Thursday, July 12, 2018

John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension / Jimmy Herring & The Invisible Whip - Live in San Francisco (ABSTRACT LOGIX September 21, 2018)


“This recording of the final set at the Warfield Theatre brings to full circle the amazing advent of The Mahavishnu Orchestra In 1971, and its renaissance on this night in San Francisco.” mused the boundary-shattering guitarist John McLaughlin. On his farewell tour of America, which was comprised of 25 concerts, John invited one his favorite musicians, guitarist Jimmy Herring and his band “The Invisible Whip” to explore the timeless music he had created four decades ago.


On September 21, 2018, Abstract Logix issues Live in San Francisco – a souvenir of a sold-out concert at the historic Warfield Theatre, a beloved venue last visited by John McLaughlin thirty six years ago. In the 4th DimensionRanjit Barot (drums, konokol), Gary Husband (keyboards, drums), and Etienne M’Bappé (bass) and in The Invisible WhipKevin Scott (Bass), Matt Slocum (Clavinet and B3), Jason Crosby (Fender Rhodes, Violin, Vocals) and Jeff Sipe (Drums) – The Meeting of the Spirits tour featured a 9-piece orchestra that further amplified the seminal music he created in the 70’s, documented in albums – “Birds of Fire”, “Inner Mountain Flame” and “Visions of Emerald Beyond”.

So connected are the nine members that the interplay approaches telepathic levels, making for powerfully evocative performances without any wasted gestures. Longtime fans will be thrilled to hear favorites like “Eternity’s Breath” (from Mahavishnu’s 1973 Visions of Emerald Beyond) and “Trilogy” (from 1973’s Between Nothingness And Eternity) reexamined through the lens of both the bands’ unparalleled sensitivity and astounding power.

As such, Live in San Francisco offers a tantalizing document of the Meeting of the Spirits Tour. “Playing these timeless compositions with John and The Fourth Dimension was a life changing experience!” said Jimmy Herring .

Jimmy Herring and John McLaughlin

“Live in San Francisco” Track Listing:

⦁ Meeting of the Spirits (8:53)
⦁ Birds of Fire (7:50)
⦁ A Lotus on Irish Streams (7:13)
⦁ The Dance of Maya (10:09)
⦁ Trilogy (13:01)
⦁ Earth Ship (8:59)
⦁ Eternity’s Breath Part 1 & 2 (9:39)
⦁ Be Happy (7:05)

Total Running Time: 73 minutes

New additions to the program


EXCLUSIVE PRESALE
today, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sommet Blues Acoustique 2018 avec
Guy Bélanger Trio, Harrison Kennedy et Michael Jerome Browne

December 1, 2018, 8 p.m.
L’Astral


Paul DesLauriers Band, PDB 3

December 7, 2018, 8 p.m.
L’Astral


Nils Frahm

April 2, 2019, 8 p.m.
Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier

Promo code: JAL2019



SOME TICKETS REMAIN
for these concerts

Sábados Porta-Jazz | Demian Cabaud Astah 19:00 e 22:00 - 14 Julho


Continuam os Sábados Porta-Jazz em parceria com a agenda cultural da Junta da União de Freguesias do Centro Histórico do Porto e com o apoio da Porto Lazer.
Sempre às 19:00 e um segundo set às 22:00.
E no Domingo 15 de Julho, o Coreto está no coreto de Matosinhos!

Demian Cabaud - Astah
14 Julho - 19:00 e 22:00

Este projecto é o sexto e mais recente álbum do Cabaud , “Astah”.

É uma experiência intensa e fresca, já que as duas baterias trazem uma grande quantidade de possibilidades, tanto em dinâmicas quanto em direções musicais.

As composições têm sempre aquele fator de abertura que caracteriza a música do Cabaud, deixando espaço para que cada elemento expresse o seu ponto de vista e deixe impressa a sua própria personalidade. O resultado é sempre fresco e nunca se repete .

A essência da música está enraizada no jazz tradicional , com muitos momentos livres / improvisados e um “cheirinho” de música tradicional da Argentina .


