Roberto Magris Trio "New" CD entitled "Kansas City Outbound recorded with Jimmy "Junebug" Jackson, Zack Albetta and one of the worlds greatest musical treasures, Dr. Art Da...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Roberto Magris Trio - Kansas City Outbound
Life's for sharing....
Watch the moment Liverpool Street Station danced to create this special T-Mobile Advert.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Laura Fygi....
Laura Fygi - who celebrated her 15th anniversary as a solo singer last year - returns to her French roots on her new CD Rendez-Vous. Fygi was raised bilingual: her mother spoke French to her and her father Dutch. On her 11th album, she combines her love of the Great American Songbook with the beautiful sounds of her mother tongue. "I just selected my favourite classics and sang them in the most poetic language I know. It's a combination of recognition and emotion."
The collection of songs on Rendez-vous is inspired by the famous Hot Club de France-era, of which Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli are well-known exponents. Hot Club de France was a famous jazz club in Paris in the 1930's, established to protect and promote jazz music. As a result, major international jazz musicians were able to perform in France and many American and European musicians owe their success to the activities of this French organisation. As it was forbidden to sing in English during the war, well-known songs of American composers were translated into French at the time. So, with the exception of 'Caravane', the tracks on Rendez-Vous are all French classics. Fygi asked Philippe Elan, a Frenchman living in the Netherlands, to translate the lyrics of 'Caravane' in French.
The world-famous tracks from Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, Glenn Miller and George Gershwin and others were adapted by Laura's own band. "We started in the summer of 2006 by selecting the repertoire, the rhythms and the soloists we would like to invite. My pianist Hans Vroomans laid the foundation for all the new arrangements after which the rest of my band perfected them. Their involvement is significant for this album; it's the reason why this record is so special," says Laura. Rendez-vous is produced by Ruud Jacobs. Similar to Live At Ronnie Scott's, this album has a truly intimate club vibe. Laura: "I just love that intimacy; the idea that the songs are performed just for you, as if you are the one in front of the stage."
The album features guest performances by David Kweksilber on clarinet, Gert Wantenaar on accordion, Tim Kliphuis on violin and Bert Boeren on trombone. Another remarkable guest is French superstar Dave (born in the Netherlands) with whom Laura performs a stunning version of 'Dansez Maintenant'. "He has been living in France for the last 40 years, so he didn't know who I was. But he said that if Michel Legrand thought I was good enough, he certainly couldn't refuse the offer!" Guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg from the famous Rosenberg Trio contributed his gypsy-sounding guitar solos to 'Nuages' and 'Caravane'.
Rendez-Vous is a wonderful CD of jazzy evergreens sung in French. The album will see a worldwide release on 27 April. Laura Fygi will be touring in Asia , where she has been a true superstar for many years. In the spring of 2008, she will embark on a theatre tour in the Netherlands.
http://www.laurafygi.com/
Maynard Ferguson....
Maynard Ferguson, Trumpet Player, bandleader
Originally printed in "Contemporary Musicians, Volume 7"
Jazz legend Maynard Ferguson far surpasses the title "trumpet player"; he is an internationally famous big-band leader, one of the world's great brass players, and instrument designer, record producer, composer, arranger, producer of film soundtracks, and dedicated teacher. He is also a three-time Grammy Award nominee and Down Beat magazine award winner. The prolific bandleader has recorded over 60 albums in his lifetime. The alumni list of his band members over four decades reads like a Who's Who of the jazz world: Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Bill Chase, Bob James, Slide Hampton, Wayne Shorter, Greg Bissonette, Peter Erskine, Joe Zawinul, Willie Maiden, and Don Ellis are just some of the greats Ferguson's bands have bred. Ferguson emerged from big-band swing and worked his way through jazz, bebop, rock, funk, disco, and fusion. When he wasn't actually playing his horn, he conducted, cueing his men, or just snapped his fingers and enjoyed the music. He has been a hustler, a tireless worker, and remarkably generous with his musical abilities. Few careers have spanned so many different forms of music, tribute indeed to Ferguson's flexibility and staying power.
Ferguson was a child prodigy who first soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Company Orchestra at the age of 11. He was born in the Montreal suburb of Verdun on May 4, 1928. His mother was a violinist with the Ottowa Symphony Orchestra and later, a teacher who helped introduce music into the curriculum of the Montreal public school system. His father was a high school principal. By the time Ferguson was four, he too was playing the violin as well as the piano. At the age of nine he was enrolled in the French Conservatory of Music to receive formal training. He has cited his main influences as his mother and Louis Armstrong.
