Since 1999, New Bedford's Whaling City Sound has been building an archive of great jazz recordings, with a roster of august artists that includes John Abercrombie, John Stein, Joe Beck, Dave Liebman and many more. Seemingly each year, at a time when economic forces have put a real squeeze on the music industry, and jazz in general, the tiny label that could has elevated its audio game.
Since setting up shop, it has ushered quality recordings into the jazz audiosphere one after another. One disc jockey commented, "When I see a Whaling City Sound package come into the studio, I open the envelope and put it right on the air." Bob Blumenthal, esteemed jazz writer for many moons now, often supports Whaling City Sound projects, as a liner-note writer and loyal fan. Regarding Thrasher Dream Trio, he writes: "Anyone who has concerns regarding the health of jazz, the ongoing relevance of its living legends or the artistry of those they have inspired needs to hear this album." High praise indeed for WCS's musical integrity.
Thrasher Dream Trio is the first release for WCS's new distributor, Naxos, a significant new alliance following the dissolution of its recent relationship with Allegro. "When one door closes," says Neal Weiss, president of WCS, "another door opens. We really respected our work with Allegro, but we are even more hopeful with Naxos, which also does amazing work."
To celebrate, WCS is giving its most celebrated work to date to Naxos. While, occasionally, high profile projects like this one fail to live up to the possibilities, this one obviously doesn't; it bristles with energy, color and imagination. Barron and Carter, the giant piano/bass team, certainly need no introduction, but a note must be made about their collaboration here. Their history working together is one of the intangibles that makes this project so interesting.
"We are so fortunate to release this recording through our label," says Weiss, "especially an album like this that features these awesome musicians, and one that comes at such an important time in the label's history. We'll do everything we can to ensure the music gets into the right hands, because I think we can all agree, jazz this good deserves to be heard."
And, we might add, fulfills a dream come true for Whaling City Sound.
Also check out: Raising the Roof by John Stein, which finished #8 for the year on the JazzWeek chart in 2010, climbing as high as #2. Also available on Whaling City Sound is Gerry Gibbs' Thrasher Big Band Live At Luna (WCS033) Gerry Gibbs' Electric Thrasher Orchestra Plays The Music Of Miles Davis 1967-1975 (WCS047). And stay tuned for Joe Beck's final recording. Beck, who played with Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, and James Brown, to name a few, was a Whaling City Sound flagship artist before passing away in 2008.
From: Ginny mixedmediapromo@cox.net <mixedmediapromo@cox.net>
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