“The Nada” surge com o intuito de constituir uma plataforma para o experimentalismo sonoro, para a improvisação livre, para a exploração de formas e estéticas menos convencionais.
O quarteto será, assim, o propulsor do que se espera uma experiência singular.
Este projecto tem a sua génese na assunção de claras empatias musicais entre os seus membros, tendo sido a vinda de Simon Jermyn a Portugal um factor decisivo para a sua consolidação. A procura de novas formas de expressão subsidiárias do jazz, de novos cenários de onde a improvisação também pudesse emanar, levaram a que estes quatro músicos se congregassem no ímpeto de partilhar essas experiências.
O Ciclo "FEUP Lança Porta-Jazz" trata-se da parceria entre a Associação e o Comissariado Cultural da FEUP, e reúne os mais recentes projetos editados pelo Carimbo Porta-Jazz numa série de concertos de lançamento dos novos discos. Todos os concertos decorrem no auditório da FEUP e são de entrada livre.
El musico Argentino radicado en Barcelona, Guillermo Calliero es un de los trompetistas mas respetados de la escena Europea. Se destaca por su sonido grande y redondo, su acentuada vocacion melodica y la marca de la musica de su tierra que siempre desemboca en el jazz. Ha compartido escenario con Paquito D'Rivera, Bobby Shew, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis entre muchos otros.
01. Milonjazz (Mazzanti-Calliero) 3:28
02. Golondrinas (Gardel) 5:06
03. Se tu non fossi bella come sei (Bongusto) 3:43
04. Theme for Jessica (Rava) 4:44
05. Salsita for Luis (Calliero-Mazzanti) 2:53
06. Street of Dreams (Young) 5:52
07. Flor de lino (Stamponi) 3:04
08. Chajà (Fumero) 4:59
09. Bolero (Salinas) 1:38
Arrangements by F. Mazzanti & G. Calliero (#1 & 5), Federico Mazzanti (#3,6,7 & 8), José Reinoso (#2)
Guillermo Calliero (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Federico Mazzanti (piano)
Gabriel Amargant (tenor sax)
Martín Laportilla (electric bass)
Nicolás Correa (drums)
Ernesto Aurignac (alto sax)
Toni Belenguer (trombone)
Horacio Fumero (acoustic bass)
Roger Blavia, Humberto Perdomo (percusion)
Bobby Shew (trumpet)
Luis Salinas (guitar)
Recorded at Bucbonera Studio (Barcelona), La Consulta (Reus), and Dejavu (Buenos Aires), September-October 2016
Mixed & mastered by Tomás Robisco at Bucbonera Studios, Barcelona, February 2017
Photography by Josep Tomás
Produced by Federico Mazzanti & Guillermo Calliero
Extraordinary composer’s large ensemble tunes come to life with a special collaboration with two of best jazz musicians to surface, Legendary Randy Brecker & Dick Oatts! In the ‘works’ for many years, “Big Band Minimalism” is an attempt to merge minimalist based compositional techniques a’ la Steve Reich and John Adams with concepts from the modern jazz big band tradition. Big Results!!
On his third recording with Summit and MAMA, Mats Holmquist’s “Big Band Minimalism”, exemplifies quality, REAL writing for Large Jazz Ensemble…’breaking’ it down with a finely tuned big band and Randy Brecker and Dick Oatts, the results are impressive.
“… Texturally adventurous, strong funky vibe…Chandler has a nice way with melody.” Jazzwise
“I wanted to do an album that was in keeping with the organ trio tradition but with a newer take on it and with material that was not composition heavy, where the music and the players just "get down to it". The material, by design, is simplistic. It's really a celebration of our skills and how are skills work together. The album title is in keeping with this theme as it is an anagram of our names.”
Matt Chandler
Guitarist Matt Chandler has worked with a diverse range of artists including Youth (Killing Joke, The Orb), Arno Carstens, Fake, Poly Styrene and more recently accompanied Ozark Henry on his European tour. His innovative style is supported by a career that has spanned genres from jazz to punk, folk to electronica. Based in London, this is album is Matt's current project and includes the respected musicians Ross Stanley on Hammond Organ and Eric Ford on drums.
