Sunday, May 31, 2015

NC Central's jazz program safe, dean and director say

Posted by Sylvia Pfeiffenberger on Thu, May 28, 2015 at 5:56 PM
Jazz lovers winced this week upon seeing that N.C. Central’s celebrated jazz program had landed on a list of degrees to be cut from the UNC system. It seemed to many that it would simply be discarded like a low-selling title.

The Daily Tar Heel first reported on the May 21 UNC Board of Governors meeting, where a vote to eliminate “less productive” degree programs speared both jazz and theatre at Durham’s HBCU. 

“I’m lost. Why are they eliminating the jazz degree at NCCU?” Mint Julep Jazz Band vocalist and co-leader Laura Windley wrote. Four members of Mint Julep have ties to the prestigious jazz program. “I need this pool of talent for dances and gigs!” 


Concerned calls and emails poured in to the university from parents, alumni and current and prospective students from as far away as Germany. Of just over a hundred HBCUs, Central is one of only a handful that offer degree programs in jazz.

“Some of the students who called me were literally in tears,” says assistant professor and Vocal Jazz Ensemble director Lenora Helm Hammonds.

But the situation is more complicated than first reported—and significantly more reassuring: “The rumors [of] the death of jazz at NCCU have been greatly exaggerated,” wrote music department chair Ralph Barrett in an email distributed to students this week.

Carlton Wilson, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, concurs.


“The program is not eliminated,” he said. “It’s been realigned in the Music Department. That was our proposal, our plan. We go through this every two years. We review our programs, and we have to make adjustments based on our findings. The [jazz] program is not going away. It’s intact.”

read more: http://www.indyweek.com/music/archives/2015/05/28/nc-centrals-jazz-program-safe-dean-and-director-say

The Second Annual Made In New York Jazz Gala Is Announced

The Second Annual Made In New York Jazz Gala Is Announced! Jazz Shows Its Global Colors at Second Annual International Jazz Gala June 27th at Tribeca Performing Arts Center

New York, NY (PRWEB) May 29, 2015
Is music an international language? Looking at the international jazz scene it would be hard to argue otherwise. On June 27th, 2015 at Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York the international nature of jazz is being celebrated to its fullest, with the Made in New York Jazz Competition hosting international jazz, folk jazz and new flavor jazz artists all sharing the stage together.

The Made in New York Jazz Competition has gone a long way in helping make people aware of how vibrant the jazz scene is on an international scale. Every year the organization holds an international online jazz competition, and the winners are later brought back to perform in New York sharing the stage with some of the world's biggest jazz names. This year, this International Jazz Gala is scheduled for June 27th at Tribeca Performing Arts Center, at the anticipation surrounding it is incredibly high.

“This is one of the highlights of the jazz year for us,” commented the founder of Made in New York Jazz Competition – Misha Brovkin. “The lineup for our second Jazz Gala is absolutely fantastic, and we'll see international jazz, new flavor jazz and folk jazz will all be represented. If you love jazz or just great music in general it's not something to miss.”


Some highlights this year will include: the 1st Place winners Eden Rabin International Project with artists from Israel Germany USA and Chile, 2nd Place winner American vocalist Thana Alexa, and 3rd Place winners Jan Prax quartet from Germany all performing on stage with jazz greats like trumpet player Randy Brecker, percussionist Bobby Sanabria, bass player Alex Blake and sax player, art director of the competition - Yaacov Mayman.

read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/05/prweb12753089.htm

Ornette Coleman Lawsuit Against Antibalas' Jordan McLean

Jazz musician Ornette Coleman is pictured before receiving his honorary doctor of music degree at the University of Michigan commencement ceremony in Ann Arbor, Saturday, May 1, 2010.
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Music industry lawsuits don't usually raise any eyebrows, but this week saw an unexpected pair headed to court: Legendary free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman and Jordan McLean of Brooklyn Afrobeat outfit (and former house band for Fela!) Antibalas.

The fight is over an album released on McLean's label System Dialing called New Vocabulary. Antibalas' website refers to it as "a new album by Ornette Coleman, featuring performances by McLean, drummer Amir Ziv and keyboardist Adam Holzman."

The lawsuit, however, alleges the recordings were never intended for commercial release -- and states that Coleman already denied McLean permission to release them.

Back in 2009, Coleman invited McLean and Ziv to his house after the former requested a meeting. They talked about music and even played together. According to the lawsuit, "Years after making the recordings of Coleman's teaching sessions, McLean asked if he could release them. Coleman denied the request both directly and through his attorney and asked that the material be turned over to him. McLean instead released the recordings, forcing Coleman to seek legal recourse."

The lawsuit was filed on Coleman's behalf by his son, Denardo Coleman, who is serving as the 85-year-old musician's legal guardian. 

When contacted for comment, McLean denied any wrongdoing, saying New Vocabulary is a "collaborative, joint work made with the willing involvement of each artist." According to the Antibalas trumpeter, "The album is the end result of multiple deliberate and dedicated recording sessions done with the willing participation and consent of Mr. Coleman and the other performers. Any suggestion to the contrary is unfounded."

read more: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6582967/ornette-coleman-lawsuit-antibalas-jordan

Chic Chocolate and a trip down Bombay’s jazz age

Anushka Sharma plays Rosie, a jazz singer in 'Bombay Velvet'

Saturday, 30 May 2015 - 8:00am IST | Agency: dna webdesk
Although Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet failed to make an impact, it’s jazz-based music has been widely praised. One of the principal characters in this period film set in the Bombay of 1950s is Rosie, a jazz singer. In one scene, Rosie’s driver, who has a crush on her, boasts to her about his connection with the Hindi film musician Chic Chocolate.

