GET ON UP: THE JAMES BROWN STORY ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

“The Godfather of Soul.” “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” “Mr. Dynamite.” “Soul Brother Number One.” For more than 50 years, these and other honorifics have described American music icon James Brown. On July 29, Polydor/UMe will release the soundtrack for Universal Pictures’ upcoming drama, GET ON UP.

GET ON UP: The James Brown Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features studio and live versions of many of Brown’s top soul/funk hits—from his first, 1956’s “Please Please Please,” to “Out Of Sight,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “Try Me,” “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag,” “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” “The Payback,” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine.” Brown’s hits fed an incredible legacy of live performances, and the soundtrack further highlights Brown’s legendary stage prowess with two previously unreleased concert recordings heard in the film: spine-tingling performances of “Please Please Please” and “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” recorded on April 23, 1966 at Tampa, Florida’s historic Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory. The soundtrack also includes five recordings with new music production and arrangements by The Underdogs.

In his follow-up to the four-time Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster The Help, Tate Taylor directs 42’s Chadwick Boseman as James Brown in GET ON UP. Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film is a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Boseman is joined in the drama by Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis, Craig Robinson, Octavia Spencer, Lennie James, Tika Sumpter and Jill Scott.

Academy Award® winner Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile) produces for Imagine Entertainment, with Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman (Shine A Light) producing under their Jagged Films banner. Imagine’s Erica Huggins (Flightplan) also serves as a producer on GET ON UP, while Taylor produces under his Wyolah Films label. Peter Afterman, Trish Hofmann, Jez Butterworth, John Butterworth, John Norris and Anna Culp serve as executive producers.

In 1986, James Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a charter member. A multiple GRAMMY® Award winner, Brown was honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, and in 2003 he received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 at the age of 73.

www.getonupmovie.com

www.jamesbrown.com

GET ON UP: The James Brown Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine

2. The Payback. Pt. 1

3. Out Of Sight

4. I Got You (I Feel Good)

5. Caldonia +

6. Please Please Please (Live) * +

7. Night Train (Live)

8. Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, Pt. 1

9. It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (Live) * +

10. Cold Sweat, Pt. 1

11. Mother Popcorn, Pt. 1

12. I Got The Feelin’ (Live)

13. I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me) (Live)

14. Say It Loud-I’m Black And I’m Proud, Pt. 1

15. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine (Live)

16. Super Bad (Live)

17. Soul Power (Live)

18. Try Me (Live) +

19. Please Please Please +

20. Get Up Offa That Thing

All tracks produced by James Brown

* previously unreleased

+ soundtrack version 

NEW RELEASES: GRANT GREEN - FIRST SESSION; INDIGO JAM UNIT - MILESTONE; MELAZA

GRANT GREEN – FIRST SESSION

Grant Green's first-ever session as a leader – recorded by Blue Note in 1960, and not issued until now! The set features Green's guitar playing in a piano quartet, with rhythm by Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones – about as fine a backing trio as Green could hope to find. We're not sure why Blue Note didn't issue this material at the time – perhaps because they were trying to break Green as R&B-inflected soul jazz player, and this set had more of a straight jazz quality (like his Sunday Morning album) – but whatever the case, it's all here now, along with 2 other tracks from a 1961 session with Sonny Clark on piano. Titles include "Seepin", "Sonnymoon For Two", "Just Friends", "Woody N You", and an early recording of "Grant's First Stand". (SHMCD pressing.)  ~ Dusty Groove

INDIGO JAM UNIT – MILESTONE

Massively funky work from Indigo Jam Unit – but in a way that's quite different from all the other funky combos around today! These guys have always had a very unique, very personal vibe – one that draws heavily from jazz, but blocks its energy into these full, rich, round acoustic basslines – which drive along powerful drums and freewheeling piano – with a sound that's even more breathtaking here than on previous records! We've loved every single records these guys have ever given us – each one more than the last – and they're one of the world's great musical secrets, given that they've hardly ever gotten much circulation outside of Japan. Titles include "Windscreen Rain", "Zeus", "Hunt", "Milestone", "Corazon", and "Shiosai".  ~ Dusty Groove

MELAZA – MELAZA

A crack salsa combo from New York – contemporary, but with a very old school vibe – and a really rich sense of arrangement! The group's got two trombones and two trumpets – but arrangements are by pianist Mike Eckroth, who's got a really broad sense of color – and uses the horns carefully alongside lots of rootsy percussion, and some great work on tres as well! Vocals are by Renzo Padillo – and titles include "De Nueva York", "Abusador", "El Niche", "Estas A Tiempo", "Mal Amigo", and "En El Pasado Quedara". ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: GUNTER BABY SOMMER – DEDICATIONS; BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA – AMPHI: RADIO RHONDO; LEE RITENOUR - RIT

GUNTER BABY SOMMER – DEDICATIONS

One of the best examples of the drum skills of Gunter Sommer we've heard in a long long time – and a great return to his Hormusik format from many years back! The album's all solo – and has Sommer working in a haunting blend of percussion and drums – but with sounds that are beautifully melodic, and as much filled with a sense of tone and color as they are with rhythm! The record features a set of dedications to important drummers who've influenced Gunter over the years – Baby Dodds, Pierre Favre, Paul Lovens, Ed Blackwell, Max Roach, and others – each given a solo piece with a very distinct sound, and sometimes a bit of spoken introduction by Sommer. Titles include "Von Baby Zu Baby", "Art Goes Art", "A Letter To Paul", "Ed Blackwell", "Selfportrait", and "Von Max Fur Max".  ~ Dusty Groove

BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA – AMPHI: RADIO RHONDO

Two great large group works from bassist Barry Guy – both with the sort of individual qualities we love in his music with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra! The players here are from a wider range of European sources, and all work together as a whole, but get plenty of space for personal expression – tones and voices that are initially most strong from the bass of Guy and violin of Maya Homburger – but which evolve to include Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson on saxes, Hans Koch on bass clarinet, Johannes Bauer on trombone, and Paul Lytton and Raymond Strid on percussion. "Amphi" is a long work that begins with a more careful sense of presence – but "Radio Rondo" rolls in with much greater group force, and continues boldly for nearly 30 minutes. ~ Dusty Groove

