Urban-jazz bassist Darryl Williams releases “Do You Remember,” featuring saxophonist Michael Lington

It took ten years for urban-jazz bass player Darryl Williams to write, record and release “Here to Stay,” his Billboard top 10 single and the title track to his second album. This week’s release of the follow-up single, “Do You Remember,” proves that he doesn’t plan to go away anytime soon. Plucking rubbery basslines on piccolo and electric basses on the slick jazz-funk energizer that he wrote and produced, Williams is joined on the dancefloor filler by chart-toppers Michael Lington (saxophone) and Adam Hawley (guitarist).  

Williams’ return to center stage as a frontman with the “Here to Stay” set resulted in a 2017 Best New Artist nomination from the Smooth Jazz Network. The first-call bassman calls the collection that he produced with sax powerhouse Euge Groove “a labor of love,” featuring eight of his hand-penned originals along with a pair of remakes that have personal meaning to the San Diego native who currently resides in Temecula. A stellar list of his regular employers were quick to return the favor by making guest appearances on “Here to Stay,” including Groove, who ignites a pair of tunes including the title cut, two-time Grammy-winning guitarist and producer Paul Brown, jazz-funk keyboard pioneer Jeff Lorber, saxmen Marcus Anderson and Elan Trotman, and keyboardists Jonathan Fritzen, Greg Manning and Scott Wilkie. The disc’s lone vocal number, a faithful rendering of The Emotions’ “Don’t Ask My Neighbors,” is soul kissed by R&B crooner Ashling Cole. Williams remembers his late mentor, Carl Evans Jr., by revamping the former Fattburger leader’s sweetly redolent “The Doctor,” which is graced by Michael Paolo’s caressing soprano sax.

“While to some people, ‘labor of love’ is an overused cliché, it certainly applies to ‘Here to Stay.’ I began writing songs for the collection in 2007 before moving my family to Temecula from Las Vegas. The compositions were inspired by different experiences we went through in our journey throughout that period. It was an important and formative time in my career as well. That’s when I first started playing in Euge’s (Groove) band and did a tour with Jeff (Lorber) a couple years later. In between is when my very good friend and mentor Carl (Evans Jr.) passed, which was devastating. ‘Do You Remember’ was one of the last songs I wrote for the record and it was inspired by reflecting on how far I’ve come from growing up as a kid in Los Angeles and San Diego to playing in a funk band with my brother as a teenager. It took me ten years to finish this album and while it takes me back in time, the reaction from fans, radio and reviewers has me looking forward with excitement. I couldn’t be more proud of this album,” said Williams.       

Williams was a teenager when he opened for R&B acts Lakeside and Al Green along with gospel legend Shirley Caesar. After studying jazz at San Diego State University, Williams went from regular gigs backing many of San Diego’s most prominent homegrown talent to the neon lights of the Las Vegas strip where he accompanied such nationally-renowned headliners as Clint Holmes, Angela Bofill, Tevin Campbell, Howard Hewett and Keith Washington, and did a road stint with Chaka Khan. After moving back to California in 2008, Williams dropped his debut album, “That Was Then,” garnering praise from JazzTimes and national airplay on SiriusXM. He has become a fixture on the smooth/contemporary jazz scene where he has shared the stage with the genre’s heavy hitters: Richard Elliot, Peter White, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair, Brenda Russell, Darren Rahn, Jessy J, Everette Harp and Jeff Kashiwa. He has also recorded with Jackiem Joyner, Blake Aaron, Nils Jiptner, U-Nam and Kay-Ta Matsuno.       

http://darrylwilliamsmusic.com/

The Lao Tizer Band Set to Release Songs From The Swinghouse, Recorded Live at Conway Studios in Hollywood

With more than five years since their last release, The Lao Tizer Band has taken the time to grow in every aspect. An updated larger band is exploring some new methods on their upcoming CD/DVD combo, Songs From The Swinghouse: recorded live in just three days at Conway Studios in Hollywood, the band explores three cover tunes with vocalist, a first for the group, alongside original instrumental tracks, bringing them to new heights of excellence and exuberance.

Featuring a thoughtful and at times surprising choice of tracks, while adding to an already stellar lineup of players with the addition of a seasoned vocalist, this is an album that has set a new path for the band and its dedicated fans. Songs From The Swinghouse features eight blistering original instrumentals and three iconic classic rock songs with reimagined arrangements. "We've never done anything with a vocalist and we've never done any cover songs, so this is the first time that I decided to delve into that realm, to basically expand the scope of our music," says Tizer. Critically acclaimed music-film director, Andy LaViolette (Snarky Puppy, Bokante, David Crosby, etc), documented the entire session in a simultaneous, 8-camera HD video shoot for the included DVD.

From the 2007 album Diversify, which showcased the multi-faceted richly textured musicality of an already celebrated career, to 2009's Passages in which the keyboardist and composer focused on a minimalist expression of his musical journey in a virtually solo piano recording with the barest of accompaniment, and then back to a pulsating full band on the 2012 release Downbeat, this ensemble of world-renowned musicians has taken Tizer's vision to a new level on the latest album. The jazz and world-fusion group now adds rock to its repertoire with a sizzling new collection of eleven songs.

Hailing from Boulder, CO, with a career that now spans nine albums over nearly a quarter of a century -- he was a teenage prodigy -- Tizer is the son of hippies with a Russian-Jewish background, and the mix of that ethnic family heritage, parental new age influence and growing up with the sights and sounds of '80s and '90s pop culture (alongside the music of the '60s and '70s he heard from his parents) have brought him to a place in his artistic life where he was ready to embrace a wider range of influences and stretch himself and his players to pull off such an ambitious project.

If the choice of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On," U2's "Pride (In The Name Of Love)," and Cat Stevens' "Sad Lisa" seem astonishing, Tizer's arrangements render them almost entirely original. They are taken to the transcendent through the warm and soulful vocals of Tita Hutchison, who sang with the likes of Michael McDonald, Rick Rubin, Michael Jackson, and Foreigner, among others.

Hutchison joins Tizer's regular collaborators who are celebrated in their own right: Chieli Minucci, the three-time Emmy-winning and Grammy® Award-nominated guitarist and composer; Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal, who is a permanent member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band; longtime member and EWI/saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Steve Nieves; and violinist Karen Briggs, who has graced the stage with Yanni, Diana Ross, Wu-Tang Clan, Chaka Khan and more. Tizer also credits the powerhouse rhythm section (bass players include Grammy® Award-nominee Ric Fierabracci and Cheikh NDoye, Grammy® Award-nominated drummer Gene Coye, and percussionist Munyungo Jackson) with underpinning the dynamic force and arrangements for the project.

