Keyboardist Bob Baldwin’s “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack,” is a sprawling urban-jazz exploration through Rio

As the eyes of the world focus on Rio de Janeiro this summer, Red River Entertainment released a generous 26-song double disc of authentic Brazilian jazz rhythms and distinctly American R&B grooves on Friday from keyboardist Bob Baldwin entitled “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack.” The Grammy-nominated artist had a hand in writing twenty tunes for the collection that he produced in two movements, Movement I: Rio-Ipanema and Movement II: New York, that were recorded in Rio, New York City and Atlanta over a three-year period. The first single that will be serviced to radio stations for airplay is the pulsating club music meets sultry Latin music blend “Ipanema Fusion.”        

“The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” is Baldwin’s second foray into Brazil expanding on the territory he mined on his 2004 album, “Brazil Chill.” This time out, he purposely incorporated more American nuances into the mix. Supplementing his own compositions, he elected to honor a few of the iconic artists who influenced his artistic muse including Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Corcovado”), Ivan Lins (“Anjo De Mim,” “The Island” and “Love Dance”) and Djavan (“Eu Te Devoro”). Another formative inspiration was Maurice White, the late Earth, Wind & Fire creator and leader who Baldwin remembers with a heartfelt spoken word tribute that closes the album, “The Message,” and on two musical numbers, “Maurice (The Sound Of His Voice)” and “The Greatest Lover,” the latter of which was recorded in the spirit of White’s hall of fame band. Meticulously produced, performed, composed and arranged, most of the tracks on “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” are tightly segued, maintaining a smooth flow and graceful transition from cut to cut through more than two hours of music.          

Baldwin’s winning team that bolsters his pliable piano gymnastics and effervescent keyboard finesse on “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” consists of an international ensemble that includes noted Brazilian and Latin players Café Da Silva (percussion), Torcuato Mariano (guitar), Rafael Pereira (percussion) and Armando Marcal (percussion). Canadian trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, veteran saxophonists Marion Meadows and Freddy V, and emerging flutist Ragan Whiteside add soulful horn solos while guitarists Marlon McClain and Phil Hamilton contribute compelling runs throughout the date that showcases a handful of charismatic vocalists: James “Crab” Robinson, Porter Carroll II, Gigi, Zoiea Ohizep as well as Baldwin himself. In fact, Baldwin demonstrates remarkable dexterity by singing lead and background as well as playing piano, Rhodes, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, Moog bass, Melodica, strings and clave on the album.       

  

“My love for Brazilian music runs deep. It started with the infiltration of samba in the 1960s courtesy of Stan Getz, who brought with him Astrud Gilberto and the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim. So many other American artists have embraced Brazil, including Quincy Jones, who signed Ivan Lins to his publishing company, and Djavan, who I refer to as "The Brazilian Sade", who goes as far back as 1973 when he sang on a Stevie Wonder track. There are so many others - like Maurice White, Ramsey Lewis and George Duke - who all caught the Brazilian music bug and were hooked,” said Baldwin, who made the record in part via crowdfunding for which a number of unique opportunities remain available (www.pledgemusic.com/bobbaldwin). “Musicians like Cafe da Silva, Armando Marcal, Torcuato Mariano, Delia Fisher and Rafael Pereira give the tracks on ‘The Brazilian-American Soundtrack’ authenticity and the green light to deliver the sound of Brazil to the project.”

  

A Mount Vernon, New York native who has become a longtime resident of Atlanta, Baldwin debuted in 1988 with “I’ve Got A Long Way to Go” and his 22 albums – eight of which climbed into the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Top 20 – are jazz, R&B and gospel outings. Over the years, he’s worked as a producer, songwriter and performer alongside George Benson, Gerald Albright, Euge Groove, Will Downing, Phil Perry, Pieces of a Dream, Paul Taylor, Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Chuck Loeb. Since 2008, he has hosted the nationally syndicated radio program “The NewUrbanJazz Lounge,” which attracts nearly 500,000 listeners weekly. His City Sketches, Inc. is the umbrella entity that houses a production and event planning company, the radio network and NewUrbanJazz Hats. Baldwin is also the author of two books about the music industry, “You Better Ask Somebody” and “Staying On Top of Your Career in the ‘Friggin’ Music Business.” For more information, please visit www.BobBaldwin.com.        

“The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” contains the following songs:

Movement I: Rio-Ipanema

“Funky Rio”

"Ipanema Fusion” featuring Café Da Silva

"Teardrop” featuring Ragan Whiteside

”Caipirinha” featuring Torcuato Mariano

“Corcovado”/”The Redeemer” featuring Torcuato Mariano

“Greatest Lover” featuring Zoiea

“Boa Noite”

“Lookin’ At Me” featuring Gigi

“Anjo De Mim”

“The Island” featuring Leo Gandelman

“Eu Te Devoro”

“Oasis Of Love”

“Love Dance/May I Have This Dance?”

“Children Of The Sun”

Movement II: New York

“Home From Work”

“Maurice (The Sound Of His Voice”)

“My Soul” featuring Marion Meadows

“For You” featuring Porter Carroll II

“Summer Madness” featuring James “Crab” Robinson

“Yesterday” featuring Freddie V

“South Of The Border”

“Mobile & Global” featuring Gabriel Mark Hasselbach

“Summer’s Over”

“I Need The Air (You Breathe)”

“State Of Mind”

“The Message (A Maurice White Tribute)”

"Leap of Faith," the 4th CD by Trumpeter Steffen Kuehn

Steffen Kuehn Leap of Faith Trumpeter/composer Steffen Kuehn has become a mainstay of the Bay Area jazz and Latin music scenes since arriving from his native Germany in 1997. He won a 2014 Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album for the self-titled debut by the 20-piece Pacific Mambo Orchestra, which he co-leads with pianist Christian Tumalan. An alternately robust and warmly lyrical soloist and an on-point horn-section player, he works regularly with bands led by Latin drummer Brian Andres and timbalero Louie Romero and with jazz drummer Tommy Igoe's Groove Conspiracy. And he has performed and recorded as a leader, releasing three albums on his Stefrecords imprint: Now or Later (2002), with fellow trumpeter Tim Hagans; trumpop (2008); and Constantine (2011).

Kuehn considers his newest recording, Leap of Faith, "my first recording in a way, because," he explains, "I did everything myself. On my previous recordings maybe I had a producer or I was recording somebody else's music. I produced this record. I wrote the horn sections. I played in the horn section, and I'm also the soloist. I think the writing is my best writing so far." The CD will be released by Stefrecords on July 29.

