Since Stephen Riley made his recording debut as a leader on SteepleChase with piano-less trio SCCD 31584 Inside Out (2005), this trimmed down format has stayed with Riley on many recordings including this latest album, which pays tribute to the great Sonny Rollins who first recorded this format in 1957.
STEPHEN RILEY tenor saxophone
JAY ANDERSON bass
ADAM NUSSBAUM drums
1 I Never Knew (Ted Fio Rito) 4:59
2 Where Or When (Richard Rodgers) 5:21
3 Hold ‘Em Joe (Harry Belafonte) 5:18
4 Darn That Dream (Jimmy Van Heusen) 7:37
5 Three Little Words (Harry Ruby / Burt Kalmar) 4:00
6 Woody ‘n’ You (Dizzy Gillespie) 7:18
7 Almost Like Being In Love (Frederick Loewe) 7:00
8 You’ve Changed (Carl Fischer) 7:32
9 I’m An Old Cowhand (Johnny Mercer) 3:59
10 I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance (Victor Young) 7:02
During the five decades of his career alto saxophonist Andy Fusco has been regarded a musicians’ musician and he has played with numerous artists and led various combination of instrumentation except an ensemble with guitarist. So here’s Andy Fusco’s first ever guitar (pianoless) quartet with venerable veteran John Hart who gives Andy and the group a new space to explore.
Guitarist/composer Gene Segal has released three albums on SteepleChase LookOut: Mental Images (SCCD 33114), Matter (SCCD 33121) and Spiral (SCCD 33132) during the period from 2014 to 2017, all of which received critical and public acclaims. Always being adventurous, unpredictable, inventive Segal showcases his new and in a way debut album here for the SteepleChase’s main label with a little bit more jazz-bound material.
“… rich and exciting chops from Segal’s axe make for a blues jamming delight.” (George W. Harris – The Jazz Weekly on Mental Images)
“… The band has a joyful swing…Music that grows and grows.” (The Jazz Weekly on Matter)
LAURA DICKINSON is a Grammy®-winning music producer, vocal contractor, studio singer and multi-instrumentalist whose voice is heard daily on television, in movies and commercials. Her newest album, AULD LANG SYNE, is a program of songs centered on the holiday season. The record features lush big band arrangements by some of the top names in the music firmament, along with her big band full of Los Angeles’ first-call studio instrumentalists. One of the busiest music professionals in Southern California, Dickinson’s stunning voice has been featured in Ralph Breaks The Internet, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4, American Horror Story, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, War for The Planet of The Apes, Sing, the Pitch Perfect franchise, A Christmas Story Live, Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton’s Say Something music video, and Paul McCartney’s 2018 release, Egypt Station. She’s sung on commercials for KFC, Maybelline, Target, and Priceline (“Priceline Negotiator!”) as well as hit shows Modern Family, Son of Zorn, and Supernatural. But she’s perhaps most well known for her work as vocal director and vocal contractor for Disney TV Animation, which has earned her an Emmy® award, millions of views on YouTube, and worldwide acclaim for Disney Channel's animated hits Phineas and Ferb, Jake and The Never Land Pirates, and Sofia The First. Dickinson is also the principal vocalist and vocal contractor for The Pageant of the Masters, the elaborate art and music festival held every year in Laguna Beach, California. Laura has been Michael Bublé's vocal contractor since 2015. She contracted and directed a gospel choir for his 2016 release Nobody But Me, which was nominated for a Grammy® in the Traditional Pop category. Laura’s voice is also featured on the first track, I Believe In You. Upcoming and current projects include contracting Mr. Bublé’s promotional tour for his November 2018 release entitled love, The Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russell, vocal contracting Englebert Humperdinck’s 2018 Christmas album, along with her recurring roles and vocal contracting responsibilities on Elena Of Avalor, Milo Murphy’s Law, and The Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening’s Disenchantment. In 2017, Laura won three Grammy® awards for her work as a music producer on the Ted Nash Big Band: Presidential Suite album and vocal contractor on Summertime: Willie Nelson sings Gershwin.
