My debut album. Featuring: Chris Ziemba (piano, compositions/arrangements); Hans Glawischnig (bass); Jimmy Macbride (drums); Michael Thomas (alto saxophone, bass clarinet).
Manhattan Lullaby encompasses the duality of life in the big city. When people envision New York City, usually some combination of the following springs to mind: people, giant buildings, taxis, car horns, people, buses, shouting, pizza restaurants, people, Starbucks, subway platforms, standing in line everywhere, pigeons, people... What I've come to find is that all of this hustle and bustle brings into stark relief the seemingly random pockets of tranquility that can be found when you least expect it. When you find yourself deep in one of the parks and you can't really hear the traffic. When you're walking along a street on the Upper West Side at night and there's no one else around. On the roof of your apartment building. You know you're still in the City, so there's still an intangible energy, but it's a peaceful energy. That's what Manhattan Lullaby is about.
Guitarist Joe Baer Magnant's second release with his quartet doesn't aim to stake any claims in the world of jazz. Instead, Liminal Spaces reflects the ever-changing living venue that resides inside a working musician who has spent a majority of his life working through bar bands, jazz clubs, and folk coffee houses. But rather than challenging the rules of genre in protest, the Joe Baer Magnant Group happily uses it all, melting together influences; the jazz, folk, blues, rock, and even surrealism of Erik Satie in his swaggering arrangement of the first of Satie's "Trois Gnossiennes." "Coagulate," the opening track, glides softly through some odd time signatures and key changes without the need for fanfare: this is Magnant's intention when telling the story of packing up gear and heading to the next gig.
The quartet includes Chris Lujan on bass (leader of classic R&B/ Soul group, The M-Tet), Tony Capriccio on Fender Rhodes (leader of fusion group, The Hexaphonics), and Michael Reed (drummer for electronica/jazz groups Secret Sidewalk and The Edomites).
The Giving Trio is a Chicago-based jazz group with a style and sound reminiscent of late 50's and 60's cool-jazz and pop music. Think: Bill Evans, Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz. Spice all that up with hints of Motown, The Beach Boys and The Beatles and you'll have yourself a good taste of “Defuser,” The Giving Trio’s first full-length studio recording.
The trio is made up of John W. Lauler on upright bass, Justin Cash on guitar, and Alex Kerwin on alto saxophone. All three met while attending Columbia College Chicago, and after graduating they continued to work together on the Chicago music scene. They began to meet and play together regularly in 2014, building a repertoire of their favorite jazz standards and classic pop tunes. From these sessions they developed a group rapport and began playing out as The Giving Trio
“Defuser” showcases six all new original compositions written by both Lauler and Kerwin. While the compositions are firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, they also take many cues from pop and rock as well. Their first single, “Old Bull Lee,” is reminiscent of all things Lennon and McCartney. Their second single, “She’s Skeptic,” strikes a similar harmonic vibe to that of Stevie Wonder and is set beneath a very ghostly, supernatural sounding melody. With each new original composition the trio crafts wonderful, fun-loving sounds in this unique, drummer-less setting.
Justin Cash - Guitar | John W. Lauler - Upright & Electric Bass | Alex Kerwin - Alto Sax
Across a career spanning four decades, it would seem easiest to consider the musicians with whom Jeff Williams hasn’t worked. A respected stalwart of the international jazz circuit, the American drummer has notably rubbed shoulders with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano.
Williams has graced innumerable New York and London stages over the years, making frequent Atlantic crossings between the two cities. In his latest solo project, the accomplished band leader and composer collaborates with both seasoned and up-and-coming colleagues from the UK: Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (keys) and Sam Lasserson (basses). This engaging album of originals prompts a dynamic quintet response to a variety of energized compositions.
His third album for Whirlwind (following 2011’s Another Time and 2013’s The Listener), Williams’ Outlier combines previously unrecorded works from the ‘70s and ‘80s – such as the driving, fusion-laced ‘Dream Visitor’ and Brazilian-hued ‘Hermeto’ (after Hermeto Pascoal) – with more recent, equally assertive compositions. As an experienced leader at the kit with an instinctive, deeply-imbued jazz sensibility, Williams coaxes intelligent, colorful interplay from his colleagues. As Jeff confirms: “It always astonishes me what these guys – leaders in their own right – bring to the music that I write. They find things I didn’t even know existed.”
