Yuriy Sevastyanov: tenor saxophone
Natalya Skvortsova: piano and keyboards
Yuriy Galkin: double bass
Piotr Talalay: drums
Fancymusic
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Live People Quartet – The New Cities (Fancymusic 2013)
Yuriy Sevastyanov: tenor saxophone
Natalya Skvortsova: piano and keyboards
Yuriy Galkin: double bass
Piotr Talalay: drums
Fancymusic
Monday, November 25, 2013
Craig Handy Continues the Brass Band Tradition on "Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith" - Debut Album on OKeh Records, Available January 21, 2014
Craig Handy Continues the Brass Band Tradition on
Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith -
Debut Album on OKeh Records, Available January 21, 2014
Stellar Lineup Features Special Guests Wynton Marsalis,
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herlin Riley and More
"Craig Handy is always exciting: he has humor, poise, a little
outlandishness, and the intuitive power to jolt a solo into an
unexpected area." - The New York Times
On Craig Handy's OKeh Records debut, Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith, funk and groove supply the motive and the motivation. The album, available January 21, 2014,
is the saxophonist's first recording as a leader in more than a decade.
The repertoire consists of 10 numbers from the songbook of Jimmy Smith -
the founder of modern jazz organ expression, a creative inspiration
that evolved from Handy's realization several years ago that his
distinguished resume included no opportunities "to cut my teeth with any
of the great organ players." As an added---and surprising---turn,
Handy's reinterpretation of Smith's work includes rhythm and grooves
derived from the tight second-line funk of New Orleans.
For his band Handy recruited soul jazz specialists Kyle Koehler on Hammond B-3 and Matt Chertkoff on guitar (both New Jersey neighbors and members of his working band), sousaphone virtuoso Clark Gayton, and well known New Orleans drummers Jason Marsalis, Herlin Riley and Ali Jackson. Trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis, singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and blues singer-guitarist Clarence Spady make their trademark appearances on the record as well.
In
approaching the session, Handy recalls, "I realized that two of Jimmy's
hits-'The Cat' and 'High Heel Sneakers'-used modified second-line
rhythms. A light bulb went off in my head. I said, 'That's it-we'll do a
Jimmy Smith record in the second-line vein.' New Orleans is one of the
furnaces that jazz comes from, and I saw no need to change my stripes to
suit the style."
Nor
do Handy's colleagues. Koehler, a Philadelphian, is intimate not only
with Smith's entire corpus, but also with the vocabularies of Philly
contemporaries Don Patterson, Shirley Scott, and Charles Earland. Handy
observes that Chertkoff, who is equally in demand, effectively channels
"the mood and vibe of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, and
Quentin Warren," who are among the most eminent of the guitarists who
served as Smith's foils during his years with Blue Note and Verve. There
is no busier low-end brass player in New York than Gayton, Handy's band
mate in the Mingus Big Band since the mid '90s.
"Matt
and Kyle serve as the jazz element, keeping us honest as a modern jazz
quintet," Handy says. "Clark and the drummers add the second line
element, and I straddle both." That's a perfect description of Handy's
treatment of the Muddy Waters blues "Got My Mojo Working." Playing drums
and washboard, Riley unleashes a relentless quasi-zydeco shuffle as
Spady delivers a gritty vocal. Wynton Marsalis counterstates with fierce
growls and hollers that coalesce into an inflamed, cogent solo, from
which the leader piggybacks into his own soul-drenched declamation.
Riley's
Zigaboo Modaliste-meets-Clyde Stubblefield funk beats propel Handy's
intense soprano solo on "Mellow Mood" and his tenor statement on "Ready
'N Able," and "I Got Rhythm" line that Smith presented on his 1956 Blue
Note debut, A New Sound, A New Star.
Old-school
New Orleans comes forth in the tasty press rolls that Jason Marsalis
executes with control and taste to animate the classic Ivory Joe Hunter
ballad "I Almost Lost My Mind." He also incorporates tambourine into the
groove of "Road Song," a Smith-Montgomery classic; enlivens Handy's
soulful alto solo on "Organ Grinder's Swing" with inexorable march
cadences; and synchronizes the ride cymbal and bass drum swingingly on
Stanley Turrentine's "Minor Chant."