LEE RITENOUR – RIT

Few people did soulful fusion better than Lee Ritenour back in the early 80s – and the guitarist always seemed to find a way to really link together all the different sounds of the electric genre – from heavy jamming to soulful grooving to a rock-like appreciation for a good hook! Harvey Mason provides some great heavy drums, and also helped Lee produce – which gives the record a sharp, soulful focus that's like some of Harvey's own great records of the time – an undercurrent of funk that more than helps keep the Ritenour vocals moving along! Titles include "Mr Briefcase", "Countdown", "Good Question", "Dreamwalk", "Is It You", and "Just Tell Me Pretty Lies".  ~ Dusty Groove

Guitar Legend Carl Verheyen of Supertramp Releases New CD 'Mustang Run' Feat. Simon Phillips, Chad Wackerman, Jerry Goodman and Bill Evans

Much to the excitement of guitar players and Supertramp fans worldwide, guitarist Carl Verheyen has released his new CD 'Mustang Run'. In his 40-plus years of playing the instrument, Carl Verheyen has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically-acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 11 CDs and two live DVDs released worldwide. Carl is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of LA’s elite “first call” session players for the past 25 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows. Carl has graced the pages of countless industry publications and been the subject of numerous articles chronicling his rise to the forefront of the modern day guitar scene.

Says Carl about his new CD release, “My goal was to break out of the mold of Carl Verheyen Band CDs and do a progressive instrumental album. I wanted the opportunity to weave thick textures of sound using dozens of instruments and tones. My motivation was the sheer joy of hearing those sounds in the air!”

“We’ve been friends for many years and Carl has always amazed me with his versatility and technique. He’s a fine player.” - Albert Lee

Carl has won numerous polls and musical honors in the US, Germany, France, Italy and the UK. A member of the smash hit British rock group Supertramp since 1985, Carl has played to millions of enthusiastic fans in sold out arenas worldwide. As the creative force behind The Carl Verheyen Band, he has released an impressive and eclectic discography that showcases his endless talents across a wide array of musical genres. Carl's musical influences are just as diverse and range from George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Alvin Lee, Leslie West to Miles Davis, John Mclaughlin, Steve Morse, Chet Atkins and Andy Summers, among others.

“Every time I start to feel good about my playing and general overall knowledge of the guitar, I will get together with Carl and see truly how far I have to go. I am proud to call him my friend. A master of the guitar and a hellava nice guy to boot.” - Joe Bonamassa

'Mustang Run' features performances by some extraordinary musicians, which includes Simon Phillips, Chad Wackerman, Jerry Goodman, Bill Evans, Jimmy Johnson, Stuart Hamm, and Gregg Bissonette. In regards to the assortment of legendary music artists that grace his new release, Carl explains, “My previous CD called 'Trading 8s' was a collaboration with some of my guitar player friends. I had Robben Ford, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson, Albert Lee and Rick Vito trading solos with me. On 'Mustang Run' I wanted that inspiration to come from the rhythm section, so I called different bass players and drummers to suit the songs. I love to play with musicians that I have a deep musical relationship with, because the studio scene in LA breeds hundreds of 'casual' musical relationships. The great players on 'Mustang Run' are all friends that I've known and performed with for years.”

A much sought after studio musician, Carl plays on other artists’ CDs whenever his busy schedule permits. He has recorded and played with a virtual who’s who of the music industry. His vast collection of movie soundtrack and television credits are enviable. Carl was heard by 67, 000,000 people as a featured soloist at the 2009 Academy Awards. He will also be heavily featured in the forthcoming film documentary about the electric guitar, 'Turn It UP!'

“Carl is a true pro and a great player/musician. He can do anything, and as one who is supposed to do this, me (ha-ha), Carl comes through with heart and soul and is really not only an awesome musician but a really good guy. That counts ALOT in this biz, especially these days.” - Steve Lukather

On the educational front, Carl has produced two instructional videos called 'Intervallic Rock Guitar' and 'Forward Motion' as well as various on-line lessons. He also has a book/CD detailing his unique “intervallic” style called 'Improvising Without Scales'. Another book entitled 'Studio City' is a compilation of all the columns Carl wrote for Guitar Magazine between 1996 and 1999. He has written a monthly column for Chitarre, Italy’s #1 guitar publication as well as Guitar World and Guitar Jam Daily, a website devoted to serious guitarists. He currently writes a monthly column for Guitar Player, contributes to other guitar publications, and blogs regularly for GuitarPlayer.com and his own site. Carl also lectures and teaches at clinics and master classes regularly when not on the road.

“Carl is so overwhelming to sit in a room and jam with, let alone his playing on records and stage. You get the impression there is no style or territory he is unable to explore.” - Brad Paisley

Carl recently co-designed a signature guitar with LsL Instruments, the “CV Special,” combining the best elements Carl seeks in his ideal guitar; they are now available for purchase worldwide. As if that weren’t enough, working closely with Dean Markley, Carl developed a line of signature strings for the electric guitar that perfectly balance the tremolo bridge of the Fender Stratocaster, the Carl Verheyen Balanced Bridge Helix HD string set .

“Carl is one of those experienced, great players that you could put in any situation and get a wonderful guitar solo. I personally love the fact that he enjoys what he does and radiates positive energy whenever I have seen him.” - Steve Morse

In support of Carl's new CD release, he will be touring Europe in the fall 2014. His band will feature bass virtuoso Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ritchie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Berlin), who is featured on 'Mustang Run', and master drummer/percussionist John Mader (Joe Satriani, Booker T, Electronic Arts' “The Sims”, Tony award winners “Rent”, “Lion King” and “Wicked”).

