Wednesday, September 29, 2021

USA: Alex Coke and Carl Michel-Jazz at the Draylen Mason Studio

 





Alex Coke and Carl Michel-Jazz at the Draylen Mason Studio

Jazz composers Alex Coke and Carl Michel will present an evening of their own and others' works this October 20, 2021 at 7:30pm in the new State-of-the-Art Draylen Mason Studio.
Home of classical radio station KMFA, Coke and Michel's sextet will be the first jazz group to be presented in the new space.

Leading an ensemble whose members individually excel in several musical genres and, collectively, create a unique and memorable soundprint, saxophonist-flutist Coke and guitarist Michel bring together a group that includes Austin Symphony principal harpist Elaine Barber, pedal steel player Bob Hoffnar (Liminal Sound Series), double bassist James Suter, and percussionist Carolyn Trowbridge on vibes.

Performing compelling music with origins in jazz, classical, folk,
extended technique and improvisation, this unique ensemble is an outgrowth of Coke and Barber's popular weekly Driveway Concert Series that ran from April 2020 through June 2021.
Each individual member of the sextet was featured as a special guest
during the series.

The evening concert and accompanying CD feature music from a new recording, entitled The Emissary, inspired by artist Christopher Hynes, whose painting of the same name graces the CD cover.

With the reimagining of compositions penned by Coke, Michel, Paul Motian, Hildegard von Bingen, and Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly), and an exciting new CD to see and hear, the evening promises to be a stellar experience of art, music, and culture.

Welcoming any and all interested ears, the studio will have an open, general admission seating plan to allow for social distancing. Masks are required and all ages are welcome.
Tickets are $20 or $35 with a CD.
Presales are encouraged as seats are limited.

Tickets on sale here



Arabesque-sounds from Alex Coke and Carl Michel Sextet
From the Alex Coke & Carl Michel CD "The Emissary"
Alex Coke-sax/flute
Carl Michel-guitar
Elaine Barber-harp
Bob Hoffnar-pedal steel
James Suter-bass
Carolyn Trowbridge-vibes
Composition by Paul Motian (Yazgol Music-BMI) Recorded July 16, 2021 in Austin TX

FRANCE: Rodolphe Lauretta Nouvel album Kreolia Sortie le 15/10/2021 chez Cristal Records

 

Rodolphe Lauretta
Nouvel album Kreolia
Sortie le 15/10/2021 chez Cristal Records

Le saxophoniste Rodolphe Lauretta revient le 15/10/2021 avec son nouvel album Kreolia chez Cristal Records.
Après Haïti, et Anticipation avec la chanteuse californienne Genevieve Artadi, Rodolphe Lauretta dévoile The Roy, hommage au chantre de la musique afro-américaine Roy Hargrove. Sur un beat G Funk qui n’aurait pas déplu à Snoop Dogg, le thème aux accents hardbop gravite sur une rythmique lourde, avec un Moog charnu en guise de basse, tandis que l’orgue hammond « churchy » soulève les âmes.
L’improvisation collective des cuivres, évoquant le fameux thème de Roy Hargrove « Strasbourg St Denis », conclut le titre dans un esprit de célébration et de communion festive.
Avec son nouvel album KreoliaRodolphe Lauretta nous livre un cocktail détonnant de musique caribéenne, de hip hop, de future funk, sous le sceau d'un jazz tutélaire.  Ce nouvel extrait, The Roy, nous plonge dans la diversité de styles confondantes et le riche panel d'invités de l'album Kreolia.
 

