Jamie Saft Mines New Musical Territory Project With Guitarist Bill Brovold: Serenity Knolls

Jamie Saft has been a significant presence on RareNoiseRecords since the label's inception: as band leader on New Zion w. Cyro's Sunshine Seas (on piano, analogue keyboards, bass and guitar with percussionist Cyro Baptista) and on The New Standard (on piano and organ with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bobby Previte), on celebrated quartet collaborations with Wadada Leo Smith (Red Hill, on piano) and Roswell Rudd (Strength & Power, on piano), as well as on a number of deep free music collaborations involving Joe Morris (Slobber Pup, Plymouth, The Spanish Donkey, on organ and analogue keyboards).

Now, on Serenity Knolls, he stakes out some completely different territory. An intimate duo project with guitarist Bill Brovold, a former member of such New York no-wave bands as the Rhys Chatham Ensemble, the East Village Orchestra and the Zen Vikings, it features Saft alternating between playing dobro and lap steel on a set of 12 ambient type tunes with a distinctive heartland undercurrent to them.

An accomplished keyboardist-composer who has been widely acknowledged for his work with various John Zorn projects, including The Dreamers, Electric Masada and Moonchild, the Queens native and current resident of Kingston in upstate New York has nonetheless has maintained a longstanding relationship with the guitar. As he explains, "I've played guitar since I was a youth as well as bass guitar, so this isn't something new for me at all. In fact, my guitar playing is featured on many of my albums such as Breadcrumb Sins (Tzadik), Sunshine Seas (RareNoise) and Black Shabbis (Tzadik) as well as being prominently featured in my original score for the Oscar nominated film Murderball." 

On Serenity Knolls, Saft is paired with the legendary improviser, woodworker, instrument builder and leader of Larval, an influential Detroit improvising post-rock ensemble. "I met Bill in upstate New York where we both currently live in the Hudson Valley," says Jamie. "Bill is a beautiful and diverse friend and it's a pleasure to improvise music with him."

On spacious tracks like "Sweet Grass," "Saddle Horn," "The Great American Bison" and the title track, Saft creates that high and lonesome feel with his expressive slide guitar playing. He switches to lap steel on the droning "Bemidji", "No Horse Seen" and the minor key "Greybull."

"I've been fascinated by slide guitar styles for many years," he says. "Initially I was exposed to these sounds through Bob Dylan's music, which quickly led me to the universes of country and bluegrass music. I wouldn't say I have specific role models for slide guitar - for me it is a means to produce sustained events from a guitar. I take a more orchestral approach to the instrument. I'm far from a great technician on these instruments. I'd never profess to be in the same league in any way as the legends of pedal steel and dobro. But to me, they are sonic tools to achieve a particular goal."

Recorded at Potterville International Sound in Kingston, New York and mixed there by Saft and his colleague Christian Castagno (the same engineer who co-produced and mixed 2016's Sunshine Seas), Serenity Knolls carries a compelling vibe created by Brovold's atmospheric guitar in combination with Saft's melodic gems on dobro and lap steel. "This concept came from improvisations Bill and I were doing at house parties," Saft explains. "Combining the ambient feeling of Bill's unprocessed big hollow body Guild guitar through a Silverface Fender Vibrolux amplifier and the liquid sound of the dobro and lap steel guitar through a 1950's Alamo Amplifier with subtle tape echo enhancements was the intent. We sought to capture something inspired by the American landscape - the Great American Bison, endless highways, Plains drifting - filtered through a distinctly psychedelic lens. It began with the idea of making music that was 'Country Ambient' and arrived at something of an alternative state of consciousness." 

As for the evocative album title, Saft explains: "Serenity Knolls is both an ideal state of mind as well as the name of the rehab center where Jerry Garcia died." That perfectly captures both the serene nature and expansive, searching attitude heard throughout this beautiful free-flowing recording of strictly guitar music. Serenity Knolls is not only unique in Saft's oeuvre, it holds a unique place in the ever-expanding RareNoise catalog.

TRACKS

1. Sweet Grass

2. Mitchimakinak

3. Saddle Horn

4. Wendigo

5. Thermopolis

6. The Great American Bison

7. Bemidji

8. No Horse Seen

9. Splintering Wind

10. Greybuli

11. Serenity Knolls

12. Silent Midpoint

Norwegian Sax Star Kjetil Møster and Celebrated Hungarian Electroacoustic Bálint Bolcsó Guest on Band's Second RareNoise Release

Following the success of their acclaimed RareNoise debut, 2014's Jü Meets Møster (a killer collaboration with renowned Norwegian saxophonist Kjetil Møster) the experimental Budapest-based trio of guitarist Ádám Mészáros, bassist Ernö Hock and drummer András Halmos once again bridges hellacious free jazz, throbbing hardcore rock and spacious world and ambient music on their ecstatic, envelope-pushing opus, Summa. Alternately calm (the 12-minute "Jimma Blue") and crushing ("Mongrel Mangrove," "My Heart Is Somewhere Else" and the blistering title track), Summa stands as another powerful manifesto against complacency by the renegade trio. "The original form for us is the trio form," says guitarist Meszanos. "The first album with Kjetil was more like a great adventure. This is just us, and this is the Jü sound." Møster does appear as special guest alongside celebrated Hungarian electroacoustic composer Bálint Bolcsó on the expansive 12-minute track "Partir," providing a bridge to the first album.

Another element that enters into the picture to a degree on Ju's sophomore outing is folk music, which can be heard on tunes like "Lady Klimax," with its presence of kalimba, and "Sinus Begena," fueled by Hock's sintir-like bass playing. "We listen to many kinds of traditional musics and like to see ourselves as folk musicians," says drummer Halmos. "Many times when we hear traditional music that is ancient, it sounds really raw and simple, even if it is actually complex. And the music is held together differently than in music that is based on a metronomic pulse. It's a question of being in the moment, so you don't want to control every part."