In closing Carl has this to impart, “Before I made 'Mustang Run' I pulled out about 10 CDs that I seem to listen to all the time. None of them were 'shredders' or heavy bombastic music, but none of them were 'easy listening' either. I realized they all had melodic qualities that made them endure the test of time. So my main goal: make a record the bears repeated listening. If you discover new things with each play I've done my job!”

http://www.carlverheyen.com

http://www.carlverheyen.com/store-cds/

KAN WAKAN'S DEBUT ALBUM, "MOVING ON" FEATURES A BEAUTIFUL CINEMATIC SOUND

Kan Wakan arrives with a striking breadth of vision that immediately places them among modern pop’s most beguiling and inventive new artists. The Los Angeles-based group’s extraordinary self-titled debut EP introduced their ornate and enveloping amalgam of psychedelic soul, post rock, electronica, noir jazz, 60s soundtrack stylings, and orchestral pop, all reshaped and rearranged to create something both startlingly original and utterly contemporary.

“KAN WAKAN” – which heralds the band’s full-length debut, entitled “MOVING ON,” arriving everywhere June 2014 – is highlighted by “Forever Found,” and first single, “Like I Need You,” which has already been championed by the ever-influential public radio station, KCRW, as well as by LA Weekly, which recently named Kan Wakan among the “Los Angeles Bands About To Blow Up.”

Kan Wakan emerged in early 2012, the musical brainchild of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev.  The Bulgarian-born musician originally set out to create solely instrumental music inspired by his lifelong passion for classical minimalism, but the involvement of chanteuse Kristianne Bautista and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy rapidly saw the project grow in both scope and purpose.

“Initially the project began as an outlet for me to perform some of my bedroom instrumental ideas with a small chamber ensemble comprised of strings, brass and percussion” Linev says, “At one point it felt natural to me to introduce guitars, keyboard and drums into the mix, and around this time is when I met with Peter and Kristianne. It took a very natural course as we spent the next year or so experimenting together and more like minded musicians came into the mix.”

As the core group built upon a truly variegated palette of influences, common musical themes began to manifest, including a epic but cinematic deep soul approach inspired by such icons as Bill Withers and Nina Simone. “Forever Found” – the band’s first fully fleshed track – proved the aural template from which Kan Wakan lit out on their exploration of what Linev refers to as “the juxtaposition of song and symphony.”

At the forefront is Bautista’s powerful, provocative voice – described by Linev as not unlike “the lead instrument in an orchestra” – which conveys remarkable levels of romantic nuance and human complexity to songs like the mysterious “Moving On.” With a name inspired by the word in Tagalog (Kristianne’s native language) for interstellar/outer space, “Kalawakan,” the trio was abetted with various players live, all of whom help bring the bold sonic vision to full fruition.

“Many roots of ideas are inspired by moving picture and fiction. A lot of arrangement ideas usually start with a quick sentiment, and develop viscerally undocumented over some time before I feel comfortable enough writing them down.”

Kan Wakan’s opening demos earned them well-deserved attention, including significant airplay on the one and only KCRW. Having made an instantaneous impact, the band then spent the better part of 2013 recording at studios around the greater Los Angeles area. Produced by Linev (aka Crooked Waters), co-produced by Potyondy and multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning producer/engineer Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck, Air, Gnarls Barkley) and Mixed by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Florence and the Machine, The Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse) the sessions were adorned with sumptuous strings performed by the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Linev’s beloved uncle, Bulgarian Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra music director/conductor Stefan Linev.

“We wanted to put no limits on what we were setting out to do,” Linev says. “We tried to put as much of ourselves on the record as possible so that we can look back on it as a real and honest statement of who we were in that moment, both musically and spiritually.”

http://www.kanwakan.com/album/moving-on/

NEW RELEASES: TRAEDONYA! - ANOTHER LIE; CARY'S CLUB - TWELVE STORES (FREE DOWNLOAD); JARROD LAWSON

TRAEDONYA! - ANOTHER LIE (FROM HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP)

Prohibition Entertainment has announced the release of TRAEDONYA!'s first single ''Another Lie'' from her debut digital EP ''High Fructose Corn Syrup".The single ''Another Lie'' by TRAEDONYA! picked up a tremendous amount of support in the twitterverse and blogosphere. The song is a funky and jazzy piece with TRAEDONYA!'s lyrical acumen and live instrumentation that takes you back to another period in music says A.K Smith-Ford of Prohibition Entertainment.The song is going for adds now at R&B, Jazz and Adult Contemporary stations.TRAEDONYA! aka ''The Bride Of New Funk Hipopera" has been singing since childhood. She gets her diversified funk from life experiences, has been trained at a jazz conservatory, yet was raised in the Bronx on Hip Hop. Her single ''Beloved'' was called Hipopera by the UK press due to her range of octaves and vocal styling. "I am just a international party girl at heart says" TRAEDONYA!".TRAEDONYA!'s EP ''High Fructose Corn Syrup'' is coming 
soon.

CARY'S CLUB - TWELVE STORIES

Cary's Club is the free track of the month courtesy of  Motema Music. Marc Carey has been voted #1 rising star keyboardist in the 2014 Downbeat Critics Poll. "Cary's Club Free Track of the Month" continues today with the second track in the series, "Twelve Stories", a trio rendition of "For Moseka" (with Burniss Earl Travis II on bass and Sameer Gupta on drums), from Marc Cary's solo opus and Abbey Lincoln tribute For the Love of Abbey. Get "Twelve Stories" FREE today! -click here!

JARROD LAWSON - JARROD LAWSON

A stunning debut from Jarrod Lawson – a singer we fell in love with right away – and who we'd rank right up there with some our favorite mellow soul artists of the 70s! Yes, the cover's got a look that's more indie rock – but Jarrod's got this righteous vibe and sense of flow that seems to tie together distant strands of influence – from Marvin Gaye to Gil Scott Heron to jazz singers like Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, or Mark Murphy! Backings are jazzy, but with a focused, soulful groove – warmed up by keyboards, but kept fresh with lots of live instrumentation that really matches the rich sense of inflection in Lawson's voice – an amazing range, but one that's never overstated, overdone, or overused. All the tracks are originals – and the record's one that you'll be spinning for years to come! Titles include "Sleepwalkers", "Walk In The Park", "Redemption", "Needed", "Everything I Need", "All That Surrounds", "Spiritual Eyes", and "Together We'll Stand". ~ Dusty Groove

MIGUEL ZENÓN - IDENTITIES ARE CHANGEABLE: AN EXTENDED MUSICAL WORK FOR LARGE ENSEMBLE ABOUT NATIONAL IDENTITY, AS EXPERIENCED BY THE PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA

Miguel Zenón has become one of jazz's most original thinkers. Today, at the age of 37, he's one of the best-known alto saxophonists in jazz. The quartet he leads has been working together for more than ten years, building its ensemble coherence on stages all over the world. But Zenón's more than a great musician and bandleader.

