Wednesday, September 13, 2017

TIM BOWMAN RELEASES INTO THE BLUE

Renowned, chart-topping guitarist Tim Bowman has a way of making melding smooth jazz, gospel, soul and blues seem effortless as evidenced throughout his more than 30 years in music, including his 2017, seventh studio album, Into the Blue, on I.M. Records & Purpose Jazz. The Detroit native, who grew up playing guitar in church, attended the College of Creative Studies, and served as the musical director for gospel luminaries the Winans before embarking on his solo career in 1987, continues to carve a niche for himself. I like the romantic music, the more bluesy styles, the smooth grooves, Bowman says, but what I wanted to do on this album is put all of those on one record, have something for everybody. 

Bowman succeeds in his mission and has scored his fifth No.1 single with City Lights, Into the Blue's debut single, a feel good, smooth jazz instrumental that showcases his intricate strumming technique. The set also includes other smooth jazz standouts, Seaside Drive, originally released in 2013, and a soulful cover of Charlie Wilson s Grammy-nominated single You Are. 

Amazing Grace Party, featuring Jonathan DuBose Jr. and Tim Bowman Jr., is another favorite. While there have been multitudes of varying renditions of Christian hymn Amazing Grace, first published in 1779, Bowman s blues-meets-funk version is truly a uniquely, infectious production that segues into the Negro spiritual Wade in the Water before transforming into a full on contemporary gospel jam session. Bowman was determined to bring his vision of the song to life. 

After recording the other tracks, he called upon his traveling band to help him complete the song. We went into the studio and three hours later, we had it, he explains. Tim Bowman Jr. s vocals on Amazing Grace Party fell into place more easily. He s just a versatile singer, Bowman says of his son, who completed his recordings while visiting his house. I told him, You need to go down to the studio and listen to the song, Bowman recalls. Forty-five minutes later, he called me and that s what he had. Incorporating a special element of funk was also something important to Bowman, hence the song Detroit Funk, a collaboration from the newly formed group TMC that includes Bowman, former Pleasure guitarist Marlon McClain, and Cordell Walton, musical director for Charlie Wilson. 

Conceptually, the album s biggest takeaway is the reoccurring theme of affection captured throughout the collection in the prominent use of the spanish guitar and endearing ballads sung by perfectly suited featured vocalists Stokley ( All I Need is Love ) and Angela Johnson ( My Heart To You ). All I Need is Love, in particular, is a captivating, love song very personal to Bowman. I wanted to have a song that says how I feel about my life and my wife, he says. I just wanted to tell the story about what really matters. To me, it s not about being rich or poor, successful or not. 

The bottom line is love. Bowman's spanish guitar was an obvious choice for the ballads. When I pick up that nylon string guitar, the first thing that comes to mind is romance, he adds, citing his performance on Into the Blue songs Tan Hermosa (So Beautiful) and Love Forever More. It s just more of a melodic, romantic instrument to me because of the tone of it. My goal has always been to create music that genuinely connects with people. I ve always tried to make music that people could get lost into, he says. I wanted to take a ride and tell a story and hope every melody is a melody that they can take home and whistle, something that grabs them and does not let them go. Tim has done just that with Into the Blue.


NEW RELEASES: WILL DOWNING - SOUL SURVIVOR; WILL DOWNING - SOUL SURVIVOR; PAUL TUVMAN – RIDING THE JETSTREAM

WILL DOWNING - SOUL SURVIVOR

Will Downing, widely known as “The Prince Of Sophisticated Soul,” is an icon in both the R&B and Jazz worlds. Having sold more than 4 million albums in his brilliant career, Will continues to tour nonstop to the delight of his devoted fans! Soul Survivor features special guests Avery*Sunshine, Najee, Phil Perry, Maysa and others. Highlights include Will’s inspired interpretations of such classics as Blue Magic’s “Stop To Start,” The Stylistics’ “Hurry Up This Way Again,” “Tell Me All About It,” a hit for both Michael Franks and Natalie Cole, plus a host of great Will Downing originals! RADIO: “I’m Feeling The Love,” a duet with Avery* Sunshine, will be worked to the Urban AC formats, and “Hurry Up This Way Again” will be the first Smooth Jazz single.
  
WILL DOWNING - SOUL SURVIVOR

After a few years layoff with the exception of his collaboration with the New Cool Collective, Reilly comes back with a super jazzy album. If you like Matt Bianco’s previous efforts, this one will not disappoint. It is by far his most straight jazz album and mixes most of the latin influence of previous work. He does have some latin jazz mixed in but no street rhythm music. It is a much more uniform sounding set of music like the great Hi-Fi Bossa Nova album versus those with more variety like Hideaway. The instrumentalists are exceptional and really get a chance to show off their chops with good solo turns. This is what music could or should be depending on your stance, great writing, good vocal style, and musicians playing at their best.
   
PAUL TUVMAN – RIDING THE JETSTREAM

A longtime pilot for Delta Airlines, pianist and composer Paul Tuvman received an overwhelming response to his 2015 debut album, Musically Speaking, which was put on the In Flight entertainment system and pretty much launched Paul’s Smooth Jazz career. The title of his latest, Riding The Jetstream, is not only a nod to his day job, but an emotional guide to the freewheeling journey ahead. Working with producer Rick Braun (who plays trumpet on two songs) and guests Michael Lington and Pat Kelley, Tuvman alternately caresses and pounds the ivories as he eases effortlessly between lighthearted traditional jazz swing, energetic R&B/funk, lush ballads and ventures into Irish music and Brazilian samba. Time to get on board, buckle up and start Riding The Jetstream! ~ www.smoothjazz.com


DELUXE EDITION OF NORAH JONES’ ACCLAIMED ALBUM "DAY BREAKS" SET FOR OCT. 27 RELEASE

On October 27, Blue Note Records will release a new Deluxe Edition of Norah Jones’ acclaimed album Day Breaks. A 2-CD set and limited edition 2-LP 180g silver foil-cover vinyl are available for pre-order today on the Norah Jones Store. The Deluxe Edition will also be available at all digital retailers and streaming services on October 27.

The expanded track listing includes the addition of nine songs recorded live in New York City during Norah’s memorable album release shows at the Sheen Center’s Loreto Theater in October 2016. The live cuts include versions of songs from Day Breaks like “Flipside” and the Horace Silver ballad “Peace,” as well as fan favorites like “Don’t Know Why” and “Sunrise,” performed by Norah (voice, piano), Chris Thomas (bass), Brian Blade (drums), Pete Remm (Hammond B-3 organ), and background vocalists Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball & Anjelika ‘Jelly’ Joseph of Tank and The Bangas (winners of NPR Music’s 2017 Tiny Desk Contest).

Norah has a series of intimate sold-out shows this month in New York and London. The 9-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist is performing songs from Day Breaks with Blade and Thomas this week at (le) poisson rouge in New York City (September 10-14) before heading to London to perform at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club (September 25-26). Watch the trio perform “Peace” live at the Sheen Center.

