Pasquale Grasso | "Pasquale Plays Duke" | Available via Sony Music Masterworks

Guitar Virtuoso

PASQUALE GRASSO

Celebrates the Legacy of Duke Ellington

on Pasquale Plays Duke

Available on September – Pre-Order Now

Special Guests Sheila Jordan and Samara Joy 

Join Bassist Ari Roland and Drummer Keith Balla

Pasquale Plays Duke, PASQUALE GRASSO’s September 17 release, is the second of a three-part trilogy which follows the early 2021 digital release of Solo Ballads. For this particular album he introduces his working trio of bassist Ari Roland and drummer Keith Balla, and is joined by special guest vocalists Samara Joy and Sheila Jordan. Available for preorder now, Grasso reimagines five Duke Ellington classics on solo guitar, alongside several collaborative tracks, performing some of Ellington’s most-cherished masterpieces including today’s release “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “In a Sentimental Mood” and “Cotton Tail,” with Joy and Jordan making appearances on “Solitude” and “Mood Indigo,” respectively.

Long before earning the endorsement of everyone from New Yorker magazine to living luminary guitarist Pat Metheny and recording a series of solo EPs and albums for Sony Music Masterworks, Grasso grew up in the quaint and quiet Italian town of Ariano Irpino. At six-years-old, Pasquale developed a bond with his guitar that ignited an unbelievable journey from the Italian countryside to international renown. 

After attending the Conservatory of Bologna, the U.S. Embassy enlisted Grasso as its Jazz Ambassador. He embedded himself in New York City’s jazz community through a standing gig with late saxophonist Charles Davis. Among many standout performances, he won the 2015 Wes Montgomery International Jazz Guitar Competition and shared the stage with Pat Martino’s organ trio. In 2018, he appeared at the NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., delivering a show-stopping homage to honor Pat Metheny who christened him “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life.” 

Signing to Sony Music Masterworks, Grasso kicked off his solo EP/album series in 2019 with Solo Standards, Vol. 1, Solo Ballads, Vol. 1, Solo Monk, and Solo Holiday. His momentum continued in 2020 with yet another string of solo releases Solo Bird, Solo Masterpieces, Solo Standards, and Solo Bud Powell, earning the praise of New Yorker magazine, “Pasquale Grasso can play guitar like ringing a bell.”

Pasquale Grasso - Photo Credit Stefania Curto

Grasso shows off his technique early on in the album, with the introduction of “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” which was released today – watch here. The silky, vintage guitar tone makes it sound like a Johnny Smith or Tal Farlow LP from the 1950s. “I've always loved the guitar sound from the '40s and '50s and I love the sound of classical guitar,” says Grasso.

The classic jazz sound of Art Tatum, an inspiration of Grasso’s, stays present throughout the album. His influence is apparent in the transitional runs that play a major part in much of Grasso’s compositions, and whole-tone scales are able to take us from one chord to the next throughout the album. Tracks such as “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Cotton Tail,” “In a Sentimental Mood” (which released last month) and “Day Dream,” carry the listener up and down a flurry of intense and elegant scales.

The featured vocals of Samara Joy and Sheila Jordan add even more texture to the already vintage sound. Joy is only 21 and graduated this May from SUNY Purchase, thirty five miles north of her native Bronx, NY. Immediately, the natural strength and richness of her voice grabs the listeners’ attention. Her feature on the track “Solitude” is another reassurance to these claims. A powerful yet soft sound blends with Grasso's beautiful scales, producing a sound reminiscent of a live performance from the great Ella Fitzgerald.

Sheila Jordan is featured on “Mood Indigo.” Her decades-long experience in the jazz scene shines in her vocals throughout the track. Since her first release in the 1960s, Jordan is known as one of the most creative living jazz singers. She is one of the few vocalists who can improvise lyrics, which often rhyme, is a superb scat singer, and is also an emotional interpreter of ballads. During the track, the runs of Grasso’s guitar are matched by the impressive scatting of Jordan throughout the feature. It creates a back and forth battle before falling back into a final verse of soft vocals about feeling blue, hence the title “Mood Indigo.”