One of only a handful of jazz musicians to be chosen for the coveted MacArthur fellowships (in 2008), he's at the forefront of a new movement that in recent years has brought the composer to a new prominence in jazz. But beyond his facility at writing and playing music, there is a great intellectual subject at the center of Miguel Zenón's artistic world: the complexity of Puerto Rican culture.

Beginning with his third album as a leader, Jíbaro (2005), and continuing with Esta Plena (2009) and Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook (2011) (both Grammy-nominated), and Oye!!! Live In Puerto Rico (2013), Miguel Zenón has created a series of thoughtfully framed works that interpret different facets of Puerto Rican culture. Zenón's Puerto Rico is a bit like Gabriel García Márquez's Colombia or Gilberto Gil's Brazil: the highly focused center of an imaginative universe that looks to the world while being rooted at home. It serves a springboard for his personal style: no one else's Puerto Rico - and no one else's jazz - sounds like Miguel Zenón's.

Identities Are Changeable, Zenón's powerful new composition, is a song cycle for large ensemble, with his longtime quartet (Luis Perdomo, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass; Henry Cole, drums) at the center, incorporating recorded voices from a series of interviews conducted by Zenón. Commissioned as a multi-media work by Montclair State University's Peak Performances series, it has a multi-media element with audio and video footage from the interviews, complemented by a video installation created by artist David Dempewolf. It's been performed at such prestigious venues as the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston, The SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, and Zankel Hall in the Carnegie Hall complex in New York City.

The album version of Identities Are Changeable is a labor of love, produced by Miguel Zenón without commercial backing. It will be released November 4, 2014 as only the second title on his personal label, Miel Music.

I think more and more people are realizing

that you can be more than one cultural self

at the same time,

and you're at the crossings of those.

Rather than being just squarely in one,

you'll be at the crossings.

 -- Juan Flores

The core of Identities Are Changeable is a series of English-language interviews Miguel Zenón conducted with seven New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent. His initial impetus for the project came from reading The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning, a book by cultural theorist Juan Flores based on interviews with Puerto Ricans who had returned to the island after living on the mainland. Zenón turned the tables and interviewed Flores, whose insightful commentary grounds Zenón's finished work.

Other interviewees who weave in and out of the musical texture are Miguel Zenón's sister Patricia Zenón; the young musicians Luqués Curtis and Camilo Molina; actress Sonia Manzano; poet Bonafide Rojas; and family friend Alex Rodríguez. This is speech as music: their recorded voices, speaking off-the-cuff in their own surroundings with the sound of the city around them, tell the story. Writing about it in The Wall Street Journal, jazz journalist Larry Blumenfeld quoted Zenón:

"I asked pretty much the same things to everyone," [Zenón] said, "the essential question being 'What does it mean to be Puerto Rican?'" As Mr. Zenón analyzed his footage, themes emerged: Do you speak English or Spanish? How is tradition passed on?

Zenón identified key excerpts from the interviews and grouped them into six thematically related clusters: national identity, home, blackness, language, the next generation, and music. As he began writing instrumental music to support the voices, those clusters became six fully elaborated musical movements, plus an intro and outro, making for a 75-minute work of symphonic dimensions.

I always thought I was the blackest Puerto Rican.

Because I was a Black Panther

before I was a Young Lord,

because I liked Hendrix

before I liked Hector Lavoe.

 -- Bonafide Rojas

Identities Are Changeable showcases Miguel Zenón's most ambitious instrumental writing yet. It's scored for a 16-piece large ensemble, consisting of Zenón's working quartet supplemented by five saxes, four trumpets, and three trombones.

If you think you already know what that sounds like, think again: though this pulsating, percolating music is intensely rhythmic, it's not achieved through the now traditional mambo-style section writing. It's still Latin, and it's still jazz, but this sonority - Zenón's first big-band score - presents a different kind of compositional and orchestrational challenge, and a different kind of polyrhythm. It's more like modern symphonic writing, with layered multiple meters that give new meaning to the term "harmonic rhythm" as they create a translucent texture.

Zenón explains: "all of the compositions explore the idea of multiple rhythmic structures coexisting with each other (e.g., 5 against 7, 3 against 2, 5 against 3)." Drummer Henry Cole has his hands (and feet) full holding down the simultaneous time streams, as does Zenón when he conducts the group live. The players are a selected elite team - hear John Ellis's tenor solo on "Same Fight," or Tim Albright's trombone feature on "First Language." There's no way to convey in words the impact of the orchestral effects, but reviewing the Zankel Hall performance for The New York Times, Ben Ratliff writes:

"[The] sound and language didn't directly suggest traditional Puerto Rican music or traditional jazz. Its rhythm was phrased almost completely in stacked or odd meter, with parts of the band shifting into double or half time, and Mr. Zenón's saxophone darting around the chord changes or resting on top, in long tones.

There was drama and momentum in the music's developing harmonic movement; at times a shift to a new chord felt like an event. All the music was deeply hybridized and original, complex but clear."

It's all at the service of Zenón's relentless curiosity, as he writes in the album's liner notes:

When I first came into contact with Puerto Rican communities in this country, I was shocked to meet second and third generation Puerto Ricans who were as connected to the traditions of their parents/grandparents and as proud to be Puerto Rican as the people I knew back home.  Where was this sense of pride coming from? What did they consider their first language? Their home? What did it mean to them to be Puerto Rican? What are the elements that help us shape our national identity?

  

If the music doesn't directly answer these questions, it provides a way into thinking about them. Like Zenón's other music, it's about an entire society, but it's deeply personal.

