When:
Monday, November 02, 2009 10:30 PM to 12:00 AM PST
Where:
Bar Continental Providéncia 30, Barcelona, Barcelona
Saturday, October 31, 2009
When:
Monday, November 02, 2009 10:30 PM to 12:00 AM PST
Where:
Bar Continental Providéncia 30, Barcelona, Barcelona
Friday, October 30, 2009
How to Listen to Jazz
By Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
After surviving a near-fatal marriage and returning once again to the Original Geniusdome, the site of some of my best work (remember that really funny thing I wrote about jazz that time?), I recently took some time to reflect upon my contributions to Our Music. As the Dean of American Jazz Humorists©®, I have long considered it my responsibility both to demystify some of the more esoteric aspects of jazz and to loosen the death grip of the zealot so that the music can breathe.
And if by fulfilling these duties, I should somehow end up rich and famous, romantically linked to unspeakably hot actresses like Christina Hendricks and/or Scarlett Johansson and given a lifetime supply of beer by the Anheuser-Busch corporation for my work promoting the consumption of their product by tireless example, well, then, so be it.
But in the process of sifting through my collected works, a glaring oversight was pointed out to me by my parakeet/bodyguard Luca Brasi. "Yes, we get it, Wynton Marsalis has a very round head. But where in all this do you give JazzNoobs a lesson in how to listen to this sometimes daunting music?" he said, making a valid point for someone who spends a significant portion of his day chirping at his own reflection in a mirror. Sure enough, in eight years of occupying my mantle here at AAJ, I had not once addressed the very basic issue that is probably most responsible for keeping people from making a more dedicated foray into the seemingly impenetrable depths of Our Music that lie beyond the safety and comfort of the familiar kind of jazz one hears on those 1970's TV shows where people in polyester bell-bottoms and crocheted sweater-vests are supposed to be hip.
Be that as it may.
To the uninitiated, jazz may seem either irrelevant or impenetrable. The soundtrack by which middle-aged men with ponytails drive their Volkswagen Passats to Whole Foods, a tuneless mishmash of meandering solos and jarring chords set atop a seemingly unrelated rhythm. Jazz comes off as inaccessible to the average Joe (not Joe Zawinul, obviously), like a 12-page wine list in one of those places where they call green beans "haricot verts" like they're better than you or something.
Yet, every day people from all walks of life find themselves exposed to some aspect of Our Music that makes them pause and think, "I like this, I wonder what kind of music it is?" When informed by a helpful passer-by that it is, in fact, jazz, most people go through the same five steps:
Denial. "That can't be jazz!"
Anger. "Jazz is for people with .edu e-mail addresses and too many cats, for crissakes!"
Bargaining. "Maybe it is kinda jazzy, but I wouldn't call it jazz."
Depression. "Me, listening to jazz? I might as well go buy some Birkenstocks and a Prius right now. And they'll never let me back in the Moose Lodge. All is lost."
Acceptance. "Maybe jazz is alright after all. Maybe I'll go buy me a whole jazz CD. And I might even try one of them mocha lattes they serve in places that sell jazz."
Complete on: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34485
Susan Wylde
She has lived and/or performed in such culturally rich locations as Europe, Thailand, Hawaii, Japan, China, USA, Canada and Cuba. Susan is a classically trained pianist and a graduate of the Western Conservatory of Music.
Her love of singing lead her into performing in musical theatre at a young age in Canada. Her new CD, co-written with Eddie Bullen, is called Shambhala. The 14 tracks on this CD draw from pop, traditional and contemporary jazz as well as blues and R&B. Susan’s songwriting and voice speak of clarity, vibrancy, emotional depth and soulfulness. “Not a copy act, she focuses attention on the individuality of her own artistic sensibilities” - JAZZ TIMES. Susan has worked with several other artists (vocal, piano, percussion) in the studio and on stage. However, this is her first jazz CD. Shambhala has been nominated for a jazz award and several jazz festivals in Canada and outside Canada have invited her to perform on their mainstage.
Susan’s diverse influences include: Herbie Hancock, Joe Jackson, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, John Legend, Sting, Spyro Gyra, Steeley Dan, and Joni Mitchell. Susan’s writing partner, Eddie Bullen, is a Juno award-winning producer, writer and performer. In 2008, Eddie was chosen for the job of music director for the Beijing Summer Olympics music gala.
Susan has shared the stage or studio with the following musicians: Charlie Wilson, Julian Fauth, Delfeayo Marsalis, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Hilario Duran, Simon Wilcox, Brian Griffith, Danny Lockwood, Emm Gryner, Esthero, Harrison Kennedy, Grace Kelley, Diana Braithwaite, Chris Whiteley, Jack Dekyzer, Jeff Rogers, Marissa Lyndsey, Adam Soloman, Adrean Farrugia, Kate Schutt, Eddie Bullen, Jochim Nunez, Ken Whiteley, Reg Schwager, Don Thompson, Roberto Sibony, Melissa McClelland, Kevin Dempsey, Mark Cashion, Cindy Fairbank. This year has been a great year for Susan Wylde Quartet. Highlights are: performing in Japan, New Orleans, Miami,New York City,Hawaii,China and Cuba, opening for Grammy Award winner Delfeayo Marsalis, working with prolific jazz musicians Reg Schwager and Don Thompson.
Susan is the Creator, producer and artistic director for Goddess Charity Events. These events have raised thousands of dollars for women’s and children’s shelters and have helped World Vision and several environmental charities.
Susan has received a nomination for an Ontario Independent Music Award. The awards will take place at the Phoenix Concert Hall - Toronto. www.myspace.com/susanwylde You can join Susan Wylde on TWITTER and FACEBOOK Festival/Club Agents,Promoters, Reviewers,Licensing etc. - Check out Susan Wylde on Myspace and Sonic Bids.com. Radio - Music Directors, Reviewers etc. - Susan Wylde's music is available - http://www.radiosubmit.com/ and http://www.musicsubmit.com/
Home: Toronto, Canada
Press Quotes
”Not a copy act, she focuses attention on the individuality of her own artistic sensibilities. Her soulful voice, insightful lyrics and unique arrangements satisfy the senses” --Jazz Times
“Unlike others who often fill their CDs with copycat standards, Wylde chooses not to ride the coattails of legends. Instead, she is carving a path that is unique and authentic” --Downbeat
Awards
Nominated Ontario Indy Jazz Artist of the Year 2008
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=18969
Calendar
3 nov 2009 20:00 Private Corporate Event Toronto
9 nov 2009 20:00 Qingdao, China Qingdao
11 nov 2009 20:00 Beijing, China Beijing
13 nov 2009 20:00 Seoul, Korea Seoul
14 nov 2009 20:00 Seoul, Korea Seoul
17 nov 2009 20:00 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo
18 nov 2009 20:00 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo
28 nov 2009 20:00 Susan Wylde Quartet featuring Reg Schwager and Don Thompson Toronto, Ontario
14 dez 2009 20:00 Toronto Toronto
Abigail Riccards....
BioIn 2000, she was also selected to participate in the Jazz in July workshop at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and competed in the 2006 Fish Middleton Competition. Abigail has played with renowned talents such as David Berkman, Dena DeRose, Carl Allen, Lonnie Plaxico, George Duke, Adam Kolker, Doug Weiss, Peter Martin, Steve LaSpina, Steve Cardenas, Matt Wilson and Mulgrew Miller. Last spring, she was the opening act for several jazz greats including Kenny Werner, Jean "Toots" Thielemans and Joe Lovano.
