USA/Austin, TX: Alex Coke Quartet @ CHEZ Z January 8th, 2017

Alex Coke

jazz saxophonist and flutist

Photo: Johan Janssen

UPCOMING SHOWS

January 8th, 2017
Austin Jazz Society
Sunday Afternoon Jazz Series
Presents

Alex Coke Quartet

 CHEZ Z
5406 Balcones Dr
Austin TX 78731
Doors at 2:00 p.m.
Performance 3:00 p.m.
Tickets $10-$20
http://www.austinjazzsociety.org/Tickets.html
Spend a Sunday afternoon with the Austin Jazz Society when saxophone flutist Alex Coke returns to Texas swinging through a concert in quartet with
Rich Harney – piano/vocals
Daniel Durham – bass
Masumi Jones – drums

USA: Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau (2CD)(2017)

Nonesuch Records labelmates mandolinist/singer Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau, longtime admirers of each other’s work, first toured as a duo in 2013. At the end of 2015, they played a two-night stand at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom before going into the studio to record Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, a mix of covers and original songs that Nonesuch releases on January 27, 2017, on two CDs / LPs.  A US tour will be announced at a later date.

The two musicians first performed together in September 2011 as part of Mehldau’s residency at London’s Wigmore Hall. The Guardian said of that performance, “Mehldau struck up his signature rocking chord vamp over which lightly struck motifs swell to sensuous extended melodies. Thile kept cajoling him with percussive snaps, flying runs, and chords strummed fast enough to sound as seamless as a purring strings section, inducing Mehldau … to bat back the playful provocation with stinging rejoinders.”

USA/BRAZIL: Brazilian Vocalist Kenia APAP Showcase January 7 & 8 @ The NY Hilton NYC

I know a good singer by the choice of material and approach and performance. Kenia has a tone and that quality of touching people longer and deeper with her voice.
~ Flora Purim
 

Kenia is a talented performer, with great stage presence and a gift for engaging the audience. Her knowledge and passion for Brazilian music and art is evident in her stage performances, and she educates her audience with every song.
~ Janis Burley Wilson – The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
 

Kenia, a consummate vocal talent who can deliver a song as well as anyone I’ve heard. Her voice is strong, her phrasing excellent, her delivery totally polished. And she makes you move…
~ David Zych – JazzTimes
 

Kenia is a Brazilian original, building a bridge to the next generation of Brazilian music fans by following in the footsteps of Astrud Gilberto, the closest I can think of in terms of Kenia’s ability to translate that wonderful sense of saudade and spice that her songs provide. One can’t listen to Kenia sing without appreciating her artistry. Her voice can suspend time, and it can lead you to think about nothing at all, even if just for a few minutes, and in this day that’s nothing short of miraculous.
~ Scott Adams
 

Simply Kenia will quickly be embraced by Brazilian music aficionados as a timeless classic of the sound that has seduced the world for over half a century. It is a captivating blend of venerable choro works, samba and bossa nova-accented tracks that represent the best of the contemporary MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) tradition, and handpicked favorites from the American ballad songbook. There’s little doubt that it all adds up to the most well-rounded and stylistically authentic album of Kenia’s career.
~ Mark Holston

Watch Kenia Perform Summertime At Feinsteins/54Belo



www.kenialive.com 

USA: Eric Hofbauer Quintet - Three Places in New England(2016)

USA: Nolatet – Dogs(2016)

Track Listing: Pops; Bongo Joe; Dogs; Morphine Drip / Lento; There’s No Fire; Mellon Ball; Nails/
Personnel: Brian Haas: piano; Mike Dillon: vibraphone, percussion; James Singleton: acoustic bass; Johnny Vidacovich: drums.

USA: South Florida JAZZ presents: New York Standards Quartet (NYSQ) Sat, Jan 7, 2017 8:00 PM

 

Tickets & Info

USA: New Origin Records CD by Pianist/Composer Bill Anschell, "Rumbler," Set for Jan. 20 Release

New Origin Records CD by

Pianist/Composer Bill Anschell, 

"Rumbler,"
Set for January 20 Release
       

Features Anschell's Longtime Trio--
Bassist Chris Symer & Drummer Jose Martinez--
Plus Guest Appearances by
Guitarist Brian Monroney,
Jeff Coffin (Soprano Sax), Rich Cole (Tenor Sax),
Percussionist Jeff Busch, & Wind Player Hans Teuber

CD Release Show at Tula's, Seattle, Feb. 11

 

December 21, 2016

One of the most valuable players in Seattle's thriving jazz scene, pianist Bill Anschell is a prolific composer and adept arranger who's explored those aspects of his craft since debuting on disc 20 years ago. His new Origin Records CD, Rumbler, which will be released January 20, is Anschell's ninth album as a leader and his first full ensemble jazz recording in a decade. Throughout the recording, Anschell embraces odd meters, shifting tonalities, and other striking effects.