Dickinson grew up on the border of Los Angeles and Orange County, California in a household filled with music. Her father was a musician who founded revival group Buffalo Springfield Again with original members Dewey Martin and Bruce Palmer, while her mother was a classical pianist who also sang and played guitar. Dickinson studied classical piano from a very young age and credits her successful career and ability to move effortlessly between diverse musical styles today with the disparate musical influences of her youth. AULD LANG SYNE is Dickinson’s sophomore outing. Her first project, One For My Baby – To Frank Sinatra With Love, was released in 2014 to glowing reviews. All About Jazz said of the album, “Dickinson brings to the task a pitch-perfect voice, clear articulation, impeccable timing, a healthy respect for a lyric and a supporting cast comprised of many of the Los Angeles area's foremost jazz musicians, with arrangements by a Who's Who of dependable craftsmen.” JazzTimes said “One for My Baby is more than a mere tribute. It is both a musical biography and an autobiography... What we heard from Sinatra — the breathing, pacing, control — is heard on this album but they are not applied in the same way. She has taken Sinatra’s palette and his brushes but she paints a different picture. It is a self-portrait of someone extraordinary and lovely." Rather than just celebrating the Christmas holiday with AULD LANG SYNE, the album is a loving tribute to a time of year when people sincerely open their hearts to family and friends counting their blessings, while reflecting on the year gone by. The project features arrangements by JAMES A. MCMILLEN, JOHNNY MANDEL, BRENT FISCHER, LARRY BLANK, BILL LISTON, ALAN STEINBERGER, ANDREW SYNOWIEC, and Dickinson herself.
Besides being the producer, contractor, and leading her own 17-piece big band, Dickinson brought onboard a 24-voice SAG-AFTRA choir including her vocal contractor colleagues Jasper Randall, Bobbi Page, and Sally Stevens. She’s also featuring her instrumentalists, with solos by bass trombonist STEVE TRAPANI, a busy studio musician who also performs with several orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony; trumpet player KYE PALMER, a studio musician and a former member of The Tonight Show Band who has recorded on several Grammy®-winning projects; and Grammy®-winning guitarist ANDREW SYNOWIEC, a multi-faceted studio musician who has countless film and television credits in addition to recording for artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Rob Zombie. Dickinson culled songs for AULD LANG SYNE from holiday movie classics like “Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season” and “Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me,” to songs like “Christmas Is Starting Now” and “Peace and Joy” from Phineas and Ferb and Sofia The First, two of the Disney Channel shows she is best known for. Other perennial hits like “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” get a Baden Powell meets Earth, Wind and Fire treatment from Grammy®-winner Brent Fischer, and a New Orleans party in James A. McMillen's “Let it Snow!” Dickinson even covers the Mariah Carey tune “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)” with Bill Liston’s new arrangement concept featuring her lush string ensemble. Laura Dickinson is a dynamo of musical talent who is well known to music industry insiders. Now with the release of AULD LANG SYNE, her second self-produced album, she is well on the way to a stellar solo career.
AULD LANG SYNE is available on Amazon, iTunes and everywhere online.
Martedì 27 novembre, prodotto dall’etichetta Dodicilune e distribuito da Ird, esce “From The Alvin Curran Fakebook - The Out off session”. Si tratta del dvd contenente il video integrale del concerto di presentazione dell'omonimo disco del quartetto formato dal compositore Alvin Curran (piano, shofar, computer), dal trombonista Giancarlo Schiaffini, dal sassofonista Alipio Carvalho Neto e dal percussionista e vibrafonista Sergio Armaroli affiancati, in alcuni brani, dal contrabbassista Marcello Testa e dal batterista Nicola Stranieri. A un anno esatto di distanza dal concerto al Teatro Out Off di Milano, da quarant’anni al centro della scena sperimentale e di ricerca all’interno dell’innovazione dei linguaggi di espressione artistica, il quartetto propone questo video. Il Fakebook rappresenta Alvin Curran nel suo modo peculiare di approcciare la musica; quello che il compositore conosce e può prevedere è la forma, non il contenuto. Nella musica di Curran coesistono la scrittura convenzionale, l’improvvisazione, la creazione estemporanea, e la sua principale caratteristica non è armonica, melodica o ritmica, bensì timbrica; è un personalissimo paesaggio sonoro di suoni strumentali e ambientali catturati in quasi sessanta anni