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), she has studied privately or participated in workshops with Catherine Jensen-Hole, Adam Kolker, Maggie Scott, Dianne Reeves, David Berkman, Nancy Marano, Regina Carter, Mulgrew Miller, Steve LaSpina, Don Braden, Bill Goodwin, Nancy Marano, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton and Dena DeRose. Abigail currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. She recently completed the graduate studies program at William Paterson University, studying jazz vocal performance. Abigail sings in and around New York City, at such familiar venues that include the Jazz Standard, the Kitano, 55 Bar and Sweet Rhythm.
She recently recorded her debut album with David Berkman, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson, Adam Kolker, Ron Horton, Lage Lund, Rogerio Boccato and produced by Dena DeRose. Her album, which will be released on Jazz Excursion Records, is available in stores, on iTunes, and on amazon.com or can be purchased at http://www.jazzexcursionrecords.com/.
UpComing Dates
Nov 2 2009 New York, New York 55 Bar 7:00PM
Nov 5 2009 New York, New York Silverleaf Tavern 6:30PM
Nov 29 2009 New York, New York St. Peter's Jazz Vespers 5:00PM
Dec 8 2009 New York, New York 55 Bar 7:00PM
Jan 17 2010 Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania The Deerhead Inn 5:00PM
Abigail Riccards - Vocals
David Berkman - Piano
Ben Allison - Bass
Matt Wilson - Drums
Adam Kolker - Woodwinds
Ron Horton - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Lage Lund - Guitar
Rogerio Boccato - Percussion
3er. Festival Jazz Ensamble 09
After its first two editions significance of the life cycle of Jazz Ensemble, and with the aim of further enhancing free airtime for the broadcast of music and cultural activities in peripheral areas to the capital of our country presents Banfield Teatro Ensamble "III Festival Jazz Ensemble" during the Sundays of November 2009. The program includes clinics, concerts, jamm session, and a band contest, whose winners will participate in the four concerts of the Festival as groups "support". Admission to all the activities is free.
Silvina says Aspiazu, coordinator and cycle program and the Festival Jazz Ensemble: "... our approach is not only being an alternative site for the city of Buenos Aires, but create a space that combines artistic excellence and respect for the work, the musicians and the public. "
Programming >
All details on: http://jazzclub.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/3-festival-jazz-ensamble-2009-banfield/
Terry Vosbein Medley
Excerpts from PROGRESSIVE JAZZ 2009, a new CD by Terry Vosbein and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. PART TWO: The music of Terry Vosbein.
More information is found at www.maxfrankmusic.com
Progressive Jazz 2009
Terry Vosbein and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
Over the last few years, Terry Vosbein, a Professor of Music at Washington and Lee University and a classically-trained composer of symphonies, operas, and chamber music (not to mention a former bassist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra), has been exhaustively researching the unrecorded scores from the Stan Kenton Collection at the University of North Texas. Now, thanks to his meticulous research, Vosbein leads the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra in the debut recordings of four originals and two arrangements by Kenton's eminence grise Pete Rugolo plus two charts from the iconoclastic composer/arranger Bob Graettinger, all dating from the period 1946-48. Moreover, Vosbein, an alumnus of the Kenton clinics during the Seventies, has added five of his own Kenton-inspired compositions plus a long-overdue Kentonian setting of a Stephen Sondheim classic.Rugolo's 1948 "Artistry In Gillespie," an excursion into bebop a la his "Capitol Punishment" recorded the previous year, launches the CD with the force of a rocket, with David King, Don Hough, Stewart Cox, and Rusty Holloway respectively re-creating the solo roles of Kentonians Art Pepper, Milt Bernhart, Ray Wetzel, and Eddie Safranski. The Rugolo treatment of Claude Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun," which dates from 1946 when the opus was about 55 years old, retains the impressionistic atmosphere of the original while transporting it into the realm of Kentonia via Doug Rinaldo's alto.
"Don't Blame Me" is a typical Kenton ballad arrangement from the Forties, opening with the piano of Bill Swann, then building to a climax featuring Wayne Thompson's trumpet, and finally settling to a quiet coda following Holloway's bass interlude. Hough re-traces the solo path of Eddie Bert on Rugolo's "Hambeth," one of the few opuses in the Kenton repertoire with a Shakespearean title.
"Cuban Pastorale," by the then 24-year-old Graettinger, is an atonal visit to Havana which avoided recording due to a commercial ban imposed by the American Federation of Musicians throughout most of 1948, featuring trumpeter Rich Willey. Graettinger and Rugolo appear to have traded roles on their respective charts of "Walkin' by the River" and "Rhythms at Work," with each arrangement remarkably resembling the style of the opposite arranger (i.e. Graettinger's writing sounding more like Rugolo and vice versa).
Vosbein's own contributions would have easily qualified for acceptance into the Kenton library, and two of them (his arrangement of "Johanna" from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which spotlights the trombone section in a most Kentonian mode, and the original "Ahora es el Tiempo") merit inclusion in the repertoire of Mike Vax's Kenton Alumni band. In his writing, Vosbein interweaves the influences of Rugolo, Graettinger, and such other distinguished Kenton arrangers as Bill Holman, Ken Hanna, Bill Russo, and Willie Maiden.
One additional bonus: the CD package displays a rare 1948 color rehearsal photo showing Kenton, Rugolo, and Graettinger, along with saxophonists Bob Gioga and Bob Cooper with their backs to the camera, courtesy of the UNT Kenton Collection. Track listing: Artistry In Gillespie; Afternoon of a Faun; Cuban Pastorale; Walkin' by the River; Rhythms at Work; Don't Blame Me; Jumping Monkey; Johanna; Hambeth; Ahora es el Tiempo; Odin's Dream; The Real Princess.
Personnel: Terry Vosbein, Conductor, composer, and arranger; Doug Rinaldo, alto sax, flute; David King, alto sax, flute; Alan Wyatt, tenor sax; Will Boyd, tenor sax; Tom Johnson, baritone sax; Stewart Cox, trumpet; Michael Spirko, trumpet; Tom Fox, trumpet; Rich Willey, trumpet; Vance Thompson, trumpet; Tom Lundberg, trombone; Don Hough, trombone; Nate Malone, trombone; Bill Huber, trombone; Brad McDougall, bass trombone; Bill Swann, piano; Rusty Holloway, bass; Keith Brown, drums; Mark Boling, guitar; David Knight, Latin percussion.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34454
Stanley Jordan featured in latest Jazz St. Louis podcast
Hot on the metaphorical heels of their recent podcast featuring bassist Christian McBride, Jazz St. Louis is rolling out another installment in their ongoing series of audio interviews with jazz artists who are coming to St. Louis. The newest podcast features a conversation between JSL's Gene Dobbs Bradford and guitarist Stanley Jordan, who will be in town next Wednesday, November 4 through Saturday, November 7 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro. You can download the podcast or listen to an audio stream here.
http://stljazznotes.blogspot.com/2009/10/stanley-jordan-featured-in-latest-jazz.html
StLJN - Reggie Thomas and OGD, Lamar Harris and Tribal Funk, Kim Portnoy Trio....
Though ghosts, goblins and ghouls may reign supreme this Halloween weekend, it should still be possible for interested listeners to scare up some good jazz in St. Louis. Tonight, singer Erin Bode and her group will help inaugurate a new "special events" room at Cyrano's in Webster Groves. There's no word yet if Cyrano's plans to make this new addition a regular venue for live music, but fans who in the past have packed in to see Bode perform in the main part of the restaurant no doubt will enjoy the extra elbow room.
On Friday and Saturday, keyboardist Reggie Thomas and his organ trio OGD will take the stage at Robbie's House of Jazz, augmented for the weekend by special guests Ronald Carter (pictured) on saxophone and Anthony Wiggins on trumpet. Thomas is one of the top keyboard talents in the area, and adding Carter and Wiggins to the mix will expand the band's sonic pallette considerably.