"I've written enough conventional tunes," he says. "I don't need to do that anymore. I'm more interested in going beyond the 32-bar form. I like to set up unusual compositional challenges for myself and try to solve them in a way that still allows the band plenty of room for improvisation and interaction."

Rumbler is anchored by his longstanding trio, including bassist Chris Symer and drummer Jose Martinez. Jeff Coffin makes a memorable guest appearance on one tune on soprano saxophone, while Rich Cole shines on tenor saxophone on another. In addition to the fine guitarist Brian Monroney, to whom Anschell was introduced by Symer, the contributors include versatile flutist and saxophonist Hans Teuber and percussionist Jeff Busch.

From the opening strains of Thelonious Monk's "Misterioso," it's clear that Rumbler is less a showcase for Anschell's piano playing than for his writing and arranging. For "Misterioso," he heard in his head distorted guitar and a kind of power-rock countermelody. With guitarist Monroney providing the sonic edge, the frequently performed classic takes on intriguing new life.

Anschell's favorite composition on the album, "Captive Light," written in 5/4, "sounds clean and simple, but it's very challenging for the improviser as the meter turns around against itself," he says. His distinctive take on the Beatles' "For No One" (from Revolver) pointedly avoids the tendency of many jazz artists to perform pop songs as written, just adding a facile swing feel.

With a wide range of ethnic styles at his fingertips, including the Afro-Peruvian lando (as heard on "Dark Wind") and South Indian rhythms, Anschell has myriad directions to go in issuing those challenges to himself -- and the listener.

Born in Seattle in 1959,  Bill Anschell was a self-taught pianist who did not take formal music lessons until he enrolled at Oberlin College. He transferred to Wesleyan University, where he had the good fortune to study with esteemed saxophonist and composer Bill Barron and mridangam master T Ranganathan, whose teachings had a powerful impact on Anschell's approach to rhythm.

Anschell subsequently studied arts administration at the University of Wisconsin. In 1989, armed with a master's degree, he went to Atlanta to become Jazz Coordinator of the Southern Arts Federation.

While with the organization, he created "JazzSouth," an internationally syndicated radio show; published a book on grant writing; and dove headlong into the city's jazz scene as a sideman and leader of his own trio. The trio performed at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and Atlanta Montreux Jazz Festival and toured South America four times.

During the early to mid-1990s, Anschell worked with singer Nnenna Freelon as her accompanist, arranger, and music director, contributing to several albums of hers in one or more of those guises. He made his own album debut in 1995 with Rhythm Changes, a mix of originals, bebop classics, and standards, and followed it in 1998 with the eclectic a different note all together, which was selected as one of the top 10 jazz albums of the year by UPI.

In 2002, Anschell, his wife, and their four-year-old son moved back to Seattle to be near their extended families. To say the Pacific Northwest has been good to him would be a huge understatement, judging by the regional honors and awards that have been bestowed on him and the opportunities he has had to alternate between his own projects and a multitude of ones involving first-rate players in collective-style settings.

Anschell and his trio will celebrate the release of Rumbler at Tula's in Seattle on Saturday, Feb. 11. He'll also be appearing with his quartet (Brian Monroney, g; Chris Symer, b; Brad Boal, d) at the Mount Baker Theater in Bellingham on Sunday, Jan. 29 (4:00pm), presented by The Jazz Project. "Each of the tunes on Rumbler has a very distinct personality," Anschell says. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what directions they take when we stretch out and explore them in concert."

Photography: Steve Korn

Web Site: billanschell.com

  

Media Contact:

Terri Hinte
hudba@sbcglobal.net
510-234-8781

USA: Dave Stryker Quartet at Chickie Wah Wah in New Orleans Thur Jan 5th 8pm-11pm

Thursday, January 5th 8pm-11pm
Dave Stryker Quartet
Appearing @
Chickie Wah Wah
2828 Canal St
New Orleans, LA 70119 (504) 304-4714 www.chickiewahwah.com
Dave Stryker-guitar
Michael Pellera - piano
Martin Masakowski  - bass
Brian Richburg Jr - Drums
JEN Attendees Welcome!
1.4 mile cab ride

Whether you’ve heard guitarist Dave Stryker leading his own group (with 26 CD’s as a leader to date), co-leading The Stryker/Slagle Band, Blue To The Bone or as a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and many others, you know why the Village Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” His latest CD Eight Track II has stayed in the Top Ten of the JazzWeek radio chart for 16 weeks and has made many Best of 2016 lists. Dave Stryker was voted once again into the 2016 Downbeat Critics and Readers Polls. Besides his own recordings Stryker has appeared as a sideman or producer on over 100 others. As a composer he has recorded and published over 150 original compositions. He is involved in passing it on, and was recently hired as the new Jazz Guitar instructor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. . … One of the most joyous feels around. -Pat Metheny

www.davestryker.com

 

