Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and Harlem Stage Present the 3rd and Final Stretch Music Festival

Harlem Stage, the legendary uptown venue that for over 35 years has promoted the creative legacy of Harlem and artists of color from around the corner and across the globe, is proud to present its Spring 2019 season of performances. The 2019 spring season is curated by Monique Martin, Director of Programming for Harlem Stage and features artists who #Disrupt and take creative risk. The performances feature a range of artistic genres, offering audiences the chance to experience legendary performers, as well as rising stars.  

Harlem Stage is thrilled to continue its partnership with Edison Award-winning and Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to re-establish jazz as a social music through the Stretch Music Residency. This third and final year of Adjuah’s residency will feature the 3rd and final installment of the Stretch Music Festival. Featuring artists including Saul Williams, the Logan Richardson band, Freelance and more. The festival also includes a FREE Stretch Music Intensive, in addition to a performance from the Steve Turre Quintet as part of the Jazz Then and Now conversation series.

  

The series kicks off on April 9th as Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah returns to Manhattan School of Music to lead a FREE masterclass on his genre blind Stretch Music. All music students, musicians and lovers of the jazz idiom and all its variabilities are welcomed to join this immersive workshop centered on improvisation, technique and thriving as a working artist today. Also on April 9th, is a free pop-up performance at Silvana’s Restaurant featuring drummer, producer and composer King Klavé.

On April 11th, as part of the Jazz Then and Now series, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah will be in conversation with composer and trombonist Steve Turre on improvisation, technology, collaboration, the importance of the historical lineage and more. The conversation will be preceded with a live performance by the Steve Turre Quintet. Jazz Then and Now is a conversation series, presented as part of the Stretch Music Residency that brings together innovative thought leaders in the field in dialogue on the history, the present and the future of jazz. 

Closing out the series on April 12th, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah curates and performs at his final Stretch Music Festival under his three-year residency with Harlem Stage. The generosity, leadership and innovation Christian has brought to the Harlem Stage Gatehouse and broader New York community is extraordinary. The audience can anticipate another powerful festival that will once again advance and stretch the landscape of jazz. The evening will feature stellar guests including Saul Williams, the Logan Richardson band, Freelance and more, as Christian connects West African rhythms with his Afro New Orleanian cultural traditions to the sonic freedoms of creative improvised music. Come ready to be Stretched! 

Pianist Nick Sanders Looks to the Future - of Jazz and the World in General - with Dark Humor and Eclectic Imagination on Playtime 2050

On Playtime 2050, the third release by his inventive trio, pianist/composer Nick Sanders looks to the future with a unique combination of imaginative complexity and dark humor. Due out March 15 via Sunnyside, the album presents the latest evolution of Sanders' singular voice, which blends influences from a wide swath of jazz history with concepts from contemporary classical music and the composer's offbeat perspective.

Once again, Sanders is joined by bassist Henry Fraser and drummer Connor Baker.  Where earlier outings supplemented Sanders' distinctive compositions with aptly-chosen pieces by such heavily influential composers as Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman, Playtime 2050 consists entirely of originals, a diverse repertoire ranging from entirely through-composed pieces to free improvisations, solo piano meditations to raucous swing tunes, tender ballads to prepared piano explosions.

"I like working with different extremes," Sanders says. "When I reflect on the spirit of jazz or improvised music, the greatest musicians always pushed the music forward, looked in a forward direction. A lot of modern jazz is very much stuck in the past, so I'm trying to draw on my experiences and do something different."

To set the mood, Sanders returned to the work of New Mexico-based artist Leah Saulnier, the self-described "Painting Maniac" whose painting of a sideshow contortionist also graced the cover of the trio's last release, You Are a Creature (2014). Her unsettling "Playtime 2050," which gave the album its name, depicts an adorable dystopia, with a young girl in pigtails and gasmasks cuddling a similarly accoutered stuffed bunny.

"When I first saw the image," Sanders recalls, "I found it really interesting and weird, not to mention starkly different from any artwork I've seen in the jazz world. I liked its tongue in cheek look at the state of the world today, with the silver lining being that it's clearly about surviving."

That notion resonated not just with Sanders' own views on the modern socio-political reality, but with his forward-looking take on jazz. It also runs parallel to an optimistic view of the place of art in the world. No matter how dark things get, it seems to suggest, there's always the escape of play - whether that means spending time with a favorite toy or taking the stage with close collaborators.

The painting's dark humor also captures a key element of Sanders' own music, a thread that can be traced back to the wry, puckish playfulness of the iconic Thelonious Monk. The sharp, jaunty angles of album opener "Live Normal" bear traces of Monk's influence, while the title comes from a line spoken by Steven Avery, the subject of the hit docuseries Making a Murderer. While Sanders' own story is far from that of Avery's, the desire to "live normal" is one that every outcast might feel at some point in their life.

The frenetic "Manic Maniac," with its blistering intensity and disorienting shifts in time, shows the influence of greats like Ornette Coleman and Jason Moran, the latter one of Sanders' mentors at NEC. It's followed by the title tune, a slightly skewed swing tune that laces its buoyant melody with a few eccentric touches, perfectly suited for that disturbing cover image. The moody "Prepared for the Blues," meanwhile, is the first of two pieces for prepared piano, here used subtly on slow, noir-ish blues, with just a pair of notes effected by finishing nails placed between the strings. The second prepared piano piece, the freely improvised "Prepared for the Accident," is much more audacious in its use of percussive sounds and unidentifiable noises. The inspiration for preparing the piano comes from legendary composer John Cage, whose work Sanders has studied.

The meditative "Still Considering" is an elegant, through-composed ballad, revealing Sanders' classical music background in its delicate construction and chamber music feel. The piece draws on the pianist's stint at a Buddhist monastery in California's Redwood Valley.  That sense is disrupted by the feverish "The Number 3," which evokes the insistent and unpredictable music of avant-garde saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton in its aggressive repetitions and passages of sparse minimalism opening into fierce improvisation.

"Interlude for S.L.B." is a solo tribute to Sanders' late mother, who introduced him to a wealth of diverse music during his youth in New Orleans, from the sounds of her native Cuba to a range of other traditions that helped instill his love of music. "Endless" is built on the close relationship between Sanders and Baker, showcasing the close interaction between the piano and drums while Fraser provides the essential glue that binds them together. "It's Like This" provides another brief respite with its serene, spiraling melody, while "Hungry Ghost" turns dark, with hard-hitting, rock-inflected moments interspersed with uneasy segments of lurking tension.

"RPD" is reprised from Janus, Sanders' duo album with saxophonist Logan Strosahl, its unnerving wistfulness reflecting the themes of its source, the zombie apocalypse video game series Resident Evil. Finally, the reverent "2 Longfellow Park" ends the album on a spiritual note, its title taken from the address of an old church near Boston.