On October 28, Norah will make her fourth appearance on the esteemed PBS program Austin City Limits. Day Breaks earned rave 4-star reviews from Rolling Stone (“a marvelous consolidation, floating buoyantly between past tradition and her own unique present”), MOJO (“her masterpiece to date… inspired and breathtaking… Small-hours jazz perfection), and DownBeat (“both a return to roots and a triumphant showcase of stylistic diversity”).

The track listing for Day Break (Deluxe Edition) is as follow:

Disc One (original album)

1. Burn
2. Tragedy
3. Flipside
4. It's A Wonderful Time For Love
5. And Then There Was You
6. Don't Be Denied
7. Day Breaks
8. Peace
9. Once I Had A Laugh
10. Sleeping Wild
11. Carry On
12. Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)

Disc Two (Live at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture)
1. Peace
2. I've Got To See You Again
3. Out On The Road
4. Sunrise
5. Burn
6. It¹s A Wonderful Time For Love
7. Flipside
8. Don't Know Why
9. Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)


SWEET PEA ATKINSON'S LONG-AWAITED NEW ALBUM "GET WHAT YOU DESERVE" SET FOR 9/22 RELEASE

It certainly has been a long time coming but September 22, 2017 will finally see the release of Get What You Deserve, the mesmerizing new album from legendary vocalist Sweet Pea Atkinson.  A jovial blend of Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk and more, Get What You Deserve will be released on Blue Note Records and will be accompanied by tour dates across the U.S. this Fall. The lead track “Are You Lonely For Me Baby” is available now to stream, download, or receive immediately with album pre-order.

Time flies when you’re becoming one of the most celebrated soul singers of your generation even as you’re mostly working on other people’s projects. Atkinson’s talents have not exactly lay fallow over those decades, or his genius gone unnoticed. He’s best known as one of the lead singers of Was (Not Was), whose top 10 hit in America and the UK with “Walk the Dinosaur” made the sartorially sharp Detroit native the unlikeliest and nattiest of 1980s MTV stars. In subsequent years, he’s made his way more as a featured backup vocalist, spending a decade on the road as the most recognizable member of Lyle Lovett’s band and appearing on records by Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bob Seger, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Jackson Browne, Solomon Burke, Richie Sambora and scores of others. He’s also been an intermittent lead singer for his side project, the Boneshakers.

Get What You Deserve includes seven tracks produced by the great modern bluesman Keb’ Mo’ and three produced by Don Was. It was Was who signed Atkinson to a label deal, in the veteran producer’s still fairly fresh capacity as chief of Blue Note. “It's not hyperbolic for me to tell you that one of the great honors of my life has been to work with Sweet Pea,” says Was. “One of the beautiful things about being the president of Blue Note Records is that you can give a nod to something that just touches you deeply inside-even if it flies in the face of fashion.” But, Was adds, “it was Keb’ Mo’ who really dug in with Sweet Pea and turned that nod into something brilliant.”

Atkinson first met Keb’ Mo’ when he was singing backup on one of his records in the late ‘90s, and he obviously made a fast and lasting impression. Says the bluesman/producer: “Sweet Pea is one of the last great R&B/soul singers. He’s a man of charisma and style, a timeless talent who's greatly respected by his peers, and the epitome of cool. They don't make ‘em like that anymore. While listening and watching him work, like most people, you immediately know that he is his own man. I want the world to know what a kind and compassionate gentleman Sweet Pea is, adored by everyone that knows him. It's what's behind the voice that reaches the hearts of the people.”

It’s not an album that needs a lot of bolstering by famous guest stars. The only featured fellow artist is sax player Mindi Abair, who’s featured on “You Can Have Watergate,” a fairly obscure track credited to James Brown and recorded by Fred Wesley and the JB’s in 1973; it’s a funk workout that brings some ensemble action to an otherwise Sweet Pea-centric album. Abair was a natural to bring in, since the two of them recently collaborated on a record she has coming out in conjunction with Atkinson’s side project, the Boneshakers.

The real featured guests on the album are ghosts, though: all the funk, soul, blues, and R&B greats to whom Atkinson is paying implicit homage, if hardly emulating. “I love blues — Johnnie Taylor and Johnny Guitar Watson and Bobby Blue Bland,” he says. This album’s “Last Two Dollars” is a song Taylor recorded late in his life, in 1996. Far better known is Bland’s 1974 hit “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City." Then there’s the smoother influence from Motown and other purveyors of the vocal group sound. “I’m a singer like Paul Williams of the Temptations and Marvin Junior of the Dells,” Atkinson says, assessing his own niche as a vocalist. “When Paul Williams came along and started singing ‘Don’t Look Back’ and ‘Just Another Lonely Night’” — the latter a 1965 smash to which Atkinson brings new life on this album — “that’s when I said, ‘I want to sing like them.’ And when Marvin Junior did ‘Stay in My Corner,’ man, I ain’t heard nobody sing a song like that before in my life. That man can hold a note for so long, I go, ‘Damn, breathe, man!’ Marvin Junior, it’s hard to sing like. Paul Williams is a little easier."

While Keb’ Mo’ did all the initial production for the album, Was wrapped it up by getting Atkinson to sing two Freddie Scott hits, “Are You Lonely for Me Baby” (which was also a hit in the ‘60s as a duet by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas) and “Am I Grooving You.” The producer was inspired by driving around with Keith Richards and hearing his tape of Scott songs, the latter of which was covered in the ‘70s on a Ron Wood solo album that Richards played on. Was had his reasons for steering Atkinson in this direction. “Keb’ Mo’ did an amazing job of manifesting Sweet Pea’s vision,” says Was. “and Sweet Pea envisions himself as a lover and a soul crooner…which is all well and good!” he laughs. “But I think part of his greatness is as a belter, so we just cut a couple more songs to really show off that side.  His voice is so unique - you don’t have to AutoTune Sweet Pea, and there’s really no point in punching in words here and there. He’s never going to sing it the same way twice, ever. There’s nobody else around like him."