Media Contact
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services
Ph: 845-986-1677 / jim@jazzpromoservices.com "Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”
 

National Radio Campaign

KATE SMITH PROMOTIONS of CHICAGO      

katesmithpromotions.kate@gmail.com

Cell 814.482.0010

USA: JazzBrasil at Cafe Wha 1/8

No Cover Charge for JAZZCONNECT and APAP Badgeholders

Tickets & Info

www.erikcharlston.com

USA: Allison Miller & Honey Ear Trio - Swivel Lean(2016)

Brooklyn's Honey Ear Trio — Jeff Lederer on saxophone, Rene Hart on upright bass & electronics/looping and Allison Miller on drums — have their powerful and unique take on the saxophone trio. As sidemen they've performed with artists ranging form Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill McHenry and Branford Marsalis to Pete Seeger, James Hunter and Ani Difranco. As a trio they are creative and explosive, drawing from many genres and combining acoustic instruments with subtle electronics.

"Their remarkable chemistry in this extremely elastic acoustic trio setting is further enhanced by Hart's creative use of electronics..." - Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes

"...always an infectious energy, melodic joy, and sense of fun." -Peter Margasak, The Chicago Reader

USA: Whit Dickey & Kirk Knuffke- “Fierce Silence” (Clean Feed 2016)

Whit Dickey drums | Kirk Knuffke cornet

If you tend to imagine the music of a new CD, before listening to it, by what you heard before coming from the musicians involved, “Fierce Silence” is going to astonish you. Few connections to the past works of Whit Dickey and Kirk Knuffke you’ll find in this beautiful recording. There’s more: if you understand the free jazz subgenre as fast and aggressive music, this is miles away from that approach. Why? Well, because the duo formed by the drummer and the cornetist play ballads here exclusively, very slow and meditative ballads, full of blank spaces, respirations and self-wonderings. The absolute contrary of what you know about Dickey with the David S. Ware Quartet and the Matthew Shipp Trio, and about Knuffke with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom and the Matt Wilson Quartet. But be warned: this isn’t smooth jazz, ambient music to do something else. The immersive quality of the assembled pieces demands your full attention. Only with an active and participative listening you can notice all the nuances and subtle elements. Forget the world for some time and give yourself a treat. (Clean Feed

USA: Mike Dillon - Functioning Broke(2016)

Track Listing: Half Right; The Enchanted Sea; Alameda; Christian Brothers; Single File; Needle and the Damage Done; Independence Day; Between the Bars; Friendship; Bachelor Pad; Chimp and Flower; Tabla Goodnight.

Personnel: Mike Dillon: vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, timpani, orhcestral bells, tubular bells, tabla, congas, bongos, percussion, handsonic.

USA: Will Bernard - Out & About (Posi-Tone Records 2016)

Track Listing: Happy Belated; Not Too Fancy; Next Guest; Hanbenera; Redwood (Business Casual); Homeward Bounc; Homebody; Suggested Reading; Full Sweep; Pan Seared; Out And About.

Personnel: Will Bernard: guitar; John Ellis: saxophone; Brian Charette: organ; Ben Allison: bass; Allison Miller: drums.

Sharjah: Sharjah World Music Festival 2017

The annual Sharjah World Music Festival will feature a live collaboration between jazz musicians and the Indian sitar on January 9 at the Masrah Al Qasba Theatre. Dutch jazz trio — Mike del Ferro, Jeroen Vierdag and Bruno Castelluci — will intertwine jazz and Indian classical music. They will be joined by jazz vocalist Deborah J. Carter.
Niladri Kumar, renowned Indian classical and fusion musician who has toured the world alongside stalwarts like Zakir Hussain and John Mclaughlin, will also be performing at the show. Kumar has to his credit the creation of the ‘zitar’, a fusion instrument combining the sitar and guitar.
Tickets for the show start from Dh200 on ticketmaster.ae
The festival runs from January 6 to 14. For a full list of artists and schedules, go to www.sharjahworldmusicfestival.com.

GULFNEWS.COM

USA: Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family-Beginning of a Memory (Palmetto 2016)

Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family, Beginning of a Memory (Palmetto)
Track Listing: Score; Lester; Searchlight; Beginning of a Memory; Request Potato; How Ya Goin’?; Father of the Year; Getting Friendly; Andrew’s Ditty; Flowers for Felicia (Orchids-Wildwood Flower); No Outerwear; Potato Radio; Go Team Go!/Endless Love; 25 Years of Rootabagas; Feel the Sway; Schoolboy Thug; July Hymn.

