Saturday, September 22, 2018
Friday, September 21, 2018
Keith Oxman with Dave Liebman in Glimpses, Sept. 21 on CAPRI RECORDS
Tenor saxophonist Keith Oxman partners with legendary sax man David Liebman for new Capri Records release Glimpses
Oxman's working trio with pianist Jeff Jenkins, bassist Ken Walker, and drummer Todd Reid backs the Coltrane-inspired saxophonists in standards and originals
"Keith Oxman is a young man of great consequence. He has learned to function with one foot in the present and the other in the future, while leaning quite heavily in the direction of the future."
- Benny Golson
"Keith Oxman's abilities as a writer make him a force to be reckoned with."
- Ken Dryden, AllMusic
"OxmanŠleans towards bop, but he also throws in a bit of funk and knows how to swing." His tone on the tenor breathes a warm, coaxing fire that he molds into each composition with flair and imagination."
- Jerry D'Souza, All About Jazz
For more than four decades Oxman listened to and transcribed solos from many jazz greats like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Among his first transcriptions was one of Liebman's recordings. Through a former student he was able to connect with Liebman's daughter, then the man himself. The two developed a mutual respect, rapport, and friendship that shines brightly on Glimpses. With Oxman on tenor sax and Liebman on soprano and tenor, the artists approach the music with intelligence, sensitivity, and joy. They are ably backed throughout by Oxman's working band with pianist Jeff Jenkins, bassist Ken Walker, and drummer Todd Reid.
Both Oxman and Liebman are devotees of the late, great John Coltrane, a connection which cements their combined sound. "I really enjoyed Keith's compositions that have challenging and interesting harmonic twists and turns, always framed with lyrical, melodic content." says Liebman.
The conversational, musically sensitive relationship between Oxman and Liebman is established on the record's opening track, Oxman's "Shai," in which the horns interact with solo licks and unison statements before breaking off in hard swinging solos. The exquisite ballad "Lenny," another Oxman original, follows with Liebman's smoky soprano saxophone joined by Oxman's sweet tenor. Oxman's "Trane's Pal" pays homage to the inspirational John Coltrane with a punchy head followed by wailing, bop-inspired solos.
Glimpses is a remarkable achievement, bringing together one saxophonist and his trio with a horn legend who remains as receptive to and excited about the music as ever. "I love this process and the ensuing bond that develops so quickly when jazz musicians interact," says Liebman. That bond is evident all over Glimpses, which brims with lyrical melodies, surprising harmonics, fantastic solos, and masterful horn playing.
From the tender age of 12 when he first picked up a tenor sax given to him by a cousin, Denver native Keith Oxman spent his musical career studying jazz greats like Sonny Stitt, Mel Torme, Louis Bellson, Phil Woods, Buddy Rich, Tom Harrell, Jack McDuff, Joe Bonner, and many others. This is Keith's 10th album on the Capri over the last 24 years.
NEA Jazz Master David Liebman is considered a renaissance man in contemporary music with a career stretching nearly fifty years. He has played with masters including Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, McCoy Tyner, and others, authored books and instructional DVDs which are acknowledged as classics in the jazz field, and recorded as a leader in styles ranging from classical to rock and free jazz. He has performed on over 500 recordings with over 200 as a leader/co-leader featuring several hundred original compositions.
Mark Masters with Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Mark Turner and more - Sept. 21 on CAPRI RECORDS
Composer and arranger Mark Masters paints compelling jazz landscapes for eight original works on new Capri Records release Our Métíer
With Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Mark Turner, Tim Hagans, Gary Foster,
Dave Woodley, Putter Smith, Anna Mjoll and more
"Masters' arrangements allow the freedom for solos that are creative in the extreme."
- Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
"Masters' arrangements are, no pun intended, masterful."
- Scott Albin, JazzTimes
The ensemble that supports these improvisers includes Scott Englebright and Les Lovitt (trumpet), Stephanie O'Keefe (French horn), Les Benedict and Ryan Dragon (trombone), Jerry Pinter, Kirsten Edkins and Bob Carr (woodwinds), Ed Czach (piano), and Craig Fundyga (vibes). The group's big band sound is augmented by bass clarinet and vibes giving the project, at times, an ethereal personality.