They couldn’t have picked a better musician to reference Bombay’s jazz age – transient and with only a few fond memories left behind. Chic Chocolate, born Antonio Xavier Vaz in 1916 in Goa, was a multi-faceted musician – he played the trumpet, fronted a jazz band, assisted Bollywood music directors like C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan, and even composed music for three Hindi films – Nadan (1951), Rangeeli (1952) and Kar Bhala (1956). As a tribute to this forgotten musician, here are five songs that follow his Hindi film career arc:

read more: http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-chic-chocolate-and-a-trip-down-bombay-s-jazz-age-2089479

Power Bands of the '50s

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Screen Shot 2015-05-05 at 6.18.02 PM
Duke Ellington, Harry James, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Les Brown and Charlie Barnet all piloted top-notch bands in the 1950s. But there were plenty of other superb leaders and bands who recorded during the early LP era. They didn't have marquee names and didn't record as often as the familiar ones, but their albums were terrific nonetheless. The reason these albums have remained on the dark side of the moon is because today's record labels haven't seen value in re-issuing them or don't even know they exist in their vaults. [Photo above of Artie Shaw, left, and arranger Jerry Gray, who would go on to lead his own bands in the 1950s]
Sam_Donahue,_Aquarium_NYC,_ca_December_1946_(Gottlieb)
Fortunately, European labels have been traveling deep into the jazz mineshaft to extract valuable ore. European copyright laws are different than in the States, and albums from the 1950s are fair game for reissue without assuming copyright royalties. These labels include Spain's Fresh Sounds, the U.K.'s Ace and Jasmine, Germany's Bear Family and dozens more. [Photo above of Sam Donahue by William P. Gottlieb]
George-williams-and-his-orchestra-saturday-night-function-coral
Another one—Montpellier Records—came to my attention recently after I posted about bandleader Tommy Alexander back in March. Colin Goodall of Montpellier reached out to let me know that the label had issued Tommy Alexander's Alexander the Great along with Presents His Golden Trombones plus four bonus tracks on one CD. When I asked what else the re-issue label had in its catalog, Colin along a link. There were quite a few gems, but four stood out: Tomboy—Tommy Alexander and His Orchestra (1955-'56), Flag Waver—Jerry Gray and His Orchestra (1956-57), Sam Donahue: The Mood We're In (1958) and George Williams: Beautiful Rhythm (1956).
The U.K. label has been reissuing superb, obscure big-band albums since the late 1990s thanks to an arrangement with Ray Anthony's Big Band Library. Many are long out of print here, never made it to the digital format or are largely unknown and unheard. Here are the four I mention above plus a track for each to give you a taste:
Screen Shot 2015-05-05 at 4.22.41 PM
The material on the CD above features two albums plus four bonus tracks. Alexander the Great was arranged by Bill Holman while the personnel on Golden Trombones is unknown. But the entire CD swings like a train and the taste is fabulous and pure Hollywood in the '50s. Go here. Here's The Song Is You...
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In the mid-1950s, Jerry Gray recorded fronting his own band. Gray is best known as a swing arranger who worked for Artie Shaw but left for Glenn Miller's band when Shaw broke up his orchestra in 1939 and retreated to Mexico. Gray, in the '50s, had a bouncy, taut style and a perfectionist's ear for tight horn sections. Go here. Here's Off Limits...
MI0003750347
Swing saxophonist Sam Donahue pops up in a range of bands in the 1940s and '50s, including ones led by Gene Krupa, Billy May, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and others. He also was a superb arranger. Donahue is probably best known for taking over Artie Shaw's band when Shaw went into the Navy in the early 1940s. In the late 1950s, Donahue toured and recorded with his own band. This CD features two obscure LPs, Dance Date with Sam Donahue(Remington) and Listen to Sam Donahue (Prescott), both from 1958. Go here. Here's At Sundown...
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In 2011, the late Hal McKusick turned me on to George Williams, a big band composer and arranger for Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, Ray Anthony and many other bands. Williams' own albums in the '50s are few but superb—The Fox in Hi FiRhythm Was His Business (a tribute to Lunceford), and others. But for some reason, We Could Make Such Beautiful Music was never issued digitally. This CD features Beautiful Music complete as well as tracks from Rhythm Was His BusinessGo here. Here's Beauty Rest...
JazzWax note: For Montpellier's entire catalog, go hereand here.
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Saturday, May 30, 2015

CD REVIEW: Kurt Elling – Passion World

Kurt Elling – Passion World 
(Concord Records. CR- 36841. CD Review by Peter Jones)

Kurt Elling has never been one to fight shy of risk. Long stretches of vocalese? Try A New Body and Soul from the album Nightmoves. Notes seemingly held for minutes at a time? How about Higher Vibe from Man In The Air? For vocal acrobatics and jazz chops in general, Kurt’s your man. But here, on a musical voyage around the world, he stretches himself even further than usual. How about singing in five different languages? No problem – there are songs in Spanish, French, Portuguese and German, as well as English. And although he ducks the challenge of Icelandic, to be fair, Bjork did Who Is It? in English too. 

And it isn’t only the languages, but the singing styles: on Si Te Contara by Cuban composer Félix Reina Altuna, Elling adopts the declamatory macho Hispanic vibrato, with all the theatrical passion one associates with male vocalists from this part of the world. On Loch Tay Boat Song, the style is softer, more reflective, with a rich accompaniment from Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, arranged by Florian Ross (who is German).

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/DS8K-KXNl0CYgspNbPVJrg

Little Kids Rock ....

Brian Wilson Biopic Love & Mercy to Raise Awareness for Music Education by Supporting National Nonprofit, Little Kids Rock


Beach Boys co-founder and subject of film debuts new music video and re-recording of “Love & Mercy” with local students who participate in Little Kids Rock’s free popular music program at underserved public schools

LOS ANGELES, CA – May 27, 2015 – In conjunction with the release of the Brian Wilson biopic, Love & Mercy, the Beach Boys co-founder has re-recorded the film’s title track with local public school students who benefit from Little Kids Rock’s free Modern Band music program. See the “Love & Mercy” music video at  Love & Mercy Video

Little Kids Rock is the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of popular music instruction, instruments and curricula to nearly 1,300 public schools in thirty cities, having served more than 400,000 children since 2002 with weekly music lessons rooted in popular music genres like rock, funk, pop, reggae and others.