The group in fact stretches to 15 members at times with the addition of a string quartet, horn section and a marimba player. Just watching the video of "Metropolis" shows the vast ambitiousness of the undertaking, the concentration of so many musicians in the studio playing live together and feeding into work that was so much grander than the breathtaking individual performances, while the sultry and intimate duet -- just piano and violin -- on "Forever Searching" reminds the listener and viewer of the purity of Tizer's jazz beginnings.

"It was all recorded live at Conway Studios," Tizer says. "So this is as authentic as it could possibly be. It's a star-studded cast, a lot of pros, and they all came in with their A-game. We got just the right mix of players in the band at this time to make this particular set of music come to life and be artistically deep in an accessible way. And that's always what my favorite music has been -- well written, well composed, but also with that room to stretch, that's the improvisation and the jazz of it."

Tizer praises each musician for his and her contribution to the whole. Conceptually focused while always generous as a composer, arranger and band-leader, Tizer produced Songs From The Swinghouse on his own and wrote all of the instrumental tracks himself, aside from one co-write, "A Prayer For Unity" with the band's other guitarist, Jeff Marshall. They wrote it just after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, and the significance at this particular time amid current events is imperative for Tizer. "It's a message that the world needs on a much more macro level, and music is one of those few mediums that can bridge some gaps."

It's also a nice counterpoint to the groups Gospel, funkified arrangement of U2's, "Pride (In The Name Of Love)," the civil rights-inspired song that Tizer had loved since first hearing it in the movie In The Name Of The Father. "Ramble On" was, says Tizer, "the one tune I wanted to do because I'm not sure that there's any classic rock group more iconic than Led Zeppelin, and I wanted a song that we could take and put our stamp on, which I felt really strongly that we could with that tune, take it to another place." As for "Sad Lisa," dedicated on the album to the late daughter of a friend, "I had Cat Stevens' album Tea For The Tillerman since I was in high school, and right away I knew I could do something with that."

The evolution of the Lao Tizer Band is revealed joyously in Songs From The Swinghouse. Now incorporating a vocalist into the recording and touring band, the road ahead is enthralling to the group's founder. "I spent my whole life writing instrumental music, and now I'm working on original material for the group including vocals." Ultimately, Lao Tizer eschews being formulaic. "I try and just stay true to my muse and to use every bit of my facility to create great music that hopefully has its own voice and continues to evolve as I continue to evolve as a person. It's very reflective of me, it's all I've done all my life."

The Lao Tizer Band U.S. Performances

January 20 | Spaghetinni Jazz Club | Seal Beach, CA

February 9 - 10 | Myron's Cabaret Jazz @ The Smith Center | Las Vegas, NV

February 24 | Punta Gorda Wine & Jazz Festival | Punta Gorda, FL

March 9 | The Baked Potato (LA RELEASE SHOW) | Studio City, CA

March 10 | Oxnard Performing Arts & Events Center | Oxnard, CA

March 22 | Desert Willow Golf Course | Palm Desert, CA

March 28 | Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill & Jazz | Bel Aire, CA

April 21 | Chino Hills Jazz & Blues Festival | Chino Hills, CA

April 27 | Bakersfield Jazz Festival | Bakersfield, CA

May 11 | Atlas Center for the Performing Arts | Washington, DC

** more dates to be announced **

The Lao Tizer Band · Songs From The Swinghouse

Yse Records · Release Date: March 16, 2018

Drummer Bob Holz To Release VISIONS Feat. Bass Legends Stanley Clarke and Ralphe Armstrong

Jazz-fusion composer and drummer Bob Holz will be releasing his third album “VISIONS: Coast to Coast Connection,” featuring  bass legend Stanley Clarke on February 23, 2018! “This collaboration with the jazz star and Return to Forever bassist/composer, Stanley Clarke involved the recording of new compositions I wrote taken from my roots in jazz, classical, blues and rock music,” says Holz. Joining Holz and Clarke is former Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist Ralphe Armstrong who currently plays in Holz's touring band, Bob Holz and A Vision Forward featuring Jamie Glaser and Ralphe Armstrong. “My compositions have plenty of room for interplay between both bass players,” adds Holz. Bob Holz is presently managed by Roy Holland Productions and is signed to MVD Entertainment Group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDKDTfM59Q

“I'm really honored to record with Stanley Clarke as his music has been a strong influence on me,” added Holz. Clarke has written the music for over 70 major motion pictures in addition to his successful solo career and long tenure as a member of Return To Forever with Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Lenny White.

“I enjoyed playing this music very much. Good players along with good compositions is always a winning combination!” - Stanley Clarke

The recording took place in Los Angeles with famed sound engineer, Dennis Moody recording, mixing and mastering the performances. “Dennis mixed my last album and really knows how to create a world class record,” continued Holz. Moody also helped out with mixing Holz's band live last May at Catalina Bar and Grill Jazz Club in Hollywood, California. Stanley Clarke also attended that concert which led to the upcoming recording session for Holz's next album. Additionally, Executive Producer Rob Stathis once again contributed his production skills to the making of the record. Rob Stathis has been involved with producing Holz's past collaborations with guitarist/composer the late Larry Coryell. “The loss of Larry Coryell last February was really rough. Bob and I want to continue in the tradition which Larry excelled in,” says Stathis.

“Many years I have been friends with Stanley Clarke, we talked about recording together!! Bob Holz made it happen on this recording!” - Ralphe Armstrong

Since the February 2017 release of Holz's second album, “Visions and Friends,” Holz's touring band, Bob Holz and A Vision Forward featuring Jamie Glaser and Ralphe Armstrong has played numerous live concerts from New York to California. The band features guitar guru Jamie Glaser (Chick Corea, Jean Luc Ponty, Bryan Adams) and bass virtuoso Ralphe Armstrong (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock). Los Angeles based keyboardist Billy Steinway has been an integral contributor to Holz's efforts playing both live shows and recording sessions. Steinway also joined Holz, Clarke and Armstrong on the recordings for the new album.

Internationally Acclaimed Trumpeter Sean Jones to Chair Peabody Jazz Department

Sean Jones, an internationally acclaimed trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and educator, has been appointed the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. Jones will officially assume his duties as chair with the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year, and will make several introductory visits to Peabody during the Spring 2018 semester to hear auditions, conduct master classes, and work with student jazz ensembles. His appointment is the result of a months-long search which produced an outstanding field of diverse and competitive candidates from throughout the world.

Jones comes to Peabody from the Berklee College of Music, where he has served as chair of the Brass Department since 2014. He is artistic director of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Artist-in-Residence at San Francisco Performances, and a member of the SFJAZZ Collective. In addition, Jones serves as a member of the Jazz Education Network's Board of Directors and was recently appointed as artistic director of Carnegie Hall's NYO Jazz, which makes its Carnegie Hall debut and inaugural European tour in the summer of 2018.