"For me, it was never a conscious thing to prepare for being able to play different styles," he adds. "I don't prefer any genre, just looking for music that I like and trying to play inspired by them. I'd like to avoid being labeled, as it often happens, as a noisy punk band.

While their first RareNoise release was recorded in a single day, the Summa sessions took place over the course of five days in the studio. "So we had time to find form for the songs," says Halmos. "If you heard us live recently, you could hear that we play these songs more or less in the forms they are on the album but as we use those forms as starting points to wherever we are taken in the moment. Even though there was a lot of improvisation in the process, the sounds of the songs and the themes are there as anchor points. Still, we always try to keep them fresh, so basically anything can happen while playing."

  

Formed in 2012, each member of Jü is an accomplished player on the Budapest scene. Beside dozens of Hungarian groups, the members have played with such internationally acclaimed musicians as John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Charles Gayle, Chris Potter, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Pamelia Kurstin and Mikolaj Trzaska. As developing musicians in Budapest, they came under the sway of such American renegades as John Zorn (particularly his Naked City and Moonchild bands) and Last Exit, the renegade noise quartet of Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock, Peter Brotzman and Ronald Shannon Jackson. Says Mészáros, "Of course I used to listen to these bands a lot. They had a kind of punk appeal that I think of as more physical, so it offers Videosome kind of relief also in a physical way. And we are trying to do that in our own music while allowing for some small accidents to happen along the way that can take you out of your comfort zone, which I like."

"Basically, we are trying to tell the same story again and again which is not written word buy word," he adds. "Sometimes we forget something, sometimes we tell more. It's affected by who and when and were we are telling it but it's still more or less the same story."

Those stories are told with intensity and sheer abandon on the bone-crunching Summa.

TRACKS

1. Lady Klimax

2. Socotra

3. Summa

4. Keltner

5. Partir (featuring Kjetil Møster and Bálint Bolcsó)

6. My Heart is Somewhere Else

7. Jimma Blue

8. Mongrel Mangrove (for Boros Levente)

9. Sinus Begena

Pianist Mike Longo's New CD, "Only Time Will Tell," With Bassist Paul West & Drummer Lewis Nash

Connoisseurs of jazz piano trios will welcome the release, on March 31, of Only Time Will Tell, the new trio recording by piano master Mike Longo with Paul West on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. The disc is Longo's 20th for the CAP (Consolidated Artists Productions) label, and his 26th since debuting as a leader in 1962.

Included on the CD are two compositions by Dizzy Gillespie, with whom Longo worked as pianist and musical director for 26 years, until Gillespie's death in 1993. The up-tempo "Wheatleigh Hall" was first recorded by the trumpeter in 1957 on an album with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt. The gently swinging "Just a Thought," written by Gillespie in the '60s as a piano feature, had never been previously recorded.

Longo's trio-mates had their own associations with Gillespie. West had done two stints with the trumpeter -- in the '50s with Dizzy's big band and again in the '60s with the quintet that included Longo. Nash had worked with Gillespie on several occasions in subsequent years.

Mike Longo Trio Longo, West, and Nash play two Thelonious Monk tunes -- "Nutty" and "Brilliant Corners" -- on Only Time Will Tell and also offer their takes on Oscar Pettiford's "Bohemia After Dark"; "Exactly Like You," delivered at an ultra-slow tempo; and Eubie Blake's "Memories of You," which closes the album. Among the Longo originals are the bossa nova-propelled "Stepping Up"; "Conflict of Interest," first recorded for a 1994 quintet album dedicated to Gillespie; and the gently waltzing title track, inspired by a documentary about Lyndon Johnson. "I started feeling sorry for him and went to the piano and wrote it," says Longo. "The point of the title is that after the passage of time, things may appear different than when you originally perceived them." (Pictured at left: Lewis Nash, Mike Longo, Paul West.)

The son of a band-leading bassist father and a church organist mother, Michael Longo Jr. was inspired as a child by boogie-woogie pianists Sugar Chile Robinson in his native Cincinnati, and Jack Fina later in Fort Lauderdale, where the Longos had moved when he was in the third grade. While in Florida, Longo was later inspired by jazz piano master Oscar Peterson, with whom he would eventually spend six months studying privately.

After earning a bachelor's degree in classical piano at Western Kentucky University, in 1959, Longo spent two years touring with the Salt City Six, the Dixieland group, and was hired at the Metropole Café in New York as one of the club's house pianists. In his two shifts a day, he backed Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, and Henry "Red" Allen, among many others.

Mike Longo Gillespie, who first heard the young pianist at the Metropole, hired him in 1966. Longo went on to make nine albums with the trumpet legend, beginning with Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac in 1967, and has also recorded with Astrud Gilberto, Lee Konitz, Buddy Rich, and Moody, to name just a few. He cut the first album under his own name, A Jazz Portrait of Funny Girl, in 1962; his last 20 have appeared on Consolidated Artists Productions (CAP), a musicians' cooperative label managed by Longo and his wife. He also has enjoyed a successful second career as an educator and creator of instructional books and videos.

Since January 6, 2004, the anniversary of his friend Dizzy Gillespie's death, Longo has presented concerts every Tuesday evening in the Gillespie Auditorium of the New York City Baha'i Center. Longo will appear there 4/25 with his 17-piece New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble featuring Ira Hawkins. He'll be performing at Mezzrow 5/25 with Paul West. 

UNITED merges the talents of violinist JASON ANICK and pianist JASON YEAGER in a thrilling display of imaginative composition and world class musicianship

Meshing the outsized gifts of violinist and mandolinist Jason Anick and pianist Jason Yeager, United (to be released March 10, 2017 on saxophonist and jazz visionary Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music label) demonstrates how effectively today's most creative musical artists bloom outside the constrictions of genre and idiom. Rejecting the confining roles of strict categorization, the album draws on the wide swath of musical interests of its co-leaders, blending straight-ahead and post-bop jazz, world music, funk and pop, eagerly embracing what Anick and Yeager have defined as "jazz without borders." Displaying the virtuosic talents of both of these formidable instrumentalists, United also makes a thoroughly convincing claim for their roles as imaginative composers and inclusive conceptualists. 

