Showing posts with label New CD 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New CD 2012. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2015
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Olga Fusion Quartet - Images (2012)
Olga Fusion Quartet is a jazz band from Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk. We play our music in fusion, funk, contemporary styles.
This song is written by Olga and recorded in 2012.
Olga Dyachenko - piano
Daniil Vinaricov - tenor-saxophone
Alexey Dyachenko - bass
Monday, September 15, 2014
The Music of Kenn Smith
Brilliant, passionate compositions with amazing instrumentation. Jazz,
Fusion, Rock, Ambient. A gifted and versatile composer, guitarist and
bassist who's music and impeccable technique are consistently
described as a soulful, organic experience." "If I Remember" is a cool
mixture of Contemporary Jazz and Ambient music. Gentle, soothing
sounds that any true music lover will enjoy and appreciate.
Kenneth LaMont Smith, born and raised in Chicago, he honed his musical
skills as a freelance guitarist and bassist on Chicago's music scene
and abroad. From theater and nightclubs to studio sessions and tours
he quickly earned the reputation as one of the best in his field
performing various styles of music. Sharing the stage with such artist
as: R. Kelly, Tower of Power, Wynton Marsalis and members of the Miles
Davis Band. As a solo artist, composer, instrumentalist, his music and
impeccable technique are consistently described as a "soulful, organic
experience". His style crosses all musical boundaries.
Musician/Label Website:
www.kennsmith.com
Fusion, Rock, Ambient. A gifted and versatile composer, guitarist and
bassist who's music and impeccable technique are consistently
described as a soulful, organic experience." "If I Remember" is a cool
mixture of Contemporary Jazz and Ambient music. Gentle, soothing
sounds that any true music lover will enjoy and appreciate.
Kenneth LaMont Smith, born and raised in Chicago, he honed his musical
skills as a freelance guitarist and bassist on Chicago's music scene
and abroad. From theater and nightclubs to studio sessions and tours
he quickly earned the reputation as one of the best in his field
performing various styles of music. Sharing the stage with such artist
as: R. Kelly, Tower of Power, Wynton Marsalis and members of the Miles
Davis Band. As a solo artist, composer, instrumentalist, his music and
impeccable technique are consistently described as a "soulful, organic
experience". His style crosses all musical boundaries.
Musician/Label Website:
www.kennsmith.com
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Ner De Leon-The Heart of Christmas (2012)
This album is a collaboration with some of the finest musicians who are close to my heart. The album features various artists such as Ricky Lawson, Mon David, Maricar Cabasag, Yoyong Nalasa, David Enos, David Anderson, Freddie Clark, Ric Ickard, Wynston Raval, Takahito Mori, George Rossi, Jerry Cruz, Ninette Tenza, & Guada Perry.
The Heart of Christmas album is truly a labor of love. I hope that my music will bring hope and make your Chistmas holiday more merrier...and jazzier!
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ~Isaiah 9:6
Have yourself a very blessed and meaningful Christmas!
In Christ,
Ner de Leon
www.nerdeleon.com
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Sam Hankins - Nothing Between Us(2012)
"We come together" is a soul searching, peaceful melody that gets you humming along.
"See Me" with it's funky beat will get you on your feet and dancing to the tune of the harmon mute in no time.
Marcellus Hankins vocals on "I Can Be" will take you on a romantic journey with your loved one.
The music just envelopes you in "Soft Touch" and sets you on a peaceful journey.
"Reach For Me" is techno pop with a difference.
"Give It A Try" is another reflective tune to get your mind working.
"Where Am I" is certainly the ballad to beat all ballads. This melodic tune will set the mood for a great romantic evening.
Again "You Should Have" will get you snapping your fingers and tapping your toes.
The unique hip hop smooth jazz fusion of "Get Back Step Back" will make you go "that actually works and it sounds awesome".
This smooth jazz beat bombards you and that is exactly what this album does to anyone listening to it.