Representing a rich variety of moods, inspirations and approaches, Playtime 2050 feels like a culmination of the trio's tenure together and of Sanders' always expanding compositional palette. "I explored a lot of new territory on this album," Sanders concludes. "This is my contribution to the idea of pushing the music forward, which I think is extremely crucial in keeping the music alive and culturally important."

Pianist Nick Sanders is a truly fresh musical voice, wholly original yet clearly shaped by the masters he has studied and embraced. Sanders' New Orleans upbringing ensured an eclectic ear and musical sensibility. He began playing music before the age of four and was a quick study on the drums, able to almost instantly learn the second-line beat. He  tackled the  piano  in  second  grade  and  began  to  show remarkable promise as a classical performer, winning numerous regional and national competitions. Sanders studied classical piano at the famed New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) before moving to the jazz program after encouragement from pianists Michael Pellera and Danilo Perez. In 2006 Sanders earned a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Perez, Jason Moran, John McNeil, Ran Blake, Cecil McBee and Fred Hersch, who produced Nameless Neighbors, Sanders' critically acclaimed debut recording for Sunnyside Records, as well as its follow-up, You Are A Creature.

nicksandersmusic.com

New Masters Series - ReWORKS A Rotating Ensemble of Contemporary Jazz Musicians Interpreting Some of Today's Biggest Hits

Sony Music Masterworks today introduces New Masters, a rotating ensemble of today’s leading, up-and-coming and established jazz musicians, as they take on today’s biggest charting-topping hits for a new genre-defying project entitled ReWORKS. Available everywhere now is ReWORKS – Vol. 1 lead offering, Juice WRLD’s breakthrough hit “Lucid Dreams,” as arranged by guitarist Gilad Hekselman. “Lucid Dreams” is the first track from ReWORKS – Vol. 1, which is set for release Friday, July 12 and will feature songs originally performed by Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and more.

Of the track, guitarist Gilad Hekselman says: “It was definitely a challenge to take on ‘Lucid Dreams’ because it was a song that was completely off my radar (although I'm familiar with ‘Shape of My Heart,’ the Sting tune it’s based on). Only after recording it did I start noticing how many times this song would be playing out of cars or on the radio—it was a good opportunity to get out of my jazz bubble and connect to what’s popular these days. I tried to do something with it that respects the original, yet offers a platform for the band’s expression. Of course I had no doubt that in the hands of these master musicians, no matter what I did or didn’t do with it, it’d turn into something beautiful, and it did.”

The newest project from Sony Music Masterworks – ReWORKS – embraces jazz in all of its crazy polarities. It features New Masters, a powerful all-star collective comprised of primarily new talent, formed as a fresh, creative reaction to the distinct challenges of an age when playlists and brands—more than albums and bands—are in prominence.

The first edition New Masters ensemble includes among its impressive lineup many of the leading, up-and-coming or established representatives of their respective instruments: pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Eric Harland, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Burniss Earl Travis and saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins. Adding his trademark spark and cohesion to the project as well is respected percussionist Bashiri Johnson. Matt Pierson, the veteran jazz producer who initiated ReWORKS, recruited these performers from among the top tier of today’s burgeoning jazz scene, improvisers both steeped in the jazz tradition and in tune with current musical trends. There was a level of familiarity as well: some had experience playing with each other, but there was the added spark of a few first-time encounters.

The group’s repertoire—true to the name ReWORKS—boldly focuses on songs drawn from the top of today’s pop charts, tunes with a melodic priority that are able to benefit from an improviser’s touch. The choices also serve as generational signifiers—present-day hits by familiar stars, as relevant to the youngest tier of listeners as they are pervasive among all who listen with open ears. To hear it from Pierson, the project is as much a product of that longstanding imperative in jazz as it is a product of the current age.

“Fifteen years ago I would have signed each of these guys, but that’s not possible today,” says Pierson, known for helming Warner Brothers’ forward-thinking jazz imprint in the ‘90s and into the new millennium. “The challenge the jazz and jazz-adjacent community currently faces is that our existing audience hasn’t embraced the streaming platforms, while those already utilizing the platforms aren’t being directed to jazz. The intent of the ReWORKS concept is to proactively bridge this gap, using a streaming mentality to creatively subvert how consumers find tracks online and work these newer, singular jazz artists into search results and playlists.”

Pierson adds: “Of course, for this particular effort to be effective long-term, the material needs to be familiar, leading with groove and melody, while remaining artistically uncompromising. I’m confident that these first six tracks achieve this goal, and give us a shot at expanding the audience for undeniably great, creative music and remaining true to the musicians who make it happen.”

On ReWORKS – Vol. 1, four out of six tunes were nominated for a Record of the Year Grammy® Award, and on average each has streamed more than one billion times. It’s a concept with much precedent; in fact one could say that jazz has repeatedly proven itself to be among the most wide-eared of styles in the general family of music, ever curious and attentive to the twists and trends that popular music – despite the prevailing notion that jazz is somehow anti-commercial.

In the 1920s and ‘30s, it took the songs created for Broadway and Hollywood that made it onto the Hit Parade of the day and turned them into timeless standards; in the ‘60s and through the ‘70s, it drew inspiration from the groove-fueled music of Motown and soul. Today, countless jazz musicians embrace broken-beat rhythms while drawing on other ideas and technologies borrowed from the world of hip-hop. This cross-pollination continues to be the way in which jazz grows anew, thriving through change and adaptation – which is precisely the strategy that gave birth to the groundbreaking ReWORKS project, and the all-star group – New Masters – with which to develop it.

About the Artists:



SULLIVAN FORTNER:

A leading pianist of his generation, Fortner’s formidable fluidity and inspired originality derives from his ability to tastefully draw on vocabulary reaching from the music’s traditional roots through its most avant-garde modernity. A product of New Orleans’s music schools and programs, he’s known for his stints in groups led by vibraphonist Stefon Harris trumpeter Roy Hargrove, his collaborations with singer Cecile McLorin Savant (including their recent Grammy®-winning album, The Window) and his own solo excursions.

ERIC HARLAND:

At 43, Harland is the senior member of New Masters, who’s established as the go-to drummer for a number of jazz legends, including saxophonist Charles Lloyd, bassist Dave Holland, percussionist Zakir Hussain and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. He’s a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts from which many other jazz players of note originated, has recorded several albums as a leader, and continues to be one of the most distinguished and in demand drummers on the scene today.