Where Anick may be best known as a lynchpin of the acclaimed neo-Gypsy Jazz ensemble, Rhythm Future Quartet, and Yeager is a recognized exemplar of post-bop and third stream piano, their first project as co-leaders doesn't place either in strictly familiar roles. Primarily utilizing bassist Greg Loughman and drummer Mike Connors, as well as valued guests including the saxophonists George Garzone and Clay Lyons, trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist John Lockwood and percussionist Jerry Leake, United is a shining example of how the two Jasons engage the jazz tradition while gleefully expanding its purview.

The album roams freely among musical idioms, utilizing Israeli-inspired rhythms for the propulsive "Achi" and making vivid use of the Argentine chacarera beat for "La Segunda"; waxing a lyrical homage to Billy Strayhorn ("Sweet Pea"); training a rhythmically shifting gaze on George Harrison's "Something"; romping on the new jazz tribute to Joshua Redman, "Well Red"; duetting on a loping version of the Miles Davis standard, "All Blues"; and essaying two post-bop excursions by the innovative Polish jazz violinist Zbigniew Seifert (one of which, "Turbulent Power," features the saxophone avatar George Garzone.) This stylistic diversity frees the leaders, allowing each to explore surprising and eminently satisfying aspects of their musical personalities.

For Anick and Yeager-friends since their teenage years, frequent collaborators, and now fellow Berklee instructors-United is both an artistic culmination of a long personal association and a statement of a shared musical aesthetic. "The album has been a great outlet for both of us," says Anick. "We get to stretch our instrumental voices within different contexts. We've always been in sync in terms of a creative vision where melody is never sacrificed to the demands of improvisation. We both believe that you can express yourself within the context of a song. There's a chemistry between us that allows us to create very special sonic soundscapes together."

"The album was also a means to honor and feature trusted musical associates and Berklee colleagues," says Yeager. "Clay Lyons, featured on "Bird's Eye View", Jerry Leake, and the third Jason, Jason Palmer, as well as Greg Loughman, Mike Connors and John Lockwood are all fantastic players who deserve wider recognition. For his part, George Garzone is just a force of nature!"  Indeed, the project's Berklee ties are manifest: Recorded by Professor Mark Wessel through a faculty grant at the college's state-of-the-art studios, Garzone, Lockwood, Palmer and Leake are all Berklee professors, and alto saxophonist Lyons is an alum.

Even with guests contributing so significantly to the success of the project, it always came back to the creative symbiosis of the co-leaders. "We were looking for different colors to add to the music, says Yeager, "but it was the thread that exists between us, that held United together."

One of the youngest instructors at Boston's Berklee College of Music and an award winning composer, Jason Anick is a co-founder and a featured member of the Rhythm Future Quartet, one of the preeminent neo-Gypsy Jazz outfits; he also leads his own contemporary jazz ensemble, and performs with the Grammy-winning guitarist John Jorgenson. With performances all over the world and renowned venues like the Montreal Jazz Festival, Blue Note, Scullers Jazz Club, Yoshi's Jazz Club, and TD Garden, Jason has proven himself to be a leader in the ever-growing contemporary string world. Anick's recordings as a leader include Sleepless, Tipping Point, and Travels.

Now based in New York City, Jason Yeager (whose own albums include Ruminations and Affirmation) has considerable personal and professional ties to the New England area where he was born and raised. Currently teaching at Boston's Berklee College of Music, where he is also one of the college's youngest faculty members, Yeager graduated with honors from a double degree program at Tufts University and New England Conservatory. At NEC he was mentored by such significant instrumentalists as Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Ran Blake, Frank Carlberg, Jerry Bergonzi and John McNeil. He has performed across the US and abroad in Argentina, South Africa, and Botswana. Among the artists with whom Yeager has performed are Greg Osby, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Linda Oh, Sara Serpa, Ayn Inserto and Ran Blake. He's also featured on Jason Anick's Tipping Point.

http://www.jasonanick.com/

http://www.jasonyeager.com/

Vocalist Patrice Williamson Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of Ella Fitzgerald's Birth on Comes Love

April 25, 2017 will mark the 100th anniversary of an event that would have a profound impact on jazz and American song: the birth of Ella Fitzgerald. While the centennial of the First Lady of Song will doubtlessly be celebrated in myriad forms, few will prove as heartfelt or sincere - or as long in gestation - as Comes Love, the new album by Boston-based jazz vocalist Patrice Williamson. For the occasion, Williamson teamed up with guitarist and fellow Berklee College of Music faculty member Jon Wheatley for a set that pays particular homage to Fitzgerald's landmark duo with guitar great Joe Pass.

Due for release on Ella's birthday, April 25, on Williamson's own Riverlily Records and produced by pianist/composer Helen Sung, Comes Love features a dozen Songbook classics originally either recorded by Fitzgerald and Pass on one of their four studio albums or performed live by the duo during the course of their notable collaboration. Williamson and Wheatley never resort to sheer imitation (not that such a thing would even be possible given their two inimitable models), but instead conjure the warm elegance and graceful swing of the originals through the alluring chemistry of their own inviting rapport.

"I started listening to recordings of Ella during my sophomore year in college, and I haven't stopped." Williamson says.  "Jon has a vast knowledge of all the great jazz musicians and jazz guitarists, including Joe Pass. Our goal was to present how Ella and Joe have inspired our own musical development."