Né à Amiens de parents guyano-antillais, le saxophoniste Rodolphe Lauretta a sorti son premier album Raw, préfacé par Jacques Schwarz-Bart (saxophoniste de Roy Hargrove et D'Angelo) et Alain Jean Marie, en 2017.
Le prochain album, Kreolia, à paraître en octobre 2021, souligne les influences hip-hop, caribéennes et future funk du saxophoniste, avec la présence d'invités prestigieux :  le chanteur Dwight Trible (Harry Belafonte, Pharoah Sanders, Kahil El' Zabar...), la chanteuse Genevieve Artadi du groupe Knower, le rappeur M.E.D aka Medaphoar, (Aloe Blacc, Madlib, Anderson Paak, Jay Dilla...) et la chanteuse Ruppert Pupkin.
En 2011, Reza Ackbaraly, programmateur au festival Jazz À Vienne et fondateur de Qwest TV aux côtés de Quincy Jones, a passé commande au saxophoniste d'un hommage au producteur culte de hip-hop californien Madlib. Rodolphe Lauretta a créé pour l'occasion The Jazz Side Of Madlib sur la scène du Jazzmix à Jazz à Vienne, avec un répertoire d'arrangements novateurs sur des instrumentaux du beatmaker américain.
Des concerts ont suivi au festival Jazz sous les Pommiers, au Mona Bismarck American Center de Paris, au festival Jazz à la Villette, qui ont donné l'impulsion à l'enregistrement de l'album Kreolia, dont on peut déjà savourer trois extraits : Haïti, reprise du pianiste guadeloupéen Alain Jean-Marie, Anticipation, avec la chanteuse californienne Genevieve Artadi et enfin The Roy, hommage à Roy Hargrove.
 



Friday, September 24, 2021

JazzWorldQuest WorldMusicMix: Scott Kinsey, Mer Sal-Adjustments(Blue Canoe Records 2021)

 


Adjustments, their forthcoming album, is a vocal recording within a fusion instrumental soundtrack. Says Kinsey, “After working for years with lots of guitarists and saxophonists, I’ve come to realize that the voice is in many ways the most expressive instrument of all.”

He once again achieves his signature vibe, aided and abetted by an amazing roster of musicians. But Sal channels this energy into a more thematic direction, with provocative statements about the transition from darker phases into positive change. The album offers a collection of timely originals, while the duo also reimagines rock classics like “Feel Flows”
(The Beach Boys), “Time Out of Mind” (Steely Dan) and “Down to You” (Joni Mitchell), as well as “Jungle Book,” an iconic Weather Report track penned by Joe Zawinul.

Join Scott Kinsey on the next leg of a three- decade musical journey, at once rooted in electric jazz history and blazing a new path with visionary singer-songwriter Mer Sal.

Blue Canoe Records
WorldMusicMix


Tuesday, September 21, 2021

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2021: Family Plan-Family Plan

 


Futuristic Collective “Family Plan” Revamps Piano Trio Concept Family Plan


Out September 24, 2021 on Endectomorph Music, Family Plan recasts the classic jazz piano trio with intricate counterpoint, 21st century beats, and electronic production.
CD Release Concert: Thursday, September 30, 2021

CD Release Concert:
Thursday, September 30, 2021
6:30 – 9 PM, free admission / open to public

Green Oasis Garden
376 E 8th St, New York, NY 10009

“We needed a phone plan,” recalls bassist Simón Willson of Family Plan, and thus a band was born.

“Oh, right—well, so then that was it,” says pianist Andrew Boudreau. “T-Mobile was offering good deals on family plans.”

“I would always see cell phone ads on the subway,” adds drummer Vicente Hansen, “so I might have brought it up, and then it became the three of us on the plan.”

Family Plan began as a workshop for three like-minded improvising composers, who began playing in 2018 with a bent toward insouciant experimentation and formal rigor. The band is a direct descendant of jazz-informed collectives like The Bad Plus and The Necks, and the program on their first album showcases their undeniable chemistry. 

Having come of age in a digital era, Family Plan also felt strongly that they should avail themselves of post-production techniques embraced in most contemporary musical genres, which show up in the form of overdubs, electronic distortion, and sonic refinements.

“I’m just personally kind of tired of listening to jazz records that sound like a band in a room,” says Hansen, who, in addition to drumming, also mixed the album. “I used the opportunity to try to enhance some of the artistic and musical qualities for each piece.”

Each member of Family Plan has their own well-defined angle on making compelling, fresh-sounding music in a time of musical excess, with aesthetic positions drawn clearly in the sand. Of the three, Willson gets the most calls to play straight-ahead and modern jazz around New York, and his songs both reflect and comment on his position in the scene.

“As a bass player that plays a lot of bands, sometimes it feels like there’s an over-complication,” says Willson, “so I was trying to write a pretty skeletal kind of music so that we play more expressively.” 