“As the movie Love & Mercy shows, music had a transformational impact on my life,” says Brian Wilson. “It is such an honor and a pleasure to work with Little Kids Rock again and help them bring the lifelong gift of music into the lives of children in schools who may otherwise not have access.”

Wilson performed at Little Kids Rock’s annual benefit event in New York City in 2013.  

ABOUT LITTLE KIDS ROCK
Little Kids Rock is a national nonprofit that is dedicated to unlocking children’s inner music-makers by revitalizing music education programming in public schools. The organization partners with school districts to train public school teachers to run its innovative Modern Band curriculum and donates all of the accompanying instruments and resources necessary to teach popular music.

Little Kids Rock started as a schoolteacher’s vision to give his students access to music education that is relevant to them while diminishing budgets for the arts made that more and more difficult to do. What began as a single after-school guitar class has since exploded into a national movement that is bringing free, weekly music lessons to more than 135,000 public school children due to the efforts of nearly 1,200 teachers nationwide. To date, Little Kids Rock has served over 325,000 students.

More info at www.littlekidsrock.org.

Blue Note Jazz Festival Presents Chembo Corniel & Grupo Chaworo

I was captured from the opening bars of the first track and was relentlessly but delightedly held until the very end. There is integrity and exploration to be found here… and so much beauty.” 

Chembo’s Quintet takes every opportunity for powerful solos and they do not disappoint.
Travis Rogers, JazzTimes 


Corniel is a percussion colourist who stands head and shoulders above most of his peers. His great artistry is informed by his flawless technique, which he embellishes with his consummate taste.“ 

In fact Corniel is almost akin to an ancient druid who has some magical connection to the very force of nature that produces the echoes that pass through the gauntlet of time itself.” 

In this regard, this time around Corniel has surpassed himself with one of his most enduring albums.
Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network - Five Stars & Album Of The Week - September 17, 2012 


“Chembo Corniel is the consummate contemporary percussionist…whose technique is like adding hot spices to a cold salad and the blend of this group of musicians can make me sing forever.”
Grady Tate, Jazz Vocalist

Have questions about Blue Note Jazz Festival Presents Chembo Corniel & Grupo Chaworo? Contact Subrosa

read more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blue-note-jazz-festival-presents-chembo-corniel-grupo-chaworo-tickets-16207385727?aff=jazzpromo

How to Make *decent* money from music ....

May 29, 2015
Last time on the blog, I discussed the concept that what a musician gets paid depends on a single factor – the perceived value of his products or services in the eyes of his customer.

If the customer views his products or services as high value, he will be able to charge higher prices or fees. If the customer views his products or services as low value, then he will only be able to charge low prices.

In the worst case scenario, the customer may perceive his products or services as having no value at all, and will be unwilling to pay anything for them.

It can be hard for us to think of music in terms of ‘products’ and ‘services’ but the reality is that anyone who hopes to make any money out of music has to start thinking in a business-like way.


Let’s define some of these terms specifically in regards to a modern musician:

Product – anything that a musician creates, which he does not have to be in the room to get paid for. Obvious examples are recordings (in both physical and digital format), live DVDs or videos, notated compositions, tuition materials, video-courses, books and ‘merchandise’ such as T-shirts, keyrings, posters and condoms.

Services – any work that a musician has to be physically present to get paid. Obvious examples include playing gigs, lecturing, teaching, running workshops, recording sessions and so on.


Customer – anybody who might potentially buy a product or service off a musician. This includes fans, students, venue owners, function organisers, bookers, agents, band-leaders, fellow musicians and so on.

read more: http://barrydallman.com/how-to-make-money-from-music/

Essentially Ellington 2015: Tucson Jazz Institute


Published on May 18, 2015
Essentially Ellington 2015 Competition
Tuscon Jazz Institute
Saturday, May 9, 2015

Duke Ellington’s music is at the very heart of America’s 20th-century musical heritage and the core of the rich canon of jazz music. Jazz at Lincoln Center, committed to instilling a broader understanding of this music, created the Essentially Ellington program (EE) during the 1995–96 school year to make Ellington’s music accessible to as many high school musicians as possible and to support the development of their schools’ music programs.

Learn more: about Essentially Ellingtonhttp://academy.jazz.org/ee/about/

Jazz notes

First published  in Music news and reviews
by John Marley
THIS evening, you have a chance to hear teacher and student perform in the city. At the Pavilion Hotel, Fulford Road, York, vocalist Georgina Barr will perform three sets of classic standards. Georgina is studying towards her degree in jazz at Leeds College of Music having received vocal tuition with Kate Peters.


Kate brings a quartet to Nevermind, Stonebow House, at 8.30pm, featuring the formidable improvisational ability of guitarist Nik Svarc. There is another opportunity to hear both singers this week. Georgina joins the rhythm section at Kennedy’s Bar, Little Stonegate at 1pm on Sunday, while Kate continues her residency at The Phoenix Inn, George Street, on Monday evening.

At the Red Lion Hotel in Poppleton, vocalist Emily Brown joins the Andy Cholerton Trio for an evening of swinging jazz at 8.30pm.


Jazz at The Phoenix Inn appears to be going strong under the new ownership and there are two more events this week. Pianist Chris Moore will be performing classic bebop and swing with his trio on Sunday from 8pm, followed by his appearance in the house band at the Wednesday jam session.

read more: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/music/12977846.Jazz_notes/?ref=rss

Kim Collins

Kim Collins’ Jazz Combo Workshop, Idiomatiques Holding Benefit Concert for SB Youth Music Academy

On Tuesday, June 2, starting at 7:30 p.m., the Free Methodist Church at 1435 Cliff Drive in Santa Barbara will be swinging with the sounds of cool, sweet jazz performed live.