CDBaby
Monday, October 21, 2013
Eric Person - Thoughts On God (2012)
http://www.ericperson.com
A landmark recording, Thoughts on God, is the most recent release from prolific saxophonist and composer Eric Person. His ninth disc as a leader, the fifth on his own Distinction Records label and first funded through the Kickstarter program, an online funding platform for creative projects. Having fronted several different units including Meta-Four and Metamorphosis, as well as the cooperative TrioKinesis the veteran horn man is heard here leading his own jazz orchestra for the very first time. Person is an alumnus of the forward looking big bands of McCoy Tyner, David Murray and John Hicks, and is best known for his wide-ranging sideman work with Dave Holland, Chico Hamilton, and World Saxophone Quartet. On Thoughts on God, Person exhibits the fruits of lessons learned during his quarter of a century of diversified experience. The pieces composed for this twelve part suite are inspired by his powerful abiding faith in the positive force of the Creator.
The music here, performed by a thirteen piece ensemble featuring some of New York City’s most accomplished players, finds its inspiration in Person’s own spiritual nature. “When I wrote this music I had certain ideas in my mind and certain thoughts and feelings that I wanted to have come through the music,” Person proclaims. “The thing that separates this project from my other music is that when I sat down to write this music I tried to visualize all the great things, the blessings that we have here on Earth. So I tried to think positive thoughts, to think about the Creator, about all the wonderful things that he’s given us. I feel that this positivity came through the music. It came through in my writing and it also came through the performance in the recording studio.”
Here's the Thoughts on God personnel:
Eric Person-alto, soprano saxophones, flute
Craig Bailey-alto sax, flute
Patience Higgins-tenor sax, clarinet
Sly Scott-tenor sax, flute
Scott Robinson-baritone sax
Duane Eubanks-trumpet, flugelhorn
James Zollar-trumpet, flugelhorn
Curtis Hasslebring-trombone
Isrea Butler, bass trombone, trombone
Bryan Carrott-vibraphone
Adam Klipple-piano
Adam Armstrong bass
Shinnosuke Takahashi-drums
Person says of the date’s mission, “Thoughts Of God is my humble gift to the Creator, but it’s also a gift to the world. My belief is that by making music of creativity and power I’m doing my part in helping make this world a better place to live.”
"Person's fifth release on his Distinction Records label, and his first orchestral work, this is probably his greatest achievement to date..."
Scott Albin, Jazztimes
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Camerata Flamenco Project - Avant Garde (Nuba Records 2012)
In 2004, Camerata Flamenco Project, formed by Pablo Suárez (piano), José Luis López (cello) y Ramiro Obedman (flute /saxo) made its debut at the “Singapore Arts Festival”. Since then, Camerata has performed at major musical festivals as New York ́s Taller Latino, Madrid ́s La Noche en Blanco, Suma Flamenca and its International Jazz Festival, Castilla y León ́s Festival de las Artes, Palma de Mallorca ́s Certámen de Jazz and Dublin ́s I International Flamenco Festival, amongst others. Website
Pablo Suárez: Piano, Handclaps
José Luis López: Cello
Ramiro Obedman: Flute, Sax (soprano & tenor)
Karo Sampela: Drums, Percussion
José Miguel Garzón: Double Bass
01. IntenCity (Buleria)
02. Chiquilín de Bachín (Tango Vals)
03. Avant-Garde (Tanguillos)
04. ¿Seguiriqué? (Seguiriya)
05. Tangos de Rafael Jiménez (Tangos)
06. A mí que me lo expiquen (Alegrías)
07. Despedidas
Monday, July 15, 2013
Arve Henriksen and Teun Verbruggen – Black Swan ( Rat Records 2012)
http://www.ratrecords.biz
http://www.arvehenriksen.com
"To some, this might seem like an unlikely collaboration. Throughout much of his recent career, whether solo or as a member of Supersilent, Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen has explored expansive, deeply atmospheric territory. He has recorded not only for Rune Grammofon, but also for ECM, and his austere, breathy tone inspired by the Japanese shakuhachi is entirely in keeping with the latter label's Scandinavian cool, even when Henriksen is displaying his abstractly explorative side. Belgian drummer Teun Verbruggen would seem to embrace experimentalism of a somewhat different stripe, seated on the drum stool for Peter Vermeersch's oddball big band Flat Earth Society for a decade, collaborating with creative jazz pianists, and recently firing up noisy jazztronica improvs with his groups Othin Spake and the Bureau of Atomic Tourism, documented on his Rat Records label. But here they are on the 2012-2013 Rat album Black Swan, although not exactly together, since Verbruggen recorded drums and electronics in Belgium during September 2010 and sent digital files to Henriksen, who added trumpets, vocals, Hardanger fiddle, keyboards, snare drum, samples, and treatments from his home in Norway during February 2011. Knowing the back-story behind the creation of these 11 sonic vignettes makes the results that much more impressive, particularly in how Henriksen found evocative ways to build upon Verbruggen's foundation of abstract, even arrhythmic percussive and electronic sounds (although the listener sometimes can't discern with absolute confidence which musician produced which sounds on the album). "Dave Lynch Allmusic.com
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Yusa "Simple, sophisticated, Cuban and universal...the sound of Cuba from XXI Century"
Yusa
"Simple, sophisticated, Cuban and universal...the sound of Cuba from XXI Century"
Yusa is coming back to Europe in 2013 to present her new group, where she sings, plays guitar and bass guitar with a remarkably accomplished eclectic sound.