KEYON HARROLD:

Harrold could easily be the most heard trumpet today that no one can name, simply because since graduating from the New School he has become one of the most requested sidemen – on tours and recording projects – by a number of well-known R&B and neo Soul artists, as well as jazz leaders. He’s played with Common, D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé and Maxwell, and was the trumpet heard in all scenes in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. He’s recently come into his own as a leader, having recently released the genre-bending album The Mugician. Raised in Ferguson, Missouri he unsurprisingly focuses on tunes of message and social awareness.

GILAD HEKSELMAN:

The Israeli-born Hekselman is a standout voice in jazz guitar today, who arrived in New York City in 2004 and is already a major influence on other guitar players of his generation. He’s played in bands led by a diverse range of players – Anat Cohen and Chris Potter, John Scofield and Esperanza Spalding – proving his flexibility in dealing with different approaches and situations. He’s led his own groups for fifteen years and recorded five albums as leader.

BURNISS EARL TRAVIS:

Travis didn’t begin his musical journey on bass nor was he drawn to jazz; he was a violinist who first loved hip-hop and the local dance scene in Houston. We have vibraphonist Stefon Harris to thank in part for convincing him to pursue a future playing jazz bass. Early experiences included playing in bands led by trumpeter Roy Hargrove and pianist Eldar – the last for almost three years – and he’s now a go-to bassist for the like of keyboardist Robert Glasper, singer Gretchen Parlato, and MC Common.

IMMANUEL WILKINS:

Saxophonist Wilkins is the group’s junior member having just graduated from Juilliard School of Music, and hails from Philadelphia where his entry into music came from his church background as well as dedicated jazz programs. His musical experiences have taken him in and out of the jazz circle; he’s performed and/or recorded with Jason Moran, the Count Basie Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis and Gerald Clayton, as well as Lalah Hathaway, Solange Knowles, and Bob Dylan.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit, www.SonyMusicMasterworks.com

ReWORKS -- Vol. 1

Sony Music Masterworks · Release Date: July 12, 2019

 

MELISSA ALDANA QUINTET - VISIONS A Musical Exploration of Self-Identity and Expression, Influenced By Frida Kahlo

The glorious freedom to express your deepest self, your truest self, regardless of gender, age, or race, etc. is in abundance on saxophonist/composer/bandleader/educator Melissa Aldana's fourth recording, Visions (available on Motema Music, May 24, 2019).Influenced by the life and works of Frida Kahlo (who Aldana has loved since childhood), Aldana's music encapsulates bold, grand, inspiring strokes, improvisation/space, and the finest filigree, which combine to create the richest of sonic tapestries, resonating with an avalanche of humanity. "Frida to me is an artist that embraces who she is through her art. She talks about ugliness, beauty, being a female, religion, politics, love affairs, sexuality, but mostly, accepting herself as an individual. This is a big part of how she engendered me to write this music," reveals Aldana.

Since beginning her life as a saxophonist at age six (first on alto, then upon hearing Sonny Rollins immediately switching to tenor), Aldana has loved to transcribe her heroes, people like Don Byas and Mark Turner. And, as a young painter she would try to copy the works of her two favorite artists, Frida Kahlo and Oswaldo Guayasamin. By her early teens she was a working musician, and was personally invited by Danilo Perez to play at the Panama Jazz Festival. Aldana graduated from Berklee in 2009 and moved to NYC that same year. At age 24, just after recording her second album, she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, prompting The Washington Post to describe her as representing, "a new sense of possibility and direction in jazz."

Over the past two years, leading up to the recording of Visions, Aldana has been exploring this music through a variety of live contexts across the globe with the Melissa Aldana Quintet. Beginning as mutual admirers of each other's playing, the Quintet has transformed into a fearless, virtuosic ensemble of explorers, traversing through new musical landscapes composed by Aldana. Working informally as global jazz ambassadors, the Quintet has appeared at Thailand's International Jazz Day and the Hong Kong International Jazz Day Marathon. They have engaged in an open exchange of musical ideas and artistic inspiration on nearly every continent, having been featured in Madrid, Granada, Perth, Barcelona and the So What's Next? Jazz Festival in The Netherlands. They have also appeared at mainstay NYC venues such as the Birdland, as well as emerging artist hotspots such as The Miller Theater at Columbia University.

Aldana recently led her quintet through explorations of "Visions: For Frida Kahlo," her original suite commissioned by The Jazz Gallery as part of its residency program for emerging artists. The suite premiered in June 2018 to immediate and ongoing enthusiasm, and now, Aldana happily and proudly presents Visions, her full-length album of new music on Motema, influenced by Kahlo's life and works.

The genesis of Visions took place as Aldana was working through some changes in an effort to seek and refine her voice, and raison d'être as an artist. Frida Kahlo began to emerge as a pivotal figure in Aldana's work and quest for honest representation of self. Aldana elaborates, "Like Kahlo's and Guayasamin's works, this album became a path for my own identity and expression. My hope is that this contribution is my first of many that will continue advancing my concepts and convictions."

The composition "Visions," originally part of the Jazz Gallery commission, is emblematic of the album as a whole. This movement is the musical representation and the sound of Aldana's explorations of self-identity that every artist faces, and includes feelings of pain, mistrust, exhilaration and relief. She explains, "experimenting both harmonically and rhythmically with moments of frantic movement interspersed with order and structure is one of the ways I conjure the messiness, struggles and heartbreaking contradictions present in these visions of identity and self-worth."

"La Madrina" explores the concept of the "Godmother" who appeared to Kahlo throughout her life and gave her the choice of either living with inescapable pain, due to childhood polio, a horrific bus accident, miscarriages, and gangrene (all brutally depicted in perhaps her most famous painting, "The Broken Column"), or dying and being at peace. This music addresses the subtle but important difference between the choices we actively make and the choices we're led to make, and how all these choices, for better or worse, come to create our individual narratives. "To capture the complexity of our life choices, Kahlo's struggles and my own personal challenges, I've written layers of tension and resolution into the music and tightly arranged certain sections, but I've also allowed for sections of extended improvisation and possible spontaneous arranging within the form," explained Aldana.

"These compositions, and the rest of the music on Visions, deals with challenging questions that bubbled up while I was immersed in Kahlo's paintings, as well as researching her professional life and personal struggles - the latter of which I feel connected to almost on an intuitive level. In these compositions I aim to create different aesthetics and instrumental soundscapes that represent two specific forces in Kahlo's life that have had a direct, evolving impact on the direction of my music, as well as my own self-identity." - Melissa Aldana

Visions was recorded by David Stoller on 9/14 & 9/15, 2018 at The Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Astoria, N.Y.

The album was mixed and mastered by David Stoller at The Samurai Hotel

Cover art by Cecile McLorin Salvant

  

Tour Dates

4/17: Traina Cultural Center, Worchester, MA with Sam Harris, Kush Abadey and Pablo Menares

5/17: Scullers, Boston, MA with the Visions Quartet

5/18: Side Door, Old Lyme, CT with the Visions Quartet

5/20: Dizzy's, New York, NY with Berklee Ensemble

5/21: Clinic, Queens, NY with Berklee Ensemble

5/23-26: Jazz Standard, New York, NY with Visions Quartet-CD rel celebration!