In his ten previous projects for Capri Records, Masters has reimagined the music of Lee Konitz, Gary McFarland, Dewey Redman, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Grachan Moncur III and Clifford Brown.
With Our Métíer, Masters has produced a classic "free-bop" large ensemble statement. One key to the success of the recording is the combination of improvisers completely simpatico with the compositions. In fact, the music was conceived and written specifically for these soloists. The music itself is an artist's canvas filled with all the hues and textures that flow from Masters' creative core.
The opening track "Borne Towards the Stars," inspired by the conclusion of Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano," shimmers with atmospheric gravity and features explosive solos by Lake and Hagans. In "51 West 51st Street," drummer Cyrille establishes the groove after an opening steeped in funk featuring Mjoll and Carr's bass clarinet. When Hagans and Foster boogaloo into the musical space you can close your eyes and imagine being in Toots Shor's legendary New York City bar. "Lift" is an understated blues featuring Mjoll's exquisite voice and solid solo work from Mjoll, Lake, Smith and Fundyga. The harmonically engaging "Ingvild's Dance" with Foster and Turner brings to mind the classic pairing of Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. "A Précis of Dialogue" is the first of two collective improvisations demonstrating clear textures and sparkling musical interplay with Turner, Foster, Cyrille and Smith. Foster, Smith, Woodley, and Turner deliver emotionally charged solo statements on the heartbreakingly gorgeous ballad "Dispositions of the Heart." "Obituary" is Masters' tribute to friends and teachers no longer living. Far from a dirge, the composition is an up- tempo, celebratory romp that shows off the ensemble in top form. From the haunting opening and trombone clusters aided by Mjoll to the sophisticated tenor sax and trumpet solos that follow, "Luminescence" brings you the blues in an entirely different way. "In Our Time," the second of two collective improvisations is wildly exploratory, conversational and always compelling. The title track closes the recording with a powerful, quintessential "free-bop" statement.
Mark Masters (b. 1957) has earned wide acclaim as an inventive and prolific composer and arranger. All About Jazz calls him "one of the great jazz arrangers of the late 20th and 21st centuries." Born in 1957 in Gary, Indiana, Masters studied jazz at California State in LA. He organized his first ensemble in 1982 and has never looked back.
"A strikingly creative spirit," (Jim Santella, All About Jazz), Masters has led numerous recording sessions, almost all for Capri Records. Among them are Priestess (Capri, 1990) that Masters wrote to feature Billy Harper and Jimmy Knepper. A subsequent recording with Knepper, The Jimmy Knepper Songbook (Focus, 1993), featured arrangements by Masters of Knepper's compositions.
Masters' most recent recording Blue Skylight (Capri, 2017), features his innovative ensemble writing and unique approach to the music of Gerry Mulligan and Charles Mingus. Farewell Walter Dewey Redman (Capri, 2008) features Masters' "in and out" approach and re-casts Dewey Redman's music while retaining its substance. The project features Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Dave Carpenter, and Peter Erskine. Other recordings include Wish Me Well (Capri, 2005) with Steve Kuhn, Gary Smulyan, Gary Foster, and Tim Hagans, Exploration (Capri, 2004) with Grachan Moncur III's octet arranged by Masters, One Day With Lee (Capri, 2004) featuring alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, and The Clifford Brown Project (Capri, 2003) featuring Jack Montrose, Gary Smulyan, Tim Hagans, Cecilia Coleman, and Joe La Barbera. In addition, in 2013 Capri released two recordings, Ellington Saxophone Encounters and Everything You Did: The Music of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen.
Masters' 2005 recording Porgy and BessŠRedefined! (Capri) is a more harmonically adventurous approach to Gershwin's classic folk opera than what has come before. John Kelman, writing for All About Jazz said "ŠMasters' score is the real star here. From the opening fanfare he introduces two contrasting elements that, to a large part, define the approach to the whole suite-vibrant swing and some surprisingly free passages. He clearly proves that it's possible to take a piece that has been approached from a variety of angles and still find a new way in."
