AVAILABLE NOW:
Drummer and Composer JEFF BALLARD Releases
Debut Album as a Leader, Time's Tales, via OKeh Records
Featuring Guitarist Lionel Loueke
and Saxophonist Miguel Zenón
"Jeff
Ballard is one of the standout jazz drummers of his generation, a
humming engine of polyrhythm and an ace with earthy texture."
- The New York Times
"... the most exciting trio to emerge in recent memory."
- All About Jazz
Drummer and composer Jeff Ballard makes his long overdue, much anticipated debut as a leader with the diverse and wide-ranging Time's Tales.
A master of the trio format who anchors the renowned Brad Mehldau trio
and is one-third of the inventive collective group FLY with Larry
Grenadier and Mark Turner, Ballard here documents his own longstanding
trio with guitarist Lionel Loueke and saxophonist Miguel Zenón.
With sounds ranging from forward-looking modern jazz to traditional African and Latin rhythms to heavy metal intensity, Time's Tales
reflects the Jeff Ballard Trio's adventurous, multi-faceted identity,
which has been honed on stages around the world since its formation in
2006. A landmark release in its own right, the album also arrives just
as Ballard is celebrating an important benchmark in his own life, his
50th birthday.
"I'm
getting into the middle of my years. So I think recording this project,
with this band, makes a meaningful statement. It's a telling of my
times up until this point."
A
multi-faceted drummer with a keen interest in rhythms from Africa and
Latin America, Ballard could have found no better partners for this
endeavor than the Benin-born Loueke and Puerto Rico native Zenón. The
two have imbibed the rhythms of their homelands and incorporated them
into their own expansive sonic palettes, making them ideal foils for
Ballard's polyrhythmic approach.
"It's
where we meet, for sure," Ballard says. "Their sophistication and
awareness of rhythm is so high. Lionel's listening to three different
rhythms at the same time; Miguel can hear everything. I pick up
something melodically from what they're playing and put it on the drums,
and they do the reverse."
Both
of Ballard's bandmates are among the most innovative and acclaimed
musicians on the scene today. Loueke was mentored by Herbie Hancock and
Terence Blanchard, and has worked with legends like Jack DeJohnette and
Charlie Haden as well as peers such as Gretchen Parlato, Esperanza
Spalding, and Robert Glasper. Zenón is a Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow
who has forged a distinctive blend of jazz and Latin American folkloric
music. He's also a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective and has
worked with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Fred Hersch, David Sánchez,
and Steve Coleman.
Born
in Newport Beach, California, Jeff Ballard moved to New York after a
three-year stint with the legendary Ray Charles, where he immediately
began building a diverse resume with artists including Lou Donaldson,
Buddy Montgomery, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Mike Stern. In the late '90s he
became a part of the Danilo Pérez Trio and Chick Corea's New Trio and
Origin, and later joined Joshua Redman's groove-oriented Elastic Band.
In 2003, Ballard formed the collective trio FLY with Larry Grenadier and
Mark Turner, which has since released three critically acclaimed
recordings.
Since 2005 he has been the drummer for
the Brad Mehldau Trio, one of the most renowned groups in modern jazz.
In addition to his trio, Ballard leads the ensemble Jeff Ballard
Fairgrounds, which exists as a quintet featuring Eddie Henderson, Kevin
Hays, Jeff Parker and Grenadier, and as a quartet with Loueke, pianist
Tigran Hamasyan, and The Bad Plus bassist Reid Anderson on electronics.
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Jeff Ballard - Time's Tales - EPK
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Jeff Ballard · Time's Tales
OKeh · Release Date: February 4, 2014
For more information on Jeff Ballard, please visit:
Sony Masterworks comprises the Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh,
Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email
updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com
###
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New World n Jazz Marketing and Promotion (Radio)
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Sony Masterworks/OKeh
Angela Barkan · Angela.Barkan@sonymusic.com · 212-833-8575
Larissa Slezak · Larissa.Slezak@sonymusic.com