Also on Friday and Saturday, trombonist Lamar Harris and Tribal Funk will perform at Jazz at the Bistro. Harris' music blends jazz, funk, R&B and hip-hop, and though I haven't heard his newest project yet, given the name I'd expect an emphasis on beats and grooves.
More on: http://stljazznotes.blogspot.com/2009/10/jazz-this-week-reggie-thomas-and-ogd.html
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Summer theater producer John Kenley dies at 103
Associated Press
CLEVELAND – John Kenley, a theater producer who ran a legendary summer stock circuit in Ohio beginning in the 1950s that attracted numerous Broadway and Hollywood stars, has died, a family friend said Thursday. He was 103. Kenley died Oct. 23 at the Cleveland Clinic from complications of pneumonia, said Anita Dloniak, a friend and press agent. Kenley produced hundreds of plays and musicals. His Kenley Players, a summer stock circuit that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1957, featured such stars as Arthur Godfrey, Ethel Merman, Mae West, Burt Reynolds, Billy Crystal, William Shatner and Robert Goulet.
He later opened other Ohio-based theaters in Warren, Columbus and Akron before moving into the Playhouse Square Center in downtown Cleveland in 1984. Kenley began acting in New York City in the 1920s and once served as an aide to famed producer Lee Shubert. He became a summer theater producer in 1940 in Deer Lake, Pa., and worked in other eastern cities, including Washington D.C. In a 1950 interview with The Washington Post, Kenley described the summer theater he ran in Lakewood Park., Pa., where theatergoers, many of them coal miners and their families, saw stars such as Gloria Swanson and Lizabeth Scott.
"I only charge $1.50 top, which makes some of the other summer managers livid," he said. "I'd rather have full houses every night than be stuck with a batch of empty seats." By the 1970s and 1980s, he was featuring TV stars such as Pam Dawber from "Mork and Mindy," who played Eliza Doollittle in "My Fair Lady" for Kenley one summer in Ohio. But the older movie stars were also still active.
In a Chicago Tribune interview in 1977, he recalled finding Debra Paget, a 1950s star appearing in a production for him, rehearsing all alone when he went back to the theater late one night to pick up something. "These stars work hard," he said. "They're an amazing ilk. ... There was a reason why they were stars in the first place."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091029/ap_en_ot/us_obit_kenley
François Rabbath
He was eager to go to the Paris Conservatory, meet with Monsieur Nanny and show him what he was able to do with the bass. When he applied at the Conservatory he was disappointed to learn that Nanny had died in 1947. He was also told that auditions were to be held in three days and that he would never have enough time to learn the required pieces. He asked for the music anyway and returned three days later to finish first among the applicants. However, his stay at the Conservatory was a brief one, since it didn't take very long to see that he was not only far ahead of the other students but of the professors as well!
While in Paris he began to earn his living as an accompanist for Jacque Brel, Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Becaud, Michel Legrand and others. In 1963 he made his first of many solo record albums. Although never advertised or promoted, the Phillips album Bass Ball became one of the most sought after recordings of its time. From 1964 he became active composing much music for movies and the theater. At the same time he started to play solo recitals, first in France, then throughout Europe. His American debut was in Carnegie Hall in 1975.
François Rabbath's uniqueness stems from his refusal to accept any traditional limitations. Whether performing his own fascinating compositions, the music of others or the classical repertoire, one is always moved by his profound musicianship and dazzling virtuosity. You quickly discover that he brings you such a sense of security that the most difficult passages sound effortless.
In 1978 Rabbath met the American composer-double bassist Frank Proto. A close friendship quickly developed when the two discovered that they had many shared musical experiences and philosophies. Neither had any respect for the boundaries that separated classical, jazz and ethnic musicians. Both were as comfortable playing chamber music at a formal concert one day and improvising with jazz musicians the next. In 1980 the Cincinnati Symphony asked Proto to compose a concerto especially for Rabbath. The resulting Concerto No. 2 for Double Bass and Orchestra was premiered by Cincinnati in 1981.
Two years later the Houston Symphony asked Proto to write another work especially for Rabbath. The Fantasy for Double Bass and Orchestra was premiered in Houston in 1983. Rabbath has since played the work around the world. Their third collaboration, the Carmen Fantasy, began life as a work for double bass and piano. Rabbath again premiered the work in Cincinnati in July of 1991 with the composer at the piano. Proto orchestrated the work in the spring of 1992. All three works have been recorded and are available on the Compact Disc Frank Proto: Works for Double Bass and Orchestra. (Red Mark 9204). Their most recent collaboration has been on Proto's Four Scenes after Picasso - Concerto No. 3 for Double Bass and Orchestra.
We are fortunate in that Rabbath has recorded constantly through the years. His sequel to Bass Ball - Multi Bass '70 (Red Mark 9202) is still available, as is Live Around the World (Red Mark 9201), a collection of his own compositions recorded in concert. The original Carmen Fantasy for Double Bass and Piano with the composer at the piano, was recorded recently along with his own Concerto No. 3 and Two Miniatures - Carmen! (Red Mark 9203).
The importance of François Rabbath to the development of double bass playing can be compared with that of Paganini to the violin. Since the early 1800s when Nicole Paganini established the violin as a virtuoso instrument, solo violinists have practiced the most brilliant of instrumental art. Meanwhile, the development of double bass playing had been seriously neglected.
The great and popular 19th century composers did not consider the bass worth their attention and in turn the bass repertoire did not attract potential virtuoso performers with enough genius to change the situation. It demanded an artist with the unique qualities of François Rabbath to break this impasse.
http://www.liben.com/FRBio.html
Kenny Drew Jr.
Kenny Drew, Jr. was born in New York City in 1958. He started music lessons at the age of four. After studying classical piano with his Aunt Marjorie, he branched out into the area of jazz music. Kenny Jr. has performed worldwide with a comprehensive variety of musicians, including Stanley Jordan, Out of the Blue (OTB), Stanley Turrentine, Slide Hampton and the Jazz Masters, the Mingus Big Band, Steve Grossman, Yoshiaki Masuo, Sadao Watanabe, Smokey Robinson, Frank Morgan, Daniel Schnyder, and many others.Kenny Drew Jr. was the winner of the 1990 Great American jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville FL. He has appeared as a leader at many major festivals, including the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Kyoto Jazz Festival, Savannah on Stage Festival, Clearwater Jazz Festival, and the Newark Jazz Festival. Kenny has also performed as leader at many major jazz clubs around the country, such as Bradley's (NY), Visiones (NY), The Blue Note (NY), Blues Alley (DC), Fat Tuesday's (NY), The VIllage Gate (NY), Trumpets (NJ), The Jazz Showcase (Chicago), Twins Lounge (DC), One Step Down (DC), and the Montreal Bistro (Toronto).
He has recorded nine albums as a leader and has also made numerous recordings as a sideman. Within the last couple of years, Kenny has performed at concerts & in clubs with: The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Faddis/Hampton/Heath Sextet, Steve Turre, Jack Walrath, David Sanchez, Jack Wilkins, Michael Mossman, Ronnie Cuber, Steve Slagle, and Marlena Shaw. Some of the more memorable performances in 1997 included appearances with Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, and Jimmy Heath at the Montreal North Sea, and Lugano festivals and with the Mingus Big Band at the Chicago & Detroit festivals. Kenny also played with Stanley Turrentine on the SS Norway jazz cruise.