João Pedro Brandão - Sax e Flauta
Xan Campos - Piano
Demian Cabaud - Contrabaixo
Iago Fernandez - Bateria
Marcos Cavaleiro - Bateria



Sábados Porta-Jazz - Rua de João das Regras 305, 4000-293 Porto

5€ / 3€ Membros*

* (doação sugerida); Membros: https://portajazz.com/about/membros/ 
quotas válidas por 1 ano: Membro amigo 40 eur; Membro músico/estudante 25 eur.

Now Vs Now - The Buffering Cocoon (September, 14 2018)


Jason Lindner, a keyboardist with eclectic musical sensibilities that intermesh to create a unique voice that has served as a key ingredient for numerous projects, including David Bowie's final album "Blackstar", presents his New York-based band's third album (and first for Jazzland), 'The Buffering Cocoon'.

Broad in scope, grand in ambition, and possibly a wormhole to a different musical dimension, the album takes the listener on the musical journey and experience that defies clear classification by any traditional measures. If music is about ideas expressed via the right notes in the best possible configuration using the best sounds, this is what Now Vs Now delivers. The ideas are focused on the future: the future of humanity, society, the planet. The themes of each track are interconnected, and their musical expression is perfectly attuned accordingly: no excess notes in the name of ego-based skill exposition, no scarcity of sounds where the concepts demand them. From the moment you press play, to the final drone and tick-tock of "Buffer Failed. Restart" you are taken on a journey with a perfectly planned and executed itinerary, a journey from an uncertain present to possible futures.

Genres become grist for Now Vs Now's musical mill, stylistic compass points to orient the listener. Chick Corea's description of Lindner as a "musical universe" is shown here to be a truth rather than mere hyperbole. They produce electronic music tinged with jazz, funk and soul, with nods to relaxing vaporwave ("Accelerating Returns"), analog synth-pop (the percolating "Cloud Fishing"), danceable darkwave (the propulsive, '80s-reminiscent "Motion Potion"), and modern electro-R&B ("The Scarecrow"). On other songs, IDM's taut beatkeeping, jazztronica's livewire energy, and elements of the cutting-edge Wonky subgenre popularized by Flying Lotus and J Dilla contribute verve and velocity.

In addition to fronting Now Vs Now - whose lineup also features bassist Panagiotis Andreou and drummer Justin Tyson - Lindner is a sound designer, composer, arranger, and producer. Originally from Brooklyn, he taught himself piano by ear before studying formally, simultaneously finding expression on electric guitar and saxophone. An apprentice of New York's elder jazz masters, his musical career began in jazz and sasla clubs. But he soon proved to be a voracious student of many types of music, eventually leading to synthesizers and electronics. Lindner currently tours and records with saxophonist Donny McCaslin - whose band, including Lindner, was enlisted by David Bowie for the recording of his final album, the Tony Visconti co-produced Blackstar - and is in a particular niche to serve as keyboardist for Angelique Kidjo's Talking Heads Remain in Light project and with Ethiopean Jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke. He also embarks on solo and collaborative electronic projects under the name Oscillations.


"Rhythm provides more than a heartbeat for Jason Lindner. It also seems to fuel his respiratory functions and digestive activity, and maybe his neurons...What matters to him is groove, however it comes." - The New York Times

"Will this alien music make you want to dance? Absolutely, but be warned: once you step into the group's intoxicating, alternate universe, you may find it hard to leave." - NPR Music

"...an open minded kid from Brooklyn [Lindner] became one of jazz's most interesting keyboardists, with an identity spanning genres, cultures, formats and technologies." - JazzTimes

1. Buffering 3% 01:08
2. Cloud Fishing 05:26
3. Glimmer 07:21
4. Motion Potion 07:05
5. Silkworm Society 05:26
6. Buffering 43% 00:59
7. Dichotomy 08:32
8. Pergamos 06:42
9. Squoosh 00:50
10. 400 PPM 06:24
11. The Scarecrow (Silkworm Society Remix) 02:33
12. Accelerating Returns 05:52
13. Buffering Failed - Restart 00:38