Fitzgerald and Pass first joined forces in 1973 for Take Love Easy (from which Williamson takes four of the tunes on Comes Love, including her renditions of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" and Billy Eckstine's "I Want To Talk About You"). They would enter the studio three more times over the next thirteen years, releasing Fitzgerald and PassŠAgain in 1976, Speak Love in 1983 and Easy Living in 1986. A number of live performances have also been released from that period, revealing the pair's genuine camaraderie, incisive wit and impeccable taste.

While Williamson can wax rhapsodic about much of Fitzgerald's work (and dreams of following Comes Love with a series of tributes, each exploring a different facet of Ella's career from small bands to orchestra), she found herself particularly drawn to her work with Pass due to its vulnerability and purity.

"I loved the simplicity, vulnerability and command the duo had without the assistance of bass and drums. Some of the first recordings I heard of Ella were with big bands. So, stripping down to one accompanist allowed the pureness of her sound to come through clearly.  Joe provided harmony (chords) and bass.  Ella added melody and emotion.  They both had impeccable time, so together they delivered rhythm and swing. Their performances always sounded whole and complete which is a testament to their brilliance."

Comes Love has been lurking in the back of Williamson's mind for nearly 17 years, conceived at the turn of the millennium as she realized that Ella's centenary was fast approaching. But the seeds for the idea were planted long before, during the singer's childhood in Memphis. Her earliest memory of Ella came through the iconic vocalist's early-70s commercials for Memorex cassette tapes ("Is it Ella or is it Memorex?"), but she truly fell in love with Ella's voice as her choir director father played his cherished LPs for his music-loving daughter. "I liked the music," she recalls, "but I really liked how Ella scatted because I thought it was silly. That built the foundation for this inspirational person in my life."

Williamson's tastes turned more to the popular music of the time - Prince, Madonna, Janet Jackson - as she entered high school, but while studying classical flute at the University of Tennessee she fell in with the jazz crowd, who she says were "much more fun" than her classical classmates. Wanting to sing with her new jazz friends, she rediscovered her passion for Ella and began taking lessons. "I remember telling my teacher, 'I want to scat like Ella,'" she recalls. "She looked at me and said [sternly], 'Well, girl, you're gonna have to work.' Ella was there when swing and bebop were evolving, and she's a talent that we haven't seen again in the jazz vocal world. I just thought, 'Challenge accepted.'"

Encouraged by UT faculty jazz pianist Donald Brown, Williamson headed to New England Conservatory to focus full-time on her voice, under the guidance of award-winning RCA recording artist Dominique Eade. She's since become a favorite at Boston's celebrated Regattabar, joined the faculty at Berklee College of Music, traveled the world singing in such far-flung locales as Seoul, South Korea; Singapore; New Delhi, India; and Perugia, Italy; and co-founded the vocal trio E.S.P. with fellow singers Emily Browder and Sandi Hammond. Both of Williamson's independent recordings, My Shining Hour and Free to Dream, have received high praise from jazz critics around the country.

When she began searching for a collaborator to help her realize Comes Love, Williamson quickly discovered that Wheatley was on everyone's short list of recommendations. One listen to his understated, lyrical playing on the album reveals why, as does a resume that includes stints with jazz greats like Ruby Braff, Herb Pomeroy and George Masso. Williamson ran into the guitarist (in her telling, it's nearly an ambush) in the copy room at Berklee, and the two forged an almost immediate connection. "We played a little bit in his office and that's all it took - I was in love," Williamson enthuses. "That first little jam session was eye-opening because I was suddenly singing songs that I've been singing for the last 20 years in a completely different way."

Helen encouraged Patrice to choose a personal theme for the album.  Williamson, having recently ended an incredible relationship, chose songs with melodies and content that held a personal resonance.  She found this process to be remarkably cathartic.

Beyond the tribute to Ella, Comes Love uses Songbook standards to loosely trace the story of a long-term relationship coming to an end. A narrative shared by Ella and Patrice: "I've had some wonderful love affairs and some that didn't work out. I don't want to dwell on that and I don't want to put people down, but I think of all the fabulous places I've been, the wonderful things that have happened for me, the great people I've met - that ought to make a story."  - ELLA FITZGERALD

www.patricewilliamson.com

Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies and the Persuasions join forces with "Kings of a Cappella" for new LP

Barenaked Ladies have announced a very special collaboration with the legendary "Kings of A Cappella" titled, Ladies And Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies And The Persuasions to be released April 14, 2017. Produced by Gavin Brown, the album features 14 tracks re-imagined BNL's award-winning catalogue and the classic 'Good Times.' BNL recorded the album live off the floor with The Persuasions last Fall at Noble Street Studios in Toronto.

Ladies And Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies And The Persuasions is available to pre-order on iTunes on March 10. Album and bundles featuring exclusive merchandise of Barenaked Ladies and The Persuasions will also be available worldwide through PledgeMusic. Each pre-order includes four instant-grat downloads of "The Old Apartment," "Odds Are," "Keepin' It Real," and "Don't Shuffle Me Back."

The video streaming app Sessions X filmed the entire session and will feature full-length performances, interviews, and behind the scenes moments. Sessions X will launch their BNL content on Wednesday, March 22.

The seed for Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies & The Persuasions was planted when Kevin Hearn befriended The Persuasions at Lou Reed's memorial held at the legendary Apollo Theatre in 2013. The friendship led to an invitation for The Persuasions to perform with BNL at Central Park Summerstage during the Barenaked Ladies 2016 Last Summer On Earth tour. Both bands had such a fun time, they all agreed to "do more" together. Before hitting the studio together, and after running through about 25 songs from the BNL catalogue, both BNL and the Persuasions's excitement grew and the songs were narrowed down to the final 15 tracks featured on the LP.

Although The Persuasions enjoy a long, storied career, the group has admittedly never recorded an album in a room live, with the band performing the songs. Says Dave Revels, lead vocalist for The Persuasions, "…with Barenaked Ladies, [their] music is passionate so I guess that's why we identify with it…because we can feel passion so I think that's why it was a natural union."

