John Patitucci and Andy James | An Evening With John Patitucci & Andy James (November 5, 2021 Le Coq Records)

AVAILABLE NOW via LE COQ RECORDS



VOCALIST ANDY JAMES AND

BASS MASTER JOHN PATITUCCI TEAM UP TO CRAFT

AN INTIMATE EVENING OF JAZZ STANDARDS AND

POP CLASSICS BACKED BY AN ALL-STAR ENSEMBLE

AN EVENING WITH JOHN PATITUCCI & ANDY JAMES,

DUE OUT NOVEMBER 5 ON LE COQ RECORDS,

FEATURES ARRANGEMENTS BY

BILL CUNLIFFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS BY

CHRIS POTTER, RICK MARGITZA, TERELL STAFFORD,

JOHN BEASLEY, VINNIE COLAIUTA AND MORE

On An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James, two gifted performers join forces to conjure an intimate evening of captivating music. At a time when jazz aficionados around the world have been starved for musical experiences, the album recreates the sultry atmosphere of a candlelight nightclub as some of the most revered musicians in modern jazz perform classic standards.

Due out November 5 via Le Coq Records, An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James features nearly 90 minutes of scintillating music featuring an incomparable ensemble. In addition to James’ mesmerizing vocals and Patitucci’s bass mastery, the album boasts arrangements by piano great Bill Cunliffe for an ensemble that includes saxophonists Chris Potter and Rick Margitza, trumpeter Terell Stafford, guitarists Chico Pinheiro and Jake Langley, keyboardists John Beasley and Jon Cowherd, percussionist Alex Acuña, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta, Marcus Gilmore and Marvin “Smitty” Smith, along with powerful horn and string sections.

“I wanted people to just sit back and enjoy a listening experience of serene pleasure,” declares James. “John and I tried to create something easy to listen to that would leave people feeling good afterwards. I recorded the album in anticipation that people wouldn’t something too complicated at this time we all find ourselves in.”

Jazz singing and Flamenco dance have been parallel passions throughout Andy James’ life. Flamenco took prominence during what she now refers to as “act one” of her artistic life. She became renowned as a world-class Flamenco dancer, enjoying a successful career dancing with husband and partner Piero Pata in Madrid.

For “act two,” James relocated to the U.S. and focused on her singing career, renewing collaborations with the great jazz musicians who had crossed her path while they traveled through Europe. She and Pata launched Le Coq Records, releasing a series of albums ranging in style from the elegance of the female jazz swing tradition to vintage R&B to the post-bop urgency of the classic Blue Note era. 

An estimable professional family has quickly found a home at the label, with Patitucci, Acuña and Cunliffe playing key roles on a number of releases and several musicians making recurring appearances from one recording to the next. On An Evening With…, Patitucci proves an ideal partner for James, bringing his revered tone and musical vision to the project and convening the ideal musicians for each piece.

“When choosing personnel for any project,” Patitucci explains, “I try to find the greatest musicians that I have longstanding relationships with, in order to have the opportunity to get more deeply into the music at hand.”

Over the course of a career lasting four decades, Patitucci has forged essential collaborations with some of the most acclaimed artists in jazz and beyond, most notably long-lasting partnerships with iconic saxophonist Wayne Shorter and the late Chick Corea. 

Speaking of James, Patitucci says, “Andy is a very generous and flexible collaborator. She has a great love for the Great American Songbook. When she sings, her phrasing is reminiscent of so many of the great singers that I grew up listening to. The style that she sings in provides the opportunity to write arrangements for larger orchestrations.”

James returns the compliment. “John is very important to my whole performance. Without John’s playing I would have been restricted in the way I could sing and approach every song in the album. John Patitucci brings a deep sound that allows me the freedom to sing with a lot of mood or feeling in my voice. He gives me a lot of space to create a meaningful performance.”

From the intoxicatingly lush opener “Autumn in New York,” with Patitucci’s robust bass matched by a fervent tenor solo by Potter, to the last-call balladry of “Angel Eyes” that closes the set, An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James features countless classic songs along with a few surprises, including the smoldering James and Pata-penned love song “Burn for Love.”

As she did on her previous release, Tu Amor, James reaches into her Latin influences on “Besame Mucho.” In addition to a number of well-known jazz standards James stretches the American Songbook to encompass great pop and rock classics like The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.”