The cast of local luminaries assembled by Kuehn includes drummer Tommy Igoe, bassist Dewayne Pate, pianist Colin Hogan, onetime Steely Dan guitarist Drew Zingg, former Tower of Power and Yellowjackets alto saxophonist Marc Russo, current Tower of Power tenor saxophonist Tom Politzer, and trombonist John Gove. Guesting on one track apiece are current Yellowjackets tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer (on the Afro-Cuban "Storm") and Pacific Mambo Orchestra vocalist Alexa Weber Morales (the bossa nova "Serenity"). The 10-song set consists of eight original compositions and arrangements by Kuehn, Aaron Lington's arrangement of "Helen's Song" by pianist George Cables, and John Gove's arrangement of "Geraldine" by Yellowjackets keyboardist Russell Ferrante.

"This is the most personal recording I've ever done and the closest to me so far," says Kuehn. "It not only puts the spotlight on me as a trumpeter but also on my writing, which for me was equally important."

Born (1965) and raised in Mannheim, Germany, Steffen Kuehn was drawn to the trumpet as a child and began lessons at age 8. Initially he was interested in hard rock and then soul music (Earth, Wind and Fire and Chaka Khan) before getting into jazz via the Yellowjackets and Pat Metheny. "I grew up listening to the Yellowjackets," says Kuehn. "They're one of my biggest influences." He cites Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis as influences as well.

Kuehn was writing music and active in a number of bands before he decided to leave Germany, at age 23, to attend North Texas State University. During his five years there, he played in the school's big bands. A roommate from Colombia introduced him to Latin music, which would eventually become a cornerstone of his career.

After graduating North Texas State in 1993 with a Bachelor of Music degree, Kuehn moved to Munich. There he hooked up with onetime Woody Herman and Stan Kenton high-note trumpet specialist Al Porcino, which whom he played duets in private and with his big band in public. He also played in Munich with a big band led by Serbian bop trumpeter Dusko Gojkovic.

Steffen Kuehn Since relocating to Northern California in 1997, Kuehn has kept busy playing gigs with such artists as the Temptations, Four Tops, Platters, Cold Blood, John Handy, Mark Levine, Ray Obiedo, Louie Romero, Brian Andres, Generation Esmeralda, Tommy Igoe, and many more. His resume also includes recordings with Andres, Igoe, Obiedo, Wayne Wallace, and onetime Stooges guitarist James Williamson.

The Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the large ensemble he co-leads with Mexican-born, Bay Area-based pianist Christian Tumalan, started out in 2010 as the Monday night band at Café Cocomo in San Francisco playing music rooted in the old-school salsa and mambo sounds of Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez. The band, which sports a 13-member horn section, has since expanded its repertoire to include more original contemporary Latin compositions and arrangements, some by Kuehn.

Little-known at the time outside the Bay Area, the orchestra sent shockwaves throughout the international Latin music community when it won the 2014 Best Tropical Latin Album Grammy over superstar nominees Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives. "Imagine the biggest surprise you're capable of and multiply that by 100," Kuehn says of his initial reaction to the award.

Leap of Faith may or may not win the trumpeter another Grammy, but the variety and vitality of the 10 tracks within it seem certain to bring Kuehn greater recognition as a jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger of the highest caliber.

 

The Fred Hersch Trio soars on the new release Sunday Night at the Vanguard, a definitive statement featuring Bassist John Hébert and Drummer Eric McPherson

Jazz is too often portrayed as an art form defined by blazing young artists. It's true that many jazz masters reach a mid-career plateau marked by small variations on a mature style. But there's also a vanguard of players and composers who continue to refine and expand the art form in middle age and beyond, like Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Henry Threadgill, and piano maestro Fred Hersch, who is marking his 60th year with an astonishing creative surge. Slated for release by his longtime label Palmetto on August 12, 2016, Hersch's new recording Sunday Night at the Vanguard stands as the most profound and enthralling trio statement yet by an improviser whose bands have embodied the enduring relevance of the piano-bass-and-drums format for three decades.

With Sunday, Hersch's trio gracefully leapfrogs past its already daunting accomplishments. Featuring the exquisitely interactive bassist John Hébert and extraordinarily sensitive drummer Eric McPherson, the ensemble has recorded a series of critically hailed albums over the past seven years, including 2012's Fred Hersch Trio - Alive at the Vanguard, a double album that earned France's top jazz award, the Grand Prix du Disque, and 2014's lavishly praised Floating, a double Grammy®-nominee (both on Palmetto).

Recorded at the storied venue that's become Hersch's second home, Sunday Night at the Vanguard unfolds with all the dramatic intensity and narrative drive that make his performances a revelatory experience. Ebulliently playful and ravishingly lyrical, rhythmically elastic and harmonically exploratory, the trio plays with an extraordinary level of trust, assurance, high-wire poise and musicality throughout the set. "The thing that's beautiful about Eric is his touch," Hersch says. "He's the straight man and John is the loose guy, though sometimes they reverse it."

Hersch had only played "A Cockeyed Optimist" with the trio a few times when he called the rarely heard Rodgers and Hammerstein gem as the evening's opening tune. From the first notes of the gentle intro he sensed the group was in a special zone, and aside from two pieces drawn from the night's second set the album unfolds exactly as the trio delivered it. "I'm always looking for tunes on the obscure side," Hersch says. "The trio had played it a couple of times, but never to open a set, and as soon as we started I knew it was going to be a good night. This is by far my best trio album and it represents about as well as we can play."

There are familiar Hersch touchstones along the way, with several memorable new pieces. The latest in his long line of character studies, "Serpentine" was inspired by a close associate of Ornette Coleman's, and the tune captures her mysterious and alluring air. "The Optimum Thing" is his clever contrafact based on the chord changes to Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing for You," and it exemplifies the trio's elastic sense of time, as the song opens at a brisk, tumbling tempo and accelerates into a sweat-inducing gallop (other nights it's a study in deceleration).

Of the album's numerous startlingly beautiful passages, the trio's aching rendition of Lennon and McCartney "For No One," stands out. He recorded the song with Janis Siegel on the 1994 duo project Slow Hot Wind and uses essentially the same arrangement here. But now it's Hersch's piano delivering the melody at a dolorous tempo, drawing out the tune's quiet desperation. While the Beatles recording is more snappy than despondent, "it's really a song about a break up, and maybe the saddest lyric they ever wrote," Hersch says. "I slowed it down with Janis and added some beats on 'linger on.' When we play it people really react to it."

Hersch recorded Kenny Wheeler's jubilant "Everybody's Song But My Own" as the title track of a 2013 Japanese trio album focused on standards. He played the terpsichorean tune with Wheeler many times, and now it serves as a gripping tribute to the brilliant trumpeter/composer, who died last year. He follows with a recent original, "Blackwing Palomino," which not coincidentally is the name of the storied writing implement with which Hersch notated the bluesy piece. A self-confessed pencil geek, he notes that the brand "was the favorite of Tennessee Williams. The company just started making them again, and I buy them by the dozens. I was rehearsing with Ravi Coltrane recently and we started talking pencils and he said I should write a tune with Blackwing in the title. The slogan on the pencil is 'Half the pressure. Twice the result.'"