Since 1998, Masters has been president of The American Jazz Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment and enhancement of the appreciation of jazz. Under Masters' direction, the AJI supports activities that educate and expose the public to jazz through live performance and an oral history project, as well as by supporting charitable endeavors that advance jazz music. One such endeavor is the AJI's Find Your Own Voice mentoring program that takes professional musicians to middle and upper school campuses to present clinics and master classes to student musicians.
Masters served as a guest lecturer at Claremont McKenna College (1999 - 2006) where he was involved with the History of Jazz class, overseeing an oral history project, and writing for and producing a series of concerts that brought such notable artists to the college as Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Bennie Maupin, Rufus Reid, Sam Rivers, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Turner, Gary Foster, Lee Konitz, Jack Montrose, John La Porta, Tim Hagans, Gary Smulyan, Ray Drummond, Steve Kuhn, Peter Erskine, Joe La Barbera, Ted Brown, Grachan Moncur III, Henry Grimes, and Dewey Redman.
Masters has been named a Rising Star Arranger in DownBeat Magazine's Annual Critics Poll multiple times.
Danny Bacher - Still Happy (WHALING CITY SOUND RECORDS September 28, 2018) + Album Release Event
Danny Bacher and his All-Star Band: Album Release Event Still Happy
44 E. 32nd St. New York, NY
Sun, September 30, 2018
Doors: 6:00 pm / Show: 7:00 pm
$25.00 - $35.00
A new voice in jazz-steps out-and man, does he swing!
(Get ready to shake your tuchas!)
Still Happy
“The secret of serious fun is not to take it too seriously, especially if it involves playing jazz.
That attitude is something that the easygoing singer and saxophonist Danny Bacher, knows in his bones.”
– The New York Times
This swinging album features a compelling marriage of uplifting tunes and performances, delivered with the style and polish of a seasoned pro. “The way I like to connect to my audience is through humor, lightness and a positive message” says Danny. “I like to convey a positive message.” Offered without irony, these sentiments serve as the baseline philosophy behind Still Happy.
The album features arrangements by Danny and Allen Farnham, crafted to energize Danny’s indefatigable spirit; a rhythm section plus horns plus percussion galvanized tight by purpose and desire; Danny’s own “In Spite of All This, I’m Still Happy,” and “Joie de Vivre,” each complementing perfectly the project’s theme and variations; and signature moments of musicality and wit.
Danny looks to the heart (and feet) by endowing these tracks – and all others – with sophisticated subtlety. One hears traces of calypso (“Get Happy”), and doo-wop (“Shaking The Blues Away”), and pure Billie Holiday (“Getting Some Fun Out of Life”).
With both words and deeds, Still Happy reflects Danny’s North Star mandate: he aims to please. He is a pure soul, a humanist at heart, whose creativity aligns perfectly with a desire to spread joy. This album is the latest installment in his vision of a sing-along, bouncing-ball world. It is a simple reminder: in the hands of a master storyteller, music is magic.
Danny Bacher Vocals, Soprano Saxophone
Allen Farnham Piano
Dean Johnson Bass
Alvester Garnett Drums
Harry Allen Tenor Saxophone
Charles Caranicas Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Rolando Morales-Matos Percussion
Co-arrangements by Danny Bacher and Allen Farnham
Produced by: Jeff Levenson
Ishmael Ensemble - Severn Songs 2 (October 26, 2018)
“Hints of the late '90s 'Bristol sound', a hypnotic rhythm section and an almost pastoral feel” Complex
“Absolutely gorgeous” Tom Ravenscroft, BBC6 Music
“Beautiful music” Dan Snaith, Caribou
“Unfolds like a shimmering stone skipping across a lake. Gorgeous” XLR8R
“These guys just get better with every release” Gilles Peterson, BBC6 Music
“Fantastic stuff from Bristol” Thristian, WorldWide FM
“An incredibly exciting project” BBC Introducing
“Super tunes!” Antal, Rush Hour Records
“Celestial” The Vinyl Factory
“Approaches jazz in a forward-thinking manner, seamlessly incorporating electronics and resamples” Music Is My Sanctuary
Pete Cunningham
‘Severn Songs 2’ follows media praise, radio airplay and DJ support for ‘Severn Songs 1’ from the likes of Dan Snaith (Caribou), Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, The Vinyl Factory and XLR8R. Prior to that, 2017 saw Ishmael Ensemble’s first EP ‘Songs for Knotty’ released on Banoffee Pies, followed by a remix of Carl Craig’s ‘The Melody’.