"Jazz is a deep and important aspect of the Baltimore story, and an essential contemporary American art form," said Fred Bronstein, dean of the Peabody Institute. "Peabody's strong commitment to jazz and its critical points of intersection with many different aspects of musical creation and performance, along with our focus on citizen artistry, make this an ideal time and place to mark a new chapter for jazz at Peabody and in Baltimore. Sean Jones -- an inspiring artist, engaging leader, and dedicated teacher -- is the perfect choice to lead this effort for our jazz students and all our Conservatory musicians, as well as in the broader community. We are thrilled to welcome him to Peabody and eagerly anticipate his leadership."

Jones joins a diverse roster of artist-faculty colleagues charged with implementation of the Conservatory's new Breakthrough Curriculum in Music Leadership, a model at the forefront of arts training in the United States. The Breakthrough Curriculum is designed to help students develop skills in performance, career development, and citizen artistry to meet the demands of today's ever-changing musical landscape. This includes a reimagined instrumental ensembles program in which students move through a rotation of varied ensemble experiences to ensure musical flexibility and training across a range of performing contexts, musical styles, and ensemble configurations.

"Peabody is at a crucial point in its history as a beacon of music education and curator of American Music," noted Jones about his appointment. "It has the unique opportunity to support the codification and curation of America's indigenous art form not just in word, but in deed! Although I will miss my wonderful colleagues at the Berklee College of Music, I am thrilled to be afforded the opportunity to help lead this storied institution into the future of American music education."

A highly respected and in-demand musician, Jones has performed and/or recorded with major figures including: Joe Lovano, Chico O'Farrill, Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, and Gerald Wilson, and with Marcus Miller, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter in the 2011 Tribute to Miles tour. He holds a master's degree from Rutgers University and was lead trumpeter with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, where he worked closely with Wynton Marsalis, until 2010. He has recently released his eighth recording, Live from Jazz at the Bistro, on Mack Avenue Records. In addition to Berklee, Jones has taught at Duquesne University and at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, while regularly offering master classes and clinics around the world.

Located in the heart of Baltimore's Mount Vernon Cultural District, the Peabody Institute was founded in 1857 as the first major intellectual and arts center in an American city by philanthropist George Peabody. Now celebrating 40 years as a division of Johns Hopkins University, the Peabody Institute trains musicians and dancers of every age, stages nearly 1,000 concerts and events each year, and extends music and musical training throughout the community. Building on its rich history of professional music training at the highest level and focused on the four pillars of excellence, interdisciplinary experiences, innovation, and community connectivity, Peabody is introducing the Breakthrough Curriculum in Music Leadership to prepare artists for a world that is constantly changing yet still deeply in need of what music brings to the human experience.

NEW RELEASES: GAL COSTA – ESTRATOFERIA – AO VIVO (DVD); LAWSON ROLLINS – AIRWAVES: THE GREATEST HITS; SYLVIA BENNETT – I WISH YOU LOVE

GAL COSTA – ESTRATOFERIA – AO VIVO (DVD)

A nice little live set that follows off the same sort of energy as the studio album Estratoferica – which has Gal Costa coming across with a more youthful vibe than she's had in years! As with that record, Gal's working here with a group of younger musicians – players who bring more rock currents to the music than you might expect, with especially strong use of electric guitar and keyboards – which Costa matches with a surprising degree of power in her voice! The tunes are pretty straightforward – no Tropicalia experiments here –but the overall approach still feels more 70s MPB than much of Gal's more recent material. Titles include "Meu Nome E Gal", "Estratosferica", "Por Um Fio", "Cabelo", "Quando Voce Olha Pra Ela", "Casca", "Dez Anjos", "Nao Identificado", "Mal Secreto", "Ecstasy", "Os Alquimistas Estao Chegando", and "Por Baixo". ~ Dusty Groove

LAWSON ROLLINS – AIRWAVES: THE GREATEST HITS

'Airwaves: The Greatest Hits' - featuring all of Lawson Rollins' radio chart hits taken from his seven solo albums, including the Billboard Top 30 contemporary jazz radio charting songs 'Island Time,' 'Moonlight Samba,' 'Infinita,' 'Flight,' and 'Daybreak. ' Two brand new bonus tracks were recorded exclusively for this album: the contemporary jazz track 'World of Wonder' (featuring the Billboard #1 group 3rd Force) and the classically-inspired, world-music composition 'Prado' (featuring 2-time Grammy Award winning violinist Mads Tolling). Other guests include iconic Brazilian singer Flora Purim. 11 of the 18 tracks are never-before-released radio edit versions that feature different performances and guests artists not heard on the album versions, like 'In Motion (radio edit)' which features an exclusive appearance by Billboard #1 soprano saxophonist Praful, not heard on the original album version.

SYLVIA BENNETT – I WISH YOU LOVE

Ooh la la la… Ms. Bennett is back and this time with a sexy nod at the City of Light, and the joie de vivre that France brings to the global community. From her forthcoming album I Wish You Love, due out in the spring of 2018, “C’est Magnifique” leads the way as the album’s first single. A whimsical, jazzy version of the Cole Porter classic, featuring the Grammy-nominated vocalist’s smooth as silk voice and a playful horn soloing throughout, leaving the listener to feel more magnifique than tragique! Produced by long time musical collaborator and renowned Miami producer, Hal S. Batt, this catchy creation is sure to light up the Contemporary Jazz charts like Paris! ~ smoothjazz.com

 

Saxophonist Kevin Sun Creates Compelling New Music on his Solo Leader Debut, Trio

Due out Feb. 2, 2018, Trio features bassist Walter Stinson and drummer Matt Honor on a set of Sun's thrillingly complex compositions, devised from close study of the jazz tradition.

"[Kevin] Sun is... clearly a player who sees the big picture and his evolving place within it."

-David R. Adler, The New York City Jazz Record

It's something of a cliché - though no less true for it - for gifted musicians to proclaim themselves to be perpetual students, their accomplishments achieved in part through a lifelong appetite for learning and new experiences. While still in the early stages of an incredibly promising, already impressive career, saxophonist Kevin Sun has more then taken that idea to heart. A tireless student of the jazz tradition, Sun has dedicated himself to dissecting the music of his forebears with a scientific precision, only to reassemble the pieces in new ways as only the most instinctual of artists can do.

