz songs. He elaborates: “I would try and alter tunes quite radically by rearranging, reharmonizing and altering meters to a point where I was barely playing the original song; but realized that I was confusing the point of playing the songs, so I began to interpret them more directly, as they were first meant to be played. For this album, out of around twenty recorded songs, I chose nine pieces that I have a particular relationship with and have always loved playing, including some which are maybe less frequently heard”. 

While that concept appears straightforward, this recording (the saxophonist’s fifth as leader) reveals much about the ultra-confidence and musicality which these established players bring to the table, entering the studio to intuitively share ideas and discover uncharted paths. Taking sparkling dual-tenor feature ‘Contr​a​fact’ as an illustration (crafted around ‘Like Someone in Love’, but in a five meter), Smith explains: “I simply sent Josh the melody and we showed up and played... With no rehearsal, it was just ‘OK, here we go’; and that’s what I wanted for this project – just fun and live; an open sound without a chordal instrument defining the harmony, rhythm or direction. I had ideas for endings, for example, but on once instance after I had said to Christian, “We’ll close it like this”, when we got to that point he did something different which was perfect because it helped the music feel loose. We were all receptive to that organic process”. 

Here, Thelonious Monk’s ‘Ask Me Now’ waltzes and trips through “a million chord changes”, Smith ever the ebullient, characterful melodicist; then Harish Raghavan’s pacey, bass propulsion of the popular Jerome Kern ‘Showboat’ tune, ‘Nobody Else But Me’, is embellished by Harland’s coruscating percussion. Sammy Fein’s amiable ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ becomes buoyed by McBride’s clear, strutting bass; and the evergreen groove of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Adam’s Apple’ is fascinating in fizzing drum-featured trio guise. Two duo spots offer Carl Fischer’s ‘We’ll Be Together Again’ for sax and drums (“one of the best A-sections of a song ever written”) and a blithe sax-and-bass promenade on Gigi Gryce’s ‘Social Call’. Jimmy Rowles’ ‘The Peacocks’ is bathed in luscious tenor sonorities, and that Dayna Stephens arrangement of ‘On the Trail’ is a six-minute wonder as Smith and Redman josh genially across the rhythm section. 

“I was pleased that Twio ended up being so close to what I wanted it be”, enthuses Smith. “It was unlike any other recording I've done, because there was nothing for me to actually prepare other than go along to the studio, play and hang out. The point of the album is ‘community’ – normally when we tour with original music, it's hard to invite people up on the stage to join the band because they are simply unfamiliar with that particular repertoire that I or someone else in the group has written. This project represents something that everyone of all levels can relate to because it presents familiar and accessible songs that we've all grown up playing. The plan is that when we tour, I’ll use that opportunity to invite the community to come sit in, have fun, and share ideas, which I imagined this music was all about in the first place.”

1 Ask Me Now (feat. Eric Harland & Harish Raghavan)

2 Nobody Else but Me (feat. Eric Harland & Harish Raghavan)

3 On the Trail (feat. Joshua Redman, Christian McBride & Eric Harland)

4 We'll Be Together Again (feat. Eric Harland)

5 I'll Be Seeing You (feat. Christian McBride & Eric Harland)

6 Adam's Apple (feat. Eric Harland & Harish Ragavan)

7 The Peacocks (feat. Eric Harland & Harish Raghavan)

8 Social Call (feat. Christian McBride)

9 Contrafact (feat. Joshua Redman, Christian McBride & Eric Harland)

Walter Smith III - tenor saxophone 

Harish Raghaven - bass (1, 2, 6 & 7) 

Eric Harland - drums 

Special guests 

Christian McBride - bass (3, 5, 8 & 9) 

Joshua Redman - tenor saxophone (3 & 9) 