The scope of this imaginative working band ranges from the smouldering, Joe Henderson-influenced oscillations of the title track ‘Outlier’ to the relentless ‘Oddity,’ which swings with unbridled vitality. The straight forward beauty of ‘New and Old’ recalls poignant memories with tender detail. Also a pianist, adding Rhodes to this album, Williams describes ‘Meeting a Stranger’ as “one of those rare tunes that came out whole”. Possessing a wide brashness, ‘The Interloper’ exudes a joyful, Monkish abandon.
Like all masters of a genre, Jeff Williams has profoundly internalized the traditions of jazz without being tyrannized by its conventions. Combining his influences and broad experience to form his own unique voice, he refuses to constrain himself to a single stylistic approach. Most vitally, he wants his audience to respond to his music emotionally: “It’s my continued vision – my aim to offer something that’s universal but also personal, and which might transport the listener into a realm that’s pleasurable and thought-provoking. It’s important to me that, within the construction of the music, there’s a feeling and a warmth to be discovered.”
Jeff Williams - drums, percussion, Fender rhodes
Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone
Phil Robson - guitar
Kit Downes - piano and Fender rhodes
Sam Lasserson - double & electric basses
Recorded 13 & 14 April, 2015 at Fish Factory Studio, London
I used to hate video games and blamed the world’s evils on them. That’s
easy to do, blame something unrelated for something else. Then I had
offspring. One Christmas I relented and we got a game system. Christmas
Eve, I started to gift wrap the system and thought “why not?” Let’s
make sure this thing works and is age appropriate (I was 37 at the
time).
Three hours later, I feel exhilarated. I’ve been floating, running,
jumping, swimming, sliding, disappearing, materializing and having an
amazing time. All set to a cartoonlike music that is as wide
stylistically as the worlds are geographically. And what worlds: desert
worlds, underwater worlds, space worlds, haunted worlds, an endless
assortment of colors, sights, and sounds.
At every world, one gains mastery over skills that allow you to move to
the next, balancing, thinking, timing, and reflex skills. It’s either
learn them or game over. At the end of each world, you must fight the
boss. And, me oh my, what bosses! Big rainbow-colored bosses, slithery
serpent-like bosses, tiny bosses, bosses that breath fire, bosses that
stomp on you, in short, bosses with no charm whatsoever.
Believe it or not, life is somewhat like this, a place of magic and
adventure, a place of many worlds, many skills and, most certainly, evil
and un-charming battles. But herein lies the tale. As you rise to meet
the challenges the universe throws at you, as you slay the dragons and
bosses that would steal from you your joy and essence, you realize that,
like a video game, none of this really belongs to us, that joy comes
from within, from your determination, from your mastery, and that until
you get that final game over, this is a fine place to be after all. Read more...
01. Miss Stephanie 8:33
02. True That 7:18
03. The Moon Follows Us Wherever We Go 9:11
04. Circle Games 7:50
05. Maine Song 7:13
06. Compay Doug 8:47
07. Not Now, Right Now 5:06
08. In Whom I Am Well Pleased 9:29
09. V. F. S. 6:31
10. Peace 4:22
Livio Almeida tenor saxophone
Shawn Conley bass
Adam O’Farrill trumpet
Arturo O’Farrill piano
Zack O’Farrill drums
Travis Reuter guitar
While the tango is the heartbeat of Argentina’s bustling capital city,
Buenos Aires, 600 miles to the north in Santiago del Estero the
characteristic rhythm is chacarera, a 6/8 folkloric rural counterpoint
to the cosmopolitan tango. Between the two cultural centers lies
Cordoba, hometown of bassist-composer Fernando Huergo. A longtime
resident of Boston and currently a Professor at Berklee College of
Music, Huergo grew up listening to Argentine tango and folklore, along
with American jazz. He represents all of those seemingly disparate
elements from his own musical makeup on Hashtag.