TRACK LISTING

1. ¿De Dónde Vienes? (Overture) (4:26) 

2. Identities are Changeable (11:47)

3. My Home (11:25)

4. Same Fight (12:25) 

5. First Language (12:29)

6. Second Generation Lullaby (11:20) 

7. Through Culture and Tradition (10:30)

8. ¿De Dónde Vienes? (Outro) (1:20)

PERSONNEL

Miguel Zenón Quartet: Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone / Luis Perdomo, piano / Hans Glawischnig, bass / Henry Cole, drums.

Identities Big Band: Will Vinson, Michael Thomas, alto saxophones / Samir Zarif, John Ellis (solo on "Same Fight"), tenor saxophones / Chris Cheek, baritone saxophone / Mat Jodrel, Michael Rodriguez, Alex Norris, Jonathan Powell, trumpets / Ryan Keberle, Alan Ferber, Tim Albright (solo on "First Language"), trombones.

Multiple Grammy nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American folkloric music and jazz. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has released eight recordings as a leader, including Oye!!! Live in Puerto Rico (2013), Rayuela (2012) and the Grammy nominated Alma Adentro (2011). As a sideman he has worked with jazz luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, David Sánchez, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner and Steve Coleman. Zenón has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, as well as gracing the cover of DownBeat. 

He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the DownBeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions. As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Peak Performances, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and many of his peers. Zenón has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world, and is a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA. In 2011 he founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico.

In April 2008 Zenón received a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Later that year, he was one of 25 distinguished individuals chosen to receive the coveted MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the "Genius Grant."

Identities are Changeable, his ninth recording as a leader, will be released November 4th, 2014.

For more info: www.miguelzenon.com

Miguel Zenón- Tour Dates / 2014

7/12: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Festival de Jazz en Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico

8/1: Miguel Zenón Identities Big Band @ Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI

8/30: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ UW-Stevens Point Festival, Stevens Point, WI 

8/31: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago, IL

9/27: Miguel Zenón Quartet, Beantown Jazz Festival, Boston, MA

11/2: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Princeton Jazz Nights, Princeton, NJ

11/5: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ The Atlas, Washington, DC

11/6: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Outpost, Albuquerque, NM

11/7: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Clifton Center, Louisville, KY

11/8-9: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Dazzle, Denver, CO

11/10: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Earshot Jazz, Seattle, WA 

11/12: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Redwood Jazz Alliance, Arcata, CA 

11/14: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Jimmy Mak's, Portland, OR

11/15: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Broad Stage, Los Angeles, CA

11/18-23: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Village Vanguard, New York, NY

2015

2/12: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Bimhuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2/13: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Paradox, Tilbourg, The Netherlands

2/14: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ AMR Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland

2/18: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Pannonica, Nantes, France

2/20: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ San Severo, Italy

2/21: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Jazz Club Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

2/26: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Jazz Club Singen, Singen, Germany

2/27: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Birdland, Neuberg, Germany

3/5: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ JazzSchule Jazz Club, Basel, Switzerland

3/20: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ + Video, Hostos College, New York, NY

3/21: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Montgomery  Community College, Blue Bell, PA

3/26-29: Miguel Zenón Quartet @ Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL

Jazz Drummer-Composer Mark Lomax Presents a Bold, Dynamic African Mytho-Spiritual Suite with the Album Isis and Osiris

The Mark Lomax Trio - with the drummer-leader joined by saxophonist Eddie Bayard and bassist Dean Hulett - have created a boldly dynamic suite on African mytho-spiritual themes with the album Isis and Osiris, to be released September 16, 2014, by Inarhyme Records. Isis and Osiris follows Lomax's lauded 2010 album, The State of Black America - which All About Jazz declared "audacious" in bridging "the firebrand music of the 1960s from today's world," walking "the roads traveled by John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Sonny Rollins, John Tchicai and Archie SheppŠ to deliver an unflinching tour-de-force." Jazz Chicago called the album "electrifying," while Lucid Culture said: "This album is a clinic in making every note count: Lomax is the rare drummer who leaves you wanting more, leading his bandmates through a strikingly terse, brilliantly counterintuitive and ultimately joyous series of explorations." And Jazzwise summed up the virtues of the previous album in a way that applies equally to Isis and Osiris: "This is an impressively conceived and executed piece of work, one in which the gravitas of the title is matched by the depth of both the composing and improvising of the trio."

Isis and Osiris - featuring melodies of deep-blues feeling and polyrhythms evoking Africa traditions - brims with thematic unity and improvisational fire in the spirit of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. The Mark Lomax Trio is a telepathic unit, colored by Bayard's moving, muezzin-like keening, Hulett's ever-earthy tone, and Lomax's detail-rich drums that drive the music with a composer's will. The tracks of the album are woven like a tapestry, with interludes that connect the sequence and feature the talents of each player solo. This is exciting, affecting music, accessible to all lovers of jazz past and present.

The release of Isis and Osiris comes shortly after the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation - an ideal time to reflect on the roots of African-American culture. While Greco-Roman mythology permeates the learning on which much of American culture has been based, the beautiful creativity at the heart of Egyptian and African mythology hasn't reached the mainstream in quite the same way. Isis and Osiris is Lomax and company's instrumental offering to help right the balance, inspired by the stories and history of Africa and its descendants.

Lomax says: "I wrote the melody of my piece 'Isis' as part of the music I composed for my wedding, and a few years later, Eddie wrote his for 'Osiris.' I always thought the themes complemented each other. Then I was talking with some composer friends about how great it would be to create music around Black African mythological and spiritual themes in the way that movies, music and literature have been created around the resonant themes of ancient Greece and Rome. I turned to working on a setting for the 'Isis' and 'Osiris' themes immediately after that conversation.

"I drew on Nubian rhythms for the opening 'Kemet,' and 'Isis' is a character piece highlighting the characteristics of wisdom, power and love ascribed to the goddess believed to be the mother of all living things," Lomax continues. "Eddie's 'Osiris' is another character piece, one that portrays the strength and majesty ascribed to the god by his followers. 'Chaos' is a group improvisation depicting the god Set, his murder of Osiris and the battle that saw him defeated by Horus. 'Love' extends the Isis theme, its melody corresponding to the quest by Isis to resurrect Osiris and undo the work of Set. 'Resurrection' represents the defeat of Set and the ascension of Osiris as supreme in the pantheon of Egyptian gods."