Oli Steidle hat die Linernotes seiner CD "euphoria" selbst geschrieben. Und der Stolz auf sein Werk schwingt in den Zeilen mit. Es ist ein lesenswerter Text, ach was, eine flammender Appell an Zuhörer und Veranstalter. Es geht um musikalische Offenheit, um Musik mit Bedeutung und um den Mut von Veranstaltern, ihrem Publikum anspruchsvolle Musik zu präsentieren. Aus Erfahrung stellt Steidle fest, dass die Furcht vor "Musik, die nicht im Kuschel-Kurs daher kommt", sich am Ende in Wohlgefallen auflöst, weil die Konzertbesucher diese Musik sehr wohl schätzen und von Veranstaltern in dieser Hinsicht eher unterschätzt werden. Kein Wunder, dass sich die Band mit Frank Gratkowski am Altsaxophon, Kalle Kalima an der Gitarre und Oli Steidle am Schlagzeug, im Rudersport gut gelaunt zeigte: dort rennen sie beim veranstaltenden Jazzarchitekten mit diesen Ansichten offene Türen ein. Und sie haben es in Wiesbaden leicht, weil sich dort längst ein Publikum trifft, das Steidles Thesen größtenteils unterschreiben würde. Als Einstieg eine kleine Exposition mit einigen abgehackt dahin geworfenen Musikhappen, unstrukturiert, und dann wuchtige, fast schon brachiale E-Gitarrenakkorde, von Steidles Schlagzeug polyrhythmisch unterlegt aber auch sofort wieder gebrochen. Gratkowski findet eine Linie und spielt ein klares, luftiges Solo – bevor sich die Band wieder ins bewusste Chaos begibt. Dynamisch, explosiv – als Hörer darf man sich gelegentlich ein paar Sekunden zum Mitwippen anmiert fühlen, der nächste Break folgt in Sekunden. Diese Musik oszilliert, sie flirtet ständig mit dem Chaos und sie kennt selbst in ihren gefälligsten Momenten den schnellen Ausgang aus der Zuhörerbequemlichkeit. Grandios „Der diebische Elst“: aus einem polyrhthmisch gewebten Spiel von Steidle und Kalima, mit imitierten Kalimba Klängen, entwickelt sich ein vermeintliches Unisonospiel von Gratkowski und Kalima, dass mit seinen lustvollen mikrotonalen Dissonanzen eine fast schmerzhafte Reibung erzeugt – viel besser kann man Falschheit musikalisch kaum darstellen. „Mein Bestreben in der Musik war schon immer, Geschichten zu erzählen“ schreibt Steidle. Es funktioniert, und Spaß macht es zudem.
Pianist Yoko Miwa leads her longstanding, spectacularly attuned trio on Pathways,
her first new album in five years
Out May 12 the recording features bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding on songs by Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Marc Johnson and Miwa herself
“Pianist Yoko Miwa displays unpretentious melodies, elegant phrasing, and the lyrical sensibility of a jazz poet… she’s a remarkably fluent mainstream player with a graceful touch and a self-assured notion of where each tune is headed.”– Ed Kopp, Jazziz
“Miwa plays with the confidence and fluidity of a seasoned jazz musician. She has the enviable ability to play in any context with authenticity, clarity, and spontaneity."— Wilbert Sostre, JazzTimes.com
Upcoming Performances
• Sunday, April 23 – Brunch at The Blue Note Brunch
• Friday, May 19 – CD Release Concert at The Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
A jazz musician is by nature an explorer at heart, but it always helps to have a few fellow adventurers at your side. On her new album, pianist Yoko Miwa sets out to navigate a few new Pathways with the help of her longstanding and deeply harmonious trio. With more than a decade and a half together, the Boston-based group showcases the unique ability to wander down diverging trails without ever losing sight of their shared destination. On Pathways, due out May 12, 2017 on Ocean Blue Tear Music, Miwa is joined by bassist Will Slater (with Brad Barrett stepping in for one track) and drummer Scott Goulding. The remarkable telepathy they share has been developed over 15 years and countless hours logged on the bandstand, not to mention the accompanying personal bonds (Miwa and Goulding are married, after all). “When we play together, it comes out as one sound,” Miwa says. “That’s the best part of working together all the time. I’m very comfortable with these guys because they know my playing and I know them very well.” It’s been nearly five years since the release of Miwa’s last album, Act Naturally (JVC Victor), but she’s been far from inactive in the interim. On the contrary, she’s one of the busiest artists on the thriving Boston jazz scene, playing regularly at renowned local venues the Regattabar and Scullers as well as venues worldwide. Locally, the trio is a constant presence with three area residencies that keep them busy every weekend they’re at home. On Fridays they can be found at the Central Square sushi bar and