di caccia m usicale. Democratico, irriverente e tradizionalmente sperimentale, Alvin Curran compone musica per qualsiasi occasione, con qualsiasi fenomeno sonoro – un volatile mix di lirismo e caos, struttura e indeterminazione. Come autore, ha dedicato la sua attività alla valorizzazione e alla dignità professionale del comporre musica non-commerciale come parte di una personale ricerca di future forme sociali, politiche e spirituali. Il processo compositivo di Curran abbraccia tutte le contraddizioni musicali (composta/improvvisata, tonale/atonale, massimale/minimale…) in una serena dialettica tesa all’incontro. Nei suoi più di 200 lavori troviamo registrati e campionati suoni naturali, pianoforti, sintetizzatori, computers, violini, percussioni, shofar, navi musicali, fisarmoniche e cori. Nell’intima forma delle sue più conosciute solo performance, musica da camera, radio works sperimentali o lavori su larga scala site specific (fino alle installazioni sonore), tutto forgia un li nguaggio decisamente personale quale sintesi mediata dalla ricerca e dalla combinazione. L’esperienza musicale di Alvin Curran da un lato ha saputo integrare il mezzo elettroacustico (inteso sia come medium che come utensile) nella prassi compositiva, dall’altro ha elaborato un singolare rapporto con il suono esistente così di incorporarlo nel senso complessivo delle sue operazioni come costituente poetico irrinunciabile. Compositore, trombonista e tubista, Giancarlo Schiaffini è nato a Roma nel 1942. Laureato in fisica, studia musica da autodidatta e partecipa alle prime esperienze di free jazz in Italia negli anni ’60. In quel periodo comincia la sua attività di compositore ed esecutore nel campo della musica contemporanea e del jazz. Ha studiato a Darmstadt con Stockhausen, Ligeti e Globokar e ha fondato il gruppo strumentale da camera Nuove Forme Sonore. Fa parte della Italian Instabile Orchestra. Ha tenuto corsi e seminari in Italia e all’estero e insegnato presso i conservatori “G. Rossini” di Pesaro, “A. Casella” dell’Aquila e nei corsi estivi di Siena Jazz (strumento, improvvisazione, composizione). Ha collaborato con John Cage, Karole Armitage, Luigi Nono e Giacinto Scelsi. Ha partecipato, come compositore ed esecutore, a stagioni concertistiche e festival tra i più importanti del mondo. Sono state a lui dedicate composizioni da numerosi autori come Scelsi, Nono, Alandia, Amman, Castagnoli, Dashow, Guaccero, Laneri, Mencherini, Renosto, Ricci, Villa-Rojo. Ha inciso dischi per BMG, Curci, Cramps, Edipan, Horo, Hat Records, Pentaflowers, Pentaphon, Red Records, Ricordi, Vedette. Gli è stata dedicata una voce dalla Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford University Press) e dall’Enciclopedia della Musica (Utet/Garzanti). Alípio Carvalho Neto è un sassofonista b rasiliano, compositore, poeta, docente e ricercatore in studi musicali interdisciplinari. Residente Rapolano Terme (Siena), il suo lavoro copre un ampio spettro di idiomi musicali. Ha conseguito il dottorato di ricerca in “Storia, Scienze e Tecniche della Musica”con il massimo dei voti presso l’Università di Roma 2 “Tor Vergata”. Ha realizzato numerosi album, nel ruolo di leader di varie formazioni o come sideman, elogiati dalla critica e dal pubblico internazionale. Raccolte delle sue poesie sono pubblicate dalle edizioni Jean-Fabien G. Phinera (Parigi) e da riviste e giornali letterari. La poetica di Sergio Armaroli abbraccia molteplici ambiti espressivi alla costante ricerca di un’unità dell'esperienza. Si dichiara pittore, percussionista concreto, poeta frammentario e artista sonoro oltre a fondare il proprio operare all'interno del "linguaggio del jazz" e dell'improvvisazione come "estensione del concetto di arte". Concentrato su una scrittura diffusa, consapevole di essere produttore "di-segni", dove l'invenzione verbale è "gesto poetico", nella vita è costretto ad uno sforzo pedagogico costante (www.sergioarmaroli.com). Svolge un’intensa attività artistica caratterizzata da un eclettismo stilistico accentuato con una tendenza alla dispersione linguistica come alla rinuncia e ad una forte predilizione per il "silenzio". Si è esibito in qualità di "attore musicale" e percussionista concreto in prestigiosi teatri e sale da concerto internazionali esponendo come artista in ambito off e sperimentale. Ha al proprio attivo numerose pubblicazioni in campo teorico musicale e poetico. L’etichetta Dodicilune, fondata e guidata da Gabriele Rampino (direttore artistico) e Maurizio Bizzochetti (label manager) è attiva dal 1996 e dispone di un catalogo di oltre 250 produzioni d i artisti italiani e stranieri. Distribuiti in Italia e all'estero da IRD in circa 400 punti vendita, i dischi Dodicilune possono essere acquistati anche online, ascoltati e scaricati su una cinquantina tra le maggiori piattaforme del mondo grazie a Believe Digital.