Kenny Drew Jr.has also begun to gain a reputation as a performer of classical music. He has performed both jazz & classical music at the Barossa Music Festival in Australia in 1996 & 1997. The classical repertoire included Bach concertos and music by African-American composers. These concerts consisted of solo piano recitals and appearances with renowned classical musicians such as violinist Jane Peters and pianist Peter Waters. Kenny has also been playing with a classical/chamber-jazz trio led by composer/saxophonist/flautist Daniel Schnyder, with David Taylor on bass trombone. In addition to appearances at the Barossa Festival in 1997, the group has also performed concerts in Switzerland and New York.
Among Kenny's recordings with Daniel Schnyder are, the "Sonata for Soprano Saxophone & Piano" and the "Sonata for Bass Trombone & Piano" (with David Taylor). Kenny also participated in the recording of Schnyder's Third Symphony with the Basel Radio Orchestra under the direction of Hans Drewanz. Other groups and artists Kenny has performed with are: The Absolute Ensemble, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Shirley Horn,Teddy Edwards and Henry Johnson. Kenny also played a solo piano tribute to Duke Ellington on Ellington's 100th birthday at the Tonhalle in Zurich. He has recently appeared with his own trio at the Village Vanguard in New York,the Jazz Showcase in Chicago and on the Queen Elizabeth 2 Jazz Cruise.
Kenny's next recording will be released in November 2000 on the TCB label. It is titled "Remembrance" and features the rhythm section of Tony Jefferson and Santi Debriano along with special guests Wallace Roney and Stefon Harris. In March 2001, Kenny Drew Jr. played a very well-received solo classical recital in Key West,FL, performing works by Haydn, Mozart, Chopin and Liszt.
CHECK OUT KENNY DREW JR'S CLASSICAL REPERTOIRE
In the same month, Kenny recorded his 20th album as a leader, "Autumn", for the Japanese label Pony Canyon. The CD also features George Mraz on bass and Tony Jefferson on drums. He also recorded a CD of two-piano jazz arrangements of music by Ravel with pianist Peter Waters. This CD, which was recorded in Switzerland, also features the Winterthur Chamber Orchestra. In the summer of 2001, Kenny Drew Jr. was one of the teachers at the Engadin International Summer Piano Academy in Switzerland, giving master classes and private lessons.
He was also one of the featured artists at the West Coast Jazz Party in California. In the fall he did a successful tour of Switzerland with Daniel Schnyder, including a concert with members of the Zurich Opera Orchestra. Kenny played two concerts at the Umea Jazz Festival in Sweden in October 2001, including a performance of Daniel Schnyder's Piano Concerto with the Norrlands Opera Orchestra under the direction of Krystian Jarvi. This concert was recorded for release as a CD.
http://www.jayweb.com/kennydrew/bio.html
Fly Me To The Moon - Kenny Drew Jr.
The Flame Within
Bob Berg(ts),
Kenny Drew Jr.(pf),
Charnett Moffett(b),
Al Foster(ds)
Recorded at Sound on Sound Recording, NYC, in Nov, 1987 - Jazz City 1987
The Three Suns....
Morty Nevins, accordion (Born Morton Tepper 26 May 1917, Washington, DC; Died 20 July 1990, Beverly Hills, California)
Artie Dunn, organ (Born 14 March 1922, Dorchester, Massachussetts; Died 15 January 1996, Palm Springs, California)
Reputed to be Mamie Eisenhower's favorite group, the Three Suns are the leading small group in exotica. Brothers Al and Morty grew up in Brooklyn, where they joined with their cousin, Artie Dunn, as a trio, Al switching from violin to guitar to pick up more gigs. After a year or two working around New York City, they got their first serious show at the Adelphia Hotel in Philadelphia in 1939 and then moved on the Circus lounge of the Hotel Picadilly in New York in 1940, where a two-week engagement turned into a seven-year stay.
They had their first hit in 1944, with "Twilight Time," and their cover of "Peg O' My Heart," released just after the Harmonicats' version came out, contended with it for the #1 spot. The Three Suns were a concept as much as a group, since Al Nevins dropped and added players to suit the material. In the late 1940s, the group was a quintet, with a rhythm guitar and bass added. Their first big hit, "Twilight Time," written by Morty Nevins, went on to have over 3 million air plays, according to BMI. In 1951, they recorded as a quintet with Marty Gold on organ and Larry Green on piano.
They also recorded as a quartet with Ray Bohr on pipe organ (and later, on "Swinging on a Star," with R&B sax legend King Curtis!), as a sextet, a septet (with Billy Mure on second guitar), a combo of 13 (on "Perdido," 1954), and with orchestral accompaniment. Nevins himself stopped performing live in 1954 and concentrated on producing and publishing. Johnny Buck and later Joe Negri replaced him on guitar. Artie Dunn then reformed the group for live performances in 1957 with Tony Lovello on accordion and Johnny Romano on guitar. Morty Nevins went into studio work as an arranger and composer, and Al Nevins formed a music publishing house, Aldon Music, with Don Kirshner.
Aldon Music, located at 1650 Broadway, was just across the street from the legendary Brill Building. Nevins and Kirschner signed many of New York's best young songwriters and Aldon Music placed over 200 songs on the Top 40 charts, including "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Up On The Roof" by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and "Uptown" by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Aldon Music was bought by Columbia Pictures-Screen Gems in 1964. Kirschner took over as head of the music company, and Al Nevins retired.
The Three Suns became considerably more experimental after Nevins formed Aldon Music. Al suffered a series of major heart attacks in the early 1960s that forced him out of performing, and he began to shift the producing work to others. Many of the later albums are credited to "Nevins, Kirschner Associate" and list no players. Al Nevins was willing to experiment with the best of them, and hired such bold arrangers as Sid Ramin, Marty Gold, and Roy Glover.
He liked to toss in unusual instruments and sounds, such as the celestine, a theater pipe organ, castanets, vibes, a six-guitar combo, and what I think is a musical saw (on "One Enchanted Evening"). The best of the later albums were arranged by Charles Albertine. Nevins also recorded three albums of soft orchestral music for RCA under his own name. In the late 1960s, Morty Nevins revived the Three Suns, this time featuring Vinnie Bell on miscellaneous guitar paraphenalia and Fred Mendelsohn on organ, for Musicor Records.
Among cognoscenti, "Fever and Smoke," "Movin' and Groovin'," "On a Magic Carpet," "Twilight Memories," and "A Swingin' Thing" are considered the albums to seek out. "Danny's Inferno," from "Movin' and Groovin'," is included on more recent exotica compilations than perhaps any other cut and is one of the leading examples of a classical kitsch number.
For more information on the Three Suns in their various instantiations, check out Michael Toth's excellent website, the Three Suns Universe.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/threesun.htm
Milt Buckner....
Born: July 10, 1915
Died: July 17, 1977
Milt Buckner _ piano, Hammond Organ
A colorful and versatile musician who was comfortable while on the piano, or stretching out on the Hammond organ. Milt Buckner was also quite the character and very much the jovial entertainer. Orphaned as a child, Buckner was taught music by an uncle in Detroit. He started playing piano and arranging for local bands such as The Harlem Aristocrats and The Dixie Whangdoodles - by the late 1920s. After joining drummer Don Cox's band in 1932, Buckner began experimenting with patterned parallel chords, becoming famous as the earliest purveyor of what came to be known as “block chords” or “locked hands” style;, he then attracted the attention of McKinney's Cotton Pickers in 1934 for whom he wrote arrangements.
Buckner continued working with the local Detroit groups of Don Cox and Jimmy Raschel, until he joined Lionel Hampton's big band as pianist and arranger in November 1941, acting as pianist and staff arranger, and remained there for seven years, where his recorded arrangements included “Tempo's Birthday,” “Slide Hamp Slide,” “Overtime,” “Rockin' In Rhythm,” and the perennial “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop,” and “Hamp's Boogie Woogie.” Hamp's free-wheeling orchestra suited Milt admirably; the on-stage histrionics, the jump and swing repertoire and the musical and visual appeal of the band fit his charact er like a glove.