jazz club Thelonious Monkfish, where Goulding serves as music director and Miwa helped select the stunning Yamaha piano. Saturdays they play at the wine bar Les Zygomates, as they have for the last 12 years, while their Sunday brunch gig at Cambridge BBQ joint Ryles dates back even further. That impressive calendar means that the trio has had plenty of time not only to try out new material but to explore each piece over time. “We play each song a little bit differently every time,” Miwa says. “It really helps develop the music. If we only did concerts once a month in front of big audiences, I don’t think we’d feel the same way or that I’d play the same way that I do now.” The repertoire that Miwa traverses on Pathways ranges widely, from the classic songs of The Beatles and Joni Mitchell to a pair of rarely (if ever) reprised pieces by legendary Bill Evans Trio bassist Marc Johnson, originally recorded solo. The album’s highlights, though, are Miwa’s gorgeous originals, which combine lively melodies, a delicate touch, and lush harmonies – the same qualities that she brings to her improvisations. The album opens with the gospel-flavored chords that Miwa uses on Johnson’s “Log O’Rhythm,” and centers on the piano-bass dialogue between the leader and her “favorite bassist,” Slater, who doesn’t play with the trio as regularly since moving to New York City. The reunion here shows that the pair have lost none of their brilliant chemistry. Slater is also featured on Johnson’s other contribution, “After You,” where he agilely articulates the song’s memorably nimble melody. Both tunes have become favorites at the trio’s shows, and have received Johnson’s own stamp of approval. Driven by Goulding’s intricate powerful rhythms, Miwa’s “Lickety Split” lives up to its title with its brisk pacing and McCoy Tyner influenced forcefulness. Falling on the other end of the sonic spectrum, “Lantern Light” begins with a movingly lyrical solo piano intro, gaining momentum as Goulding and Slater enter, capturing both the warm glow and lonely isolation of a single lamp carried through a dark night. Its fragile beauty is all the more remarkable given the fact that Miwa wrote it quickly, in a sudden burst of inspiration, during a break between students at Berklee College of Music – without a piano nearby. The playful swing of “The Goalkeeper” was inspired by a frequent visitor to the Miwa household – their neighbors’ cat, who drops in often for a bit of food and play. His flawless ability to bat back a ball thrown by Miwa gave the piece its name, while the adorable feline has become a surrogate pet for her and Goulding following the loss of their own beloved cat. The last of the pianist’s compositions, “Was It Something I Said?” is a sly blues imbued with the wry humor of the waiter whose teasing riposte Miwa borrowed for the title. “Joni Mitchell’s music is very beautiful and very unique,” Miwa says, two elements beautifully captured in the trio’s version of “Court and Spark,” which luxuriates in the songwriter’s compelling harmonies. The album ends with a melancholy take on the Beatles classic “Dear Prudence,” which features the trio’s current Boston bassist, Brad Barrett. “Everybody knows the Beatles’ songs very well, so you don’t want to change them too much and upset their fans,” Miwa says with a laugh. “’Dear Prudence’ is very simple but very powerful.”
Integral to capturing the heartfelt communication forged by the trio was Miwa’s insistence that they play together in the studio, not divided into isolation booths. Their spontaneity and spark found an ideal setting at Wellspring Sound Studios in Acton, Massachusetts, where they worked closely with engineer Matt Hayes. “It’s almost like a live recording,” Miwa says proudly. “I feel really uncomfortable separated into different rooms where you can’t really see each other. Of course you can’t go back and fix things, but I love the feeling of playing in the same room and our energy together.” A favorite at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Miwa was chosen to play on “Marian McPartland & Friends” a special concert as part of the Coca Cola Generations in Jazz Festival. She was also chosen to perform at Lincoln Center's annual Jazz and Leadership Workshop for The National Urban League's Youth Summit. Miwa also performs regularly at New York's famed Blue Note Jazz Club and has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of jazz greats including Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lynne Carrington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood and Johnathan Blake among others. Miwa is a Yamaha artist.