BLUE NOTE ALL-STARS TO RELEASE "OUR POINT OF VIEW" 9/29 FT. HERBIE HANCOCK & WAYNE SHORTER

The creative young voices of Jazz have been the lifeblood of Blue Note Records throughout its storied history, from Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock to Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson, all of whom made their debut albums for the legendary label. The Blue Note All-Stars continue that legacy with the September 29 release of Our Point of View, the debut recording from a supergroup of young visionaries that formed in 2014 for a series of live performances in honor of Blue Note’s 75th anniversary. Featuring trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, keyboardist Robert Glasper, bassist Derrick Hodge, guitarist Lionel Loueke, drummer Kendrick Scott, and tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland, the album also boasts a special guest appearance by Blue Note legends Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and is dedicated to the memory of beloved longtime Blue Note President Bruce Lundvall, who passed away in 2015.
 The song list includes originals by each of the band members, including two elegies for Lundvall which open and close the album, as well as two renderings of Shorter compositions: an expansive version of “Witch Hunt,” from Shorter’s 1965 Blue Note classic Speak No Evil, and a stunning performance of “Masquelero” on which the sextet is augmented by Shorter and Hancock. The album’s lead track “Second Light,” composed by Hodge, is available today to stream, download, or receive immediately with album pre-order.
 “This is a band of open-minded, versatile musicians who are getting together for the love of the music. That can only equal great things,” says Glasper who co-produced the album with current Blue Note President Don Was. “The music itself should reflect the time period you’re in. We all love the history of the music. We’re infatuated with the history of jazz, but none of us are held back by the history of jazz. I feel like we’re all making our own history now.”
 “It’s pushing the threshold in trying to do the next thing and not looking back,” Was adds. “That to me epitomizes what Blue Note is all about.”
 The track listing for Our Point of View is as follows:
 1. Bruce's Vibe (Robert Glasper)
2. Cycling Through Reality (Kendrick Scott)
3. Meanings (Marcus Strickland)
4. Henya (Ambrose Akinmusire)
5. Witch Hunt (Wayne Shorter)
6. Second Light (Derrick Hodge)
7. Masquelero feat. Wayne Shorter & Herbie Hancock (Wayne Shorter)
8. Bayyinah (Robert Glasper)
9. Message Of Hope (Derrick Hodge)
10. Freedom Dance (Lionel Loueke)
11. Bruce The Last Dinosaur (Ambrose Akinmusire)



THUNDER BODY USES UNIVERSAL THEMES TO CAPTURE THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF LIFE ON NEW ALBUM SOLSTICE

Thunder Body, spearheaded by partner duo and former Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad members Matt O’Brian (drums, vocals) and Rachel Orke (keys), are gearing up to release their new album Solstice through the unique non-profit Rootfire Cooperative on October 13, 2017. Solstice will be the Rochester-based band’s third full-length offering and first under the Rootfire banner. The album was recorded in two sessions, one before, and one after the birth of the couple’s son in 2013. The album explores topics from the micro to the macro. From creating new life, to tuning in with nature, to deeper outlooks on universal spirituality, Solstice finds a beautiful balance between deeply personal reflections and universal themes.

Thunder Body gained a following for their wide range of influences from dub and dancehall, to soul and beyond, and their diverse offerings provide something to appreciate for all music lovers. Joining Orke and O’Brian on Solstice are the talented musicians Jeremiah Pacheco (bass), Dennis Mariano (guitar, vocals), Brian Blatt (sound scientist), Benton Sillick (trumpet), Matt Seiber-Ford (tenor sax), and Abe Nouri (trombone).

Solstice saw Thunder Body returning to the studio More Sound in Syracuse, NY with producer and former bandmate Jocko Randall. The familiar environment allowed for a comfortable working space for ideas to blossom into fruition. The second session saw Rachel and Matt hosting their son’s second month of life around the studio and all it’s tools of creative inspiration. Tonal purists will appreciate the timeless sounds of an authentic Fender Rhodes and the classic comping sounds of the Hammond Organ and Leslie rotary speaker combination.  After the second session, Thunder Body entered a deliberate hiatus.  The tracks sat on Jocko’s server for two years while Thunder Body was rehearsing into a new sonic direction, playing almost no shows. It wasn’t until revisiting the track in 2015 that the band realized they had an album awaiting a proper release.

Solstice beings with its title track, a message meant to unify opposing perspectives with the reminder that we all share a universal experience. Other songs on the album capture the transformative beauty and significance of bringing new life into the world while nurturing your own and those around you, with “Elliot’s Song” seeing Chris O’Brian of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad add his take to the theme, discussing the birth of his son. Other standouts include “Gong,” an instrumental full of creative expression and “What’s Sweet About Lemons,” which the band describes as “a subtly surrealist simple song experience.”

Thunder Body carried over the album theme into all aspects of the release. Illustrated and designed by Justyn Lannucci, artist and graphic designer based in Rochester, NY, the album cover art for Solstice plays on the dichotomy of life and the universal themes of nature. The balancing act of night and day is depicted through the soft fade of color across a solstice sky. The cosmic event of the solstice is highlighted by a door that opens to the corresponding worlds of nature - life and death, and more existentially short term and long term mindedness. The door is banked by symbols of a hand and feather, along with a poppy that almost floats through the portal. Justyn comments, “Matt and I were vibing off of some older psychedelic novel covers. And we were trying to let the viewer come up with their own interpretations of the charged symbols. The figures on the bottom of the image may or may not be the band."

Solstice offers a serene experience to its listeners that you won’t want to miss. Be on the lookout for the album, dropping on Rootfire Cooperative, October 13, 2017. The album marks the end of the band’s hiatus, with tour plans in the works. Make sure to follow Thunder Body to stay up-to-date on tour dates and more.



NEW RELEASES: JESSE COOK – BEYOND BORDERS; CROWD COMPANY – STONE & SKY; SARAH JERROM – THE YEATS PROJECT

JESSE COOK – BEYOND BORDERS

“There are many borders in our lives. Some are built by others, some we create for ourselves. Whenever I have ventured beyond the borders in my life, I have been the better for it. Beauty, humanity, artistry, joy, wisdom, and of course love…these things don’t stop at some line on a page. If music is the universal language, maybe there is something it can teach us?”… Jesse Cook Following on the heels of One World’s critical and commercial success, Jesse Cook is ready to launch his new album Beyond Borders. This is the most sonically diverse and distinctive disc in Jesse Cook’s vast and varied catalogue. This catalogue has earned Jesse 11 Juno nominations and one Juno win for 2000’s Free Fall. Beyond Borders is an in depth musical journey exploring the exotic boundaries of World Music.

CROWD COMPANY – STONE & SKY

Crowd Company, the critically acclaimed 8-piece funk soul outfit, has confirmed details on their upcoming album Stone & Sky, due out October 20th on the newly minted indie imprint Vintage League Music (VLM), founded by Soulive’s Alan Evans. The eleven-track album is also produced by Evans at the infamous Iron Wax Studio in Millers Falls, MA and will be available on vinyl, CD, and digitally. The lead single, “Saw You Yesterday” is available now on all digital retailers and will be featured on 7-inch vinyl b/w “Can’t Get Enough” forthcoming in the next month and is the first in a series of three 7-inch singles (distributed by Fat Beats) from the album. “Saw You Yesterday” captures a late 60s soul funk vibe including an epic feel and catchy hooks from the outset. Uplifting choruses feature 4-part backing vocals and is topped with Alan Evan’s guest musicianship. The song is just one example of how the band evokes the spirit of the 60s and early 70s funk as well as modern day funk jam bands whilst also focusing on strong soulful songwriting. Crowd Company are renowned for their dynamic and engaging live performances. The band has drawn accolades from their musical peers and have shared the stage with the likes of George Porter Jr. from The Meters, Daptone’s Saun & Starr, Alan Evans Trio, The New Mastersounds, and Monophonics. You can catch their London record release party on 
October 18th at The Scotch of St James.

