Thursday, April 30, 2015

ICP Orchestra turns the U.S. next month

The world-renowned Amsterdam-based Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra, led by Han Bennink (above), celebrates the release of its recent CD "East of the Sun" with a 13-date US tour, May 2 - 17, 2015.

Performances include:

Saturday, May 2 -
Monday, May 4: Constellation, 3111 North Western Avenue, Chicago, IL  
Tickets: $15 - $20; http://constellation-chicago.com
Mix of performances including ICP Orchestra, mixed groups of ICP players and Chicago players and ICP players with dancers.                                                

Tuesday, May 5: Trinosophes, 1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI
8:00 p.m.; http://trinosophes.com; 313-737-6606
Tickets: $10 - $20

Wednesday, May 6 -
Friday, May 8: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
8:00 p.m. each night; http://roulette.org/events; 917-267-0363
Tickets: $25 / $20 students/seniors advance; $30 / $25 students/seniors at door.

Saturday, May 9: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY
8:00 p.m.; http://www.albrightknox.org/; 716-882-8700
Tickets: $10 / $5 members

Monday, May 11: Caspe Terrace, 33158 Ute Avenue, Waukee, IA
7:30 p.m.; abe@trilixgroup.com; 515-279-6452
Tickets: $35 / $30 advance

Thursday, May 14: The North Door, 502 Brushy Street, Austin, TX
8:00 p.m.; http://www.ndvenue.com/                                                    
Presented by Epistrophy Arts - http://epistrophyarts.tumblr.com/

Friday, May 15: Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale Boulevard SE, Albuquerque, NM
7:30 p.m.; http://outpostspace.org; 505-268-0044.
Tickets: $25 / $20 members and students

Saturday, May 16: The Royal Room, 5000 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA
7:00 and 9:30 p.m.; http://www.earshot.org/Events/Promo_Pages/promo_2015_05_ICP.html; 206-547-6763
Presented by Earshot Jazz. Tickets: $20 / $18 Earshot members & seniors / $10 students & veterans

Sunday, May 17: Redeemer Lutheran Church, 5431 NE 20th Ave, Portland, OR
8:00 p.m.; Presented by Creative Music Guild: http://creativemusicguild.org
$15 suggested price (but tickets sold on a sliding scale).
Tickets available at http://icpinportland2015.brownpapertickets.com

The 10-piece Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra has earned worldwide acclaim for its inventiveness, musical genius, and unpredictable stage antics. The group includes world-class improvisers Han Bennink on drums, Michael Moore on clarinet and alto saxophone, Ab Baars on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Tobias Delius on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Thomas Heberer on coronet, Wolter Wierbos on trombone, Tristan Honsinger on cello, Ernst Glerum on bass, Guus Janssen on piano, and Mary Oliver on viola and violin.

Since ICP's inception in 1967 and the ICP 001 New Acoustic Swing Duo, the group has toured and recorded widely. It has released a total of 51 recordings, most recently ICP Orchestra (ICP 049) recorded in 3 sessions in 2009,!ICP! 50 (vinyl) and East of the Sun (051), the first release in ICP's 48-year history without pianist and co-founder Misha Mengelberg. But with guest star Guus Janssen at the piano, a handful of stalwart DownBeat Critics Poll honorees on board, and an astonishing repertoire - a different setlist is written every evening by a member of the band "the music--as rich, wobbly, and unpredictable as ever--is still imbued with [Mengelberg's] contrary character." (Guy Peters).

Out November 15, 2014, East of the Sun is earning the highest praise.  As Bruce Lee Gallanter says in Downtown Music Gallery, "There is something magical and distinctive about this ensemble. They seem to have their hands in a wide variety of influences or genres: cartoon or circus music, traditional Dutch melodies, old school swing/jazz, modern classical arrangements, with lots of unexpected twists and turns and solo[s] or small subgroup sections and free eruptions when you least expect them. The quirky and consistently crafty arrangements by different members of the band (especially Mr. Moore) is/are what makes this band unlike any other.... There is only one ICP Orchestra...each and every release is a treasure."

ICP's live performances have earned equal acclaim:

"Tonight's packed-out, party-atmosphere performance presented the full ensemble cavorting through a trademark mix of free and classic jazz, classical modernism and left-field cabaret. Rough-at-the edges and anarchic, they veered from sublime readings of Ellington and Monk to raucous rabble-rousing and tongue-in-cheek mischief." - Mike Hobart, Financial Times

 "If there was a facet of jazz expression that the ICP Orchestra didn't address Wednesday night at HotHouse, it probably wasn't worth mentioning. Practically every twist on the music -- from 19th Century ragtime to 21st Century free-form experimentation -- eventually came to the fore, and considering that this magnificent Dutch band has been swinging for decades, the sheer vitality of its explorations into American and European jazz vocabularies may have caught some listeners by surprise. Jazz organizations that last this long don't typically convey as much intellectual curiosity, stylistic reach and technical daring as the ICP (Instant Composers Pool) band did in every piece on its first set. Each of the evening's many miniatures, in fact, bristled with strange and provocative juxtapositions of style and musical language, a blues lament giving way to a series of fierce dissonances, an easy swing tempo abruptly interrupted by passages of seeming rhythmic anarchy...Long may they thunder."-- Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

Percussionist Han Bennink is one of the central figures of modern jazz in Europe. Combining drama and wit with iconoclastic virtuosity and rhythmic imagination, Bennink's performances are a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.  Over the years, he has collaborated with everyone from Eric Dolphy and Johnny Griffin to Myra Melford, Dave Douglas and Eugene Chadbourne. "Han Bennink explodes every drummer cliché, rambunctiously devouring free-jazz bombast and subtle trad swing." -- Ken Micallef, Modern Drummer.