Acclaimed Saxophonist/Composer Jason Rigby releases new trio recording ONE
Out April 28, 2017 on Fresh Sound Records
CD Release Performance April 29th, 2017 at The Jazz Gallery in New York City
Rigby's third recording as a leader is the first of a series of releases featuring his working trio
with bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Gerald Cleaver
Saxophonist Jason Rigby's new album, ONE, is the long-awaited release of his Detroit-Cleveland Trio. Rigby's first two recordings employed larger ensembles as he worked to find his own artistic balance as composer, bandleader, and improviser. This new album is more intimate, putting improvisation first, both from the leader and from the group collectively. The focus of ONE is the connection between three players of different generations, who meet to form a unity of like-minded artists, bending the boundaries between inside and outside. Most of the pieces are Rigby originals. "I've been composing for this band in a way that gives each player enough compositional material to grab on to, but not too much to stifle open-ended improvisation. Ultimately this recording is about freewheeling improvisation and the unique connection that we have formed over the past 6 years performing together as a trio." That unique sound has its roots in development for more than a decade. Cameron Brown has been with Rigby in various formats since 2005, and Gerald Cleaver first played with the saxophonist in 2001. "I initially played with Gerald on bassist Eivind Opsvik's debut release, and then did some European touring with him shortly after with bassist Thomas Morgan. I've been a fan of Cameron's since hearing him play with Idris Muhammed in Joe Lovano's trio, and on record with the George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet. I knew that putting Cameron and Gerald together would be an extremely exciting concoction." In addition to the dazzling alchemic pairing of Brown and Cleaver, Rigby's formation of this trio was an homage to the band members' Midwest roots - Brown and Cleaver from Detroit and Rigby from Cleveland. Both cities have fostered a lengthy list of jazz luminaries, with the Midwest long being a fertile cradle for musical talent. The result is an ensemble that deeply grooves, has a strong predilection for free improvisation, and is visionary while respecting the lineage of the music. The trio's cohesiveness is enhanced by the musicians' abilities to effortlessly dance between inside and out playing - no doubt evidence of three experienced players sharing similar artistic ideas. "'ONE" refers to the musical unity the three of us have with each other," Rigby explains. "There is a deep trust we share with one another, allowing for greater risk-taking. The music is always first, so I know whatever happens, we all have each other's back. Playing with these guys is always an adventure - I never really know what's going to happen, which is exciting."
The album opens with "Dive Bar," a fiery tenor saxophone and drums duet. "I love drummers, and I've been fortunate to play with some really great ones over the past several years." Rigby refers to his work in various situations with the likes of Mark Guiliana, Brian Blade, Tom Rainey, Billy Hart, Rudy Royston, Mark Ferber, and R.J. Miller, to name a few. The title "Dive Bar" refers to the now too-few classic New York City musical haunts, such as the original Five Spot, where bands played night after night. "The great bands that played together nightly formed a deep cohesion, such as with the Miles Davis Quintets." Rigby says. "Cameron, Gerald and I have played together a lot over the years in various formats, which has resulted in a strong bond, and I feel we have developed a unique sound as a group. 'Dive Bar' is a very simple 2-part theme, built to spark the bulk of the performance of uncharted improvisation." The second track, "Dorian Gray," is inspired by the Oscar Wilde work. "It's is built on 2 opposing themes - the first being an odd-meter ostinato that evolves and shifts into the second, a settled yet slightly askew bass ostinato with a contrasting melody on top." This track showcases the trio's unity with the timing between drum and bass groove, complicated rhythms, and angular melody lining up perfectly. The third track is a departure from Rigby's original compositions, Rodgers & Hart's "You Are Too Beautiful." "This tune that was a big inspiration for me - mainly from the recordings of John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, and a live Sonny Rollins performance from the late 1950's," explains Rigby. "I read that Dewey Redman expressed frustration with listeners pigeon-holing his playing, as he stated that he loved to play free as much as he loved to play an old standard ballad. The love for both is something I share with Mr. Redman." Cameron Brown's bass solo stretches the time with such patience and musical intent, in a way that wonderfully illuminates his highly melodic style. Track four, "Newtoon," is a composition by