SARAH JERROM – THE YEATS PROJECT

Proclaiming her crafts as a composer, arranger and vocalist, Sarah Jerrom’s latest album, The Yeats Project, is an exciting and imaginative follow up to her critically acclaimed debut CD, Illuminations. The Yeats Project is a contemporary chamber jazz group that features the poetry of William Butler Yeats. With original music and arrangements by Sarah Jerrom, the featured poems reflect upon themes such as spirituality, life as an artist, death, defeat and love. The group’s 9-piece instrumentation is comprised of strings, woodwinds, brass and a traditional jazz rhythm section with Jerrom on vocals. The ensemble, led by conductor Tom Richards, features some of Toronto’s top established and emerging musicians. Blending the elements of jazz, improvisation and classical music, The Yeats Project presents the words of W.B. Yeats set to music in a completely unprecedented style and approach. This distinctive interpretation and the ensemble’s unique combination of instruments played by a specially formed group of top-flight, multi-influenced musicians makes The Yeats Project a rarity in terms of concept and sound. The album will be released on Friday, October 27th, 2017.







The Living Legends Foundation Presents International Jazz Recording Artist Sheléa to Headline at its Annual Awards Gala in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 5

The Living Legends Foundation,® Inc. (LLF), presents international jazz recording artist, Sheléa as this year’s headline performer for its annual awards gala on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at Taglyan Cultural Complex, 1201 N. Vine Street, Hollywood, CA. 

Acclaimed vocalist, pianist, and songwriter Sheléa is receiving critical praise from music and entertainment community’s elite including music icon and 28-time Grammy Award winner, Quincy Jones, who says “After working with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan, you know one when you see one; and Sheléa is a real one. She’s got swing, pitch and style.”

Currently working on her forthcoming album, Sheléa was commissioned by American Songbook’s composer and lyricist, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who are three-time Academy Award winners; as well as multiple Grammy and Emmy Award winners. The Bergmans hand-picked Sheléa to interpret their final production of some of their greatest works.

This fall, Sheléa joins 16-time Grammy Award composer and super producer, David Foster on his signature international David Foster and Friends Tour. The tour kicked off at the San Diego Symphony Gala (August 25-26), and will continue onto Costa Mesa Pacific Symphony (October 15-16), and Laguna Beach ALS Gala (October 28). Sheléa will resume a three-month concert engagement with Foster between March through June 2018. 

Concurrently, Sheléa will continue concert dates with Kirk Whalum on his fall tour, which kicks off in Minneapolis, MN (November 10-11), the United Kingdom (November 15-20), and returns to U.S. for additional dates (December 7-23).

Recently, Sheléa completed a two-month residency at Quincy Jones’ Q’s Bar & Lounge at the Palazzo Versace Hotel in Dubai and will return to Dubai next year for a three-month residency in January 2018. She has toured with Stevie Wonder, among others. Sheléa also performed a series of special event concerts including an opportunity to perform for President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House to celebrate Gershwin Prize honorees, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, where she performed the composer’s classic, “Anyone Who Had a Heart” with jazzman Arturo Sandoval, which marked her third appearance at the White House. In demand for her extraordinary vocal talent, multiple award-winning music conductor, Michael Feinstein made a special request of Sheléa to join him at the Pasadena Symphony and Pops Summer Concert Series, “A Night at the Oscars.” 

As a music creator, Sheléa worked with legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ Flyte Tyme production company as an in-house songwriter and vocalist. She also penned songs for recording artist Chanté Moore; and the theme song for TriStar’s movie, Jumping the Broom. She also lent her vocals to soundtrack projects including Hotel Rwanda, Akeelah and the Bee and Be Cool. Sheléa’s 2013 debut album, Love Fell On Me, is a blend of traditional pop, jazz and R&B.

Keeping with the tradition of great entertainment, this year’s Living Legends Foundation’s Award Gala will be hosted by veteran broadcaster, media personality, and author Rolonda Watts, CEO of Watts Works Productions. The LLF Foundation’s 2017 honorees include Varnell Johnson, CEO, Junes Entertainment and LLF President, who will be presented with the Chairman’s Award; Morace Landy, Chief Marketing Strategist of Empire Distribution, will receive the Music Executive Award; Steve Crumbley, Senior Vice President of Programming/Operations Manager of Apex Media Charleston, will be presented with the Jerry Boulding Radio Executive Award; Don Jackson, founder, Chairman, and CEO of Central City Productions, Inc., will receive the Broadcast Icon Award; Ray Chew and Vivian Scott Chew, Partners of Chew Entertainment, will be presented with the Creative Visionary Award; Tyrone Williams, Chairman of the Board, Brooklyn United/Former Chairman and CEO of Cold Chillin’ Records, will receive the Hip-Hop Visionary Award; and Larry Jackson, Head of Original Music Content of Apple Music, will be presented with the Digital Music Executive Award.

The LLF Honorary Event Chairpersons for the Awards Dinner and Gala are Geo Bivins, Executive Vice-President, Urban Promotions, RCA Records, and Siedah Garrett, Grammy Award winner and two-time Oscar-nominated artist. Patricia Shields, Partner of Black Dot, LLC, and LLF Officer, serves as Dinner Committee Chairperson.

The LLF Dinner Committee includes a who’s who in radio, records and media, including  Eulis Cathey, Radio Personality, Watercolors, Sirius XM and WBGO-FM; Skip Dillard, Program Director, WBLS-FM (New York) and LLF Advisory board member; Sheila Eldridge, CEO, Miles Ahead Entertainment & Broadcasting and LLF board member; Ethiopia Habtermariam, President, Motown Records; Karen Kennedy, President, 24 Seven Artist Development; Vicki Mack Lataillade, CMO, Premiere Label Group; Pat Prescott, Radio Personality, 94.7/The Wave Radio; Lynn Scott, Vice President, Marketing, Warner Bros. Records; and Phil Thornton, Senior Vice-President/GM, RCA Inspiration/Sony Music.

Sponsors for the 2017 Living Legends Foundations Awards Gala to date include Warner Chappell, City National Bank, Empire Distribution, Columbia Records, All Access Music Group, and Atlantic Records.