Yusa is a Cuban singer and composer born in La Havana (Cuba). In 2003 she was nominated in two categories of the famous BBC Radio 3 World Music Award "Most Promising" and "Best Artist in Latin America". She has already recorded 5 albums: Yusa (2001), Breathe (2004), Haiku (2008), Vivo (2010) and Libro de cabecera (2012).
Team: 3 people (solo set), 5 people (trio)
Period: Autumn 2013
Looking forward for a new collaboration,
Javier Adaro
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XV Panamerican Games of Río de Janeiro (Brazil); Cotton Jazz Club (Japan); Théâtre
Silvain (France); La Bellevilloise (France); Festival Nuits du sud
(France); Festival des nuits Fourviere (France); Festival
Latinoamericando (Italy); Festival de Cosquín (Argentina); Festival Rec Beat (Brazil); Virada Cultural (Brazil);...
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Assahira Productions
33 rue de Lattre de Tassigny
69009 Lyon
France
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
China Moses - Crazy Blues (UMG 2012)
With her band playing in a genre CHINA has said to be more “soul influenced”, and by favoring spirit over form, her interpretations get right on down into the song. As CHINA and her band prefer nothing more than to perform live in front of an audience, the evenings are so much more than just a tribute. ‘We have been on tour to India, Japan and Montreal’ , CHINA says ‘We opened for B.B. King and Dionne Warwick. Our concerts have become a show. I love to tell stories, I see myself as a jazz storyteller and I like to move the audience emotionally, but also make sure that people smile in between the Blues’.
http://www.chinamoses.com
Marshall Gilkes - Sound Stories (2012)
Sascha Feinstein-Jazziz Magazine
An exciting new record featuring eight unique compositions from trombonist/composer Marshall Gilkes with;
Donny McCaslin tenor saxophone
Adam Birnbaum piano
Yasushi Nakamura bass
Eric Doob drums
http://www.marshallgilkes.com
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Courtney Pine – House of Legends (Destin-E World 2012)
Track Listing: The Tale of Stephen Lawrence; Kingstonian Swing; Liamuiga (Cook up); Samuel Sharpe; Ca C’est Bon Ca; Claudia Jones; Song of the Maroons; House of Hutch; From the Father to the Son: Ma-Di-Ba; Tico Tico.