The choices certainly inspire passionate playing from James and Patitucci’s guests, with standouts including Rick Margitza’s soaring solo on “Fire and Rain,” Terell Stafford’s heart-wrenching take on “Moonlight in Vermont,” and the soulful playing of Potter and John Beasley on the Gerry Goffin/Carole King favorite “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

“The songs came naturally,” James explains. “I just wanted to sing some beautiful songs. The mood I had in mind when choosing these songs was one of love – I just wanted people to find love with each other again after the era of Covid!”

1. John Patitucci, Chris Potter, Vinnie Colaiuta - “Autumn In New York” feat. John Patitucci & Chris Potter 04:23

2. Marvin “Smitty” Smith, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, John Beasley, Chris Potter - “Besame Mucho” feat. Chris Potter 07:07

3. Chris Potter, Vinnie Colaiuta, John Patitucci, Dan Higgins, Michael Dease, Alex Acuña - “I Love You And Don't You Forget It” feat. Chris Potter 03:08

4. Jon Cowherd, Chris Potter, Marcus Gilmore, Alex Acuña, John Patitucci, Chicho Pinero, Jon Cowherd, - “To Dream As One” - feat. Jon Cowherd & Chris Potter 05:07

5. Terell Stafford, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe - “Moonlight In Vermont” feat. Terell Stafford 04:40

6. Vinnie Colaiuta, John Patitucci, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe - “Day Dream” feat John Patitucci 05:09

7. John Patitucci, Marvin Smitty Smith, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe, John Beasley, Charlie Bisharat - “Blackbird“ feat John Patitucci 05:46

8. Vinnie Coliauta,Terell Stafford, John Patitucci, John Beasley, Alex Acuña, Terell Stafford, - “When I'm With You” feat. Terell Stafford 03:19

9. Chris Potter, John Beasley, John Patitucci, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Alex Acuña, - “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” feat. Chris Potter & John Beasley 06:05

10. Terell Stafford, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, John Patitucci, Terell Stafford, Alex Acuña, Bill Cunliffe - “Unchain My Heart” feat. Terell Stafford 04:12

11. Rick Margitza, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci, John Beasley, Alex Acuña, Jon Cowherd - “Fire & Rain” feat. Rick Margitza 06:22

12. Chris Porter, Vinnie Coliauta, John Patitucci - "Burn For Love” feat. Chris Porter 04:19

13. John Patitucci, John Beasley, Rick Margitza, Charles McNeal, Alex Acuña, Vinnie Colaiuta - “Some Other Time” feat. Rick Margitza & Charles McNeal 05:30

14. Vinnie Colaiuta, Bill Cunliffe, John Patitucci, - “Laura” feat. John Patitucci 04:26

15. “More Than You Know” feat. Chris Potter 04:00

16. John Beasley, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, Jake Langley - “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” feat. John Patitucci & John Beasley 05:02

17. Vinnie Colaiuta, Alex Acuña, John Patitucci, Bill Cunliffe, Charlie Bisharat - “Angel Eyes” 04:03

PREORDER

The Bill Sears Quintet - Chasin' The Goal (2016) ART OF LIFE RECORDS

present

The Bill Sears Quintet - Chasin' The Goal (2016

Saxophonist Bill Sears is the coordinator of Jazz Studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy, a position he has held since 1987. A native of Racine, WI, Bill attended Indiana University earning both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, studying jazz with David Baker, George Ross and Dominic Spera, and the saxophone with Dr. Eugene Rousseau. Upon graduation in 1980, Bill embarked on a successful career in Chicago performing regularly with the Chicago Jazz Quintet, the Jazz Members Big Band and Marshall Vente’s Project 9. Bill can be heard on recordings with each of these groups as well as with Frank Mantooth, Dominic Spera and Ashley Alexander. Bill’s playing encompasses the entire spectrum of the history of the tenor saxophone- from rich, warm ballads to the searing intensity of today’s music. His versatility and fresh voice have allowed him to share the stage with jazz luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Bellson, Billy Hart, Bill Evans (saxophonist) and Geoff Keezer. In 1986 Bill toured the U.S. and Europe as the lead alto saxophonist in the Ray Charles Band. 

Bill’s recording debut as a leader, “Chasin’s the Goal” on Manitou Records, finds him in the company of former Miles Davis saxophonist Rick Margitza, drummer Bob Meyer- a current member of Joe Lovano’s Symbiosis group, and two of Bill’s close musical associates from his days in Chicago- bassist Kelly Sill and pianist Mike Kocour.

1. Chasin' the Goal

2. The Touch of Your Lips

3. Free Smells

4. This One's for You, P.D.

5. Origin

6. With Malice Toward None

7. Due North

Bill Sears: tenor saxophone

Rick Margitza: tenor & soprano saxophones

Mike Kocour: piano

Kelly Sill: bass

Bob Meyer: drums

Recorded on March 22nd, 1996 by John Stites at Audio Sound Productions in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Mixed by John Stites & Bill Sears.