The ‘Severn Songs’ series marks the most full-bodied and ambitious project yet from Pete Cunningham, who prior to evolving into this varying collective of musicians recorded and released solo, as simply Ishmael. Promising beginnings under that initial guise saw releases on Wolf Music, West Friends and Church, alongside contemporaries Seb Wildblood, Medlar and Frits Wentink.
‘Severn Songs 2’ sees Cunningham slip into a nostalgic haze, throwing back to his formative years in Bristol’s late noughties scene, but cast through a prism of jazzwise electronica; surely the furthest apple of influence to fall from the Hessle-Hotflush tree.
‘Tunnels’ begins with a flurry of drums before being enveloped by sub-bass pressure, like stepping directly into a basement club in full flow. As the track climaxes, saxophones sweep the air like green-spoked lasers overhead, creating a contrast of pinpoint clarity against the background atmosphere. Though sonically well outside Bristol’s dubstep legacy, it accurately portrays the smudged perception of a peak time rave.
On the flip, we find the more introverted 'First Light', wherein the group downshift from the buzz of a bustling room to the hum of one’s head as dawn breaks. It’s a moment of spacious solitude shared only, as Cunningham pictures it, with “swans fighting over polystyrene chip boxes” in the canal below.
Never one to miss a beat in either sense of the phrase, Cunningham has once again littered canny references to compliment the reverential music. The sleeve art captures birds through an obscured lens, nodding to the river Avon and overall milieu that inspired ‘First Light’; and for native Bristolians especially, the A-side will evoke a fertile period, full of vital music, communal escapism, and the maze of basements and tunnels where it blossomed.
Overall, Pete’s ability to thread this thematic needle gives a descriptive tenor to the group’s wordless sound, elevating the music at once to something more personal and more resonant – and leaving soon-to-be-answered questions about where ‘Severn Songs’ will flow to next.
Ishmael Ensemble - Severn Songs 1 (2018)
Following last year’s evolution from solo Ishmael to the expanded Ensemble, the Severn Songs series marks the most full-bodied and ambitious project yet from Pete Cunningham. The collection of 7”s will branch out like tributaries from the main concept across the year, as Cunningham pays loving tribute to his hometown of Bristol and the surrounding region. “Severn Songs 01” kicks off the run with two rich cuts that sound quintessentially Ishmaelian, but simultaneously an expansion of his palette.
“The Chapel” starts as a glimmer on the horizon, yet develops to a war cry, a clarion call of grace and impact. Cosmic synth gurgles fill the initially sparse atmosphere, before being subsumed by overlapping sax lines; by the end, only a ghostly imprint of squall lingers in the air. On the flip, “Full Circle” brings us down from the sky to the earth. Busy, clipped drums are encircled by synthetic flurries, culminating in a climatic release. As a whole, the release keeps these two divergent approaches to jazzwise electronica rotating in tandem. It’s an approach that is due to be explored with more collaborators on later instalments.
“The Chapel” comes with a video by Amie Nowlan - who also took the aesthetic lead for Ishmael’s live Boiler Room performance in 2016 - which matches the colour and fluidity of the Ensemble’s playing. With Nowlan’s involvement, the assembling of a crack team of talented friends to flesh out the vision on record, a nostalgic name, and even sleeve art provided by his father, Severn Songs is a new path for Cunningham - but one that ultimately loops back home.
