Thursday, October 31, 2019

USA/VENEZUELA/SERBIA/KENYA/SINGAPORE/ARMENIA: Band of Sisters: Music Action Women Collective Captures the Global Sound of Women’s Hard-Won Triumphs

63413 musact 20women 20collective 20live

Band of Sisters: Music Action Women Collective Captures the Global Sound of Women’s Hard-Won Triumphs

Around the world, women are fighting bold uphill battles, insisting on their artistic integrity and leadership in music and in their societies. They are fighting to be artists, not women musicians or female composers. Along the way, they are transforming their communities--and making some diverse, kick-ass music.
Music Action Lab invited a handful of these women, hailing from Philly to Yerevan to Singapore, to form a band and create music together. After a residency in San Francisco that incorporated social activism training, entrepreneurial support, and musical engagement, these six artists recorded Music Action Women Collective: The EP (release date: September 20, 2019).
Drawing on electronic and club music, Latin alt-trad, jazz, contemporary classical, and their own idiosyncratic influences, this collective of six wildly talented musicians crafted compositions that showcase their power and perspective. Some (“Nazeni”) suggest traditional song structures, some explore profoundly poetic territory (“Lullaby,” an ode to a yet-to-be-born daughter). Some are seriously groove based (the super funky “Breathe,” the Balkan blast of “Rules Change”), some run free (the wild sway of “Hide”). The compositions all highlight women’s varied and nuanced perspectives.
Unlike many international exchanges, this project put musical chemistry first, building a band, not ticking off geographic or other boxes. This approach yielded a wonderfully cohesive group that avoids the pitfalls of many cross-cultural mashups, creating instead a sonic sandbox where the participants could experiment, learn, and inspire one another.
“The community we made with this project is just a seed, a tiny point,” reflects Serbian saxophonist, composer, band leader, and music therapist Jasna Joviċeviċ, “but if nourished carefully, it could grow into the place where we find shelter, a place to rest for the next giant step, and help us become stronger every time.” 
“This project was a life-changing experience,” explains singer, songwriter, and pianist Sevana Tchakerian, who leads several ensembles and education initiatives from her base in Armenia. “I had the luxury to find myself with a diversified and motivated all-female cohort of professional musicians, from around the world, for two whole weeks. Being able to create music and work on the challenges of being a female musician in a male-dominated industry has been a catalyst to reorient my professional, artistic and personal life.”
About the Collective
From five continents, the Collective members specialize in a range of styles and genres. They include:
Liz Draper (USA/ bass) -- A classically and jazz-trained versatile bassist, Liz has performed, recorded, and toured internationally with such groups as the Grammy Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers and Soul Asylum. She has led a diverse range of projects, including Black Blondie, an all-female alternative R&B group featured on the same stage as Questlove and Amy Winehouse, the all-female Carpscale Orkester, and Up The Mountain Down The Mountain, an acoustic chamber doom folk metal project.
Barb Duncan, Muzikaldunk “The MD” (US / Drums) -- Drummer, producer, and educator Muzikaldunk is a Philadelphia-born and -raised musician who has worked as a concert and session drummer, produced music for up-and-coming artists and taught young musicians how to perfect their craft. A community advocate and activist, she is developing a rehearsal and audio/visual studio in West Philly for experienced and novice creators to have a safe space to work, network and build. She is also a member of the alternative rock band JJX and regularly performs with The Remixologist and The Sea Tease. In 2018 Muzikaldunk was honored with the HIT LIKE A GIRL Technology Breakthrough Award of 2018. She also released her first instrumental album “GOLD-MIND”.