By Ed Seaman for the Santa Barbara Youth Music Academy | Published on 05.28.2015 2:46 p.m.

Kim Collins, the Jazz Combo Workshop and The Idiomatiques welcome the public to come and join in the fun and help support the Young Musicians Scholarship Fund.

For 25 years, Santa Barbara jazz bassist, singer, composer and arranger Collins has been teaching the Jazz Combo Workshop. The JCW is now a premiere Santa Barbara-based forum for musicians to learn, practice and perfect the techniques of jazz performance.

Two or three times a year, the JCW stages a student concert open to the public to show off what a swinging good time the musicians have had learning jazz. In this final concert of the 2014-15 school year, everybody present is in for a very special treat.

Santa Barbara’s newest professional Gypsy Jazz band, The Idiomatiques, will be performing in the show. If you like jazz but you’ve never experienced the pure joy and fun of this style of jazz, pioneered by Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, you won’t want to miss this event!

read more: http://www.noozhawk.com/article/kim_collins_jazz_combo_workshop_idiomatiques_benefit_concert

Pat Bianchi New CD "Higher Standard"

Pat Bianchi, New CD "Higher Standard"
Pat Bianchi-organ
Craig Ebner-guitar
Byron Landham-drums

The time honored legacy of jazz is to look upon its heritage to build its future. The remarkable organist Pat Bianchi is totally dedicated to that tradition, and in full evidence on his extraordinary new CD, A Higher Standard on 21-H Records.
“My goal for this album – like all my others – is to find material that is going to challenge me, but won’t lose the energy, intent and feeling that is associated with the great jazz organists and their recordings.”

Clearly he has met that challenge. With his outstanding arrangements and the shared commitment of the other members of his trio – guitarist Craig Ebner and longtime associate Byron Landham on drums – Pat delivers a scintillating and captivating set of 10 sonic landscapes that defy what might be expected from an organ trio. Building upon Larry Young’s liberation of the instrument from its previous confines, Pat combines fiery adventurousness with a highly lyrical imagination – equally at play on beautiful ballads and blazing drivers… and everything in between. Block chords, smears, single note runs that rival the powerhouse energy of Cecil Taylor, and shimmering musicality are all woven together seamlessly to tell his stimulating stories, but never losing sight of the sense of swing and celebration that keeps the music focused on the audience’s enjoyment.

Pat’s virtuosity is met head-on by his colleagues, with the fluid and spirited playing of Ebner flawless in both his soloing and support; and Landham always vigorously exhilarating and vividly inventive. Together they create a synergy and unity of intent that makes every piece a fully realized and perfectly delineated sculpture of sound.

The repertoire is delightfully varied both in its sources and intent. Jazz classics, a couple of popular tunes, and a pair of Broadway show tunes combine with two Bianchi originals – all brewed together into a seamless whole like continuous episodes of an enthralling story.

Pat’s originals include Will of Landham a surging, dramatically-etched burner with an angular unison line. Marked by a horn-like organ solo with Dolphy-esque intervals and runs and a scorching guitar solo, it closes on ascending/descending rolling hills over blazing drumming from its namesake. Blues Minus One is an audaciously syncopated, buoyant jaunt with a daring organ solo that maintains its blues core without being in any way limited by it.

The jazz classics include Horace Silver’s Blue Silver in a deliciously laid back and respectfully blue mood; John Coltrane’s Satellite with a dynamic organ solo of briskly syncopated chords and sparkling runs; a gentle and appropriately introspective take on Bill Evans’ Very Early; and a romping version of Oscar Pettiford’s Bohemia After Dark. 

The Broadway gems include Victor Youmans’ Without a Song (from the 1929 show Great Day) that opens the album in a brisk groove, built on Pat’s vibrant bass pedal bottom. Leonard Bernstein’s score for On the Town provides the exquisite Some Other Time, delivered with the filigreed poignancy it deserves.

Sergio Mendes’ Brasil ’66 hit So Many Stars unfolds atmospherically on cymbal swells, with the Brazilian feel slowed to a tantalizing gait, as gentle as a misty rain in a tropical forest. And Stevie Wonder’s From the Bottom of My Heart closes this brilliant album on a soulfully impassioned, backbeat driven and infectiously rhythmic note.

In addition to his five previous albums as leader or co-leader, Pat’s performing history includes a litany of jazz giants. A member of the great Pat Martino’s current ensemble, Bianchi has also worked frequently with the legendary Lou Donaldson, as well as George Coleman, Houston Person, Tim Warfield, Red Holloway, Harvey Mason, Mark Whitfield, Javon Jackson, Chuck Loeb, and so many more… all of which has had a tremendous influence on what he feels is essential to bring to the table as a leader.
“I have spent a long time being a sideman to some incredible musicians and they have all taught me that as a musician/leader I need to hold myself and my music to a higher standard.”

A Higher Standard most definitely lives up to that objective.


For more information, visit www.patbianchi.com

Jamie Baum ....

BioNYC flutist/composer/recording artist/clinician, Jamie Baum, has toured the US, and over 28 countries performing at major festivals and concert halls including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Sedutirol, Braga, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, Friehoffer, Winter JazzFest and JVC Festivals. She has performed with artists as renown and diverse as George Russell, Randy Brecker, Donald Brown, Mick Goodrick, Tom Harrell and Kenny Barron to Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Uri Caine, Ralph Alessi, Leni Stern, David Binney, V.M Bhatt, Anthony Braxton and Wadada Leo Smith.