Says BNL drummer Tyler Stewart, "To actually play with these guys who are veterans of music making for so long… everything that comes out of their mouths is dripping with soul and you can't help but absorb some of that when you're in the room."

Considering the once-in-a-lifetime feel of a musical project between two groups who have collectively released 40 albums across their careers, Sessions X, which is an online subscription music series that features intimate performances straight from the stage or studio, was an opportunity to document the recording session, all of which was recorded over two days in October, 2016 in Toronto. Tyler Stewart described the collaboration as "Top three most fun things I've done" in his twenty six years of performing. Dave Revels, lead singer for The Persuasions described the collaboration as a "beautiful chemical reaction".

Founded in 1962, The Persuasions first came together on the street corners of Brooklyn with a musical inventory deep rooted in gospel, with a major measure of soul, and a dose of pop. Featuring original members Jimmy Hayes and Jayotis Washington, along with Raymond Sanders and Dave Revels, their eclectic repertoire has drawn from country to blues to gospel to rock to jazz. The group has released 26 albums, performed in concert halls worldwide, and shared stages with such seminal artists as Lou Reed, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Pryor and Frank Zappa.

Currently, Barenaked Ladies are putting the finishing touches on their 15th studio album, Fake Nudes, expected to be released later this Fall. More information will be announced in the coming weeks.

Track Listing - Ladies And Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies And The Persuasions

01.  Narrow Streets

02.  Gonna Walk

03.  Don't Shuffle Me Back

04.  The Old Apartment

05.  Keepin' It Real

06.  For You 

07. Some Fantastic     

08. Good Times  

09. Odds Are

10. Sound Of Your Voice   

11. When I Fall   

12. Maybe Katie   

13. One Week     

14. Four Seconds  

15. I Can Sing

LIONSGATE ANNOUNCES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF LA LA LAND IN CONCERT: A LIVE-TO-FILM CELEBRATION

Lionsgate has announced that the world premiere of LA LA LAND IN CONCERT: A LIVE-TO-FILM CELEBRATION will take place at Los Angeles' iconic Hollywood Bowl on Memorial Day weekend Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27.  Composer Justin Hurwitz will conduct his Oscar®-winning score and Oscar®-winning song "City of Stars" (with lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul) performed live-to-film by a 100-piece symphony orchestra, choir, and Jazz ensemble, accompanying the film's original vocal recordings. LA LA LAND is written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who won the Oscar® for Best Director.

"For me, one of the most thrilling and fulfilling parts of making LA LA LAND was scoring the film to a live orchestra: a hundred phenomenal local musicians playing in real-time to the Technicolor images, bringing Justin's compositions to vivid life. I couldn't be more excited to share that experience with audiences this summer, let alone in a setting as epic and as quintessentially 'LA' as the Hollywood Bowl," said Chazelle.

"Damien made a beautiful tribute to Los Angeles with LA LA LAND, and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate the film's music at an LA landmark with incredible LA musicians," said Hurwitz.

This world premiere event at the Hollywood Bowl will celebrate the film and embrace the legendary venue with unique pre-show photo opportunities and an array of delights including a grand fireworks spectacular. LA LA LAND or vintage Hollywood-inspired dress is encouraged.

"We could not be more excited about what will be the first live orchestral presentation of LA LA LAND. And what better place to do it than at the magically dreamy Hollywood Bowl? We're thrilled about this exciting next chapter of the movie's life," said lyricists Pasek & Paul.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, March 10 at 12:00pm PST via www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, (800) 745-3000, and the Hollywood Bowl box office. Doors will open at 6:30pm with the show beginning at 8:00pm. All acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. Know Before You Go: www.hollywoodbowl.com/lease for parking information.

Following the world premiere, LA LA LAND IN CONCERT will debut in select locations across the globe including the UK, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, and Switzerland, with additional locations to be announced. In the United States, select cities include Atlanta (GA), Seattle (WA), Portland (OR), San Diego (CA), San Antonio & Dallas (TX), Indianapolis (IN), Nashville (TN), Milwaukee (WI), Minneapolis (MN), Denver (CO), and Washington, D.C., with additional cities to be announced.

Released by Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment label, LA LA LAND is the winner of 6 Academy Awards® including Best Actress Emma Stone, who stars alongside Ryan Gosling (Academy Award® nominee for Best Actor) and John Legend, whose recorded vocal performance will be featured in this event. The film has already grossed nearly $400 million at the worldwide box office.

"By preserving the film's unique recorded vocal performances of Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and John Legend from the film's soundtrack and blending them with live musicians," said the concert's director Richard Kraft, "we are able to build a one-of-kind concert experience, which becomes a hybrid of film, pre-recordings and incredible live musicianship."

The LA LA LAND IN CONCERT: A LIVE-TO-FILM CELEBRATION AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL event is directed by Richard Kraft, who was the Creative Director of the acclaimed DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID IN CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL and A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF ALAN MENKEN. 

Producing this event are Laura Engel & Richard Kraft and Tim Fox & Alison Ahart Williams following their previous successes of DISNEY'S TIM BURTON'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS LIVE IN CONCERT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID IN CONCERT LIVE-TO-FILM AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, DANNY ELFMAN'S MUSIC FROM THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON, A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF ALAN MENKEN, and the Emmy®-winning PBS special LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER: DANNY ELFMAN'S MUSIC FROM THE FILMS OF TIM BURTON.  Also producing are Andrew Hewitt & Bill Silva Presents.

Music Supervisor for the event is Steven Gizicki, who won the Guild of Music Supervisors top award for his work on the film LA LA LAND.