On his first album under his own name, Trio, Sun puts the results of his intensive studies into thrilling practice, crafting era-spanning compositions that are as propulsive and swinging as they are intricate and challenging. The titular trio teams Sun, on tenor as well as clarinet and the rarely-seen C-melody saxophone, with bassist Walter Stinson and drummer Matt Honor, two peers from the contemporary New York City jazz scene.

Trio, set for release February 2, 2018 on Sun's own Endectomorph Music, follows equally adventurous releases by two collective quartets, Great on Paper (with drummer Robin Baytas, bassist Simón Willson and pianist Isaac Wilson) and Earprint (with Simón Willson, trumpeter Tree Palmedo and drummer Dor Herskovits). Here, though, the vision is entirely Sun's, though his complex writing leaves Stinson and Honor ample opportunity to show off their estimable skills.

"Composing for three voices, I feel like I can really challenge myself," Sun says. "There's plenty of room to make something happen when you have three musicians interacting with each other. I picture it as a triangle versus a square: it's still very sturdy, but you have to give it a point."

There's no lack of sharp edges on Trio's dozen jaw-dropping compositions (supplemented by a pair of fiery free improvisations captured in the wee hours of an all-day recording session). While to the listener these songs offer knotty melodic lines and shape-shifting rhythms that are tricky but enticing to navigate, for Sun, each one posed a unique challenge. Captivated by the higher-order writing of modern jazz innovators like Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, and Steve Lehman, Sun conceived of the music on Trio as a way of summoning similarly advanced music from his own pen. The trio itself, with Stinson and Honor, was originally assembled to workshop that music - it was only when they realized the chemistry they shared together that it evolved into a working group.

"I was thinking of people who I thought would be willing to get together a lot and really dig into the music," Sun says. He had shared bandstands in the past with both Stinson and Honor, and soon found that both shared his own enthusiasm for plumbing the depths of his compositions.

That scholarly approach has served Sun well, both in his education at Harvard College and New England Conservatory, in his studies with master composers Miguel Zenón and John Hollenbeck, and beyond, in his own research. He's been noted for his solo transcriptions, having published more than 120 on his blog by the likes of John Coltrane, Steve Coleman, Joe Henderson, Clifford Brown, and Vijay Iyer.

"I work on inhabiting the sound, the beat, and the vibe of the musicians I transcribe," Sun says, a practice he learned from Zenón as well as tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. "Coming from an oral tradition like jazz, you want to be able to communicate the details that convey the feeling that comes out of the great playing of those musicians. Ideally you'd get that in person, but when many of them are no longer around, the next best thing is to listen to, say, Lester Young recordings and try to generate the same excitement."

Beyond simply striving for the sound of such masters, Sun has recently begun to delve into emulating their gear. He recorded Trio with an instrument almost identical to that played by Lester Young on his classic recordings with Count Basie - a gold-plated Conn New Wonder sax and an early metal Otto Link mouthpiece. He began to experiment with the C-melody for a similar reason, as the instrument as played by virtuoso Frankie Trumbauer was a not insignificant influence on Young's sound.

Though the ensuing sound links him to a tradition that weaves circuitously from Young through more modernist players like Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, Sun's voice is wholly his own. That's evident from the breathy, insistent notes that open "Transaccidentation," a piece that takes fragments of harmonic ideas from Charlie Parker's "Confirmation." Bird is also an inspiration behind the drum chant of "Find Your Pose" as well as "Air Purifier," a play on Parker's "Air Conditioning" that also pays homage to the modern appliance crucial to living in Beijing, China, where Sun spends time each year when not in his Brooklyn home.

Sun's supple clarinet can be heard on the mysterious "Loading Screen" and the elegiac "Deliver the Keys." The C-melody comes to the fore on the album's sole standard, "All of Me," which most clearly shows how Sun has reimagined Lester Young's sound in a 21st-century context, and on the first of the two completely improvised tracks - "One Never Knows Now" and "Does One, Now Does One, Now Does" - which take their curious titles from a story by the late David Foster Wallace.

The taut, wiry "Three Ravens" was originally written as an etude, while "Bittergreen" is a negative reharmonization of "Sweet Georgia Brown." The waltz is abstracted on "Ballroom Dancing," the brutal "Misanthrope" delivers heavy metal intensity, and "Announcements" offers an unconventional setting for every concert's obligatory band introductions. Finally, "Thunder" ends the album on a starkly expressive note.

A saxophonist, improviser, composer, and blogger, Kevin Sun has studied composition with Miguel Zenón and John Hollenbeck, and cites contemporary composers such as Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Miles Okazaki, Henry Threadgill, Steve Lehman, and Mark Turner as key influences. Currently based out of Brooklyn, New York, Sun performs with the collective quartets Great On Paper and Earprint and has shared the stage with Vijay Iyer, James Moody, Kenny Burrell, Dave Liebman, and Rich Perry, among others. He is an active contributor to Jazz Speaks, the official blog of The Jazz Gallery, where he has conducted interviews with artists such as Herbie Hancock and Joshua Redman. His blog on jazz and literature, A Horizontal Search, has been recognized by National Public Radio's A Blog Supreme and Ethan Iverson's Do the Math.

thekevinsun.com

PDX Jazz Celebrates Mingus Dynasty: Rarely Performed 1957 Tijuana Moods Masterpiece

The Western Jazz Presenters Network, a consortium of 25 presenting organizations, will celebrate the legacy of the iconoclastic jazz legend Charles Mingus through a series of concerts to be presented in Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Tijuana and Portland, Oregon. The auspicious occasion by the majestic Mingus Dynasty celebrates the historic 1957 Tijuana Moods recording.

Mingus Dynasty, which rarely tours in the U.S., will feature: tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, alto saxophonist/flautist Brandon Wright, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, pianist Theo Hill, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Adam Cruz.

While considered one of Mingus' masterworks, the Tijuana Moods album has not been played

in its entirety since the formation of Dynasty shortly after Mingus' death in 1979, and the

performance featured an all-alumni group spearheaded by the exuberant Dannie Richmond and arranger Jimmy Knepper. The albums' genesis came from a trip to Mexico in the late '50s by Mingus who reflected, "...with the sting of tequila, salt and lime in my mouth and burning my nostrils, I decided to benefit musically from this experience and set out to compose and re-create what I felt and saw around me."

Considered one of the most important figures in twentieth century American music, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. He is often mentioned alongside Duke Ellington as one of the most important composers in jazz history. Active from the 1950s through his death in 1979, Mingus created a rich repertoire of jazz standards and an impressive catalog of major recordings, and fostered generations of musicians who had their apprenticeship in his band.

After his death, Mingus' widow, Sue, continued the Mingus Big Band and the smaller Dynasty band, which draws its musicians from first-chair players in the larger ensemble. The big band -- and on occasion Mingus Dynasty -- plays Mingus' music every Monday night at one of NYC's most important jazz venues, the Jazz Standard, and includes some of the top jazz musicians in New York.