6/24-25: Toronto Jazz Fest with Visions Quartet

6/26: National Arts Centre, Ottawa, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/27: Montreal Jazz Fest, Montreal, QC, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/28: Edmonton Jazz Festival, Edmonton, AB, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/29: Victoria Jazz Festival, Victoria, BC, CAN

6/30: Vancouver Jazz Festival, Vancouver, BC, CAN

EU

7/5: Gexto Jazz Fest, Gexto, Spain

7/6: Gent Jazz Fest, Gent, Belgium

7/8: Pizza Express, London, UK

7/9: Pizza Express, London, UK

7/10 Roots and Jazz at Balder Plads, Denmark

7/12: North Sea Jazz Fest, Rotterdam, Netherlands

7/13: Funchal Jazz Fest, Funcha,l Portugal

7/15: Duc Des Lombards, Paris, France

7/16: Duc Des Lombards, Paris, France

7/20: Hotel Kras, Postojna, Slovenia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/21: Hungar, Izola, Slovenia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/23: Arsana Festival, Ptu,j Croatia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/26: Cadiz Jazz Festival, Cadiz, Spain with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

Jon Batiste & Friends to Perform at Newport Jazz Festival® Opening Night Concert

Jonn Batiste & Friends  will perform at the Friday evening concert of the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers. The concert takes place August 2 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, 194 Bellevue Avenue. The cocktail party begins at 6:30 pm, followed by the concert at 8:00 pm.

“Jon Batiste is always the life of the party. In fact, he’s a party all by himself, but watch the musical magic happen when he and his friends sing, dance and play their way around the Tennis Hall of Fame this summer,” said George Wein, Festival Founder and Chairman of the Board of Newport Festivals Foundation. “A Newport Jazz and Folk Festival favorite, Jon raises the bar for a fabulous evening of entertainment.”

The Newport Jazz Festival Friday evening cocktail party on the Horseshoe Piazza welcomes a limited number of attendees for pre-concert socializing with music, food and beverages. Tickets include open bar and hors d’oeuvres.Tickets are limited and exclusively for concertgoers. Party attendees must purchase a separate ticket to the Festival concert.

Artists already announced for the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival, which takes place August 2-4 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, include Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dianne Reeves, The Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Memphis Soulphony, Buika, The Ron Carter Trio, PJ Morton, Sons of Kemet, Makaya McCraven, Cécile McLorin Salvant and many more.

Bassist and composer JOAN TORRES releases progressive latin jazz album REVOLUTION

Joan Torres's All Is Fused has released a latin jazz album entitled "Revolution". In the last 7 years, All Is Fused has released 3 albums prior to Revolution, "Before" 2012, "The Beginning" 2014, and "Of the Musical" in 2016. In other words "Before the Beginning of the Musical Revolution" is a story in itself released in seemingly 4 chapters, also the similar theme of album artwork for all the releases ties it together.

"Revolution" was written by Joan Torres himself and is performed along side a masterful collective of members that make up All Is Fused. Torres set to explore new territory within the writing of this release, branching from playing his normal Fender Jazz Bass that he's used on previous material and incorporating bass guitars with different feel and style forcing him outside of his comfort zone. You'll find this chapter of songs are a well crafted mix of jazz, fusion, funk and prog rock which is sure to grab the attention of fans of King Crimson, The Victor Wooten Trio and more.

"When I set out to start All Is Fused I thought of a possible trajectory for our sound. I knew enough about my favorite artists to know that it was unlikely our sound would be fully developed by our first album. I started planning our phase 1 – the road it would take us to get closer to that sound. I believe Revolution to be the culmination of said phase 1."

From a young age, Joan Torres was drawn to music. Even though he often played around with instruments he found around his home it was not until he was 10 years old that he decided to take music more seriously and learn to play an instrument in order perform with others. He chose the bass and his life was changed forever. He began studying the instrument, first with an instructor then on his own, formed a band with a couple of friends from school while still in 8th grade.

In the year 2003, a Berklee College alumnus and music industry veteran named Orlando Collado took over as director of his school's music program. Torres joined the school's choir, directed by Collado, and it was the modern, seasoned, and honest approach of Collado led to him becoming a mentor as well as friend for Torres. With newfound interest in expanding his musical horizons in order to eventually compose music, Torres decided to enroll in the after-school Stevan Micheo Music Academy. There Torres met his drummer counterpart with whom he has worked in many endeavors throughout the years, Fernando Garcia. During his time at Micheo Music, he acquired the core for his musical knowledge. He studied the electric bass, reading and performing in Jazz under bassist Joel Marrero. He learned the basics of Jazz harmony and theory under guitarist Antonio Caraballo. Caraballo became another mentor and big influence in finally pushing Torres to begin actively exploring composition.

In 2004, Torres auditioned for the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops for the first time. He was among the chosen to take part in the workshops. These workshops opened the door to a lot of musical knowledge, sharing opportunities, and mentorship. It was during this time he met another one of his mentors, the four time GRAMMY-award winning bassist and educator, Oscar Stagnaro.

He continued to attend the Berklee in Puerto Rico program for a couple of years meeting many musicians, including some who would be responsible for getting him playing his first Jazz gigs. Additionally, he attended the Berklee Summer Performance Program in Boston later that summer. There he studied with many world-renowned musicians, most notably his bass instructor, Matthew Garrison, considered one of the most technically gifted jazz musicians of his generation. Torres also met vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza who was directing a "Salsa Ensemble" he asked Torres to join. Torres was awarded with a scholarship to attend Berklee College as a full-time student at the end of the summer program.

Once back in Puerto Rico, Torres was driven to grow his musical awareness. He was lucky enough to be invited to join many different projects which allowed him to gain experience in a wider set of genres than most people are exposed to. He joined a Puerto Rican Plena orchestra named "Plena Juventud" with fellow musician Gabriel Lugo. He also joined the "Indaka Jazz Quartet" where he met guitarist Gabriel Vicens. Lastly, he joined a new Reggae group who had been looking for a bassist. That group eventually became the local indie group "Raices Rusticas".

Torres was lucky enough to learn from a diverse number of experiences. The ensemble he was a part of during the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops was chosen to play at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest (June 4th, 2006). He met local bass legend Tony Batista who became a friend, teacher, and a big influence on developing his skills. It was with Batista that Torres began to study the upright bass. Furthermore, Raices Rusticas landed a spot opening for Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rock band Black Guayaba at the Arena Pier Ten (September 9, 2006). This was the first show where Raices Rusticas performed original music. Additionally, through many gigs, shows, and jam sessions he got a chance to play with many people such as Mario Castro, Jeremy de Jesus, Marcos Lopez, Enrique Trinidad, Sergio Gonzalez, Gerson Orjuela.