All songs by Bill Sears except "The Touch of Your Lips" by Ray Noble, 

"Origin" by Rick Margitza and "With Malice Toward None" by Tom McIntosh.

Album cover graphic design by Paul G. Kohler.

Album cover photo courtesy of Carl Abernathy.

BUY THIS ALBUM

Peter Protschka Quintet (feat. Rick Margitza) - Twilight Jamboree (Live at Bird's Eye Basel) 2015

Ability to suffer, they say, is part of the basic equipment of every "genuine" jazz musician. For example, enduring the strenuous, grueling circumstances of a tour every day, something that the superstars of pop would not even discuss To be patient, and then to feel this inimitable sense of deep faith in a band at the end of the day, to be able to enjoy the collective willingness to take risks with the resulting limitless musical freedom and the reactions of an enthusiastic audience in the best case.
Peter Protschka can tell you a thing and play a song about it.

The musician from Cologne is one of the most versatile and interesting German jazz trumpet players of the younger generation. His greatest passion is hard-bop and post-bop, that classic American way of playing jazz that has been cultivated since the early 1960s, exudes sheer energy and passion that can almost exclusively be produced live on stage and hardly ever in a sterile studio with its wild beauty. To this end goes, Protschka regularly goes on tours, including with his current quintet, to which the superb US tenor singer Rick Margitza belongs along with Martin Sasse (piano), Martin Gjakonovski (Bass) and Tobias Backhaus (Drums).

"To go on tour with a jazz band is just as exhausting today as it was 30 or 40 years ago; you should not delude yourself about that," the trumpeter writes in the liner notes of his new CD "Twilight Jamboree". "You can sit all day in the car, and the bandleader often drives himself, as is in our case. On the interstate highway all day, traffic jams, then arrive, sound check, check-in at the hotel, the first hot meal of the day, and the long-awaited shower is often only after the concert, then a few drinks at the bar, a few hours of sleep. And the same routine the next day, usually a week or more at a time."

challengerecords

Why does a jazz musician put himself through all of this? It's really only about the thing in itself. The gods have always demanded sweat before success. And this success—see above—Protschka and Co. want to have this success over and over again. It simply pays for everything, inspires, lets you forget all the troubles you experienced. The evening of October 24, 2014 at the Basel jazz club "Birdʼs Eye" must have been such a moment. Five musicians who delve into their own sound world oblivious to the world, blend into an organic unit after just a few bars, in which there are no egos anymore, but only deep inner acceptance, crispy grooves, beautiful melodies and brilliant runs. In an accelerated swing pulse, bass and drums drive the harmonious action and create the basis for consistent and often perfect modal chord progressions, on the basis of which catchy themes and virtuoso solos are discharged.

Peter Protschka, born in 1977, is considered one of the most sought after accompanists precisely because of his special sounds on the trumpet and the flugelhorn. He has played alongside of Ronnie Burrage, Maria Schneider, Ingrid Jensen, Bobby Shew, Don Menza, Alex Sipiagin, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Tom van der Geld, Jürgen Seefelder, Thomas Stabenow, Martin Sasse, Paul Heller and Dejan Terzic. He was awarded the Jazz Prize of the Baden-Wurttemberg Art Foundation in 2004. Protschka has taught trumpet, theory and ensemble at the Rhineland Music School in Cologne since 2007. In addition, he has worked in the field of tension between jazz and classical music on period instruments since 2010. His debut CD "Kindred Spirit" (2011) received rave reviews.

"After we had survived our eighth (!) traffic jam on our way from Berlin to Düren near Cologne," Peter Protschka remembers, "then Rick said in his inimitably dry way: 'No more traffic jam guys? What a drag. Well anyway, weʼre living the dream!’ We made it in time for the concert: No shower, no food – just music." Just another one of these indescribable festive evenings at dusk, which makes living worthwhile.

1 Witches (Live)

2 Dear Conrad (Live)

3 Song For My Parents (Live)

4 Cry Me A River (Live)

5 Hands Of Time (Live)

6 Mulder´s Mood (Live)

7 Blues For My New Shoes (Live)

"Peter Protschka Quintet feat. Rick Margitza"

Peter Protschka, trumpet/ flugelhorn/ compositions

Rick Margitza, tenor saxophone/ compositions

Martin Sasse, piano

Martin Gjakonovski, bass

Tobias Backhaus, drums

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi