COMPOSER MARIA SCHNEIDER TO RELEASE FIRST RECORDING WITH HER ACCLAIMED JAZZ ORCHESTRA IN EIGHT YEARS - THE THOMPSON FIELDS

With The Thompson Fields, composer, arranger and bandleader Maria Schneider celebrates a long-awaited reunion with her vaunted jazz orchestra, a homecoming nearly a decade in the making.  Featuring eight new original works by the leader, The Thompson Fields makes brilliant use of Schneider's 18-piece jazz orchestra, a long-standing ensemble that spotlights such first rank players as Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Frank Kimbrough and Lage Lund.  The performances reveal an ever-deepening relationship between Schneider and her musicians, many of whom she has worked with over a quarter of a century.  The album follows a momentous year that found Schneider's recent album Winter Morning Walks garnering three wins in the classical category of the 2014 GRAMMY Awards, making her one of the rare musicians to win GRAMMYs in both the jazz and classical categories. The CD is powered by ArtistShare and available exclusively at MariaSchneider.com.

Schneider has long been known for her autobiographical music, and with The Thompson Fields, she goes further, sharing a deep relationship to southwest Minnesota, her childhood home.  Although the music reflects her love of native landscape, birds, and prairie, Schneider delves not just into her own roots, but also into what "home" means in broader terms.

The album opens with "Walking by Flashlight," a poignant expression of an early morning walk as depicted by poet, Ted Kooser in Winter Morning Walks.  "I think this may be the only time that alto clarinet was ever featured on a big band album," Schneider claims.  "Alto clarinet has long been relegated to use almost exclusively in wind ensembles, but Scott Robinson elevates this instrument to a place of very tender expression.  I can actually hear Kooser's poetry in Scott's expression of the melody."  Now reorchestrated as an instrumental work, this song was also featured in Scheider's GRAMMY-winning song cycle, Winter Morning Walks.

Schneider's most recent work,"The Monarch and the Milkweed," features Marshall Gilkes on trombone and Greg Gisbert on fluegelhorn.  Inspired by the beauty and abounding life found in Minnesota native prairie, this piece is specifically dedicated to the monarch.  "This butterfly is one example of a creature we love and are inspired by, but that depends upon certain dwindling aspects in the environment - in this case, the milkweed - without which the monarch will go extinct.  Four generations of monarchs and over 3,000 miles of flight from Mexico complete its life cycle, with milkweed as the only plant it can eat.  The piece is inspired by these incomprehensible, complex cycles and interrelationships in nature, reflecting on how they largely depend upon attraction and beauty, and ultimately now how they depend on our appreciation and valuation of beauty," Schneider explains.

The title, "Arbiters of Evolution," refers to the remarkable mating rituals  and performances of the birds-of-paradise species native to New Guinea.  Schneider sets up each solo section for McCaslin and Robinson to conjure up their own highly evolved and spectacular performances.  This work was inspired by Maria's love of birds and the environment and her involvement with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The title piece, "The Thompson Fields," was inspired by a beautiful multi-generation farm near Schneider's home in Windom, Minnesota.  Pianist Frank Kimbrough improvises bitonally in a unique harmonic environment that creates an evocative depiction of the view from the Thompson silo overlooking bean fields billowing in the wind.  "From the vantage point of the silo, I felt the wind carrying all the intersecting stories of my youth, along with the stories of a whole community," Schneider says.  "I felt a convergence of past and present generations and tried to put that magic into this music."

"Home" also speaks vividly of the open landscape that is home for Schneider.  She dedicated the piece - first premiered at The Newport Jazz Festival - to George Wein, one of the most influential forces in the discovery and development of jazz musicians.  "Even though this music is highly personal to me, the concept of home is universal.  Wherever we are first rooted, or whatever place gives us our sense of 'home,' not only nourishes our life, but nourishes those with whom we share it.  George's home, the Newport Jazz Festival, has been a home for jazz for musicians and audiences for decades.  Jazz has been well nurtured within George's loving home, and he most certainly helped to nourish my development, and the development of countless others."  This work features the universally admired voice of Rich Perry on tenor sax.

"Nimbus" evokes the drama of the Midwestern sky and weather.  Schneider elaborates, "One can see the Midwest prairie landscape as unspectacular, but we certainly dole out high drama when it comes to weather.  For instance, seeing a ominous roll cloud looming on the horizon simultaneously instills one with awe and an instinctual fear.  Given this imagery, it is fitting that saxophonist Steve Wilson be featured on this piece because he can play with such intensity, bringing a captivating power and presence to his solos through his rock solid sense of groove, his surging sound, and his unexpected but thoroughly satisfying lines."

"A Potter's Song" is dedicated to Laurie Frink, who has played with Schneider's band on every recording. Frink's death in 2013 was a great loss to the music community.  A fellow Midwesterner, Frink was not only highly regarded as a trumpet player, having played with Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, Mel Lewis and many others, she was also among the world's most in demand trumpet and brass teachers.  But the title of this work came from Maria's additional admiration for Laurie's skillful ceramic work.  Gary Versace's accordion, which has been a mainstay in Maria's orchestra since she first wrote for him on Concert In the Garden, creates beautiful and lyrical lines over Schneider's winding, ever-evolving harmonies, and highlights the influence of Brazilian music on Schneider's compositions.

"Lembrança" is a dedication to the universally loved Brazilian musician, Paulo Moura, who gave Schneider the once-in-a-lifetime experience of hearing his old samba school rehearse in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of his youth.  The work includes layers of powerful Brazilian percussion played by Rogerio Boccato alongside drummer Clarence Penn. Featuring an exuberant trombone solo by Ryan Keberle, as well as a lyrical and tender bass solo by Jay Anderson, the piece conjures up the experience of standing in a dark street in the crevasses of Rio, hearing the power of a samba school rehearsing in the night.

"Watching Paulo proudly standing there, looking thoroughly at home and grounded in that powerful experience on a very ordinary street in Rio, was something I fully understood," Schneider says.  "I feel the same way when I climb atop a silo in Windom and view the landscape that is home to me.  I can't help but feel tremendous emotion and gratitude, looking back in time, remembering all the forces that shaped my life and so many lives that I know."

Schneider's deeply personal statement carries into the visual realm with this beautiful package.   The stunning photographs by Briene Lermitte were all taken on and near the Thompson farm this past August.   Uniting with Cheri Dorr's elegant design, the album's graphic elements allow Schneider to share another level of personal connection with those who listen to her music.

Schneider continues to involve her fans in her music on an even broader level.  Four of these eight works were commissioned directly by individuals through ArtistShare.  Schneider has used the new means of production since her first ArtistShare album release in 2003.  "The relationship I have with these people is deeply meaningful to me," Schneider states. " They make it possible for me to create and record music, and I've come to know many of them quite well.  I cannot overstate how deeply important they are to my life.  I could no longer do this without them."