one of Rigby's favorite drummers, George Schuller. The melody is a flowing line that moves through several tonalities in rubato style. The players slip seamlessly into group improvising, while maintaining a consistent thread of connection to the original melody. "I love the idea of playing a tune in a way where the lines between composed material and improvisation become blurred," explains Rigby. "George is such a melodic player on the drums, which is expressed in his composing. I love the way Cameron and Gerald play this piece as if they wrote it." The Herbie Hancock composition "Speak Like A Child" is track five, and features Rigby's cascading soprano saxophone. "This is another of my favorite compositions, which we pare down into the trio. The absence of a harmonic instrument allows us to stretch into more freedom and space, which I feel has become a defining aspect of this band." The sixth track is a Rigby original, "Live By The Sword," a free-flowing melodic unison between tenor and bass. Cleaver's swirling playing is particularly atmospheric here. After wisps of melody and space, the performance builds to an intense final statement. Rigby chose to record a solo version Gershwin's "Embraceable You" for track seven, another of his favorite standards. He begins with an introspective theme that develops into the tune, yet he never fully plays the original melody. The quietest track on the recording, Rigby weaves his improvised lines around the essence of the composition with patience and thoughtful melodic development. The final track, "Dewey," is part of a suite of music that Rigby composed a few years ago dedicated to saxophonist Dewey Redman and pianist Paul Bley. Beginning with a call-and-response of rhythmic hits and flurrying melodies, the band plunges red-hot into group improvising. Rigby plays with ferocious intensity while Brown and Cleaver stoke the fire. A powerful ending to a varied collection of pieces, this track reveals this band's capacity for primal screaming emotion.
"ONE" is the first of a series of recordings that Rigby plans to release over the next couple of years, showcasing this band of unique unity and vision. They celebrate the CD release on April 29th at The Jazz Gallery in New York City. For more information and tickets, visit jazzgallery.nyc.
About Jason Rigby Increasingly considered one of the most creative and unique saxophonists of his generation, Jason Rigby has developed a unique voice as a compelling improviser, as well as a composer. An in-demand sideman, Rigby currently tours and records with Mark Guilliana's Jazz Quartet and Beat Music, and has performed with a wide variety of musicians including Chris Morrissey, Kris Davis, Russ Lossing, Owen Howard, Kermit Driscoll, Dan Wall, Mike Baggetta, Eivind Opsvik, Mike Holober, Jeff Davis, Alan Ferber, David Binney, and Aretha Franklin.
Guitarist/Composer Jim Yanda Releases Two Albums Spanning the 30-Year Career of His Brilliantly Inventive Trio
Featuring bassist Drew Gress and drummer Phil Haynes, Regional Cookin’ finds long-overdue release after decades on the shelf, while Home Road captures 2 CDs’ worth of newly-recorded music
Thirty years is a long time to keep any relationship going. It’s an almost impossibly long time to keep a secret. To a large extent the Jim Yanda Trio has managed to do both, creating exhilarating, spontaneous music together while remaining largely under the radar outside of those lucky enough to catch their sporadic performances in the New York area – despite the fact that the trio features Drew Gress, one of the music’s busiest and most in-demand bassists, and veteran drummer/experimentalist Phil Haynes. Yanda is finally ready to let the cat out of the bag – in a big way. The guitarist and composer is set to release two albums featuring three CDs’ worth of music spanning the trio’s long history. Regional Cookin’ dates from the band’s earliest days, recorded in 1987 but never before released, while Home Road fills two discs with newly-recorded material illustrating the trio’s evolution. Both will be released on March 24 through Haynes’ Corner Store Jazz label. Together, these two albums reveal a band with a profound sense of empathy, a thrilling knack for taking sonic chances, deep roots in the blues combined with an era-spanning avant-garde sensibility, and perhaps most importantly, a raw honesty that could only result from such long and enduring friendships – and, Iowa native Yanda might insist, a plainspoken Midwestern directness. “I think there’s a little more naiveté and abandon on Regional Cookin’,” Yanda says in comparing the two sessions. “I was just trying to hang on for dear life and survive. Home Road is more controlled with, hopefully, a little more maturity and wisdom.” The fact that a debut as assured and often electrifying as Regional Cookin’ could languish on the shelf for 30 years is a reflection of Yanda’s understated modesty, which in a case like this can allow the perfect to become an enemy of the (very) good. “My initial mistake,” he