While with Hampton, Milt broke away sporadically to pursue his own career on Savoy Records from 1946 to 1948, after getting an early taste recording a lone side under his own name for Hamp's Hamp-Tone label. Recording with a small quartet or quintet, he achieved sufficient success to quit Hamp's band in 1948 at which time Milt quickly formed his own orchestra which recorded for MGM Records.
Around this time that Buckner began to concentrate on playing organ, and he worked as a solo or in harness with Jo Jones, Sam Woodyard and Illinois Jacquet, frequently returning to Hampton for record and concert dates. Milt returned to Hampton in 1950 for another two years during which time he switched from piano to organ - after being influenced by Wild Bill Davis' playing on Louis Jordan's “Tamburitza Boogie” - an instrument he was largely to stick with for the rest of his life.
As a jazz organist he recorded for Regent (1952), Scooter (1952-53), Brunswick (1953), Capitol (1955-57), Argo (1959-61) and Bethlehem (1962-63) before recording extensively in Europe throughout the 1960s and 1970s for the likes of Black & Blue, whe re he was the resident session man for visiting musicians. He also did recordings for MPS and Jazz Odyssey. With the rise of the international jazz festival scene in the 1960s, he began to tour extensively. He died in 1977 shortly after setting up his organ for a live performance with his old buddy Illinois Jacquet at Jazz Showcase. He was just 62.
Milt Buckner left us quite a recorded legacy from the years of 1946 until his death. There are many of his works available currently.Recommended listening: The Chronological Milt Buckner 1946-1951 (2002, Classics CD 5032) - 20 tracks featuring all the issued recordings he made as a pianist with his own band for Savoy, Regent and MGM, in both big band and small jump combo formats, prior to his switch to hammond organ. The Lionel Hampton Story (2000, PROPERBOX 12) - 4CD box set featuring many recordings spotlighting Buckner as pianist and arranger with the high-flying Hampton band.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=5433
Kitano Jazz club....
Jim Snidero Quartet
Kitano Jazz club, 66 Park Ave, NYCFriday and Saturday, October 30-31, Sets 8 and 10 pm
http://www.kitano.com/
The Kitano jazz club is proud to announce the CD release event for alto saxophonist Jim Snidero's critically acclaimed recording "Crossfire", on Savant records. The event will feature Snidero's new group- Paul Bollenback-Guitar, Paul Gill-Bass, and Billy Drummond-drums-performing all of the music from "Crossfire", sited by critic Neil Tesser as "some of Snidero's most insightful work on disc", and "a new band an evolving approach that deserves your attention". All About Jazz critic Glenn Astarita, in his review, states Snidero's "craft is synonymous with general excellence within the modern jazz realm"
For full reviews of "Crossfire", please go to these links-
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33893
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34099
Bio
A fine post-bop improviser and alto saxman, Jim Snidero is a bit underrated but is well-appreciated by his fellow musicians. He attended the University of North Texas and moved to New York in 1981. Snidero toured and recorded with Jack McDuff, he's been a member of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra since the mid-'80s, has worked with the backup bands of Frank Sinatra and Eddie Palmieri, and has spent time playing with the Frank Wess Sextet, the Mel Lewis Orchestra, and the Mingus Big Band. As a leader, Jim Snidero has recorded for the Japanese East World label (1984), Ken, Square Discs, Red, and Criss Cross. He has also recorded as a sideman with Brian Lynch, Conrad Herwig, and Tom Varner, and been active in jazz education both as a teacher and as an author of instructional books.
Scott Yanow
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley Revisited
By John Birchard
It could have been 1962. On Saturday evening at Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, a quintet of musicians from the Smithsonian Jazz Master Works Orchestra presented Portrait of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. The band was headed by the orchestra's lead alto player, Charlie Young, who served as master of ceremonies. Trumpeter Tom Williams played Nat Adderley's parts. The rhythm section was pianist Bob Butta, bassist James King and drummer Ken Kimery.
The program concentrated on Adderley's years at Riverside Records, with which he signed following his stint with Miles Davis, and specifically on 1959 through 1961. The transcribed arrangements came from five LPs ... In San Francisco, Them Dirty Blues, ...At the Lighthouse, ...Quintet Plus and Know What I Mean? The quintet played them as faithful recreations of the charts, but with the present-day musicians' own solos.
This correspondent was a jazz disc jockey during the years in question. I recall the anticipation with which I greeted each new Cannonball Adderley LP. The performances at Baird generated a good measure of the same excitement. Hearing those arrangements again brought back happy memories of the Adderley band. One can argue whether nostalgia is the role jazz should play, but it satisfied the near-capacity crowd of gray-hairs who were no doubt around for the original performances.
Following intermission, there was a second Bobby Timmons tune - "Dat Dere." Then the quintet explored a couple of pieces from Victor Feldman's time with Adderley, first "Lisa" (from the 1961 recording The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Plus). "Azul Serape" followed. Both incorporated Latin passages enhancing the tunes' attractiveness. From Cannonball's LP Know What I Mean? featuring pianist Bill Evans, Charlie Young played the melancholy Gordon Jenkins' melody "Goodbye." That's when he departed from homage to Cannonball. Young has spent time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and it's clear that he has listened closely to the great Johnny Hodges. His approach to the old Benny Goodman closing theme was more Hodges than Adderley. Never mind; it was effective, moving ballad playing.
The evening of rhythmic recollection came to a brisk close with the quintet playing Vic Feldman's "Exodus", not to be confused with the movie theme. All the qualities the SJMO quintet brought to the Adderley charts were in evidence - tight, well-rehearsed ensembles, spirited solos and an enthusiasm for the well-crafted compositions and arrangements made famous by the Tampa Cannonball. If this be nostalgia, our vote's in favor. Later in the year, Freddie Hubbard will be remembered in similar fashion by the Smithsonian gang.
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2009/10/a_tribute_to_cannonball.html
Cannonball Adderley - Jive Samba - 1963
Cannonball Adderley - alto sax
Nat Adderley - cornet
Yusef Lateef - tenor sax, oboe, flute
Joe Zawinul - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Louis Hayes - drums
Hazel Scott for the March of Dimes
Hazel Scott, Charlie Mingus, and Rudy Nichols sing/perform the Songs "Foggy Day" and "Autumn Leaves" during a 1950's televised pitch for the March of Dimes fight against Polio.
New Hazel Scott Bio by Karen Chilton
By Lee MergnerScott’s home life was difficult at least in part because of the intense demands on her at a young age, but Chilton doesn’t engage in the sort of literary psychoanalysis which has become de rigeur in modern biography. Instead she simply stays in the moment with her subject and readers can draw their own conclusions about the origin of Scott’s unique determination and pride.
That pride led her to many a confrontation in the Jim Crow days when she came to prominence and that determination enabled her to take real action, via lawsuits, boycotts and public condemnation—all strategies which would in time be staples in the playbook for the Civil Rights movement that was to follow. Chilton smartly doesn’t feel the need to provide too much historical context for that time.
Likewise, Chilton doesn’t get bogged down with explaining the genesis of swing and bebop, with which Scott became immersed. Scott was personally mentored by Fats Waller and Art Tatum, and her own piano style would draw heavily on those men and on her classical training. Indeed, Scott became known for a particular sort of piano-playing that was quickly labeled “Swinging the Classics” and Chilton deftly describes that musical approach (and others) in layman’s terms.