  

Over a decade ago, the ground-breaking company ArtistShare broke the mold when it demonstrated, through Schneider's successful example, how music could be funded and released.  ArtistShare crowd-funded before "crowd-funding" was a word, and Schneider's first ArtistShare album, Concert In the Garden, not only won the first GRAMMY with Internet-only sales, but heralded the crowd-funding era..  Over the following thirteen years, Schneider has developed a growing concern for intellectually property rights.  This brought her to engage with lawmakers, the Library of Congress, and others to protect the rights of music creators.  These efforts have included testifying before the Congressional subcommittee on intellectual property in April of 2014, and speaking out against Spotify and streaming on CNN.  Schneider is often quoted in national articles on music creators' rights and the perils of current streaming services.

www.mariaschneider.com

Pianist LASZLO GARDONY releases LIFE IN REAL TIME / Expands His Celebrated Trio With A Powerhouse Saxophone Triumvirate of Stan Strickland, Billy Pierce and Don Braden

Over the past quarter century pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony has gained widespread acclaim for a series of inspired albums documenting his trio and his riveting solo recitals. In a welcome addition to his treasure-laden discography, he delivers his first sextet session, Life In Real Time, a thrilling live album recorded at the Berklee Performance Center at Boston's Berklee College of Music (where most of the ensemble is on faculty). The album is slated for release on July 7, 2015 on Sunnyside Records.

Rather than an all-star blowing session, Life In Real Time introduces an ensemble that breathes, phrases and reacts as one, reveling in the knifepoint balance between structure and freedom afforded by Gardony's arrangements and bandleading sensibility. Indeed, part of what makes the album so much more than the sum of its considerable parts is the rhythm section's extraordinary rapport. Gardony's long-running trio with bass master John Lockwood and drum maestro Yoron Israel has forged a soul-deep bandstand communion over the past 13 years, an almost telepathic bond captured on three critically acclaimed Sunnyside albums. The trio is directly responsible for the loose and limber feel of Life In Real Time, where three immediately recognizable saxophone stars "can feel free to be themselves in the music," Gardony says.

And what horn players! Most conspicuously, the album marks the reemergence of the great Billy Pierce, a player who established himself as a commanding improviser during his years with drum legends Tony Williams and Art Blakey (who called Pierce "my best tenor player since Wayne Shorter.") He sounds more formidable than ever with his thick, muscular sound and driving rhythmic attack.

While Stan Strickland is best known as a startlingly inventive post-bop tenor saxophonist, he's a polymathic creative force who also works as a singer, actor and art therapist. Gardony's longtime friend and Berklee colleague, Strickland contributed memorably to the pianist's 2011 Sunnyside album Signature Time with Lockwood and Israel. It was Israel who suggested adding Don Braden to the mix. The album's only Berklee ringer (he's the director of the Harvard Monday Night Jazz Band), Braden was in Wynton Marsalis' band, has performed with Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams, and is featured on some 20 albums as a leader.

 "I hand-picked the musicians for this band," Gardony explains. "Don was a great addition to the band, and it clicked so beautifully from the first. All of the bandmembers have had long careers and we're committed to playing together as a beautiful and meaningful experience."

Focusing on Gardony's emotionally charged original compositions, the album opens with his rollicking "Bourbon Street Boogie," which evokes the raucous, celebratory energy of New Orleans. Pierce takes the first solo, a rhythmic tour de force that makes a compelling case for him as one of jazz's most under-documented masters. Israel introduces the relentlessly driving "Breakout" with a beautifully calibrated solo passage. The piece builds momentum through a series of tag-team solos until its ecstatically cathartic climax.

Gardony puts on his arranger's hat for a joyously funky version George Shearing's standard "Lullaby of Birdland." Braden takes a stutter-stepping solo that turns the melody inside out, and then Gardony gives a masterclass in groove, maintaining a rumbling ostinato throughout his solo with an undulating left-hand line doubled by Lockwood's bass. Another highlight is the haunting version of the spiritual "Motherless Child," a song he's explored often as a member of violinist Matt Glaser's celebrated jazz-meets-bluegrass band The Wayfaring Strangers. "After playing it with Matt many times I started to hear something, a reharmonization that's partially inspired by the way that Richie Havens sang it at Woodstock," Gardony says. "I thought it would be perfect for Stan's bass clarinet. You can tell what song it is, but I wrote this long form and the melody crystallizes at the end."

Strickland's bass clarinet is featured again on Gardony's West African-derived ballad "New Song," a tune introduced as a trio piece on the album Dig Deep. With its meditative, cyclical feel, the ravishing melody calls out for lyrics. The album closes with "Out On Top," another piece from Dig Deep that gains momentum as it hurtles toward a deliriously celebratory all-horns-on-deck conclusion. This was one set that clearly left the audience wanting more (in fact, there's a bonus track from the concert available on iTunes).

Born in Hungary, Laszlo Gardony displayed an early aptitude for the piano. By five he had started improvising, devising little tunes inspired by the blues, pop and classical music he heard around the house. Immersed in the European classical tradition while growing up, he was drawn to progressive rock as a teenager, and spent countless hours improvising blues-based music at the piano. He investigated gospel and studied jazz, a passion that soon overshadowed his classical pursuits. "We had jazz and African music classes at the Conservatory," Gardony recalls. "There were some very knowledgeable people and a lot of records. When it came to jazz it was a tiny community, but very inspiring."  

After graduating from the Bela Bartok Conservatory and the Science University of Budapest, he became one of Europe's most sought after accompanists and released his first albums as a leader. Possessing a powerful sense of swing, a strong feel for the blues and a firm command of post-bop vocabulary, he gained invaluable insight by sharing festival stages with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Abdullah Ibrahim, among others.

A full scholarship to Berklee brought him to America in 1983, and a faculty position at the school upon graduation kept him stateside. He made his US recording debut with the acclaimed 1988 album The Secret (Antilles) featuring Czech bass great Miroslav Vitous and drummer Ian Froman, but it was his 1st place win the following year at the Great American Jazz Piano Competition that catapulted him into the national spotlight. He seized the moment with 1989's brilliant release The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles), a trio session with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Bob Moses. "Being with Dave and Miroslav was such an education," Gardony says. "If you really immerse yourself in those moments, it can change you, whether it's one concert or a week-long gig." 

In many circles Gardony is best known as a master of the trio format. He introduced his present band with Israel and Lockwood on the 2003 Sunnyside album Ever Before Ever After, and it's gained recognition as one of the finest working bands in jazz. But he's equally impressive alone at the piano, the format he first explored on 1993's acclaimed Changed Standards and returned to again on his last album, 2013's Clarity (both on Sunnyside). After the probing introspection of a solo recital it seems fitting that Gardony returns with a bandstand bash that captures some of jazz's most eloquent raconteurs inspiring each other to ever more vivid tales. In short, Life In Real Time is jazz that's the real deal.

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz / Also Features Pianist Dan Zemelman, Drummer Jon Arki

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Bassist/composer Jeff Denson has enjoyed a richly rewarding musical and personal relationship with alto saxophone legend Lee Konitz since 2007, when Denson joined Konitz's well-traveled New Quartet. The latest chapter in their association involves the recording, at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios in February of this year, of Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, with pianist Dan Zemelman and drummer Jon Arkin. Scheduled for release by Denson's Ridgeway Records on July 7, the CD explores new music, offers fresh takes on seldom-played compositions of the Lennie Tristano School, and features scat singing by Konitz and Denson.

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz is the first in a planned series of Ridgeway recordings to team Denson's trio plus a notable guest artist. Marking nearly the 60th anniversary of Konitz's first appearance on record with his mentor, Lennie Tristano, the album goes places where no other Tristano (or Konitz) tribute has ever gone via some rarely recorded songs, including Warne Marsh's "Background Music" and Tristano's "Baby" and "East Thirty-Second." It also reveals Konitz's delightful scat singing, something that has never been documented on record to this extent.