Legendary jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus Jr. was born at the Camp Little Army Hospital in Nogales on April 22, 1922. His father, a sergeant, was stationed at the camp with his wife and two daughters who were born at Camp Little before him. Although the family soon left this segregated camp for a new life in the Watts area of South Central Los Angeles, the birth of this jazz great is reminder of the legacy of African Americans in southern Arizona.

While rumors perpetuate of Mingus visiting Nogales and playing in clubs in Sonora, there is no proof of this romantic notion. But he did spend time in Cuernavaca, Mexico seeking a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and died there on Jan. 5, 1979. Nevertheless, Mingus revisited this border town in spirit through projects generated by southern Arizona music fans and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

"Jazz on the Border: The Mingus Project" was produced in April 1993 by the Tucson Jazz Society and the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce. It included youth education, a performance of Mingus' Epitaph including the world premiere of a long-lost movement from that masterwork, and free concerts on both sides of the border.

  

The Santa Cruz Advocates for the Arts was formed in 2007 to renew the celebration of Mingus' legacy by producing the annual Charles Mingus Hometown Music Festival around his birthday, and by building The Mingus Memorial Park at the former entrance to Camp Little at Western and Bejarano streets. The park is a public/private partnership, the City of Nogales having donated the land, infrastructure and upkeep.  A pocket oasis of plants and art, the park is easily transformed into a performance facility which may be used by other local non-profits as well.

Dan Atkinson, a leading jazz presenter for UC San Diego and the Athenaeum, conceived of the Tijuana Moods project as a way to strengthen ties with Mexico and the neighboring border city of Tijuana. "We live here at the busiest border crossing in the world, where the 8th largest city in the US meets the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Mexico. In a region where the US and Mexico are constantly exchanging influence in every sector, what better way to express this reality than to present an American jazz giant's creative reflections on Tijuana, and to see this music performed there for the first time ever by his own legacy band?"

"Charles Mingus has cast an imposing influence over post war modern jazz and Dynasty musically and politically speaks to the heart of his various ensembles. Dan Atkinson is to be commended for initiating this project, and Network Director Yvonne Ervin for collaborating with the Nogales community and network partners," concludes PDX Jazz Executive Artistic Director Don Lucoff.

  

Mingus Dynasty on Tour is presented by WJPN and funded in part by

WESTAF Tour West, The Bright Moments Fund and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Jan. 19: Tucson, AZ, HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival, Fox Theatre

Jan. 20: Phoenix, AZ, Musical Instrument Museum

Jan. 21: Tijuana, Baja CA, Mexico; CECUT Cultural Center

Jan. 22: San Diego CA, TSRI Auditorium (Athenaeum Jazz at TSRI series)

Jan. 23: Portland OR, Revolution Hall (PDX Jazz)

San Francisco Bay Area Guitarist George Cotsirilos To Release "Mostly in Blue"

George Cotsirilos Quartet Mostly in Blue Jazz guitarist/composer George Cotsirilos had previously recorded mostly in a trio setting with longtime associates Robb Fisher on bass and Ron Marabuto on drums. For his forthcoming sixth CD, Mostly in Blue, he expanded to a quartet, with pianist Keith Saunders, to shake up his approach a bit but also in the interests of being true to the music he was hearing in his head. OA2 Records will release the new CD on January 19.

"I started hearing a little different sound connected to the tunes I was writing," Cotsirilos says. "It seemed more amenable to a quartet, with a little more harmony underlying the melody line."

The trio tested out its chemistry with Saunders, a mainstay of the New York jazz scene with whom the guitarist had never played but both Fisher and Marabuto had. "When we first got together, it wasn't hard to tell it was working," he says. "We kind of jelled immediately. In the studio, even before we started playing tunes, when we were playing to get the sound, the chemistry was there. It's stunning how quickly Keith was there, on top of everything." Every track on the album was recorded in one or two takes.

In addition to six Cotsirilos originals, the repertoire includes a luminous arrangement of the Harry Warren-Mack Gordon classic "I Wish I Knew," where Saunders's presence liberates the stylistically wide-ranging guitarist to play legato more than he usually does. Another highlight is a feverishly fast performance of the Charlie Parker classic "Crazeology."

The band worked as their own producers in collaboration with engineer Dave Luke, a decorated veteran of Fantasy Records with whom Cotsirilos had worked several times. "We wanted the album to have a live feel," says Cotsirilos, and this live-in-studio sound can be heard as much in the playing as in the engineering, whether on Bird's bebop burner or the guitarist's slinky "Ms. Luna," written for his "troublemaking" cat.

"Blue Dusk," another Cotsirilos original, is a darkly shimmying tune with a swaying movement that puts the listener in the best kind of mood to greet the evening. And then there's "Down, Not Out," which in speaking to and for the underdog in these agonizing times suggests a cure for the melancholy many people are feeling today.

George Cotsirilos was born in Chicago in 1951. Under the influence of his aunt, a classical music devotee, he chose violin as his first instrument. His involvement in jazz was elevated when an uncle who'd played drums with the Woody Herman Orchestra took him to hear Louis Armstrong. Seeing Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner play at Chicago's venerated London House turned him on to the piano. But during his teen years, with local notables including the Butterfield Blues Band and Michael Bloomfield making a national noise, he became strongly involved in blues guitar.

In 1969, Cotsirilos enrolled at UC Berkeley as a sociology major. He taught himself blues riffs, using his background in piano to improve technique. A turning point for him came when he commenced music studies with Warren Nunes, a phenomenal jazz guitarist and prolific writer of guitar books.

Nunes shifted Cotsirilos's attention to jazz and had him listen not just to great guitarists such as Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass but also luminaries on other instruments, among them John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Evans. Cotsirilos studied classical guitar privately as well through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

George Cotsirilos Music wasn't the only thing vying for Cotsirilos's future. Born into a family of lawyers -- his late father, George, Sr., the son of Greek immigrants, was a prominent Chicago defense attorney -- Cotsirilos acquired a law degree with thoughts of getting involved in social causes. He became an assistant public defender, then moved on to a successful criminal defense practice in San Francisco and a faculty position at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, where he taught criminal trial practice for fifteen years. At the same time, Cotsirilos continued to practice, perform, and record jazz, releasing co-led quartet and quintet albums featuring venerated drummer Eddie Marshall, and, in 2003, his first solo album, Silenciosa. He subsequently released three trio recordings with Fisher and Marabuto.