“Reflections in D”, the final track, slows the tempo so as to relax and wind down the album. The silky sound is still present, the tone being presented much to the name of the track, a reflection on everything heard in the prior twelve songs of Pasquale Plays Duke. All the same aspects are maintained, yet, this particular piece allows more space and time to experience Pasquale Grasso’s artistry.

For more information on Pasquale Grasso please visit:

pasqualegrasso.com | Facebook | Instagram

Sony Music Masterworks Website

PREORDER

Sheila Jordan - Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 (September 17, 2021 Capri Records)

Capri Records releases a never-before-heard 1960 recording by legendary vocalist and NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan

Comes Love: Lost Session 1960, due out September 17, 2021, captures the singular vocalist on her earliest known session, two years prior to her Blue Note debut

 

"Cheeky, importunate and canny, [Sheila] Jordan’s voice is one of the great standard-bearing instruments of midcentury jazz… she still has that mix of sagacity and ingenuous charm that endeared her to discerning

listeners in the 1960s."

– Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

 

“Sheila Jordan is a one-of-a-kind artist who possesses the power to captivate audiences, inviting all to join her on a magical mystery tour of jazz history.” 

– Roseanna Vitro, JazzTimes

At the age of 92 and still going strong, singer-songwriter Sheila Jordan has been one of the most revered and utterly unique voices in jazz for decades. Beginning with her debut album, 1963’s Portrait of Sheila on Blue Note Records, she pioneered a bebop-inflected approach to singing accompanied only by solo bass (in that case, a duet with Steve Swallow on one of her signature tunes, Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere”). Following the release of that album, however, Jordan retreated from the scene to concentrate on raising her daughter, working as a typist for the next two decades and not recording as a leader again for more than a dozen years.

 

The never-before-released Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 thus adds a crucial new chapter to Jordan’s remarkable story. Recorded on June 10, 1960 at New York’s Olmsted Sound Studios for the little-known Chatam Records, the recently discovered studio date presents the singer in nascent but instantly recognizable form on a set of standards. Due for release by Colorado-based Capri Records on September 17, 2021, the album is otherwise shrouded in mystery: Jordan has no recollection of the date or the names of her accompanists, a nonetheless deftly attuned trio.

 

The music that comprises Comes Love was unearthed by record dealers Jeremy Sloan and Hadley Kenslow of Albuquerque’s SloLow Records, who purchased it among a large collection of acetates several years ago. Knowing of Capri Records owner Tom Burns’ acquaintance with Jordan, they forwarded the surprise discovery to the Capri founder. 

 

The 1960 recording predates Portrait of Sheila by more than two years, making it the earliest representation we have of the singer at the dawn of her storied career. At the time Jordan was working regularly at the Page Three Club in Greenwich Village, often with pianists John Knapp or Herbie Nichols, bassists Steve Swallow or Gene Perlman, and drummer Ziggy Willman. It’s possible that some of these musicians can be heard on Comes Love, though there’s no way of knowing for certain at this point.

 

“Whoever is playing on it is really good,” attests Burns. “The group seems to have an empathic relationship with her; I don't think it was just some pick-up band. But while it’s troublesome that I can't distinguish the musicians, I really thought this was a recording that should be out there because there's so much good music on it.”

 

Even without the identifying label on the acetate (and the haunting headshot of the singer that accompanied it, also included in the album packaging), the voice inside is unmistakably that of Sheila Jordan. Her mature style is not yet fully formed, but the jaunty scat that opens Duke Ellington’s classic “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” the playful, sassy flexibility of her time feel on the Gershwins’ “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” or the wry world-weariness that imbues Rodgers and Hart’s “Glad To Be Unhappy” reflect qualities that would remain and deepen over the next sixty years.

 

“My first reaction was, ‘Wow, does she sound young!’” recalls Burns of his initial impression of the music – a reaction that he reports was shared by Jordan upon hearing the session. “Even though it's only a couple of years before Portrait of Sheila, she’d obviously developed more as a singer by then. But the way she dealt with a session of standards [at that stage in her career] impressed me. Most of the tunes aren’t your typical songs – there are a couple of well-known tunes, but most of them are kind of obscure even for that time.”