Gabriel Szatan
Pete Cunningham: Saxophone, Synthesizers, Keys
Chris Hillier: Keys
Holly Wellington: Piano
Stephen Mullins: Guitar
Jake Spurgeon: Bass
Rory O'Gorman: Drums
Jackson Lapes: Percussion
New album ''Ruby'' by Macy Gray! (CHALLENGE RECORDS 2018)
Rubies hold a special place amongst the world’s rarest natural treasures. The most sought-after of the corundum family, the gemstone’s crimson hue instantly catches attention—as if extracting passion from the earth itself and crystallizing it in mineral form. Similarly, Macy Gray occupies a rare space in the canon of modern music.
Most recently, 2016’s Stripped earmarked a creative high point, garnering unanimous acclaim from Vogue, Vice, and many more. At the same time, she remains a force of nature on tour, selling out venues in nearly every corner of the globe two decades into her storied career. Macy’s talents resound beyond music as well. She starred in Tyler Perry’s Black Reel Award-winning For Colored Girls and would grace the screen everywhere from Brotherly Love and Cardboard Boxer to NETFLIX’s hit Fuller House. Moreover, she made a now legendary appearance in Training Day alongside Academy® Award winner Denzel Washington—one of many on-screen hallmarks.
Now, her tenth full-length album, RUBY [Artistry Music/Mack Avenue], reaffirms and reasserts that signature rarity millions continue to treasure.
“I love the gem ruby,” she explains. “It’s so regal. I really wanted a title that would stick. The stone is also red of course, which is my favorite color. It’s rich and has history. It’s classic—and so is this album.”
Channeling the spirit of the “grimy” R&B and smoky jazz closest to her heart, Macy made a leap forward by looking back to formative inspirations. However, she updated those elements with enriched, entrancing, and enigmatic soundscapes brought to life by producers Johan Carlsson [Michael Bublé, Maroon 5], Tommy Brown [Jennifer Lopez, Fifth Harmony, Travis Scott], and Tommy Parker Lumpkins [Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber].
© 2018 - NewArts International / Challenge Records Int.
Macy Gray tourdates Europe:
30 OCT – Astra - Berlin, Germany
01 NOV – Mojo Club - Hamburg, Germany
02 NOVEMBER – La Madeleine - Brussels, Belguim
03 NOVEMBER – Theater der Künste - @JAZZ NO JAZZ - Zurich, Switzerland
05 NOVEMBER – PAARD - Den Haag, Netherlands
06 NOVEMBER – TivoliVredenburg - Utrecht, Holland
07 NOVEMBER – Salle Pleyel - Paris, France
09 NOVEMBER – Ronnie Scott’s - London, UK
10 NOVEMBER – Ronnie Scott’s - London, UK
Benoît Delbecq / Jorrit Dijkstra / John Hollenbeck - Linger (DRIFF RECORDS October 1, 2018)
Dijkstra and Hollenbeck have been collaborating as a duo since the mid-nineties. Recorded as a follow-up on their well-received album Sequence (Trytone Records, 2005), Linger adds French prepared piano master Benoît Delbecq to the mix. Dijkstra and Delbecq met at the Banff Jazz Workshop in 1990 and have collaborated occasionally over the years. As on Sequence, the same process of instant composition was used in the studio: to establish some textures and atmospheres first, then record a few takes per texture, and choose the best takes afterwards without further editing. The titles of the ten tracks all reflect movement of some sort, represented by the multi-layered rhythms, the dense microtonal textures, and the lyrical, lingering melodic interactions of Dijkstra and Delbecq.
Delbecq’s mumbling bass synth lines, Dijkstra’s analog synth and processed saxophone sounds, and Hollenbeck’s hard-hitting grooves and almost electronic-sounding percussions give the album a unique sound that defies categories.
Benoît Delbecq - prepared piano, bass synth
Jorrit Dijkstra - alto saxophone, lyricon, analog electronics
John Hollenbeck – drums, percussion
1. Place 05:23
2. Relay 06:21
3. Linger 04:08
4. Stir 03:46
5. Hold 08:54
6. Stalk 05:37
7. Push 04:19
8. Poke 03:50
9. Dwell 04:58
10. Edge 04:57
All improvisations by Benoît Delbecq (SACEM), Jorrit Dijkstra (Buma/Stemra) and John Hollenbeck (ASCAP/GEMA).