While he finally retired in recent years from practicing and teaching law, he has remained deeply involved in music. "I have done what I have for a number of reasons, both personal and socio-philosophical," he reflects. "Involvement in criminal law, while still trying to maintain and grow as a musician, was a life experience that was intense, often very rewarding, but also frenetic. Music, which was always there as a salvation, really, remains and now gets my full attention."  

The George Cotsirilos Quartet will be performing CD release shows at the following: 2/10 Bird & Beckett, San Francisco; 2/18 St. Albans Church, Albany, CA; 2/25 Chez Hanny, San Francisco. 

  

Kate McGarry Releases First Trio Album featuring Keith Ganz and Gary Versace On The Subject Tonight Is Love

Countless poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, writers and dreamers have taken up that same subject since Hafiz's day, but despite seven intervening centuries of exploration love continues to offer an inexhaustible supply of complexities and mysteries. On The Subject Tonight Is Love, their first album as a trio, vocalist Kate McGarry, guitarist/bassist Keith Ganz and keyboardist/accordionist Gary Versace rise to that eternal challenge, investigating the concept of love in its many forms and from several different perspectives over the course of a dozen alluring songs, from timeless folk tunes to transformed jazz standards, celebratory pop songs to evocative originals.

Love is not only the subject but the very substance of this project. The Subject Tonight Is Love (due out February 2, 2018 via Binxtown Records) is the culmination of more than a decade of work and friendship. McGarry and Ganz are partners in life as well as in music, while Versace has been a close and frequent collaborator with both, dating back to McGarry's 2007 album The Target. In various combinations the three have worked together under each other's leadership, alongside drummer/composer John Hollenbeck and with the vocal supergroup MOSS.

Only such longstanding relationships could lead to such free-ranging but sharply focused sounds as are captured on The Subject Tonight Is Love. Beginning from McGarry's gift for bringing a lyric to life, the trio improvised cinematic settings for each song, painterly enough to conjure vivid imagery in the listener's mind while leaving space for their own spontaneous creations to shape each piece anew and allow an audience to make its own discoveries. Both Ganz and Versace pick up a variety of instruments throughout the session, with Ganz supplementing his acoustic and electric guitar with acoustic bass and, on one piece, drums, while Versace plays piano, keyboards, organ and accordion. McGarry also takes over the piano for her own "Losing Strategy #4."

  

"Kate's music is very story-oriented," Ganz says. "There's a soundscape or mood that goes with each particular tune, so this trio offers an unusual situation where we're all improvising within a specific mood. With just Gary and me, it's easier to get a hold on the little world for each song and shape it or move it around in the moment each time we perform it."

"I really appreciated that they were so receptive and sensitive to the origins of the stories behind the songs," McGarry adds. "That's always the driving force for me emotionally. Keith and Gary were able to be an extension of that, forwarding the narrative in instrumental ways. That's a rare thing."

Another kind of love was an important factor in bringing The Subject Tonight Is Love to fruition - namely, the love of their fans for McGarry, Ganz and Versace. The project was supported by a PledgeMusic crowdfunding campaign, which permitted the trio to take their time to discover an approach to the music and record at a more leisurely, exploratory pace. "We wouldn't have had that kind of freedom in other circumstances," McGarry points out. "It was really beautiful to see so many people jump up to the plate and say, 'We want this music to get made and we're going to make sure that happens.'"

The title piece, a stark, atmospheric recitation of the Hafiz poem, sets the elusive mood for the album, followed by a gentle, diaristic take on the classic "Secret Love" that captures the song's shift from the surreptitious to the celebratory. Their breezy, intimate "Gone With the Wind" meets the notion of lost love with a resigned, "easy come, easy go" shrug, while Ganz's hushed, intimate arrangement of "My Funny Valentine" is a perfect fit for McGarry's unique sincerity, overcoming a lifetime of resistance to what she rightly calls "this most abused of love songs." Joy pervades "What a Difference a Day Made," combined in a medley with Ganz's "Mr. Sparkle."

While these familiar tunes span the spectrum of love songs, the remainder of the album steps back for an even broader interpretation of the core idea. McGarry's haunting "Climb Down" depicts a dream-like venture onto her own family tree, offering both a challenge and an expression of gratitude to the spirits of her forebears. The Irish folk tune "Whiskey You're the Devil," with Obed Calvaire making a guest appearance on drums, emerges at the end like an ancestral memory. Co-written by Benny Golson and Kenny Dorham, "Fair Weather" is an expression of brotherly love sorely-needed in these most divisive of times, while "Indian Summer" is saturated with the wistfulness of time gone by. Egberto Gismonti's carnivalesque "Playing Palhaço," with new lyrics by singer Jo Lawry, finds love peeling back the layers of masquerade we tend to hide ourselves beneath.

McGarry's confessional "Losing Strategy #4," with Versace's expressive accordion supplying the voice of conscience, is a reckoning with the notion of retaliation, coming to terms with the fact that vengeance tends to backfire on oneself. "She Always Will" finds the trio revisiting a song, with music penned by guitarist Steve Cardenas, that the three originally recorded a decade earlier on The Target, now deepened and reflecting on the idea of maternal love. Finally, an impromptu romp through The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" provides an inviting epilogue, with a guest appearance by trumpet great Ron Miles to enhance the all-embracing message.

"Love is the substratum of all things," McGarry says. "I wanted to look at love from a lot of different angles. The point wasn't to sing about some idyllic love; it was more thinking about how love functions in our lives. What brings it to us? What keeps us from it? What helps us connect with it inside ourselves? What helps us connect to humanity? Having that current flowing through everything really affected the way we played."

CD Release Concert on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at The Jazz Standard, NYC

o Fri. Feb. 2 - The Velvet Note, Atlanta, GA  

o Sat. Feb. 3 - The Oak Room at Serenbe Inn, Chattahoochee Hills, GA 

o Sat. Feb. 17 - The Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham, NC

o Wed. June 27 - Rochester Jazz Fest, Rochester, NY

katemcgarry.com

Ray Angry and Warren Wolf Present ‘JAZZ-AGEDDON’ A Pre-Grammy Celebration and Live Recording at the Blue Note Jazz Club

Jazz fans are in for an unprecedented and tasty musical treat to kick off a week of GRAMMY Awards celebrations in New York City. Acclaimed jazz artists, band leaders, and music producers Ray Angry and Warren Wolf are teaming up to present JAZZ-AGEDDON, a unique pre-GRAMMY Celebration and Live Recording with a who’s who of special guests, including James Carter, Sean Jones, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeremy Pelt, Marcus Gilmore, Myron Walden, Ali Jackson, Ben Williams, and Willie Jones III. The three-night jazz spectacular starts on Monday, January 22, 2018 and runs through Wednesday, January, 24, 2018 with two shows nightly at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club, located in New York’s Greenwich Village.