Though focusing primarily on jazz, she has been involved in several projects, performances and tours performing classical, new music, Brazilian and Latin music. Receiving critical praise for five CD's as a leader, Sight Unheard (w/Dave Douglas, Kenny Werner), Moving Forward, Standing Still (w/Ralph Alessi, George Colligan) and her recent Sunnyside Records release In This Life (w/Amir ElSaffar, John Escreet) all received four stars from DownBeat and made several "Best CDs of the Year" lists. Inch By Inch, by the cooperative band Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project (w/Jerome Harris, George Schuller), out May 2014 (GM Recordings) also received four stars from DownBeat. Recordings as sidewoman include those by Dave Binney, George Colligan, Ursel Schlicht, Glenn White, Frank Carlberg, Patrizia Scascitelli, Taylor Haskins, Ken Hatfield, etc.

Ms. Baum has been in the DownBeat Critics Polls annually since 1998, winning #3 in the 2014 Top Flutists category and # 1 Rising Star Flutist in 2012. She was nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association for "Flutist of the Year " seven times, including 2014 and her band The Jamie Baum Septet+ was also been nominated in 2014 as "Best Midsize Ensemble of the Year" - in the same list with only two other bands -The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Coleman and Five Elements!

SOLACE Sunnyside 

Jamie Baum - flute, alto flute
Ralph Alessi - trumpet, flugelhorn
Shane Endsley - trumpet
Doug Yates - alto sax, bass clarinet
Vincent Chauncey - French horn
Chris Komer - French horn
George Colligan - piano, fender rhodes
Johannes Weidenmueller - bass
Jeff Hirshfield - drums
Kyoko Kitamura - voice

Friday, May 29, 2015

Bolo: Singing to the Divine on Their Debut

06/26/2015
It’s a fresh recipe with ancient ingredients. The sweet music of the soul. It’s the sound of Bolo, who make the connections between different cultures and traditions and forge them into something new, still wearing the honor of the past, but also with the ripe taste of the future. What they’ve created shines out on their self-titled debut album, (released June 25, 2015). With all three members highly schooled in many styles of music, from jazz and soul to West African, North African and Indian, it’s the unique chemistry of the trio that’s set them exploring this untrodden path.

“From the time we first played together we knew we had the same approach in terms of trusting the groove,” explains Eliyahu Sills who plays upright bass, and Middle Eastern and Indian flutes. “We don’t feel we need to get our egos involved – we take turns in the lead with the others supporting.”

It’s music that takes its ethos from jazz and funk as well as from older sounds, truly collaborative acoustic music that can spiral and swoop and sometimes just forge its way ahead.

Multi-instrumentalist Evan Fraser had already been involved in many successful global music projects before he met Sills on stage at Burning Man. Soon he was playing on the CD by Eliyahu & The Qadim Ensemble, which reached #7 on Billboard’s World Music charts. Surya Prakasha, a highly sought after drummer in the Bay Area jazz scene, was already an occasional bandmate with Sills. When they finally played all together, it was magic.

The music they made felt right, completely natural, a meeting of minds. And so Bolo was born. In the two years since then they’ve been gigging, rehearsing, and refining their sound. They’ve experimented with different styles, using Fraser’s kamele ngoni harps like a Moroccan bass gimbri, for instance, or playing the kalimba (thumb piano) with Prakasha’s drum kit or harmonium to create moods and change the flow of a piece. All they’ve learned and developed is on Bolo. It’s jazz that draws its heartbeat from the world. All three members are multi-instrumentalists (11 between them) and sing, often switching instruments in the course of a single piece to change the texture and color of the music, both in performance and on CD. Bass can give way to bansuri, drums to harmonium, from instruments to voice, delving deeper into the heart of a melody until they sound like a much larger ensemble.

read more: https://www.storyamp.com/dispatch/14827/9NBloqWFV_ud81-exbeu2A?storyamp_track=5891

Living Colours: ‘Blending Japanese music with jazz wasn’t easy’

SYEDA SHEHRBANO KAZIM — PUBLISHED 02 days ago
Sumie Kaneko, a Japanese traditional music instrumentalist and Jazz singer, is visiting Pakistan for the first time as part of a tour which takes her to Islamabad, Karachi and Dhaka. Her first stop on the tour was Islamabad where she performed multiple concerts playing the Koto and Shamisen.

Q: The traditional Japanese instruments and Jazz seem to be an extremely unlikely combination. How did you fuse the two together?

A: Everyone wonders about that because the two are so different. I play the Koto and Shamisen of course. I also play the piano, violin and flute, and I sing. To me the transformation and blending is very natural. My mother is a musician and when I was a child she took me to all sorts of concerts and exposed me to all sorts of music. The reason I combine all these various forms is simply because I like it. But while bringing traditional Japanese instruments and Jazz together was natural for me, it was not easy. Japanese music is all written and you follow a teacher, while Jazz is all improvisation. My first semester at the Berkeley College of Music was the hardest semester for me because the expectations were completely different from what I had learnt till then. They wanted me to have a vision of my musical path and I had to choose what I had to do but I had to also show that vision in my music. But gradually I found my genre, and now I am writing original music with my Jazz band.

Q: What is a typical day like in your life?