Denny Seiwell Trio - Boomerang (QUARTO VALLEY RECORDS September 7, 2018)


Master Drummer, Denny Seiwell, best known for his work as founding member, alongside Paul McCartney, of the post Beatles band, Wings, quickly became a legend in the Jazz genre. Qualified to perform anywhere in the world, Denny's roads have led him to realigning with two powerhouses in the Jazz genre that make up the Denny Seiwell Trio. Joe Bagg, who has been called "A masterful organist" by Los Angeles Times, and John Chiodini best known for his guitar work on Natalie Coles "Unforgettable" Tour. They look forward to bringing their new album Boomerang due out September 7th, 2018, to fans which will include 12 songs with a detour to Paul and Linda's tour de force, "Live and Let Die", giving it a preeminent Jazz spin that only the most skilled of players can pull off. This will make up the album that is sure to shake up the Grammys "Best Jazz Album" field, when released by Quarto Valley Records.


1. CHEETAHS & GAZELLES 04:31
2. AMBER 05:33
3. LIVE & LET DIE 04:55
4. CURUMIM 05:17
5. MIDNIGHT MEATBALLS 03:37
6. APRIL CHILD 05:14
7. I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY 04:24
8. MUSTER THE GUMPTION 05:03
9. COLD DUCK TIME 03:31
10. CASCADES OF THE 7 WATERFALLS 04:02
11. BABY MAMA 04:30
12. DROPPING DARKNESS 04:34

Soft Machine - Hidden Details (MOONJUNE RECORDS September 8, 2018)


Hidden Details is a new studio album of Soft Machine, recorded at the late great Jon Hiseman's Temple Studio in Surrey, England, last December 2017, and it will be released in September 2018 on MoonJune Records (North America; on CD and HD Download), on John Etheridge's Dyan Records (UK/Europe on CD, and iTunes), and on Vivid Records (Japan), exactly 50 years since the release of the band's 1968 debut album The Soft Machine. Limited and highly collectible vinyl edition of only 200 coloured vinyl (orange, blue and tour edition orange & blue marbled) will be released on the Dutch label Tonefloat, on September 8, 2018. 

“'Hidden Details' is very much the product of an active, contemporary sounding outfit striking out with its own agenda. Though informed by the past, the music here is neither weighed down nor beholden to it. Animated with the same ineffable and inquisitive spirit that has always made this group throughout its fifty years such a compelling experience, it’' good to have a new Soft Machine with us in 2018. The yearning tenderness of 'Heart Off Guard' and the come-down reveries of 'Broken Hill' and 'Drifting White' showcase the more intimate aspects of Soft Machine's personality while in contrast, 'One Glove' gives the more pugilistic side of John Etheridge's playing an outing. 

The terse angularities of the title track and 'Life on Bridges' highlight a fearless disposition, as does the buzzsaw interplay heard during 'Ground Lift' and 'Flight of the Jett,' both featuring Roy Babbington's decisive interventions. The surging lyricism of 'Fourteen Hour Dream' flirts with an almost popish sensibility, underscoring the sense that this is a quartet that is fundamentally at ease with itself. The return of what some older fans of the band have called 'cosmic tinkles’'– the appearance of layers of cyclical electric piano motifs – is especially welcome. Their brief manifestation on 'The Man Who Waved at Trains' and Third-era, 'Out-Bloody-Rageous,' both stone-cold Mike Ratledge-composed classics, adds an extra spacey dimension to the overall sound.


Travis' use of looping technology with his flutes creates its own beguiling world and can be heard to powerful effect on the beautiful and enigmatic 'Breathe,' where his hovering notes are underpinned by Marshall's oblique yet atmospheric percussion.” - Sid Smith 

Soft Machine is a legend and an institution of British music, a band who included Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen, Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers, Andy Summers (later of The Police), Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Roy Babbington, John Marshall, Karl Jenkins, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Percy Jones, Rick Sanders, Dave McRae and Jack Bruce among others (Jimi Hendrix briefly jammed with the band in 1968!). Since its creation in 1966, this band pioneered Psychedelic and Progressive Rock, led the 'Canterbury' trend, pioneered jazz-rock, and then guitar-led fusion (launching the guitar god Allan Holdsworth in 1974), influenced generations of musicians.