 

The album opens with James Shelton’s wistful “I’m the Girl,” which Sarah Vaughan had recorded four years earlier on Sassy, though Jordan’s rendition emphasizes a naïve melodrama shared by “When the World Was Young,” perhaps the clearest indication that this is such an early effort. The winsome opening verse of “Sleeping Bee” takes on a sprightly tone also present on a brisk “I’ll Take Romance.” A stark “Ballad of the Sad Young Men” is followed by a brassy take on the title tune and a sultry version of Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain” that reflects the iconic singer’s influence. 

 

“She’s bending notes and singing the way a horn would play,” Burns points out. “[Jordan is] really trying different things out on this session. It’s an interesting look into her evolution as a performer.”

I’m The Girl 4:05

It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) 1:38

Ballad of the Sad Young Men 4:46

Comes Love 2:12

Don’t Explain 3:00

Sleeping Bee 2:37

When the World Was Young 4:28

I’ll Take Romance 1:41

These Foolish Things 3:59

Glad To Be Unhappy 3:21

They Can’t Take That Away From Me 2:25

PREORDER

Pianist Alberto Pibiri New CD and Upcoming Live Appearances

A superb young jazz pianist, Alberto Pibiri builds upon

the inspiration of Oscar Peterson on his new Jazz Legacy release.

Pibiri also emerges as an important new songwriter, debuting ten originals with his trio, Adrian Cunningham on reeds, and several guests including veteran singers Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton.

Alberto Pibiri is a very impressive up-and-coming jazz pianist and songwriter. His playing is inspired by Oscar Peterson (whose virtuosic style he can duplicate) but he also displays his own musical personality throughout Jazz Legacy along with a real skill for creating fresh new melodies.

On Jazz Legacy, Pibiri is featured in a trio with bassist Paul Gill and drummer Paul Wells that is sometimes expanded by the inclusion of the skilled tenor-saxophonist and clarinetist Adrian Cunningham. The great singers Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton perform together on “For Sure,” Ms. Jordan is featured on “Be Free,” and the soulful “Oh Yeah” has fine vocalizing from Miriam Waks along with a guitar solo by guest Dave Stryker.


The memorable program begins with “For Oscar,” a tribute to Oscar Peterson that sounds like the type of joyful song that the immortal pianist could have written. Pibiri shows what he learned from studying Peterson’s many recordings. “Walkin’” (no relation to the jazz standard) has a laid back and playful melody that inspires a fine solo from Cunningham on clarinet. The beautiful ballad “My Sunshine,” the catchy and likable “New Bossa” (with Cunningham on tenor) and the relaxed “A Blues” could each become standards in the future due to their strong themes and the excellent playing by the musicians.

The blazing tempo of “Kiss Kiss” is easily essayed by the quartet with impressive improvisations by clarinetist Cunningham and Pibiri. Sheila Jordan gives the ballad “Be Free” a heartfelt treatment and interacts happily with Jay Clayton on the scat-filled “For Sure.” “Oh Yeah,” which has lyrics and singing by Miriam Waks in addition to a fine spot for Dave Stryker, has Cunningham recalling Stanley Turrentinewith his soulful tenor playing. The impressive program concludes with the pianist all alone on “It’s Me,” swinging his way through another classic theme.

Alberto Pibiri was born and raised in Italy where he studied classical music and jazz. He was so inspired by the recordings of Oscar Peterson that in his early years his trio often featured Peterson’s music at concerts and festivals in Italy and France. He met Sheila Jordan at one of her workshops in France and she was so impressed with Pibirí’s musical talents that she not only became his main mentor but sponsored his artist visa so he could move and perform in the United States. 

Based in New York ever since, Piberi has worked with a variety of top musicians including Ms. Jordan, Dave Stryker, Harry Allen, Essiet Essiet and Les DeMerle. He made his recording debut as a leader with 2011’s NYC (in a quartet with Stryker) and recently toured Australia with Adrian Cunningham, recording Swing It Out for the Arbors label with Professor Cunningham And His Old School. In 2017 Pibiri, who has played at many jazz venues including Smalls, Fat Cat. Blue Note, Trumpets and Shanghai Jazz as both a leader and a sideman, performed at Carnegie Hall.

Jazz Legacy, which is being released by SRI, a label directed by the legendary Shelley Leibowitz, gives listeners the opportunity to hear Alberto Pibiri, a rapidly developing talent, early in his career, performing his memorable songs with top-notch players.