With a lineup featuring critically hailed and genre-pushing all-stars, JAZZ-AGEDDON presents a thrilling musical exchange between innovative contemporary craftsmen at the top of their game, all celebrating America’s one true indigenous musical art form, Jazz, in the days leading up to the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which take place January 28 in New York for the first time in 15 years. The lineup and setlist of covers and originals will shift each night, ensuring that JAZZ-AGEDDON cooks up a unique gumbo of jazz flavors with each show.

“What an honor to start off 2018 performing at the Blue Note with Warren Wolf and present new music with a cast of world-renowned musicians,” says keyboardist Angry, who fronts the band Mister Goldfinger, among other projects. “Each night will be something that you won’t want to miss. Can’t wait to bring you music that will feed your mind, body, and soul.”

Baltimore-based vibraphones master Wolf adds, “I look forward to performing in Jazz-Ageddon with the great pianist and keyboardist Ray Angry. Many of our friends, Jeremy Pelt, Sean Jones, James Carter, Ben Williams, Wycliffe Gordon, Willie Jones III, Myron Walden and more will bring the very best sounds in jazz music and beyond with Ray Angry and myself at the helm.”

Shows are scheduled for 8 and 10 p.m. The Blue Note is located at 131 West 3rd Street, New York, New York 10012; for reservations, please call 212-475-8592. Tickets are available at the Blue Note Club website. The lineup for the three nights is as follows:

Monday, January 22, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), James Carter (saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums and percussion), Ben Williams (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums and percussion), and Wycliffe Gordon (trombone).

Tuesday, January 23, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Willie Jones III (drums, percussion), Ali Jackson (drums, percussion), Myron Walden (saxophone, bass clarinet), Ben Williams (bass), and Sean Jones (trumpet).

Wednesday, January 24, 2017

Ray Angry (keyboards), Warren Wolf (vibes, mallet percussion), Willie Jones III (drums, percussion), Myron Walden (saxophone, bass clarinet), Ben Williams (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums and percussion), and Sean Jones (trumpet).

Ray Angry is an acclaimed pianist, producer, composer and musical director, Angry has collaborated with a wide range of pop, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop artists including Jeff Beck, Wynton Marsalis, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Yolanda Adams, Joss Stone, Sting, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman, a duo of Mick Jagger & Dave Stewart, Estelle, Richard Smallwood, Dionne Warwick, Dianne Reeves, Queen Latifah, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Kelis, Christina Aguilera and ongoing associates The Roots. His compositions have been featured on TV shows, including “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” His performance of “Celebration of Life Suite” was included on the Revive/Blue Note label’s compilation Supreme Sonacy, Vol 1. This summer, Angry is releasing his debut album, Ray Angry One.

Warren Wolf is a respected recording artist as well as an alumnus and former percussion professor at the world-renowned Berklee College of Music, vibraphone and marimba specialist. Wolf is the leader of Warren Wolf & WOLFPACK. With his mallet and percussion skills, he has served as a member of bassist Christian McBride’s group Inside Straight as well as the Bay Area’s all-star SFJazz Collective, the David Sanborn/Joey DeFrancesco Group, and the Aaron Diehl Quartet. His most recent recording as a leader is Convergence.

James Carter is multi-instrumentalist and Detroit native. Carter is best known for his innovative saxophone sound. A winner of Downbeat Magazine’s Critics and Readers’ Choice Award for baritone saxophone several years in a row, Carter is also an authority on vintage saxophones with an extensive collection. He has performed, toured and played on albums with jazz notables Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Karryn Allison, Cyrus Chestnut, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater and his cousin, jazz violinist Regina Carter. He has recorded numerous albums as a leader.

Marcus Gilmore is a young-gun drum star. Gilmore has played with the likes of Ravi Coltrane, Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, and Cassandra Wilson, among others. Born into a musical family (his grandfather is jazz drummer Roy Haynes) and raised in Queens, New York, Gilmore is currently a member of pianist Vijay Iyer’s band.

Wycliffe Gordon is considered one of the reigning trombone masters of his generation, Gordon has earned Downbeat Magazine’s Best Trombone for four years running, as well as eight honors from the Jazz Journalists Association, among other awards. A music educator and author as well as a performer and composer, Gordon frequently tours with his Wycliffe Gordon & His International All-Stars, composes for a variety of ensembles as well as stage and film projects. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Natalie Merchant, Rene Marie, Anat Cohen, Dianne Reeves, Ricky Skaggs, and Arturo Sandoval, among others.

Ali Jackson is a composer, educator, and percussionist. Jackson left Detroit to attend the New School University for Contemporary Music in New York, where he studied with Max Roach and Elvin Jones. A member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for more than a decade, Jackson has also performed and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Willie Nelson, Tony Bennett, Faith Hill, Karriem Riggins, Bobby McFerrin, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Harry Connick, Jr., Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, Vinx, Diana Krall, Gerald Albright, Jacky Terrasson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and the New York City Ballet, among others.

Willie Jones III has studied under legendary drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath in college. The band he founded, Black Note, won the John Coltrane Jazz Competition and went on to record a series of albums. Jones has recorded with Roy Hargrove, Kurt Elling, and Eric Reed; he has also worked with Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Houston Person, Billy Childs, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones, among others. In 2000, Jones released his debut CD, Vol 1...Straight Swingin’, on his label, WJ3 Records, and continues to record as a leader.

Sean Jones is a trumpeter, composer, and educator. The Ohio-born musician has captured attention for his unique sound. He held the trumpet chair in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and has also been featured as a soloist with Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson, and Marcus Miller, and toured with Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter on the 2011 Tribute to Miles tour.  A member of the SFJazz Collective, Jones has released several solo sets on Mack Avenue Records.

Jeremy Pelt is a respected traditional and contemporary trumpet player. Pelt has worked with Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ravi Coltrane, Frank Foster, Winard Harper, Jimmy Heath, Vincent Herring, John Hicks, Charli Persip, Ralph Peterson, Lonnie Plaxico, Bobby Short, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Nancy Wilson and The Skatalites, to name a few. Pelt has numerous album recordings as a leader.

Myron Walden learned woodwinds in high school and became so skilled on the alto sax that he was handpicked for a guest spot with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The Miami-born, Bronx-bred musician played with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Henderson, Kevin Hays, Stephen Scott, Greg Hutchinson and Eric Harland before earning a regular gig on Wednesday nights with his Apex Trio. He moved on to guest spots with Brian Blade’s Fellowship Band and The New Jazz Composers Octet, which made three recordings as a unit and two with Freddie Hubbard. Also a noted tenor and soprano sax player, Waldon has dozens of recordings as a sideman and several projects as a leader.