Find the complete ICP history here: http://www.icporchestra.com/history.htm

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Wycliffe Gordon To Receive "Highlights In Jazz" Award; May 7 @ Tribeca Perf. Arts Center

Presents "Salute to Wycliffe Gordon"
Thursday, May 7th 8 pm 
Featuring: Adrian Cunningham-woodwinds; Jay Leonhart-bass; Terell Stafford-trumpet; Aaron Diehl-piano; Ted Rosenthal-piano; Alvin Atkinson-drums; Yasushi Nakamura-bass
Guest of Honor: Wycliffe Gordon-trombone

@ TRIBECA Performing Arts Center
Borough of Manhattan Community College
199 Chambers Street, NYC 10007
Box Office 212-220-1460

Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights In Jazz -- New York’s Longest Running Jazz Concert Series - continues its 43rd Season with A Salute to Wycliffe Gordon, a star studded evening honoring the versatile multi-instrumentalist, featuring Adrian Cunningham, Jay Leonhart , Terell Stafford, Aaron Diehl, Ted Rosenthal, Alvin Atkinson and Yasushi Nakamura, plus a very special surprise guest.
Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 8 pm at Tribeca Performing Arts Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, N.Y., NY 10007

Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights In Jazz, New York's longest running jazz concert series, continues its 43rd season on Thursday May 7, 2015 at 8:00 PM in the Tribeca Performing Arts Center of Borough Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, NY, 10007 with A Salute to Wycliffe Gordon, a star studded evening honoring the multi-instrumentalist, featuring Adrian Cunningham, Jay Leonhart , Terell Stafford, Aaron Diehl, Ted Rosenthal, Alvin Atkinson and Yasushi Nakamura, plus as in all Highlights In Jazz concerts, a very special surprise guest.

Veteran producer Jack Kleinsinger says of Gordon, who will be making his 20th Highlights In Jazz appearance, "Wycliffe was introduced to us by Al Grey.  We had honored Al and I said, 'You know Al after you go, who's left?' And he introduced me to Wycliffe. So Wycliffe is the successor in that sense... He's comfortable playing in every kind of jazz genre.  You know, you want to do a Dixieland show, you want to do a bebop show, you want to do swing, he's perfect for any of them."

The annual award, which Kleinsinger describes as honoring a singular living jazz musician for their "matchless musical achievements" has been a staple of every highlights season since the series' inception. He says, "The first year I decided that everybody else waits for people to die and then they do memorial concerts.  Why not honor these people while they’re still alive and playing and let them know that we love them.  The first year we honored Lionel Hampton and it was a thrilling night for me as a fledgling producer.  Teddy Wilson showed up and Clark Terry was there. It was just such a wonderful evening and we've done it every year since."

Gordon, the youngest artist to ever receive the award, says, "I feel really honored to have been selected.  Especially in light of the one's that have come before me  (among the previous honorees have been Roy Eldridge, Roy Haynes, Hank Jones,  Frank Wess, Dr. Billy Taylor and many others). It kind of speaks volumes of at least what Jack thinks about me as a musician and possibly as a person.  So I'm very happy to be honored by Highlights In Jazz. I think that what Jack Kleinsinger is doing in terms of presenting jazz to the public in New York on a consistent basis and the fashion that he's done it, I think is great. It's one of the oldest running jazz series and I have played on quite a few of them."

A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Gordon - a triple threat on trombone, tuba and trumpet, as well as an engaging vocalist - will appear in a variety of settings.  "The group that I'll have will be mainly the musicians that I play with regularly, like Alvin Atkinson, Jr. is going to be on drums and Yasushi Nakamura on bass with Aaron Diehl playing piano. Terell Stafford is playing trumpet. And I’ll have Adrian Cunningham." The Australian woodwind wizard, best known for his work with Vince Giordano's Night Hawks and Renee Marie, like Gordon, is a master of many horns. Also joining in the festivities will be Gordon's regular duo collaborator, bassist/vocalist Jay Leonhart and pianist Ted Rosenthal. Gordon says, "I've worked with them for many years. We did a record together last year, we produced it. We have a lot of fun."  Plus as in all Highlights In Jazz concerts, a surprise special guest.

Jack Kleinsinger's Highlights In Jazz, continues its 43rd season on Thursday, June 11, 2015 with Jazz, Past & Present, an multigenerational double bill featuring the incomparable duo of, pianist Randy Weston and tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, performing a program from their critically acclaimed album The Roots of the Blues.  Sharing the bill with NEA Jazz Master Weston, who will celebrate his 89th birthday in April, will be the Highlights In Jazz New Stars, a youthful quintet assembled by Kleinsinger himself to feature some of his favorite up and coming young jazz players.

"The kids are great," the producer beams. "Steven Frieder on saxophone, Dylan Meek on piano, Benny Benack -- he's a trumpeter and a scat singer that's extraordinary. Devin Starks is a bass player who plays with Charles Tolliver.  He's also a youngster. And drummer Kosta Galanopoulos, who is still at the New School ... You know it's important to me because a lot of younger musicians that are not so young any more, got their start with Highlights In Jazz; Kenny Washington, Greg Hutchinson, Peter Bernstein and so many others."

And of course, as in all Highlights In Jazz concerts there will be a surprise special guest.  Past surprise appearances have included, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Branford Marsalis and other jazz greats. "You know, it doesn't get any better than that," Kleinsinger says with justified pride.
***************
Highlights In Jazz Upcoming Shows

Thursday, June 11, 2015 - 8 pm
Jazz, Past & Present
Featuring: Randy Weston, Billy Harper & The Roots of the Blues
+ Highlights In Jazz New Stars with Steven Frieder-tenor saxophone; Benny Benack-trumpet; Dylan Meek-piano; Devin Starks-bass; Kosta Galanopoulos-drums

All Shows At BMCC TRIBECA Performing Arts Center
Borough of Manhattan Community College
199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007
http://tribecapac.org

By car take FDR Drive south to end, through underpass onto West Street,
north to Chambers.
By Subway take 1, 2, 3, 9, A, C, E, J or M train to Chambers or N, R to City Hall stop.
Walk west on Chambers.

Box Office 212-220-1460
Ticket Prices:
$45.00
$40.00 (student rate with valid ID)

A $160 subscription includes All Four Concerts
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the box office or by mail order.
Please send a check made payable to: Highlights In Jazz

Please mail orders to:
Highlights In Jazz 

7 Peter Cooper Road, Apt. 11E 
New York NY 10010
(Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope)
www.highlightsinjazz.org

Laurie Antonioli live in CA, this Saturday

Don't miss Laurie Antonioli & Band @ the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, this Saturday, May 2nd, at 8pm.

"I send prayers to Joni Mitchell who has been in the hospital the last few weeks," Laurie says.   "She's been on my mind and in my heart  as we wait to hear how she's doing.  We will celebrate her on May 8th at SFJAZZ. In the meantime, we hope to see you this Saturday!

News from the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt

                                             (Charles Lloyd)

23 April 2015                    
Warne Marsh / Melbourne

Ethan Iverson listens to Warne Marsh 's solo on "Confirmation", recorded in 1975, transcribes it, too, and points out that Marsh should have been much better known than he actually was ( Do the Math). --- The Melbourne Herald Sun shares some photos from their archives documenting the Australian city's late 1940s / early 1950s jazz scene, including a picture of visiting American trumpeter Rex Stewart ( Herald Sun).