American Debut in 1948
Ferguson attended Montreal High School, but quit at age 15 to pursue music as a vocation. Around that time he played in a dance band, let by his brother Percy, with another budding musician, jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. By the age of sixteen Ferguson was leading his own jazz and dance band. All of the musicians in his band were twice his age, except Percy, with whom he had effectively reversed roles. In 1948 the 20-year-old Ferguson moved to the U.S. and made his debut with Boyd Raeburn's progressive band. He also played with Jimmy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet, and performed on woodwind and brass as a one-man act in New York's cafe society.
From 1950 to 1953 Ferguson's lashing, high-register trumpet was the cornerstone of Stan Kenton's enormous brass section. During his years with Kenton, Ferguson built a reputation that relied more on his dazzling technique - screech trumpeting in the dizzying upper register of his instrument - than his creativity as a soloist. The fire-breathing trumpeter took first place in Down Beat magazine's best trumpeter poll for three successive years beginning in 1950. After his stint with Kenton, Ferguson spent three years as first-call studio trumpeter for Paramount Pictures and recorded film soundtracks for Paramount, including that of the Biblical epic The Ten Commandments. In 1955 Ferguson joined Leonard Bernstein for a performance of the "Titans," by William Russo, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
The following year, after a period of free-lancing, Ferguson formed the first of several thirteen-piece orchestras, which were noted for the biting precision of their brass sections. On the striking "Frame for the Blues," off the Message From Newport album, Ferguson's dramatic solo style sears, and Don Sebesky, Don Menza, and Slide Hampton offer some of their best arrangements. Other noteworthy soloists featured on that applauded recording were Jaki Byard, Don Ellis, Joe Farrell, and Chuck Mangione. In 1959 an International Critic's Poll, conducted by Down Beat, voted the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra first place in the "new star" big-band division. But, as the popularity of big bands waned in the mid-1960s, Ferguson was forced to economize; he toured less frequently with the big band, favoring a smaller sextet instead. Finally, in 1967, he disbanded and his group began to follow a new path.
Spiritual Renewal in India
In 1968 and 1969 Ferguson taught at the Krishnamurtl-based Rhishi Valley School near Madras, India, which widened both his spiritual and musical horizons. He took his family with him to India, and they eventually moved to England. There Ferguson toured as the leader of a band called Top Brass. He also manufactured personally designed trumpets and mouthpieces from his home in Manchester. Being situated in England made touring Europe easier for Ferguson, and he took advantage of the proximity by embarking on forays across the continent with a variety of ensembles.
In 1969 Ferguson signed with CBS Records in England and created a repertoire for his new British band in which pop and rock songs were rearranged into a big band format, with electronic amplification. This was Ferguson's response to the psychedelic sixties. He produced contemporary arrangements of late 1960s and early 1970s hits like "MacArthur Park" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude." Ferguson's recording of "Gonna Fly Now," - the theme from the hit film Rocky - catapulted Maynard into mainstream popularity with a Top-10 single, a gold album, and a Grammy nomination in 1978. His album Conquistador, from which "Gonna Fly Now" sprang, earned Ferguson an unusual place in the history of music; with Conquistador, he alone was able to crack the pop charts in 1977. Ferguson's efforts helped rekindle the public's interest in big bands; his fanfare solos, along with his expertise on several brass instruments - often demonstrated in a single performance - set a dazzling example of sheer technical virtuosity.
Big Bop Nouveau
In addition to the trumpet, Ferguson plays the trombone, saxophone, clarinet, violin and piano. He stands five feet, nine inches tall, and attributes his horn-power to yogic concentration, which he claims enables him to control his central nervous system and make his lungs generators of energy. He is a family man, married since 1952 to his wife, Flo, and quick to speak proudly of his son and four daughters. One of his daughters, Kim, manages his current outfit, the Big Bop Nouveau Band. Started in the late 1980s, the band leans heavily toward more traditional jazz, reflecting both Ferguson's roots and major strengths. In the spring of 1990 Ferguson released the Big Bop Nouveau album, a combination of studio recordings and live takes from his 60th Birthday Band Tour. With the Big Bop Nouveau Band there is a new stress on instrumentation, marking Ferguson's return to where critics have so often preferred him; in front of a jazz-flavored big band. The Nouveau Band avoids overly-synthesized sounds, and focuses on hard-edged, straight-ahead be-bop jazz music - the sound that established Ferguson in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
As a young man in the 1950s Ferguson set the jazz world aflame with his innovative Birdland Dreamband. Four decades later - he has come full-circle back to his role as legendary, premier big-band leader. Over his lifetime career in music, Ferguson has displayed many peaks and valleys, often straying far from his roots; as a result, his sound is much richer, as are his devoted followers. Although it's never clear where Ferguson may roam next, it's certain that it will be a lively journey.
http://www.maynardferguson.com/article_bio1.html
Philippe Saisse....