Thanks to a regular gig at Café Society and subsequent appearances in Hollywood films (always playing herself), Scott became a glamorous and world-renowned performer. A fixture on the New York jazz scene of the 40s and 50s, her friends included Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Mary Lou Williams (who became perhaps Scott’s longest and closest friend). Indeed, Scott’s home became a salon for some of the most creative artists of the 20th century.
Her own career sagged after a tumultuous marriage to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr, the larger-than-life Baptist minister and congressman. After their somewhat bitter split and an unyielding appearance before the Red-baiting HUAC, Scott emigrated to Paris and struggled though financial, emotional and physical issues, yet never lost that pride. Her letters to Williams and other friends vividly illustrate Scott’s discomfort with accepting the financial help that she desperately needed at that time. Throughout the book, relying on access to Scott’s unpublished memoirs, Chilton lets Scott’s words punctuate the events of her storied life.
Perhaps the highest compliment one can pay to this fine biography is that during the first 150 pages the reader is wondering why Scott isn’t better known, at least in the jazz world. But by the story’s end in 1981 with Scott’s death from pancreatic cancer, the same reader knows exactly why, but is still likely to be singing her praises as a true trailblazer in African-American culture.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/25174-new-hazel-scott-bio-by-karen-chilton
Pat Metheny Recording with Musical Robots
By Lee Mergner
As one of the most popular, creative and prolific jazz musicians of his generation, Pat Metheny has never rested on his laurels. He’s tasted incredible commercial success with his group, yet also experimented with all sorts of creative explorations – from Song X with Ornette Coleman to the aptly titled Zero Tolerance for Silence. And, over the course of his 30+ years as a recording artist and performer, Metheny has played with a wide range of his peers and mentors. And now, inspired both by his own explorations with technology and the player-piano of his childhood, he’s about to play with some machines.
Pat Metheny has announced on his web site that his next recording will be the Orchestrion project, which entails the guitarist working solo with what might best be described as musical robots. Actually, we don’t really know how to describe it, so we’ll let him do it. Here is an excerpt of what Metheny wrote on the site: "In the late 1800's and early 1900's, as player pianos emerged (pianos played mechanically by moving rolls of paper through a mechanism that physically moved the keys), the next logical step was to apply that same principle to a range of orchestral instruments, often including percussion and mallet instruments. These large instrument arrays were called Orchestrions.
"For a number of years now, I have been gathering the forces of a group of talented and innovative inventors and technicians from around the country to construct a large palette of acoustic sound-producing devices that I can organize as a new kind of Orchestrion. The principle instruments have been designed and built for me by the incredibly talented Eric Singer, who is a major innovator in this area of engineering. A small number of musicians have been doing things like this in recent years as the mechanics of it all has evolved. And naturally, in many ways, it has been as much about the technology as the musical result. My only goal here, however, is a musical one.”
He added this candid postscript: "I have realized by now that as much as I can describe this project, even the people closest to me have had no idea what I was talking about until they have actually heard the music and had an encounter with it all in action. So, even having written all of the above, I know for sure that you still have to experience it yourself to really know what it is."
We really loved what he did with living musicians, so we have to assume that Metheny knows good music when he hears it. Heck, the list of his drummers alone tells you that the robots have some tough acts to follow: Bob Moses, Danny Gottlieb, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Stewart, Billy Higgins and Antonio Sanchez. We assigned David R. Adler to check out a demonstration by Metheny this week in NYC. But we can all hear for ourselves in early 2010 when the recording comes out and we can see for ourselves when he tours the project early in the coming year.
For Metheny’s own eloquent statement about the genesis of this project, you can visit his web site.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/25245-pat-metheny-recording-with-musical-robots
Russell Peterson
RUSSELL PETERSON An accomplished classical/jazz saxophonist, bassoonist and composer, Russell Peterson holds degrees from Youngstown State University (Ohio), Le Conservatoire de Bordeaux (France), and Bowling Green State University (Ohio), where he studied with Dr. James Umble, Donald Byo, Jean-Marie Londeix, Dr. Jeffery Lyman and Dr. John Sampen. Winner of numerous prizes, including the top prize at the International Geneva Saxophone Concours, (Switzerland), and first place winner of the MTNA National Music Competition, Mr. Peterson has soloed with orchestras in the United States as well as Europe, including the Dana Chamber Orchestra, (USA), Concordia Orchestra, (USA), Bowling Green Philharmonic, (USA), L'Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, (Switzerland), Collegium Musicum, Basel (Switzerland), The Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra (USA), The Orchestra Conservatorio Superior De MÂœsica (Spain), The Western New York Chamber Orchestra (USA), and The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, (Russia).
Mr. Peterson is an active chamber musician, performing extensively throughout Europe and The United States with The Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet, and is currently also performing with the Hard-Bop Jazz Saxophone Quartet in Fargo-Moorhead. The Hard-Bop Quartet's first CD release "DON'T STEP ON YOUR NECK", is available on Sea-Breeze records and the TSQ's debut CD "MOUNTAIN ROADS" is available on Albany Records. Russell's first solo CD "AMERICAN BREATH" is now available on Barking Dog Records and features the music of Maslanka, Bell and Peterson. As an Orchestral player, Russell has served as bassoonist with several symphony orchestras, and is currently principal bassoonist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, as well as bassoonist with t he Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Wind Quintet.
Mr. Peterson has performed with some of the most notable artist in the business: Phil Woods, Manhattan Transfer, Dave Weckle, Peter Erskin, Henry Mancini, Gregg Bissonette, Ray Charles, Wayne Newton, Bill Watrous, Gregg Field, Frankie Valie and the 4 Seasons, Maureen McGovern, Samuel Sanders, The Eroica Trio, Will Kennedy, Frankie Avalon, Nick Brignola, Zoro, Ignacio Berroa, Terri Lyne Carrington, the Four Tops.
As a composer, Russell has premiered his "Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra" with Joel Revzen and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra in 2000, as well as his "Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Percussion Orchestra" at Concordia College with the Tri-College Percussion Ensemble, which GRAMOPHONE Magazine, (Feb., 2003) noted: 'Peterson's own 16-minute Concerto, featuring Spanish rhythms and a lovely second-movement duet with vibraphone, is an effective vehicle for his striking command of color and dynamics. The highly-charged sound is riveting...'
He has been commissioned by the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony to compose a "Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra" which was premiered to rave reviews in April of 2002, including GRAMOPHONE Magazine, (May 2003), 'Peterson playing with great abandon and dazzling virtuosity, the music has a seductive allure and visceral excitement that is more than the sum of its purely musical parts.' A CD of The music of Russell Peterson featuring the Saxophone and Timpani Concerto is now available from the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony.
The Fergus Falls High School Band premiered hi band work "The Tornado of 1919" in 2001, and his new chamber works for sax were premiered in 2003: "Sonata for Alto sax and piano" and "Quintet for Alto sax and strings". He premiered his new "Sonata for alto saxophone and Marimbas" with the Concorida Marimba Choir in 2006 at the Concordia Day of Percussion. Russell was recently commissioned by the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony to compose an openener for the 2005-06 season. "Between 2 Cultures" was premiered on the opening concert in Sept. 2005. His "Trio for Alto Saxophone, Violin and Piano" was premiered at the region 3 NASA convention, April of 2007.
Mr. Peterson has served on the faculty at Youngstown State University (Ohio), The University of Toledo (Ohio), Minnesota State University Moorhead, The Interlochen Summer Arts Camp (Michigan), The International Music Camp, and is currently instructor of Saxophone, Bassoon ,and Jazz studies at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Memorial service for Leanne Butts
A memorial service for bassist Leanne Butts will be held at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, October 29 at St. Paul's Cemetery, 7600 S Rock Hill Rd. Butts died Wednesday, October 21 at age 49. Her obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did not list a cause of death. Leanne Butts performed jazz around the St. Louis area with Lee Hyde, After Six, Terry Thompson, her own trio, and various others. She earned a master's of music degree from Webster University, and studied with Carolyn White and Henry Loew of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Eugene Levinson of the New York Philharmonic.