After graduating high school and moving to the town of Mayaguez to study engineering, he joined the University's Choir "Coral Universitaria". After one semester there, the director asked him to move to the university's more exclusive chamber choir "Corium Canticus" in which he stayed for the next 4 years. During his time there, the choir was chosen to take part in a competition in Argentina in 2008. The score of their performance there earned them a gold medal.

Torres was awarded another scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in May of 2007, his last time attending the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops. He was also once again part of the ensemble chosen to play at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest (June 3rd).

2019 Newport Jazz Festival® Announces Wave 3 of Artists

Celebrate the 65thEdition of the Newport Jazz Festival with Common, Herbie Hancock with Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta, Tank and the Bangas, Gary Bartz, Kandace Springs, Women of the World, James Francies’ Flight, The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan and Many More

The 2019 Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers, set for August 2 - 4 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, gets hipper and hotter as new artists are announced, and today’s Wave 3 announcement is definitely hip and hot.

Wave 3 artists include Common, A special performance by Herbie Hancock withChristian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta, Tank and the Bangas, Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy, Gary BartzANOTHER EARTH 50-Year Anniversary featuring Ravi Coltrane(produced by Revive Music), Kandace Springs, Women of the World, James Francies’ Flight,The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan, Lauren Sevian/Helen Sung Duo, Marika Hughes- The New String Quartet, Brandon Goldberg Trio, Matana Roberts, Brian Marsella, Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet, Ben Morris Quintet, Alexander Heffner, Host of The Open Mind on PBS, Maxine Gordon, Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop, University of Rhode Island Jazz Big Bandand Rhode Island Music Educators Association Band.

“I am thrilled about these newly-announced artists, as well as the entire lineup,” said Jay Sweet, Executive Producer of Newport Festivals Foundation. “Among my favorites are Common, the multi-Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe winning superstar … Tank and the Bangas, who were a huge hit at last year’s Newport Folk Festival … a special performance by Artist-in-Residence Herbie Hancock with our Artistic Director Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta … the soulful Kandace Springs … a dynamic band celebrating the legacy of the legendary Art Blakey … and Eric Wurzelbacher, the talented son of the owner of our long-time staging company. Wow!”

Showcasing more than 60 individual Jazz ensembles, the Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Investment Managers will offer music on four stages, including the Fort, Quad, Harbor stages and Storyville, the intimate venue located in the Newport Festivals Museum.

To date, the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival Presented by Natixis Investment Managers features:

Friday, August 2, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Herbie Hancock |Thundercat |Corinne Bailey Rae |The Bad Plus |Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen |Gary Bartz ANOTHER EARTH 50-Year Anniversary featuring Ravi Coltrane Produced by Revive Music |Kandace Springs |Women of the World |Spanish Harlem Orchestra |Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society |Billy Hart Quartet with Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner, Ben Street | Tia Fuller’s “Diamond Cut” | DOMi & JD Beck |The Dayna Stephens Group | Mwenso & the Shakes | Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings |Tom Oren |Ben Morris Quintet (ASCAP Winner) | Mark Stryker: “Jazz from Detroit” |Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop

Friday, August 2, 2019, 8:00 pm – International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino: 

Jon Batiste & Friends

Saturday, August 3, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Kamasi Washington |A Special Performance by Herbie Hancock with Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta |Dianne Reeves with Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo, Reginald Veal & TerreonGully |Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Memphis Soulphony |Buika| The Ron Carter Trio | Makaya McCraven|Ravi Coltrane/David Virelles| Ghost-Note| Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy| James Francies’ Flight| Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game| Joel Ross ‘Good Vibes’| Hailu Mergia| The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan| Laurin Talese| Brandon Goldberg Trio| Brian Marsella| Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon by Maxine Gordon (University of California Press)

 | University of Rhode Island Jazz Big Band

Sunday, August 4, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Common |Tank and the Bangas | Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective | PJ Morton| Sons of Kemet| Cécile McLorin Salvant| ELEW| Marcus Strickland Twi-Life featuring Smithsoneon| Christian Sands – 3 Piano Erroll Garner Tribute! featuring Helen Sung & Tadataka Unno| Dafnis Prieto Big Band| Aaron Diehl| IN COMMON: Walter Smith III, Matt Stevens, Joel Ross, Harish Raghavan & Kendrick Scott| Camila Meza & The Nectar Orchestra| Sammy Miller and The Congregation| Lauren Sevian/Helen Sung Duo| Marika Hughes - The New String Quartet| Matana Roberts| Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet| Alexander Heffner, Host of The Open Mind on PBS| Rhode Island Music Educators Association Band.

For more information, visit www.newportjazz.org.

 

Professor Longhair Live On The Queen Mary I Reissue of 1975 Performance

Originally released in 1978 on Harvest Records, Professor Longhair's Live on the Queen Mary documents a legendary performance from the Venus and Mars album release party thrown by Paul and Linda McCartney and Wings in 1975. 

Live on the Queen Mary was recorded March 24, 1975 on its titular cruise ship, while docked in Long Beach, California. Highlights include the rollicking "Mess Around," the standards "Stagger Lee," "Everyday I Have the Blues," "I'm Movin' On," and Professor Longhair's own hits "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" and "Tipitina" about which Hugh Laurie writes, "Because that live version of Tipitina, oh sweet Lord. If the record had nothing else on it, it would still be a treasure beyond price."

Professor Longhair a/k/a Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980) was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later on during the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz surrounding the beginnings of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Professor Longhair's influence was crucial to many of his fellow New Orleans musical legends, such as Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, all of whom were touched by his rumba, mambo, and calypso piano based blues sound.

Live On The Queen Mary will be re-released April 5 via Harvest / MPL across digital platforms, on CD and on newly remastered 180gram vinyl LP. The album will feature a foreword by Hugh Laurie, as will the limited edition "Long Live Fess" deluxe, which will also feature the 180gram LP, the double A-Side 7" Single "Tipitina"/" Mess Around," and more. Track listings for the various formats are as follows:

CD / DIGITAL

Tracklist: 

Tell Me Pretty Baby

Mess Around

Everyday I Have The Blues

Tipitina

I'm Movin' On

Mardi Gras In New Orleans

Cry To Me

HISTORIC PERFORMANCE RECORDED WEEKS BEFORE BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM 'ELLA FITZGERALD SINGS THE COLE PORTER SONG BOOK'

Recorded live at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 21, 1956, Ella At The Shrine captures Ella Fitzgerald at the beginning of her career renaissance, just weeks after becoming the first signing to Norman Granz's newly-created Verve Records. The brief but thrilling set, which was part of Granz's historic Jazz At The Philharmonic concert series, was only recently discovered after more than 60 years of languishing in Verve's vaults. Thought to be Verve's first live recording, Ella At The Shrine is available today via Verve/UMe as a single LP on standard weight black vinyl. It will be available for digital download and streaming for the first time next Friday, March 1. This wide release follows a limited edition yellow vinyl version released in November 2018 as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday. 