Personnel: Terell Stafford: trumpet; Kirk Knuffke: cornet; Jeff Lederer: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet; Joel Frahm: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Andrew D’Angelo: alto saxophone, bass clarinet; Gary Versace: piano, organ, accordion; Larry Goldings; piano; Martin Wind: acoustic bass; Paul Sikivie: acoustic bass; Yosuke Inoue: acoustic bass; Chris Lightcap: acoustic bass, electric bass; Matt Balitsaris: acoustic guitar, dobro; Matt Wilson: drums.

USA: Krakauer’s Ancestral Groove- Checkpoint (Table Pounding Records 2016)

David Krakauer is considered to be one of the most singular clarinet virtuosos on the planet. But beyond that he brings a point of view to the table that is uniquely his own. Continuing on a path of constant self discovery, Krakauer introduces the music of his latest CD Checkpoint (Table Pounding Records).

Krakauer, a category-defying instrumentalist, uses his cultural heritage as a powerful inspiration for his music, informing and enabling his stylistically compelling projects. His is a singular vision, encompassing the diverse worlds of classical, klezmer, avant jazz, funk and electronica.

For the past 25 years Krakauer has been on a musical journey tracing his Eastern European roots. This voyage has found him revisiting his ancestral homeland, from where his Russian/Polish grandparents and great-grandparents immigrated at the end of the 19th century. Traveling east through Berlin before the Wall came down, the checkpoint experiences became momentous creative touchstones for Krakauer.

Like a travel guide on a literal and metaphorical search, on Checkpoint" he bears witness to the deep, joyous, human encounters he experienced. With his long-time band members of Ancestral Groove, he reveals the next step in his musical evolution sharing with us all stories about the human condition.

Ancestral Groove, with Sheryl Bailey on electric guitar, Jerome Harris on electric bass, Michael Sarin on drums/percussion, and Keepalive on electronics, creates a bridge between Krakauer s singular take on jazz and world music, and guides us to another musical adventure. His three special guests on the CD Rob Curto, John Medeski and Marc Ribot add their own signatures to the mix.

USA: Dave Douglas & Frank Woeste- Dada People (Greenleaf 2016)

In the years between the two World Wars, the Dada movement questioned, altered, teased and undermined the very idea of art. A century later, trumpeter Dave Douglas and pianist Frank Woeste draw inspiration from that “art of reinvention” with their collaborative album Dada People, due out October 2016 via Greenleaf Music.

Perhaps no single artist embodies Dada’s slippery juxtapositions quite like Man Ray. Both French and American, commercial and avant-garde, Jewish by birth and mysterious by design, Man Ray epitomized the conflicting personae and attitudes that have come to define so much of the modern art world of the last century. Bridging the Atlantic through support from the French American Jazz Exchange, Douglas and Woeste explore those concepts through a 21st century lens, realized by a stellar quartet rounded out by bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Clarence Penn.
credits
released October 14, 2016

Dave Douglas - trumpet
Frank Woeste - piano, fender rhodes
Matt Brewer - bass
Clarence Penn - drums

USA: Brad Mehldau Trio, Blues and Ballads (Nonesuch 2016)

Nonesuch Records releases the Brad Mehldau Trio’s Blues and Ballads, the trio’s first new release since 2012’s Where Do You Start, on June 3, 2016. The previous release received critical acclaim, with the Financial Times saying, “Mehldau never lets his peerless technique and meticulous timing interrupt the narrative flow of a well-told tale. Here, the pianist and his trio burrow deep into left-field pop and the American songbook, and give an adventurous sheen to modern jazz.” Blues and Ballads similarly comprises interpretations of songs by other composers, this time with the focus on blues and ballads implied by the album’s title. The Brad Mehldau Trio is Mehldau on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums.

USA: Frank Kimbrough, Solstice (Pirouet 2016)

Frank Kimbrough, Solstice (Pirouet)
Frank Kimbrough · Solstice

Frank Kimbrough piano
Jay Anderson bass
Jeff Hirshfield drums



Seven

Here Come the Honey Man

Solstice

The Sunflower

Albert's Love Theme


Question's the Answer

From California with Love


El Cordobes

Walking by Flashlight

USA: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society - Real Enemies (New Amsterdam 2016)

Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue and his innovative 18-piece big band Secret Society will release their third album, Real Enemies, out September 30, 2016. Composed by Argue, Real Enemies is a 13-chapter exploration of America’s fascination with conspiracy theories; narratives behind the Red Scare, the Illuminati, Edward Snowden, and alien sightings are meticulously examined and interrogated through Argue’s dazzling score.