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

NEW RELEASES: TONY ALLEN – THE SOURCE; THE REMPIS PERCUSSION QUARTET - COCHONNERIE; ZAID NASSER - THE STROLLER

TONY ALLEN – THE SOURCE

One of the coolest records in years from the legendary Tony Allen – and that's saying a lot, given that his legacy includes famous work as a drummer with Fela Kuti, and a much more recent run of very experimental recordings! This set has Tony soaring out on Blue Note – and working with more of the jazz currents you'd expect from the label – while still, in the Allen legacy, really going for something fresh and unique – as spontaneously creative as it is outright funky! There's definitely some Afro Funk rhythms on the album, but there's also a fuller brace of horns, dedicated to painting sound in rich colors and tones – alongside riffing guitar, organ and keyboard lines, and Tony's own mighty drums – which keep things moving in a straight ahead way, while also filling in the rhythms with wonderfully complicated bits too. The album's as rich and beautiful as you might hope – with titles that include "Cool Cats", "On Fire", "Wolf Eats Wolf", "Life Is Beautiful", "Ewajo", "Moody Boy", "Bad Roads", and "Woro Dance".  ~ Dusty Groove

THE REMPIS PERCUSSION QUARTET - COCHONNERIE

The quartet's not all percussion – just drummers Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly, but both turning out work on the kit that could rival an army of percussionists – working alongside sublime bass plotting from Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and a range of sharp-edged sounds from leader Dave Rempis – who blows alto, tenor, and baritone equally well! The album's far more than the usual improv outing – possibly because the drums do hold onto a core of the sound – while still allowing Rempis those fantastically-shaped lines that we've come to admire more and more over the years, played with increasing sonic sensitivity that almost puts him in the territory of Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson. Flaten's always a welcome talent – and his contributions here are more subtle than the drums, but crucial to the soul of the record – which contains three long tracks, titled "Straggler", "Green & Black", and "Enzymes".  ~ Dusty Groove


ZAID NASSER - THE STROLLER

You might recognize the last name of alto saxophonist Zaid Nasser, as his father was Jamil Nasser – the wonderful bassist who made some incredible music with Ahmad Jamal in the 60s and 70s! And while Zaid certainly lives up to the family legacy, his sound here is very nicely different – a sharp-toned alto approach, and one that can come across in these effortless flurries of notes that are really beautiful – sounds that are pointed, but also set out in constellation in a very thoughtful way – as Zaid works alongside Pasquale Grasso on guitar, Ari Roland on bass, and Keith Balla on drums. The deftness of Nasser's playing is very striking, and almost reminds us of Lou Donaldson on his early 60s sides for Blue Note, in the pre-funk years. Not surprisingly, he takes on two Donaldson tunes – "Sputnik" and "The Stroller" – alongside original compositions "Redd's Tune" and "Junior's Soul" – plus a great version of "Naked City", and the tunes "SOS", "Kaqavik", and "Never Let Me Go".  ~ Dusty Groove


Guitarist Rez Abbasi Melds Jazz and South Indian Music with a Bold, Original Vision on Unfiltered Universe

It seems natural to refer to the music of Rez Abbasi as a hybrid, given the guitarist/composer's penchant for combining the traditions of South Asian music with his own modern jazz voice. That description ceases to fit as soon as one hears the music, however. In Abbasi's singular approach, this merging of influences feels less like a chimera, a patchwork of distinctive yet still identifiable parts; it is instead an evolution, a wholly new creature that bears distinctive traces of its antecedents yet has a form and beauty all its own.
Such is the case with Abbasi's 12th album, Unfiltered Universe (due out October 6, 2017 on Whirlwind Recordings), the third album in a trilogy exploring different South Asian musics with his stellar quintet Invocation. The band brings together five leading voices in forward-looking jazz, all of whom have extensively studied diverse South Asian traditions, often in collaboration with one another: Abbasi, saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Johannes Weidenmueller, and drummer Dan Weiss.

Where Invocation's 2008 debut Things To Come highlighted the influences of North Indian Hindustani music with guest vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia, and their 2011 follow-up Suno Suno, the Qawwali music of Abbasi's native Pakistan, Unfiltered Universe takes as its point of departure the Carnatic music of South India. Abbasi's experience with Carnatic music can be traced back at least to Mahanthappa's 2008 release Kinsmen, a collaboration with South Indian saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath that merged jazz and Carnatic musicians, and continued through a 2015 project with the Indian-American Ragamala Dance Company. His studies and listening have persisted throughout the intervening years, allowing him to absorb its influence and create new music under its sway that is far from a literal interpretation of its surface qualities.

The title Unfiltered Universe refers to the way in which a lifetime of globe-spanning influences were allowed to emerge directly from Abbasi's subconscious into his music. "The idea was to operate from my intuition first while creating these compositions and then later use the thought process to manipulate the music, he says. "It's unprocessed and unfiltered, shining a light on the universe within me. It really brought the fruits of my experiences to the forefront."

Such an intuitive approach to composition was a fresh experience for the guitarist, who likens the approach to Jackson Pollock's action painting. "I wanted to let the influences hit the empty canvas and allow that to speak to me as opposed to having a foundational idea of what I was going to create," Abbasi explains. "I didn't want to impose preconceived rhythms or ideas; I wanted to get the essence and energy of what I've taken away from playing with Carnatic musicians and dancers, and to tie that in with everything I've done previously."

To realize the music Abbasi reconvened his quintet Invocation, a supergroup of innovative jazz artists who have explored similar territory in disparate ways in their own work. Both American-born musicians of Indian descent, Mahanthappa and Iyer have both delved into South Asian traditions with highly acclaimed results. Weiss has brought intensive tabla studies to his inventive approach to the drum kit, while Weidenmueller has co-authored books on metric modulation via his studies in Carnatic percussion.

It's a rare group of musicians whose experiences and collaborations have made them uniquely prepared to seize on every nuance of Abbasi's compositions. "I chose these individuals because I knew that whatever I bring to the table, it's going to be supplemented by the wide-ranging history that each carries. With this group, that history contains a fortified education in Indian music and so we don't need to discuss anything Indian, per se - it's already there. For instance, if Dan plays a particular rhythmic idea from his tabla studies, all of us will be able to grab onto it intuitively. That's one reason why the communication is so stimulating within the ensemble."

Throughout Unfiltered Universe, the music surges with a uniquely propulsive groove, with sinuous melodies that follow surprising, exotic contours. The title track morphs from meditative to frenetic, while opener "Propensity" bristles with a darting, angular energy. "Thin-King" earns its play on words by managing to juggle the cerebral and the playful, while the 12-minute "Turn of Events" gathers from the abstract to the urgent and disintegrates back again, "Disagree to Agree" captures the tenor of discourse in our current moment in its teeth-gritting tension, and "Dance Number" closes the album with a buoyantly erratic groove that both tempts and challenges the listener to move.

The end result of these converging lifetimes of experience, creation, collaboration and study, (un)filtered through the lens of Abbasi's intuitive writing approach, is a strikingly individual voice that never explicitly references its influences but instead evokes the atmospheres and feelings inherent to them. "As a jazz listener you may not necessarily hear the Carnatic influence," Abbasi says, "but you'll definitely hear something different, and ultimately that's what counts."

Abbasi has received multiple composition grants in recent years. Unfiltered Universe was supported in part by a New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation. It is the 2nd CMA grant he has received for his group Invocation. Most recently he was commissioned by the NY Guitar Festival to compose and perform a live score to the 1929 Indian silent film, A Throw of Dice. The premiere took place in NYC in May with a reprise performance scheduled for September 16th at the Ellnora Guitar Festival in Urbana, IL.

Guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi is an artist who continually pushes new boundaries. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, and raised in Southern California, he studied at the USC and the Manhattan School of Music in jazz and classical music, supplemented by a pilgrimage in India under the tutelage of master percussionist Ustad Alla Rakha. Abbasi's music is a vivid synthesis of all the above stated influences and genres. Voted #1 "Rising-Star Guitarist" in 2013's DownBeat Critics Poll and placed in the "Top-Ten Guitarists" in 2015 & 2016, guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi has become one of the most significant musicians on the current scene. Making New York home for the past 25 years, Abbasi has created a unique sound that is stimulated by his jazz pedigree and Indian-Pakistani upbringing. With twelve albums, multiple awards and composition commissions, Rez Abbasi continues to find creative ways to enrich diverse audiences with his musical projects.



Dee Dee Bridgewater Releases New Album Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready

Every picture tells a story; every journey begins differently.  The story of Dee Dee Bridgewater's stunning new album, Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready, begins in that city, where she was born at Collins Chapel Hospital, located not far from where the album was recorded at Producer Willie Mitchell's historic Royal Studios.  Dee Dee's father, a trumpet player affectionately known as "Matt the Platter Cat" was a DJ at WDIA, the top Memphis radio station, and even when the family moved to neighboring Flint, Michigan, the young Dee Dee continued to listen to the great sounds of the Memphis music scene by tuning-in late night from across state lines.  And oh what a music scene it was!

"Even as a young girl the music moved me, inspired me, made me dance with joy and cry with emotion.  My life journey may have started in Mali, West Africa, as a descendent of the Peul tribe and the Fulani of Nigeria (explored on her 2007 recording, "Red Earth" recorded in Mali) but it certainly was nurtured by my childhood in the South and all of the amazing music that I was being exposed to."

To Memphis and her roots, the 2017 NEA Jazz Master, three-time Grammy and Tony award winner, NPR host and UN Ambassador for the Food And Agriculture Organization knew that she would have to come back home to do it right.  The album was co-produced by Memphis native and Grammy-winning musician Kirk Whalum, and Willie Mitchell's grandson - Grammy-winning Engineer Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell. It was recorded at Royal Studios in Fall 2016 after multiple visits by Bridgewater to Memphis over a period of several years, during which time she absorbed as much of the music, culture, heart and soul of the city as she could possibly consume.

"Working in Memphis at Royal Studios is like magic," says Bridgewater.  "There's so much history that has been recorded in those walls.  I just felt I could take this journey in that city with Kirk and Boo.  They are my two kingpins and the two helped me realize this project and bring it to fruition."

Dee Dee was determined to recapture the same magic and history of the Blues, R&B and Soul classics in the recordings that were originally made in or associated with Memphis.  "I wanted people to be able to recall the original versions, but I also wanted them to have a more modern feeling while respecting those originals.  I'm doing B.B. King's 'Thrill Is Gone,' Bobby Blue Bland's 'Going Down Slow', Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness,' Al Green's 'Can't Get Next To You,' Ann Peebles' 'I Can't Stand The Rain' and The Staple Singers' 'Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)' - it just doesn't get any better than this in terms of material. The opportunity to make them my own was an opportunity and a challenge I felt honored to take on."

In reality, Bridgewater even prayed her project was on the right path.  She said her prayers were answered when, out of the blue, Memphis' own Stax Records singing legend Carla Thomas dropped by Royal Studios just after Dee Dee had finished mixing Thomas' hit, "B.A.B.Y."

"Being able to play 'B.A.B.Y.' for Carla and listening to her share stories about my father playing with her father, Rufus Thomas, and talking about life in Memphis in general was the final affirmation that I needed for the project…the icing on the cake."

The result of this recording is an album that sounds like Memphis and feels like Memphis but also, sounds and feels as only a Dee Dee Bridgewater album can, imbibed with her own fierce passion, originality and incredibly dynamic take on the tracks.

"I want to honor Memphis, which we call Soulsville, because it has brought joy to so many people around the world," says Bridgewater. "It has always been a part of me. The more I come back, the more at home I feel. I will eventually move back here.  Much of my heart and soul are here."

The release of Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready will be accompanied by tour dates worldwide - visit www.deedeebridgewater.com for information.  Watch Dee Dee talk about the making of the project here: Grammy, Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater returns home to Memphis to record new album. 

Track Listing:

Yes, I'm Ready
Giving Up
I Can't Get Next To You
Going Down Slow
Why?  (Am I Treated So Bad)
B.A.B.Y.
Thrill Is Gone
The Sweeter He Is
Can't Stand The Rain
Don't Be Cruel
Hound Dog
Try A Little Tenderness
(Take My Hand) Precious Lord                      

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy and Tony Award-winning Jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics.  Ever the fearless voyager, explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time Grammy-winner most recently won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.

Bridgewater's career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the 70's she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn her attention back to Jazz.   Bridgewater began self-producing with her 1993 album Keeping Tradition (Polydor/Verve)  and created DDB records in 2006 when she signed with the Universal Music Group as a producer (Bridgewater produces all of her own CDs).   Releasing a series of critically-acclaimed CD's, all but one, including her wildly successful double Grammy Award-winning tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Dear Ella - have received Grammy nominations.  Artist Theo Croker is signed to DDB Records and Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra also recorded a project with Dee Dee released by her label in 2014.

Bridgewater also pursued a parallel career in musical theater, winning a Tony Award for her role as "Glinda" in The Wiz in 1975. Having recently completed a run as the lead role of Billie Holiday in the off-Broadway production of Lady Day,  her other theatrical credits include Sophisticated Ladies, Black Ballad, Carmen, Cabaret and the Off-Broadway and West End Productions of  Lady Day, for which Bridgewater received the British Laurence Olivier Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

As a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Bridgewater continues to appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger. She is currently on tour worldwide in support of Memphis...Yes, I'm Ready" and in April of this year was the recipient of an NEA Jazz Masters Fellows Award with honors bestowed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.



Award-winning Journalist Turned Jazz Singer, Lyricist, Composer Rondi Charleston Summons Hope, Courage and Joy with Inspiring New Album Resilience

Rondi Charleston knows the power of a story well told and knows how to tell it like it is. This talent, which led her to winning both Emmy and Peabody Awards as a field producer for ABC's Diane Sawyer, led also to her back to her innate passion and a third act: that of a rising jazz singer and musical poet with a mission to use her talents to bring wisdom, strength and joy to a world in which so many people find themselves facing compounded challenges. "I feel that the artist's job is not only to capture what's going on in the world around her, but to reflect on what's going on; to try to make sense out of chaos," says Charleston.

"Hopefully, I can also entertain, inspire, and leave audiences with a feeling of hope for the future," she notes. "My challenge is to write music and lyrics that do all three." Charleston has been meeting the challenge since 2009 in a series of impressive releases on Motéma Music. With her latest album Resilience, she reaches new heights as a vocalist, composer, and arranger with six originals compositions, distinctive renditions of three jazz standards, and a beautiful rendition of "A Healing Song" by pianist and jazz education leader, Eli Yamin.