Willson’s stripped-down approach is featured on songs like “Who’s Your Copilot,” a catchy but off-kilter melodic hook with toy piano on the out chorus, and “Seemingly OK,” which begins with an umbrous chorale before morphing into its explosive, rock-influenced conclusion. Other songs bridge the jazz tradition like “Scam Likely,” a riddle on the Thelonious Monk-Herbie Nichols axis that alludes to T-Mobile’s Scam ID service and the band’s moniker, as well as “What’s Your Fee,” a self-consciously modern jazz tune replete with a guest spot by saxophonist Kevin Sun.

Willson’s laconic songs stand in contrast to the more expansive pieces of Hansen, a DMA candidate at Columbia University whose work has been performed by new music ensembles like Wet Ink, Yarn/Wire, Jack Quartet, and the International Contemporary Ensemble.

“I was trying to write something like advanced children’s music, like ‘children’s music for adults’ kind of thing,” says Hansen, who realizes his musical vision by mixing the elemental with the complex: convoluted counterpoint and contrapuntal forms combined with basic musical building blocks like triads. 

Pieces like “Celebratory” and “Reptilian” show the band at its hardest-hitting and most virtuosic, dancing to relentlessly knotty rhythms without giving an inch in terms of ferocity and risk-taking. Hansen also brings the band to other extremes with “Touch,” an ethereal loop that draws on the power of repetition much like Wayne Shorter’s famous “Nerfertiti” with the Miles Davis Quintet.

The band’s pianist and lone Canadian, Andrew Boudreau, embraces his role as the intermediary between Willson and Hansen, opting for the cordial middle ground.

“I’m aiming for balance between complexity slash seriousness and humor slash rambunctiousness,” says Boudreau. “Even though they’re from different places, the songs [on the album] all face the same thing, like guests talking at a dinner party.” 

Combining tunefulness with pianistic verve, Boudreau’s “Groundhog Day” is a light-hearted romp that pays homage to Shubenacadie Sam, the resident predictive groundhog of the pianist’s native Nova Scotia. A darker palette comes to the fore on “Little River,” a dodecaphonic composition disguised as a waltz, and “Life is Good” satirizes the platitudes of small talk with a haunting and unforgettable melody.

Everyone in the band gets their moments to shine throughout the album, but Family Plan is arguably at its finest in its extended episodes of just playing music as a band. Willson’s “El Mono” is a fitting closer to the album, a through-composed slow-build with no solos, just unadulterated ensemble magic. 

“For me this band was never about making the next great jazz piano trio in the tradition, you know,” says Willson. “It was more about crafting our musical identity, whatever that might be or become.”

* * * * *

Family Plan

Immaculately conceived in 2018 in Brooklyn, Family Plan is an aesthetically diverse three-person extraction. The collective trio consists of the Canadian pianist Andrew Boudreau and two Chileans, Vicente Hansen and Simón Willson, on drums and bass, respectively. Family Plan has performed at venues such as Scholes Street Studio (NYC), Dièse Onze (Montreal), and the LilyPad (Cambridge), among others. Descendants in equal parts to sensibilities related to the high- and low-brows of music, Family Plan will release their debut album on Endectomorph Music in September 2021.

www.endectomorph.com



Monday, September 20, 2021

USA: Alex Coke at Monks For Project Safety Net, Receives Hall of Fame Award

Tuesday September 21, 2021
7:30pm
Monks
501 East Pedernales 2E
Austin TX 78702
Tickets:
https://alex-coke-quartet-psn-september-21-tix.eventbrite.com


Saxophone/Flutist Alex Coke takes the stage in quartet at Monks Jazz joined by Bruce Saunders on guitar
Michael Stevens on bass, and Masumi Jones on drums in an evening of memorable originals and uncommon standards for #ProjectSafetyNet.

The Austin Jazz Society will be awarding Alex and his Worthy Constituent, Rich Harney The Hall of Fame Award.