USA: Steve Slagle Alto Manhattan CD Release Shows Jan. 2nd Zinc Bar Jan. 13-14 Smalls

Steve Slagle
Alto Manhattan
CD Release Shows

Mon., Jan. 2nd
One Set 10:00 pm
PRESENTED BY VANDOREN
Zinc Bar
82 W 3rd btw. Sullivan/Thompson
NYC
no cover-no minimum
www.zincbar.com

Fri. & Sat. Jan. 13-14 10:30 pm
Smalls
183 W 10th St
New York, NY 10014
(646) 476-4346
www.smallslive.com

Featuring

Steve Slagle--alto sax & flute
Lawrence Fields--piano
Gerald Cannon--bass
Jason Tiemann--drums

Artist: Steve Slagle
Title: Alto Manahattan
Label: Panorama Records 006
Artists Website: www.steveslagle.com
Release Date: JANUARY 6 2017
UPC Code: 888295511872

Track listing, track times:

1. FAMILY 7:05
2. ALTO MANHATTAN 3:52
3. I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW 7:01
4. (SOLO ALTO) BODY & SOUL 4:58
5. INCEPTION 5:55
6. GUESS I’LL HANG MY TEARS OUT TO DRY 6:29
7. (QUINTET) (ALTO MANHATTAN) A.M. 4:09
8. (IN MEMORY OF TOOTS THIELEMANS) HOLIDAY 5:27
9. VIVA LA FAMALIA 6:57

STEVE SLAGLE: alto saxophone (1-7), flute (8 & 9)
JOE LOVANO: tenor saxophone (1 &7), G mezzo soprano (8)
LAWRENCE FIELDS: piano
GERALD CANNON: bass
ROMAN DIAZ: congas (1, 8 & 9)
BILL STEWART: drums

All compositions by Steve Slagle,
Except “Body & Soul” by J. Green;
“Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry”;
J. Styne & S. Cahn; ”Inception” by M. Tyner
Produced By: Steve Slagle
Executive Producer: Rick Simpson
Recorded August 6, 2016 At Trading 8’s Studio, Paramus, NJ Recording & Mix Engineer: Chris Sulit
Photography & Graphic Design: Christopher Drukker 

Steve Slagle on Alto Sax and Flute leads a new recording with a great line-up of diverse players who inspire a wide range of music playing five new exciting originals for the first time, as well as two classics and one solo alto sax piece.

Alto Manhattan, is latino for the NYC neighborhood steve lives in-‘upper manhattan’or ‘the heights’ and the program here is: FAMILY—This composition for 2 saxes+2 drums is pure jazz, with Cuba and Africa in the make-up of what is a big family. Note Roman Diaz,from Cuba, and his great sound on Conga, as well as the whole group inter-play--all in the family! ALTO MANHATTAN, song #2 is so nice they play it twice! The first fiery take is with quartet and then later down the line Joe Lovano is added on tenor to create another harmony ( A.M.) Bill Stewarts contribution,on both takes, proves,as many know, he is one of a kind as a drummer.

I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW is a lyrical alto blues oriented song that allows everyone to ‘let their hair down’. Bassist Gerald Cannon gets all the way down here!

BODY+SOUL showcases Steve’s Alto alone, joining the canon of sax players who have attempted this classic ballad as a solo piece. Done in one take, Steve references Monk,Duke,’Bird and Ornette (twice!) within the structure of this classic song.

INCEPTION came about after Slagle recently was asked to play with McCoy Tyners Quartet. This challenging McCoy composition eventually opens up into an extended minor blues. This is the first take of the date and notice the immediate empathy of all the players! I GUESS I’LL HANG MY TEARS OUT TO DRY, a beautiful ballad starting with the often forgotten verse, is given the romantic treatment here..Lawrence Fields piano mastery helps make this a shining version of a deep song.

Finally Alto Manhattan ends with two flute pieces which are also very central to the sound of the record. HOLIDAY, the most thru-composed piece of the date,Slagle first wrote with harmonica master Toots Thielman in mind and dedicates this first recording of the song in memory of maestro Toots. Joe Lovanos G mezzo soprano along with the sound of the flute really takes the listener on a musical vacation.

And with that, we have VIVA LA FAMALIA to end the proceedings -- a jam for 2 drums,bass and the flute lead. A fresh,original first take played spontaneously at the end of this unique and outstanding recording. Yes,Viva la Famalia!! 