“It’s kind of a combination of who I am,” he says of his seventh
recording as a leader and debut for ZOHO Music. “I’m from Argentina, I
love the music from there, is in my blood. I love Astor Piazzolla and I
love folklore music, but I also love Duke, Monk, Mingus and Benny Golson
and all the jazz greats. So I tried to combine those things and create
something hopefully interesting.”
What Huergo has created on Hashtag is a collection of powerfully
compelling tunes that incorporate folkloric traditions, courtesy of
Franco Pinna’s deep understanding of Argentinean musical styles and
Yulia Musayelyan’s stellar flute work, along with modernist flourishes
from Leo Genovese’s Fender Rhodes electric piano, Rick DiMuzio’s urgent
blowing on tenor sax and the leader’s impeccable electric bass lines.
“I’m very lucky to be playing with these guys for a while now,” says
Huergo of his bandmates. “They’re such heavy players. Yulia, who is from
Moscow, is amazing. I love her sound. It’s the color of the folkloric
music that was missing before when I just had a tenor in the band. Yulia
is very deep into Latin music and she has a great talent for
improvising melodies. Rick is just one of my favorite tenor players
anywhere, beautiful sound and lines, a true Boston legend. Leo’s
contribution is wonderful not only for his own harmonic world that he
brings to the music but for his knowledge of the traditions and his
fresh approach to them.”
Huergo prominently
features Musayelyan and DiMuzio on the intricate unison and harmony
lines that characterize his writing throughout Hashtag, like on the
surging title, which opens the collection with a bang.
“I love the sound of those two instruments together and those guys have
such a blend. I really enjoy the intonation and the warm sound that they
get.” Pinna’s crisp, rapid-fire, drum ‘n’ bass-inspired work on the kit
fuels this bristling opener while Genovese supplies a crackling Rhodes
solo. Huergo also exhibits tremendous facility, uncanny articulation and
remarkable lyricism in his solo on this energized number. He cites Jaco
Pastorius as a major influence on his approach to the electric bass
guitar. “He’s like Trane, Bird, or Herbie,” says Fernando. “If you’re a
modern player, you can’t avoid the guy. I think there are very few
musicians who had an impact like Jaco did on the bass. He changed the
whole spectrum.”
A folkloric aspect comes into play strongly on the driving Trunca which
is underscored by Pinna’s infectious chacarera groove. “Franco is from
Tucuman in the north of Argentina, an area very rich in folkloric
traditions,” explains Huergo. “He has mastered all those rhythms and
adapted them to the drum set in a very unique and personal way.” This
dynamic offering also showcases Musayelyan’s brilliant flute playing and
has DiMuzio stretching heroically on a robust tenor solo.
The beautiful ballad Cerca has Pinna switching to brushes and fellow
Argentine Genovese playing gentle piano. “Cerca means ‘close,’ and it’s
dedicated to my kids,” explains the composer. DiMuzio delivers a dusky
tenor solo and Musayelyan follows with a luminous flute solo. Genovese’s
delicate touch and sparse approach on his piano solo here is simply
sublime. Read more...
01. Hashtag 02. Trunca Beat 03. Cerca 04. Evidence 05. Troesma 06. Falling 07. Infant Eyes 08. Weather 09. Afternoon at the Gallery 10. Afro Blue 11. Astor 12. U.M.M.G.
YULIA MUSAYELYAN flute RICK DiMUZIO tenor sax FERNANDO HUERGO electric bass LEO GENOVESE piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano FRANCO PINNA drums
“Blake gets incredible range from his band here…beautiful
stuff for our ears…[not] any less great than Joshua Redman or Banford
Marsalis or even Sonny Rollins.”
– Will Layman, PopMatters, reviewing In the Grand Scheme of Things
Over the last 9 years, New York saxophonist Michael Blake has been
periodically returning to Vancouver, which he left in 1986, to create
and record new works with his pick of Vancouver improvisers. Amor de Cosmos (2007), a sextet somewhat inspired by his BC roots, featured Chris Gestrin, Dylan van der Schyff and André Lachance. In the Grand Scheme of Things
(2012) was by his Variety Hour quartet (Gestrin, van der Schyff and JP
Carter). This new release, his most ambitious in terms of writing and
arranging, adds cello and guitar plus guest instrumentalists and, on two
pieces, Michael’s own lyrics. It is also his most conceptual work since his debut as leader, Kingdom of Champa (1997), his jazz portrait of Vietnam. This time the connection is, more indirectly, with India. Originally titled The Komagata Maru Blues,
this suite of music was inspired by a tragic immigration incident in
Vancouver in 1914, when a Japanese freighter carrying several hundred
East Indian immigrants (almost all Sikh) was turned away using
exclusionist, racists laws. Michael has a family connection to this
history through his great grand uncle H.H. Stevens, a Conservative
Member of Parliament who declared at a public meeting, “I intend to
stand up absolutely on all occasions on this one great principle – of a
white country and a white British Columbia.”