Grab a table for the in-studio audience or listen via YouTube livestream:
https://youtu.be/vxSp4-F_Jww

Saturday, September 18, 2021

WorldMusicMix: Al-jiçç (Portugal)-Album: Chants (2021)

 

Al-jiçç (Portugal)-Zadar

Composer: Al-jiçç
Album: Chants (2021)
Label: Al-jiçç
‘Chants’ is Al-jiçç’s fifth album and represents an aesthetic evolution of the band. It was composed and produced during the pandemic, with the musicians individually recording their parts.
The music started with six little themes composed on a electric piano, which served as a harmonic basis for the improvisations. These improvisations were edited and manipulated, with the mixing and post-production playing a fundamental role in the construction of the record.
Keeping the Mediterranean-inspired melodies as a brand, in ‘Chants’ these were fused in a universe influenced by Miles Davis’ electric phase (in ‘Route’), by Dub (in ‘Zadar’) or the more ambient electronics ( in ‘Lost Sign’).
This record represents a new direction for Al-Jiçç, using the melodic side as a starting point for more electronic and contemporary universes.
Website







Tuesday, September 7, 2021

FRANCE: Invitation : Prima Kanta au Studio de l'Ermitage le 17/09 + nouveau clip

 

Prima Kanta
En concert au Studio de l'Ermitage à Paris le 17/09/2021
Invitation : pour venir écouter Prima Kanta au Studio de l'Ermitage à Paris le 17/09, merci de me confirmer votre présence.
 
Emmené par le musicien Laurent Rochelle, Prima Kanta a sorti il y a quelques mois l'album 7 Variations sur le Tao largement plébiscité par les médias.
Le groupe nous donne rendez-vous le 17/09 à Paris au Studio de l'Ermitage pour nous faire découvrir l'album et des nouveaux morceaux.
Prima Kanta, porté par le clarinettiste Laurent Rochelle est une formation singulière où, piano, clarinette et saxophone côtoient une harpe électro-acoustique, mais aussi du vibraphone, violon, voix. Une formation singulière pour une musique qui l’est tout autant. Une musique répétitive (façon Philip Glass) qui intègre des éléments de jazz.
Prima Kanta, c’est six musiciens, trois femmes, trois hommes qui composent ce mini orchestre de jazz à l’allure néo-classique.
Sur une base de musique minimaliste, Prima Kanta explore la pulsation et l'improvisation dans un esprit de transe méditative qui, sans l’ajout de batterie ou de percussions, pulse comme un coeur battant et ouvre de nouveaux horizons. Un chant absolument lumineux. On peut aujourd'hui découvrir leur nouveau clip Paramor.

Pour regarder et diffuser le clip de Paramor :

Laurent Rochelle est de retour avec son nouvel album enregistré avec le sextette Prima Kanta : 7 variations sur le Tao, hommage au grand livre de philosophie chinoise élaboré par Lao Tseu, le Tao Te King.
Très inspiré par la musique minimaliste de Terry Riley (en particulier son fameux « In C »), mais aussi par Philip Glass, Steve Reich ou Nik Bärtsch, Laurent Rochelle a écrit une musique singulière, jouée à l’unisson, portée par d’obsédants ostinatos répétitifs, autour d’un sextette que l’on pourrait qualifier de jazz chambriste. Une formation mixte (trois femmes, trois hommes), sans basse, ni batterie, aux couleurs boisées, où clarinette basse, piano, vibraphone, violon, harpe électro-acoustique et vocalises, s’entremêlent avec bonheur et harmonie au niveau des timbres, autour d’un concept qui associe écriture et liberté.

Laurent Rochelle et Prima Kanta sont en concert le 17 septembre 2021 au Studio de l'Ermitage à Paris. Réservations

Laurent ROCHELLE : clarinette basse, sax soprano, compositions
Juliette CARLIER : vibraphone, percussions
Arnaud BONNET: violon
Rébécca FERON : harpe électro-acoustique
Frédéric SCHADOROFF : piano, samples
Fanny ROZ : voix



Friday, September 3, 2021

WorldMusicMix: Guai(Brazil)-Album: Capitania (2021)

 


Guai(Brazil)-Album: Capitania (2021)