Jeff first met Lee in 2003, but they didn't team up musically until a few years later, in Germany, when the saxophonist invited Denson's trio Minsarah (with Florian Weber and Ziv Ravitz) to his apartment in Cologne to rehearse. To their surprise, he did not ask them to play their instruments.

  

"Instead he said, let's sing, let's improvise some stuff," Denson recalls. "I guess he had heard us play enough. That was the start of a great adventure. The stuff we do is very different than any music in his canon. Lee is a true improviser. He doesn't play licks. He really responds."

The Lee Konitz New Quartet with Denson, Weber, and Ravitz went on to tour internationally and produce three albums: Deep Lee (2008), Live at the Village Vanguard (2009), and Standards Live at the Village Vanguard (2014). Of the 87-year-old Konitz, Denson remarks that "he's old enough to be my grandfather, but he is still improvising on a master level. He's not stuck in any way musically." 

Jeff Denson, 38, was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. He attended Berklee (where Minsarah was formed), earned his Master's in jazz studies at Florida State University, and relocated to Southern California to pursue his doctorate (at UC San Diego) in contemporary music performance with an emphasis in composition. Based since 2011 in the East Bay, he is a full professor at the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly the Jazzschool Institute) and has forged ties with some of the Bay Area's top players, including bassoonist Paul Hanson, guitarist Mimi Fox, and drummer Alan Hall.

A prolific composer and arranger, Denson has written music for an array of jazz settings, from big band to trio, as well as for string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera. He's begun work on a chamber opera, plans to try his hand at film scoring, and is preparing a series of educational books for his Ridgeway Publishing imprint (part of his recently established nonprofit, Ridgeway Arts).

  

In addition to Denson's ongoing Trio +1 projects, the bassist is in the midst of organizing several other recordings. One will feature his Secret World group, which he's expanding to a quintet with Paul Hanson. He's in the process of completing an album with Electreo, with Hanson, drummer Alan Hall, and Denson on electric bass. And he's collaborating with Mimi Fox and violinist Mads Tolling in a trio whose arrangements of the music from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be released in time for that seminal album's 50th anniversary in 2017. 

To say that Jeff Denson is currently in a spectacularly expansive period is an understatement; he is positively thriving on all possible fronts. "I'm in an extremely stimulating and productive time right now and I'm working as hard as I can to express all of my ideas," he says. "I find that with my teaching and all of the various projects I have, I'm able to get a complete picture of what I'm doing -- each one inspires the other." 

The Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz will be performing extensively in Europe this summer and fall. Next month they appear 7/4 at Comblain La Tour Jazz Festival, Hamoir, Belgium; and 7/17 UniversaiJazz, Valladolid, Spain (Trio with Kari Ikonen, p; Ronen Itzik, d). 

Fall dates include 10/2 Angra Jazz Festival, Azores, Portugal; 10/23 Domicil, Dortmund; 10/24 Lantaren Venster, Rotterdam; 10/26 Porgy & Bess, Vienna; 10/27 Unterfahrt, Munich; 10/29 Workshop, Helsinki; 10/30 Jazz & The City Festival, Bremen (Trio with Dan Zemelman, p; Alan Hall, d). Additional dates are in the works. Closer to home, Denson will appear with Zemelman and Hall at the Sound Room in Oakland 8/14.

Henry Stone's Miami Sound - The Record Man's Finest 45s

When Terry Kane - a sound engineer who was barely twenty years old at the time - built an 8-track recording studio above Henry Stone's office space in the Hialeah area of Miami, he probably never envisaged that he was laying the bedrock for a creative hub that would spawn over 25 gold records and over 100 million record sales worldwide. In the process, it would help to make Henry Stone a legend of American music.

At one end of the spectrum, warehouse boy turned global superstar Harry Wayne Casey - better known as leader of K.C. & The Sunshine Band - was pumping out disco classics on a massive scale with ubiquitous airplay and sell-out shows. At the other, Rodney Matthew and his group Formula 1, were relying on the might of the T.K. distribution machine to propel them into the spotlight. As remarkable as their 1977 masterpiece on Du-Vern records was, it inevitably failed to have the seismic impact of The Sunshine Band's commercial dance pop.

For every success story like T-Connection, with their firebrand funk-disco fusion and major label achievements, there were equally talented acts such as Stevens And Foster who also called on Stone's services to showcase their vision: judging by the scarcity of original copies of their self-written and produced modern soul jewel on Jerri Records, they also failed to reach beyond the Sunshine state, save for the rarified ears of collectors and connoisseurs.

The sheer amount of records that came out of those modest premises at 495 SE 10th Court - about 8km from Downtown Miami (as the pink flamingo flies) - is mind boggling. With a huge roster of in-house labels as well as production and distribution deals, label boss Henry Stone was a passionate, busy, and exceptionally well connected man.

Stone would nurture the early careers of the likes of million seller Betty Wright, as well as provide a platform for Milton Wright and Leno Phillips (her older brothers) to express their creativity. Clarence Reid (AKA Blowfly) and Willie Clark penned a raft of amazing tracks for acts such as Jimmy 'Bo' Horne and Little Beaver (AKA Willie Hale, who would also write a wealth of material for others), while T.K. in-house band Miami's own Robert Moore also released records on yet another T.K. imprint; Blue Candle.

The music scene in Miami and indeed, Florida, at the time was fertile and moved quickly with the times; there were hit-makers and risk-takers, shining stars and those who never went far.

As a living document of Henry Stone's remarkable legacy, the diverse styles and ideas coming out of Miami-Dade County and beyond, as well as a glimpse at the successes and near-misses achieved by a dazzling array of artists at the time, this collection serves as an invaluable insight. This collection includes tracks by Little Beaver, Milton Wright, Lynn Williams, Raphael Munnings, Wildflower, Jimmy 'Bo' Horne, Leno Phillips, Phillip Wright, Willie Johnson, Johnny K, Funky Nassau, Formula 1, Stevens & Foster, Oceanliners, Brand New, T-Connection, Beginning of the End, Robert Moore, and Friday Saturday & Sunday.

JOE LOCKE Celebrates LOVE IS A PENDULUM With Appearances on WKCR, WBGO, THE BURLINGTON DISCOVER JAZZ FEST, THE JAZZ STANDARD & THE XEROX ROCHESTER INT'L JAZZ FEST

Joe Locke is a musician's musician, an artist for the ages, a man who has been gracing stages and studios with his immense talent, and uplifting spirit, since he was fifteen. Locke is a man who has gathered no moss as he evolved into a communicator, a conceptualist, a composer, and a modern virtuoso who defies categorization, creating music with small groups to symphony orchestras, and with artists as diverse as Cecil Taylor and The Beastie Boys. Derk Richardson said of Locke in The San Francisco Bay Guardian that, "not only has he mastered an instrument that has catapulted only a handful of players to the forefront of modern jazz - but he has done so in a way that transcends mere technique and establishes him as a unique and adventurous musical voice." With more than thirty acclaimed recordings to his credit, it is no wonder The Times (London, U.K.) proclaimed that, "there seems little doubt that Locke, with his ability to play cool and funky, heady and relaxed, is set to become the pre-eminent vibraphonist in jazz." Joe Locke's new recording, Love Is A Pendulum (available on the Motema Music imprint on May 26, 2015), is just over an hour in length, but has taken a lifetime to make, as it encompasses all of Locke's joys and sorrows, and utilizes all of his slings and arrows. 