Recorded by Eric Kilburn at Wellspring Studio, Acton MA on January 24, 2016. Mixed by Benoît Delbecq and Steve Argüelles at PlushSpace, Paris. Mastered by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, Oakland CA. Cover art by Raoul van der Weide. Design by Hidde Dijkstra.
Photography by Valérie Archeno.
Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (Nate McBride / Luther Gray) - Pools (DRIFF RECORDS October 1, 2018)
Pools brings together three long-time musical collaborators into a new trio. Karayorgis has worked in other piano trios with McBride (with Randy Peterson and Curt Newton) and Gray (with Jef Charland) before, but here they play off of an expanded conception of restrained intensity and three-way dialogue that adds a new chapter to this thread. The three have forged a strong musical bond over the years by playing together in many different formations and are currently playing frequently as the rhythm section of the quintet Cutout (along with trombonist Jeb Bishop and saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra).
For this set, made in July 2018 during an informal house recording session, they get a chance to stretch out as a trio, playing mostly original pieces by Karayorgis along with a free improvisation and a blues.
Pandelis Karayorgis, piano
Nate McBride, bass
Luther Gray, drums
1. Roil 07:54
2. Last One 07:47
3. How Daisies Jiggle 06:45
4. Entanglement 06:59
5. allbyitself 07:32
6. Blues 06:43
7. Neumes 05:31
8. Slack Tide 06:43
All compositions (except tracks 2 & 6) by Pandelis Karayorgis: © Stray Line Publishing, ASCAP. Recorded in Cambridge, Mass., July 18, 2018. Recording, mixing, and cover art by Pandelis Karayorgis. Graphic layout by Hidde Dijkstra.
Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (Damon Smith / Eric Rosenthal) - Cliff (DRIFF RECORDS October 1, 2018)
Cliff explores density, pulse and texture in four extended trio improvisations. Karayorgis and Rosenthal share a long musical relationship dating back to the early nineties. For this session they are joined by bassist Damon Smith who has recently relocated to the Boston area and has played with both several times over the past couple of years.
This CD captures their first encounter as a trio in June 2018 during an informal house recording session.
Pandelis Karayorgis, piano
Damon Smith, bass
Eric Rosenthal, drums
1. Trio 1 11:21
2. Trio 2 12:17
3. Trio 3 18:56
4. Trio 4 09:05
Recorded in Cambridge, Mass., July 18, 2018. Recording, mixing and cover art by Pandelis Karayorgis. Graphic layout by Hidde Dijkstra.
Dan Karlsberg / JD Allen / Tom Buckley - Tales from the Winter Solstice (2018)
"Tales from the Winter Solstice" is Dan Karlsberg's 4th release as a leader. It is his first album featuring the instrumentation of piano/saxophone/drums. All music on the album is written by Karlsberg, and is a delicate mix of fully written out music and improvisation coexisting together in an unorthodox way. "Tales" features beautiful melodies juxtaposed with powerful, sometimes dissonant improvisations. It is also an opportunity to hear the great saxophonist JD Allen perform in a context you wont hear elsewhere.
JD Allen - tenor sax
Dan Karlsberg - piano
Tom Buckley - drums
1. Movement II for Two Violins 07:40
2. Death of a Balloon 03:15
3. Conflict 05:05
4. The First Snowfall 05:44
5. Epic of Arushi, and Her Younger Brother Ansh 07:59
6. Chorale for Bud Powell 07:55
7. How the West was Lost 03:51
Dan Karlsberg
Cincinnati, Ohio
From Cincinnati, Dan Karlsberg is an active performer, composer, and teacher. He currently has 4 albums under his own name, and has worked with such artists as Donald Harrison, Tim Warfield, JD Allen, Ignacio Berroa, Carl Allen, among many others. Karlsberg is currently an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.
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