Surviving and succeeding in the tenuous and challenging world of contemporary jazz these days is no easy task, and there?s always an inherent pressure on artists to stay one step ahead of the trends. Songwriter, producer and keyboardist Philippe Saisse has thrived in this sink or swim environment by taking the kinds of creative risks that have kept him at the forefront over his illustrious 20 year career. In 2006, he hit the mark again with his The Body And Soul Sessions, his critically acclaimed #1 Billboard album of pop cover songs on Rendezvous Music. He particularly captured the imagination of contemporary jazz fans everywhere with his compelling piano and Fender Rhodes driven version of Steely Dan?s ?Do It Again.?
One of the most ubiquitous airplay hits of the year, the song featuring the French born keyboardist?s longtime trio of bassist David Finck and drummer Scooter Warner spent six weeks at #1 on the Radio & Records airplay chart and #1 for five consecutive weeks at www.smoothjazz.com, 20 weeks in R&R?s Top Ten and was the #6 most played track in the format for the year. Rather than stick to the vibe that broke him through to the mainstream, on his Koch Records debut the multi-talented artist breaks genre barriers and finds renewed joy and creativity At World?s Edge?a powerfully eclectic themed album inspired by his recent move to Los Angeles after living several decades in NYC.
Finding a new lease on his musical life in California, Saisse became a bona fide part of city?s thriving scene the minute he hit town, working with urban jazz greats Peter White, Rick Braun and Richard Elliot. He wrote and co-produced ?Que Paso? on the #1 Braun-Elliot album RnR, quickly hit the road with Elliot and began collaborating on his and Braun?s latest solo projects. Eager to do his first album of originals since the 2004 Japanese release Ready To Go, Saisse reconnected with a batch of famed musicians from all over the world that he had collaborated with in the years between his first solo album (1988?s Valerian) and before forming his acoustic trio with Finck and Warner in the early 2000s.
These include drummer Simon Philips, whom Saisse has known since the two toured with guitar legend Al Di Meola in the 80s, and bassist Pino Palladino, who played fretless on the keyboardist?s 1995 Verve date Masques, which was #1 for three weeks. Saisse also works on At World Edge with trumpeter Jeff Beal; NYC based trombone great Michael Davis; longtime smooth jazz compadres, guitarists Jeff Golub and Marc Antoine and saxman Kirk Whalum; percussionist Lenny Castro; and Beninese vocalist Angelique Kidjo, winner of the 2008 Best Contemporary World Music Album Grammy (for jin Djin) who co-wrote and performed on Saisse?s 1999 African flavored world beat/electronic dance hit ?La Vie.? Kidjo and Saisse pick up where they left off on one of At World?s Edge?s most explosive tracks, the wild, hypnotic world jam ?Assante Sana,? which also features acoustic guitarist and oud player Annas Allaf.
Whalum, Braun and Davis form a powerhouse horn section behind the keyboardist on the exotic, intensely percussive swinging free jazz jam ?Roppongi Blues,? while Antoine and Beal help create the dreamy and sensuous late night vibe of ?Topanga Moon Dance,? which was inspired by the location of the friend?s house Saisse stayed at before moving his family West. That home belongs to Bill Howell, the grooving inspiration behind the old school, easy swinging ?Billy?s Blues? featuring Jason Golley on trumpets and flugelhorn. Saisse balances his pop, rock and funk-infused tracks like the classic rock edged ?The Rover,? ?Monday Afternoon? the first single, and the cleverly titled, autobiographical trio jazz opener ?From Nowhere to Now Here? with the film score lush ?Through Tainted Glass,? a piece reminiscent of some of Saisse?s early new age-jazz efforts.
For both logistic and economic reasons, At World?s Edge is truly an album that couldn?t have come together in any decade but the 2000s; the very digitized, geographically spread out sessions perfectly embody the album?s title concept. With the exception of Braun, Castro and Philips, who worked live with Saisse in the studio, almost every other musician involved did their parts via sound file from another location around the globe: Palladino from London; Antoine from Madrid; Kidjo from New York; Whalum from Memphis, and album co-producer Goh Hotoda (whose legendary credits include Madonna, Chaka Khan, Prince, Janet Jackson, Marcus Miller and David Sanborn) from his home studio in Tokyo. Even the tracks featuring Saisse?s former trio mates Finck and Warner were done at various times in different New York studios.
?The challenge under these circumstances was to see if everyone could get their creative juices flowing in these different environments, and ultimately, I was very pleased with the results,? says Saisse. ?The whole idea behind At World?s Edge was the fact that after finding success with an album of cover songs, I wanted to make more of a personal statement that I could only express through original compositions. The music emerged from a period I call the ?dark age,? where a flood back in New York ruined my studio and I developed a bad ear infection that caused me to lose my hearing for a few months just as I was about to start work on Kirk Whalum?s Roundtrip CD.