Capitania is the second album in the career of Brazilian female singer GUAI. The artist sings the journey of a traveler who ventures into the unknown, leaving Brazil to explore lands beyond the sea. A sensory album that brings original songs that praise Brazilian Music and tell about resilience, faith, courage, loneliness and storms, in a vast sea of emotions and rhythms. Highlights are the original track “Cada Eu” by Carlinhos Brown, composed specially for this project, and a bonus track, an English language version of “Depois dos Temporais” written by GUAI. Production by GUAI and Nema Antunes and co-produced by Telefunksoul. Choose your destiny, let love lead the way and keep the faith. This album is autobiographical and has special guests Ivan Lins, Paulo de Carvalho (well known Portuguese artist), cuban pianist Victor Zamora and Arthur Maia.
Website CD Store


Thursday, September 2, 2021

FRANCE: The Volunteered Slaves, sortie de l'album SpaceShipOne

 

The Volunteered Slaves
Nouvel album SpaceShipOne
Disponible chez Day After Music
En concert au 360 Music Factory le 23/09/2021
The Volunteered Slaves sont de retour, plus inspirés que jamais, avec leur nouvel album SpaceShipOne qui paraît sur leur label Day After Music.
Pour ce nouveau chapitre de leurs explorations, The Volunteered Slaves ne visent plus le ciel, mais l’espace. La musique, toujours organique, se charge d’électro. La poésie est bien là, entre lyrisme et transe. Libertaires, les Volunteered Slaves fabriquent une musique qui nous rend immédiatement captifs.
Né dans la ferveur du Festival de Jazz de Marciac en 2002, le groupe réunit des personnalités hautes en couleurs et des talents affûtés : Olivier Temime aux saxophones, Emmanuel Duprey au piano Rhodes et synthétiseurs, Akim Bournane à la basse et Julien Charlet à la batterie. Les irréductibles ont été rejoints en 2017 par l’organiste Emmanuel Bex.
Pour accompagner la sortie de l'album, on découvre les vidéos de SpaceShipOne24, et Astronaef, extraits de l'album.
 
Pour regarder et diffuser la vidéo de SpaceShipOne :
 
Pour regarder et diffuser le clip de 24 :

Pour regarder et diffuser Astronaef :
 
Du jazz aux accents funk, cinq musiciens unis depuis près de 20 ans, une énergie débordante, un mélange de styles, de cultures et de générations… Bienvenue dans l’univers des Volunteered Slaves !
Le groupe est composé d'Olivier Temime au saxophone, Emmanuel Duprey au piano Rhodes, Akim Bournane à la basse, Julien Charlet à la batterie et de l'organiste Emmanuel Bex.
Dès la naissance du groupe en 2002, ils ont décidé de ne rien décider et improvisent une musique au-dessus des genres et des chapelles. Jazz, funk ou afro, nul ne sait où ils habitent, mais ils donnent instantanément envie d'y vivre aussi. Leurs albums se succèdent : Streetwise, Breakfast in Babylone, The Day After ou Ripcord et dessinent une musique à la fois roots et aérienne, souvent planante. En live, les corps et les esprits s'échauffent : même les clubs de jazz les plus feutrés peuvent se transformer en dancefloor.
Pour leur nouvel opus SpaceShipOne, The Volunteered Slaves s'enfoncent dans l'espace à la recherche de nouvelles galaxies sonores. La musique, toujours organique, se charge d'électro. Le groupe est entré en cabine d'enregistrement en mars 2020, pour une mise en orbite de l'album SpaceShipOne le 31 août 2021. Le groupe sera en concert le 23 septembre au 360 Paris Music Factory.
 
 

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2021: The JVM Collective(USA)-Album: Frontiers (Blue Canoe Records 2021)

 


JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2021: The JVM Collective(USA)-Album: Frontiers (Blue Canoe Records 2021)

The JVM Collective consists of guitarist/producer Denny Jiosa, bassist Roy Vogt, and drummer Tom Moller. This Nashville Jazz trio delivers a creative and powerful album of beautiful original compositions, deep grooves, and inspiring improvisations titled, “Frontiers”. Fans of instrumental, eclectic music will surely love The JVM Collective and their 8 song album titled, “Frontiers”.
Blue Canoe Records