Maria Fernanda Gonzalez (Venezuela / Bandola llanera) -- Maria Fernanda is a Barquisimeto-based multi-instrumentalist and journalist. After years of studying cuatro, mandolin and violin, Maria decided to take up the bandola llanera, an obscure Venezuelan instrument with few well-known female performers. She has performed internationally at Festival of Música llanera the Silbón (Venezuela), the festival Girara de Oro (Colombia), the 32nd Music Office Curitiba (Brazil), The International Jazz Festival Barquisimeto (Venezuela) and Folklorico Summer Festivals (Portugal and Spain). She recently toured Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, France, and Italy, performing joropos, a traditional music of the high plains of Venezuela. She teaches master classes on the bandola llanera and is working on codifying and writing a new universal teaching method for the instrument.
Jasna Joviċeviċ  (Serbia / Saxophones, Woodwinds, Percussion) -- Jasna is a saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, and spacedrum player and composer from Serbia. Jasna received her Bachelor’s degree from Franc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary, and Master’s degree in composition from York University in Toronto. She has also studied music in Serbia, Brazil, US, and Austria, won grants to artist residency programs worldwide, and performed her work around Europe and North America at various international competitions and festivals. A music educator and therapist, Jasna also is the founder and leader of the all-female “New Spark Jazz Orchestra,” featuring Balkan women in jazz. She has recorded several solo albums (“Flow Vertical,” “Invented Reality” and “The Sound of Birds”) and contributed to more than a dozen other recording projects.
Claire Marie Lim (Singapore / Electronics, vocals) -- Claire is a music technologist and interdisciplinary artist specializing in audio production, writing, and technology, and has worked with organizations such as Beats By Girlz, SisterSMATR, Girls Rock Campaign, and Women in Music. She is a proud DJ for Alphabet Rockers, a Grammy-nominated group that spreads messages of social justice and empowerment to children and youth via hip hop music and dance.
Kasiva Mutua, Music Director (Kenya) -- An alumna of Giant Steps’ Music Action Lab 2.0, Kasiva Mutua is an acclaimed percussionist and advocate of women's rights. A percussionist since childhood, Kasiva is known for her seamless abilities to fuse African music with modern styles crossing hip-hop, reggae, and jazz. Kasiva has deep experience in musical collaborations, such as Coke Studio Africa, The Nile Project, 1Beat, and Xjazz. Kasiva has worked with such musicians as Kirk Whalum (US), Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), Suzanna Owiyo (Kenya), Dina El Wedidi (Egypt), Kidum (Burundi) and reggae artist Anthony B (Jamaica).
Sevana Tchakerian (Armenia / Vocals, keys, accordion, flute) -- Sevana is a French-Armenian musician, songwriter, educator and tour manager.  In 2012, she co-founded the Collectif Medz Bazar, a multi-ethnic band creating traditional and original songs melding Middle-Eastern and Balkan folk, hip-hop, chanson, cabaret, jazz, and Latin influences. In 2015, Sevana moved to Armenia to initiate Tsap-Tsapik, an inclusive music program aiming at rural educational development and pedagogical innovation. She is working to publish the first preschool music education curriculum in Armenian. She has created Dayl’Ayl Production, a tour management agency to promote Armenian musical talent internationally.
About the Project
The inaugural edition of Music Action Women, a social impact-driven music residency bringing together outstanding female artists committed to advancing the causes of women through music, was held in early 2019 in partnership with the University of San Francisco and in its Performing Arts for Social Justice program, the Fellows enjoyed a dynamic schedule combining interactive learning workshops and rehearsals facilitated by domain experts, hosted in the historic Presentation Theater.
Music Action Women was produced by Giant Steps, a music-meets-social action initiative.
About Giant Steps
Founded in 2016, Giant Steps Music creates innovative musical approaches to social justice and social impact. Its flagship program is the Music Action Lab, a residency for musicians across the world to come together, learn from each other, and create original music advancing global social issues and empowering them to be changemakers in their communities. To date, Giant Steps has worked with 24 artists across 5 continents and 14 countries. Its acclaimed albums, which have been featured in the Huffington Post, PBS, Pop Matters, and Jazz Weekly, include Foundation and What If.