Pianist RANDY INGRAM To Release His Most Personal & Enlightening Recording to Date,THE WANDERING Featuring Bassist DREW GRESS

Pianist-composer Randy Ingram has put himself in a position to reveal more about his musical identity by scaling down to record The Wandering, a sophisticated, personal and enlightening duo album with bassist Drew Gress.

While other instrumentalists can choose a different mouthpiece or effects pedal to modulate and personalize their sound, pianists must develop their identity by how and what they play. Ingram has established his identity through his pianistic touch and sense of orchestration, earning many accolades over the years.  As Kevin Laskey of NYC's Jazz Gallery says, "It's hard to make a piano sing. You can't breathe into it, you can't slide from one note to another. The piano is a mechanical music-maker, and it takes a real artist-an Ahmad Jamal, a Bill Evans, a Fred Hersch-to make it come alive.  Pianist Randy Ingram is one of those artists. He has an immaculately honed touch and an unforced sense of lyricism."

Ingram explains, "A jazz pianist's true identity is defined equally by their tone and by the content of what they play:  the specific shades and colorations of their harmonies, the types of textures they favor and the way they think about orchestrating and stating melodies - especially in the context of 'standard' repertoire."

Ingram's thoughts were reinforced by the opening of a new NYC venue, Mezzrow, that featured stripped down performances, mainly by pianists and bassists, filling a void created by the closing in the mid-1990s of the famed Bradley's on University Place. Mezzrow has become an incubator and stage for pianists of all sorts to display their talents  with the minimum of dressings, typically in duos with bass.  The duo format resonated with Ingram, as one of the formative experiences in his musical development was a steady gig while at the University of Southern California with bassist Billy Mohler. Says Ingram, "I believe much of my stylistic identity started to form through playing that gig my last two years of college, and my memories of it have always made the duo format a very familiar and welcoming sound."

As Ingram was developing repertoire for the follow up to his previous Sunnyside release, Sky/Lift (2014), he began to feel a pull in a different direction. The music he was writing for his quartet focused on deeper interplay between piano and guitar, becoming more densely orchestrated and heavily structured. Ingram found himself thinking about ways that his pianistic voice could be more clearly and spontaneously be heard.

For Ingram's debut performance at Mezzrow, bassist Drew Gress was his ideal duo partner.  Universally praised as a master accompanist and soloist, Ingram had long admired Gress's playing, being familiar with the bassist's solo recordings and work with Fred Hersch. The duo's first gig together was exemplary: Gress's playing was wonderfully supportive but also motivating, pushing Ingram to explore new musical areas.  At the conclusion of the duo's first performance, Ingram's friend, the saxophonist Jeremy Udden, described what he had heard as a stripped down, truthful statement on the identity of, "Randy the player-Randy the pianist".

Ingram soon decided to record a duo album with Gress. They performed additional gigs and lined up a date at Brooklyn Recording with engineer Michael Perez Cisneros. "I knew that a duo record was not without its challenges: the format is incredibly exposed, and there's nowhere to hide, especially rhythmically," explained Ingram. "But I also knew that Drew was as great a partner as I could find for this project.  He has such a warm, nuanced sound and is a tremendously strong soloist, which I set out to feature as much as possible on the record. We chose to record in one session, in one room with no headphones or isolation, and the result, I hope, is an honest representation of who I am as a jazz pianist."

"I thought about how the journey to one's true identity could be described as wandering- a journey with no boundaries and no limits, and that certainly doesn't take a linear path, " says Ingram.  "In arriving at the album's title, I thought about the Japanese haiku poet Basho, the importance of wandering in the creation of his art, and how the same idea of wandering applied to my musical journey."

The Wandering is about this journey, the process of honing and expressing one's musical voice.

The recording begins with Gress's "Away," a composition with a lovely melody and beguiling harmonies that showcases Gress's unique writing.  Ingram's enchanting "Guimarães" was written for the Portuguese city, where the pianist was inspired by the juxtaposition of old and new, expressed here with his blend of classical harmony and voice-leading with modern harmonic and rhythmic ideas.

The spirited "Large Father" is Ingram's tribute to Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz in his last season; it takes a page out of Ornette Coleman's book on creating freedom without losing melodicism. Jimmy Rowles's "The Peacocks" is a favorite ballad of Ingram's, who delivers a wonderfully moody and evocative interpretation.

Ingram's version of Cole Porter's "Dream Dancing" is deceptive: it retains the brilliant lyricism of the melody but has been extensively reharmonized. The album's title track, "The Wandering," is a tribute to British piano great John Taylor, a player who developed his own language with an astounding melodic sense, crystal-clear touch and multifaceted harmonies, which Ingram represents with aplomb.

Wayne Shorter is one of Ingram's composing heroes and the saxophonist's "Chief Crazy Horse," with its insistent bass line, became the soundtrack of Ingram's half-marathon training program. It provides a rhythmic juxtaposition to the duo's repertoire. Ingram shows his lifelong appreciation for pianist Bill Evans through his up-tempo rendition of Evans' "Show-Type Tune," a favorite of Ingram's for its harmonic genius. The recording concludes with Kenny Wheeler's "Three For D'reen," a rhapsodic piece that is delicately balanced between ballad and jazz waltz under Ingram and Gress's impressive hands.

Wherever your path takes you, Sunnyside hopes that it leads you to as enchanting a place as does Randy Ingram and Drew Gress's music on The Wandering, a lovingly conceived and performed program that achieves new heights of ingenuity through musical collaboration.

www.RandyIngram.com

Vieux Farka Touré's newest album, Samba

When the producers of the Woodstock Sessions, a hybrid/live recording series in Saugerties, NY, asked Malian guitarist and vocalist Vieux Farka Touré to stop by in 2015, he didn’t have enough time to make it happen. Intrigued, he promised to return the following year. Making good on his word, the result of that incredible session is now Touré’s newest album, Samba.