Personnel: Courtney Pine; soprano sax (1-11), EWI (4), alto flute (7); Mervyn Africa: acoustic piano (1); Mark Crown: trumpet (2); Trevor Edwards: trombone (2-3, 8); Rico Rodriquez: trombone (2); Mario Canonge: acoustic piano (2-6, 8-9); Cameron Pierre: electric guitar: (2-4, 6, 8-9), acoustic guitar (5, 7), banjo (7); Miles Danso: double bass (2-11); Rod Youngs: drums (2-11); Annise Hadeed: steel pan (3-4, 6-7, 9); Ellen Blair: violin (5); Natalie Taylor: viola (5); Amanda Drummond: viola (5); Jenny Adejayan: cello (5); Michael Bammi Rose: flute (7); Dominic Grant: acoustic guitar (7); Eddie Tan Tan Thornton: trumpet (9); Claude Deppa: flugelhorn (10); Lucky Ranku: electric guitar (10).
http://www.courtneypine.co.uk
Claire Martin – Too Much In Love To Care (Linn 2012)
Too Much in Love to Care; Introduced by Will Friedwald
When I first listen to a new album, I'm generally trying to prod myself for some kind of reaction: what am I going to say about this music, whether as an annotator or a reviewer? When I attended one of the sessions for Too Much in Love to Care (Claire Martin sings with Kenny Barron) in the summer of 2011, and then, six months or so later, when the sound files for the album arrived (via the miracle of the world wide interweb) in my inbox, my first thought wasn't, ‘well, what am I going to say about this one,' but rather, I immediately started thinking of young, contemporary jazz singers whom I wanted to play it for. I started making a list of all the vocalists who could learn from Claire Martin, and it's practically all of them, even more than a few who are older and perhaps more experienced than Wimbledon's favourite jazz singer. It would be hard to find any vocalist of the current generation who's been as prolific as Ms Martin, in terms of both quality and quantity: math was never my strong suit (I can't even count to 21 with my clothes off ), but as far as I can ascertain, this latest project is her 15th album in 20 years (the first was The Waiting Game in 1992). You'd have to go back to the 60s or earlier to find singers that busy, when being a recording artist was something more like an actual profession. Singers like Nat King Cole or Nancy Williams would often release upwards of three albums a year back in the day, but no other artist singing today has amassed a body of work that's anywhere near as complete or impressive as Ms Martin's. Not bad for a girl of, at this writing, not yet 45 summers.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Christian Lillingers Grund - Second Reason (Clean Feed 2012)
Achim Kaufmann (p), Christian Lillinger (d), Christopher Dell (vib), Jonas Westergaard (b), Pierre Borel (as), Robert Landfermann (b), Tobias Delius (ts),
The sequel of “First Reason” goes not only one step forward, but several. Because the playing skills and the compositional visions of the young Berlin drummer Christian Lillinger developed considerably since 2009 (it was his recording debut as a leader, even if already astonishing), but also due to the maturation of the Grund project. Some considerable changes in personnel happened. In the unusual two basses / two horns centered instrumental format, the piano obtained a permanent presence, played by Achim Kaufmann, the same of another band with Lillinger’s and bassist Robert Landfermann’s participations, "Grünen". The three act as the rhythmic nucleus of this outfit. The pianist before was veteran Joachim Kühn, guesting only in some tracks. The harmonic reinforcement is achieved by the inclusion of a vibraphone, adding virtuoso Christophe Dell to the ensemble. And there was a replacement: the alto saxophone is now in the hands of another youngster in the scene, Pierre Borel, a French musician in quick ascension. British, but living in Berlin Tobias Delius and Danish Jonas Westergaard remain from the first opus, actively contributing to the essence of Grund’s sound. It’s great when we can follow the evolution of something organic (“grund” means soil and reason) as music…
Clean Feed
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
David Bindman Ensemble - Sunset Park Polyphony (2012)
Musicians: David Bindman, composer/tenor and soprano saxophones, Wes Brown, contrabass, royal hartigan, drums, Art Hirahara, piano, Frank London, trumpet and flugelhorn, Reut Regev, trombone, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jon Rosenberg at Systems Two, Brooklyn NY
On March 1, 2012, saxophonist/composer David Bindman unveils his double cd Sunset Park Polyphony, a narrative collection of his original compositions performed by a six-member ensemble. The album’s songs and extended compositions explore layers of rhythmic and harmonic complexity and adapt elements from world music traditions, including West African rhythms and Indian raga (modes) and tala (time cycles). Bindman writes of the polyphony in the album/song title, improvisational voices, and compositional forms:
“In Sunset Park, Brooklyn one hears a polyphony of multiple languages, children playing, airplanes, traffic, music, and birds singing. I composed most of the music on this recording after moving to the Sunset Park neighborhood in 2006. The sounds are inspired by dreams and images of life and were only quantified during the notation process. In this music we offer paths to wander, to dance, to follow threads of imagination…”
Among the rhythmic features, two compositions integrate reductions, derived from ancient Indian tirripugar tala, in which time cycles reflect poetic phrasing, here getting progressively faster over a given framework in asymmetrical groupings of beats. Through this and other adaptations to jazz/contemporary music, and the musical interactions that develop, the ensemble offers expanded ways of playing over time. The Sunset image on the cd cover, by Laura Lambie Wallace, has many layers of color that mirror the underlying layers in the music.
Shape One opens the album with a theme and harmonic progression in a fast 15 beat cycle; Long Line Home is a meditation on memory, loss, and place; the title track Sunset Park Polyphony explores multiple speeds of seven, with themes rising from the Pantuvarali raga, a Hindu devotional modality; Robeson House Echoes has juxtaposed tonalities unfolding in non-metric and metric time; the six-part Landings Suite follows the epic journey of a fictional adventurer turned environmentalist and teacher: in The Transient, independent melody lines diverge and converge; Icarus Flies Towards the Sun and Returns is a dirge in canon form; Invisible Dance opens with drum calls and responses from the Ewe people of Ghana and has multiple simultaneous themes; Recurring Dream, set over a jazz/reggae rhythm, incorporates a bell pattern from the Fon people of Togo and Benin; the sparse Singing Bird Melody knits together sections of the suite; in the ballad Unspoken melodies moving in counterpoint; RH Reprise grooves in 13 pulses, felt in 6½ beats.
Bassist Wes Brown, drummer royal hartigan, and Bindman met at Wesleyan University in the early 1980s. They have played together in the group Juba and Fred Ho’s Afro Asian Music Ensemble, the West African/jazz group Talking Drums and royal hartigan's Blood Drum Spirit, joined by pianist Art Hirahara. Bindman formed his sextet in 2008; Reut Regev and Frank London are the ensemble’s newest members. This album follows David Bindman’s four recordings as a leader or co-leader, including the Brooklyn Sax Quartet’s acclaimed cds The Way of the Saxophone (Innova) and Far Side of Here (Omnitone), and numerous recordings as a side-person.
Reviews of Sunset Park Polyphony (excerpts):
'Jazz is at the forefront of the cultural renewal taking place in Brooklyn, and saxophonist David Bindman has been a quiet but leading force in that movement...Bindman and the ensemble imbue the spirit of enjoyment even as they adhere to an implication of social responsibility. They relate stories that are held together by collective musical memories. The ensemble's wide range of cultural appreciation is not a euphemism for world music. This is exceptionally creative jazz, at times played with great subtlety and sometimes with wild abandon.' - KARL ACKERMAN, All About Jazz
The strong path developed by saxophonist and composer David Bindman, while centered in the new current of free improvisation, is marked by multiple artistic elements, which include archaic and cutting edge musical forms, rhythmic cycles and modalities from West Africa, India and other ethnic traditions of complex melodic explorations that are rarely heard; and a search for the integration of musically cohesive planes into an aesthetic ideology able to represent diverse world circles, feelings, history, and cultural heritages based on a mimetic concept of classical aesthetics... David Bindman completes here a successful creative circle born of his curiosity to understand the world. - SERGIO PICCIRILLI, El Intruso
'Don't expect "new-age" noodling from saxophonist/composer Bindman...Intelligent, multi-rhythmic, at turns lyrical or challenging but never dull, this aural experience is worth your attention.' - RICHARD KAMINS, Step Tempest
'Bindman does a fine job of setting up pieces where two or more lines are happening simultaneously...He assembles different sections of freer exploration yet there is a strong underlying thread that holds it together...[a] splendid sextet.' - BRUCE GALLANTER, Downtown Music Gallery
'It takes a wealth of ideas and inspiration to fill two CDs and saxophonist David Bindman justifies his large-canvas approach at every step... The orchestration, for three horns, piano, bass and drums, is boundlessly colorful and indeed polyphonic: complex intersecting patterns give Bindman's work a dissonant harmonic outline, but also a melodic allure. Bindman also draws on Indian and African rhythmic traditions to create irregular cycles or "pulse groupings", which he explains in some detail in the liner notes. From these the music takes on a perpetually unresolved quality but also a strong element of groove and swing. It's an adventurous sound, though not wholly 'free' or 'outside'.' - DAVID R. ADLER, New York City Jazz Record