Ben Williams raised in Washington, D.C., earned a BA from Michigan State University and a MA from the esteemed Juilliard School. The acclaimed bassist is a winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 2009, Williams has gone on to record as a leader. He is also a member of noted jazz guitarist Pat Metheny’s Unity Band, which won a 2013 Grammy Award.

About the Blue Note Jazz Club

Since its inception in 1981, Blue Note has become one of the premier jazz clubs in the world and a cultural institution in Greenwich Village. Owner and founder Danny Bensusan had a vision to create a jazz club in Greenwich Village that would treat deserving artists with respect, while allowing patrons to see the world’s finest jazz musicians in a close, comfortable setting. The club simultaneously strives to preserve the history of jazz, while fostering progression and innovation within the art form.

NEW RELEASES - ELVIN JONES - GENESIS; HIROSHIMA – EAST / PROVIDENCE; IVAN BLANUSA - LOUNGIN'

ELVIN JONES - GENESIS

Elvin Jones rose to fame in the company of one of the greatest saxophone players ever – the mighty John Coltrane – and his post-Coltrane work like this really continues a keen respect for the role of the reeds in jazz – and really does a lot to push it forward as well! There's a compelling edge to the record that's light years from Elvin's work with Coltrane – a completely new sensibility that can be spacious one minute, extremely powerful the next – and quite possibly realized to its fullest potential here, thanks to the mindblowing contributions of Dave Liebman on tenor and soprano sax, Frank Foster on tenor and flute, and Joe Farrell on alto and soprano sax. All three players work together on each track – and all shift reeds throughout the session – opening up majestically with inspiration from Elvin's drums, and some wonderful work from Gene Perla on bass. The sound is beyond easy categorization or simple style – and the record's filled with wonderful titles that include "PP Phoenix", "For All The Other Times", "Three Card Monty", and "Cecilia Is Love". (SHM-CD pressing!) ~ Dusty Groove.

HIROSHIMA – EAST / PROVIDENCE

A pair of later albums from one of the most unique fusion groups of their generation! First up is East, a record that really has Hiroshima embracing both their name and their previous approach to tight jazzy fusion – a set that's very electric, but also uses plenty of koto, taiko, and shamisen to give the music a strong Japanese flavor! The strongest lead comes from Dan Kuramoto, whose keyboard work and reed lines get plenty of space – but the set's also a definite group effort, with a warm sense of sympathy between the players – something you'd definitely need to blend acoustic and electric elements in this way! Machun sings lovely lead vocals on a few tracks – and titles include "East", "Tabo", "Streetcorner Paradise", "Daydreamer", "Living In America", and "Thousand Cranes". Providence showcases the continuing evolution of the Hiroshima sound – a set that still features the group's blend of electric fusion and more traditional Japanese elements – but which also marks a bit of a shift in the style of electric instruments at the time! In other words, the vibe here is more early 90s fusion than the sound of their earlier records – a shift in the choice of keyboards used by leader Dan Kuramoto, which are mixed alongside koto, shamisen, taiko, and percussion. Jeanette Clinger sings lead vocals in a few spots – and titles include "Turning Point", "Island World", "Time On The Nile", "With This Heart", "Kazen", "Providence", "One Of Us", and "Ribbon In The Sky". ~  Dusty Groove

IVAN BLANUSA - LOUNGIN'

Serbia based musician and saxophonist Ivan Blanusa presenting a fresh two track single release under the title 'Loungin'. The single is loaded with a smooth variety of jazz, funk and fusion spiced with modern stylish urban r'n'b & soul grooves. For this release the mighty and very well known producer Basement Freaks has joined on the release giving a touch with his great skills on the production. Both tracks are diving into r'n'b and jazz with deep & burning grooves and great arrangements. 'Loungin is going down & under with a smoky breath, blended with hiphop beats & brass section, with nice hooks and memorial sax-lines. While 'Sunday Chill' is travelling deeper, a slo-mo urban exploration with easy-going attitude and sophisticated saxophone solo & jazzy house vibes. Produced by: Basement Freaks. 

NYC PHENOMENON - THE EBONY HILLBILLIES - STIR UP THE ORGANIC SOUL, FUNK, ROMANCE & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON THEIR LATEST ALBUM, ‘5 MILES FROM TOWN’

From the street corners of Manhattan to the hallowed stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to TV appearances on the BBC and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” The Ebony Hillbillies are a true phenomenon, reviving the lost art form and American legacy of string band music for a whole new generation.

Continuing to bring a fresh urgency to the genre for a 21st Century world in need of some deep musical education, the dynamic ensemble – led by Henrique Prince (fiddle, vocals) with Norris Bennett (banjo, mountain dulcimer, guitar, vocals), Gloria Thomas Gassaway (on vocals and bones), acoustic bassist William “Salty Bill” Salter (3x-Grammy winning co-writer of legendary pop hits like “Where is the Love” and “Just The Two of Us”), Allanah Salter (shaker, vocals), Newman Taylor Baker (washboard percussion) and A.R. on “cowboy” percussion kit - are releasing their latest full length album, 5 Miles From Town.

Infused with the Hillbillies’ trademark mix of pop, country, bluegrass, folk and jazz, the full length collection reflects a soulful, gritty and alternately funky, romantic and socially conscious place where toes are always tapping, percussion is slapping, fiddles are jamming, front porch chairs are rocking, banjos are plucking and voices are raised in determination and triumph.

Mixing lively instrumentals and vocals over the course of 11 tracks and 3 alternately playful and hard-hitting snippets/skits, the group performs everything from a down home fiddle jam (“Hog”), the gentle romantic cautionary tale "Fork in the Road” and an intimate cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to the incisive social commentaries “Another Man Done Gone (Hands Up Don’t Shoot)” (about black men and police shootings) and “I’m on My Way To Brooklyn,” which rolls as a lighthearted NYC inspired spiritual until the end...and three gunshots.

The Ebony Hillbillies started out on the streets of Manhattan, but their vibe and influence has extended over the years to acclaimed live performances at legendary venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; appearances on the BBC, Good Morning America, NBC, CBS, etc., international music workshops and festivals, visual artist collaborations at museums (including The Whitney with phenom Kara Walker and The Smithsonian Museum), Guest school programs, Foot stomping and Hand-clapping Dance parties and more. In the digital era, they have sold thousands of hard copies of their four CDs – Sabrina’s Holiday, I Thought You Knew, Barefoot and Flying and 2015's Slappin’ A Rabbit – Live! – at their shows and via their globally popular website, www.theEbonyHillbillies.com.