Love Is A Pendulum is an arresting collection of all original music, the centerpiece of which is a five movement suite, based on a poem by the writer and musician Barbara Sfraga (from her Subway Series work), a multi-dimensional artist who Locke has long admired. Locke explains further, "each verse begins with a metaphor describing love - its properties and tendencies - and how (possibly) to navigate them. As is so often the case in my composing process, the genesis of a musical idea comes from words, whether it be a novel, a poem, or even a simple phrase uttered in a certain way. I feel that Love Is A Pendulum is my best work thus far and I am eternally grateful to Barbara for the inspiration her poem has provided."

This recording is the most personal, most compositional and most emotive work of Locke's career, and it features a hand-picked cast of outstanding musicians that bring Locke's vision to life in spectacular fashion: special guests Rosario Giuliani, Donny McCaslin (saxes), Paul Bollenback (guitar), Victor Provost (steel pan) and Theo Bleckmann (voice), with Locke's core working quartet, featuring Robert Rodriguez (piano), Terreon Gully (drums and co-producer) & Ricardo Rodriguez (basses). Locke commented in the liner notes about the musicians featured on Love Is A Pendulum, "as tightly composed as much of this music is, it would not have risen off the page without the creative contributions of the musicians here. Robert, Terreon and Ricky, the core of this group, have been hugely important to the realization of this project. Working together with a great natural chemistry, they sculpted the shape of each piece into something beyond what I had imagined. Their ability to deal with the written material while at the same time injecting it with soul and spontaneity was (and continues to be) remarkable. I'm also grateful that all of my first choices were available (with a bit of juggling!) to be guests on Love Is A Pendulum." 

From L to R is Ricardo Rodriguez, Terreon Gully, Joe Locke, Robert Rodriguez 

Variation On Wisdom is a through-composed chamber piece and a re-working of the material from "Last Ditch Wisdom" (track #7). On Love Is The Tide, "I wanted to convey the surging power described in this particular verse of the poem. There are a lot of shifting rhythms occurring, but its essence is the Blues," said Locke. Love Is A Planchette (featuring Theo Bleckmann) depicts the movement of a planchette as it moves across a ouija board. This melody is beautiful and gentle rather than spooky, as it, "describes the light touch we must keep on love in order for it to move us from one place to another," explained Locke. Love Is A Pendulum was the first movement Locke composed for the suite. As with the movement of a pendulum, the band goes back and forth between the sections of this composition. Played as a rubato ballad, Love Is Letting Go is a meditation on love's eternal nature. "For the beginning of Love Is Perpetual Motion I wanted a wide open canvas for the two saxophones to have a conversation, interspersed with written material. The main melody of the piece does not occur until after the 4:20 mark, where it emerges from 3/4 time into a 9/4 clave, followed by vibes/pan trading and a piano solo before a restatement of the melody," explained Locke. For Jesse Mountain is dedicated to Locke's nephew Jesse. "Big man, big heart," said Locke. Last Ditch Wisdom speaks for itself - "NYC hardball, start to finish." The album concludes with the lovely ballad, Embrace, a composition based on George Gershwin's "Embraceable You", and conceived by Locke as a vehicle for Victor Provost. Pianist Robert Rodriguez's lyrical ride, on top of Gully's creative groove, concludes the recording on a consonant note.

  

Joe Locke is widely considered to be one of the major voices of his instrument. Long known to be a soloist capable of stunning physical power and broad emotional range, it was not until the last decade that he emerged as the composer, bandleader and conceptualist that he is considered today.

This is in no small part due to his recent solo projects, notably the three distinct albums he has released since joining Motema Music in 2011, which display his immense stylistic versatility and ability to create artistic depth in a variety of contexts: Signing (2012, the long awaited follow-up studio album of Live In Seattle), Wish Upon A Star (2012, Locke's first ever symphonic project, featuring Locke's Quartet with the Symphony Orchestra of Lincoln, Nebraska), and Lay Down My Heart (2013, jazz radio chart's #1 Blues & Ballads album). Locke's latest Motéma release, Love Is A Pendulum is already being hailed the most important work of his career. Other notable recordings in Locke's extensive discography (more than thirty albums as a leader) include, Four Walls of Freedom (Sirocco), a six movement suite featuring the late tenor saxophonist Bob Berg; Live in Seattle (Origin) by The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, which won the 2006 Ear Shot award for Concert of the Year, and his eloquent and vibrant quartet, Force Of Four (Origin).

Locke has won numerous awards and polls, including the 2006, 2008 and 2009 "Mallet Player of the Year" award from the Jazz Journalists Association, and the 2013 Hot House NYC Jazz Awards for best Vibes Player. He is active as a clinician and educator in the United States and Europe and has been the International Vibraphone Consultant at the Royal Academy of Music, London, on a visiting basis since 2008, holding the title of Honorary Associate of The Royal Academy of Music since 2013. Locke endorses Malletech instruments, www.mostlymarimba.com, and Love Is A Pendulum is the first recording to feature the innovative OmegaVibe (also endorsed by Stefon Harris, Tony Miceli and Warren Wolf). Joe Locke also proudly endorses his own Signature Series of Mallets, "The Joe Locke Series", by Mike Balter, www.mikebalter.com    

Joe Locke - Love Is A Pendulum / All compositions by Joe Locke

1. Variation On Wisdom 

2. Love Is The Tide 

3. Love Is A Planchette 

4. Love Is A Pendulum 

5. Love Is Letting Go 

6. Love Is Perpetual Motion 

7. For Jesse Mountain 

8. Last Ditch Wisdom 9. Embrace 

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

June 3 - Ocean Grove, NJ, Leigh Howard Stevens 36th Summer Marimba Sem.

CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:

June 8 - Burlington, VT, Discover Jazz Festival

CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:

June 9 & 10 - NYC, The Jazz Standard

June 13 & 14 - Hollywood, CA, The Hollywood Bowl  

(Joe Locke with Eddie Palmieri Group)

CD RELEASE CELEBRATION:

June 22 - Rochester, NY,  Xerox Rochester Int'l Jazz Festival

July 10-12 - NYC, Smoke Jazz Club - special guest with the Jim Rotondi Group

July 30 - NYC, 92nd Street Y - Swing Into Summer Series

(Joe Locke performing with Bill Charlap)

NEW RELEASES: WES MONTGOMERY - THE CLASSIC RECORDINGS 1960-1962; CARMELL JONES QUARTET WITH FORREST WESTBROOK - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LOS ANGELES SESSION; OTIS TAYLOR - HEY JOE OPUS RED MEAT

WES MONTGOMERY - THE CLASSIC RECORDINGS 1960-1962

In 1959 Montgomery was signed to the Riverside Records label, and remained there until late 1963, just before the company went bankrupt. The recordings made during this period are widely considered by fans and jazz historians to be Montgomery's best and most influential. Two sessions in January 1960 yielded the record, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, which was recorded as a quartet with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Tootie Heath. The album featured two of Montgomery's best known compositions, Four on Six and West Coast Blues. This album is included on the first volume of this two x four CD series, The Complete Recordings 1958 - 1960. Was Montgomery received many awards and accolades throughout his career; he was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Bumpin' in 1965 and received a Grammy for Goin' Out of My Head as Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by Large Group or Soloist with Large Group, in 1966. He was nominated again for his version of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby and the LP Down Here on the Ground in 1968, and posthumously for Willow, Weep for Me in '69. His second album, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, earned him Down Beat magazine's 'New Star' award in 1960. In addition, he won the Down Beat Critic's Poll award for best Jazz guitarist in 1960, '61, '62,'63, '66, and '67. Jazz purists relish Montgomery's recordings up through 1965, and sometimes complain that he abandoned hard-bop for pop jazz toward the end of his career, although it is arguable that he gained a wider audience for his earlier work with his soft jazz from 1965-1968. During this late period he would occasionally turn out original material alongside jazzy orchestral arrangements of pop songs. In sum, this late period earned him considerable wealth and created a platform for a new audience to hear his earlier recordings. ~ Amazon

CARMELL JONES QUARTET WITH FORREST WESTBROOK - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LOS ANGELES SESSION

In August 1960, 24-year old trumpet player Carmell Jones left his Kansas City home-town and hopped a bus to Los Angeles, intent on hitting the West Coast jazz scene. There, his impact was immediate and would prove to be memorable. He was quickly part of a quartet with pianist Forrest Westbrook, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Bill Schwemmer. They rehearsed at Westbrook s apartment at 2021 Sta. Monica Blvd, Hollywood, where this unreleased material was recorded at the end of that month. It was an amazing session, in which Carmell, oozing confi- dence and assertiveness, demonstrated a fresh, virile and imaginative style, with a warm ballad tone and an authoritatively implacable swing at up tempo. The highly responsive rhythm section locked right on him all the way, and also revealed Forrest Westbrook as a highly talented and sensi- tive pianist, with an advanced concept of improvisation, and a built-in propensity for swinging hard. Along with the pungently powerful Peacock and the driving Schwemmer, they provided an ideally vigor- ous support for Carmell Jones, who, unbelievably soon, would come to be regarded as among the finest trumpeters on the West Coast. These never-before- released recordings, his first on the Coast, show why. ~ Amazon

OTIS TAYLOR - HEY JOE OPUS RED MEAT

With Otis Taylor, it's best to expect the unexpected. While his music, an amalgamation of roots styles in their rawest form, discusses heavyweight issues like murder, homelessness, tyranny, and injustice, his personal style is lighthearted. "I'm good at dark, but I'm not a particularly unhappy person," he says. "I'd just like to make enough money to buy a Porsche." -- -- Part of Taylor's appeal is his contrasting character traits. But it is precisely this element of surprise that makes him one of the most compelling artists to emerge in recent years. Whether it's his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or it's the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat opti remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. -- -- Otis Mark Taylor was born in Chicago in "My dad worked for the railroad and knew a lot of jazz people. He was a socialist and real bebopper." His mother, Sarah, a tough as nails woman with liberal leanings, had a penchant for Etta James and Pat Boone. Young Otis spent time at the Denver Folklore Center where he bought his first instrument, a banjo. He used to play it while riding his unicycle to high school. The Folklore Center was also the place where he first heard Mississippi John Hurt and country blues. He learned to play guitar and harmonica and by his mid-teens, he formed his first groups' the Butterscotch Fire Department Blues Band and later the Otis Taylor Blues Band. -- (Source: artist website) -- UPC 725543191526 -- The Amazon ASIN for the mp3 version of this CD is B00X5BRSZG -- Another listing by Zip ~ Amazon

NEW RELEASES: NAJEE – YOU, ME & FOREVER; ALTON ELLIS – SOUL TRAIN IS COMING; JASON PALMER – WONDALAND: JASON PALMER PLAYS JANELLE MONAE

NAJEE – YOU, ME & FOREVER

Multi-Platinum seller, recipient of multi-Grammy nominations, the NAACP Image Award and the Soul Train Award, Smooth Jazz icon Najee has shared the stage with such greats as Prince, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Lionel Richie, and his beloved mentor, George Duke. You, Me & Forever is the highly anticipated follow up to Najee s much loved The Morning After which was #1 both on the Billboard chart and at Smooth Jazz Radio. As the title implies, the album represents Najee s exploration into the world of sensuality and romance, interspersed with some fantastic spirited grooves that have made Najee a favorite the world over. Featuring keyboard great Alex Bugnon and Kenny G s longtime collaborator and music director Robert Damper, Najee explores such classics as Antonio Carlos Jobim s Wave , Ambrosia s The Biggest Part of Me plus some great Najee originals. ~ Amazon

ALTON ELLIS – SOUL TRAIN IS COMING

One of the more obscure sides of work from the legendary Alton Ellis – but one of the best as well! The set features some cuts issued by Alton on his own Ellis label – and many of the numbers here feature the singer acting as a producer too – a surprisingly strong side of his talents, as he's able to craft just the right sort of laidback rocksteady grooves for his wonderfully soulful voice! Alton never broke as big on an international scale as artists like Peter Tosh or Jimmy Cliff – but hearing these tracks, you'll definitely feel the way in which the paths Ellis took were clearly roads that allowed much bigger reggae grown in years to come! Titles include "My Time Is The Right Time", "I Love You Girl", "Again". "Dedication", "Baby Talk", "Past Time", "Soul Train Is Coming", "Bam Bye", "If I Had The Right", and "Big News".  ~ Dusty Groove

JASON PALMER – WONDALAND: JASON PALMER PLAYS JANELLE MONAE

The music of Janelle Monae gets some really wonderful treatment here – served up in an instrumental mode by trumpeter Jason Palmer – with a similar spirit to his previous project based around the music of Minnie Riperton! The approach is definitely jazz, but it's wonderful to hear Palmer and the group work some new magic with these familiar vocal tunes – with a mode that relies heavily on Fender Rhodes from Luke Marantz, whose spacey lines really help capture some of Monae's energy, but redirected towards a jazz basis that's quickly picked up by Palmer on trumpet, Godwin Louis on alto, Greg Duncan on guitar, Dan Carpel on bass, and Lee Fish on drums. The whole thing's completely charming – not gimmicky at all – and titles include "57821", "Sir Greendown", "Neon Valley Street", "Wondaland", "Say You'll Go", and "Oh Maker".  ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: THE GREG FOAT GROUP - THE DANCERS AT THE EDGE OF TIME; SPEEDOMETER FEATURING JAMES JUNIOR – NO TURNING BACK; LAURA TATE - I MUST BE DREAMING

THE GREG FOAT GROUP - THE DANCERS AT THE EDGE OF TIME

This major new release from the Greg Foat Group sees celebrated jazz quintet making the most of the acoustics of an ancient church, accompanied by a full ensemble of supporting musicians. The fourth album from the celebrated jazz combo will further delight Foat fans who have been consistently enthralled by the taste and finesse with which they execute their beguiling arrangements and instrumentation. Last year, during the long, hot summer of 2014, a couple of tons of vintage studio gear were bundled into an ancient church on the charming and picturesque village of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. There the centuries-old church organ was the centerpiece and the Group was accompanied a string quartet and woodwinds to create a musical style like no other. The resulting hauntingly sublime sounds need not only fill vaulted chapel ceilings, but our hearts and ears as well. Recorded across three of the hottest days in summer, direct onto 1" tape and with all the rich, live analogue sound and the hallowed magnificence that church acoustics can bring, The Dancers at the End of Time features the classic Foat group with guesting local musicians and friends, and celebrates the summertime and beach ambience of living on the island.

SPEEDOMETER FEATURING JAMES JUNIOR – NO TURNING BACK

Having been one of the bands that has spearheaded the resurgence in deep, gritty funk and soul for over 10 years, and having collaborated with luminaries like Eddie Bo, Marva Whitney, Sharon Jones, Billy Wooten, Sir Joe Quarterman and most recently ex James Brown vocalist Martha High, Speedometer enjoy a worldwide reputation as a class act. And now in 2015, the group bring a welcome spotlight to a fresh vocal talent - James Junior, who has already been likened to a young Donny Hathaway or Stevie Wonder, James has all the perquisite tone, phrasing and soul and is garaunteed to make a big impact in 2015. This brand new single kicks off with No Turning Back (taken from the forthcoming album of the same name) which is a storming latin soul and boss nova uptempo groover- but with lyrics directly addressing the 21st century issue of immigration. In distinctly good time mode - Orisha's Party is a disco-funk workout with Afrobeat touches - no message or agenda on this track, other than let your hair down and have a ball! The Reflex (aka London-based French native Nicolas Laugier) is an in demand producer/remixer who has revisioned music by the likes of Chic, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, The Clash and Cody Chestnut and has won plaudits from DJ's Gilles Peterson, Rob Da Bank, Craig Charles and Greg Wilson. Using his 'less is more' approach he has taken his revision of No Turning Back in a club jazz direction, a four to the floor beat sits underneath guitar, vocals and percussion - and leaves the groove plenty of room to breath. For the digital download version of this release we have included the full length club version as well as the radio edit for your maximum listening pleasure!

LAURA TATE - I MUST BE DREAMING

Singer & Actress Laura Tate pays tribute to songwriter Mel Harker in this fantastic collection of Jazz, Country and Rock-n-Roll songs. There is simply no one else like her. With a heart the size of Texas, a mesmerizing voice and a zest for living that is irresistible, Laura Tate inspires; through her music, her words and her deeds.  There is a spark behind those violet blue eyes that seems to say, “I’m living my life on my own terms… with love and laughter and passion.  Want to come along?”  And, yes, we do… and with the new CD release, “I Must Be Dreaming,” we most certainly do. Whether she is singing Broadway hits or ballads, pop favorites or original compositions, Laura brings heart and soul to her performance and recordings. The versatile singer, actor, producer, and community advocate continues to mesmerize audiences in both intimate cafes and huge concert halls, reaching each listener with her smooth sultry torch singer voice and warm stage presence.

Pianist KAIT DUNTON Debuts New Band, trioKAIT, with Eponymous Electro-Acoustic Album

Eagerly defying genre boundaries with a fresh, inventive electro-acoustic sound, trioKAIT is a piano trio for a random-access generation. On their self-titled debut, (available on July 31), the funky and eclectic Los Angeles-based trio - pianist Kait Dunton, electric bassist Cooper Appelt, and drummer Jake Reed - shuffles wide-ranging influences and Dunton's unconventional compositions into a refreshingly modern take on instrumental music that is as uncategorizable as it is infectious. 

On their first recording together, trioKAIT shows off a cohesive group sound and an electrifying camaraderie that takes most bands years to develop. A former member of the extended clan of Brooklyn-based fusionistas Snarky Puppy, Dunton refers to trioKAIT as a "family band," a spirit that shines through in their playful and spontaneous interactions. Knowing her bandmates as well as she does - Appelt was a classmate of the pianist in the renowned jazz program at the University of North Texas; Reed was a classmate at USC - Dunton composes music that takes full advantage of their individual strengths and collective identity to forge an utterly singular sound. 

Though Dunton's fingers never stray from the keyboard of her acoustic piano, there are echoes of electronic music throughout her writing for trioKAIT. EDM, classic R&B, various transmutations of electronica, and modern rock music all intermingle with jazz and classical influences on the album, reflective of Dunton's out-of-the-box tastes and interests. Her compositional focus is on storytelling rather than soloing, the emotional rather than the cerebral. 

"I remember when there were real record stores, I would go hang out at the listening stations and pick up CDs, even though I didn't know who anybody was," Dunton recalls. Over the years those excursions nurtured a collection stocked with artists as varied and influential as Vince Guaraldi and J Dilla, Cannonball Adderley and Erykah Badu, Roy Hargrove and Deadmau5. At the same time she was spending hours per day at the piano, poring over sheet music by classical and jazz composers. 

All of that input bleeds together on trioKAIT. Opener "Prelude" marries fusion chops with an urgent, angular electric groove that recalls the arena-jazz sound of Sweden's lamented Esbjörn Svensson Trio. It's immediately followed by the brief, elegant, etude-like "Channels," which segues into the album's most buoyant, pop-inspired tune, "Chrysocolla," almost a radio-friendly pop song without words.

In another form, "Ria" does have words - Dunton originally penned the song as a soul ballad with lyrics under the title "Risk It All," but it's here distilled into a slinky, expressive slow-burn instrumental piece. The composer's love of Brazilian music emerges subtly in Reed's surging rhythms on "Summer Solstice," and "Noraa" shines a brief spotlight on both Reed's and Appelt's improvisational abilities. "Time Travel" then harkens back to the heyday of Dave Brubeck with its ability to merge shifting, complex time signatures with joyous, deceptively accessible songcraft. 

The seductive groove of "Yes," driven by Appelt's robust, elastic bass, has a neo-soul vibe in the vein of Robert Glasper's stylistic cross-overs, while the frantic "50 Freeways" pays homage to the infamous traffic snarls of L.A., which nonetheless feel like home to a native Angeleno like Dunton. The title of "Outlook Good" perfectly captures the tune's breezy, optimistic feel, with Dunton conjuring the laid-back melodicism of a singer like James Taylor on the keys. "Love Lost" is equally lyrical while coming from a more melancholy place, while the jaunty "Wil's Theme" tips its hat to the album's engineer, Wil Anspach. The hip hop-inflected "Custom" closes the album with its finest example of the trio's ability to evoke electronic production through live acoustic performance.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Dunton was obsessed with the piano, she says, "from the time I was old enough to reach the keys." But with no models for a career in music, she thought of her passion as a hobby until she was encouraged to pursue it further by teachers at the University of Virginia, where she was majoring in Spanish. They helped her to put together a last-minute tape to apply to the University of North Texas.

Immediately upon arriving in the Lone Star state, Dunton made two life-changing encounters. Among the first musicians she played with were Ross Pederson, now an in-demand drummer with a stunning variety of artists, and Michael League, founder of Snarky Puppy. "I'd never played with people like that," Dunton says. "It completely blew my mind. I learned a lot really fast." 

In 2009, Dunton released her debut album, Real & Imagined, which featured Pederson on drums and Daniel Foose on bass. She returned home to earn her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where she studied under pianist Alan Pasqua and composer Vince Mendoza. While there, she recorded her second release, Mountain Suite, with heavy-hitters from the USC faculty, including Peter Erskine on drums, Bob Mintzer on tenor sax, John Daversa on trumpet and Darek Oles on bass.

In Appelt and Reed, Dunton has found collaborators who are as open-eared and adventurous as she is. Both instrumentalists are active in a variety of scenes in L.A., playing big band jazz, rock, R&B, and funk music. As trioKAIT, they've made three tours of Germany and presented a preview of the new album at the USC Women's Conference last March. The trio's growing success is proving writer Don Heckman's assessment of Dunton as "an extraordinary talent on the rise" as well as her recognition by Jazz.com as one of "10 Future Female Jazz Stars."

NEW RELEASES: SIMPLY RED - BIG LOVE; CHARENEE WADE - OFFERING; TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON - THE ACT YEARS

SIMPLY RED - BIG LOVE

Simply Red release their first new studio album in eight years with Big Love out June 1st on East West Records. When the band announced a massive world tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary last autumn, main man Mick Hucknall started thinking about recording again. “Once I began wondering how Simply Red were going to sound, I started writing songs,” says Mick. And once he started, he couldn’t stop. Big Love is the first Simply Red album to feature only original compositions since 1995’s ‘Life’. All twelve tracks are written by Mick Hucknall and produced by Andy Wright. Highlights include the celebratory first single ‘Shine On’ driven by their trademark blue-eyed soul sound and ‘The Ghost Of Love’, a big soul song punctuated by wah-wah guitar and the kind of bold orchestral strokes that once powered Barry White and his Love Unlimited. The break has done Mick Hucknall a power of good, newly refreshed he now has a much clearer appreciation of Simply Red’s considerable legacy. He admits that the band’s last studio album in 2007, ‘Stay’, was an attempt to pull away from their sound. “With ‘Stay’ I was running away from Simply Red,” Mick admits. “But now I’m comfortable with the notion of us as a blue-eyed soul group. I had to stop myself fighting that idea. Our sound is original too. I honestly don’t know of another band that has pulled so many musical strands together.” Quite simply, Big Love is Simply Red at their best, 12 tracks to cherish. With a 16 date UK tour this winter, including 3 shows at London’s 02 Arena, Simply Red are once again a band in their prime. Simply Red are: Mick Hucknall (vocals), Ian Kirkham (sax), Steve Lewinson (bass), Kenji Suuki (guitar), Kevin Robinson (trumpet and flute), Dave Clayton (keyboards) and new drummer Ronnie Roth. ~ Amazon

CHARENEE WADE - OFFERING

“Gil makes you think about what you can do as an artist,” comments Motéma recording artist Charenee Wade. “Most artists today don’t use their platform to shift consciousness like Gil and artists of his day used to do. He inspires me to do my own thing, to not be afraid to say what I want to say.” In tribute to the late artist, Wade dropped her version of GSH’s classic “Ain’t No Such Thing As Superman” from her upcoming Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson LP. Wade’s forthcoming Motéma release will be dropping on June 23rd and will feature a host of luminaries including Christian McBride, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Lakecia Benjamin, Stefon Harris, Marcus Miller, and many more. Scroll down to listen to “Ain’t No Such Thing as Superman.” Stay tuned for more on Charenee Wade and Offering. -DanMichael, Revive-Music.com

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON - THE ACT YEARS

Terri Lyne Carrington is one of the world s most-sought after drummers and one of jazz s leading female media figures. Her recording and touring with Herbie Hancock and Dianne Reeves have elicited rave reviews internationally. In addition to her recording and international performing, she is renowned for her role as a producer and jazz educator. She has won Grammy Awards both for Best Jazz Vocal Album (2011) and Best Jazz Instrumental Album (2013). This compilation includes tracks from Carrington's two ACT albums as a leader, and from Nguyen Le's Jimi Hendrix tribute album Purple, on which she played in Le's quartet. Musicians featuring on the repertoire include Wallace Roney, Greg Osby, Meshell Ndegeocello, Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Gary Thomas, Kevin Eubanks and many more. ~ Amazon

The Brian Landrus Trio's first album - to be released June 16 - features probing originals alongside "Giant Steps," "Sentimental Lady" and "I'm a Fool to Want You"

Low woodwind ace Brian Landrus - "someone to watch, an exciting voice" (JazzTimes) - presents The Deep Below, his sixth album as a leader and the debut recording of his trio with bassist Lonnie Plaxico and drummer Billy Hart. To be released on June 16 by BlueLand/Palmetto, The Deep Below finds Landrus playing baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, bass flute and bass sax with lithe virtuosity; he breathes life into his own characteristically probing originals, two co-writes with Plaxico and fresh interpretations of classics by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, as well as an intimately affecting treatment of the Sinatra ballad "I'm a Fool to Want You." The rapport between the leader and the two rhythm veterans is ideal, with Plaxico and Hart having already paired on Landrus' highly praised 2011 quartet album, Traverse, where they made sure the tunes "swing with passion" (All About Jazz). In its four-star review of that album, DownBeat encapsulated the leader's talents on his various instruments: "Landrus plays with gentle authority, his pliable, distinctive tone built on expressive devices like vibrato, multiphonics and pitch blends. He has a way of connecting notes with subtle slides and graceful glisses, embellishing melodies with turns and trills that build momentum and scream good taste." Landrus has been voted a Rising Star multiple years running in the DownBeat Critics Poll, and along with his work as a bandleader and composer, he has toured the world as part of star bassist-vocalist Esperanza Spalding's band and contributes to such ensembles as the Grammy-winning Gil Evans Project.

For Landrus - who is working on a PhD in classical composition at Rutgers University and finishing a concerto for baritone sax and another for bass clarinet - the trio album with Plaxico and Hart was a chance to explore "something more intimate for awhile, music that's sparer and freer," he says. "I wrote the tunes right on my various instruments, just trying to create melodies that felt good on the bari sax or bass clarinet or bass flute or bass sax. I even wrote lyrics to most of my pieces and tried to sing them through my horn with the goal of making each note really significant." The big horns came natural to Landrus, as he points out: "I'm 6'7" - so physically the instruments fit me. But I was also drawn to these instruments because there are fewer preconceptions on them. Everyone knows what the good tenor saxophone sounds like - the great examples are endless. Although there have been some wonderful players of the low instruments over the decades, there's still more room to express yourself, the options feel open to me."

There's an extraordinary range of sonic character across The Deep Below. The weight of sound in Landrus' baritone sax - whether in tune-rich opener "Fly" or even the quickstep solo version of "Giant Steps" - is something you can feel as well as hear, reflecting the album's title. The same goes for his dusky tone on bass clarinet in "Fields of Zava" or the solo excursion "A Fading Memory." His quiet lyricism on bass flute aptly evokes the title of "Ancient," while he evinces a brawny beauty on the rarely heard bass sax in "The Beginning." For Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady,"

Landrus was influenced by Harry Carney's "gorgeous" baritone interpretation - "one of my favorite songs by one of - over -

my favorite players." The interpretation of "I'm a Fool to Want You" was inspired less by the Sinatra original than by late-period Billie Holiday. Landrus says: "You can hear the pain in her Lady in Satin recording - it's raw feeling. I was aiming for emotional intimacy, really thinking about the lyrics. We learned it right there in the studio and got it in the first take. Lonnie and Billy love the song, and it shows."

About his august rhythm partners for The Deep Below, Landrus says: "With Lonnie and Billy, it's never just a job - they're too honest and organic as musicians. They've played together for decades, but my album Traverse was their first recording together, surprisingly. Billy is an amazing interpreter - he has power but also romance. He likes to keep it loose, but he's more about playing the music than soloing. He keeps it classy. Lonnie has this precise articulation that I've always loved, and he grooves so deeply. He's in my Kaleidoscope band, too, and he is a wise, collaborative help in the studio. I always like working with players who are way above me - it raises me up."

Born in 1978 and raised in Nevada, Landrus began playing saxophone at 12 and was performing professionally by 15. He earned his bachelor's degree in saxophone performance at the University of Nevada-Reno and two master's degrees at New England Conservatory, one in jazz composition and the other in jazz saxophone. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in classical composition at Rutgers. Based in Brooklyn, Landrus founded his own label, BlueLand Records, in 2011. His first releases of all original music via BlueLand were Traverse (a quartet date with Plaxico, Hart and pianist Michael Cain) and Capsule (by the Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope, with Cain, guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Matthew Paris, drummer Rudy Royston). In 2013, Landrus released a second Kaleidoscope album, Mirage, featuring himself on baritone sax, bass sax, bass clarinet, contra alto clarinet and bass flute alongside Felder, Royston, Plaxico on acoustic and electric bass, Frank Carlberg on Rhodes/piano and a string quartet led by violinist Mark Feldman, with Ryan Truesdell conducting/co-producing. The New York Times praised Landrus and Mirage at length, pointing out that "the tenderness in his playing feels as warm and accessible as his writing."

Along with touring the world in superstar Esperanza Spalding's band (on baritone/tenor saxophones and bass clarinet) and playing in Truesdell's prize-winning Gil Evans Project, Landrus has played with some of the world's great musicians: Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Bergonzi, Rufus Reid, Danilo Perez, Frank Kimbrough, Gary Smulyan, Ronnie Cuber, Maria Schneider, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, The Coasters, The Drifters, George Garzone, Jason Palmer, Rakalam Bob Moses, Louis Nash, Peter Epstein, Nicholas Urie, Darryl Harper, David Ake, Allan Chase, Francis Vanek, John Lockwood, Ayn Inserto, Alan Ferber, Omar Thomas, Scott Robinson and Ralph Alessi, among others. Landrus teaches at the 92Y School of Music in New York City and The Lagond Music School in Westchester, New York.

  

BrianLandrus.com

        

Dan Karlsberg’s ‘The ‘Nati 6’ Inspired by Cincinnati’s Jazz Heritage

When music lovers think of Jazz, places like New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Kansas City most likely come to mind. But pianist and composer Dan Karlsberg points out that many artists who made those cities famous came from elsewhere, including Cincinnati, Ohio. To that end, he pays tribute to his hometown’s Jazz heritage with his new album, “The ‘Nati 6.”

"Sometimes, it feels like Cincinnati is the musical underdog, but you won't find another city this size with the Jazz scene we currently have, and the rich history and traditions," Karlsberg said.

“The ‘Nati 6” is not just the title of the album; it is the name of the group of extraordinary musicians Karlsberg recruited for the project, all veteran performers who have recorded and toured with some of the world’s best-known contemporary Jazz artists, while still calling Cincinnati home. They include:

• Bassist Jim Anderson, who has worked with the notable Art Blakely, Ernestine Anderson, Hank Crawford and Nat Adderly.
• Drummer Art Gore, who has performed with George Benson, Teru Nakamura and Herbie Hancock.
• Pianist and trumpeter Kim Pensyl, who has twice been named one of  Billboard’s Top -20 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Year, and has had four Top-10 albums on  Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart.
• Saxophonist Brent Gallaher, who has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
• Trombonist Marc Fields, who toured with the Ray Charles Orchestra, six times.

And then, there is Karlsberg himself, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), who now teaches there as well as at the acclaimed Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. A lifelong resident of Cincinnati, Karlsberg has spent years performing with the area’s top Jazz musicians, leading him to select five of his favorites to join him on “The ‘Nati 6.”

Comprised of 10 tracks, “The ‘Nati 6” defies easy classification. Though unequivocally Jazz, the album has hints of classical, folk and pop music scattered throughout. It is a style Karlsberg loosely describes as “Vince Guaraldi and Cecil Taylor meet Mozart.”

"It definitely has some avant garde aspects, but the album's focus is mainly on beautiful melodies," he said. “Some of the tracks are really complex. Each one is different, but most were inspired by something personal.”

Three of the tunes are dedicated to people Karlsberg knew who passed away—his grandparents (“Ballade No. 2”), a young woman who worked at the Riddle Rd. Market, a corner store in his neighborhood (“Ballade No. 1”), and a boyhood friend (“Mr. Shands Jr.”)

“Roger Shands and I were in Jazz band and symphonic band together in high school, and we played basketball together,” Karlsberg said. “He was a great friend. The song ‘Mr. Shands Jr.’ is my tribute to him.”

Five tracks on “The ‘Nati 6” were inspired by other composers. “Tchaikovsky 1” and “Tchaikovsky 2” are Karlsberg’s arrangements of the opening theme to the Russian composer’s first string quartet. “Freddie Freeloader,” meanwhile, is Karlsberg’s arrangement of the more contemporary classic by Miles Davis.

“Most jazz musician are very familiar with ‘Freddie Freeloader,’ especially jazz pianists,” Karlsberg said. “I wanted to take the tune and show it in a new light. My arrangement was very influenced by the music of Eddie Harris, Andrew Hill, the ‘Blues’ ala Cincinnati style, along with the original recording of the tune on ‘Kind of Blue.’”

Track 5, “Oh! Susanna,” is based on the Stephen Foster classic, which also happens to be one of Karlsberg’s favorite songs, melodically. Though another song with the same title is on Karlsberg’s debut album, released in 2007, the new version is substantially different. Another classically inspired tune is “Pavane of Sleeping Beauty,” which is Karlsberg’s interpretation of a piano piece by Maurice Ravel.

“The ‘Nati 6” is Karlsberg’s third album, and while it is stylistically similar to his first two, astute listeners will notice less emphasis on piano and more emphasis on the ensemble as a whole.

“It’s not about me; I wanted it to be about the group, equally,” Karlsberg said. “My presence is felt through the whole album, whether I am in the background or in the forefront, but this project is more about my composing than my playing. I am excited about the music, and it was such an honor to work with such amazing artists.”

Dan Karlsberg and The ‘Nati 6 will perform an album release concert in the Listening Lounge at Urban Artifact Brewing, 1662 Blue Rock Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45223, on Saturday, June 27, 8:00 p.m.-midnight. No cover charge. For information, call Urban Artifact Brewing at 513-620-4729 or visit www.ArtifactBeer.com.

“The ‘Nati 6” track list

1. Ballade No. 2

2. Freddie Freeloader

3. Ballade No. 1

4. Prelude

5. Oh! Susanna

6. Tchaikovsky 1

7. Pavanne of Sleeping Beauty

8. Mr. Shands Jr.

9. Tchaikovsky 2

10. Modest Minor Melody