Reflecting on the process to create Isis and Osiris, Lomax says: "Musically, I'm inspired by such drummers as Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Michael Carvin and Ed Blackwell, as well as composers Ellington, Monk and Mingus - and Bartók and Ravel, Bill Banfield and Hannibal Lokumbe. Eddie and I worked together in much the same way as did Duke and Strayhorn. But I also used improvisation as a tool to connect the themes as Coltrane did in A Love Supreme. Eddie and Dean are musicians who believe in the power of music to make profound statements. We've been performing together for more than a decade now, and I can't think of more sympathetic artists I could be working with, musically or spiritually."

Lomax's father, Dr. Mark A. "Ogunwale" Lomax, wrote an evocative liner note for Isis and Osiris, elucidating some of the mythic fables of Africa that his son and his bandmates drew on for the album's inspiration. He concludes: "The chaos in the Kemetic divine community was brought on by jealousy, hatred, conspiracy and murder, but it was defeated by love. Love is the power that overcomes negativity and violence as ultimate realities. Love is also what allows Lomax, Bayard and Hulett to conjure the spirits of the ancestors. The drums roar and cymbals crash, resonating and putting us on a firm rhythmic foundation. The voice of the bass vibrates in frequencies deep and wide, so as to settle the soul. And the saxophone soars and laments, petitions and praises so that we are swept to heights where memory marries imagination and finds new vision."

Reflecting on the conflict and violence that seem to dominate the headlines, Lomax says: "Albert Ayler said, 'Music is the healing power of the universe.' That's true in that love is what can heal the world, and music is a loving art."

As a drummer, Mark Lomax has led his own groups and has been featured as a member of the Marlon Jordan Quintet, Delfeayo Marsalis Sextet, Ellis Marsalis Quintet and Azar Lawrence/Edwin Bayard Quintet. He has also performed with jazz legend Clark Terry, as well as saxophonists Billy Harper, Bennie Maupin, Victor Goines and Wessel "Warm Daddy" Anderson. Lomax has also toured with many local and regional bands playing a wide variety of styles, from folk, blues and rock to funk, gospel, R&B and hip-hop. As a composer, he has written jazz, gospel and classical works, and his orchestral arrangements of gospel songs have been played by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Czech National Symphony. He has produced eight recordings for his BMR label that range from traditional and more avant-garde jazz to gospel music for children. Lomax recently completed a Doctor of Music Arts in composition at Ohio State University.

http://www.inarhymerecords.com

http://marklomaxii.com

SINGER AND SONGWRITER RANDI FAY RELEASES NEW CD "FALLING"

Rändi Fay's new CD release “Falling” is a developing genre, an all-original blend of jazz, blues, latin and swing called “lyrical jazz”, reminiscent of old standards with a contemporary flair sure to be a hit on The Jazz Network Worldwide.

Music is the core of Rändi Fay’s heart. Her latest release “Falling” captures the essence of the lyrical and melodic ambiance that compliments her vocal style. Catchy rhythms bring this collection of songs to a new way of listening to the templates of older standards with ‘new ears’.  Recorded at Rock Garden Studio in Appleton, WI and co-produced with Marc Golde, with collaborations with cellist Hans Christian and trumpeter Bob Levy added the finishing touches to a venture of hallmark steps in the development of her unique niche “lyrical jazz”.  Also featured is the fantastic musicianship of: Greg Pagel- keyboard, organ & accordion, Bob Balsey- guitar, Bob Levy- horns, Mick Maloney- bass, Kurt Risch- percussion and Kevin Crocker- drums.

"Creating a song is a rush: the inspiration might come in thought, or a scent, or a phrase and all of a sudden these intricate lyrics start to emerge, and almost simultaneously, melody, rhythm and harmonies come in to flesh it out.  Add in the textures of instrumentation and before you know it, a whole new world is created, to express an idea, a concept, an experience... that all started in your head, and yet now it can be shared with everyone." says Fay.

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and educated in the sciences, practicing veterinary medicine and raising three children, professional singing was put on the ‘backburner‘ outside of offering her gift to her church which kept her muse happy! Shifting her career focus after a series of injuries Rändi now had the opportunity to sing with many fine ensembles in northeastern Wisconsin, which included the Dudley Birder Chorale, the Symphony Chorale/Green Bay Choral Artists, Regency Singers, Steppin’ Out, Broadway Mania and Project Pink.

In addition to composing, producing and live performances on behalf of her company Emerald Heart Productions, she performs with the acclaimed Daddy D Productions as featured vocalist for the Big Band Reunion and the Allouez Village Band.  

In 2010, Rändi began her solo career with pianist John Contratto in the jazz duo "Rhapsody."  In 2011, she established her jazz/blues ensemble "Limited Edition" for larger performing opportunities, drawing from many of Wisconsin's finest jazz musicians blending jazz, blues, latin and swing, developing the genre Rändi refers to as "lyrical jazz.".

Rändi's recording experience includes co-producing three CD's with multi-instrumentalist Hans Christian, “Close to My Heart; Love Songs and Lullabies” released November 2010, and "Noël" in October 2011.  These two projects are the result of rich collaborations with musicians Hans, George Sawyn and Woody Mankowski on both, and Tom Smith and John Contratto on the first.  In June, 2012, she released her third CD: "That Old Black Magic."  This project features Chris Salerno, John Gibson and Danny Lueck, along with Hans and Woody, playing fresh jazz arrangements of beloved standards.  

Summer 2013 brought the latest development in her career, writing and performing original music.  Solo and collaborative compositions with bassist Mick Maloney, guitarist Bob Balsley and keyboardist and composer Greg Pagel.

“Rändi has a style all her own, spearheading a unique blend of genres by way of adding the melodies and lyrics that come to her musical heart with originality and poise.” says Jaijai Jackson of The Jazz Network Worldwide.

Rändi looks forward to continuing to share her gifts, seeking opportunities to perform on music festivals across the U.S. as well as specialty performances that encourage and inspire the audience to embrace the new blend of musical artistry that she so clearly calls her own “lyrical jazz”.