Butts played classical music with the St. Louis Philharmonic starting at age 14, and also performed with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Webster University Orchestra, and Washington University Orchestra. In addition to her career in music, Butts also held a master's degree in nursing from St. Louis University and worked as registered nurse at St. Anthony's Hospital.
After the memorial service, a luncheon will be held for family and friends at Bethel Community Church, 210 Chestnut Ave. in Webster Groves. The family has requested that any memorial donations go to Bethel Community. Mourners also may share their condolences and memories at http://www.baumannchapel.com/
Russ Peterson & The Bellagala Big Band....
Big Band Scene (a radio show on KBEM / Jazz 88) and the Twin Cities Jazz Society, is presenting their Fourth Annual Thanksgiving Big Band Swing Dance on Friday, November 27, at 8 PM, at the Bloomington KC Hall Ballroom, 1114 American Blvd, Bloomington. Russ Peterson will be directing the mighty Bellagala Big Band, comprised of some of the best big band musicians in town. There are plenty of tables for you if you just want to listen.
Russ has been leading his Big Band for four years, performing a couple times a year at the Old Log Theater in Excelsior. One of the great musicians in the band is lead trumpeter Larry Foyen, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson and Ray Charles bands. The rest of the trumpet section includes Pete Davis, Rick Everitt, and Geof Senn. The trombonists are Dave Graf, Jin ten Bensel, Bob Glenn (who also is their vocalist), and Eric Songer. The saxophonists are Russ Peterson, Doug Haining, Don George, Norm Staska, and Adam Bestler. Pianist Ron Seaman, bassist Steve Pikal, and drummer John Lund complete the band. The bands ensemble playing is outstanding, and the band swings like crazy.
The band’s huge dance book library features the music of Les Brown, plus charts from Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman, plus new swing tunes by Brian Setzer and Big Voodo Daddy. Bob Glenn will also sing a few tunes made popular by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Michael Buble. Some of Russ Peterson’s favorite charts are: “Meanwhile Back On the Bus”, “Brown’s Little Jug”, and “Misty”; all from the Les Brown library.
Alexandre Mihanovich
Alexandre Mihanovich (guitarra)
Wilson Teixeira (sax)
Paulo Paulelli (baixo)
Cuca Teixeira (bateria)
Uma realização da Mendigo Records!!! www.mendigorecords.com
At New Jersey Performing Arts Center....
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 AT 5PM
Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Tito Puente, Jr. Orchestra
This exclusive double-bill brings together two of today’s standard bearers of Afro-Cuban music. The all-star Spanish Harlem Orchestra, comprised of veterans of New York’s most legendary salsa outfits, is led by world-renowned pianist-arranger Oscar Hernández. Their 2008 CD, United We Swing, just earned them a second Grammy for “Best Salsa Album.” Every time he steps on stage, Tito Puente Jr. proudly walks in his father’s footsteps.
That legendary Puente fire is sure to heat-up NJPAC when Puente, Jr. and his orchestra make their NJPAC debut with a program drawn from In My Father's Shoes, their recent CD of pure, classic Puente. Prior to the performance, ticket-holders are invited to a free Prelude in the Prudential Hall lobby, featuring live music courtesy of Newark-born vocalist and songwriter Aliah Sheffield, an alumna of NJPAC’s Summer Youth Performance Workshop who has since studied at the Berklee College of Music, and Newark-born classical guitarist Jorge Gavidia, a recipient of The Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts, currently a student at NYC’s Mannes College of Music.
This evening's Prelude will also include a Made by Hand art and craft exhibit and sale, featuring work by Thomasina Hyland (sleeved kaftans), Amy Medford and Leonid Siveriver (jewelry and ceramics), Nick Vaverko (leather accessories and jewelry), and Maya Hilario and Veni Evangelista (leather handbags, belts and accessories). Part of this weekend's ¡Encuentro! Latin Jazz Festival.
CD & DVD Record Live....
CD & DVD Record Live (Roberto Menescal, Wanda Sá and BeBossa), November 12th In The Center of Reference of Music Carioca
Special thanks to Celio Albuquerque
Based on the repertoire of Roberto Menescal and its partners in more than 50 years in favor of Brazilian popular music, the composer joins her friend and constant partner Wanda Sá and the vocal sextet BeBossa (photo) to show "Novas Bossas ou A Galeria (do) Menescal" in allusion to the commercial center of Copacabana that bears the family name of the composer, where he also lived for some years.
They are in the playlist of the show as "compulsory" The Barquinho "by Menescal and Ronaldo Boscoli," Vaguely, "the same duo who launched 45 years in the music scene the voice of Wanda Sá, and pearls as" Bye Bye Brazil "(together with Chico Buarque) and the recent" Agarradinhos "Menescal partnership with Rosalia de Souza, who named the CD released by him in a duet with Leila Pinheiro.
Under the direction of Paulo Passos, with extensive experience in advertising, the DVD will be recorded in the Reference Center for Music Carioca in two sessions on Nov. 12, both open to the public. The intention is that the stage prevails the pleasure of sailing in the repertoire of Menescal. The songs will be presented in various configurations: Menescal and Wanda; only bebossa a capella, and Wanda BeBossa, Menescal and bebossa and all together.
Below you can check out some excerpts from the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83idopjKwFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iwUsyrCgG4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvtRp-_06dk
Jackson delivers on `This Is It,' early fans say
By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment – Wed Oct 28, 3:00 am
LOS ANGELES – "Michael Jackson's This Is It" premiered to high praise from fans who applauded at each number as though they were at a concert and marveled as the singer stepped nimbly through his moonwalk and other signature moves. Jackson, 50 when he died last June, kept pace with backup dancers half his age during rehearsals for such hits as "Thriller," "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and "Human Nature." The film was shot as Jackson prepared for a marathon concert stand in London that never happened.
"He looked better than he did when he was 30," said Jessica Childs, a 21-year-old aspiring dancer who caught the Los Angeles premiere. "His voice stood out." Four of Jackson's brothers — Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie — attended, saying afterward that seeing their brother on film filled them with love and pride. "It's amazing to see him up there doing his thing," Jackie Jackson said. "To see him up there doing his performance like that has brought a lot of tears to my eyes, sitting there watching him. Because I love him so much. That's why I keep this with me at all times in my pocket. It's a little token of him," he said, pulling out a white-glove key-ring fashioned after one of his brother's best-known accessories.
"It was closure for me," said Marlon Jackson. "And it was a moment where I just felt his spirit inside of me. And that made me feel good." Performances in the film included a medley of Jackson 5 hits the singer originally performed with his siblings.
Full on http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091028/ap_en_ot/us_film_michael_jackson_movie
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Reopen two popular jazz clubs of Buenos Aires
Information from the daily La Nacion, Thursday, 22 October
If anything needs are live music venues, and Notorious, Callao 966, is one of the pillars which supported the local jazz grow to have a considerable presence within the music in Argentina (the other was the Jazz Club del Paseo La Plaza). Today, at 2130, Notorious was reopen-closed since last July, with a jam session by the group's guitarist Penovi Ramiro, one of the young stars of the local scene.
Notorious was bought by Victor Ponieman, saxophonist and owner of publisher Random Records label. "The idea of taking the club was to develop artists. Sometimes one has the ability to edit music, but nothing better than to have the artist for the launch and this is a very appropriate setting, "said Ponieman, with a long history in music production. The place has some changes, for example, the location of the stage. You will now be against a side wall of the club, thus leaving the hearing that beautiful garden that is in the background. Moreover, the record store will be more integrated between the disks, the bar and club.