Disbanded in 1978, recreated in few occasions in 1981 and 1984, the band resurfaces in 1999 under the name of Soft Ware. Much was said about this band with a very complex intriguing history of constant personal changes during the 1966-1978 period.

The band resurrected in 1999 under the name of Soft Ware, then as Soft Works 2002-2004 and Soft Machine Legacy 2004-2015. In December 2015, it was confirmed that the band had dropped the “Legacy” tag from their name, as the band featured three of the group's 1970s era members – guitarist John Etheridge, drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington (from the seminal 1976's album Softs), in addition to flute and sax player Theo Travis – returning to the original name from 2015, and performing numerous concerts all around Europe, South America and Japan.


Kenny Millions / Damon Smith / Weasel Walter - Fuck Music... Tell Jokes – You'll Make More Money (BALANCE POINT ACOUSTICS 2018)


Recorded live in the hipster graveyard of Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, Fuck Music… Tell Jokes – You’ll Make More Money features the diaper jazz/fuck you trio of Kenny Millions, Damon Smith, and Weasel Walter. Millions (aka. Keshavan Maslak), who recorded with the 1970s era free jazz heavy hitters (David Murray, Paul Bley, Sunny Murray) before growing disillusioned with the music industry to become a noisy and more unhinged artist, is in full confrontational mode. He scolds the trust fund kids in the audience, tells them to suck his dick, says “fuck you” a lot, and plays skronk sax and bass clarinet while wearing Depends. A real mature session. Millions is joined by the equally fiery Damon Smith, a Quincy, Massachusetts-based double bassist who has played with the legends (Brötzmann, Cecil, Marshall Allen), and journeyman drummer Weasel Walter, known for this work with The Flying Luttenbachers and Lydia Lunch. The pro-dubbed cassette, manufactured in a limited edition of 100 copies, features photos by Peter Gannushkin. Recorded live at Heck in Brooklyn on February 2, 2018.

1. Fuck Music, Tell Jokes, You'll Make More Money 48:55


Philippe Petit Trio - A Beautiful Friendship (2018)


This album, “A Beautiful Friendship” is, as its name suggests, the result of over 30 years of comradery, both professional and personal. These three exceptional musicians have crossed musical paths is so many different contexts it’s impossible to describe them all. From private parties in improbable venues, to prestigious festivals stages, accompanying a plethora of headliners, the variety of situations and conditions in which they have found themselves has nurtured an inevitable complicity which infuses their music. Their professionalism has always been accompanied by playful banter and jokes, the trio never really taking themselves seriously enough to consider recording an album… until recently! 

In 2014, drummer Eric Dervieu suggested they shout themselves to a studio session… just to have a souvenir. On hearing the raw takes, peers encouraged them to finish the project completely, by releasing an album. Thus, for your listening pleasure the album “A Beautiful Friendship” is now available.



1. A Beautiful Friendship 5:42
2. The Skies Will Clear 5:49
3. Tin Tin Deo 8:43
4. Nuit noire 5:10
5. Elle habite au 21 3:47
6. Later 6:26
7. Calimero's Song 4:43
8. Little One 5:48
9. N'Gor 7:21
10. Come Rain or Come Shine 5:36

Pierre Maingourd – Double Bass
Eric Dervieu - Drums

Recorded by Patrick Chesnais at Studio Aéronef and mixed by “Magic” Vincent Bruley at Studio Picolo (Paris).
CD Artwork - Didier Vaudron
Photographs – Lionel Baunot


Golia / Kaiser / Moses / Smith / Walter - Astral Plane Crash (BALANCE POINT ACOUSTICS August 1, 2018)