The ten songs on Samba are all brand new. Given Touré’s natural musical curiosity, the far-reaching blend of Malian blues and praise song, funk, reggae, and rock make this his most mature, well-rounded effort to date. The live element, where Touré excels as a performer, shines through on every track, even though the band stopped whenever they wanted to change something up. This was not your average performance.

“It was not a regular studio session nor was it a concert,” Touré says. “It was somewhere in between. We were recording the album, but we had an audience of about fifty people in the room with us. The audience understood it was to witness the process of recording an album, not to present a concert in a studio, which was a very good thing because we got the energy of a live concert with the quality of a studio recording. It was an interesting idea but I did not know how it would go. Luckily everything was perfect. There was a great ambience there for the session and we were able to capture this unique energy for the album.”

Fans of Touré will rejoice at the quality and energy of this fantastic record. His solos are exceptional. The hypnotic grooves his band creates allows him to let loose with a sense of ease and grace.

Samba means “second born,” his place in his family, which of course was to legendary Malian artist Ali Farka Touré. While many cultures award the head position of a family to the first-born, it is the second child who is often conferred with power in Touré’s tradition. “Samba is one who never breaks, who never runs from threats, who is not afraid,” Touré says. “It is said that Samba is blessed with good luck.”

Over the last few months Touré has traveled across Australia and China spreading his energetic and gorgeous evolution of Malian blues. Now he’s returning to where he built his name, with tours in the United States and Europe planned for 2017.

Trombone Shorty has announced an April 28 release date for Parking Lot Symphony

Trombone Shorty has announced an April 28 release date for Parking Lot Symphony, his debut album for Blue Note Records. The album pre-order launched today along with the irrepressible first single “Here Come The Girls,” which is available now to download or stream. The album is a 12-track tour de force produced by Chris Seefried (Fitz and the Tantrums, Andra Day) featuring 10 new original songs along with covers of Allen Toussaint (“Here Come The Girls”) and The Meters (“It Ain’t No Use”). True to its title, the album contains multitudes of sound—from brass band blare and deep-groove funk to bluesy beauty and hip-hop/pop swagger—and plenty of emotion all anchored, of course, by stellar playing and the idea that, even in the toughest of times, as he says, “Music brings unity.” 

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have also announced new tour dates including album release shows at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on April 24, and their annual Treme Threauxdown at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans on April 29 that will feature special guests including Andra Day and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The band is currently out on an extensive tour opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers including sold-out shows at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on March 7, 8 and 10. Trombone Shorty will also perform at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where he has inherited the festival’s prestigious closing set in the legacy of great New Orleans artists like the Neville Brothers and Professor Longhair. A summer co-headline tour with St. Paul & The Broken Bones will include a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on August. 30.  

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – 2017 Tour Dates:

March 3 – Lensic Performing Arts Center – Santa Fe, NM

March 7 – Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA 

March 8 – Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA 

March 10 – Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA 

March 11 – Montbleu Resort Casino – Stateline, NV

March 12 – Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA 

March 15 – Moda Center – Portland, OR

March 17 – KeyArena – Seattle, WA 

March 18 – Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC 

April 10 – Metro Theatre – Sydney, Australia

April 11 – 170 Russell – Melbourne, Australia

April 13-14 – Byron Bay Bluesfest – Byron Bay, Australia

April 22 – SweetWater 420 Festival – Atlanta, GA

April 24 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY

April 29 – Treme Threauxdown @ Saenger Theatre – New Orleans, LA

May 7 – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

June 2 – Dominion Arts Center – Richmond, VA

June 3 – The Ritz – Raleigh, NC

June 4 – Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre – Wilmington, NC

June 6 – Ridgefield Playhouse – Ridgefield, CT

June 9 – Ocean City Music Pier – Ocean City, NJ

June 10 – Boarding House Park – Lowell, MA

June 11 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT

June 15 – Sherman Theater – Stroudsburg, PA

June 16 – Westbury Theater – Westbury, NY

June 17 – Aura – Portland, ME

July 2 – ESSENCE Festival – New Orleans, LA

August 4 – Newport Jazz Festival – Newport, RI

August 14 – Wilma Theatre – Missoula, MT

August 16 – Red Rocks Amphitheater – Morrison, CO

August 19 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR 

August 20 – Woodland Park Zoo – Seattle, WA  

August 22 – Mountain Winery – Saratoga, CA  

August 24 – Green Music Center – Rohnert Park, CA  

August 25 – Avila Beach Amphitheater – Avila Beach, CA  

August 26 – The Chelsea – Las Vegas, NV  

August 27 – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre – San Diego, CA  

August 30 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA 

The track listing for Parking Lot Symphony is as follows:

1. Laveau Dirge No. 1

2. It Ain’t No Use

3. Parking Lot Symphony

4. Dirty Water

5. Here Come The Girls

6. Tripped Out Slim

7. Familiar

8. No Good Time

9. Where It At?

10. Fanfare

11. Like A Dog

12. Laveau Dirge Finale

Billy Porter's New Album - Billy Porter Presents The Soul Of Richard Rodgers features India.Aire, Ledisi, Leslie Odom

Tony and Grammy Award-Winner Billy Porter's new studio album, Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers, will be released April 14, 2017 and is available for pre-order now, it was announced today by Bee & El and Sony Masterworks Broadway.  The album, which features new, soulful takes on classic Richard Rodgers songs, includes solos and duets from the following artists  (in addition to Porter himself):  Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India.Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube sensation and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.

The complete track listing for Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers is as follows:

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (Pentatonix & Billy Porter)

My Romance (Leslie Odom Jr.)