"There have been several chapters in my artistic life. I've gone from being an actor and opera singer at Juilliard, to the world of investigative journalism at ABC News, and now, back to my first love, which is traditional and contemporary jazz," Charleston explains. "There's a lot more uniting all this than meets the eye. In each case, you're telling a story and in it, hopefully, revealing a powerful truth, whether it's a corporate cover-up or a deep, hidden emotion. Over the last several years, I've been noticing folks talking about the notion of resilience, and how we're all struggling with the huge challenges that life presents. It turns out, resilience really is a trait we all have inside of us to some degree, and need to cultivate it in ourselves and in our society if we want to survive as a species."

"I consider myself extremely fortunate to create music with incredible musicians and human beings," Charleston says of pianist Brandon McCune, bassist Ed Howard, drummer McClenty Hunter and percussionist Mayra Casales. She reserves special praise for guitarist, co-composer and musical director Dave Stryker. "Dave is my musical alter-ego, mind-reader and partner in crime, so to speak. He brings a deep well of jazz knowledge, musical sensitivity, creative juice and endless patience to the table. I always heard a horn section for some of these songs, so Dave brought in trumpeter Alex Norris and saxophonist Tim Reis and wrote charts that completed that seductive, deceptively simple aura and invites you in and knits everything together."

The title track, which confronts the challenge of the day-to-day grind with affirmative strength, is indicative of Charleston's knack for vividly bringing scenes to life. Charleston's compositions show a rare gift for giving universal meaning to personal experience, whether the romantic setback of "Around the Corner," the warm remembrances of "Scrapbook" or the nurturing message of "Just a Heartbeat." "I read once that Leonard Cohen took more than a year to write 'Suzanne,' which gives me some solace," reflects Charleston. "'Just a Heartbeat' percolated in my head subconsciously for 18 years. I had an epiphany the moment I saw an image of my daughter for the first time on an ultrasound screen--completely vulnerable, fragile and yet mighty at the same time. I realized that inner strength would be just as important as the physical strength she would need to navigate the world. As she prepared to leave for college last summer, the song finally emerged, as a maternal reflection on letting go."

Charleston proves equally sure-footed when putting herself in others' shoes. "Refugee," a churning jazz waltz, was inspired by a The New York Times story of a girl who escaped by boat from Syria while the rest of her family perished, while "Evidence" echoes the environmental challenge proposed by Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth. The program also includes three standards that echo the Resilience theme, and closes with "A Healing Song," which is written by Eli Yamin, Director of the Jazz Power Initiative ("JPI"), a non-profit organization that Charleston has actively supported as a lead board member for the last four years.

In addition to recording and touring, Charleston has recently co-founded Resilience Music Alliance, a mission-driven record label, with her husband, political/social activist and arts patron, Steve Ruchefsky. RMA is dedicated to empowering artists who celebrate and challenge the human condition of Resilience. To further explore this universal theme, Charleston is conducting a series of webcast interviews with visionaries such as Deepak Chopra, Cory Booker and others. "It's thrilling to have the chance to talk with such deep thinkers, and I look forward to sharing their insights with our community of like-minded people."

Those close to the singer will recognize also that the emotional depth of this project is likely due in part to the fact that the singer herself had to reach deep down recently to cultivate resilience to win her own battle with a medical issue which slowed down for over a year before she rose up to record this project. Music has surrounded Charleston her entire life, though. Her father, an English professor at the University of Chicago, was a jazz fan who took the then six-year-old and her brother to hear Duke Ellington. Her mother, a singer and voice teacher specializing in contemporary classical music. Admitted to Juilliard as an acting student, Charleston also studied classical music. After graduation, early years singing opera led to frustration and a change of careers. "Being small, I was always cast as the maid, never the countess," she notes, "it was frustrating not to ever get the meaty parts, so I decided to shift gears, and learn to be a cultural reporter like my idol, the late Charles Kuralt." She was admitted to the NYU Masters program, where she won an award for an investigative report that led to a job at ABC News. Beginning as a researcher, Charleston ultimately became a field producer, winning Emmy and Peabody Awards for her work with Diane Sawyer. But Charleston had hardly abandoned music.

During lunch breaks, she took voice lessons from Peter Eldridge of New York Voices, and at night she played cabaret gigs. "I put jazz singers on the highest pedestal, and never thought of myself that way at the time," she admits, "but Peter saw that I had something special, I guess, and could swing, and he really helped make the transition organic." When her daughter, Emma, was born, Charleston realized that she didn't want her life controlled by the demands of her job. "So," she explains, "I decided to focus on motherhood, return to my first love--music, and see what would happen."

The vocalist has long been active in making the world a better place: She and Ruchefsky have contributed significantly to many causes, including JPI, which transforms the lives of underprivileged children through Jazz Arts Education, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp--Paul Newman's visionary charity that brings joy to children with cancer, as well as many other causes focused on elevating hope to defeat despair. "Giving back is what it's all about in this world," says Charleston, "especially when you can see the immediate and profound impact you're having on the lives of so many people."

Rondi Charleston Album Release Performance:
September 21 | Birdland | New York, NY


Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge Incorporate American Folk and Roots Music to Tell a Tale of the American Heartland on Whispers On the Wind

With Whispers On the Wind, their first recording since the two-time Grammy® Award-nominated River Runs, Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge would, at first glance, appear to have returned to a more standard jazz big band outing. Having shed the orchestral trappings characterizing the prior ambitious work however, Whispers on the Wind quickly becomes anything but standard. It encompasses a wide range of styles and genre blending orchestrations with a distinctive American roots sound. The programmatic titles evoke a tale of the American heartland and convey feelings of nostalgia and wistfulness all while continuing to push the boundaries of big band composing and arranging.

Owen's influences have always been eclectic--grounded in the jazz tradition, but freely associating with other genres from classical and rock to American folk and roots music. This project expands upon that, keeping the big band omnipresent but leaning heavily on the evocative violin of Sara Caswell, the luminescent harmonica of Grégoire Maret, an array of acoustic guitars deftly played by Corey Christiansen, and even the occasional burst of color from the accordion and hammered dulcimer played by Owen himself. It's a sound that is immediately buoyant, intimate, and captivating. Randy Brecker, last appearing with the Surge on A Comet's Tail, is featured on two tracks.

As with River Runs, Whispers On the Wind was conceived by Owen as a single entity: a suite of seven pieces linked by a somewhat ethereal vision and examination of the American tradition and lifestyle, its values, landmarks, folklore, heroes, and myths. In the booklet of the album, Owen chose two quotes from authors Stephen King, Larry McMurtry, or Cormac McCarthy to accompany each piece. The music is aimed to display a clear affinity for the local color, wry sense of humor, unique personalities, strong sense of place, and the disarmingly unsentimental honesty these authors are noted for.

Whispers On the Wind opens ominously with the 14-minute epic, "Warped Cowboy," and it slowly builds into a galloping, grandiose expression filled with acoustic guitar, bombastic drums and various iterations of the motif throughout its long form. On "All Hat, No Saddle" Owen relies heavily on the guitar to carry the rhythmic center of the piece before diving into the complex yet memorable melody. The swinging "A Phares of the Heart" features the brilliant Maret opening the track and soloing throughout as it builds to a climatic ending filled with full band hits, showcasing the unshakable cohesiveness of Owen's compositions.