Ella At the Shrine contains the sweet taste of a new and shining era for Ella as she becomes the crown jewel of Verve Records. Fitzgerald delivers a rousing seven-song set, which most notably includes an early version of George and Ira Gershwin's "'S Wonderful," three years before she would perfect the song on her monumental 1959 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book and cause Ira Gershwin to famously remark: "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them." Ella At the Shrine showcases The First Lady of Song just weeks before she'd go on to record her breakthrough album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book. Other tunes performed this evening include the bluesy "Cry Me A River," the rhythmic "Lullaby of Birdland," the swinging "Joe Williams's Blues" and "Air Mail Special," a bouncy number featuring Fitzgerald's famed scatting skills. The album includes liner notes by jazz broadcaster and educator, Phil Schaap, who discovered this recording in an undocumented area in Verve's vault where it sat untouched for more than six decades.

In celebration of Fitzgerald's centennial in 2017, Verve debuted the previously unreleased Ella at Zardi's: an acclaimed live album that was recorded during her two-week stint at the nightclub in Hollywood. This recording, which earned Fitzgerald her first No. 1 on the Jazz Album Chart and her second No. 1 on the Traditional Jazz Albums Chart, was initially thought to be both the label's and Fitzgerald's first live album for Verve. Remarkably, Granz recorded and emceed Ella at the Shrine 10 days prior, announcing on the LP, as Fitzgerald is leaving the stage and the crowd roars for more, that "Ella has to get back to Zardi's." Due to the closeness in timeframe, it is easy to assume she is backed by the same musicians who played on Ella at Zardi's: Don Abney, piano; Vernon Alley or Joe Mondragon, bass; Frank Capp Drums.

Fitzgerald's unwaning influence and remarkable legacy remains as strong as ever and her music continues to be honored and celebrated long after her passing. Most recently, the Recording Academy inducted her landmark 1959 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Books into the 2019's GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®, just ahead of its 60th anniversary. With a goal of "preserving and celebrating timeless recordings," the inductions are for recordings at least 25 years old that exhibit qualitative or historical significance. Fitzgerald's album was one of 25 new titles inducted this year alongside recordings from: Aerosmith, Dolly Parton, Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Tom Petty. "We're honored to add these masterpieces to our growing catalog and are delighted to celebrate the impact they've had on our musical, social, and cultural history," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Books is her third song book to join the illustrious GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®, joining Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book and Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers & Hart Song Book as well as several other albums and songs. In its recent appreciation of Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Gershwin Song Book, the Wall Street Journal asserted: "Fitzgerald's most ambitious album and one of her crowning achievements, this songbook is a matchless treasure."

Vocalist Douyé Embraces the African Roots That Underlie American Jazz, Brazilian Samba, and Bossa Nova with New Album, Quatro (Bossa Nova Deluxe)

Ever since its creation nearly 60 years ago, bossa nova has been celebrated as a lyrical fusion of American jazz and Brazilian samba. The family tree of both of those musics, however, can be followed back to their African roots. With her gorgeous new album Quatro (Bossa Nova Deluxe), the Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist Douyé brings the conversation full circle, instilling an extra helping of African rhythm and electricity into the tropical cool of bossa classics by Antonio Carlos Jobim along with reimagined jazz standards.

For Quatro (Bossa Nova Deluxe), due out April 5, 2019 via Rhombus Records, Douyé enlisted the talents of several renowned arranger/musicians, each of whom provided unique but equally stunning settings to showcase her entrancing voice. All of them converge through the singer’s unique vision, which filters their diverse approaches through a distinctly personal perspective.

“I didn't want to make a typical bossa nova album like I’ve heard ten trillion times before,” she says. “I wanted to add my own thing to it: my own identity, my own sound, my own style. The true essence of this project is my African heritage. As an artist, part of my duty is to infuse my heritage and identity into my music.”

Jazz and bossa nova are as much part of Douyé’s musical upbringing as the music of her Nigerian home, making the blend a perfect fit. She grew up surrounded by the sounds of her father’s extensive jazz collection, which ran the gamut of genres and styles. “Bossa nova is a sound that I’ve lived with from childhood on,” she recalls. “My dad would play all kinds of jazz from African jazz like Fela Kuti to more traditional American and European jazz to Latin and Brazilian jazz.”

Douyé repaid her father for his profound influence with her last album, Daddy Said So, and honors him in the context of her latest endeavor through a simmering Latin jazz take on the Horace Silver favorite “Song For My Father.” She’d begun writing her own music as a child, singing in church choirs as well as mimicking her father’s albums. As she split her time between Lagos and England throughout her youth, Douyé dreamed of pursuing her passion for music in the States.

She eventually moved to L.A. to study at the Musicians Institute as a vocal major. While there she met and formed a musical partnership with songwriter Terry Shaddick, best known for composing the massive hit “Physical” for Olivia Newton-John. Together the two penned all of the original music for her first two albums, Journey and So In Love, and they’ve continued to maintain a close artistic relationship as Douyé has moved away from soul and R&B and into jazz.

It took a visit to the Brazilian state of Bahia, with its heavy concentration of people and customs of African descent, to inspire her to craft her own take on the bossa tradition. “I remember going to Bahia and seeing that these people looked like me,” she says. “That made me realize that I can marry this African sound with the bossa nova. I didn't want the album to be just cool jazz, where you sit back and go to sleep – I wanted it to have a little bit more rhythm and energy to it.”



The versatile pianist John di Martino (Jon Hendricks, Pat Martino) offers thrilling interpretations of several songs (including the aforementioned “Song For My Father”) for an all-star combo that includes Brazilian drum great Duduka Da Fonseca, bassist and longtime Mingus Big Band music director Boris Kozlov, and Weather Report/Ahmad Jamal percussionist Manolo Badrena. His contributions are highlighted by a swooning version of Jobim’s “How Insensitive.” Jed Levy’s flute weaves around Douyé’s vocal on “Summer Samba (So Nice).”