A: Mostly I practice at home and then I go to rehearsals in the evenings. At night if I don’t have a performance I go to places where my friends are performing to see what type of music is popular right now. I have a lot of very talented musician friends and I want to check out what they are doing, which serves as great input for me. I perform two or three times a week and the performances range from clubs and concert halls to restaurants and schools – from kindergartens to colleges, practically anywhere I can go. I love performing for all sorts of audiences whether it’s the four-year-old children in kindergartens or students at Harvard University who want to learn about Japanese traditional music or even hipster places in Brooklyn. That is one of the best things about New York. People in New York are always looking for something cool and it really doesn’t matter what the ‘tradition’ is and that makes it the ideal place for me because I wanted to blend traditional music with Jazz and improvise. In Japan what can occasionally seem like breaking out is simply cool in New York. When I’m relaxing, however, I don’t listen to any music but instead I go to the woods and listen to nature. When I hear music, a part of me is always analysing what I am hearing.

read more: http://www.dawn.com/news/1184714/living-colours-blending-japanese-music-with-jazz-wasnt-easy

Georgia Strait Jazz goes Latin with Zandhunga

posted May 27, 2015 at 12:00 PM
Malcolm Holt, Special to The Record
Following last week’s cool jazz, music at the Avalanche Bar takes a Latin spin when Zandhunga takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

This combo never fails to bring its own fans wherever they may be appearing and this week the Georgia Strait Jazz Society is appealing to dancers, as part of the floor will be cleared for those so inclined.

Zandhunga is: Oscar Robles Diaz – congas, timbales, vocals; Britt Bowman – bass, vocals; Kelly Thomas – keyboard, vocals; Jake Masri – trumpet, flugelhorn, and Jeff Agopzowicz – slide trombone.

Rachel Fuller, saxophone, makes an appearance as a special guest in this show.

This is a locally-based ensemble that began in Mexico in 2009, at the time with more Latin members than Canadian-born, but now the reverse is the case. Trombonist Jeff Agopsowicz is the most recent addition and has already contributed some of his original compositions to the repertoire.


“Having a trombone in the band is pretty essential to salsa music,” Bowman said. “We were making do as a quartet but were always on the lookout for a trombonist. We couldn’t believe our luck when Jeff decided to try out a rehearsal. He already had experience playing with salsa bands in Victoria, and he picked up on what we were doing right away. Sometimes, it really is just about being patient and waiting for the right player to come along.”

read more: http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/entertainment/305214501.html

It's jazz time again!

SIMON SWEETMAN
Last updated 10:38 28/05/2015
Despite not being on the best terms with Wellington's Jazz Police jazz is one of my great loves - as a reviewer that means, unfortunately, you sometimes have to say that something didn't live up to the hype, or didn't deliver on the night.


And local jazz fans and players don't like that - because they want their discount tickets to as many international acts as possible; if you say the guy or girl on the night didn't deliver it might mean we don't get as many shows.


Anyway, it's very much jazz time once again - the Wellington Jazz Festival, featuring local and international guests, kicks into gear next week. Click on that link to see the highlights of a long weekend of jazz and jazz-derived music. Many of the bars in Wellington have DJs and live acts, the Lighthouse Cinema is playing jazz-themed films. And the Opera House will host a handful of international names - as well as a fascinating collision of styles/worlds when The Rodger Fox Big Band and Michael Houstoun perform together on stage (I'm really looking forward to that one).


It's almost always jazz time in my house - the bulk of my record collection is jazz or jazz-related. I got to funk and soul and hip-hop through jazz. I got to psychedelic rock's extremes and noise and improv and some minimalist/soundscape music through jazz.

read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/blog-on-the-tracks/11863994/Its-jazz-time-again

CD REVIEW: Timo Lassy – Love Bullet

Timo Lassy – Love Bullet
(Must Have Jazz 234019. CD review by Andrew Cartmel)


Finnish tenor player Timo Lassy started his career in Amsterdam and returned to his homeland to do some notable work with the Five Corners Quintet and then with Fiver Corners alumnus Jukka Eskola 
(Review) , who guests on trumpet here. In a part of the world where electronic music tends to dominate, Lassy has remained faithful to acoustic playing, and performs adroit, world class hard bop and soul jazz.

Having recently supported singer Joyce Elaine Yuille on her debut album (reviewed here), Lassy is now back as a leader on this CD, his fifth album, with virtually the same line-up as featured accompanying Yuille: the gifted Georgios Kontrafourison keyboards, Antti Lötjönen on bass and Abdissa Assefa percussion. They’re a great unit and freed of the discipline of comping, they really soar here.

The title Green Pepper Strut suggests Memphis Rn'B of the Booker T variety, and initially delivers this in spades, a funky, honking, hand-clapping treat with Timo Lassy probing forward and Kontrafouris adding characteristically virtuosic slabs of Wurlitzer. But it rapidly moves into a more polished CTI mode and then onto increasingly complex and modernistic pastures, with Kontrafouris ably conducting the tour and displaying all kinds of ability on the keyboard as he adapts along the way. It’s virtually a compact fifty year survey of popular jazz idioms, returning to its rhythm and blues roots as it wraps up.

Love Bullet presents wonderful soft cloud-of-sound sax from Lassy, alternately gorgeously gruff and beguilingly gossamer, supported by judicious vibes, lazy, lambent and concise, from Panu Savolainen. Subtle keyboard stabs courtesy of Kontrafouris help to set the pace. Hip or Not has a strong soul jazz feel with a hint of modernist astringency. There are superb chiming and shimmering keyboard passages with smart use of space, and lucid virile trumpet from Jukka Eskola. He hands over to Lassy, who raises his game in the afterglow of Eskola’s solo, playing spiky and eloquent tenor. The drumming — from Teppo Mäkynen — and Abdissa Assefa’s percussion are outstanding, contributing a Latin feel.


read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/4unpMYIrR0GqBfkf-sNmFw

Pavel's perfect piano

Submitted Photo
Posted By Kyle Long @DJKyleLong on Wed, May 27, 2015 at 12:36 PM
Pavel Polanco-Safadit is a whirlwind on the piano, unfurling mesmerizing lines of melody and rhythm with charismatic force. A native of the Dominican Republic, he's most known for playing salsa, Latin jazz and other genres associated with his Caribbean roots. But Pavel also possesses an advanced knowledge of Western classical music theory, which adds a significant power to the vocabulary of his unique musical language.

I spoke with Pavel in advance of his May 29 date at the Jazz Kitchen with his band Direct Contact

NUVO: You grew up in the Dominican Republic. Tell us about your childhood there and how you first became interested in playing music.

Polanco-Safadit: I remember growing up I had only one pair of shoes. I had to save them for school only! (laughs) But I had a very supportive family there.


When I was thirteen years old a missionary from the Episcopal church came along and my father took me to learn music from him. According to this teacher, who was named Tim Holt, I developed very quickly. By the time I was 14, I started teaching music at this school where I had been taking lessons. 

read more: http://www.nuvo.net/ACulturalManifesto/archives/2015/05/27/pavels-perfect-piano

Don Mopsick began his musical career

Don Mopsick began his musical career as a teenager in his hometown of Linden, NJ, performing on trumpet and bass guitar. He attended Rutgers University and Berklee College of Music. His first professional gigs were with Rosemary Clooney around Boston in 1972.

Mopsick's musical interests have always been eclectic and far-ranging. He was graduated from The Manhattan School of Music in 1977 with a degree in Tuba Performance. While in New York, he performed on tuba and bass with The Smith Street Society, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, John Carisi, Paul Jefferey and others.

After a move to Ft. Myers FL in 1977, Mopsick began study on double bass with Lucas Drew at the U. of Miami. He moved to Orlando in 1983 and began work as a free-lance jazz bassist state-wide.


He played concert dates for, among others, The Jazz Club of Sarasota, The Treasure Coast Jazz Society (Vero Beach), and The Gainesville Friends of Jazz, Florida concert dates with Howard Alden, Mousey Alexander, Bill Allred, Dan Barrett, John Bunch, Pete Christleib, Al Cohn, Richie Cole, Kenny Davern, Buddy DeFranco, Terry Gibbs, Scott Hamilton, Buddy Morrow, Ken Peplowski, Flip Phillips, Red Rodney, Bob Rosengarden, Ira Sullivan, Clark Terry, Warren Vaché Jr. and others.


Mopsick joined the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in San Antonio in 1991. He played nightly at The Landing jazz club and toured with the band in the US and abroad. He recorded hundreds of hours for the Riverwalk Jazz public radio series with guests Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Bob Wilber, Dick Hyman, Kenny Davern, Milt Hinton, Nicholas Payton, Ralph Sutton, "Sweets" Edison, Harry Allen, Dan Barrett, Joe Williams, Rebecca Kilgore, Bob Barnard, Bria Skonberg, Jon-Erik Kellso, Vince Giordano, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Stephanie Nakasian, and many others. He left Texas in March 2010 to relocate back to Florida's Gulf Coast.

read more: https://about.me/donmopsick

Jaga Jazzist – Starfire

BY KRISTOFER LENZON MAY 27, 2015, 1:00AM
At its best, Norwegian experimental jazz ensemble Jaga Jazzist sounds like no other group in the world. Its complex ensemble arrangements hearken back to the halcyon swing of Duke and Count Basie, engaging in instrumental acrobatics that echo Heavy Weather-era fusion with a wild rock ’n’ roll heart. Starfire, the group’s sixth studio album and first since 2010’s decadent Live with Britten Sinfonia, finds founding brothers Lars and Martin Horntveth and their cadre of progressive European jazzbos continuing on their nearly two decade-long journey of re-shaping the sound of contemporary jazz. This album, though, feels like Jaga Jazzist is drawing loose circles around an ultimate purpose, rather than driving toward it in a straight line.

The group wastes no time ripping open the fabric of jazz-time and exposing its riotous inner workings with the opening title track. The scuffed, uptempo guitar riff and casually strummed chords that begin and end the song are mere suggestions of the outrageousness they bookend. For three relatively tame minutes, the band plays on a theme, twisting roundabout movements toward a predictable crescendo. Suddenly, synth rises out of the mix and the rhythm section seems to have a momentary seizure. The five minutes that follow demonstrate the band’s fearless will to explode boundaries. This is the Jaga Jazzist formula: Songs regularly run 7 minutes or more and fill to the brim with more movements, tempo changes, and melodic eruptions than one can easily track.


Drummer Martin Horntveth and bassist Even Ormestad provide a backbone that works to keep from getting lost in the complex compositions. No matter how histrionic the high end, the rhythm section is almost mechanically precise. Martin’s drumming is a particular delight; it’s exhausting to follow how often he must stop, start, and suddenly erupt. Moving from backbeat to spotlight, on “Big City Music” the rhythm section gets several opportunities to lay back in the groove and interact solely with, in turns, guitar, synth, and a ripping tuba line.

read more: http://news360.com/digestarticle/NXr3D4_uG0uao7j69oL7xw

Who Were the Kim Loo Sisters?

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

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The Andrews Sisters were from Minneapolis. So were the Kim Loo Sisters (above). In all probability, you've heard of the former but not the latter. For every headliner in the late 1930s and '40s, there were dozens if not hundreds of artists who didn't become huge. Reasons vary, ranging from bad breaks or lacking that little something extra. In the case of the Kim Loo Sisters, that variable was less about talent and charm (wait until you see the following video) and more about not connecting with someone who could transform them into a national brand. It's also easy to imagine that opportunities during World War II for all Asian-American entertainers became more difficult after Pearl Harbor. [Photo above, from left, Alice, Bubbles, Maggie and Jenée]
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But that's all in the past. The beauty is we're now just starting to get to known the Kimmies, thanks to director Leslie Li, daughter of Jenée, one of sisters. Leslie and editor Harry Keramidas have completed a documentary on the Kim Loo Sisters but now need funding to pay the licensing fees so that they can use the songs the Kimmies sing in footage. [Photo above, from left, Alice, Maggie, Jenée and Bubbles]
Before I go further, here's the documentary's trailer, which is insanely addictive and magically charming...
Go here to the IndieGoGo fund-raising site to learn more and donate if you're able.
Fortunately, I was able to catch up with Leslie Li last week to talk about her mom and aunts, who did their part during World War II in the U.S.O....
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JazzWax:
 Who were the Kim Loo Sisters and how did they get started as a vocal group?
Leslie Li: The Kim Loo Sisters—Alice, Maggie, Jenée, and Bubbles—were a Chinese-American jazz vocal quartet popular in the 1930s and '40s and the first Asian-American act to star in Broadway musical revues. They were the daughters of a Polish dressmaker and what was known then as a Chinese "paper son"—their father was born in China but purchased falsified identity papers to stay in the U.S. [Photo above, from left, Bubbles, Lena, Nerée (the youngest sister), Shear Gim, Alice and (in back) Maggie]