"Minor Chant" is one of several homages to Turrentine that Handy offers on Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith.
"The older I get, the more I relate to Stanley," Handy says.
"Everything he does appeals to me, like I've been walking for 10 miles
and there's a water fountain. I have to drink. I liked him from the very
beginning, though as a kid I was drawn to Dexter Gordon and John
Coltrane, who were playing more straight-ahead bop, although Stanley was
no slouch in that department. Things were wide-open in the Bay Area,
and the level of musicianship was high. Nobody was saying, 'Here's what
you have to do and this is the way you have to do it.' I'm also a
product of the funk movement. The Pointer Sisters lived around the
corner from my house, and I listened to Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Earth,
Wind and Fire, and Parliament-Funkadelic as much as jazz."
In a sense, Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith
marks the first time that Handy has coalesced all of these influences
into a unified statement. In part, he credits Bridgewater, a frequent
employer since 2010, who sings "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" in her
inimitably saucy manner: "Playing with Dee Dee, watching her assume a
different role for every song, has rubbed off on me," Handy says. "A
singer has to sell the song, and Dee Dee becomes that song every time.
Ten years ago, I wouldn't have had the chutzpah to pull off this
project. I would have been too self-conscious, concerned about how
people perceive me. I wasn't musically ready to handle this kind of
project, though I've been heading here for 25 years. Now this seems like
the hippest thing I've ever done. As long as I stay in the groove of
the beat, I can play anything I hear, be it angular or abstract, and it
will sound cool over the bands foundation. Just talking about it is
making me excited-I can't wait to get to the next gig-we have so much
fun on the bandstand!"
Craig Handy · Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith
OKeh · Release Date: January 21, 2014
Sony
Masterworks comprises the Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait,
Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and
information please visit
###
For more information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Maureen McFadden · maureen@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
New World n Jazz Marketing and Promotion (Radio)
Neal Sapper · newworldjz@gmail.com · 510-705-1660
Matt Hughes · matt@newworldnjazz.com · 732-835-5050
Sony Masterworks
Angela Barkan · angela.barkan@sonymusic.com · 212-833-8575
Larissa Slezak · larissa.slezak@sonymusic.com · 212-833-6075
Christian Gaubert, Andre Ceccarelli & Jannick Top - LIGNE SUD TRIO (Cristal Records 2013)
As a pianist, Christian Gaubert has also collaborated with the drummer André Céccarelli and the bass guitar player Jannick Top ; he has always kept an eye on their creations and has composed special themes for this imaginary trio… He has invited Thomas Savy to take part in the album, one of his favorite studio recording musician with whom he has often worked in recognition of his talent,to join the game!
Therefor Ligne Sud (for those three French Southerners) gives us a jazz with beautiful and delicate tunes, performed by amazing musicians who share spontaneous moments of happiness. A thrill easily shared with the audience!
Cristal Records
Heidi Vogel – Turn Up The Quiet ( Far Out Recordings 2013)
Heidi Vogel debuts her solo album ‘Turn up the Quiet’ following on from her many successes with the critically acclaimed Cinematic Orchestra (Ninja Tune). A deeply moving collection of classic 60s/70s Brazilian songs, interpreted and presented in a unique, intimate fashion and with a timeless sound.
Far Out Recordings
DJ Cam Quartet – Stay (IntroDuCing! 2013)
Alexandre -Tassel Bugle
Laurent Robin -Drums
Christian Brun-Guitar
Eric Legnini- Keyboards
Tracks
| 1 | Sweetest Pain | |||||||||||
| 2 | Stay | |||||||||||
| 3 | Funny (For Janet) | |||||||||||
| 4 | Midnight Sun | |||||||||||
| 5 | Do For Love | |||||||||||
| 6 | Look Of Love | |||||||||||
| 7 | Magic Wand | |||||||||||
| 8 | Come Running To Me |
Mikołaj Trzaska – Trzaska Gra Różę Kilogram Records (2013)
Wacław Zimpel - alt, Bb, bass clarinets
Michał Górczyński - Bb, bass clarinets
Mike Majkowski - double bas;
Adam Żuchowski - double bas;
Paweł Szpura - drums
1. by boat
2. buckets on the doorstep
3. bicycle herd
4. despair on birch
5. walk to the edge
6. harvest ax
7. wedding, boat and the end
Kilogram Records
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Guitarist NIR FELDER Merges Genres on Debut Album, "Golden Age," Available January 21 via OKeh
Guitarist NIR FELDER Merges Genres on Debut Album,
Golden Age, Available January 21 via OKeh
For guitarist Nir Felder, the song's the thing. His debut album Golden Age (OKeh), out January 21,
puts his skills as a composer and songwriter at the forefront of his
creative design, supported by virtuosic technique, not the other way
around.
The guitarist recruited pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Nate Smith
to help bring his unique musical vision to life. "They are musicians
who understand the bigger picture of a song, and approach a song as a
song, not just as a vehicle to express their own virtuosity," explains
Felder.
The album, as
a whole, was not born of a concept, Felder notes. But the title does
provide a unifying sentiment-one of ambiguity and duality. "The album is
called Golden Age, and it's more of a question than a
statement," he says. "We've seen a lot of change in recent years - in
the music industry, in music technology, in our world, our country, and
our city, New York. When I was writing this music, there was a lot of
hope in the air, and excitement about change, but also a lot of
insecurity and fear about the world post - 2008 economic crisis. It
looks bad for the arts in New York City at the moment, and some people
are nostalgic for the 1980s and early '90s, when times were rough and
unsafe but art and culture were flourishing. Was that a 'golden age'? Is
this one? Has there really ever been one? The question is always,
according to whom? So, there is a lack of clarity about whether things
are going great or they're really bad, and the music reflects that."
To augment
the band's instrumental take on those questions, Felder studied dozens
of legendary speeches by politicians, civil rights leaders, and cultural
heroes and mixed spoken-word samples from Mario Cuomo, Barbara Jordan,
Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Lou Gehrig,
Elie Wiesel, William Jennings Bryan, Russell Conwell, and others into
"Lights" and "Sketch." The results are sweeping, cinematic impressions
of history brought into the present moment.
Felder, a
native of Katonah, New York, began playing guitar at 13. In the
beginning, it was the blues that drew him to jazz: Albert King, Albert
Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan-three masters of tone, with an exciting
sound and the tradition of storytelling in their playing. Felder
initially bought a $250 Mexican Stratocaster and put heavy strings on it
"like Stevie Ray did." He has played it ever since. Except for the
acoustic guitar on "Bandits II," that Strat is the only guitar on Golden Age.
In high
school, Felder relied on guitar magazines, his imagination, and
commercially available records for his musical education. In college, he
caught the jazz bug, focusing on the roots of the music-Dexter Gordon,
Charlie Christian-and falling asleep at night listening to Hank Mobley's
1960 Blue Note classic Soul Station. By the time he graduated
from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and moved to New York City
in 2005, he'd won the Berklee guitar department's Jimi Hendrix Award and
the Billboard Endowed Scholarship for musicianship and academic
performance. In New York, he hit the ground running, gigging immediately
at Small's with saxophonist George Garzone and rapidly amassing credits
that include sessions and performances with Greg Osby, Terri Lyne
Carrington, Meshell Ndegeocello, José James, Esperanza Spalding, Jack
DeJohnette, Eric Harland, and the New York City Opera. It was not long
before NPR labeled him "the next big jazz guitarist."
In finding
his own voice as a jazz musician, Felder did not follow the common
practice of abandoning the styles and techniques he had already mastered
(such as "bending strings and playing open chords"). "You hear a lot of
great advice to play jazz guitar like a horn, like a piano," he
concludes, "but I don't think it's necessary to reject what the electric
guitar was meant to be-I've kept one foot where I came from. That said,
I'm ready to explore new sounds, and I have a lot of ideas for new
projects, while in the immediate future I hope to keep this band
together and continue in the direction we started on Golden Age."
Nir Felder · Golden Age
OKeh · Release Date: January 21, 2014
For more information on Nir Felder, 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
###
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Amy Miller · amy@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
Girlie Action
Sarah Avrin · sarah@girlie.com · 212.989.2222 x 136
Sony Masterworks/OKeh
Angela Barkan · Angela.Barkan@sonymusic.com · 212-833-8575
Larissa Slezak · Larissa.Slezak@sonymusic.com
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