Contact

Publicist
Ron Kadish

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

PORTUGAL: João Lencastre’s Communion 3-SONG(S) OF HOPE ( Clean Feed Records 2019)



João Lencastre’s Communion 3 Song(s) of Hope: Lencastre has found consummate partners in, both Sacks and Opsvik sharing his own personal characteristics in terms of elegance, subtlety and a vivid sense of drive. 

 Portuguese drummer and composer João Lencastre began his Communion project in 2005, after his first visit to New York in 2002 set the scene for developing relationships with New York musicians. There he first heard and met David Binney and in 2003 Lencastre joined Binney on stage for some Portuguese dates and in 2004 he met Jacob Sacks and Thomas Morgan, who would later join Communion, when Binney’s Quartet toured. In 2005 Communion took its first real shape with a tour featuring Phil Grenadier. Since then, Communion has had a dynamic line-up, working with João’s compositions, of Quintet, Septet, and Trio. Six albums have been released with the participation of David Binney, Thomas Morgan, Bill Carrothers, Phil Grenadier, Leo Genovese, Benny Lackner, Jacob Sacks,Eivind Opsvik, and others. (see Discography below) With Jacob Sacks and Eivind Opsvik he has created a “redux” version of the project, adapting his ideas to the piano trio format. After the Communion 3 debut album Movements in Freedom, released in late 2017 on Clean Feed, here is a second opus in Song(s) of Hope: “Cecil Taylor meets Morton Feldman meets “popish” epic themes, meets analogue synth frequency explorations.” as Lencastre himself describes. Lencastre has found consummate partners in the translation to sound of his scores, both Sacks and Opsvik sharing his own personal characteristics in terms of elegance, subtlety and a vivid sense of drive. With only these three, less is indeed more, proving that there’s beauty in economy on Song(s) of Hope.

Clean Feed Records

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

CANADA:Jacques Kuba Séguin: MiGRATIONS (2019)


Winner of the 2012 Révélation Jazz Radio-Canada prize, this Canadian trumpeter and composer of Polish origins is turningheads. Versatile and adventurous, he’s a player who likes to shape up his sound with different outfits: with the ODD LOT ensemble, the Montreal musician blends Eastern European music and jazz, while in the Litania Projekt, he marries neoclassical with Northern European jazz.

Monday, October 28, 2019

FRANCE: Fiona Monbet En concert le 30 octobre à la Cigale Une création en compagnie d'un orchestre de chambre et d'un quintet de jazz

Fiona Monbet
En concert le 30 octobre à la Cigale
Une création en compagnie d'un orchestre de chambre et d'un quintet de jazz
Invitation : pour venir écouter Fiona Monbet le 30 octobre à la Cigale, merci de me confirmer votre présence.
 
La violoniste Fiona Monbet dévoilera le 30 octobre à la Cigale sa nouvelle création en compagnie d'un orchestre de chambre et d'un quintet de jazz. Cette création de Fiona Monbet mêle écriture et improvisation en une grande forme lumineuse et ouverte : un quartet de jazz, un guitariste folk irlandais, et un orchestre symphonique d'une vingtaine de musiciens.
Avec ce nouveau répertoire qui fait suite à la sortie de son second album Contrebande l'année dernière, la virtuose dévoile ainsi les différentes facettes qui font partie de sa vie artistique, fruit d’un parcours musical considéré comme atypique.
Chaque matière qu’elle travaille, le violon classique, l’improvisation, le jazz, la direction d'orchestre, vient nourrir et cultiver l’autre, sous forme de variations qui paraissent infinies.
Au delà de toute forme démonstrative, Fiona Monbet cherche un espace singulier, où voisinent avec bonheur les différents univers musicaux qu’elle explore, dans un dialogue des genres, sans mélange, où chacun d’entre eux conserve son identité. A ne pas rater le 30 octobre à la Cigale.
 
Pour regarder et diffuser le titre Valse :
https://youtu.be/gCdcCyKPtnI 
 
 
 