Cryptic, open-hearted and filigreed, Hersch's "Calligram (for Benoit Delbecq)" is dedicated to the brilliant French pianist who often renders compositions with graphic scores that he calls calligrams. They did a double-trio project with electronics several years ago ("I think he's a genius," Hersch says), and he wrote this pleasingly unresolved tune with Delbecq in mind. If "Calligram" evokes a Rube Goldberg playground, Jimmy Rowles' sylvan ballad "The Peacocks," is a shimmering pastel landscape. Recorded several times previously by Hersch (who got the original sheet music from Rowles himself), this extended version is transcendent.

He closes the set with a rollicking rendition of "We See," a Monk tune he's never recorded before. And then returns for a solo encore, "Valentine," a tune that earned a Grammy nomination for best instrumental composition when it was released on 2002's Live at Bimhaus. "I always end with Monk," Hersch says, "and always play 'Valentine' as an encore, which leaves the audience feeling groovy and happy."

No artist in the past three decades has used the Vanguard more effectively than Hersch. He made his debut at the jazz Mecca in the late 1970s with a 12-piece band co-led by bass legend Sam Jones and rising trumpeter Tom Harrell, the first of dozens of sideman stints at the club. He performed there regularly with Joe Henderson throughout the 1980s, often with Ron Carter and Al Foster ("That was graduate school," Hersch says). He made his Vanguard debut as a leader in 1996 with his celebrated trio featuring Drew Gress and Tom Rainey. "I think I could have played there before 1996 had I been willing to hire an all-star rhythm section, but I wanted to wait until I could do it on my own terms," Hersch says. "Now they say do what you want to do, and it doesn't have to be a concept or tribute. I'm so honored and humbled that my photo is on the wall, next to Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Mingus."

And the Vanguard is hardly Hersch's only showcase. He returns to the Jazz Standard in May for his 10th annual Duo Invitation Series with trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Julian Lage, Kate McGarry, Yosvany Terry, and Anat Cohen (with whom he's touring the West Coast in June).

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Hersch studied music theory and composition in elementary school and sang in high school theater productions. It wasn't until he started attending Iowa's Grinnell College that he turned on to jazz. (Grinnell is awarding him an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters this year). But the bug really bit him when he went home for the holidays and happened into a Cincinnati jazz club. He ended up dropping out of school and earned his stripes with veteran musicians on local bandstands. After honing his chops for 18 months he enrolled at New England Conservatory to work with jazz piano legend Jaki Byard, and made the move to New York City in 1977 after earning a BM with Honors (he started teaching at NEC in 1980 and retired last year after 35 years on faculty).

Hersch quickly gained recognition as a superlative band-mate, performing and recording with masters such as Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Billy Harper, Lee Konitz, Art Farmer, Gary Burton, Toots Thielemans, and many others. Since releasing his first album under his own name he's recorded in an array of settings, including a series of captivating solo recitals, duos with vocalists Janis Siegel and Norma Winstone, and ambitious extended compositional projects including a widely-praised setting of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." As an educator, he has shepherded some of the finest young pianists in jazz through his teaching at NEC, Juilliard, Rutgers and the New School. A leading force in galvanizing the jazz community in the fights against HIV/AIDS, he produced 1994's all-star benefit project Last Night When We Were Young: The Ballad Album.

He's gained the most widespread visibility as the leader of a series of remarkable trios. From his first session with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron, he's pushed at the limits of lyricism and temporal fluidity with similarly searching improvisers. He has consistently drawn deeply from the music's most refined players while forging his own approach. He considers his current trio, with John Hébert and Eric McPherson, as his best to date. "I always say that as a player there are three main threads that come to prominence at different times," Hersch says. "There's the trio, which is a constant. I've been doing duo encounters steadily going way back to Jane Ira Bloom in the early 1980s. But I think solo feels equal to the trio in terms of being the hub of my musical wheel. My solo playing feeds my trio and vice versa."

A feature length film, The Ballad of Fred Hersch, recently premiered to rapturous reviews at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and Hersch is busy at work on a memoir (working title: Good Things Happen Slowly) for Crown/Random House due in stores Spring 2017.

www.fredhersch.com

GAUDI: THE RARE NOISE CATALOG RE-SCULPTED - an album of entirely new music using various mutitracks from different RareNoise releases

This 10" Vinyl EP is the first manifestation of an exciting collaboration between London-based music producer / performing artist Gaudi and the ever classy champions of genre-bending and experimental contemporary music, RareNoiseRecords. This hot-off-the-press taster, which will also be available in multiple DL formats, is an introduction to the forthcoming full length release, to be titled Magnetic, due to be released late Spring 2017.

Gaudi, a much respected producer and performer with 15 studio albums under his belt, has been working to dissolve musical boundaries for over 35 years now, and is best loved and noted for his genre blending and high quality dub-centric productions. He has been let loose in the RareNoise vaults and has set himself the creational challenge of composing an album of entirely new music using the full palette of the RareNoise catalog as his orchestra.

Gaudi is no stranger to this kind of undertaking having previously taken on the challenge of composing and producing an album of new music working with vocal parts from archives of legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The result of this multi-year endeavor, released with the title "Dub Qawwali", earned him a nomination for a BBC World Music Award: It was not only a beautiful and sensitively handled piece of work, but also a landmark album in which the very concept of 'remix' was taken to the next level to become 're-composition'.

In this respect, "Magnetic' represents an even greater challenge than Dub Qawwali: the sheer breath of the source material offered by the RareNoise catalog, which spans a high dimensional manifold of genres, has stimulated and challenged Gaudi to work with a vast array of styles, instrumentation and flavors in order to create the master blend, a true challenge of distillation.

Side A of this 10" Vinyl EP is home to the track "30Hz Dub Prelude" and there's no mistaking from the first bar that this one is all about the bass - provided by psychedelic prog-rock artist Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree fame. Drawing also from the rock side of the spectrum this track gets edge and pace from the drums of Ted Parsons from cult band Killing Joke. Guitars are by Eraldo Bernocchi and vocals by Japanese experimental vocalist Coppé are used as texture throughout and under the surface. Gaudi plays Minimoog, korg MS20 and fender rhodes. The trombone of Brian Allen (member of Brainkiller) draws you in and leads you as it meanders like a liquid brass river through the track.

Side B is a more subdued affair. "Electronic Impromptu in E-flat Minor" is an evocative time-slip into subjective reverie. A melancholy piece featuring Bill Laswell and Lorenzo Feliciati on Bass. Electronic noises and textures are crafted by Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) and tremulous nostalgic guitar by Eraldo Bernocchi punctuates the soundscape. It is a deep, drawing track which is tense and moody in tone, but softened by the satie-esque piano of Alessandro Gwis and Gaudi's trademark Theremin with it's unmistakable and luring voice. Drums by Steve Jansen (the drummer from art pop band Japan) give the track a purposeful yet faltering pace which further reinforces the space and flavour of the track - it is a song of counterpoints, spacious yet introspective, dark yet with a hint whimsy.