  

Visit THE JAZZ NETWORK WORLDWIDE "A GREAT PLACE TO HANG" at: http://www.thejazznetworkworldwide.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Bill Warfield Pays Homage to Influential Trumpeters and Composers on Trumpet Story, Featuring Randy Brecker

Trumpeter, composer, arranger, and long-established educator Bill Warfield's new recording, Trumpet Story, leads to an inescapable conclusion: the ears of America's youth may be in better shape than feared. True to its title, the album offers a story - one part autobiography, one part history, and one part character study, portraying one of the great trumpet players of our time - Randy Brecker.

  

As an educator, Warfield has done what hundreds of other professional jazz musicians have chosen to do - embrace academia in tandem with their creative pursuits. Having spent nearly two decades on the faculty of the music department at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, Warfield has risen to the position of Director of Jazz Studies. But even as he built an enviable career as an educator, Warfield has maintained his zeal for devising noteworthy compositions and well-crafted arrangements that show those compositions in the most flattering light.

  

In fact, it was Warfield's attention to his extra-curricular career that cemented his longstanding friendship with Brecker, the outstanding and influential trumpeter who appears as guest soloist on Trumpet Story. "For my first concert at Lehigh, we re-created Sketches Of Spain [the legendary 1958 trumpet-and-orchestra collaboration between Miles Davis and Gil Evans]. He and I split the trumpet part on that concert, and thus started our relationship," reflects Warfield.

  

"It was a pleasure to be involved in this project from both a musical and personal perspective," notes Brecker. "Bill Warfield has been a friend, and a favorite of mine for many years, and on this CD, dedicated to trumpeters (and composers) who have influenced him, he proudly presents some of his best writing in a long while. Challenging, original, and very listenable at the same time. Likewise, the band is just first rate, and filled with guys I 'came up' with, along with a host of younger players."

  

Over the years, Warfield's appreciation for Brecker's genius and professionalism has grown into a mutual admiration, the culmination of which arrives in Trumpet Story. The album began as a four-movement suite designed specifically to showcase Brecker's brilliant solo style - which combines technical virtuosity with enviable lyricism, and has garnered Brecker six Grammy® Awards. It's a style that Warfield has enjoyed and studied since he first heard Brecker on disc in the 1960s, with such proto-fusion bands as Blood, Sweat & Tears and Dreams.

  

Three of the original suite's four movements appear on Trumpet Story, along with six more Warfield arrangements, which include the recasting of songs by several other fabled jazz names - Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Donald Byrd, and Brecker himself - who had a significant impact on his own development. Warfield has produced an album that not only flows effortlessly throughout its eclectic program, it also serves as a sonic photo album, filled with snapshots that trace his growth as an artist. With this album, both Warfield and Brecker have added new chapters to their already accomplished careers.

Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Bill Warfield graduated from the Manhattan School of Music where he was garnered with the Maynard Ferguson Scholarship, the William H. Borden Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Jazz, and the Carmine Caruso Award for Outstanding Trumpet Performance. During that time, he studied composition with a number of jazz' most acclaimed composers - among them Hank Levy and Bob Brookmeyer - before embarking on his career as a professional trumpeter and arranger. Warfield has released nine previous albums leading his own ensembles and has appeared in the horn sections of numerous other albums, including two by the acclaimed Bill Kirchner Nonet. Over the years he has performed with such artists as Ornette Coleman, Mel Torme, Mel Lewis, David Liebman and Sonny Stitt. He received a commission from the Spanish government to arrange and produce "Hollywood Jazz" for the 1992 Olympics in that country, and has also been commissioned by the Berlin Radio Orchestra and the US Air Force "Airmen Of Note." In addition, Warfield is the founder and director of the New York Jazz Repertory Orchestra as well as its offshoot, the New York Jazz Octet, and also the Lehigh Valley Jazz Repertory Orchestra.

"When Janie Takes The Stand" - The Bill Warfield Big Band

 The Bill Warfield Big Band Trumpet Story  ·  Release Date: July 8, 2014 

PRESTIGE RECORDS CELEBRATES 65 YEARS OF LEGENDARY JAZZ WITH SPECIAL REISSUES, A VIDEO SERIES AND A NEW WEBSITE

Concord Music Group will commemorate the 65th anniversary of revered jazz label Prestige Records with a plethora of special reissues, a new video series and a website dedicated to the pioneering jazz label and its incredible roster of groundbreaking artists. The year culminates with a 90th birthday celebration honoring legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made a monumental contribution to the label and to jazz in general.
Throughout 2014, Concord is set to release hi-resolution digital reissues of sixty Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series titles along with more than thirty vinyl reissues of Prestige classics. Digital releases include Soultrane (John Coltrane); Saxophone Colossus (Sonny Rollins); Cookin’ With Miles Davis Quintet (Miles Davis Quintet); Outward Bound (Eric Dolphy),We Three (Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn, Paul Chambers); At Ease With Coleman Hawkins (Coleman Hawkins) and more. Vinyl reissues include Mose Allison Sings (Mose Allison); The Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Cookbook, Vol. 1 (Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis); Thelonious Monk Trio (Thelonious Monk Trio) and more. Several classic titles, the first released in April, are being made available each month through the end of the year. “These are not only some of the most influential artists and important recordings on the Prestige label, they’re also some of the most iconic artists and recordings in the history of jazz, period,” says Nick Phillips, Concord Music Group’s Vice President of Catalog Development/A&R and co-producer of the Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series. “It’s a pleasure to be reintroducing this timeless music and legendary label to jazz fans, old and new.”

In addition, Concord has produced a video series titled Prestige Lives!, which will present both contemporary and legendary artists discussing the label’s influence and the essential contribution of engineer Van Gelder. Created by Bret Primack, the videos are being made available on a special website, developed in collaboration with DownBeat magazine that is designed to provide a front row seat through the history of the iconic label. Prestige merchandise is available with select vendors around the globe, and live events celebrating Van Gelder and Prestige Records will be announced soon.