USA: Roni Ben-Hur 12/31 at Jazz at The Kitano 1/3 at Mezzrow

Roni Ben-Hur
12/31 at Jazz at The Kitano
1/3 at Mezzrow

Guitarist, Composer and Arranger, Roni Ben-Hur will lead an all Star Samba Jazz group at Jazz at the Kitano on New Year's Eve, and will perform at Mezzorw January 3rd with his long time collaborator, bassist Santi Debriano.

 

Ben-Hur, known for his sweet tone, infectious rhythm, lush harmonies and innovative improvisation straddles comfortably the world of straight ahead jazz and the realm of samba jazz.  He has collaborated and recorded with iconic figures of both worlds such as Barry Harris and Leny Andrade.  His most recent recordings, Manhattan Style (Jazz Heads) with the colaborative trio, Our Thing, featuring bassist Santi Debriano and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, and Alegria De Viver (Motema Music) with Leny Andrade, showcase the guitarist mastery of what jazz is today, a potpourri of high art with influences from around the globe.

 

This New Years Eve, Ben-Hur brings together an All Star band to Jazz at The kitano for a night of Samba-Jazz.

 

Sat December 31  New Year’s Eve Party

9:00 PM - 1:00 AM

Roni Ben-Hur & His New York

Samba-Jazz All Star Ensemble

Alexis Cole - Vocals

Helio Alves - Piano

Hendrik Meukens - Harmonica

Itaiguara Brandão - Bass

Helio Schiavo - Drums

Charge $145 + $40 Food/Beverage

 

On January 3rd, Ben-Hur will be joined by his long time colaborator, bassist Santi Debriano to play selections from the many accalimed recordings they have done together, including Manhattan Style (Jazz Head)

 

Mezzrow, 1/3/2017 8:00-10:30PM

 

'Home' by Roni Ben-Hur from Manhattan Style 

Dindi, with Leny Andrade from Alegria De Viver 

www.ronibenhur.com

USA: JAZZ WOMEN OF NEW YORK

JAZZ WOMEN OF NEW YORK
Newly Formed All-Women Jazz Band enters NYC Circuit and is available for
Jazz Women's Month Bookings in
March 2017.
Jazz Women of New York is a new all-woman band conceived by vocalist Lee Torchia.  The core group is pianist Jill McManus, saxophonist and flutist Carol Sudhalter, and bassist Melissa Slocum, with occasional subs from the female side of NY jazz. The group arose from a shared desire to prove that women in jazz are a force to be reckoned with. Each member is a leader and has played with a who’s who of classic swing era and bop musicians. Bringing their lifetime experiences to this new platform, the group plays standards from the American songbook such as “Let’s Fall in Love,” jazz classics such as Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” and Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation,” originals and multicultural jazz fusion. 

Lee Torchia’s CD Loverman: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, features Ram Ramirez, Milt Hinton, Mel Lewis and Ricky Ford. She has performed with many jazz greats including Walter Bishop, Jr., and Slide Hampton. Her current cable TV show “Lee Torchia Sings” airs weekly in New York on TWC, RCN, FIOS and features her 20 years of work as a North Indian Classical vocalist, playing the ancient instrument the tambura with a tabla player (drummer).

Pianist McManus has performed with Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Pepper Adams, Frank Wess, Richard Davis and others. Her album Symbols of Hopi (***** in Down Beat), with Dave Liebman, Harrell and others, contains adaptations of Hopi Indian chants with her unique jazz style. 

Carol Sudhalter, best known for her lusty and yet poetic baritone sax sound, also plays tenor and lively flute. With many albums to her credit, Carol was Top-10 flutist in the 2012 Down Beat Readers’ Poll.

Melissa Slocum, long-time bassist for the hit Broadway show Phantom of the Opera, has played with an impressive list of leaders that includes Art Blakey, Clark Terry, Woody Shaw and Hank Jones, among others.

Jazz Women of New York is available for bookings during Women's Jazz Month, in March 2017, and for other performances and parties.

These female artists play with fire, warmth and sophistication and are ready to delight listeners in New York venues. Come prepared to enjoy.    

Click here for short video presentation of the group.

Please contact Lee Torchia  at 917-624-0325 or Lee@jazzraga.com, or Jill McManus at jimac4@verizon.net














Lee Torchia’s CD, Loverman: A Tribute to Billie Holiday, features Ram Ramirez, Milt Hinton, Mel Lewis, and Ricky Ford.  She has performed with many jazz greats including Walter Bishop, Jr., Slide Hampton and Richard Muhal Abrams.  Lee heard the call of Woodstock and became a 20-year disciple of the North Indian Classical Raga singer Pandit Pran Nath, traveling often to India.  She has performed raga widely in U.S., was adjunct faculty in Raga Vocal at the New School Jazz Department, and was feature singer for the final hour of WKCR’s “24-Hour Raga Live Festival in 2013.   Lee has combined these two classical forms to create the fusion she calls JazzRaga.  Lee is a recipient of a NEA Grant and is currently producing and performing on her NYC MNN Cable Television Show: “Lee Torchia Sings” Mondays @2:30 pm.      Website:  www.jazzraga.com














Pianist and composer Jill McManus studied with Roland Hanna, and led the path-breaking all-female group the Jazz Sisters. She had her own groups at such clubs as Sweet Basil and Seventh Avenue South, and played in duo with top bassists at Bradley’s, the WPA, Garvin’s, and many more, most recently, at Sofia’s in the Hotel Edison for over 15 years. She recorded her first album, As One, with Richard Davis in 1977. From 1981, she worked with the Pepper Adam’s Quartet, and with Frank Wess, and taught for a decade at Mannes College of Music’s Extension Division, and privately.  Collaborating with two Hopi Indian song-composers in Arizona, she blended their chants with jazz for the album Symbols of Hopi (Concord Records, 1983) with Dave Liebman, Tom Harrell, Marc Johnson, and Billy Hart, and guests Louis Mofsie (Hopi/HoChunk) on cottonwood drum and Alan Brown on rattles, which won five stars in Down Beat. In 2004, she recorded Spring is Here with bassist Bob Arkin. 














Melissa Slocum has been the bassist for The Phantom of the Opera since 1999.  She has been performing worldwide since 1982 and has worked with such legends as Art Blakey, Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Woody Shaw and Hank Jones. Comfortable in genres ranging from duo to big band, traditional to avant garde, she has performed and recorded with Charli Persip and Superband, Ralph Peterson and the Fo'tet, Avery Brooks with Craig Harris, Howard Johnson and Gravity, Dakota Staton, Kevin Mahogany, the Firey String Sistas and the all woman big band DIVA, among many others. She has worked with bandleaders Eddie Chamblee, David "Fathead" Newman, Frank Wess, Hamiet Bluiett, Don Byron, Jay Rodriguez, Frank Lacy and Nioka Workman; pianists Walter Davis, Jr., James Williams, John Hicks, Kirk Lightsey, Cyrus Chestnut, Roy Merriwether, Henry Butler, James Weidman and Darrel Grant to name a few. She has played for numerous vocalists including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nnenna  Freelon, Michelle Lee, Maurice Hines, Jeannie  Bryson, Leon Thomas, Jon Hendricks, Michelle Hendricks, Ann Hampton Callaway and Dianne Reeves. Television appearances include Newport Jazz Festival 1999, Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary Gala,  BET Interview, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN with the Kevin Mahogany Quintet and CBS News with Lionel Hampton.  Ms. Slocum holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Manhattan School of Music. She studied jazz bass with Lisle Atkinson, Stafford James, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid and Ron Carter.  She received an NEA grant for jazz study in 1986.  Website:  www.melissaslocum.com














Saxophonist Carol Sudhalter, best known for her lusty and yet poetic baritone sound, also plays robust tenor sax and lively flute. With many albums to her credit, Carol was a Top 10 flutist in the 2012 Down Beat Readers’ Poll. As a member of the first all-female Latin Fever band, she played at the 1978 Salsa Festival at Madison Square Garden alongside Tito Puente. In 1986, she formed her own Astoria Big Band, which plays annual concerts at Flushing Town Hall and elsewhere. From 1991 to 2005, Carol was a featured player at the Cajun Restaurant in New York, becoming the group’s leader in 2003. Since then, she has performed at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Birdland, Iridium, at the JVC Festival in New York and the Mary Lou Williams Festival at Kennedy Center, as well as in Italy at Umbria Jazz in Perugia and JazzAscona in Locarno, and tours in Italy every year. https://sudhalter.com/ 

USA: Trombonist and Vocalist David L. Harris - “Bein’ Green” Single Release

Trombonist and Vocalist David L. Harris “Bein’ Green” Single Release Debut

David L. Harris - Bein' Green (Official Video) HD

December 19, 2016 (New Orleans, LA) – After years of performing on stages around the world with artists and ensembles such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Wynton Marsalis, Shannon Powell, Aaron Neville and The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, David L. Harris released his new single, “Bein’ Green”, on Sunday, December 11th.

His band members are Jasen Weaver on the upright bass, Miles Labat on the drums, Shea Pierre on the piano and David L. Harris leading on the trombone and vocals. His rendition of Joe Raposo’s “Bein’ Green” exhibits how classic and relevant the composition is even today. David L. Harris describes his music as “modern jazz rooted in tradition and founded by the blues”.

The song is a classic celebration of difference in a time the world needs acceptance and appreciation of the differences among us.