The list of artists who have lent their sounds and skills to the overall project reads like a 'who's who' of musical talent and gives warranted indication as to the quality of the ingredients; Artists to be featured in the final full length release Magnetic willinclude Tony Levin (best known for his work on bass with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel), Pulitzer prize finalist and avant-garde jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, ambient music legend and master of sonic experimentalism Harold Budd, Pat Mastelotto (drummer from XTC, David Sylvian, King Crimson, Sugar Cubes), experimental guitarist Buckethead (Guns 'n' Roses, Bootsy, Iggy Pop) and internationally acclaimed Italian born jazz trombonist Gianluca Petrella to name but a few.

In this project Gaudi has become like the master blender at the whisky distillery... Carefully searching through the warehouses to find the right flavours, taking a hand picked selection of the best spirit of the RareNoise stable and from amongst their individual notes and character, creating his own unique blend - the RareNoise signature malt!

TRACKS AND CREDITS

A SIDE - 30HZ DUB PRELUDE

GAUDI - minimoog, korg MS20, fender rhodes, programming

COLIN EDWIN - bass 

TED PARSONS - drums

BRIAN ALLEN - trombone

ERALDO BERNOCCHI - guitar

COPPE' - voice

B SIDE - ELECTRONIC IMPROMPTU IN E-FLAT MINOR

GAUDI - theremin, minimoog, piano, programming

BILL LASWELL - bass

STEVE JANSEN - drum

ERALDO BERNOCCHI - guitar

MASAMI AKITA (aka MERZBOW) - electronic noise

LORENZO FELICIATI - bass

ALESSANDRO GWIS - acoustic piano

Produced and arranged by Gaudi.

THE VINYL contains the download code for a third track as well - called "Nocturnal Sonata," which also will be part of the 2017 release "Magnetic."

Bonus Download - NOCTURNAL SONATA

GAUDI - Drum, Piano, Vocal Choir, Minimoog, Korg MS20, Programming.

MARK AANDERUD - Piano

BILL LASWELL - Bass, Drones

BUCKETHEAD - Guitar Noises

MARTIN SCHULTE - Electronics, Programming

HERNAN HECHT - Drums

Todd Clouser Joins Forces With Members Of Abraxas On MAGNET ANIMALS: BUTTERFLY KILLER

On the heels of his genre-defying A Love Electric trilogy and subsequent song project, Man With No Country, guitarist-composer-poet-lyricist C Todd Clouser joins forces with drummer Jorge Servin and the potent one-two punch of Abraxas guitarist Eyal Maoz and bassist Shanir Blumenkranz in forming Magnet Animals. Their slamming and startlingly unique debut, Butterfly Killer -- full of skronking noise guitars of blast furnace intensity and stream of conscious raps over righteous riffs and humungous backbeats -- stands as one of the most strangely compelling outings in the extensive and wildly eclectic catalog of London-based RareNoiseRecords.

From the opening salvo of "Headphone Girls" to the jarring punk-funk of "Martha Fever," the eerie Ennio Morricone-styled spaghetti western vibe of "I Give Up And Love Somebody" and the sinister title track, Butterfly Killer sidesteps convention at every turn while boldly stepping to a different kind of muse. Throw in a B-52s-styled '80s dance party number ("Igual, Pero Peor"), a throbbing jam with a haunting, an evangelist preacher styled incantation ("Little John The Liar") and an ode to a late junkie author/hipster ("Bill Burroughs") and you have one of the most daring, fully self-realized creations of the current year.

Credit Clouser with creating the vehicle for such a powerful statement to take place. "The Magnet Animals record is very impulsive," explains the auteur. "With the A Love Electric records, we write, re-write, edit, produce, cut tunes in half and tour together on 120 dates a year. With Magnet Animals, I wanted to get back to just a creative impulse, honoring that, expressing, and moving on. I wrote the tunes in one weekend in a cabin a week before we had the tour planned. We played a week's worth of shows, recorded on the last day in about an 8-hour session. I took the sessions to Minneapolis to mix, and that was it. I wanted it to be fast, a reflection of the personalities of the players and their instincts, and not think myself out of what I needed to say, and what this group was on its first impulse, instinctively."

Regarding his role as principal wordsmith and narrator of the vivid imagery conjured up throughout Butterfly Killer, Clouser says, "I like lyrics that can survive as poetry -- just on the page. I'm not sure if I am a poet or a lyricist but words are important to me. If I am going to use them, I want them to have purpose. Sometimes it's in humor, like on 'Headphone Girls.' I travel a lot and there are all these thousands of headphones they sell all over airports now -- every color and size and sales pitch, and its a trip! So I wrote that 'look at me listening' little line when I was in the Atlanta airport on A Love Electric tour and thought it was fun to sing, or talk. Other times, like on 'Atayde,' there is this tremendous nostalgia and some kind of sadness to the words. Atayde is the name of a family circus in Mexico City and their circus tent was just ripped down, It was giant, big and blue, with a ball that looked like a clown's shoe on top. It's like a whole block long and it's located right where all the hookers hangout on paydays, on Tlalpan. There's so much absurdity there that somehow there is beauty and calm in it, like complete resignation to our human instincts, failures, all of it. So that was an easy and kind of emotional song to write. That's really more of a spoken piece. In the end, I think it's just about observing and trying to find the humanity, the emotion, in whatever I want to write about."

Clouser details his connection to the three other intrepid improvisers and skilled musicians who comprise Magnet Animals. "Eyal and I have talked about playing together for years and when I was on tour with A Love Electric I visited his apartment a couple times and we just set up and improvised. He is so fearless and himself. He kind of plays how Mexico City sounds to me. I played with Shanir Blumenkranz at the John Lurie tribute show at NYC Town Hall with Billy Martin and John Medeski. We played Marvin Pontiac songs from that Lurie record (1999's The Legendary marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits). Shanir is so scouted when he plays and his feel is so warm. We got along well and talked about doing something together at some point. I have played now with a lot of the 'Downtown scene' heroes, including John Zorn, Cyro Baptista, Medeski Martin & Wood, and always crossed paths with Shanir. It seemed like it was time to play together."

Though Clouser wrote all of the songs on Butterfly Killer, he says the recording is very much a product of everyone's contributions. "With other players, this could be a corny fusion record, the way the tunes are written. It had to be a crew of guys willing to get into the dirt. Much of what we did and what we captured on record is about the energy of the performance, the risk, knowing we are reading tunes but we are free to abandon them in dramatic ways. Shanir had a big hand in arranging the tunes and working out feels. He's so good at that. Eyal has such a strong and unique voice, it's like having an electric piano player, theremin player and jazz guitarist all at once."

And while modernists may point to the influence of guitar shredders like Sonny Sharrock or Nels Cline or Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore in the skronking metallic interplay heard on harsh tunes like "Headphone Girls," "Martha Fever" and "State of My Face," Clouser explains that the influence actually goes back much further. "A lot of it, honestly, is old Delta blues, the voices as much as the guitars. Listening to Skip James sing, going back to a lot of the Alan Lomax recordings of prison song, field song, gospel...that raw feel is all there. That being said, I grew up in the late 90's, so Sonic Youth was an influence as well as a lot of the NYC downtown stuff I started to listen to. I liked the personality and personalities of it. People there had something to say that I related to. I have spent a lot of time with old blues records and psych rock records, some of the Brazilian psych rock stuff and Os Mutantes, and then, of course, hip-hop.But I have a background in jazz, knowledge of these harmonies, and spent time playing Thelonious Monk music, so some of that creeps in as well."

Clouser also explains that the sparse, lonely, vaguely Americana feel that comes across on tunes like "Atayde" and "I Give Up And Love Somebody" comes from his Midwestern upbringing. "I was born in Kansas City and grew up in Minneapolis. Though I live in Mexico City now, I can only run so far from driving up and down highway 35 through the cornfields, Flying J travel centers, and listening to unreasoned preachers and minor league baseball games on the radio. I did so many van tours up and down that highway, you have time to write. I would write for hours if I wasn't driving, just looking around and being romantic about something so many people are so dismissive of. You find romance, resignation there in the simple. The Coen Brothers are great at putting that to story and film. I love that kind of Americana when it sounds in music."

As for the kind of evangelical fervor that he takes on in his spoken word rants on "Little John the Liar" and the title track, Clouser explains that it comes from the deepest recesses of his childhood. "It's just a character, but I do think I am perhaps unhealthily drawn to talking about religion, Jesus and preaching in my music. My parents, who I love so much, sent me to Sunday school when I was kid, which I hated so much. It was horrible. I knew they were lying to me and I was stand-offish. So I think sometimes I still haven't gotten over that, and gotten over this whole disillusioned idea of a savior who makes you right even when you are wrong. So maybe I lash out in music, or in what I write, or how I sing it. Sometimes the lash is to caricature-ize the 'preacher.' I also think having listened to a lot of spiritual music, a lot of gospel, early jazz, Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite, these types of records, I am drawn to this sort of prophetic voice, and emoting that way."

He further explains that "Bill Burroughs" was an homage to someone he greatly admired and felt a kinship with. "I never met him. I didn't share much time on Earth with him but I live about a mile away from where he did when he was in Mexico City. I love his writing. His story is tragic and heroic and offensive and teaching. I almost died from being an addict and I am gay. That's two big ones. From there on, its pretty easy to relate."

  

Of his current place of residence, Clouser couldn't be happier. "In Mexico City I fell into a great thing. I had no plans to live there but I met two musicians, Hernan Hecht and Aaron Cruz, and that became our group A Love Electric. This was about three years ago. We all had the same impetus, to go out and share our music wherever we could but in the most human, non-pretentious way possible. For example, we just got a grant from he US Embassy some months ago. We had offers to take it and go to a couple big festivals for free or a reduced rate. We decided to go to Honduras, Nicaragua and South Mexico and play in community centers and bars instead. And I would do that again in a second, and these two guys are the same way.

"There are songs everywhere in this city. I have been assaulted by way too many ideas since I moved here that I am still trying to sort through and make records or bands or whatever might be next. There is an energy here that I am attracted to, a chaos, but at the same time something very human. Because at some point you have to help each other out or the whole thing is going to blow up and the city will drown in itself. And now touring a lot in Mexico, going to places like Oaxaca up in the mountains to work with traditional wind musicians, or on the Yucatan to a town where Maya is the only language spoken, these things are fascinating, invigorating, exciting. I am able to learn by living all day long, and when that is happening there is no escape from inspiration."

It takes an inspired person to come up with something as audacious and uncompromising as Butterfly Killer. Clouser and his Magnet Animals crew deliver goods on this provocative new release on RareNoise Records.

TRACKS

Headphone Girls

Atayde

Martha Fever

Baby Gods

Butterfly Killer

I Give Up And Love Somebody

State Of My Face

Bill Borroughs

Little John The Liar
Igual, Pero Peor

Chat Noir Re-Imagines the Piano Trio On New Outing: Nine Thoughts For One Word

The adventurous trio Chat Noir has for the past 12 years defied easy categorization with its organic mix of ambient music, electronic textures as well as chamber music and jazz. Their singular approach to the piano trio, cinematic in scope and startlingly beautiful, has garnered critical raves throughout Europe. 

On Nine Thoughts for One Word, their sixth recording overall and second for London-based RareNoise Records, the two founding members, pianist Michele Cavallari and bassist Luca Fogagnolo, are joined in their further explorations by electronic/ambient music composer and producer Jan Peter Schwalm (Brian Eno, Eivind Aarset). Together they make a conceptual leap on what a piano trio can be, with the invaluable input of Schwalm's studio magic.

This delicate balance of electronic experimentalism with acoustic piano and acoustic bass has been evolving gradually from the group's initial release in 2006, Adoption, and continued on 2007's Decoupage through 2008's Difficult to See You. 2011's Weather Forecasting Stone and 2014's Elec3Cities. Their collective experimentation continues on the evocative Nine Thoughts for One Word. "Experimentation has always been a fundamental part of our work," says bassist Fogagnolo. "We would describe our journey as a ship adrift. If jazz was our starting point we've always felt free to explore different languages."

From the dramatic peaks of "Eternally Tranquil Light," grounded by the resonant, woody tones of Fogagnolo's upright bass, to the lyrical delicacy of Cavallari's piano on "Fundamental Mind," from the throbbing techno vibe of "Blinking Neon" to the Indonesian gamelan flavored introspection of "Detuning Leaves" and the mesmerizing trip-hop of "Uneven" and "Soft Ground," Chat Noir explores myriad musical languages on Nine Thoughts for One Word. They also offer a very pleasing vocal number, "Momentarily Continual," which is underscored by the pure, resonant tones of Fogagnolo's upright bass, and they close out the program on a gentle note with Cavallari's sparse piano work on the hymn-like "Crystallized Flow."

"This album has more spatial sound and compositions, which in turn may sound (paradoxically) more 'acoustic'," Cavallari explains. "'Crystallized Flow' is pointing towards this different, more spacious dimension, which is also linked to the new lineup and to the role that J. Peter in particular had in our project."

Though Schwalm trained as a drummer, he is now playing mainly electronic instruments and music. "We met him at a festival in Norway (Punkt 2008) and immediately fell in love with his style," Cavallari recalls. "As we rearranged our lineup about one year ago, we decided to ask him for collaboration. For Luca and I, it was a natural choice to abandon the classic piano-bass-drums format and try something different, but in line with the evolution of our style, which incorporated more and more electronic textures over the years. Peter brought in his experience with sound processing and treatments, as well as his personal taste as co-producer of the album. Given his strong background in ambient music, his participation in the project sound-wise contributed to the very spacious dimension of the album, in line with the already ethereal vibe of the compositions."

As for his longstanding musical relationship with Fogagnolo, Cavallari says, "Luca and I are good old pals. Our friendship and music collaboration informs one another. On the one hand, music made our friendship even stronger. On the other hand, we can rely on shared ideas about music, and even more generally about life, when playing together. It's a constant dialog of spoken as well as unspoken words.

"We often have similar taste for music," he continues. "But more importantly, when coming from different musical references and preferences, Luca and I have contributed even more to each other's musical ideas and ways to perform."                                                                    

Cavallari adds that his method of playing and recording together with Fogagnolo changed radically four years ago when the two Italians relocated to different countries -- Michele to the United States and Luca to Germany. "Our rehearsal room changed from being a shared space, where we used to physically meet quite often, to a virtual place. Nine Thoughts for One Word is our second album recorded through cloud-based sharing of music ideas and sessions. This wouldn't have been possible without a long-term relationship. But somehow the distance helped to develop even more our personal taste, before sharing ideas for new tunes as we've always done. In the process of developing new tunes, we can count on a strong shared basis, established throughout our long collaboration, as well as on a naïve attitude and openness towards different ideas, and potentially surprises."

He further describes the group's modus operandi on Nine Thoughts for One Word: "Our approach is to try to understand where the composition is pointing to and to give meaningful contribution to it, by either contrasting or corroborating the original idea. Basically, the process we follow to compose and play together is grounded in the root of two essential and mutually reinforcing aspects: friendship and freedom."          

                                                                       

Cavallari also explains that he and Fogagnolo have joint experience working on soundtrack recordings, which may explain why so much of their music has such a cinematic quality. "We did work on movie soundtracks in the past. Some of our tunes were featured in Cristina Comencini's films - Don't Tell (nominated for best foreign language film category at the 78th Academy Awards) and Black and White - as well as Francesca Comencini's documentary In Fabrica. Our music has often been associated with cinematic features. Rather than thinking visually when composing, I guess we approach compositions in away that has similarities with film direction. We try to develop 'stories' and 'plots' through melodic lines and sometimes more abstract parts that overall follow a dynamically organized flow.

"As to the our way to approach compositions, either one of us usually 'plants the seed' of a new tune on his own. Then, from the original basic idea, we let the other totally express himself without limitations. Sometimes we go through multiple iterations of sending music ideas back and forth between us, as additional contributions can inspire new direction of the tune. It never happens that we don't like what the other brought in terms of contribution to the song. In this sense we are totally connected."

It is easy to see how such kindred spirits continue to collaborate and thrive, even when living on separate continents. And together with ambient mixmaster Schwalm, they travel to some wholly new musical territory on Nine Thoughts for One Word, the most transcendent Chat Noir release to date.

"Chat Noir is definitely one of the most refreshing forces in the current European new jazz / modern hybrid music movement." -- Igloo Magazine

TRACKS

Eternally Tranquil Light

Fundamental Mind

Momentary Continual

Blinking Neon

Detuning Leaves

Uneven

Soft Ground

Crystallized Flow

NEW MUSIC: NAT BIRCHALL – CREATION; RICH HALLEY – THE OUTLIER; NELS CLINE - LOVERS

NAT BIRCHALL – CREATION

“Creation” is Nat Birchall's eighth album and his most fully realised to date. The group assembled for this recording features two drummers, Johnny Hunter and Andy Hay, and along with Nat, pianist Adam Fairhall and bassist Michael Bardon they create a sound and energy perfectly matched to reveal the deepest messages within the music. The group create enough kinetic energy for interstellar travel, which is exactly where the music takes the listener! From the opening bars of “Love in the Cosmos” to the closing diminuendo of “Light of All Worlds” the music stretches and soars, taking the listener both deep within themselves and also to the furthest reaches of space/time on a journey of profound emotional expression that ultimately uplifts the spirit. Gilles Peterson said Nat is “one of the best musicians in the UK, no question”, plus Nat's last album (“Invocations”, on Jazzman Records) was featured in his best of 2015 show. Nat's music is regularly featured on Gilles' radio shows, as well as BBC Radio 3 shows, Jazz on 3 and Jazz Line-Up, plus Jamie Cullum's BBC Radio 2 show and shows like Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music.

RICH HALLEY – THE OUTLIER

Saxophonist and composer Rich Halley releases The Outlier, featuring multi-reed player Vinny Golia, trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley. The Outlier is the new recording by the Rich Halley 5 and features a mix of new original compositions by Rich Halley and free improvisations by the group. The addition of Vinny Golia's baritone sax and bass clarinet to the front line creates new colors, textures and harmonic possibilities which energize the music.  The Outlier combines roots, exploration and real emotion in an engaging and powerful statement. Rich Halley has released nineteen recordings as a leader.  The Outlier follows the Rich Halley 4's earlier Eleven, Creating Structure, The Wisdom of Rocks, Crossing the Passes, Back from Beyond and Requiem for a Pit Viper, all critically acclaimed.

NELS CLINE - LOVERS

Lovers is an expansive double-album that Nels Cline has dreamed of making for over 25 years. Inspired by the likes of Bill Evans, Jim Hall, Gil Evans, Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini and others, Cline finally realized his ambitious mood music project with an ensemble of 23 stellar musicians conducted and arranged by Michael Leonhart. Lovers was produced by David Breskin and recorded and mixed by Ron Saint Germain. The material on Lovers is wide-ranging; the album s 18 tracks include Cline s striking originals as well as Great American Songbook standards and songs by Sonic Youth, Arto Lindsay, Jimmy Giuffre and others. Cline was named by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He has led various groups of his own, most consistently the avant-garde ensemble the Nels Cline Singers, and appeared as a guest or feature player on more than 200 albums. In addition, for the last dozen years, he s been a full-time member of the acclaimed rock band Wilco.

Kevin Hays New Day Trio North Featuring Kevin Hays, Rob Jost & Greg Joseph

Having lived in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem for five years, pianist Kevin Hays couldn't escape the vibrations of the historic neighborhood. He was reminded of the deep musical history of Harlem when he photographed a wall that was uncovered in the midst of the City's continuous redevelopment. The wall was festooned with concert posters from decades past, an image Hays interpolated for the cover of his new recording, North.

In New York City, Harlem is considered North. Hays isn't the only pianist to find a special meaning in the top of the compass. Glenn Gould made a well-known documentary about the tundra of Canada and his fascination with it in the late 1960s entitled The Idea of North. There is something in these latitudes that Hays finds compelling, not only for historical reasons, but for emotional and spiritual reasons, as well. Hays relates a feeling of calm that came from his prior residence in Upstate New York, a place of beauty and repose; the album title also references finding one's true North on one's spiritual compass.

It has been some time since Hays recorded an acoustic piano trio. Over the past few years, Hays has become reacquainted with former roommate, and terrific drummer, Greg Joseph. Through Joseph, he met bassist Rob Jost, a player of wide taste and tremendous ability. This led to Hays forming his New Day Trio, a dynamic ensemble that can handle the leader's challenging jazz charts and his more folk/rock leaning vocal pieces.

The Trio's last recording, New Day, featured pieces that Hays wrote with lyrics and showcased his wonderful voice. On their follow up recording, the Trio approaches the material instrumentally, though the material doesn't lack lyrical content. For Hays, his writing has begun to have a "thinning membrane between lyrics and melodies." As a sort of quality control, Hays sings while composing, insuring that his phrasing is lyrical. From there, he can go back and add challenging harmonic puzzles underneath, which makes his tunes deceptively difficult. 

The pieces recorded on North focus on these elements of history, beauty and hope. Hays's musical scope goes beyond the jazz standards he incorporates on the record, bridging his love of classical, blues, soul, folk and rock music into his originals.

The recording begins with a "derangement" of Charlie Parker's "Scrapple from the Apple," the Trio utilizing a favorite technique of Hays to modulate the melody up a half step after every two bars and then reharmonize. Hays recorded "Elegia" on an earlier record with Brad Mehldau, revisiting his lovely ballad, which was written as challenge to write a song in under an hour. "Violetta" is a tribute to Chilean nueva cancíon singer Violeta Parra; it captures a South American folk feel in 5/4 time.

"Schumann's Chamisso" is an arrangement of the first movement of the legendary composer's song cycle based on poet Adelbert von Chamisso's Frauenliebe und leben. Differing completely, the grooving "Sweet Caroline" is not by Neil Diamond but was written as a song with lyrics and features some wonderful bass work by Jost. An impressionistic rendition of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" leads to dramatic reworking of "All The Things You Are."

The title track "North" was written to portray a sense of peacefulness and solitude, feelings Hays relates to Upstate New York and that help him ground himself. A spontaneous take of Johnston and Raye's "I'll Remember April" is an intriguing arrangement in 6/8. The recording concludes with the uplifting "Morning," another short form piece written with lyrics and that traverses all 12 keys under a tuneful, free melody.

Kevin Hays is a musician who has been seeking a higher ground, both literally and figuratively. The creation of the New Day Trio and their work together have been inspiring and humbling for Hays. The new recording North sheds a light on the direction of Hays and The New Day Trio and it looks as if all roads lead.... 

www.kevinhays.com

Featured This Week On The Jazz Network Worldwide: Vocalist Erin Krebs "Love Always Wins"‏

Soaring vocals, stellar musical performances, and an upbeat vibe are the essence of this exciting debut album by Erin Krebs.

Love Always Wins is comprised of eleven original songs presented in a variety of styles from start to finish- from traditional Jazz to soulful R&B and gritty Blues. Listeners will be tapping thier feet to the swing tunes, falling for the ballads, and groovin' with the R&B songs.

Erin has always been influenced by the Great American Songbook and traditional Blues styles. The songs and arrangements are reminiscent of those traditions, but with a modern twist. Her lyrics are honest and somehow familiar, because they are about things we encounter in everyday life.

The recording process was also influenced by the Jazz and Blues masters of the past, with the musicians all working together in the moment. Love Always Wins takes you back to that simpler time, and it works because Erin assembled an amazing group of talented and award-winning musicians.

Love Always Wins kicks off with "Love Ride", a swinging tune with virtuosic solo work, then melts into one of the album's ballads, "Fall Song", featuring Mark Martin on piano. "It's You, My Love" is a light Latin-inspired tune, and one of two songs where Erin plays flute. Next up is a minor swing tune, "I See You", where you'll hear some word-painting with the melody and lyrics and some playful improvisations before getting to "My Favorite Day", another Latin Jazz style tune featuring Justin Zopel on bass. "One Summer Day", a beautiful ballad, is stripped down to just Erin accompanied by her partner and guitarist, Jeff Johnston. 

The band is swinging with a catchy melody on "Count on the Blues" before getting soulful on the slow-jam of the album, "When Love Comes to Play", which features Stephan Cooper on tenor sax. "Ahead of the Game" is an up-beat catchy R&B tune featuring a fantastic solo by Brian Gruselle on Hammond organ who is also featured on the next tune. "The Man I Want" is a fast Blues Swing with a blazing tenor sax solo. Erin lays it all out on the final track "Love Always Wins" a soulful Blues-inspired song with a stellar guitar solo by Jeff Johnston.

Those that have seen Erin Krebs perform know that when she sings, she sings from her soul. Her performances are genuine and heartfelt, and audiences feel an instant connection to her and her music. New listeners will sense that same incredible energy, and it resonates in the performances on this album, Love Always Wins.

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

Genre-Warping Pianist Uri Caine Continues to Reinvent the Jazz Trio Format on Calibrated Thickness

Uri Caine is best known as a genre-warping, restlessly inventive pianist and sonic thinker whose every project is as predictably unpredictable as the last. But the piano trio remains a touchstone for Caine, who returns regularly to apply his expansive imagination to that core jazz format. On his latest album, Calibrated Thickness, Caine debuts a new trio with two longtime collaborators: drummer Clarence Penn and bassist Mark Helias.

"There's a lot of freedom in the piano trio," Caine says. "It's very open and loose. We keep the structure together, but within that I like the freedom it offers."

Though the title is a phrase that Caine stumbled across in a technical manual, Calibrated Thickness vividly captures the sense of controlled dynamics and calculated density that this trio so ably masters. The album's 15 songs are in a sense a distillation of the musical identity that Caine, Penn and Helias have forged over the last few years as a trio (in addition to many more in different contexts). Live, Caine's memorable compositions are landmarks that the trio happens upon in the course of lengthy improvisations, fluidly morphing from one tune to the next at a moment's whim.

On Calibrated Thickness, the tunes are presented in a more pristine fashion, showcasing Caine's gift for witty, agile melodies, inspiring structures and wide-ranging stylistic approaches. The short pieces (few of which top five minutes) give the trio the opportunity to spark concise, focused improvisations from the flint of the leader's well-honed compositions. "When you're playing and writing music you're always calibrating how to build it or structure it or form it," Caine explains.

The relationship between Caine and Penn dates back a couple of decades, most notably in trumpeter Dave Douglas' quintet that also featured saxophonists Chris Potter or Donny McCaslin and bassist James Genus. The pianist came to work with Helias through their shared tenure in Don Byron's band. Joining the trio on three tracks is the ingenious cornetist Kirk Knuffke, whose sharp, probing sound adds an extra edge to the pieces on which he appears.

  

Caine offers a straightforward, no-nonsense reason for assembling this particular trio, his first release in that guise since 2011's Siren with bassist John Hébert and drummer Ben Perowsky. "I like the sound," he says, a simple enough proposition but one that can be maddeningly elusive. "I like the way Clarence accompanies and sets things up; Mark has a really warm sound and is really flexible. There's a lot of room to move with them."

The 15 Caine originals contained on Calibrated Thickness run the gamut of styles, from jagged, angular modern pieces to more straight-ahead swingers that harken back to Caine's early days playing hard bop in Philadelphia (albeit with his usual idiosyncratic twists and turns) to more lyrical, ballad-inspired playing that spotlights the warm expressiveness that sometimes gets eclipsed by his bold eclecticism.

The album kicks off with the powerful, rollicking swing of "Manahatta," titled for the original Lenni Lenape name for the island at the epicenter of the jazz world. "Woke Up This Morning" uses a blues cliché to label a piece of pure, rattletrap abstraction that depicts the trio's explosive spontaneous interplay. That tune contrasts sharply with the shimmering, delicate "Icicles," highlighted by Helias' moving lyricism, eventually consumed by the tune's surging roar.

Knuffke makes his first appearance on the zigzagging "Submission," while "Golem" offers a round of broad-shouldered, barrelhouse swing. "Bleeding Heart" is remarkably hushed and intimate, the album's quietest, most delicate moment despite building with nervous intensity. "Night Wrestler" is bright and buoyant, "Climb To the Top" barbed and dissonant." Knuffke returns to provide darting, keen-edged lines on "Hidden Glances," while "Scatterbrain Suite" offers a slapstick soundtrack for an imaginary silent film.

Caine's playing on "He Said She" sparkles with classical elegance and hymn-like simplicity, while "Sticks and Stones" dances with brisk soulfulness. Helias' tense, scraping bowed bass pairs with Penn's jittery rhythms to give "Time in Between" its frenetic urgency, while "Shadow of a Doubt" kicks off with an odd-angled dialogue between Caine and Knuffke. "Downward Spiral" brings the album to a close with a nimble, circling figures that draw an aural picture of the title.

"I wanted to include all these different styles of playing trio," Caine says of Calibrated Thickness. Despite being a more traditional setting than many of the pianist's projects--his eccentric, style-smashing reimaginings of classical repertoire come immediately to mind--the piano trio offers no less opportunity for Caine to show off his broad-spectrum tastes and approaches.

From his early days backing soul-jazz horn players in Philly nightclubs through his convention-defying work with Downtown New York avant-gardists and adventurous classical ensembles to his always-surprising catalogue as a leader, all facets of Caine's diverse artistry are contained herein.

  

Uri Caine · Calibrated Thickness

816Music · Release Date: August 12, 2016

Trombonist Reggie Watkins Delivers a Deeply Personal Tribute to Jimmy Knepper On His 3rd CD "Avid Admirer"

Trombonist Reggie Watkins had the opportunity to meet trombone master Jimmy Knepper just once, shortly before Knepper's death in June 2003. Watkins was performing in his native Wheeling, WV with Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau Band, and Knepper, himself a Ferguson alumnus, was in the audience. The older musician complimented Watkins after the concert and shook his hand.

Little did Watkins realize that a series of remarkable circumstances ten years later would lead him to record an album of Knepper compositions, played on the late musician's Bach Stradivarius 36 trombone. The CD in question, Avid Admirer: The Jimmy Knepper Project, will be released on Matt Parker's BYNK Records on July 15.

Avid Admirer, Watkins's third album as a leader, was first set in motion by his mother Liz's friendship at church in Wheeling, circa 2013, with a woman who was the widow of Jimmy Knepper. After Maxine Knepper passed the following year, Jimmy's daughter Robin Knepper Mahonen donated her father's collection of musical instruments to Watkins. "Dad made me promise that his horns would go to a musician," Mahonen writes in the CD liner notes. "Reggie Watkins is the man that will take up these horns and give them a voice again."

 Reggie WatkinsAvid Admirer is a magnificent result of Mahonen's generous gift. It features the trombone virtuoso performing eight of Knepper's original compositions, as well as "Goodbye," a Gordon Jenkins ballad that Knepper had been especially fond of playing. Matt Parker, the brilliant saxophonist who co-produced the disc with Watkins, alternates between soprano and tenor. (Parker worked alongside Watkins in Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau from 2004 to 2006.) Orrin Evans and Tuomo Uusitalo take turns at the piano. Bassist Steve Whipple and drummer Reggie Quinerly round out the quintet. They are New Yorkers all, save for the leader, who has long been based in Pittsburgh.

"I've always been a serious Charles Mingus fan and became aware of Jimmy Knepper's work through Mingus's music," Watkins says. "Having contact with Robin was the beginning of me exploring Jimmy Knepper the composer."

Watkins found "Avid Admirer," a swinging blues in B-flat from a 1957 Bethlehem album by Knepper with Bill Evans on piano, to be an ideal choice as a title for the present CD. "I don't know if I've ever enjoyed a session more," says Watkins.

          

 Reggie Watkins Born in 1971 in Wheeling, WV, Reggie Watkins played trumpet and tuba in high school before switching to valve trombone, then eventually slide trombone. It was as a music major at West Virginia University that he was first exposed to the playing of 'bone legend J.J. Johnson.

In Pittsburgh, Watkins was influenced by Roger Humphries, the local legend known for playing with Horace Silver on such classic albums as Song for My Father. Watkins became involved in various bands and gained a reputation for his strong, groove-minded playing.

In 1999, Watkins became Maynard Ferguson's trombonist, music director, and arranger. He is featured as a trombonist and arranger on Swingin' for Schuur, the 2001 album the trumpeter made with singer Diane Schuur. The next year, Watkins recorded his first album, A-List, which was part of the Maynard Ferguson Presents series. The recording featured his compositions and arrangements. One for Miles, One for Maynard, his second date as a leader, was released in 2014.

"Reggie Watkins brings a sophistcated fire to his music that is infectious," says Matt Parker. "Working with him on The Jimmy Knepper Project showed me what it means to learn from the masters that came before us."

"I feel as if I have been set upon a wave of musical destiny that began a long time ago and could continue long after I'm gone," says Watkins. "What I hope for this record is that people listen, enjoy the music, and be compelled to further explore the music of Jimmy Knepper. I will forever be influenced and inspired by his artistry."

CD Release Shows for Avid Admirer: The Jimmy Knepper Project:

7/16 V.O.M.A. (Venue of Merging Arts), Johnstown, PA, 7:30pm

   (w/ Matt Parker & Friends)

7/23 Pittsburgh Winery, 9pm

   (w/ Matt Parker, ts; Orrin Evans, p; Paul Thompson, b; David Throckmorton, d)

8/31 South, Philadelphia, 7pm & 9pm

   (w/ Matt Parker, ts; Orrin Evans, p; Matt Parish, b; E.J. Strickland, d)

9/1 Cornelia Street Café, NYC, 9pm

   (w/ Matt Parker, ts; Tuomo Uusitalo, p; Steve Whipple, b; Reggie Quinerly, d)