Blake never knew Stevens, and grew up in a progressive environment.
But the connection catalyzed a creative process, one which was also
affected by the Syrian war: “I didn’t want the center of the work to be
about the failure of it all, rather I wanted to tell the story from
several different perspectives and show how far we’ve come. But then the
current refugee crisis came into play and that definitely sank into my
conscience while I was writing the music….The biggest departure for me
was writing lyrics. Most people have never heard of the KM and probably
never will. So I think the lyrics broaden the scope of the music into
what listeners can imagine for themselves. For me ‘The Ballad of Gurdit
Singh’ captures that moment in Vancouver harbor when the passengers are
not welcomed with open arms.” Read more...
1 Sea Shanty
2 Perimeters
3 The Ballad of Gurdit Singh
4 Arrivals
5 Departures
6 Battle at Baj Baj
7 Exaltation
8 The Soldier and the Saint
Michael Blake, tenor & soprano saxophone, compositions
J.P. Carter, trumpet, electronics
Peggy Lee, cello
Chris Gestrin, piano, MicroMoog
Ron Samworth, electric guitar, banjo
André Lachance, bass
Dylan van der Schyff, drums, percussion
Special guests:
Aram Bajakian, acoustic & electric guitar (1, 6, 7)
Emma Postl, voice (1, 3)
Neelamjit Dhillon, tabla (7)
The Michael Herring Quartet is a new project from accomplished Toronto bassist and composer Michael Herring that explores the influences and sounds of 1960’s jazz in a classic chord-less quartet format. The front-line is made up of saxophonists Chris Gale and David French, each taking turns playing tenor and baritone, and joining Herring in the rhythm section is his long-time collaborator, drummer Nick Fraser.
The band has a real rapport, and brings a hard-swinging 1960’s sound to its performances. This is a horn blowing party inspired by Mingus and Ellington, mixing classic jazz sounds with Herring’s more modern approach to composition.
They will be releasing their debut album, A Very Large Gap, in 2016, dedicated to the reconciling of disparities – rebalancing inequities, and building bridges between cultures – and it uses a grooving bluesy sound to deliver this message.
“Michael Herring has established himself as one of the most creative musicians on the Canadian scene” Joseph Blake – Times-Colonist
“the boss’s bass soars and swoops and the overall impact is tremendous” Geoff Chapman – Toronto Star
1. Treefology 04:51 2. Midden 07:14 3. Impermanence (Changes) 04:50 4. With Both Feet On The Ground 05:05 5. Moanin' 05:42 6. Fearless and Kind 05:23 7. Seedy Underbelly Button 05:52 8. Roadhouse, Mass. 05:50 9. Blues Bird (White Throated Sparrow) 04:46 10.Further Than The Future 04:34 11.Quantum 04:00 12.Tzac 06:02 13.A Very Large Gap 05:02
David French -- Tenor and Baritone Saxophones (left channel) Chris Gale -- Tenor and Baritone Saxophones (right channel) Michael Herring -- Double Bass Nick Fraser -- Drums
"Apicella
is a lithe, swinging guitarist with an affinity for the contrasting
styles of both Grant Green and Wes Montgomery... An all-around
impressive debut by a guitarist of substance." - Mark Gardner, Jazz
Journal
"Apicella is a no-nonsense player of unquestioned chops and whose soul drips from each note... This is 'organic' music, and Apicella is an exciting young player." - John Heidt, Vintage Guitar
1 You Upset Me, Baby 2 I'm King 3 Rock Me, Baby 4 Mosaics 5 Delia Soul 6 Outer Space 7 Farid 8 Over in the Gloryland
Charlie Apicella - guitar Stephen Riley - tenor, alto saxophones Freddie Hendrix - trumpet Dave Braham - organ Mayra Casales - congas Alan Korzin - drums
Snarky
Puppy pianist Bill Laurance has let the solo persona he introduced on
painterly and cinematic journeys such as 2014’s Flint and last year's Swift off the leash with Aftersun. It’s an uninhibited jam on more succinct
materials, featuring his Snarky Puppy rhythm-section partners Michael
League and Robert Searight and the exciting St Louis-based Ghanaian