"Into the Blue" features Brecker with a blistering solo that duels with LaRue Nickelson's electric guitar and transitions into "Sentinel Rock," another one that features a solo by Maret throughout the entirety of the track ending ultimately with a dramatic close. The suite ends with "Can't Remember Why," which features Caswell's virtuosic violin playing, and "Gunslingers," a somewhat otherworldly, Blakey-esque minor blues that features Brecker again.

This is the sixth release for Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge and all have been critically acclaimed. The first eponymous recording was singled out by JazzTimes' David Franklin as one of his top five albums of 1996 and both The Comet's Tail (2009) and River Runs (2013) received Grammy® Award-nominations. "Bound Away" and "Side Hikes - A Ridge Away" off of River Runs were nominated for "Best Instrumental Composition" and "Best Instrumental Arrangement" respectively at the 2014 Grammy® Awards.

The recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, Owen has written for or had his compositions performed by the Netherlands' Metropole Orchestra, Aarhus Jazz Orchestra (Denmark), Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Tonight Show Orchestra, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, US Army Ambassadors, and numerous others. A distinguished professor at the University of South Florida where he has taught for over 35 years, Owen is a noted jazz educator sought out as a guest conductor, clinician and lecturer. 

He currently serves as President of ISJAC (International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers), an organization he was instrumental in founding. Previously he served as President of the IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education), as a "governor" for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and as a panelist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Grammy® Awards, and numerous regional arts associations.


Ivo Perelman Expands on His Collaborations Venturing Into Unchartered Musical Territory with Six New Releases

In a career that now numbers more than 80 recordings under his own name, Ivo Perelman has established a variety of new benchmarks. He has developed an unsurpassed facility for integrating the tenor saxophone's extra-high altissimo octaves with the instrument's conventional range, bringing a new edge and polish to the concept of extended technique. To an extraordinary degree, he has engaged in the daredevil pursuit of utter spontaneity, in stupefying cogent recording sessions that start and end without written compositions or thematic elements, harmonic frameworks or preset tempos. He has assembled a world-class workshop of like-minded musicians on whom to draw for each new project, evincing a sorcerer's touch for mixing these "ingredients" in novel ways and he has resorted to releasing several albums simultaneously, in order to keep pace with his runaway imagination and productivity.

In this latest fusillade of simultaneously released albums, Perelman places his saxophone in familiar settings as well as new ones. The familiar include his longstanding duo with pianist Matthew Shipp and other frequent colleagues. But this group of albums also features four musicians with whom Perelman had never performed with before these recordings, which signals a turning point in his work. One of these new associations--with trumpeter Nate Wooley, acclaimed for his solo trumpet recitals and mastery of "extreme sound"--marks the first time Perelman has ever employed the tenor-and-trumpet context that has characterized so many jazz groups.

"This has never happened with me," marvels Perelman, whose artistic philosophy requires an almost telepathic communication among collaborators. "Now I'm opening up to every musician on earth. It's like a rebirth--the beginning of a new phase. It's not that I have exhausted the musical potential with my favorite gang. But it's time to expand and this will reflect a growth within my gang. If you socialize and talk with other people, it's good for your old friends too."
     
The "new friends" include the septuagenarian percussion marvel Bobby Kapp (who appeared with Perelman and Shipp just once, on the 2017 album Tarvos) and two lesser-known drummers: the Baltimore-based Jeff Cosgrove and the German-born Joe Hertenstein. In addition, Gerald Cleaver, one of Perelman's favored drummers, returns to anchor a pianoless quartet featuring two horns. "With every new batch of recordings, I always try to focus on some different methodology, so I derive more learning in each batch. And what I learned here is: What a difference a drummer makes. In this batch Matt snd I are confronted with a variety of drummers, and I can see what that does to our relationship," states Perelman. Perelman has long marched to the beat of a different drummer, but that proves especially true on these discs.

Two albums in this release feature no drummer at all however, and one of them--the Perelman-Shipp Duo's Live In Brussels--provides the key to another recent development in Perelman's music. While discerning listeners have long detected a deep and iconoclastic lyricism within the saxophonist's vortex of extended technique and non-traditional sounds, on Brussels he marks his improvised melodies with more long tones in the saxophone's conventional range. He allows the flow of line to play out with a new level of passion and grace, contrasting with his unparalleled command of the instrument's stratosphere.
    
In annotating Brussels, the Belgian vocalist Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg describes the almost mystical atmosphere at L'Archiduc, the famed performance space where the duo performed in May of 2017. "It is designed in a half-circle around the piano, the stage located approximately at the center; the hand-made cocktail bar hugs the curve, and an overlooking mezzanine runs around the small room beneath the slightly concave ceiling," he writes. Painting a picture of the audience for this concert, he describes them as "literally submerged in the flow of sound, listening with their eyes, watching the music closely in completely relaxed posture, gripped with concentration." Perelman himself believes that this intimate setting helped propel the duo to new heights in their already telepathic communication, saying, "It's like we were inside the crowd, so the nature of the music reflects that intense experience." Upon their return to the U.S., Perelman found that his heightened communication had left a lasting impact, the reflection of which can be heard in the other albums as well.
    
The Perelman-Shipp Duo expands to a trio with drums on two of these discs. Perelman says that with Cosgrove, the drummer on Live In Baltimore, "I heard things that I never did with Matt before, not in a live performance." Credit an approach to the drums that veteran journalist Neil Tesser (who has extensively chronicled Perelman's work) calls low-key--which "does not mean low-energy," Tesser writes. "But it does indicate the level of restraint that imbues his playing: an allocation of resources; the sense of power in reserve." Hertenstein epitomizes a completely different style on the album Scalene. As Perelman says, "He is such a busy drummer, but in the best way; he is not limited by what is known as 'playing drums' in a conventional group. He fills all the space with such beauty, and we had to adapt to that."
   
Of the band that appears on the album Heptagon--with Shipp, drummer Kapp, and the titanic bassist and early musical partner William Parker--Perelman says simply, "This is a quartet of very strong personalities. I feel like I'm playing with giants here." Perelman has only occasionally worked in this tried-and-true format, the "power quartet" comprising a conventionally instrumented rhythm section, and this set measures up to all such past encounters.
   
The remaining two albums--another quartet date, Octagon, and the trio album Philosopher's Stone--both star Wooley, culminating a 10-year goal of working with the trumpeter. "When I first heard him, in a duo with Shipp, I thought, 'We have to do this.' But our schedules prevented it." So did Perelman's confidence that he could thrive in the two-horn format: "Tenor and trumpet are a match made in heaven, the iconic dichotomy. But I was very hesitant to do that because the trumpet is so dominant. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find my space within that time-tested format. But I did, thanks to Wooley's artistry--because I don't think he plays the trumpet; he plays music." 

Ivo Perelman · Live in Brussels, Live in Baltimore,
Scalene, Heptagon, Octagon, Philosopher's Stone
Leo Records ·  Release Date: October 6, 2017


LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...