'Although the album might be considered an entry into the world music category, it's better to call it a new forceful strain of jazz.' - MIKE SHANLEY, Shanley on Music
'Bindman's compositions (he wrote all the tracks) are consistently compelling; they're melodic and rhythmic enough to be easily accessible, but complex enough and profound enough to reward deep listening, with piquant harmonies from the horns and moments of refreshing counterpoint. The band's not star-filled by the standards of the average music fan, but NYC jazz aficionados will recognize enough names to realize how good it is...Whether in concert or on record -- ideally, both -- David Bindman is someone whose work you should become familiar with, because music this good needs to be shared.' - STEVE HOLTJE, Culture Catch
David Bindman’s music has also been described as:
‘…smart, fun, and multiculturally funky.’ – Alexander Varty, Georgia Straight (review of The Way of the Saxophone)
‘…a cool, complex and visionary model of artistic endeavor.’ – Steven Loewy, All Music Guide (review of The Way of the Saxophone)
‘Bindman’s steamy Climate Conditions (talk about neohot jazz!)... Marvelous is Gadzo music, credited to the Ewe people of Ghana and Bindman. It shines in glorious West-African minimalist rhythms…’ – Mark Alburger, 21st Century Music (review of The Way of the Saxophone)
‘Inspired writing fuels the group...David Bindman pens a virtuoso turn on Dizzy Gillespie's 'A Night In Tunisia,' lightning variations on 'Spinning' and reggae asides on 'Jajo.'’ – Fred Bouchard, Downbeat (Review of Far Side of Here)
‘[Bindman, Fonda and Norton] …are great at finding a musical moment, attacking it, and pulverizing the traditional grooves into tiny glass shards…’ Ted Bonar, Modern Drummer (review of Imaginings)
‘Truly a merging of wide sounds…tuneful to the last.’ – Andy Bartlett, Cadence (review of Strawman Dance)
http://www.davidbindman.com
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
New addition to the Free Mp3 List and Webplayer: Phil Cavalieri - Pearl (The first third 2012)
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Musician: Phil Cavalieri
Track: Pearl Composer: Phil Cavalieri Musician website Album: The first third Year: 2012 CD Store Smooth ballad with quite outside jazz guitar and organ solos closing track of the cd " the first third" Phil Cavalieri grew up in the rock and roll era, with much of his early learning on guitar coming from copying the greats of 1970’s rock. Santana, Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix all had heavy influence on the developing guitarist, but it was the improvisational forms of jazz that really caught Cavalieri’s attention and started him down the path to musical revolution. Cavalieri is documenting his unique method of outside playing for fusion jazz guitar. You’ll get an idea of what that means when you listen to the wonderfully anarchic The First Third, which mixes jazz improvisation with the bravado of progressive rock and a bit of the psychedelia of The Grateful Dead. Cavalieri shows off some solid improvisational skill on “Galanga”. The Hammond work here is quite excellent, although the guitar intrudes over the top in ham-handed fashion. This isn’t to say that Cavalieri’s guitar work is bad on the piece; quite to the contrary. Cavalieri is adept with a guitar in his hand. .... “Pearl” is aptly named, and the highlight of the album. Starting with a somewhat reserved guitar opening steeped in reverb, “Pearl” opens up into a wonderful little jazz improve piece. Cavalieri finally finds the musical cohesion....... Spend some time with The First Third and it will become quickly apparent that Phil Cavalieri is a very talented musician....... Wildy Haskell Musicians: Phil Cavalieri : guitar, bass, piano , organ Francesco Cavalieri: bass Ferruccio Dallabona: drum, drum and percussion programming Track list 1 Manhattan delivery 2 Euphoric Express 3 Galanga 4 Coffee and guitar 5 Lbo 6 Pearl 7 Fell street 8 Philanthropy Produced by Phil Cavalieri Mixed and Mastered at Muzak studio |
Xiong - Xiong (2012)
Through ‘Bossa Nova’ as a medium, I feel ‘at home’. I do not feel the need or necessity of putting on a persona which I am not comfortable with.