New and classical musicians
The schedule is in charge of Juarez Mora, a connoisseur of the jazz world from here. "The idea is to recreate the musical spirit of the place, with more conventional proposals, and also make room for new musicians," said a summary way the programmer.
Ponieman, meanwhile, is in the pipeline a number of international artists who would be interested in appearing at the club. And as the idea of throwing the discus with a presentation of artists is interesting for musicians because there are contacts. "It will be little by little as we move through strictly respect the club, we go about doing the hiring to come and present," the new owner of Notorious. While the jam is today, the club will start with the music program in November and expects to open (at least, that's in the plans) Monday through Saturday.
Guitarist Tours in Support of New Release
Guitarist, songwriter and singer Lester Quitzau brings his trio to Rossland’s Old Fire Hall on Monday, November 2nd for an evening of original music. Touring in support of his new album, The Same Light, released in September ‘09, the talented artist is considered one of the nation’s finest guitarists. With a long list of performance/recording credits spanning his two-decade career, Lester is a well-recognized solo performer and for his work with his trio, and is also a member of award-winning group Tri-Continental, and for his collaborative work with international recording artist Mae Moore.
For more info visit http://www.lesterq.com/
http://www.jazzelements.com/2009/10/27/lester-quitzau-trio-in-rossland/
Biography
One of the best things to happen to Canadian music in the past ten years has been the combination of circumstances that led to Lester Quitzau’s finding a Gulf Island sanctuary to engage and sustain his soul- a home and place of grounding that has empowered him to offer the world one of the most unique and highly charged musical statements of recent years. While this refers specifically to The Same Light, his latest CD, it is every bit as much about who he is as a human being.
Lester really does find fulfilment in gathering a hen’s fresh eggs, and he really does have musical roots so deep he can craft a musical cloth that quilts together ringing peals of West African-sounding guitar with the feel of free-form jazz, threaded through with unmistakable strands of gutbucket blues, yet all interwoven with lyrics and songs of love and spirit that display more mastery and a deeper vision with each passing year. Touchstones along the route that brought the Juno-Award-winner to where he stands today include his work with fellow Tri-Continentals, Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim, and his collaboration with Mae Moore.
But the story really starts with his Edmonton childhood, an older brother, the all-important family stereo, and what Louis Armstrong used to refer to as “big ears”- a deep and insatiable curiosity about just how those cool sounds got themselves into those 12” slices of black vinyl…. and what it might take to one day make those sounds himself.
The rest was just a matter of time. It was the sixties. Edmonton was a solidly blue-collar town, and rock and roll was its musical lifeblood. There was a guitar already in the house (his mom’s acoustic), his older brother turned him on to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and by the time he was 15 Lester was rocking out on his own electric guitar. Before long his “big ears” discovered the same blues roots that had influenced Zeppelin and the other Brit rockers. Edmonton’s Ambassador Hotel booked the cream of Chicago blues and Lester heard them all- John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Jimmy Rogers- as well as great Canadian acts like Downchild, Dutch Mason, and David Wilcox.
At that same time Lester hooked up with fellow Canadian snowboarding pioneer Ken Achenbach, got heavily into the then-emerging sport and was dividing his time between the smoky blues bars of Edmonton and the pristine air of the Rockies, where he emerged as one of Canada’s genuine snowboarding pioneers. His skills as a competitor not only merited him team sponsorship, he even placed fifth in the premier international event of the 1985 season, on a board without steel edges.
In 1993 Lester left Edmonton’s urban blues/rock scene behind and relocated to British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, only to return to Edmonton shortly thereafter to continue his music apprenticeship. His first album, Keep On Walking, was released later that year. Elemental (stripped-down, funky) and all-acoustic in its approach to the blues, its return to basics mirrored the return to simpler values he was learning to embody in his own lifestyle.
It was followed by A Big Love in 1996, an album that initially surprised listeners expecting a second instalment of Keep On Walking’s straight-ahead acoustic blues. What they got instead was practically a 180-degree departure- where the first CD celebrated the traditional, the new one was mostly electric. And although the music was still blues-based, the album embraced experimentation and the wealth of possibilities an artist with Lester’s talents could offer. The arrangements were multi-layered and often lush- effectively supporting and showcasing his arrival at a stronger and more confident level of songwriting. His audience grew with the release of A Big Love, as did his stature among critics, resulting in his first Juno Award nomination.
Over the next five years Lester was discovered by an ever-widening international audience, primarily through his year-in, year-out touring on the folk/roots (and jazz and blues) festival circuits. The Lester Quitzau Band (Andy Graffiti, Brett Miles, Chris Byrne, Rob Vause, and Jason Cairns) set out in 1996 in support of A Big Love, and for the first time he experienced the enthusiasm and respect of discerning European audiences. But wherever he toured, as a band leader, as a solo artist, or with his Very Electric Trio (Lyle Molzan and Greg Johnson), his reputation expanded as his roots within the world music community deepened. Two particularly significant results of that growth process were: his partnering with Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim to form Tri-Continental, one of the biggest acts on today’s world music stage (and the source of his first Juno Award win), and his magical meeting, collaboration with, and marriage to celebrated singer/songwriter Mae Moore in 2002.
The first years of this decade produced a flurry of CD releases. The first of them, So Here We Are, (“An absolutely stellar record”, Cathy Inis, CKUA radio network). Still bluesy (don’t bother trying to find a nastier, more fundamentals-drenched version of “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”- you won’t- anywhere), it still managed to balance that mastery of basics with a striking display of maturing writing and musical chops. Like A Big Love, the album got great reviews and sold well (including through its European distribution).
Oh My, his collaboration with Mae Moore, was released in 2003 and met with similar success (including a West Coast Music Awards nomination). It clearly occupies a special space in Lester’s heart, and not just for romantic reasons or the obvious strengths such a partnership could draw from. "That album was cool for both of us because it challenged us in new ways - for me to stretch out more as a vocalist, and for Mae to expand what she was willing to explore as a guitarist.”
With Tri-Continental also releasing four successful albums over the same period, it’s not surprising that by 2006 it was time to step back and take a well-earned breath. It’s dizzying simply trying to sort out the routes and combinations of personnel Lester toured with between 2001 and 2006. They include destinations from Victoria to the Czech Republic, and alternate between Tri-Continental tours, tours with Mae, the Very Electric Trio, Lester solo, Lester’s band- you get the picture….
So Lester did take a bit of a breath, and it has stretched out for nearly three years now- a time in which Lester and Mae have finally been able to live their dream of a committed and sustainability-based relationship with their Gulf Island homestead. There is a different rhythm in his life today, slower, more reflective, but certainly no less musical at its heart.
This is the music that finds such powerful expression in The Same Light, his newest CD, released early in 2009. It’s a culmination of his years spent re-connecting with the land, but it’s also a reflection of some serious musical wood-shedding and soul searching done over that same period. The CD flows naturally from blues to ballads to truly inventive jazz improvisations. It is hard to imagine a more perfect summing-up of who Lester Quitzau is today.
Yotam Silberstein Trio Perform In Downfront Jazz Series
RAHWAY—The Downfront Jazz series, a partnership of Arts Guild New Jersey and the Union County Performing Art Center, will feature the Yotam Silberstein Trio with special guest, Sharel Cassity on Friday, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. at the UCPAC, 1601 Irving Street, Rahway. The trio includes Silberstein on guitar with Cory Cox on drums and bass player, David Wong.
http://njtoday.net/2009/10/23/yotam-silberstein-trio-perform-in-downfront-jazz-series/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