Counting some of the genre’s most classic recordings, Prestige Records is one of the most revered jazz labels in the world. Prestige founder Bob Weinstock started out as a traditional jazz fan but soon found himself standing at the cutting edge of “modern jazz.” Prestige Records helped define a classic era of jazz developing the careers of such musical giants as Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins. Known for its distinctive bop, hard bop and soul-jazz, Prestige was a playground of spontaneity and honest self-expression. The label further prospered through the introduction of the free jazz movement in the ’60s and into the sound of fusion in the latter part of the decade. In the early ’70s, Weinstock sold the label to Fantasy Records, which was acquired by Concord Music Group in 2004. Concord continues to honor the jewels of the label through its Original Jazz Classics series and this year highlights the incredible breadth of material this catalog has to offer.

Pianist Yelena Eckemoff Blends Jazz with Classical Influences on New Album, A Touch of Radiance - Available August 12 / Featuring Mark Turner, Joe Locke, George Mraz and Billy Hart

Pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff defines radiance as "a state of happiness or confidence when everything around you is shining." On her latest album, A Touch of Radiance, she explores that idea from 10 different perspectives, drawing rich inspiration from memories, emotions, and dreams, and the inner world where all three intersect. 

In addition to the 10 musical expressions of radiance, Eckemoff also examines the concept in other media; she painted the vivid sunset on the album cover and wrote 10 short poems to expand on each piece, all of which are included in the album's liner notes. A Touch of Radiance also expands her horizons instrumentally, marking the first time that the classically-trained pianist has recorded with more than a trio. She's assembled a stunning - yes, even radiant - band for the occasion, featuring saxophonist Mark Turner, vibraphonist Joe Locke, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Billy Hart.

 "I was ready to move on," Eckemoff says. "My goals didn't change: I wanted to express in music what I feel and what I experience. But utilizing more instruments gives your music a wider angle." 

These four gifted artists respond gorgeously to Eckemoff's music, wringing bold colors and deep feeling from pieces that are both airy and intricate. "The musicians helped me to paint my musical picture," Eckemoff says. "What made the project a success is that in addition to improvising brilliantly, all the musicians were extremely respectful to my written structures, tunes and melodic lines. The combination of written and improvised music as well as totally loose group improvisations has been my chosen musical language. With each new recording I am more comfortable with this language." 

Hart responded enthusiastically to Eckemoff's extra-musical inspirations, the pianist says. He transformed his approach to evoke the sound of walking on cobblestones, the fluttering of butterfly wings, or the crackling of a wood stove. In fact, Eckemoff recalls, "On the song 'Affection' Billy asked me if I wanted him to be a little puppy or a big dog." 

Eckemoff's blend of jazz freedom and classical structure pushed even such a skilled and experienced group of musicians to stretch their limits. "She has her own thing - it is not a copy of another person's music like you run into almost all the time," says Mraz. "It was a challenge to flesh out these compositions of Yelena's," Locke feels, "and I thank her for that challenge." 

Aside from the opening track, "Inspiration," which sets the album's tone through its air of dream-like mystery, the pieces on A Touch of Radiance and their accompanying poems move chronologically through Eckemoff's life. The playful opening melody of "Reminiscence," articulated by Eckemoff and Locke, introduces a piece that harkens back to the composer's childhood in the Soviet Union, offering a glimpse of an imaginative child surrounded by a loving family. When her father enters at the poem's end saying, "I met a rabbit on my way home / And look what a tasty treat he gave me for my little girl!" it's as if the children's book and the world outside have merged, a memory that feels like a fantasy, or a fantasy that feels like a memory.

   

"I was an only child and I spent a lot of time alone with picture books," Eckemoff says. "There's a certain mood to this song that somehow connects me to a time when I was five years old, and was in my world of literature and images."

  

The aptly-titled "Exuberance," which portrays a six-year-old Eckemoff eagerly if clumsily helping her mother and grandmother cook a family feast, and the tender "Affection," about a beloved puppy, continue these warm memories of youth in a cold country. She skips forward to her own life as a parent with the frantic "Pep," dizzy with the never-ending work of a wife, mother, artist, and teacher. The shadowy mood of "Reconciliation" provides a bittersweet image of domestic life, with arguments and hurt feelings overcome by a loving reunion, and "Encouragement" celebrates the support to be found in family.

   

Eckemoff's music has often drawn inspiration from the natural world, and she returns to that theme on "Imagination," a portrait of a snowy winter scene dreamed up on what turns out to be a sweltering summer day. "Tranquility" captures the pianist's ability to tune out the harsh noise of the city to focus on the sounds of nature, while the title track watches a moth drawn to light in the same way that Eckemoff found herself pulled in by the broader notion of radiance. And despite the nostalgic stories and memories behind the songs on A Touch of Radiance, the music doesn't indulge in manipulative or overwrought emotion. "I'm a sentimental person but I don't write sentimental music," Eckemoff says, adding with a laugh, "I know better.

  

"I'm an old-fashioned romantic," she continues. "Feelings and emotions and of course nature are always what interest me, and I still believe in melodies."

  

Eckemoff began playing piano at the age of four, studying first with her mother Olga, a professional pianist, then at the prestigious Gnessin Academy of Music and the Moscow State Conservatory. Despite the repressive atmosphere in the Soviet Union at the time, she began to explore rock and jazz music with other like-minded musicians. "Everything from the west was prohibited at that time," she recalls, "and jazz was one of those things. But there was a jazz studio formed by some activists who were also professional musicians and we studied traditional jazz. I used jazz principles in my composing, which put me on a different path from other musicians."

Eckemoff stepped away from her life as a concert pianist for several years to concentrate on raising her children. She finally left the Soviet Union with her husband, momentarily leaving her three children behind. "That was the hardest thing I ever did," she says, "but we had the drive to leave the Soviet Union. It was a very hard and scary thing to do, but it worked out and we never regretted it. It ended up helping me in my musical development because I had much deeper spiritual experiences because of it."

After returning to the piano, she turned increasingly to jazz and has now recorded several acclaimed albums with such respected players as Peter Erskine, Marilyn Mazur, Arild Andersen, Darek Oleszkiewicz, Mads Vinding, and Mats Eilertsen. "Very rarely am I surprised like I am with Yelena," enthuses Hart. "Somebody that comes out of nowhere with this much maturity and experience and musicality. You don't expect somebody that you don't know to challenge you in such an enjoyable way. In a very euphoric way it was a very satisfying project for me."