Alberto Pibiri  Jazz Legacy

(APM 1001)

Street Date: September 7, 2018

ALBERTO PIBIRI: piano

PAUL GILL: bass

PAUL WELLS: drums

ADRIAN CUNNINGHAM: tenor saxophone & clarinet

DAVE STRYKER: guitar (track 9)

SHEILA JORDAN: vocal (tracks 7 & 8)

JAY CLAYTON: vocal (track 8)

MIRIAM WAKS: vocal (track 9)

Available From: •Amazon •iTunes

www.pibirialberto.com

Alberto Pibiri Upcoming Shows

Aug 22

Alberto Pibiri trio

Shanghai Jazz 7 -1030 pm  

1818 24 Main Street, Madison, NJ 07940 

www.shanghaijazz.com

Sep 16

Alberto Pibiri trio 

Long Beach Jazz Festival

longbeachjazzfestival.com

Media Contact

JIM EIGO

jim@jazzpromoservices.com • www.jazzpromoservices.com

“Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events"

François Moutin & Kavita Shah Duo with Special Guests Sheila Jordan and Martial Solal - Interplay (DOT TIME RECORDS February 16, 2018)

Dot Time Records is proud to announce that it will release INTERPLAY, the exciting new album  from the Kavita Shah/François Moutin Duo.

Interplay is a meeting of minds and spirits, one that embraces virtuosity, spontaneity, and lyricism through a repertoire of standards and original music adapted to the unique instrumentation of acoustic bass and voice. It features 11 tracks recorded at Sear Sound Studios in New York and Studio le Meudon in Paris, and is due for release in January 2018. Shah and Moutin are also joined by their octogenarian mentors–NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan on vocals, considered by many as the pioneer of bass-and-voice duets, and legendary pianist Marital Solal–on two tracks each. The result is an improvisational journey across lyric-driven and wordless pieces alike.

FRANÇOIS MOUTIN (www.moutin.com), a virtuosic bassist, was born in Paris, and received a doctorate in physics at the age of 24 before choosing to become a professional musician. He has been a member of the legendary Martial Solal Trio for three decades, and since age 29, he has co-led the Quintet Moutin with his twin brother Louis, a project which later evolved into the Moutin Reunion Quartet. He regularly composes and tours extensively with this group around the world. In addition, François has worked with such musicians as: Antoine Hervé, André Ceccarelli, Jean-Michel Pilc, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Toots Thielemans and  Michel Legrand just to name a few.

KAVITA SHAH (www.kavitashahmusic.com) is an award-winning vocalist, composer, and lifelong New Yorker who makes work in deep engagement with the jazz idiom while addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. Hailed by NPR for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages,” Kavita incorporates strands of Latin American, West African, and South Asian traditions into her original music. Not unlike François, Kavita studied Romance Languages & Literatures at Harvard before pursuing a Master’s in jazz voice at Manhattan School of Music. In 2012, she was named Downbeat’s Best Graduate Jazz Vocalist; in 2013, she won ASCAP’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award. Her debut album, VISIONS, co-produced by Lionel Loueke, was released in 2014 to great critical acclaim. Kavita regularly brings her music to world-class stages such as the Kennedy Center, Duc des Lombards, Blue Note and numerous jazz festivals across the Americas, Europe, and Australia.

“I started the concept of doing bass and voice in the early 1950’s, so to be a guest on a wonderful young singer and swinging bass player’s recording some 60 years later is a fantastic feeling.” – Sheila Jordan, NEA Jazz Master

1. You Go To My Head 4:28

2. La Vie En Rose 3:46

3. Coming Yesterday 6:48

4. Bliss 3:31

5. Falling In Love With Love 6:24

6. Aigue Marine 3:32

7. Blah Blah (4:49)

8. Utopian Vision 3:38

9. Interplay 6:05

10. The Provider’s Gone 3:06

11. Peace 6:00

Kavita Shah : voice, ukelele (track 10)

Francois Moutin : acoustic bass

Martial Solal : piano (tracks 3, 6) 

Sheila Jordan : voice (tracks 5, 11)

Now Available for Pre-order! Release Date February 16, 2018