Repérée très jeune par Didier Lockwood, ce dernier l’a présentée sur les plus grandes scènes et festivals, et la propulse dans le monde de l’improvisation et de la musique actuelle où elle rencontre et collabore avec de nombreux artistes.
Contrebande, c’est le titre choisi par Fiona Monbet pour son second album… Cinq ans après O’Ceol, la violoniste a bel et bien changé, affirmant plus sa différence de styles qu’une simple virtuosité. Son registre ? Ne pas choisir entre toutes les musiques qui l’animent, composer avec pour élaborer un voyage tout à la fois érudit et sensible, où elle peut aussi bien accoster du côté des rivages du Brésil qu’aborder les terres fertiles de la musique balkanique.
D’une frontière à l’autre, cet album vagabonde parmi les gammes pour mieux défier les œillères qui trop souvent contraignent le regard à un seul prisme, et proposer ainsi un horizon aux larges perspectives, en accord avec sa vision du monde de la musique. Du swing ouvert par ici, du tango tendance nuevo par-là, on peut aller sur le terrain de la valse et la country.
A chaque fois, cet affleurement ne néglige pas d’aller au fond de l’esprit d’une musique. Esthète mais sans épate, à l’image de Fiona Monbet, qui a mené une carrière en double, pour ne pas écrire plus : entre jazz et classique, puis bien vite à l’écoute des musiques folk irlandaises, du swing manouche, des partitions contemporaines…
À ses côtés, elle s’est choisie un trio aux influences tout aussi multiples : le guitariste Antoine Boyer a pour dominante le classique et jazz, le contrebassiste Damien Varaillon, est solidement arrimé au jazz, tandis que l’accordéoniste Pierre Cussac évolue aux frontières des musiques classiques, traditionnelles et improvisées.
Aujourd'hui, Fiona Monbet continue à faire bouger les lignes du classique, du jazz, et de l'impro avec une création qui sera révélée le 30 octobre à la Cigale. Pour ce concert Fiona Monbet choisit de réunir un quartet de jazz, un guitariste folk irlandais, et une vingtaine de musiciens pour une création mêlant écriture et improvisation en une grande forme lumineuse et ouverte.
 
 
En concert le 30 octobre 2019 à La Cigale
 
 

USA: Michael Dease "Never More Here"(Posi-Tone 2019)

Michael Dease
"Never More Here"
catalog: PR8201
release date: October 25, 2019


Trombonist Michael Dease pays fitting tribute to his ongoing relationship with the music of Charlie Parker on his aptly entitled album “Never More Here.” The album runs much deeper than a simple collection of Bird tunes. The program seeks to provide a musical compendium of Bird's message and his personal influence on Dease and other members of the Jazz diaspora via the compositions and performances of several key proteges and devotees of his music. To provide assistance in bringing his vision to fruition, Dease assembled an all-star lineup of musicians including alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Gerald Cannon, and powerhouse drummer Lewis Nash, along with a number of special guests like Randy Brecker, Rufus Reid, and Jocelyn Gould. With a thoughtful program of inspired performances and an inclusive message of influence, “Never More Here” remains focused, insightful, steadily swinging, and refreshingly melodic enough to evoke a wide assortment of bright moments to discerning jazz fans everywhere.

1. Mirror Image (R. Rosnes)    6:45
2. A Harmonic Future (J. Heath)    6:06
3. Slow Dance (E. Daniels)     6:00
4. For Hofsa (J. McLean)    5:51
5. I Wish I Knew (B. Taylor)    4:36
6. Blue Jay (M. Dease)    7:44
7. Shortcake (J.J. Johnson)    6:59
8. Frenzy (E. Alexander)    6:38
9. Lament (J.J. Johnson)     7:26
10. Milestones (J. Lewis)    6:13

Michael Dease - trombone, tenor 2
Steve Wilson - alto & sop. sax, alto flute 3
Renee Rosnes - piano
Gerald Cannon- bass
Lewis Nash - drums
Rufus Reid - bass 6, 7, 9
Randy Brecker - trumpet 8
Jocelyn Gould - guitar 3, 4, 8

Song 5: Jason Tiemann - drums
Endea Owens - bass
Luther Allison - piano
Markus Howell - alto sax
Diego Rivera - tenor sax

produced by Marc Free
buy from Posi-Tone
LISTEN / ORDER

Sunday, October 27, 2019

USA: Out today: a new album from the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis

Listen to "Jazz for Kids"

Out now: Jazz for Kids Blue Engine Records is excited to announce the digital release of Jazz for Kids, the latest album from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Childhood classics like "Old MacDonald" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" get the big band treatment with versions sure to have the whole family swingin' along. Jazz for Kids also features a playful reimagining of "Wheels on the Bus" featuring narration from Hoda Kotb of NBC's The Today Show. Enjoy nursery classics with sophisticated arrangements that will delight both kids and the young at heart. Just as it’s never too late to find your inner child, it’s never too early to swing! Jazz for Kids is out now on all digital platforms. Listen today!