"Astral Plane Crash" features almost 80 full minutes of detailed, colorful and communicative free improvisation by a special quintet of veteran musicians including Vinny Golia (reeds), Ra Kalam Bob Moses (drums), Henry Kaiser (guitar), Damon Smith (bass) and Weasel Walter (drums). The core PLANE CRASH trio of Kaiser, Smith and Walter is a long-running unit, having worked together extensively in numerous contexts on releases like "Plane Crash" (ugEXPLODE, 2009) and "Plane Crash Two" (New Atlantis, 2015). Kaiser was amongst the first wave of 1970's US free improvisers and his diverse, endless discography is legendary. Since 2005, the versatile rhythm section of Smith and Walter has collaborated on almost 25 releases together.

Los Angeles-based workhorse mult-reedist Vinny Golia and mythic journeyman drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses join the fray here in their first time musical meeting. Golia brings a virtuoso articulation to a wide range of woodwind instruments here, multiplying the timbral variety of the group sound greatly. Those more familiar with Moses as a first rate jazz drummer for icons like Gary Burton, Steve Swallow, Pat Metheny & Dave Leibman may surprised at his current advanced free improvisation concept documented here.


The results resound with clarity, as space opens up spontaneously for every combination of the players, all captured in a beautifully transparent studio mix. Although the momentum is constant, this isn't another blaring energy music blow-out - the density crackles with sensitivity, support and mutual respect.

This quintet unleashes an orchestral arsenal of articulated abstraction and explores longer narrative lines, culminating in the two epic forms revealed here. The release comes with a 12 page color booklet featuring the stunning artwork of artist Jordan Belson as a mystical visual counterpart to the sonic mindscapes of the audio.



Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Jeff Pittson - The Dietrich Variations (July 17, 2018)


Jeff Pittson represents a dynamic force in the world of jazz having performed with such important figures as Joe Henderson, Ruth Brown, Eddie Henderson, John Handy, Jack Walrath, Mike Clark, Maynard Ferguson, Larry Coryell, Kenny Garrett, and many more. A virtuoso performer on piano and Moog synthesizer, he is also fluent on a wide spectrum of keyboards including Hammond B-3.   As a composer, Mr. Pittson wrote and performed on the soundtrack for the documentary film Ann Calvello: Demon of the Derby, making it’s debut at the San Francisco Film Festival in 2000.  His classical piano work, The Dietrich Variations, made its debut under the auspices of the Redding Ballet in 2003. Such gifted artists as Billy Childs, Chris Potter, Harvie S and Paul Jackson have performed and recorded his jazz compositions and he has appeared on CD along side of such distinguished artists as Herbie Hancock, Alphonse Mouzon, and Bennie Maupin.

Mr. Pittson has appeared at the Newport Jazz Festivals in New York and Newport, Atlantic City Jazz Festival, Wolftrap, Meadow Brook Music Festival, Ravinia, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Cotati Jazz Festival, Vallejo Jazz Festival, For The Love of Jazz. Concerts in Reno Nevada, The Mike Douglas Show and many others. He has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Hawaii, and the Caribbean.  Recordings with Maynard Ferguson on Columbia Records, “The Funk Stops Here!” with mike Clark and Paul Jackson on Enja/Tiptoe (4/12 stars in Downbeat, Sept’92), Jim Payne’s New York Funk, Volume 1 on Grammavision. Recent recordings include Paul Jackson’s “Black Octopus” Wally Schnalle’s “The Suit,” Jeff Massanari’s “Groovework,” “Carnival of Soul” by Mike Clark, and "Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard" by Suzanne Pittson.

Active as an educator and adjudicator for festivals, Mr. Pittson was Lecturer in Jazz Piano at Sonoma State University, Instructor in Piano at the Jazzschool (Berkeley, CA.), and also U.C. Berkeley as well as recent teaching at Rutgers University.  He is the leader on his own critically acclaimed CD’s Go Where It’s Dangerous, featuring Wally Schnalle and Invisible Love with drummer Brian Melvin and bassist Robb Fischer. Mr. Pittson lives in Dobbs Ferry, NY with his wife Suzanne and son Evan.