writes in the album’s liner notes, “of measuring creativity against some idealized version in our mind’s ear while overlooking the achievement of the actual product likely bedevils most recording artists at some point.” While that error in self-judgment kept this music hidden from the ears of listeners, it fortunately didn’t dissuade Yanda from continuing his fruitful collaboration with Haynes, which stretches back to their student days at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, and Gress, who joined the duo shortly after their arrival in New York City in 1983. Yanda and Haynes shared a Brooklyn storefront where they could both live and play. The drummer, whose extensive credits include releases with Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Michelle Rosewoman and Theo Bleckmann, discovered in Gress an ideal rhythm partner, launching a vital and long-lasting collaboration and making a trio meeting almost inevitable. Gress, of course, went on to work with an exhaustive list of jazz’s most creative artists, including John Abercrombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, and John Surman. Yanda began his professional career playing Western Swing in Iowa honky-tonks near his family’s farm. He turned to rock in his high school years, inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers, then finally discovered jazz in college. After a brief tenure in New York he spent six years in Chicago, regularly playing in local clubs, working with drummer/composer Damon Short and the Déjà Vu Big Band, and frequenting the legendary South Side jam sessions hosted by Von Freeman. He made his permanent return to New York in 1992.
Yanda was inspired to form the trio by his and Haynes’ shared mentor, trumpeter Paul Smoker, whose innovative trio work drew from influences that run the length and breadth of jazz history. “Paul went all the way back to field hollers, rags, New Orleans music, Louis Armstrong - primordial pre-jazz up through swing – then through Charlie Parker to free music, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the World Saxophone Quartet. As a listener it was so refreshing and gave the experience so much more depth to be able to draw on the entire history. The straight ahead stuff sounds fresher and the old stuff sounds more modern when you juxtapose those different eras and open up that wider history.” Yanda decided to pursue a similar path; the strengths that are shared between the two discs of Home Road and the much earlier recordings on Regional Cookin’ include a vigorous swing coupled with a tightrope-walking freedom, a full-throated blues feeling filtered through a sharp-edged modernism. One common ground between the earliest jazz and the freedom of the avant-garde has always been collective improvisation, and Yanda was eager to pursue that concept with Gress and Haynes. “We always wanted the interplay and the dialogue to continue among all of the players all of the time while the music is happening,” Yanda explains. “In straight ahead music there’s a tendency to have the rhythm section in the background with a soloist in front. We try to let everyone be free to improvise at any given time, so you get much more of a group improvisation feel and it opens a lot of doors for new sounds and creativity. Phil and Drew are masters at that; you’re always aware that they’re listening and reacting and feeding you ideas. It’s a wide open kind of experience.” It’s an experience that the members of Yanda’s trio have sought to recreate in a number of different contexts. Yanda is a longtime member of Haynes’ “jazz-grass” string band Free Country, whose work spans the breadth of American music, from jazz to country to bluegrass. The pair also makes up two-thirds of The Hammond Brothers, a reimagining of the classic organ trio featuring B3 master Steve Adams. Yanda has also collaborated with trumpeter Herb Robertson.
Guitarist Davy Mooney left his home of New Orleans in 2005 as Hurricane Katrina loomed. He left his newly acquired house and eventually settled into life away, mainly off and on, for six years in the jazz capital of the world, New York City. In 2013, Mooney moved back with his wife, balancing the anxiety of leaving New York and getting acclimated once again with his hometown. His new Hope of Home showcases Mooney’s efforts to integrate his New York and New Orleans personalities in a moving, musical fashion.
Originally from New Orleans, Mooney went through the famed jazz programs of New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the University of North Texas. Though he considered a move to New York, as many young musicians do, Mooney held out until Katrina forced his hand. He went on to compete in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, where he finished third, and then on to the Monk Institute for two years, where he studied with the great trumpeter and New Orleans native Terence Blanchard. After, Mooney settled into the world of a professional musician in the competitive New York market.