Saturday, October 26, 2019

USA: Spyro Gyra “warps” the songs from their youth on “Vinyl Tap,” out now

Spyro Gyra “warps” the songs from their youth on “Vinyl Tap,” out now

NEW YORK CITY (14 October 2019): Seminal contemporary jazz band Spyro Gyra decided to do something completely different for their first new album in six years. The New York institution that began 45 years ago curated a collection of songs they listened to on vinyl during their formative youth and then put them through a process they call “warping.” They dared to take apart classic rock and jazz hits and imaginatively rebuild them into something entirely new, changing tempos and textures, rhythms and tones, and adding extensions and solos in the process that refreshed the nine songs, often making them hardly recognizable from their original form. Spyro Gyra produced and brazenly arranged “Vinyl Tap,” which dropped last Friday on the Amherst Records label.

Over the last few weeks, the disc’s first single, a wistful reading of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” that steps soulfully to an Americana cadence, has been garnering airplay and playlist adds.

As the album arrives that Jazziz magazine named one of the “10 Albums You Need to Know: October 2019,” Spyro Gyra prepares to roll out on a monthlong concert trek in support of “Vinyl Tap” beginning at the Cancun Jazz Festival in Mexico on October 23. The global whirlwind will visit Ireland, England, Netherlands, Bahrain, Italy, Germany and Israel before playing a string of U.S. dates.

Free from the pressure of having to write great music, Spyro Gyra had fun in the studio making “Vinyl Tap,” which is available as a limited edition, 180-gram clear vinyl disc with a full-color printed inner sleeve in a full-color printed jacket. The band members – saxophonist Jay Beckenstein,  keyboardist Tom Schuman, guitaristJulio Fernandez, bassist Scott Ambush and drummer Lionel Cordew –  have a wide range of ages, which accounts for the wide variety of songs selected to “warp.” Stylistically, the quintet mines jazz of every primary hue – straight-ahead, contemporary and fusion – along with R&B, pop, rock, Latin and country music.

“Vinyl Tap” opens with a hipster’s mashup of “Secret Agent Man” and “Alfie’s Theme.” The “warping” continues with a Latin big band revision of Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love.” Listeners are caressed during a yearning exploration into the soulful depths of The Doobie Brothers’ “What A Fool Believes.” The beats are layered on the percussion-heavy revisit of War’s “The Cisco Kid.” The Beatles’ “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” becomes a sweet soprano sax serenade while Squeeze’s “Tempted” is recreated as a bluesy, power rock ballad. Complex rhythms highlight an incendiary fusion presentation of Oliver Nelson’s jazz standard “Stolen Moments.” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Carry On” brings the session to a climactic conclusion with gusto.    
   
Catch Spyro Gyra on tour on the following dates:

October 23                  Cancun Jazz Festival                          Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
October 26                  Guinness Cork Jazz Festival             Cork, Ireland
October 27                  Pizza Express Live                             London, England
October 28                  Concertgebouw                                   Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 29                  Paard Club                                          The Hague, Netherlands
November 1                Bahrain JazzFest                                 Al Mazrowiah, Bahrain
November 5 & 6         Blue Note Milano                               Milan, Italy
November 8                Anfiteatro Comunale di Mogoro        Mogoro, Italy
November 9                Ingolstadt Jazztage                             Ingolstadt, Germany
November 10              Quasimodo                                          Berlin, Germany
November 12              Hangar 11                                           Tel Aviv, Israel
November 15              New Jersey Performing Arts Center   Newark, NJ
November 16              Tupelo Music Hall                              Derry, NH
November 20              Infinity Music Hall                             Norfolk, CT      
November 21              Spire Center for the Performing Arts Plymouth, MA
November 22              Ludlow Garage                                   Cincinnati, OH
November 23              Saugatuck Center for the Arts             Saugatuck, MI
November 24              Dakota                                                Minneapolis, MN


“Vinyl Tap” can be purchased digitally at https://lnk.to/SpyroGyra_VinylTap. The limited-edition vinyl disc and CD is available at https://spyrogyra.bandcamp.com.