Recorded at Sear Sound and GSI Studios by Chris Allen 

Mixed by Chris Allen 

Mastered by Paul Blakemore 

Produced by Chris Dunn 

Executive Producer for Whirlwind Recordings - Michael Janisch 

Original design by Julian Montague 

Photography by Jati Lindsay

FEB 2018 Walter Smith ‘Twio’ Launch Dates

12 – 606 Club, London, England

13 – Porgy n Bess – Vienna, Austria

14 – Jazzclub Unterfahrt – Munich, Germany

15 – Birmingham Conservatoire + East Side Jazz Club – Birmingham, England

16 – Sunset Jazz Club – Paris, France

17 – Sunset Jazz Club – Paris, France

18 – Unity Jazz Club – Göteborg, Sweden

Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau - Nearness (September 9, 2016) NONESUCH RECORDS

Nonesuch Records releases saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau's Nearness, the longtime friends' and collaborators' first duo album, on September 9, 2016. Nearness, a selection of duets recorded live during their recent European tour, is available for pre-order now at iTunes and in the Nonesuch Store, where an instant download of the album track “Ornithology” is included with purchase. You can hear the track and find out where the duo will be performing together this fall below; for all the latest tour details, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Brad Mehldau first came to prominence as a member Joshua Redman's quartet in the 1990s before becoming a bandleader himself. The pair first reunited in 2010 when Redman was featured on Mehldau's album Highway Rider. In 2013, Mehldau was featured as a performer and producer on Redman's Walking Shadows.

"It's like one of those friendships where you don't see someone for a long stretch and then you fall right back where you left off," Mehldau told the Ottawa Citizen when he and Redman performed at the city's jazz festival in 2011. According to the Citizen's Peter Hum, these two friends are "among the most potent and influential jazz instrumentalists of their generation, and what Mehldau calls 'picking up' is in fact world-class improvising before rapt audiences."

Each artist has recorded extensively for Nonesuch, with a wide variety of collaborators. Brad Mehldau's label debut was the 2004 solo disc Live in Tokyo and includes six records with his trio: House on Hill, Day Is Done, Brad Mehldau Trio Live, Ode, Where Do You Start, and Blues and Ballads. His collaborative records on the label include Love Sublime, Highway Rider, Metheny Mehldau, Metheny Mehldau Quartet, Modern Music, and Mehliana: Taming the Dragon. Mehldau's additional solo albums on Nonesuch include Live in Marciac and last year's 8-LP/4-CD 10 Years Solo Live, which the New York Times says "contains some of the most impressive pianism he has captured on record."

Joshua Redman's first album on Nonesuch was the Grammy-nominated Momentum, released in 2005. His other releases on the label include Back East, Compass, and Trios Live, all of which explore the trio format; MoodSwing, originally released in 1994 with Redman's own band, including Mehldau, and re-released by Nonesuch in 2009; Walking Shadows, his first recording to include an orchestral ensemble, from 2013; and The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, his 2015 collaboration with the acclaimed trio, which the New York Times called "a knockout" and NPR called "a roaring and beautiful summit meeting." In 2004, he was a founder of the SFJAZZ Collective, an eight-piece, multi-generational ensemble of accomplished musicians. Since 2009, Redman has been performing with a new collaborative group called James Farm, whose members also include pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland. The group has two releases on Nonesuch; their self-titled album from 2011, and City Folk, released in 2014.

JOSHUA REDMAN & BRAD MEHLDAU ON TOUR

Sep 23 / Krannert Center /  Urbana, IL

Sep 24 / Dalton Center Recital Hall / Kalamazoo, MI

Sep 30 / Rose Theater, Lincoln Center / New York, NY

   

Oct 6–9 / Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center* / San Francisco, CA

   

Oct 31 / Victoria Hall / Geneva, SWITZERLAND

Nov 2 / Jazznojazz Festival / Zurich, SWITZERLAND

Nov 3 / Teatro Regio / Parma, ITALY

Nov 4 / Jazzfest Berlin / Berlin, GERMANY

Nov 9 / Philharmonie Essen / Essen, GERMANY

Nov 11 / Muziekgebouw  / Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS

Nov 12 / London Jazz Festival / London, UK

Nov 13 / Auditorium de Lyon  / Lyon, FRANCE

Nov 14 / Philharmonie Paris / Paris, FRANCE