With the release of the song, Harris has also filmed a music video at the historic Preservation Hall telling the story of a young boy’s journey of being different.

David will be releasing his debut album in February 2017 entitled "Blues I Felt”.

Bein’ Green is available on iTunes and Spotify.

Order a physical copy of the CD (signed and autographed) at www.davidlharrismusic.com/shop

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David L. Harris | @DavidLHarrisMusic |www.DavidLHarrisMusic.com | 225.803.7603

CUBA/USA: Vocalist Barbara Dane to Headline a Concert in Havana December 28

Vocalist Barbara Dane

To Headline a Concert in Havana
December 28
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of

 Her Historic 1966 Concert Tour of Cuba

  

December 19, 2016

San Francisco Bay Area-based vocalist Barbara Dane travels to Cuba today to headline a December 28th concert in her honor at the Casa de las Americas, one of Havana's most important cultural institutions. The event will kick off celebrations for Dane's 90th year and commemorate the 50th anniversary of her historic concert tour of Cuba in 1966, when she was the first American performing artist to defy the U.S. travel ban.

  

While in Cuba this month, Dane will also receive an honorary membership to the Cuban National Writers' and Artists' Union (UNEAC) in recognition of her role as a cultural bridge between the two countries.

 

Born in Detroit in 1927, Ms. Dane celebrates her 90th birthday in the coming year, inspiring the launch of the Barbara Dane Legacy Project, directed by her daughter Nina Menéndez with an advisory board that includes such luminaries as Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz; Farm Aid executive director Carolyn Mugar; singers Bonnie Raitt, Silvio Rodríguez, and Judy Collins; actress and activist Jane Fonda, and many others. Concerts marking the milestone are planned for SFJAZZ's Miner Theater on July 16 and UCLA's Royce Hall on October 21. The Barbara Dane papers, an archival collection reflecting her decades of involvement in music and activism, have been organized, and a documentary film about Ms. Dane's extraordinary life, directed by Maureen Gosling, is in the early stages of production.

 

In August, the indomitable singer released a new CD Throw It Away..., on her Dreadnaught Music imprint. The disc, her first new recorded work in 14 years, found her in inspired form; Living Blues called it "a triumphant capstone to her career." Dane points to her chemistry with the elegantly swinging pianist Tammy Hall as having "given me the freedom to explore new ways of singing." Rounding out the rhythm section are in-demand bassist Ruth Davies, known for her years of work with Elvin Bishop and the late Charles Brown, and the vocalist's old friend and colleague, Bill Maginnis, on drums. Barbara's son Pablo Menéndez, leader of the Cuban group Mezcla, produced the date on a visit from his home in Havana. And although his main instrument is guitar, here he blows some terrific blues harp on three tracks. The other special guest on the project is trad jazz veteran Richard Hadlock, who contributes soulful soprano sax on one selection.

 

In the 1950s and '60s Barbara Dane performed and recorded with many of the greats of jazz and blues including Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter, Lightnin' Hopkins, the Chambers Brothers, Memphis Slim, and Willie Dixon. Her first album, Trouble in Mind, appeared in 1957 on the San Francisco Records label. She recorded Livin' with the Blues for Dot in 1959 with a combo that featured Earl Hines with Shelly Manne, Plas Johnson, and Benny Carter. Dane appeared on national TV's Timex Jazz Show with Louis Armstrong and was featured on Playboy After Dark, receiving a special award from Hugh Hefner as one of the outstanding jazz artists of the year. She scored a Top 40 hit in 1960 with a single on the Trey label titled "I'm on My Way" that was produced by Lee Hazlewood and Lester Sill and has become a cult classic in recent years on England's Northern Soul scene. Her album On My Way (Capitol Records, 1961) featured a different version of the song, which can be heard throughout the 2010 PBS special Freedom Riders.

Never confining herself to one genre, Dane also performed and recorded folk and world music, taking a cue from early mentor Pete Seeger. Many young singers such as Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, and Ry Cooder were exposed to her music at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, where Dane was a frequent headliner. In the 1960s and '70s, she sang at demonstrations in Washington and in small towns all over America, from the Freedom Schools of rural Mississippi to the gates of military bases in Japan and Europe. In l966, Barbara became the first American musician to tour post-revolutionary Cuba.

 

(Nine of her earlier recordings are available on her web site, barbaradane.net , and another five of her classic albums can be purchased from Smithsonian Folkways, folkways.si.edu.)

  

 

Photography: portrait of Barbara by Steve Kahn; CD cover photo by Ashley James; young Barbara courtesy of the artist.

 

 

 

Read Barbara's Q&A with Down Beat here.  

 

 

Barbara Dane with Tammy Hall, "Throw It Away ... "

  

 

 

Web Site: barbaradane.net

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