The album receives a big band jolt from the charts of drummer Zack O’Farrill, who Douyé refers to as “my Nelson Riddle.” The two had worked together on Daddy Said So and forged a collaboration that the singer likens to that between Frank Sinatra and his most acclaimed arranging partner. “We’re very close,” she says. “He understands me perfectly and knows how to capture what I’m trying to do.” O’Farrill’s efforts include a thrilling “Agua De Beber” that spotlights the deft trumpet playing of David Adewumi, a pulsing take on Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream,” and a vivid elaboration of Jobim’s “One Note Samba” propelled by the arranger’s intricate rhythms. Bassist Phil Small also provides a sultry rendition of “Lover Man” for the large ensemble.

Hailing from Brazil, guitarist Angelo Metz contributes four Jobim classics that most closely adhere to the bossa form, including “Triste,” “Corcovado,” “Wave,” and the immortal “Girl From Ipanema.” His formidable quartet includes renowned Venezuelan pianist Otmaro Ruiz and Colombian-born saxophonist/flutist Justo Almario, who enjoyed a long association with Mongo Santamaria. Drummer Evan Hyde brings a laid-back swing feel to “Watch What Happens;” pianist Mike Eckroth adds a lush “Once I Loved” featuring a heartbreaking flugelhorn solo by Freddie Hendrix; Brazilian guitarists Marcel Camargo and Romero Lumbarbo pair with the singer for intimate versions of “Desafinado” and “Dindi,” respectively.

Quatro is the Portuguese word for “four” – a reference to Douyé’s birthday, January 4, which she’ll celebrate slightly belatedly with the release of this heartfelt new album. It’s more of a gift for listeners, though: a lush and soulful excursion for jazz lovers, a delectable new twist for aficionados of bossa nova.

Douyé · Quatro (Bossa Nova Deluxe)

Rhombus Records · Release Date: April 5, 2019

THEO CROKER PREMIERES NEW TRACK “THE MESSENGER (FEAT. ELEW)”

"'The Messenger' is a testament to Croker’s firm standing within the realm of jazz and shows that his upcoming album will undoubtedly be one to remember." – EARMILK

Trumpeter, producer, arranger, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist THEO CROKER today debuts “The Messenger,” the newest track off his forthcoming full-length album, Star People Nation (Masterworks), due out later this year. Featuring jazz pianist ELEW, “The Messenger” pairs a smoky blues piano with a traditional swing rhythm, locking into the pocket and showcasing Croker’s musical mastery – listen here. The track has already garnered critical acclaim, with EARMILK calling it "a testament to Croker’s firm standing within the realm of jazz and shows that his upcoming album will undoubtedly be one to remember."

The follow-up to January’s release of Star People Nation lead track “Subconscious Flirtations and Titillations,” “The Messenger” is yet another example of the versatility explored throughout the entirety of Croker’s forthcoming album. Star People Nation is the musician’s most personal project yet, something Croker describes as an intimate exploration of “the everyday rituals of blackness.” A translation of his personal, spiritual and creative experience, Star People Nation is a self-reflective collection of provocative, powerfully passionate and boundary-busting compositions that speak to our greater, shared human existence.

As the grandson of the late venerable trumpeter Doc Cheatham, and former student of legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, trumpeter, composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Theo Croker naturally follows an internal need to compose. Learning to play the trumpet at age 11 after hearing Cheatham play in New York City, by his teens Croker was studying music formally at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville followed by the Music Conservatory at Oberlin College. Launching his career with seven years spent in Shanghai, Croker first introduced his singular style in 2014 on the Dee Dee Bridgewater-assisted AfroPhysicist. His 2016 follow-up, Escape Velocity, marked a watershed moment for the artist, with the Wall Street Journal extolling the album as “timeless and of-the-moment.” Croker has also lent his talents to the world of hip hop, with rap superstar J. Cole’s platinum-certified No. 1 opus 4 Your Eyez Only, with Croker acting as trumpet arranger and performer on multiple tracks. GRAMMY® Award-winning rapper Common also sought out Croker for his critically-acclaimed album Black America Again.

2019 THEO CROKER – STAR PEOPLE NATION TOUR DATES

Tue, March 5 | Clermont-Ferrand, France | La Cooperative de Mai

Fri, March 8 | Faches-Thumesnil, France | Centre Musical Les Arcades

Sat, March 9 | Minden, Germany | Jazz Club Minden

Mon, March 11 | Berlin, Germany | Gretchen

Wed, March 13 | Vienna, Austria | Porgy & Bess

Thu, March 14 | Clermont-Ferrand, France | La Cooperative de Mai

Fri, March 15 | Friedrichshafen, Germany | Kulturufer Friedrichshafen

Sat, March 16 | Brno, Czech Republic | Jazz Fest Brno

Wed, March 20 | Paris, France | New Morning

Fri, March 22 | Caen, France | Théâtre

Sun, March 24 | St. Moritz, Switzerland | Festival De Jazz St. Moritz (Pre-Show)

Thu, May 9 | Norfolk, VA | Virginia Arts Festival

Fri, May 10 | Germantown, MD | BlackRock Center for the Arts

Sat, May 11 | Washington, D.C. | The Arc

Weds, May 22 - Sun, May 26 | San Francisco, CA | Black Cat

Thu, June 13 - Sun, June 16 | New York, NY | Jazz Standard



Sean Noonan's Tan Man's Hat, the second release by his harmolodic jazz-rock ensemble Pavees Dance

A drummer and composer whose music enthusiastically defies category, Sean Noonan prefers the title "Rhythmic Storyteller" - an apt description for a modern-day sonic griot who spins imaginative yarns in the ancient tradition of wandering minstrels while weaving captivating narrative tapestries via his unique polyrhythmic language. On Tan Man's Hat, the second release by his harmolodic jazz-rock ensemble Pavees Dance, Noonan draws inspiration from the soul to the stars with his stunningly adventurous collaborators: original Can vocalist Malcolm Mooney, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma (Ornette Coleman's Prime Time), guitarist Ava Mendoza (Unnatural Ways) and keyboardist Alex Marcelo (Yusef Lateef).

Tan Man's Hat confronts the listener with a vibrant, shocking swirl of sound, a dauntless tempest of varied influences: prog rock and avant-garde classical create sparks from clashes with harmolodic improvisation and African folk traditions, with jolting infusions of psychedelia and campfire tales. The band also thrives on its blend of generations, with experimental elders Mooney and Tacuma passing a still-blazing torch to their cutting-edge compatriots.

While Noonan's "wandering folk" approach to collecting the stories of diverse cultural traditions spans the globe, the name of Pavees Dance is rooted in his own Irish heritage. Pavees are members of the Emerald Isle's nomadic ethnic minority, traditionally occupied as traveling tinkers and craftsmen, skilled at crafting items from available materials - a gift shared by Noonan, whose distinctive compositions are a patchwork of eclectic inspirations made new and vital in his deft hands.