24 April 2015
N.E.A. Jazz Masters / EJN Award

Ben Ratliff attends the N.E.A. Jazz Masters awards ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York which honored such musicians as the pianist and composer Carla Bley, the saxophonists Charles Lloyd and George Freeman, and the Chicago club owner Joe Segal ( New York Times). Ratliff quotes from their acceptance speeches and reports about the musical part of the ceremony as well (see also National Endowment for the Arts). Willard Jenkins attends as well ( Open Sky Jazz). Video tributes for each of the four honorees are online as well: Carla Bley ( NEA), George Coleman ( NEA), Charles Lloyd ( NEA), Joe Segal ( NEA). --- The German Moers Festival receives the EJN Award presented annually by the European Jazz Network to a major jazz festival ( Die Welt).

25 April 2015
Dance / New Harlem Ramblers

Abby Phillip ( Washington Post) and Avianne Tan ( ABC News) report about the 102-year-old Alice Barker, a former chorus line dancer at the Apollo, the Cotton Club and the Zanzibar who also participated in a couple of film shorts (soundies) in the 1930s and 1940s, and who recently was presented with some of these films "for the first time" at her Brooklyn nursing home. --- Florian Bissig reports about the New Harlem Ramblers, a Swiss ensemble playing traditional jazz since 1969 and one of the few bands in Switzerland that still perform music in the style of Louis Armstrong, King Oliver or Eddie Condon ( Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Dixieland does not have a broad audience anymore, complain the band members, and their listeners usually are as old as the musicians themselves who before retirement all made their living from non-jazz jobs.

26 April 2015
Charles Lloyd / Ranee Lee

Joe Cole talks to the saxophonist Charles Lloyd who just received a NEA Jazz Masters award about the importance of living "in the now", about living and playing in the Santa Barbara area, about the current draught in California, about not taking success and recognition for granted, about studying at the University of Southern California in the late 1950s, about his love for opera, and about his latest album "Wild Man Dance" ( Santa Barbara Independent). --- Amanda Logan talks to the singer Ranee Lee about the changing beauty of improvisation, about music as universal communication and about being grateful for the gifts that make up her "me", her own artistic and personal being ( Leader-Post).

27 April 2015
JazzAhead / Cécile Verny

The German trumpeter Uli Beckerhoff reflects about how the trade fair JazzAhead which took place last weekend has changed the jazz scene ( Radio Bremen). Tom R. Schulz ( Hamburger Abendblatt), Christian Emigholz ( Weser-Kurier) and Uwe Dammann ( Weser-Kurier) report about the JazzAhead. Selected concerts were filmed and can be viewed online ( Arte Concert). --- Peter Kolb talks to the German singer Cécile Verny about her childhood on the Ivory Coast, about the mix of influences from Africa, France and Germany in her music, about the challenges of different languages for singing songs in them, about the importance of faith for herself and her music, about the hardships of a musicians' life, and about national differences in jazz musicians' reputation ( Westfälische Nachrichten ).

28 April 2015
Sebastian Studnitzky / Kirk Whalum

Sandra Pfäfflin talks to the German trumpeter Sebastian Studnitzky about being awarded the Echo Jazz award, about a new album planned for release, and about the XJazz festival he is co-organizing in Berlin ( Pforzheimer Zeitung). --- Ricardo A. Hazell talks to the saxophonist Kirk Whalum about his Christian faith and African spirituality, about the popular appeal of jazz, and about his latest album "The Gospel According to Chapter IV" ( EurWeb).

29 April 2015
... what else ...
 
Ralf Günter ( BZ) and Ulrich Stock ( Die Zeit , online in about 10 days) talk to the German clarinetist Rolf Kühn about his new album which he recorded at the age of 85. --- Nate Chinen hears the saxophonist Tim Berne and his band Snakeoil at New York's Jazz Standard ( New York Times). --- The German journalist Wolf Kampmann was awarded the Award for German Jazz Journalists at JazzAhead trade fair ( Jazz Zeitung). --- Jake Frankenfield talks to the bassist Tom Knific ( The Oberlin Review). --- Ane Hebeisen talks to the journalist Tom Gsteiger and the educator Peter Kraut about the aesthetic status quo of jazz today and its relevance for the future ( Der Bund). --- Molly Sheridan talks to the cellist Erik Friedlander ( New Music Box). --- Dan Ouellette talks to the drummer Brian Blade ( Zeal NYC).

Obituaries
We read more obituaries about ESP-Disk founder Bernard Stollman ( New York Times, The Blue Moment), the saxophonist and arranger Paul Jeffrey ( Duke Chronicle), and the trumpeter Clark Terry ( CBC News). --- We learned of the passing of the Jazz FM chairman Richard Wheatly at the age of 69 ( Mediaweek).

Last Week at the Jazzinstitut
We spent last weekend at the 10th edition of the JazzAhead trade fair in Bremen, participating in official meetings and unofficial conversations. We linked a number of articles and web links about the event above. At JazzAhead it's mostly about meeting in person, and thus, we will certainly be back next year.

One person we met at JazzAhead was Larry Appelbaum, the Library of Congress' jazz curator, who will be part of our new series Mainz Jazz Talks which we will start on Thursday (30 April 2015). During the evening which we called "... with Monk, Coltrane and Dolphy in the depths of the archive" Appelbaum and Wolfram Knauer will discuss the investigative skills it needs to discover surprising material in such institutions. Two short talks will focus on the discovery of a live recording of Thelonious Monk's Carnegie Hall concert with John Coltrane as well as on a collection acquired by the Library of Congress last year containing musical sketches by Eric Dolphy. Apart from the talking there will also be live music, pieces by Monk and Dolphy performed by the saxophonist Thomas Bachmann and students of the jazz department. The event at the Red Salon of the Music Department is free ( Mainzer Jazzgespräche ). The first Mainz Jazz Talk is our joined contribution to this year's International Jazz Day., celebrated around the globe on April 30th

This Friday (1 May) you can hear the two double bassists Sebastian Gramss and Barry Guy in the Jazzinstitut's concert space – invited by the local Förderverein Jazz . Highly recommended!!!

We support the Network Jazz in Hesse in its plans for a "jazz mob" on Monday, 11th May (11:30 am) in the terminal of Frankfurt Main Station. The appeal to participate goes out to musicians in all of the state of Hesse as we want to show how lively the jazz scene of this region actually is ( Netzwerk Jazz in Hessen ). The "Hessenschau", a regional TV magazine, will report as will be the radio stations of the Frankfurt-based Hessischer Rundfunk.

We read ... Luc Bouquet's book "Coltrane sur le vif" as well as Niklaus Troxler's and Olivier Senn's "Willisau and All That Jazz. Eine visuelle Chronik / A Visual History, 1966-2013". The review of these and other books can be found on the book review page of our website.

Jazzinstitut Darmstadt is a municipal cultural institute of the city of Darmstadt, Germany.

Instrumentals Needed for Online Ad Campaign



INSPIRING, MODERN CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a Music Supervisor for an online Advertising Campaign for a revolutionary new medical device. She’s looking hard to find Mid-Tempo Instrumentals with a modern, minimalistic quality, in the general stylistic wheelhouse of:

Intel Commercial by Moby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4NON3oPR5Y

Nokia Commercial by Phillip Glass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMV8jXvIwhc

Quoting the Music Supervisor: “It’s a really new technology, so if something sounds new, and less “tired” than the typical medical/pharmaceutical Ad music, that would be great! Tracks need to be inspiring, a bit introspective, with some gravitas, and definitely modern sounding. Think of an updated version of Philip Glass, with more modern elements. The manufacturer wants to see what direction works, so we’re open to listening to more possibilities than we might normally check out.”

We couldn’t have said it any better than that! Give them modern sounding Classical Instrumentals that establish a sense of wonderment (with a little bit of “awe” at the end) as this amazing new technology unfolds right before viewers’ eyes. Any instrumentation that would fall under the Minimal Modern Classical genre could work. A mid-ground between the Moby and Phillip Glass pieces would probably be a great starting point!

Use of subtle electronic elements that give your piece a little something “special” could work really well for this pitch. All submissions should be approximately two-minutes in length, and have a buttoned ending. Please do NOT copy or rip off the referenced music in any way, shape, or form. Use it only as a general guide for the tone, texture, and vibe. Broadcast Quality is needed (great sounding home recordings are fine).

The estimated sync fee is $2,000, depending on the ultimate use. You will KEEP 100% ownership of your Master, Publishing, and Writer's Share! This license will be NON-Exclusive for worldwide use (because it will be on the Internet), in perpetuity. You will still be able to pitch your Track for other uses that aren’t for products that would be considered directly competitive.

You need to own or control your Master and Composition rights to submit for this opportunity. All Instrumentals will be screened on a Yes/No basis. No full critiques. Please submit one to three Instrumentals to TAXI no later than 11:59pm (PDT), on Sunday, May 3rd, 2015. TAXI #U150503MC. Good luck!

Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band in LA!

Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
Directed by Brent Fischer
Live at Typhoon on May 5th
8:00 & 9:30PM

Typhoon may be closing soon so come out and enjoy a great meal along with some fantastic music!

Typhoon
L.A.'s Premier Pan-Asian Restaurant
Full bar - Ample free parking
3221 Donald Douglas Loop South
Santa Monica, CA
For more information call: (310) 390-6565

Ahmad Jamal Among 2015 Honorary Degree Recipients from the New England Conservatory

NEC Announces 2015 Honorary Degree Recipients, Commencement Speaker
Jazz Pianist Ahmad Jamal (pictured above), Soprano Jessye Norman, Violinist Kyung-Wha Chung, and Pianist Russell Sherman to Receive Degrees

Sherman, Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at NEC, to Give Commencement Address
Annual Exercises to be Held May 17, 2015 in NEC's Jordan Hall

New England Conservatory will bestow honorary Doctor of Music (hon. D.M.) degrees on four distinguished musicians at its 144th annual Commencement Exercises, Sunday, May 17 at 3 p.m. in NEC's Jordan Hall. The recipients are jazz pianist and leader Ahmad Jamal, soprano Jessye Norman, violinist Kyung-Wha Chung, and pianist Russell Sherman. NEC's Distinguished Artist-in-Residence who recently celebrated his 85th birthday with an all-Beethoven recital, Sherman will give the Commencement address.

In addition, approximately 245 graduating students in the class of 2015 will be awarded degrees and diplomas including the Bachelor of Music, Graduate Diploma, Master of Music, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Artist Diploma. Other speakers will include President Tony Woodcock, Provost Thomas Novak, and a student speaker to be announced.

The Exercises are free and open to the public.

Biographies of the Honorees:

Ahmad Jamal
Celebrated pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal continues his performance schedule at home in the U.S. and around the world, as he has for the last seven decades. Noted for his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist, Jamal was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of three, he began formal studies at age seven. While in high school, he completed the equivalent of college master classes under the noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Cardwell Dawson and pianist James Miller.

He joined the musicians' union at the age of 14, and he began touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at the age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos. In 1951 he formed his first trio, The Three Strings. Record Producer John Hammond "discovered" The Three Strings performing at New York's The Embers Club, and signed them to Okeh Records when this imprint was revived as a base for jazz and R&B releases under the Columbia (now Sony) umbrella.

Working as the "house trio" at Chicago's Pershing Hotel in 1958, Jamal, with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier, made an on-location recording for Argo (Chess) Records entitled "But Not For Me." The resulting hit single and album, which also included Poinciana--now Jamal's trademark--remained on the Top 10 Best-Selling charts for an unprecedented 108 weeks. The resulting financial success enabled Jamal to realize a dream, and he opened a restaurant/club, The Alhambra, in Chicago. Here the trio was able to perform while limiting their touring schedule.

Although Jamal performs in many configurations and with many other jazz artists, the solo and trio formats form the core of his work. Following his Crosby/Fournier configuration, his trio with bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Frank Gant dominated his large recorded output, as well as concert dates, from the mid-1960s to the mid-'70s. His current quartet is with bassist Reginald Veal, drummer Herlin Riley (who replaced the legendary Idris Muhammad, his best drummer ever, as documented on many CDs and one DVD), and percussionist Manolo Badrena, of Weather Report fame.

Considering his trio "an orchestra," Jamal not only achieves a unified sound, but subtly inserts independent roles for the bass and drums. The hallmarks of Jamal's style are rhythmic innovations, colorful harmonic perceptions, especially left hand harmonic and melodic figures, plus parallel and contrary motion lines in and out of chordal substitutions and alterations and pedal point ostinato interludes in tasteful dynamics. He also incorporates a unique sense of space in his music, and his musical concepts are exciting without being loud in volume. Augmented by a selection of unusual standards and his own compositions, Jamal would notably impress and influence, among others, trumpeter Miles Davis.

In 1970, Jamal performed "M.A.S.H. Theme (Suicide Is Painless)," the title composition by Johnny Mandel for the soundtrack of the film M*A*S*H -- a track included in one of his best albums from the 70s, "Jamalca," a jazz-funk masterpiece featuring Jamal on Fender Rhodes in most of the tunes --, and in 1995, two tracks from his smash album "But Not For Me" -- "Music, Music, Music," and "Poinciana" were featured in the Clint Eastwood film The Bridges of Madison County.

In 1994, Jamal received the American Jazz Masters fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works with the Assai String Quartet.

In June of 2007 the French Government inducted Jamal into the prestigious l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Former recipients being William Faulkner, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jackson Pollock, Ella Fitzgerald, Alan Ginsberg and Toni Morrison.

Ahmad Jamal's music remains youthful, fresh, imaginative and always influential. His most recent recording, from 2014, is a two-CD-plus-DVD live set with flutist Yusef Lateef from the Olympia theatre in Paris, winner of the Jazz Station Award. His 2008 recording "It's Magic" hit the charts at No. 13 immediately after its release in the U.S., being touted as one of his finest works yet to date. Hailed by critics as a career highlight, the album graced the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart, the iTunes Jazz Top 10, and peaked at No. 2 on the Jazz Week Radio Chart In France. Jamal was awarded Best International Album (Album International de Production Francaise) by Les Victoires du Jazz, the French equivalent of the Grammys. The album also garnered Record of the Year from Jazz Man magazine.

Kyung-Wha Chung
In a career that has already spanned more than thirty years, violinist Kyung-Wha Chung has been one of the most sought after musicians on the international stage. She has earned recognition worldwide as a performing artist of the very highest stature: in 1972 the South Korean government awarded Kyung-Wha Chung its highest honor, the medal of Civil Merit and she has been cited by the Sunday Times of London as one of the most important contributors to the British cultural scene. The depth of her musicianship, her commitment and her passion for her art characterize each performance and recording.

Kyung-Wha Chung was born into a musical family in South Korea and began studying the violin at age six. At the age of twelve she left her native country to study with Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School in New York; she was coached further by Joseph Szigeti and Szymon Goldberg. After winning the Leventritt competition in 1967 (she was co-winner with Pinchas Zukerman), she embarked upon her career in North America, appearing with many of the world's finest orchestras. She made her sensational European debut in 1970 at the Royal Festival Hall with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto. Kyung-Wha Chung has appeared regularly as a soloist with the world's most prestigious orchestras, working with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti and the late Sir Georg Solti.

As a recitalist, Kyung-Wha Chung has collaborated with an extraordinary list of important artists, including Radu Lupu, Krystian Zimerman, Peter Frankl, and Stephen Kovacevich. Chamber music plays a very important part in Kyung-Wha Chung's performing life, and she has toured extensively as a member of the Chung Trio, with her brother conductor/pianist Myung-Whun Chung and her sister, cellist Myung-Wha Chung.

The violinist has recorded numerous award winning albums. After her 1970 Decca Tchaikovsky & Sibelius violin concertos, she produced over thirty-two albums with RCA, Deutsche Grammophon, and EMI. Of those, her recordings of the Strauss & Respighi violin sonatas with Krystian Zimerman (1989, DG label), Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 2;Rhapsody with Simon Rattle (1994, EMI) have earned her the Grammophon award.

In 1997, she celebrated the 30th anniversary of her international debut at the Barbican Centre in London and in her hometown of Seoul, Korea. In 2008, illness and injury caused her to halt her performing career temporarily. In 2011-12, she resumed performances in Korea and in December 2014, made a comeback performance in London at the Royal Festival Hall.
She is currently a professor at the Juilliard School of Music and is the co-artistic director of the Great Mountain Music Festival. In May 2012, Kyung-Wha Chung was appointed chair-professor of music at Ewha University.

Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is one of the most celebrated vocal artists of her generation. She is also among the most distinguished in a long line of American sopranos who refused to believe in limits, a shining member of an artistic pantheon that has included Rosa Ponselle, Maria Callas, and Leontyne Price. "Pigeonholing," said Norman, "is only interesting to pigeons." Norman's dreams are limitless, and she has turned many of them into realities in a dazzling career that has been one of the most satisfying musical spectacles of our time.

She has been equally at home in American spirituals, French chansons or German Lieder. In opera, she has made her own Wagner's Sieglinde and Elisabeth but also Gluck's Alceste, Mozart's Countess Almaviva, Strauss' Ariadne and Stravinsky's Jocasta. She has conquered centuries of musical styles, bringing to life not only Purcell's Dido but the Dido (and Cassandra) of Berlioz' Les Troyens, Beethoven's Leonore and also Bizet's Carmen. She has been an earthy temptress in the opera Parsifal, an unfortunate bride in Bluebeard's Castle and a wise old nun in Dialogues of the Carmelites. From Haydn to Mahler to Schoenberg and Berg, from Satie and Poulenc to Gershwin and Bernstein, the range of Norman's musical reach has been and continues to be breathtaking. No matter what the language, she makes every word matter, every note tell. She is a diva in the truest sense, in that there is something of the divine in the music she makes.

She was born into a musical family, learned the piano when she could barely walk and sang Jesus Is Calling in public when she was only six. Norman pursued her formal musical studies at Howard University, then later at the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Michigan where her principal teachers were Pierre Bernac and Elizabeth Mannion. In 1968, she won the Munich Competition. A year later, she made a celebrated operatic debut in a production of Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin that opened the doors the world's leading theatres and concert halls.

In December 1997, Jessye Norman was invested with the USA's highest award in the performing arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, making history as the youngest recipient in the Honors' 20-year existence. Her many other prestigious awards and distinctions include honorary doctorates at the some thirty colleges, universities and conservatories around the world. In 1984 the French Government bestowed upon her the title "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris named an orchid for her. In October 1989 she was awarded the "Legion d'Honneur" by French President Mitterand, and in June 1990 she was named Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations by U.N. Secretary Xavier Perez de Cueller.

In addition to her busy performance schedule, Jessye Norman serves on the Boards of Directors for The New York Public Library, the New York Botanical Garden, City-Meals-on-Wheels in New York City, The Dance Theatre of Harlem,The National Music Foundation, and The Elton John AIDS Foundation. She is a member of the board as well as National spokesperson for the LUPUS Foundation and spokesperson for The Partnership for the Homeless. And in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia, she serves on the Board of Trustees of Paine College and The Augusta Opera Association. An enthusiastic Girl Scout cookie seller, she is a life time member of the Girl Scouts of America.

Russell Sherman
Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at NEC, pianist Russell Sherman is an eloquent communicator both on and off the concert stage, one of Boston's musical treasures, a legendary pianist who continues to garner accolades from critics and audiences alike for his musical insight, imagination, and poetry. The New York Timescalls him "one of the best pianists in this or any other country." As the author of a highly acclaimed book Piano Pieces (a rhapsodic compilation of vignettes and personal anecdotes from Sherman's life experiences as a pianist and teacher), he has been praised not only as an ingenious virtuoso but also as an insightful master.

Sherman has performed with such major orchestras as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's (with whom he performed the five Beethoven concertos), Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. Abroad, Sherman has played in the major cities of Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Russia, Korea, China, and South America.

In recital, Russell Sherman has appeared on Carnegie Hall's Keyboard Virtuoso Series, California's Ambassador Foundation Series, the Distinguished Artists Series at New York's Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y, and the Bank of Boston Celebrity Series. He has performed at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Jordan Hall, Columbia University's Miller Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Chicago's Orchestra Hall. Additionally, he has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Wolf Trap Festival, as well as recitals at Spain's Santander Festival and Germany's Ruhr Triennale Festival. In 2010, he collaborated with Mark Morris Dance Group and the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music in the Boston premiere of Mozart Dances, presented by Celebrity Series of Boston.

Sherman is a prolific recording artist. He has recorded the five Beethoven concertos with the Czech Philharmonic and the Monadnock Festival Orchestra, and the complete Beethoven sonatas on GM Records produced by Gunther Schuller. The entire Beethoven sonatas project has been called "a set for the ages" by Bernard Jacobson inFanfare. This makes Sherman the first American pianist to have recorded all of the sonatas and concertos of Beethoven. His earlier recording of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes was critically acclaimed: Anthony Tommasini in a 1999 New York Times piece said, "Several impressive recordings of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes prove that these audaciously difficult works are actually playable and triumphantly pianistic. But none make Liszt's visionary understanding of what the piano could do more palpable and exciting than Russell Sherman's extraordinary 1990 recording."

Sherman has also recorded Premieres & Commissions, in which he performs contemporary repertoire by Schoenberg, Schuller, Helps, Perle, and Shapey. Except for Schoenberg's Six Piano Pieces, he personally premiered and commissioned all of these works. Sherman's releases on Avie Records include a CD of Debussy's Estampes, Images Book II and Préludes Book II, a DVD of his live performance of the Liszt Etudes d'exécution transcendante, and most recently, the complete Chopin Mazurkas.
Russell Sherman was born in 1930 and educated in New York, beginning piano studies at age six. By age eleven, Sherman was studying with Eduard Steuermann, a pupil and friend of Ferruccio Busoni and Arnold Schoenberg. Sherman graduated from Columbia University at age nineteen with a degree in the humanities.

Teaching at NEC since 1967, he has also served as a Visiting Professor at Harvard University.

For further information, check the NEC Website call the NEC Concert Line at 617-585-1122.  NEC's Jordan Hall, Brown Hall, Williams Hall and the Keller Room are located at 30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave. Pierce Hall is located at 241 St. Botolph St. between Gainsborough and Mass Ave.

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
A cultural icon approaching its 150th anniversary in 2017, New England Conservatory (NEC) is recognized worldwide as a leader among music schools. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, on the Avenue of the Arts in the Fenway Cultural District, NEC offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC-trained musicians and faculty.

NEC is the oldest independent school of music in the United States. Founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee, an American music educator, choral conductor and organist, its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, NEC features training in classical, jazz, and Contemporary Improvisation. Graduate and post-graduate programs supplement these core disciplines with orchestral conducting and professional chamber music training. Additional programs, such as the Sistema Fellows, a professional training program for top postgraduate musicians and music educators that creates careers connected to music, youth, and social change, and Entrepreneurial Musicianship, a cutting-edge program integrating professional and personal skills development into the musical training of students to better develop the skills and knowledge needed to create one's own musical opportunities, also enhance the NEC experience.

Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Programs and Partnerships Program, the Conservatory provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes--thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music, jazz, and Contemporary Improvisation. Currently more than 750 young artists from 46 states and 39 foreign countries attend NEC on the college level; 1,400 young students attend on the Preparatory level; and 325 adults participate in the Continuing Education program.

The only conservatory in the United States designated a National Historic Landmark, NEC presents more than 900 free concerts each year. Many of these take place in Jordan Hall (which shares National Historic Landmark status with the school), world-renowned for its superb acoustics and beautifully restored interior. In addition to Jordan Hall, more than a dozen performance spaces of various sizes and configurations are utilized to meet the requirements of the unique range of music performed at NEC, from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to big band jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, and opera scenes. Every year, NEC's opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre or Paramount Center in Boston, and a semi-staged performance in Jordan Hall. This season, the operas produced have been Menotti's The Consul, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites and Mozart's Così fan tutte.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Threestyle featuring Madgalena Chovancova live @ Spaghettini Jazz Club, next week

Next week, on May 1st, don't miss Threestyle, featuring the stunning Czech saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Magdalena Chovancova, live @ Spaghettini Italian Grill & Jazz Club (3005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach, CA), celebrating the release of a new single: "Get It," produced & arranged by guitarist Robert Fertl.
For tix, please call 800-595-4849

Song Contest: Final Day to Enter Your Songs

The Song of the Year songwriting contest will award over $80,000 cash and prizes to the top writers in the contest. Submit your best songs today at http://www.songoftheyear.com

YOUR SONGS SENT TO RECORD LABELS AND PUBLISHERS

The top 50 songs from the Song of the Year songwriting contest will be sent to major and minor record labels, music publishers, managers, booking agents and more (including Warner Music, EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music). Song of the Year has many music resources who are always excited to review the top songwriters in the contest for further consideration. 

TEN SONGWRITING CATEGORIES

The songwriting contest offers ten categories so that everyone has a category that best fits their songwriting style. The ten categories are: Pop, Country, Rock, Lyric Only, Instrumental, Hip-Hop, Christian, Adult Contemporary, Folk and Dance

Only the "songwriting" merits of the songs are reviewed and judged in the songwriting contest. Production quality is not taken into consideration. Home recordings are accepted. International entries are accepted. More information at
http://www.songoftheyear.com

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

NY Hot Jazz Fest on May 3rd! 30 Acts, 14 Hours, 3 Stages and a Swing Party at the Players Club

THE 3rd ANNUAL
NEW YORK HOT JAZZ FESTIVAL
25 Acts - 14 Hours -3 Stages - 1 HUGE party!

Fourteen Hours of Continuous Hot Jazz and Swingat
The Players Club- 16 Gramercy Park South, Manhattan
Sunday, May 3 - 12:00pm to 2:00am

Featuring
WYCLIFFE GORDON & FRIENDS
BILL CHARLAP
ANDY FARBER & THEAFTER MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA
with REBECCA KILGORE
BRIA SKONBERG AND HER JAZZ COMPATRIOTS
EVAN CHRISTOPHER'S CLARINET ROAD
NICKI PARROTT TRIO with WARREN VACHÉ
JON-ERIK KELLSO'S EarRegulars with SCOTT ROBINSON
STEPHANE WREMBEL
THE HOT SARDINES

FULL LINEUP AND SCHEDULE BELOW
--------------------
"Woodstock for hot jazz set" -Bill Milkowski, Downbeat Magazine

Join us for the 3rd annual NEW YORK HOT JAZZ FESTIVAL! This year the party of the year returns to the beautiful and historic Players Club and once again features multiple rooms with continuous live music for nearly 14 hours from 16 bands, 8 solo pianists, a dozen special guest artists as well as a late night jam session band with a raucous after party. Dancing is encouraged and inevitably irresistible; Swing dancers will be particularly delighted by The Players' optimal Ballroom dance floor. Once again, while three stages on the two upper levels will be devoted to non-stop live music, the lower level of the Players will feature a day-long screening of hot jazz and swing films.

THE BALLROOM AND LIBRARY STAGES:
•AndyFarber & TheAfter Midnight Orchestra with Rebecca Kilgore
•Wycliffe Gordon & Friends
•Bria Skonberg & Her Jazz Compatriots with Michael Mwenso
•The Hot Sardines
•Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Roadwith Hilary Gardner
•Stephane Wrembel
•Jon-Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars with Warren Vache
•Nicki Parrott TriowithWarren Vache
•Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band
•Dan Levinson’s Bix Millennium All-Stars
•Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band with Blind Boy Paxton
•Riley Mulherkar and Alphonso Horne’s Gotham Kings
withMichael Mwenso & Michela Marino Lerman
•Mona’s Hot Four with Kate Davis&Martina DaSilva
•The Grand Street Stompers
withMolly RyanandTamar Korn
•Glenn Crytzer’s Savoy Seven
•Rhythm Future Quartet

RAGTIME, STRIDE AND JAZZ AGE SONGBOOK PIANO ROOM:
•Bill Charlap
•ELEW
•Jon Weber
•Terry Waldo
•Conal Fowkes
•Chris Pattishall
•Pete Sokolow(aka Klezmer Fats)
•Blind Boy Paxton
and
FESTIVAL JAM SESSION and After Party with David Ostwald & Gordon Au
GYPSY SWING JAM with Jason Anick and Olli Soikkeli

www.NYHotJazzFest.com

SCHEDULE:

BALLROOM (1st floor)
1:00 - Terry Waldo’s Gotham City Band with Tamar Korn and Blind Boy Paxton
2:15 - Jon Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars with Warren Vache
3:30 - Dan Levinson’s Bix Millennium All-Stars
4:45 - Andy Farber & The After Midnight Orchestra with Rebecca Kilgore

LIBRARY STAGE (2nd floor)
1:15 - Nicki Parrott Trio featuring Warren Vache
2:30 - Rhythm Future Quartet
3:45 - Stephane Wrembel
4:50 - Mona’s Hot Four with Martina DaSilva & Kate Davis

STEINWAY RAGTIME & STRIDE PIANO ROOM (1st floor)
12:05 - Rob Reich (piano and accordion)
1:00 - Mark Shane
1:45 - Pete Sokolow
2:45 - Terry Waldo
3:45 - Jon Weber (with Margi Gianquinto)
4:45 - Bill Charlap

BALLROOM(1st floor)
7:15 - Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road with Hilary Gardner
8:30 - Bria Skonberg & Her Jazz Compatriots with Michael Mwenso
9:45 - Wycliffe Gordon & Friends with Brianna Thomas
11:00 - The Hot Sardines

LIBRARY STAGE (2nd floor)
7:30 - Riley Mulherkar’s and Alphonso Horne’s Gotham Kings with Michael Mwenso & Michela Marino Lerman
8:45 - Eddy Davis' New Orleans Jazz Band
10:00 - The Grand Street Stompers with Molly Ryan & Tamar Korn
11:15 - Glenn Crytzer’s Savoy Seven

STEINWAY RAGTIME & STRIDE PIANO ROOM (1st floor)
6:30 Blind Boy Paxton
7:15 Dalton Ridenhur
8:00 ELEW
9:00 Chris Pattishall
10:00 Conal Fowkes
11:00 Ehud Asherie

AFTER PARTY
(12am)
UPSTAIRS
12:00am - 2:00am Festival Jam Session with David Ostwald and Gordon Au

UNDERGROUND SPEAKEASY
12:15 - 2:00am Gypsy Swing Jam with Jason Anick and Olli Soikkeli

Joe Locke's performance and the opening of Chuck Stewart's exhibition in NY, April 25

A SPECIAL JAZZ APRIL PRESENTATION
APRIL 25, 2015
JOE LOCKE with JAIMEO BROWN and RICKY RODRIGUEZ
Plus... A special exhibition of jazz photographs by the living legend CHUCK STEWART
At the Central House Hotel
Main Street - Germantown, NY 12526
                         (John Coltrane's portrait by Chuck Stewart)

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Quincy Jones Presents Jacob Collier w/ Louis Cole & Sam Wilkes this Friday in CA

WARNING: A night of irresponsible harmonic distances and unnervingly funky groove scenarios
Friday, April 24th @ 8:00pm
The Edye Broad Stage
1310 11th St. Santa Monica, California 90401
__________________________________________

"I have never in my life seen a talent like this. One of my favorite young artists on the planet-absolutely mind-blowing" - Quincy Jones

"Undoubtedly the music world's next genius" - Georgia Mancio, ReVoice Festival

"Nothing short of genius" - Silas Armstrong, International Ronnie Scott's Radio Show

"Your music is legend, Jacob...I want to be like you when I grow up" - Peter Erskine

"Wow, Jacob. Your stuff is amazing" - Herbie Hancock
**********
As part of the Quincy Jones Presents Series, the legendary producer invites you to enjoy a night of insane talent and unbelievable music making.

UK's protean talent, harmony-groove-meister and multitrack arranging internet hero, Jacob Collier is joined by legendary drummer Louis Cole (of the band KNOWER), and masterful bassist Sam Wilkes (of Rozzi Crane).

Jacob Collier is recognized as one of the world's most unique and gifted young musicians. Based in London, UK, Jacob combines elements of musics such as Jazz, A cappella, Groove, Folk, Trip-hop, Classical, Brazilian, Gospel, Soul and Improvisation, which culminate to create his distinctive and revolutionary sound. Since sharing some of these sounds with the world, Jacob's online social channels have garnered over 60K international subscribers and over 3.5 million video views. With viral hits such as his rendition of the Stevie Wonder classic, "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing," Jacob has gained luminary fans among the highest realms of the world's music community, including Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Steve Vai, Take 6, to name a few. Jacob is currently tending to an album, and designing and building a groundbreaking live solo performance vehicle, with which he will soon be touring Earth.

Louis Cole is one half of cult electronic funk-pop duo, Knower. A drummer and music creator from Los Angeles, Louis' mission is to create deep feelings through music. He has a lot of music on the internet under his own name as well as his band, KNOWER. His music consists of Insanely Heavy Funk, deep ballads, and other kinds of music in between. Some people describe his style as "Tron Melt" which is an up-and-coming sound from Los Angeles in 2015.

Sam Wilkes is a bassist, producer, musical director, and synthesizer enthusiast. After graduating from USC's Popular Music Performance Program, Sam stayed in Los Angeles where he creates and produces music with many different artists. Principally, he is one half of the indie rock duo pratley and is the musical director for pop-soul artist Rozzi Crane. Sam has performed in many different venues from the Troubadour to Madison Square Garden. He is also an avid record collector who frequently DJ's and studies liner notes. Sam will be releasing a lot of music on the Internet in 2015.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Ira Sullivan Pays Tribute to Red Rodney in NY

Legendary multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan makes a rare appearance this week (April 22-23) at New York's Zinc Bar (82 West 3rd Street) to celebrate the life of the late jazz trumpet great Red Rodney.

Sullivan, who turns 84 in May, was a longtime colleague of Red's since the early 50s and co-led the Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan Quintet during the 80s recording a handful of critically acclaimed records while touring extensively throughout the US and abroad.

Beside Sullivan, the tribute will feature some of New York's finest musicians including trumpeter John Bailey, pianist Dave Kikoski, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Anthony Pinciotti. Showtimes on Wednesday, April 22 are at 8 pm & 10 pm and on Thursday, April 23 at 9 pm and 11 pm. For reservations, please call (212) 477-9462 or visit Zinc Bar.

A splendid jazz improviser who performed with the swing groups of Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Woody Herman, and Benny Goodman before joining (1949-51) Charlie Parker's bebop quintet, Red Rodney, recognized by his flaming red hair, was also the first white bebop trumpeter. His innovative playing style was marked by his brilliant technique and purity of tone.

After a long absence from the stage, Rodney made a triumphant comeback in the early 70s returning to his former glory as a skilled balladeer and later reconnecting with his erstwhile bandmate Ira Sullivan. Their collaboration led to a fruitful and much-heralded association during the 80s releasing five albums one of which garnered a 1982 Grammy nomination.

In 1988, Rodney served as a consultant on director Clint Eastwood's film "Bird" on the life of Charlie Parker and he also performed on its soundtrack. Rodney continued recording and touring into the early 90s with various bands and was inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame in 1990.

On May 27, 1994, Red Rodney died of lung cancer. His death marked the end of an era as he was one of the last living links to Charlie Parker and bebop.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

"New Vocal Repertoire For Performance" - Ellen Johnson's workshop @ Calfornia Jazz Conservatory, tomorrow afternoon

This Sunday, April 19 @ California Jazz Conservatory, from 12pm to 3pm, for all of you who are interested in discovering some new songs: Ellen Johnson's workshop "New Vocal Repertoire For Performance!" 
Register early for the discount at: https://cjc.edu/workshops/?eid=8491

"Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4" box set to be released on July 17

Sony Music, through Columbia/Legacy, will release "Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4" on July 17 here in the USA. The 4-CD box set comprises live performances from the Newport Jazz Festival by Miles' various bands in 1955, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1975, in Newport, Rhode Island; New York City; Berlin and Switzerland.

The release date comes exactly 60 years to the date since Davis' performance at Newport in 1955. The box, according to its press release, includes 296 minutes of music, nearly four hours of which is previously unreleased.

The set includes performances by the Kind Of Blue Sextet (with Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb), and the "second great quintet" in '66 and '67 (with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams).

Mastered by Mark Wilder (with whom I worked on the first Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Stone Flower" reissue, back in 1990), with liner notes by Grammy-winner Ashley Kahn and art direction by Josh Cheuse. Legendary jazz impresario George Wein produced all the original concerts.

Among the musicians are Cannonball Adderley, Gary Bartz, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Dave Holland, Paul Chambers, Percy Heath, Ron Carter, Al Foster, Tony Williams, Connie Kay, Jack DeJohnette, Jimmy Cobb, Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler, Michael Henderson, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, David Liebman, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas, Don Alias, James Mtume, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Sam Morrison and Wayne Shorter.

Here's the complete tracklist:

July 17, 1955, Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI
Spoken Introduction By Duke Ellington And Gerry Mulligan1:27
Hackensack8:02
Round Midnight6:12
Now's The Time8:48
July 3, 1958, Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI
Spoken Introduction By Willis Conover2:15
Ah-Leu-Cha5:53
Straight No Chaser8:48
Fran-Dance7:13
Two Bass Hit4:11
Bye Bye Blackbird9:11
The Theme2:49
July 4, 1966, Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI
Gingerbread Boy8:30
All Blues10:27
Stella By Starlight7:58
R.J6:21
Seven Steps To Heaven4:46
The Theme / Closing Announcement By Leonard Feather2:17
July 2, 1967, Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI
Spoken Introduction By Del Shields0:38
Gingerbread Boy8:43
Footprints7:53
Round Midnight6:42
So What8:18
The Theme / Closing Announcement By Del Shields0:20
July 5, 1969, Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI
Miles Runs The Voodoo Down10:21
Sanctuary3:53
It's About That Time / The Theme9:40
November 1, 1973, Newport Jazz Festival In Europe, Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany
Spoken Introduction By Ronnie Scott / Band Warming Up0:37
Turnaroundphrase10:57
Tune In 54:12
Ife13:55
Untitled Original11:31
Tune In 5 / Closing Announcement By Ronnie Scott6:06
July 1, 1975, Newport Jazz Festival – New York, Avery Fisher Hall, New York City
Mtume6:57
October 22, 1971, Newport Jazz Festival In Europe, Neue Stadthalle, Dietikon, Switzerland
Directions13:06
What I Say10:43
Sanctuary3:43
It's About That Time13:21
Bitches Brew11:56
Funky Tonk25:43
Sanctuary