?When I moved to L.A. and got involved with Rick Braun, Peter White and hooked up with Simon again,? he adds, ?it was like a whole new world opening up for me. I was also excited about how well ?Do It Again? was performing at radio and wanted to capitalize on the door that was opening for me in contemporary jazz. It was time to make a record that would be a definitive stylistic statement of where I am as a musician, working with so many of my friends from over the years.?
The icing on the cake for Saisse, was when his long time friend Tony McAnany brought to his attention Austin, Texas based singer/songwriter David Rice. ?From the moment I wrote it,? he says, ?I always felt that a vocal treatment of the title track could work. What I received from David a short few weeks later was beyond my wildest dreams. His voice and lyrics took that tune to a whole other level in my view, and that he was able to fit it all in without my altering anything in the original track is nothing short of genius. This sets the tone for the whole recording.?
Chuck Mitchell, VP of Jazz/Adult Music at Koch, who helmed Verve Records while Saisse was signed to the label and orchestrated their creative reunion and signing to Koch, says, ?Philippe?s taste and imagination are fully front and center in this new work, which really extends the reach of contemporary jazz expression in fresh and original ways.?
In between finishing At World?s Edge, Saisse also managed to contribute to a slew of other major contemporary jazz projects as a songwriter/producer including solo records by Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Kirk Whalum?s Grammy nominated, ?Round Trip,? Warren Hill, Paul Brown & Marc Antoine, and Dave Koz. He also produced three major theme/concept albums: ?The Tribe Project,? which featured a fusion of jazz, world music and Native American Indian music; ?Rendez Vous In Paris,? a collection of classic French pop standards featuring his producing partner and French celebrity/singer Jasmine Roy, along with guest appearances by Al Jarreau, Mark Antoine, Michel Legrand, Gerard Depardieu, and others that will be released by Sony/Japan in 2009; and a Yahama Diskclavier Pianosoft solo recording project featuring his music.
Historically known as a studio rat, Saisse has ventured beyond his musical safe haven over the past several years to develop an emerging profile as a sought after live performer. Working either with The Philippe Saisse Trio or in packages with Warren Hill & Jeff Golub, Bobby Caldwell, Paul Brown, Marc Antoine, Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, and Michael Lington, he has performed at several major jazz festivals, including The Wave Fest in LA, Berks Jazz Festival, The Catalina Jazz Festival, Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz Festival and a string of top jazz clubs around the country. Last year, his Trio performed at the Cotton Club in Tokyo, and in February 2009, Saisse will debut a new live ensemble/trio with recording mates Phillips and Palladino for dates at Billboard Live in Osaka, and Tokyo, (Feb 2 ? 5) with hopes of featuring the line up for shows in States on the heels of his new release.
Having studied at the Paris National Conservatory (piano, percussion, theory and composition) and Berklee College Of Music (where, among other things, he mastered the vibraphone under the tutelage of Gary Burton), the Marseilles born, Paris raised Saisse counts as his influences everyone from Count Basie and Oscar Peterson to Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. His first jazz gig was with fusion guitar great Al Di Meola, and he did early studio sessions with Chaka Khan and Peabo Bryson. Saisse?s talent lies not only in his playing but also in his understanding of his projects from more than one perspective. Through donning a variety of hats, and collaborating with such stalwarts as David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, the B-52?s, Rod Stewart, David Sanborn, Nile Rodgers, Phil Ramone, Al Jarreau, Narada Michael Walden, Al Di Meola, and Gato Barbieri, he has gained unique insight into his own musical goals.
Over the years, has been a songwriter and producer for poet and jazz artist Claude Nougaro?s, ?Nougayork,? served as resident producer for a season of the television series ?Popstar? (France?s version of ?American Idol?) and scored movies and series for French cable television network ARTE. In February 2005, the French Minister of Culture and Communications bestowed upon him the title of ?Chevalier des Arts et Lettres,? one of France?s most distinguished honors. He was also commissioned by Ramone to write an orchestral work in honor of Berklee?s 60th anniversary in 2006. As a solo artist, Saisse earned critical praise for his U.S. releases Dream Catcher (1994), Masques (1995), Next Voyage (1997) and Halfway Till Dawn (1999) before focusing his energies in the current decade on recording for JVC Victor in Japan.
?Making an album like At World?s Edge reminds me how much I enjoy the freedom of being able to make a living from pursuing my true passion,? Saisse says. ?I?m most inspired when I get an email from a teenager who is listening to my music and discovering jazz for the first time. It?s a great feeling to pass it on to the next generation. But music is a crazy business and so I approached this recording as if it were going to be the last one I ever made?which may explain why it?s so much fun and taps into so many subgenres of jazz. I wanted to include all of the things I love to do, so that if I never had the chance to make another, I could say, ?now this is a cool one. I?m quite happy with what I?ve done.?
http://www.philippesaisse.com/
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