For more information, please visit https://spyrogyra.com.

Friday, October 25, 2019

USA: John Ellis - Isfahan (2019)



Isfahan by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington

 This is one of only two bass clarinet songs we recorded at this session. If it was easier to carry around, I'd have the bass clarinet at every gig. People seem to always love the sound, even when I'm feeling like I'm not playing it all that well.

I think many people have never seen one, and so that's part of it, as well. You'd be surprised how many people ask me if it's an oboe.

 I started playing bass clarinet back in the Charlie Hunter band days, and he was nice enough to let me play it on gigs even though I really couldn't play it very well at all back then.

Yasushi takes a beautiful solo on this one, as well.

credits released September 28, 2019 John Ellis - bass clarinet Yasushi Nakamura - bass Jason Marsalis - drums

Thursday, October 24, 2019

USA: Soul-Jazz flutist Kim Scott emerges in the GRAMMY® race

Soul-Jazz flutist Kim Scott emerges in the GRAMMY® race

Music from her “Free to Be” album makes the first-round ballot in two categories

BIRMINGHAM (5 October 2019): It was a hot July for soul-jazz flutist Kim Scott, who rocketed like fireworks to the top of the Billboard chart with her first No. 1 single, which has inserted the emerging artist into the GRAMMY conversation. Scott’s solo on “Emerge” (http://bit.ly/354BX9Y) made the first-round ballot for Best Improvised Jazz Solo while the album on which the track appears, “Free to Be,” is garnering consideration in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.   

Scott wrote “Emerge” with keyboardist Jonathan Fritzen, a hitmaker who is featured delivering his own shimmering solo. However, it is the flautist’s fanciful flourishes that are meriting consideration from the voting members of The Recording Academy for the 62nd GRAMMY Awards that take place on January 26, 2020.

After setting the stage to perfection with a Billboard chart-topping single that also went No. 1 on the Groove Jazz Musicchart, Innervision Records dropped “Free to Be,” Scott’s fourth album, in mid-July. She had a hand in writing five of the album’s nine songs, which offer an alluring blend of instrumental pop appeal, jazz spontaneity and funky R&B grooves. Scott’s classically trained flute melodies share the spotlight equitably on a few numbers with prominent guest soloists Fritzen, saxophonist Jazmin Ghent and Pieces of A Dream keyboardist James Lloyd. Guitarist Eric Essix, drummer/percussionist James “PJ” Spraggins and bassist Sean Michael Ray anchor the rhythm section with compelling textures and vibrant harmonies crafted by keyboardist/programmer/producer Kelvin Wooten, keyboardists West Byrd andJaden Scott, alto saxophonist Cameron Ross and instrument programmer Dimitri Turner. The disc’s second single, the bumping “Take It To The Rink,” is presently skating laps around playlists after earning Most Added honors in its debut week at radio.        

In addition to her recording career, Scott hosts the nationally syndicated “Block Party Radio Show,” which added to its growing list of stations with the recent pickup on Alabama Public Radio, an NPR affiliate. The artist infuses her energy and enthusiasm into the weekly broadcast featuring the latest  contemporary jazz, urban and Latin jazz releases.  

The Birmingham, Alabama-based Scott debuted in 2011 with “Crossing Over.” Her records have consistently produced Billboard Top 20 singles. On the concert stage, she’s performed at clubs and marquee festivals, including Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival and Seabreeze Jazz Festival. Scott is also a member of the all-female supergroup Jazz in Pink with whom she has played shows across the US. For more information, please visit http://kimscottmusic.com.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

USA: Pablo Ablanedo "Winter Variations"(2019)



Pablo Ablanedo "Winter Variations" Featuring: Chris Cheek Jerome Sabbagh Ben Monder Fernando Huergo Franco Pinna Exclusively available on vinyl as part of the Newvelle Season Five subscription. Pre-order today at Newvelle-Records.com.


Almost twenty years ago, Pablo Ablanedo led an octet of New York musicians that is absolutely remarkable in retrospect. It’s almost inconceivable. Every musician in this band would go on to stellar international careers: Anat Cohen, Jenny Scheinman, Chris Cheek, Jerome Sabbagh, Ben Monder, Fernando Huergo, and Franco Pinna, with Diego Urcola arriving on trumpet. Pablo told me a story of playing at the NYC institution Knitting Factory on a Thursday night. The whole band arrived to play some new works of Pablo’s, but the audience did not.