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JW:
 Where were the Kimmies born and raised?
LL: In Minneapolis. They didn't have voice training, but took dance lessons from a very young age. They were actually in the same classes as the Andrews Sisters. They were discovered in 1925 and quickly began performing in kiddie revues in and around Minneapolis. Soon they moved on to playing vaudeville circuits around the country and fulfilled their mother's dream by eventually appearing on Broadway and in film. As they gained popularity, the Kimmies moved their base of operations to Chicago and finally to New York. [Photo above, Jenée, Alice, Bubbles and Maggie]

Feb-2015-blog
JW:
 How did they sing so well without training?
LL: All the Kimmies were naturally talented musically. Their father, Shear Gim, built them a radio, the first in the neighborhood. As young girls, they sang and danced to music broadcasts. In 1925, George White and his Orchestra performed in Minneapolis over the Christmas holidays and sent out a casting call for talented local children. Lena, the Kimmies' mother, hoped Mr. White would take at least one of her children. Mr. White took them all. It was their first paying job. Although George White taught the Kimmies the ropes, he wasn't really a mentor. They honed their skills on the vaudeville circuit as teenagers, and ended up performing with a number of big bands, including Ina Ray Hutton and Her Orchestra and the Milt Britton Orchestra. [Photo above, Bubbles, Jenée, Maggie and Alice]

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JW:
 Where did they perform mostly at first?
LL: As children, they performed locally in Minnesota as a family act called Louie's Chinese Revue. Their mother, who was their manager, chaperone, costume designer and dressmaker, also was part of the act. In their teenage years during the 1930s, their mother dropped out of the act and chose Chicago as their base of operations. From Chicago, they followed the various Western and Mid-Western vaudeville circuits. At that point, Bubbles was still underage. Because of child-labor laws, they couldn't perform in more prestigious, better-paying law-abiding theaters in the East. By 1939, they wound up on Broadway, where they performed in George White's Scandals at the Alvin Theatre. Later, they performed at such New York venues as the Strand, the Palace, the Paramount, Loew's State, the Capitol, the Edison Hotel and the Astor Hotel. [Photo above, Alice, Bubbles, Jenée, Nerée, brother Lowell and Maggie]

JW:
 Why didn’t they record?
LL: From what my Auntie Alice, the oldest of the Kim Loo Sisters, told me, RCA asked them to record at one point, but that the recording ban kept them out of the studio. Of course, that may just have been what they were told. The ban didn't affect vocalists, only musicians, and many labels were back in operation by 1943. Only Columbia and RCA held out for another year. In 1944, they joined the U.S.O. and shipped out for the Mediterranean to perform for American and Allied forces stationed in Europe.

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JW:
 Then what happened?
LL: Life took over. After they returned to the States, the Kim Loo Sisters broke up as a musical group. My mother, Jenée, decided to get married right after the road show of George White's Scandals, so she left the act quite early. Alice, Maggie and Bubbles continued as the three Kim Loo Sisters. But in 1945, after they returned from their tour of duty in Europe, Maggie left the act, too. She had married Dan Kenyon, a trumpeter in the Milt Britton Orchestra, before she shipped out and wanted to rejoin her husband. The two remaining Kimmies—Bubbles and Alice—tried to find a female vocalist to replace Maggie, but it never worked out. It was impossible to replace a sister in a sister act. Soon afterward, Alice and Bubbles married. Alice married the guitarist in Ina Ray Hutton's Orchestra while Bubbles married the band's male vocalist. Marriage may have ended the Kim Loo Sisters' act, but marriage didn't fracture the sisters' close relationship. All remained the closest of kin all their lives. [Photo above, from left, Bubbles, Maggie and Alice]

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JW:
 Do we have any film of their act?
LL: Yes, two soundies—three-minute musical films—have survived. We can see and hear them sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Gee, the Jeep Jumps. They also sang in the 1944 Hollywood feature film Meet Miss Bobby Socks, with Louis Jordan. [Photo above, from left, Bubbles, Maggie and Alice]

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JW:
 Are the Kimmies still with us?
LL: Three of them are. Maggie is 97, Jenée is 95 and Bubbles, who doesn't like divulging her exact age, is 90-something. Alice passed away in 2011, a few months shy of her 95th birthday. [Photo above, from left, Jenée, Alice, Maggie and Bubbles, taken in 2007]

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JW:
 Are there any recordings of the Kimmies on tape?
LL: Yes. We have recordings made on a tapedeck and Presto machine. Some were made in rehearsal in Leon Carr's studio, some were made backstage after a performance while others were taped off the radio by their father while they were with Ina Ray Hutton. Hopefully we'll raise the money to license these songs so we can finish the film and screen it publicly. After all, we couldn't make a film about the Kim Loo Sisters without them singing their songs.
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JazzWax note: 
Go here
 to learn more about the Kim Loo Sisters and donate if you're able. You'll fall in love with them almost instantly. [Photo above, clockwise from top: Alice, Bubbles, Maggie and Jenée]
And here's another look at that terrific YouTube video...
A special JazzWax thanks to Neal Horwitz.
Used with permission by Marc Myers