Sergio Armaroli - vibraphone, tam tam, cup chimes, gong(s)
Marcello Testa - double bass
Nicola Stranieri - drums
1 - Under The Fig Tree
2 - The Answer is #1
3 - Sequence 1-5
4 - The Answer is #2 - Sequence 5
5 - The Answer is #3
6 - The Answer is #4
7 - Don't Throw That Book At Me
8 - Soft Shoes
9 - Field It
Compositions by Alvin Curran (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9),
Curran, Schiaffini, C. Neto, Armaroli (2, 4, 5, 6)
Produced by Sergio Armaroli and Gabriele Rampino per Dodicilune Label manager Maurizio Bizzochetti (www.dodicilune.it) Live Recorded on 27th November 2017 at Teatro Out Off, Milan, Italy Editing by Fabio Selvafiorita Paintings by Sergio Armaroli Photos by Antonella Trevisan, Archivio Garghetti (www.archiviogarghetti.com)
George is just back from his amazing Fall European Tour! BIG SUCCESS!
The George Burton Quintet was met with excited, welcoming crowds during its 2018 European Tour, leaving audience members eagerly awaiting the group’s next performances abroad.
Next item on the roster is George’s Christmas music project, the “Yule Log,” which features original arrangements of popular and lesser-known holiday songs written for piano trio + string trio and vocalist Nancy Harms. It’s a different type of holiday with George, and this project is just as exciting as his others!
This CD is a testimony of my sincere attachment to my homeland and its people. And even more than this, it is intended to reflect the spirit of the whole Baltic region...The music of Julius Juzeliūnas is steeped in Lithuanian folklore; that of Pēteris Vasks has a strong sense of nature translated into sound; and that of Anatolijus Šenderovas not only reflects dramatic experiences in the whirlwinds of Lithuania’s turbulent history, but also reveals the richly multicoloured and polyethnic soundscape of our country. Džeraldas Bidva
Starring exceptional violinist Džeraldas Bidva, three concerti by Vasks, Šenderovas and Juzeliūnas transport the listener to Lithuania in a release which coincides with the centenary of the country’s independence. Džeraldas Bidva interprets three Baltic concerti: two for violin and orchestra, including Pēteris Vasks’ Vox amoris, and one featuring organ and violin, for which Bidva is joined by the young and talented organist Karolina Juodelytė. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas and Adrija Čepaitė. The music of Julius Juzeliūnas is steeped in Lithuanian folklore; that of Pēteris Vasks has a strong sense of nature translated into sound; and that of Anatolijus Šenderovas not only reflects dramatic experiences in Lithuania’s turbulent history, but also reveals the richly multicoloured and polyethnic soundscape of the country.
This album appears in the year marking the centenary of Lithuania’s restored independence. It celebrates the continuing tradition of musical art in the Baltic countries within the broader context of centuries-old European traditions. Lior Shambadal, Chief Conductor of the Berliner Symphoniker, said of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra: “Top level chamber orchestras have become such a rarity in today’s world, whereas you have one and can raise its international profile even higher by presenting projects that no one else has ventured before. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra has a glorious past, dynamic present and, I believe, will have a brilliant future”.
01 – Peteris Vasks – Vox amoris
02 – Julius Juzeliunas – Concerto per Organo Violino Orchestra d aschi – I Allegro sostenuto
03 – Julius Juzeliunas – Concerto per Organo Violino Orchestra d aschi – II Passacaglia – Andantino quieto
04 – Julius Juzeliunas – Concerto per Organo Violino Orchestra d aschi – III Finale – Allegro con brio
05 – Anatolijus Senderovas – Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