Not a single paying member arrived to the concert. Such was the dedication of the group—and their respect for Pablo’s music—that, without any consultation, they played the entire set to an empty room. I was in NYC during this time and it pains me to have missed this show, not just because each of the murderers' row of musicians playing that little room, but because Pablo is a world-class composer who should be heard by everyone.

 Now, twenty years later, this same band has re-united to play through new works of Pablo's once again. I didn’t think it would be possible to assemble these musicians all in the same place—some members have moved thousands of miles away and everyone has a very busy touring schedules. It speaks to the strength of the band's belief in Pablo’s sound that this record came together at all. Pablo has never stopped creating or evolving his sound, and I believe there is true greatness in this record. I can’t wait to share this music with the Newvelle community.

 -- Elan Mehler, Newvelle Artistic Director and Co-Founder

USA: COREY CHRISTIANSEN,-Proxima(2019)


Proxima
With his collection of recordings over the last decade, guitarist Corey Christiansen reflected heavily on the great vistas of his Utah home, the West, and traditional melodies, while still fully imbuing his music with a modern jazz aesthetic. With that same penchant for exploring 'roots,' Christiansen's 6th Origin release borrows inspiration from the music that influenced him from Africa, through Cuba and into the States. While not an Afro-Cuban album per se, the more specifically explored rhythms & grooves that have always informed his playing, and that of his bandmates here - bassist David Belove, drummer Colin Douglas, and percussionist/co-producer Michael Spiro - add new layers of perspective, dance and feel.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

FRANCE: NoJazz-Beautiful Life (Pulp Music / Kuroneko 2019)

 Revoici Nojazz, avec son nouvel album Beautiful Life à écouter dès le 15 novembre. Inclassables ? Assurément. Inimitables ? Absolument. Inarrêtables ? Carrément Nojazz ! Revoici nos cinq fantastiques musiciens, aussi fantasques qu’énergiques. Entre soul, funk, électro, world et… jazz, le cocktail revigorant de Nojazz s’apprête à régaler notre automne. Vous avez aimé Soul Stimulation ? Vous allez adorer Beautiful Life. Le groupe a concocté un 7e album optimiste, nomade et aventureux, fidèle à l’ADN du groupe, qui donne la banane… et l’envie urgente de les revoir sur scène. Cela tombe bien, ils démarrent leur tournée en jouant le 24 octobre à Nice au Théâtre Lino Ventura, et le 14 novembre au Café de la Danse à Paris.


 Here’s Nojazz, coming back with their new album Beautiful Life to be released November 15. Hard to categorize? Certainly. Inimitable? Absolutely. Unstoppable? True Nojazz! Listen again to our five fantastic musicians, as fantastic as they are energetic. Between soul, funk, electro, world and … jazz, the invigorating cocktail of Nojazz is ready to enchant our autumn. Did you like Soul Stimulation? You will love Beautiful Life. The band has put together an optimistic, nomadic and adventurous 7th album, faithful to the band’s delightful DNA… and the desire to see them on stage again. That’s good, they start their tour playing on October 24 in Nice at the Lino Ventura Theater, and November 14 at the Café de la Danse in Paris.

Get Ready disponible dés maintenant: https://kuronekomedia.lnk.to/GetReady Pré-commandez le nouvel album Beautiful Life Maintenant sur: https://kuronekomedia.lnk.to/BeautifulLifeAlb Crédits musique "GET READY" : (Pascal Reva, Sylvain Gontard, Philippe Sellam, François Mpondo, Philippe Balatier) Clip réalisé par COSMIC ZULU Label : Pulp Music Music Post production : Willy Beaman Mixé par Veronica Ferraro Masterisée par On & On records Publishing Campbell Connelly France & Pulp Music https://www.facebook.com/nojazzofficiel/ https://www.instagram.com/nojazz_offi... https://twitter.com/nojazzofficiel https://www.nojazz.fr/



Monday, October 21, 2019

TURKEY:Geeva Flava -Kinetik #2 (2019)