Weedie Braimah, whose hand drums provide fireworks that light up the
set. There’s a contemporary Headhunters feel in the wah-wah sounds and
choppy time swaps of the opening Soti, while the gentle piano hook of
The Pines invokes Robert Glasper – and a fast rhythmic undertow,
contrasting with the languid theme, sets a creative pattern often
revisited on the session. The flute-like theme and African drums sound
of Bullet have a ritualistic grip; the title track is a brooding anthem;
A Blaze is an irresistible hook with a Caribbean feel. For all its
sense of players’ freedom, though – and some flying piano breaks from
the leader – Aftersun might still have too smooth a sheen for some
jazzers, but there’s no doubting Laurance’s creativity as a very unusual
kind of world musician. John Fordham
01. Soti (5:24)
02. The Pines (6:23)
03. Time To Run (8:19)
04. Madeleine (4:57)
05. Bullet (4:04)
06. Aftersun (5:59)
07. First Light (4:55)
08. Golden Hour (4:39)
09. A Blaze (7:57)
Bill Laurence - keys
Michael League - bass
Robert "Sput" Searight - drums
Weedie Braihma - percussion
For one of the last CDs in the Book of Angels series
Zorn has put together an astonishing all-star piano trio featuring
three of the most powerful and respected musicians in the jazz/new music
scene: Craig Taborn, Christian McBride and Tyshawn Sorey. Diving into
eight tunes from Zorn’s mystical Masada project they take off in flights
of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic fancy that will make your head spin.
Visceral and virtuosic, Flaga is one of the most spontaneous and
exciting installments in the Masada catalog.
Josh Quinlan releases his fourth album as a leader, this time featuring the amazing trumpeter, Terell Stafford (www.terellstafford.com). The Q'tet has been playing music together for over six years and this marks their third tour in Colorado with Stafford. The new album this night celebrates is called In From Somewhere and is comprised of Quinlan's original compositions that reflect his experiences as a Colorado based musician who travels the world performing and teaching.
This concert is not to be missed if you enjoy high energy trumpet and saxophone accompanied by an amazingly interactive and communicative rhythm section sound.
The Chopin Project features six original arrangement's of Frederic Chopin's Nocturnes and Preludes and a lyrical waltz composed by Quinlan and inspired by classical harmonic movement. The group features Matt Smiley (bass), Ed Breazeale (drums) and Josh Quinlan (saxophone, piano and arrangements). If you like beautiful classical melodies and harmony fused with modern jazz rhythm and conception you will really enjoy the Chopin Project.
Josh Quinlan is a saxophonist, composer and educator based out of the state of Colorado. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Colorado. As well, he is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (BM) and DePaul University (MMA).
Quinlan is currently an Instructor of Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado, music faculty member at Denver School of the Arts, Director of Education for the Colorado non-profit Gift of Jazz, Director of the Dazzle Recordings label and Co-Director of the Telluride Jazz Celebration Educational Program. In addition, he is an endorsing artist of P. Mauriat saxophones, Bari Woodwind saxophone mouthpieces and Gonzalez Reeds.
Quinlan has released three albums as a leader, saxophonist and composer (Mountain Time Standards, Open Space and Hear, Here) with a fourth coming out in February, 2016 that features Terell Stafford on trumpet. Since moving to Colorado, he has toured throughout the world with performances and teaching in Asia, South America, Central America, Europe, the U.S. and Australia. Recent highlights include concerts as a guest soloist and composer with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Panama performing “Charlie Parker with Strings,” a residency with his trio at the National University of Costa Rica and tours with Greg Osby and Terell Stafford.