cdbaby
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Mike Wofford Trio - Signal (Capri 2012)
Pianist Mike Wofford and flautist Holly Hofmann make a good team, as after they'd played together for a while, they became husband and wife, too. From this quintet session, they invited trumpeter Terell Stafford (who made a name for himself as a part of Bobby Watson's Horizon as well as recording as a leader), bassist Rob Thorson, and drummer Richard Sellers. The blend of flute and trumpet creates a warm harmony throughout much of the album, which is a compelling mix of strong originals and overlooked gems. Wofford's loping "The Dipper" is a tribute to Horace Silver, though it doesn't mimic his compositions. He integrates voicings similar to the jazz master's into his own framework. Hofmann's rambunctious post-bop vehicle "M-Line" sets the quintet afire, with sizzling solos by the composer and Stafford, followed by Wofford's intense workout. Bobby Watson's infectious, Latin-flavored "Karita" will be familiar to the alto saxophonist's fans, as he has recorded it several times and Stafford has likely played it on gigs with him. Stafford's fiery solo is exuberant without going overboard, followed by Hofmann's expressive, sublime solo. Wofford's bluesy playing is the highlight of Jimmy Forrest's "Soul Street," as Thorson and Sellers lay down a solid foundation underneath him. Dick Twardzik is nearly forgotten due to his early death from a drug overdose in the '50s, but "The Girl from Greenland" is evidence of his promise as a composer. Wofford's engaging trio interpretation pays tribute to the little-recorded pianist. Turn Signal is easily one of the best recordings by Mike Wofford and Holly Hofmann.by Ken Dryden allmusic.com
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Isabelle Olivier-Dodecasongs (Enja 2012)
Created in 2011 for Isabella Oliver's 20 years of stage performance.
The idea is to explore an original repertoire of 12 original songs ranging from solo to Big Sea Band (octet), and through a new sextet composed by David Linx, Norma Winstone, David Venitucci, Michel Benita and Peter Erskine. Surprise guests, and sometimes other disciplines, can enrich both musically and textually the subject at hand.
It is a project developed with each custom home site, then shared with the audience during a privileged moment.
Finally, after 5 studio albums, the necessity and the pleasure of recording all these "Live" calls will keep the authenticity and uniqueness of the encounters experienced on stage. This record will be released on the label distributed by Harmonia Mundi ENJA.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Nate Najar-Blues For Night People: The Nate Najar Trio Remembers Charlie Byrd (Candid 2012)
Guitarist Nate Najar Pays Homage to a Hero
On New Trio Outing,
Blues For Night People: The Nate Najar Trio Remembers Charlie Byrd
An accomplished guitarist-composer and Charlie Byrd devotee, nylon string fingerstyle player Nate Najar has distinguished himself as a talent worthy of recognition with his impressive output over the past ten years. On his latest trio recording, Blues for Night People: The Nate Najar Trio Remembers Charlie Byrd, the Florida-based guitarist pays tribute to an important role model with a collection of tunes either composed by or associated with the late, great guitarist. Najar also performs on Byrd’s own guitar, a 1974 Ramirez 1a nylon string classical guitar, the same guitar Andres Segovia used.
Accompanied by the veteran D.C.-based rhythm tandem of drummer Chuck Redd and bassist Tommy Cecil, Najar runs the gamut from alluring bossas and romantic ballads to urgent swingers and delicate, classically influenced numbers on his sixth outing as a leader. The chemistry and interplay throughout is apparent. These three kindred spirits are truly on one accord on this auspicious outing. “To me, it feels like there’s three of us playing together and not me just playing on top of a rhythm section,” says Nate. “And when you’re playing with guys that good, why would you do it any other way?”
Nate Najar website
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