Geeva Flava | Kinetik #2

Geeva Flava, a band formed in Istanbul, tells progressive stories of people and places through jazz, rock and folk. A progressive story driven by synesthetic elements of kinetic material. Album stands where potential meets kinetic.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

AUSTRIA: Burkhard Frauenlob Trio- Focus (ATS 2019)

Burkhard Frauenlob Trio | Focus

A modern mainstream jazz piano trio characterized by diverse and catchy compositions with sophisticated, powerful improvisations influenced by giants like Kenny Barron, Keith Jarret, Thelonious Monk and Benny Green.


 A classic piano jazz trio CD with diverse, nuanced compositions interpreted in monkish, soulish, modern and yet traditional ways. The love for jazz, for concerts and recordings of exceptional musicians, and for the desire to both play music and improvise were the inspirations and motivations for the band to record this album. I feel like I have been given something valuable through the creations of ingenious musicians and experience the listening of their music as an enrichment of my life – pianists such as Thelonius Monk, Kenny Barron, Brad Mehldau, Christian Sands, to name just a few. After all, to listen means to discover, to learn, to be amazed, to wonder and to feel.

With this recording, we would like to redesign in our own way music that we like, that is important to us, that moves us. To make music means communication between the musicians and with the public. We have intentionally decided to record together in one room in order to preserve a living and natural sound. That was a vital concern for us and from the very beginning within the focus of this production.


Searching for an appropriate room, the choice fell to the living room and its fantastic grand piano. The CD is comprised of eight Burkhard Frauenlob compositions along with the standards “Chelsea Bridge” from Billy Strayhorn as a solo piano version and “Sweet Lorraine” from Parish/Burwell. With Focus, Frauenlob presents a modern mainstream trio characterized by expressive, refined compositions with powerful, lively yet subtle improvisations. As the long-term pianist and arranger of the Lungau Big Band, Frauenlob has had the opportunity to play with such jazz greats as Nils Landgren, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, James Morrison, and Ray Anderson. His varied musical capabilities has been confirmed during concerts and recording with – among others – Incognito singer Tony Momrelle (Grammy nominee LBB Soulmiles I, largely arranged by Burkhard Frauenlob), Martin Schaberl New Quartet, Richie Winkler Quartet, Martin Grubinger, Hubert von Goisern and Frauenlobs own Afro-Fusion project YUKAH with Insingizi, Mamadou Diabate and Ismael Barrios. Klaus Fürstner is an experienced, much sought-after drummer who has played with Harry Stojka, Big Band of the MHS Cologne, HGM Jazz Orchester Zagreb (over many years), the Opera and Schauspielhaus Graz, Balazs Tamas Trio (award-winner at the 2008 international jazz competition in Siófok/HU), Son of the Velvet Rat. Education in Graz, Cologne and New York City. Maximilian Ranzinger is as a bassist active in numerous recording and concert activities: Mereneu Project, Robben Ford, Ismael Barrios Salsa Explosion, Endrina Rosales Group, Angela Tröndle, Heinrich v Kalnein, Emiliano Sampaio and Sir Eglamore.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

USA: Maria Schafer -No Broken Hearts (2019)

The "No Broken Hearts" album is HERE!

Here are all the other people who joined me on this project:
Shane Savala - guitar, Max Kraus - bass, James Yoshizawa - drums, Brad Black - organ, Cooper Appelt - recording engineer, Jessica Winters - cover art
We also have beautiful t-shirts (black unisex and supersoft teal in women's cut) and totebags featuring the lovely elephants from the cover art that we sold while on tour, if you'd like to wear and show your support! I'll send out an email about those next week. 
- Maria

Upcoming Performances 
*****Mon, 10/7, 9-11PM, Los Angeles, CA - bluewhale*****
Sat, 10/12, 9PM-12AM, Pasadena, CA - The Taproom @ The Langham Hotel
Sun, 10/13, 12-3PM, Long Beach, CA - Federal Bar
Tues, 10/15, 6:30-9:30PM, Laguna Beach, CA - The Drake
Thurs, 10/24, 6-9PM, Fullerton, CA - Belage  Gourmet