If I Loved You (Renée Elise Goldsberry & Christopher Jackson)  

With a Song in My Heart (Brandon Victor Dixon & Joshua Henry)  

I Have Dreamed (Patina Miller)  

My Funny Valentine (Cynthia Erivo)  

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (Todrick Hall & Billy Porter)  

This Nearly was Mine (Deborah Cox) 

Bewitched (Ledisi featuring Zaire Park) 

Carefully Taught (India.Arie & Billy Porter) 

Lady is a Tramp (Billy Porter featuring Zaire Park) 

Edelweiss (Billy Porter) 

"I like to think of this as the Richard Rodgers version of the Hamilton Mixtapes," Porter said.  "These are classic songs that everybody knows and loves, and I'm so excited for people to hear them in a brand new way."

Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers marks Porter's fourth studio album, and his first as producer and content curator, with collaborators James Sampliner and Michael "Lofey" Sandlofer.

In March, Porter launches a national tour that kicks off in Bayside, NY on March 19. Full tour schedule below.

March 19 – Queensborough PAC – Bayside, NY

March 29 – Embassy Theater – Fort Wayne, Indiana

March 31 – Ocean Reef Cultural Center – Key Largo, FL

April 2 – Aventura Arts – Aventura, FL

April 3 & 4 – Crest Theater – Delray Beach, FL

April 6 – Nugent-Custer Performance Hall – Columbus, IN

April 7 & 8 – The Columbia Club – Indianapolis, IN

April 21 – Adelphi – Garden City, NY

April 22 – Kean University – Union, NJ 

May 5 – Emelin Theater – Westchester, NY

May 14 – Venetian Room – San Francisco, CA

May 20 – Goodman Theatre Gala, Fairmont Hotel – Chicago, IL

June 17 – Playhouse Square Gala – Cleveland, Ohio

July 15 – Willow Valley Communities Cultural Center Theater – Lancaster, PA

August 14 – Bay Street Playhouse – Sag Harbor, NY

August 19 & 20 – Paramount Theater – Provincetown, MA

BILLY PORTER is a Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning singer, composer, actor, playwright and director from Pittsburgh, PA. As a recording artist, Porter's solo albums include his first CD, Untitled, on A&M records, At the Corner of Broadway + Soul – LIVE on Sh-K-Boom Records, and Billy's Back on Broadway, on Concord Records. He originated the role of 'Lola' in the Broadway hit Kinky Boots, which won him 2013 Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other theatre: Shuffle Along, Miss Saigon, Five Guys..., Grease, Smokey Joe's..., Dreamgirls, Angels in America, The Merchant of Venice, Radiant Baby, Birdie Blue, Songs for a New World, Ghetto Superstar (one-man show), Topdog/Underdog, King Lear. His play, While I Yet Live, premiered in 2015 at Primary Stages. As a director, his credits include Topdog/Underdog and The Colored Museum (both for Huntington Theatre Company); Film/TV: "Law & Order: SVU," "So You Think You Can Dance" (as a guest judge), "The Broken Hearts Club," "Shake Rattle & Roll," "The Big C," The Humbling, starring Al Pacino, Baz Luhrmann's The Get Down. Porter's concerts credits include opening act for Rosie O'Donnell and Aretha Franklin, Carnegie Hall, John McDaniel and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, as well as The Buffalo Philharmonic, Peter Nero and The Philly Pops, soloist for President Bill Clinton and various benefits throughout the United States.

BILLY PORTER

Website: https://billyporter.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BillyPorterofficial/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theebillyporter

Instagram: http://instagram.com/theebillyporter

NEW RELEASES: JUNIE - THE WESTBOUND YEARS; AKI TAKASE / DAVID MURRAY – CHERRY SAKURA; IZO FITZROY - SKYLINE

JUNIE - THE WESTBOUND YEARS

Walter "Junie" Morrison had the great honor of being a member of both of Westbound's biggest collectives (although not necessarily at the same time) – the hard funky Ohio Players, and the cosmic brotherhood of Funkadelic/Parliament. During the mid-70s, though, Junie embarked upon a solo career, and cut a few wild LPs for the label which mixed funk, soul, and even some strange rock-oriented leanings. The resulting recordings were some of the more messed-up that Westbound ever issued, with moments that are delightfully funky, and others that are downright silly. This sweet 20 track compilation brings together most of the best moments of Junie's Westbound Years, and includes cuts like "Johnny Carson Samba", "Walt's Third Trip", "Tight Rope", "Cookies Will Get You", "Super J", "Super Groupie", and the great "Granny's Funky Rolls Royce", featuring the Funky Granny from "Funky Worm"!  ~ Dusty Groove.

AKI TAKASE / DAVID MURRAY – CHERRY SAKURA

As much as we love reedman David Murray in a group, we almost love him even more in a spare setting – especially a duet album like this, where he can both stretch out on his horn, but also soulfully interact with another player! Pianist Aki Takase provides lines that are sometimes sharp and angular, sometimes long and flowing – and Murray balances the sound out with beautiful work on both tenor and bass clarinet – sometimes with an approach that's almost traditional tenor ballad, sometimes a bit more freewheeling. The sound is great, and takes us back to David Murray projects like this from years back – on titles that include "Cherry Sakura", "A Very Long Letter", "Stressology", "A Long March To Freedom", "Blues For David", and "To AP Kern".  ~ Dusty Groove

IZO FITZROY - SKYLINE

Izo Fitzroy may look like a languid country singer on the cover (we're not sure why – maybe it's the old American car) – but she comes across with a deeply soulful sound on the album, and a strong raspy edge in her vocals that comes as a mighty nice surprise! The set's definitely going for a late 60s/early 70s funky soul vibe – but Izo's approach is maybe a bit different than some of the younger "funk girls with band" albums out there – nicely lean, with sharp instrumentation that never tries to hard to push any sort of agenda – which leaves the strength of Fitzroy's singing to really bring most of the power to the tunes. Given her voice, we're sure that the lady could sparkle in whatever style she chooses – and titles include "Break The Levee", "Shadowlands", "Reckoning", "Here I Come", "Hope You Can Wait", "Day By Day", "Say Something", "Heads Held High", and "I Keep You Guessing".  ~ Dusty Groove