It was during his time in New York that Mooney recorded Perrier Street with an incredible cast of musicians. The record was very well planned and highly structured, performed ably; mainly by musicians with ties to New Orleans, including drummer Brian Blade, pianist Jon Cowherd and saxophonist John Ellis. Along with their connections to the South, these musicians are all ambitious and eclectic in their musical scope. All had gone through a similar developmental process as Mooney (the jazz programs of Loyola and settling in New York), not to mention paying their dues with many of the same musicians along the way.
For Hope of Home, Mooney insisted on keeping this ensemble, which also included bassist Matt Clohesy. Blade’s The Fellowship Band had long been a touchstone for Mooney’s own musical development, so having Blade and core band member Cowherd on his recording was important to Mooney and certainly worth the wait. It was important to preserve the essence of the continuity between the two scenes, knowing that they connect and you can still go home.
Interestingly enough, Mooney carried New Orleans with him in the music he created and the people he created it with. The title of the recording comes from a line from the Homer’s The Odyssey about keeping your “hope of home” in your heart while away for an extended time. His roots seep into the music, which he intentionally wrote more straight ahead and blowing. His penchant for writing comes across in the illustrative lyrics that he penned for three tunes.
The album begins with “Scarlatina,” a propulsive composition evolving from an earlier piece entitled “Crimson” that utilizes a fixed contrapuntal design. Originally written in 30 minutes as an assignment, “Ides of April” is an aural tribute to Blade’s The Fellowship band that Mooney was excited to hear at Lincoln Center on April 15, 2005. The moving “Cold, Sober” is about taking stock and cleaning up in this poetic tune, while “Hope of Home” is an anxious piece written about the time Mooney purchased his first home, but displaying his ability to write catchy. Taken from twisting the melody of Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye,” the bright “Think So Little of Me” is a challenging piece with hard chord changes and a quick tempo.
The heroic “I’ll Be Freeing You” reinvents a transcription of a Kurt Rosenwinkel solo in the melody and provides an inspiring conversation between Ellis and Blade. The quirky “Stutter Step” is a tribute to New Orleans music sensibility and directly to Mooney’s former teacher, guitarist Steve Masakowski. The harmonically wandering “Peregrine” swings nicely and features a lovely turn by Cowherd, while “Intervalis” is written for Gil Goldstein and features the use of all intervals (e.g. minor second, Major third, etc.) before repeating, a type of serial motive. The catchy “The Clover” is a nostalgic and pastoral piece taking inspiration from the work of Ravel. The recording concludes with the somber “Like Before,” a ballad for voice, guitar and piano.
On his new recording Hope for Home, Davy Mooney has returned to the foundation of his music: his hometown of New Orleans and a fantastic ensemble that identifies with his history and ambitions.
Throughout the album, Mooney demonstrates his skills as a composer, arranger, and improviser. The fascinating rhythmic twists...in "I'll Be Freeing You," are just one example.
-Alex W. Rodriguez, Portland JazzScene, January 2017
Mooney’s fingers fly over the fretboard, though no note sounds superfluous. His playing throughout relies on imagination rather than licks.
-Geraldine Wyckoff, Offbeat Magazine, March 2017
Mooney reveals his considerable fretboard prowess here, but it’s always in the context of his harmonically sophisticated, literate tunes like the moody “Swingset," “Crimson" (his syncopated meditation on “Little Red Riding Hood") and the darkly alluring ballad “Phelia."
-Bill Milkoswki, Jazz Times, May 2012
…soulful postbop guitar work and lithe, old-school vocal stylings.
-Time Out New York, March 2012
Evocative and emotional, exquisite and elegiac, here the perspicacious artist proves his poetry is as perceptive as his playing.
-Aaron LaFont, Offbeat Magazine, January 2010
Mooney reveals himself to be a fingerstyle, chordal player of the highest order as well as a burning single-note picker. He nimbly integrates both aspects here—cascading lines with rich chordal voicings—often at the same time; a neat trick that only a few…can successfully pull off.
-Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes, December 2009
…A soulful and harmonically savvy guitarist from New Orleans…
-Nate Chinen, New York Times Jazz Listings, May 9, 2008