1. Theme: Falling in Love Again (Can't Help it)
2. Lonesome Love
3. Westworld
4. Exile Rhapsody
5. Hamburg
6. Mysterium
7. Night Intervals
8. Watercolors
9. Bodhi Tree Satti
10. Third Eye
11. Running Man
12. Eight Winds
13. Preludium
14. Inventio
15. Pianola Duo
16. Opus Posthuma
17. Love Lost Tango
18. Tears In The Rain
19. Les Six
20. Majorca
21. The View From Manhattan
22. Leningrad
23. Shiva
24. Etude In Fifths
25. Microdensities
26. Endlessly Rising
27. Fantasies
28. Flying Dutchman
29. The Starry Sky
30. Fanfare
31. Fin De Siecle
32. Reductio
33. Coda


All music composed by Jeff Pittson, November 2000–March 2001
(Jeff Pittson Publishing, BMI)
except "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help it"
composed by Frederick Hollander, English lyric by Sammy Lerner
(Pensive Music/Frederick Hollander Music, ASCAP)

Engineering: Dave Bell
Mastering: September 30, 2001, Bellboy Recording, Richmond, CA
Graphic Design: Evan Pittson
Piano Illustration: Jeff Pittson


Randy Brecker & Mats Holmquist - Together (with Umo Jazz Orchestra) MAMA RECORDS July 24, 2018


Randy Brecker has been shaping the sound of music for decades. His performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, George Benson and Parliament-Funkadelics to two Grammy winners on Summit & MAMA Records.

These arrangements all have little (and not so little) twists and turns that keep you on your toes at all times. There are 3 Chick Corea tunes, 'Crystal Silence', 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'Windows' masterfully re-worked by Mats, Two Mats 'impressions' or minimalistic versions of so-called "Standards' 'Stella By Starlight' (we both have daughter named Stella by the way), and 'All the Things you Are' which are re-imagined with delightful results, the beautiful Ray Evans- Jay Livingston ballad 'Never Let Me Go' and then three Mats original compositions: 'One Million Circumstances', 'Always Young' and 'Summer and Winter' each quite challenging in their own way.

I think you'll really enjoy this CD there are absolutely no dull moments, you are going to be taken on the ride of a lifetime, so enjoy it and let me know when you come back to Earth!

Randy Brecker

This CD features 3 compositions and one arrangement written in the late eighties; "One Million Circumstances", "Summer and Winter", "Always Young", "Never Let Me Go" - three arrangements of Chick Corea compositions; "Windows", "Crystal Silence", "Humpty Dumpty" -and 2 new re-compositions based on famous standards; "My Stella" (Stellla by Starlight") and "All My Things" ("All the Things You Are"). In other words three different periods are represented; late eighties, beginning of the 2000s (Chick Corea) and the present (re-composition of standards).

UMO Jazz Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in Finland specialised in jazz and new rhythm-oriented music. The big band of 16 musicians plays about 80 concerts every year in Finland and abroad. The orchestra plays a diverse range of modern music that is on the pulse of the times.

One Million Circumstances
Summer and Winter
Never Let Me Go
Windows
All My Things
Crystal Silence
Humpty Dumpty
My Stella
Always Young


JIM EIGO
JAZZ PROMO SERVICES
272 State Route 94 South #1, Warwick, NY 10990-3363
Ph: 845-986-1677
jim@jazzpromoservices.com • www.jazzpromoservices.com
“Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

David Kollar - Improvisations under the roof (2018)


Improvisation under the roof. I have met my new friend Martin Sejk, who has got recording system and old amps. Then I have asked my friend Vlado Šipoš if he can record video of my improvisations. We have met one day and we did it. 

1. Nice 06:50
2. Fast 08:02
3. Slow 09:00

Martin Sejk - sound engineer
Vlado Šipoš - camera
Jakub Tirčo - photo