"Pavees is the Irish word for a traveling musician and tinker, a sort of gypsy who collects and creates things," Noonan explains. "That fits in perfectly with the wandering storyteller concept I've been developing throughout my work, merging West African and Irish storytelling traditions. The name Pavees Dance really embodies that."

  

The music of Pavees Dance is enlivened by the inventive lyrics of singer, poet and visual artist Malcolm Mooney, founding vocalist for the iconic krautrock band Can. In collaboration with Noonan, he works with lyrics the way that a jazz musician uses their instrument, using written material as a leaping-off point for improvisatory flights. "Malcolm develops or adapts lyrics on the spot," Noonan explains. "I gave him a road map for each of the songs and then let him do his thing. He shaped his own stories from the ideas that I gave him, which was a really meaningful way for me to develop as a lyricist and to evolve myself artistically."

In essence, Mooney's spontaneous approach to reinventing his own lyrics has strong parallels with Ornette Coleman's ground-breaking harmolodic system, which bass virtuoso Jamaaladeen Tacuma knows first-hand from his time in the legendary saxophonist's electric Prime Time band. "Being a drummer, the bass player is like my dance partner," Noonan says. "This music is heavily based on the drum and bass relationship, so Jamaaladeen's voice is a dominant aspect in my instrumental writing, which is always heavily influence by harmolodic theory."

There's Always the Night, Pavees Dance's 2014 debut release, featured a quartet version of the band featuring Mooney, Tacuma, and guitarist Aram Bajakian. The latter's relocation to Vancouver allowed for a reimagining of the band, with California experimentalist Ava Mendoza (who has worked with the likes of Nels Cline, Fred Frith, Mike Watt and Ikue Mori) to take over on guitar while Marcelo, a longtime collaborator dating back to Noonan's notorious punk/jazz band The HUB, to expand the sound with his singular approach to the keyboards.

"I really wanted to keep the element of electric guitar in the music, because the loudness and the extremeness of what you can do with that instrument really fits Malcolm's voice," Noonan says. "But I was writing these intricate through-composed works using tone rows and concepts like that, so adding Alex allowed me to include the elaborate countermelodies and harmonies that I was hearing in my head."

The complexity of the music becomes a vibrant setting for the far-reaching stories told throughout Tan Man's Hat. The album opens with "Boldly Going," which takes the aspirational opening message from Star Trek to envision a journey beyond the stars on Starship Earth, an alluring vision given the increasingly tumultuous nature of life on the home planet.

Science fiction has always provided a fertile ground for address real-life issues by way of fantastical metaphors. Sharing that aspect with "Boldly Going," "Martian Refugee" takes on the idea of how to welcome outsiders via an interplanetary twist, accompanied by a playfully skewed angular groove. While Noonan has never viewed his work as a vehicle for "protest music," the addition of Mooney added a healthy dose of socio-political commentary to the heady mix.

"You can never really escape from the things that are going on in the environment around you," Noonan allows. "I would often try to ignore those things in my music; I wanted to take people's minds off the reality of what's happening in the world and away from the divisions that separate us. For this project, though, it made sense to explore that territory for the first time. Malcolm is an African-American who came up in the 1960s and '70s, and he has very outspoken positions about equality and discrimination. Being blunt and saying exactly how he feels is just something that comes naturally to him."

"Tell Me" expresses that bluntness with an invigorating urgency, with Mooney spitting acid-tinged rebuttals to political and media falsehoods and the military-industrial complex over a full-throttle pulse. Not every song has such hot-button origins, however. The churning rock aggression of "Girl from Another World" offers a more straightforward alien encounter tale, while the playful "Turn Me Over" is a slice of avant-garde vaudeville, a fairy story about a genie unleashed from the grooves of a vinyl record.

The ferocious "Gravity and the Grave" is a true collaboration between the two lyricists' minds, with Mooney taking a song Noonan penned about the grave and adding the notion of gravity, providing a tension between the rarefied air of dreams and the grounding fatality of death. A similar acceptance of the cyclical nature of existence lies at the heart of the serrated musings of "The End of the Inevitable." Co-written with Günter Janovsky (as is "Girl from Another World"), "Winter Inside" closes the album on a note of romantic melancholy, filled with vivid imagery more evocative than explanatory.

Where the bulk of Tan Man's Hat consists of freshly-written lyrics, the words to the title song actually date back nearly a half century to Mooney's time in Can. The band recorded a demo version of the song at that time, but it's never been released; Noonan composed new music, transforming the piece into a wistful, gradually accelerating ramshackle blues.

Sean Noonan first came to the public's attention as the drummer of the punk/jazz trio The HUB in the late '90s, quickly integrating himself into the famed Knitting Factory scene.  His path was diverted four years later when a near-fatal car wreck in Italy led to a long period of recovery and a dedication to combining his two musical loves: jazz and African rhythms. The ensuing sonic wanderlust fueled a 2008 trek to Bamako, Mali, to gain a first-hand experience of West African griot traditions alongside Malian singer/guitarist Abdoulaye Diabaté. That trip culminated in the multi-cultural album Boxing Dreams, one manifestation of Noonan's amorphous Afro-Celtic project Brewed By Noon.

The treasures that he finds along the paths of his story-collecting travels are filtered through his distinctive vision to become the unpredictable and far-ranging sounds of Noonan's wide-spectrum music, which combines the eloquence of an Irish bard, the narrative rhythms of Samuel Beckett, and the raw physicality of a street-smart boxer.

That nomadic muse has led Noonan in a wealth of unexpected directions, resulting in an explosion of dynamic releases and projects spanning more than 20 albums, most recently on The Aqua Diva, the latest manifestation of the jazz-meets-Scheherazade fantasies created by his trio Memorable Sticks. In 2018, he premiered his 13-piece Rock Opera Zappanation, at the International Festival "Ai Confini tra Sardegna e Jazz" in Sardinia. The piece, dedicated to Frank Zappa and Edgard Varèse, reflects Noonan's affinity for two composers who share his tendencies toward absurdist.

TRACKS

1. Boldly Going

2. Gravity and the Grave

3. Tell Me

4. Martian Refugee

5. Turn Me Over

6. Tan Man's Hat

7. The End of the Inevitable

8. Girl from another World

9. Winter Inside   

Produced by Sean Noonan and Guenter Janovsky.   

All music composed by Sean Noonan (except track 8 composed by Guenter Janovsky and arranged by Sean Noonan).

Lyrics by Malcolm Mooney and Sean Noonan on tracks 1, 4, 5.

Lyrics by Malcolm Mooney on tracks 2, 3, 6, 7.

Lyrics by Malcolm Mooney and Guenter Janovsky on tracks 8, 9.

Recorded August 8-9, 2018 at Atlantic Sound Studios, Brooklyn NY. 

Diko Shoturma, Michal Kupicz: mixing, mastering.

Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo