"Selections from Getz/Gilberto '76" out tomorrow!

As we had anticipated here in January, George Klabin's California-based Resonance Records will be releasing "Selections from Getz/Gilberto '76" tomorrow, April 18, to celebrate the Record Store Day. It will be available only as 10-inch audiophile vinyl LP, but the full album will come out on CD and 2-LP sets probably in time to celebrate Joao Gilberto's 84th birthday (June 10). The LP has been eagerly awaited by Getz's and Gilberto's fans since we first posted about it four months ago, and the stores expect even better sales than another impressive Gilberto album, "Um Encontro No Au Bon Gourmet," released by the Italian label Doxy (specialized in Public Domain recordings) as announced here last February.

Stan Getz and João Gilberto reunite in 1976 with these previously unreleased recordings from a four-night engagement at San Francisco's Keystone Korner, "Selections from Getz/Gilberto '76." This Limited Edition 10" record commemorates performances that are one of the few times this duo collaborated in the 1970's, after their multiple Grammy award-winning 'Getz/Gilberto" released by Verve in 1964, and soon after their second studio reunion on "The Best Of Two Worlds" in 1976.
​
Resonance acquired the tapes from jazz impresario Todd Barkan, owner of the now-defunct (but very famous in the 70s) Keystone Korner jazz club in SF. They cleared rights with the Stan Getz Estate and the other musicians including Joao Gilberto. As the title suggests, this is a sneak peak of the upcoming full length "Getz/Gilberto '76" due for release (CD & 2-LP sets) in June.

Puerto Rican abstract expressionist painter, Olga Albizu (1924-2005), graces the cover with her artwork "Equilibrium Verde"; Creed Taylor loved her work and selected Albizu's paintings for other Verve releases in the early 60s by people like Bill Evans ("Trio 64"), Bob Brookmeyer ("Gloomy Mondays And Other Bright Moments"), and the seminal Getz' albums "Jazz Samba" (with Charlie Byrd) and "Getz/Gilberto."

This collector's LP (with a limited pressing of 3,000 units) is pressed on translucent green-colored 140 gram vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM by Erika Records. The tracklist includes Dorival Caymmi's "Doralice" (recorded by João & Getz in 1963 for the historical "Getz/Gilberto"), and three songs covered by them on "The Best of Two Worlds" for CBS: "É Preciso Perdoar (Alcyvando Luz/Carlos Coqueijo Costa), "Eu Vim da Bahia" (Gilberto Gil), and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto" (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Chico Buarque), the latter also included by Gilberto on another masterpiece, the "Amoroso" album for Warner in 1977.

Backing João Gilberto (acoustic guitar & vocals) and Stan Getz (tenor sax) are Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on acoustic bass, and Billy Hart on drums. [Hart and Houston also performed on "The Best Of Two Worlds".] Prior to his work as president and founder of the Resonance label, George Klabin was the owner and chief engineer of the Sound Ideas Studio in NY, where great jazzmen and Brazilian artists -- such as Thiago de Mello ("Amazon"), Eumir Deodato ("Os Catedráticos 73"), João Donato ("Donato/Deodato) and Flora Purim ("Everyday Everynight") -- recorded many nice albums during the 70s.

Tomorrow, Resonance will also release a set by guitar wiz Wes Montgomery with pianist Eddie Higgins Trio ("One Night In Indy," cut on January 18, 1959) and another one by master organist Larry Young ("Selections From In Paris: The ORTF Recordings," recorded in 1964 and 1965. Famous for his sessions with Tony Williams and Miles Davis, the late (and much missed) Young will have his full album released probably only by the end of 2015. For more details, please check: 
http://jazzstation-oblogdearnaldodesouteiros.blogspot.com.br/2015/01/new-cds-by-stan-getz-joao-gilberto-wes.html
**************
Resonanceから超貴重未発表音源続々！
「スタン・ゲッツ＆ジョアン・ジルベルト'76」がアナログ10インチで登場！

未発表発掘レーベルとしてすっかりジャズ･ファンにおなじみとなったResonance Recordsが、今度は、なんと、スタン･ゲッツとジョアン･ジルベルトの76年のライブを送り出します！

言わずもがなの永遠不滅の名コラボ、音楽史上の超大名盤『ゲッツ・ジルベルト』が録音されたのは63年のことで、それから12年あまり。本作にはサンフランシスコの名門クラブ、キーストン・コーナーで行われたライブが収録されています。Resonanceは、スタン・ゲッツ・エステイトはもちろん、ジョアン・ジルベルトを含め参加メンバーの許諾をえて、権利をクリア。このたび、リリースの運びとなりました。70年代において、このコンビの演奏が聴ける作品は、とても少なく貴重でもちろん未発表音源。曲はどれもおなじみながら、この時代らしく、75年にリリースされた『Best of Two World』の収録曲から3曲、そして『ゲッツ/ジルベルト』の収録曲から一曲。このコンビならではの美しい音楽の果実を堪能できます。サウダージ溢れる哀愁のジョアンのヴォーカルと温かみに溢れるゲッツのサックス、また瑞々しく鮮やかなブラジル音楽の響きは、極上です。ジャケット・アートは、『ゲッツ/ジルベルト』『ジャズ･サンバ』等々を手掛けたペインター、Olga Albuizuというのもとてもうれしいところ。盤面もResonanceお得意のカラー･ヴァイナルです。CDおよび2LPとしてのフル・ヴァージョンは2015年または、2016年を予定。そちらの発売も待たれますが、こちらは生粋のコレクターズ・アイテム。ブラジル音楽、ジャズファンはもちろん、アートとしてもうれしいリリース。必携です。

"Gotcha Rhythm Right Here" with The John Tropea Band in NY, this Saturday

If you are in the NY area, don't miss The John Tropea Band tomorrow, April 18, live @ Pete's Saloon (8 W. Main Streer, Elmsford, NY). For reservations, please call (914) 592-9849.

One of my guitar heroes since I heard him on Eumir Deodato's epic version of "Zarathustra" 42 years ago -- followed by a string of great sessions as a leader for Marlin as well by countless sidemen dates with the likes of Lalo Schifrin, Ray Barretto, Hubert Laws and, of course, Deodato --, Tropea now celebrates the release of his 11th solo album, "Gotcha Rhythm Right Here."

The ace guitarist will be joined on stage by Chris Palmaro (Hammond B3 organ), Zev Katz (electric bass), Lee Finkelstein (drums), Tommy McDonnell (percussion), Don Harris (trumpet), Larry Farrell (trombone) & Bill Harris (tenor sax).

All these musicians took part of the "Gotcha Rhythm" sessions, that also include performances by such guest stars as Leon Pendarvis, Steve Gadd, Neil Jason, Will Lee, Randy Brecker and my late friend Lew Soloff. Funk-jazz fusion at its best.

Arnaldo DeSouteiro Bio / Jazz Station Records (JSR) - Address & Contact Info

            (Arnaldo DeSouteiro during a recording session in 2014)

"People are going to talk about you, especially when they envy you and the life you live. Let them. You affected their lives, they didn't affect yours... you will eventually lose someone you love & love someone you never thought you'd find..."

Arnaldo DeSouteiro - Short Bio

Music Producer (with over 530 albums to his credit according to the All Music Guide), Voting Member of NARAS-GRAMMY and Jazz Journalists Association (NY), Member of LAJS (Los Angeles Jazz Society), Musical Philosopher, Journalist, Jazz & Brazilian Music Historian, Publicist, Public Relations, Composer (having written successful jazz & pop songs, some dance hits like "O Passarinho" for the Italian TV reality show "La Pupa e Il Secchione", and "Samba da Copa" for the "2006 World Cup" in Germany, plus many other soundtracks for movies, soap operas & TV series in the USA -- PBS, BET, Universal Cable etc --, Europe and Asia), Lyricist (he wrote lyrics to Dave Brubeck's "Broadway Bossa Nova" at the invitation of Brubeck himself, among other songs), Arranger, Percussionist, Keyboardist, Programmer, Educator (conducting clinics and panel sessions worldwide as the first Brazilian member of IAJE-International Association of Jazz Educators during its existence). He has also acted as consultant for several companies and jazz festivals all over the world.

Founder and CEO of JSR (Jazz Station Records), a Division of Jazz Station Marketing & Consulting - LA, Calif. Most recently, founded LaCalifUSA Pictures and JSR Casting in 2007 for movie & TV productions featuring music & fashion.

Produced the acclaimed CD compilation series "A Trip To Brazil," "CTI Acid Jazz Grooves," "Brazilian Horizons," "Focus on Bossa Nova," "Focus on Brazilian Music Grooves", "Bossa Nova Singers," "Bossa Nova Guitar","Jazz Rock" etc.

Produced special compilations for Quincy Jones ("Summer in the City - The Soul Jazz Grooves of Quincy Jones"), Chick Corea ("Electric Chick") and Deodato ("Do It Again - The Fantastic Jazz-Funk of Eumir Deodato"), all released by Verve/Universal. His latest CD for Verve is "Bossa Nova USA," released last May, featuring Dave Brubeck's title track performed by Quincy Jones.

Supervised and/or Directed TV specials featuring João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dizzy Gillespie, Chuck Mangione, Flora Purim & Airto Moreira, Miles Davis, Dom Um Romão, Eliane Elias, Diana Krall, Eumir Deodato, Bjork et al. Worked with producers Creed Taylor, Yoichi Nakao, Susumu Morikawa, Matthias Kunnecke, and photographers Pete Turner, Victor Skrebneski, Robert Mappelthorpe, Duane Michals.

Mr. DeSouteiro has also worked in his native Brazil for TUPI-FM radio station (as musical programmer-DJ as well as hosting his own show, "Jazz Espetacular"), Manchete TV network (anchoring & supervising the "Terça Especial" series for which he interviewed such jazz giants as Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Chuck Mangione, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim etc), Globo TV network (screenplay, coordination and mix for the TV special "João Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim - O Grande Encontro" in 1992, the last time these 2 geniuses performed together, plus the texts and screenplay for the "Minuto da Bossa" series), and as the jazz columnist for the "Tribuna da Imprensa" (Press Tribune) daily newspaper during 29 years (from 1979 to 2008). Before moving to the USA, he also worked as Brazilian correspondent of "Keyboard" magazine (from 1985 to 1994), as a free-lancer to Billboard, Cuadernos de Jazz, Swing Journal and International Music Magazine, and as entertainment-in-flight programmer for several airline companies like Varig Brazilian Airlines (from 1983 to 1998).

Produced over 5300 albums and sessions featuring: Luiz Bonfa, João Gilberto, Dom Um Romão, Thiago de Mello, Dexter Payne, João Donato, Palmyra & Levita, Mario Castro-Neves, Jorge Pescara, Paula Faour, Fabio Fonseca, Claudio Roditi, Rodrigo Lima, Hermeto Pascoal, Ithamara Koorax, Don Sebesky, Sammy Figueroa, Anna Ly, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Pascoal Meirelles, Yana Purim, Pingarilho, Nelson Angelo, Marcelo Salazar, Ron Carter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Steve Swallow, Herbie Hancock, Hugo Fattoruso, Larry Coryell, Sadao Watanabe, Jurgen Friedrich, Eloir de Moraes, Gazzara, Deodato, Jadir de Castro, Azymuth, Marcio Montarroyos, Sivuca, Laudir de Oliveira, Marcos Valle, Jay Berliner, George Young, David Matthews, Lew Soloff, Alphonso Johnson, Gene Bertoncini, John McLaughlin, Claus Ogerman, Raul de Souza, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and many others.

Produced and supervised CD reissues of albums by Ron Carter, Hank Crawford, Johnny Hammond, Sergio Mendes, Hubert Laws, Grant Green, Idris Muhammad, Joe Beck, Esther Phillips, Lonnie Smith, David Matthews & Whirlwind, Phil Upchurch, Tennyson Stephens, Miucha, Flora Purim, Carlos Lyra, Tamba Trio, Ivan Lins, Raul de Souza, Trio 3-D and many others. As annotator, he wrote liner notes and press releases for albums by Toots Thielemans, Hank Crawford, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Pat Metheny, Eliane Elias, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Jeff Linsky and dozens of others for labels like RCA, CTI, Kudu, Milestone, Fantasy, Verve, Columbia, Irma, Alfa, JVC, Caju, Sonet, Paddle Wheel, JHO, Mercury, Imagem etc.

Mr. DeSouteiro also had the honor to be associated with some of the world's greatest photographers like Pete Turner (who did the cover photo for Jorge Pescara's CD "Grooves in the Temple," released on his own JSR label and featured on Turner's new book "The Color of Jazz"), Victor Skrebneski (the CD reissue of "Upchurch/Tennyson"), Bruce Weber (Esther Phillips' "For All We Know"), Robert Mappelthorpe ("Brazilian Horizons"), Alen MacWeeney, William Cadge, and Duane Michals (many of the CTI CDs) and so on. He has appeared in several movies and TV series such as the Award Winning documentary movie "Beyond Ipanema," for which he was interviewed alongside Creed Taylor, Lalo Schifrin, Wayne Shorter, Gene Lees and Norman Gimbel.

Jazz Station Marketing & Consulting, JSR Casting, LaCalifUSA Pictures
CEO & Founder: Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Address:
JSR - LA
9930 Liebe Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90210

JSR - NY Address:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro
PO Box 1338
Radio City Station
New York, NY 10003

Jazz Station Records (JSR), a division of Jazz Station Enterprises
CEO & Founder · Los Angeles ·
Address:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Jazz Station Records - LA
1545 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
JSR - NY
PO Box 1338
Radio City Station

(PLEASE, DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED MATERIAL; any unsolicited CD or promo packets will be returned. If you wish to submit material, please contact us through comments on this post or through Facebook. Thx!)
https://www.facebook.com/arnie.gilberto

People are going to talk about you, especially when they envy you and the life you live. Let them. You affected their lives, they didn't affect yours... you will eventually lose someone you love & love someone you never thought you'd find...

Arnaldo DeSouteiro – Biografia ultra-resumida 

Produtor de discos, com cerca de 530 álbuns em sua discografia (incluindo novos CDs, reedições, coletâneas, trilhas sonoras, projetos especiais), conforme consta no All Music Guide, principal e mais acessado website sobre música no mundo. Jornalista e publicitário (formado em Comunicação pela PUC-RJ), tendo escrito para os jornais Tribuna da Imprensa (de 1979 até sua extinção em 2009, com 3.200 artigos publicados), Última Hora, O Globo e O Estado do Paraná, revistas Billboard, Keyboard (USA), Cuadernos de Jazz (Espanha), Swing Journal (Japão), Revista do CD (Brasil) etc. 

Roteirista de shows (João Gilberto, Diana Krall, Ithamara Koorax, Marcos Valle, Eumir Deodato, Bjork etc) e de especiais de TV para as emissoras Globo (Antonio Carlos Jobim & João Gilberto) e Manchete (Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Chuck Mangione, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim etc) no Brasil, BET e PBS nos EUA, NHK no Japão (Diana Krall, João Gilberto, CTI All Stars, Dave Brubeck etc).

Nascido no Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) em 1963, radicado em Los Angeles (EUA) desde 1999. Estudou piano clássico e harmonia com sua mãe, a pianista e maestrina Delza Agricola. É membro da Associação Brasileira de Imprensa (ABI) desde 1979, membro catedrático titular efetivo da Academia Internacional de Música desde 1985, membro votante do Grammy-Naras (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) desde 2006, membro votante da Los Angeles Jazz Society (único brasileiro) desde 2007, e também único brasileiro que é membro votante da Jazz Journalists Association (sediada em Nova Iorque) desde 2002. Atua há mais de 3o anos como consultor e parecerista para diversas empresas, centros culturais e festivais de música no Brasil e no exterior.

Também foi membro honorário e primeiro membro brasileiro da Associação Internacional de Educadores de Jazz (IAJE – International Association of Jazz Educators) durante 12 anos, até sua extinção em 2008, tendo realizado palestras e "panel sessions" nas convenções anuais realizadas nos EUA. Fundador e Presidente da gravadora JSR (Jazz Station Records), sediada em Los Angeles – EUA desde 2001, uma divisão da Jazz Station Marketing & Consulting. Dirige também a JSR Casting e a LaCalifUSA Pictures, empresa de cinema que produz conteúdo e trilhas sonoras (composição, produção, seleção) para filmes e séries de TV. 

Produziu discos e sessões de gravação com artistas como Luiz Bonfá, João Gilberto, Dom Um Romão, João Donato, Palmyra & Levita, Mario Castro-Neves, Claudio Roditi, Gaudencio Thiago de Mello, Dexter Payne, Rodrigo Lima, Don Sebesky, Hubert Laws, Fabio Fonseca, Marcos Ozzellin, Herbie Hancock, Jorge Pescara, Paula Faour, Anna Ly, Pascoal Meirelles, Yana Purim, Carlos Pingarilho, Nelson Angelo, Marcelo Salazar, Ithamara Koorax, Ron Carter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Steve Swallow, Herbie Hancock, Hugo Fattoruso, Larry Coryell, Sadao Watanabe, Jurgen Friedrich, Gazzara, Eumir Deodato, Azymuth, Marcio Montarroyos, Sivuca, Laudir de Oliveira, Marcos Valle, David Matthews, Gene Bertoncini, John McLaughlin, Raul de Souza, Hermeto Pascoal, Gonzalo Rubalcaba e muitos outros. 

Como compositor e letrista, tem parcerias com Dave Brubeck (“Broadway Bossa Nova”), Francesco Gazzara (“O Passarinho”), Mamoru Morishita (“Hotaru”) e Fabio Fonseca (“Samba da Copa”, executado na cerimônia de abertura da Copa do Mundo de 2006). 

Produziu reedições de discos de Sergio Mendes, Flora Purim, Tamba Trio, João Gilberto, Ivan Lins, Carlos Lyra, Miucha, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ron Carter, Idris Muhammad, Hank Crawford, Lonnie Smith, Johnny Hammond, Luiz Bonfá, Phil Upchurch, Tennyson Stephens, Eumir Deodato, Grant Green, Mario Castro-Neves, João Donato, Claus Ogerman, David Matthews, Esther Phillips, Joe Beck, Eric Gale e muitos outros.

Produziu as séries “A Trip To Brazil” (cujo Volume 1 chegou ao primeiro-lugar na parada de world-music na Europa em 1998, superando “Buena Vista Social Club”), “Brazilian Horizons”, “CTI: Acid Jazz Grooves”, “Jazz Club”, e retrospectivas - lançadas mundialmente entre 2006 e 2010 pelo selo Verve – das carreiras de Quincy Jones (“Summer In The City: The Soul-Jazz Groves of Quincy Jones”), Eumir Deodato (“Do It Again: The Fantastic Jazz Funk of Eumir Deodato”) e Chick Corea (“Electric Chick”).

Desde 1981, tem realizado, como free lancer, produção musical para diversas gravadoras, como RCA/BMG, Sony, Verve/PolyGram/Universal, CTI, King, Paddle Wheel, Pausa, Milestone/Fantasy, Warner/WEA, Motor Music, JVC/Victor, Sanyo, Movieplay, Imagem, Eldorado, CID, Alfa, RGE, Mr. Bongo, Terra Música, Blue Moon, Bomba, Cedar Tree, Treasure Trove, Irma, Vivid Sound, Motéma, e Huks Music, no Brasil, Europa, Estados Unidos, Japão, China, Tailândia e Coréia. 

Entre 1982 e 1984, atuou como assessor cultural do Serviço de Comunicação Social da Petrobras. Em 1983, criou, produziu e apresentou o programa "Jazz espetacular", transmitido pela Rádio Tupi FM. Em 1984, assumiu a responsabilidade da programação de bordo (musical e audiovisual) transmitida nos vôos internacionais da Varig, função que exerceu durante 14 anos. Também nesse período (1985 a 1987), participou da comissão de seleção do Free Jazz Festival. 

Escreveu textos de contracapa para discos de diversos artistas, como Toots Thielemans, Ella Fitzgerald, Eliane Elias, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jeff Kinsky, Paulo Bellinati e Carlos Barbosa Lima, entre outros. Assinou textos para divulgação ("press releases") de artistas como João Gilberto, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Bill Evans, Jimmy Smith, Elvin Jones, Stanley Turrentine e Tony Bennett.

Atuou como entrevistador em depoimentos prestados para o Museu da Imagem e do Som (Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo) por João Donato, Stellinha Egg, Maestro Gaya, Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim e Carlos Barbosa Lima. Em 2001, recebeu o prêmio de International Man of The Year, concedido pelo International Biographical Centre, de Londres. Foi o primeiro brasileiro a receber essa premiação, oferecida anteriormente a apenas quatro outros produtores: Arif Mardin, Tommy LiPuma, Quincy Jones e Phil Ramone. Ainda nesse ano, a JSR (Jazz Station Records), de sua propriedade, foi considerada uma das cinco melhores gravadoras de jazz do mundo, em relação publicada na edição de dezembro da revista especializada norte-americana "Down Beat", premiação que se repetiu por quatro anos (7º lugar em 2003, 9º lugar em 2004, 5º lugar em 2005 e 6º lugar em 2006).  

Foi entrevistado em vários programas de TV e filmes como os premiados documentários "Laurindo Almeida, Muito Prazer" (exibido no Brasil pelo canal GNT), "Bossa Nova Saúde, Saudade" (para a japonesa Fuji TV, a convite de João Gilberto) e "Beyond Ipanema", no qual foi entrevistado ao lado de Creed Taylor, Lalo Schifrin, Wayne Shorter, Gene Lees e Norman Gimbel. Depois de apresentado em diversos festivais de cinema nos Estados Unidos e Europa, "Beyond Ipanema" foi transformado em série de televisão transmitida em território brasileiro pela emissora Canal Brasil em 2014. Neste mesmo ano, atuou como parecerista para o BNDES na série "Quintas No BNDES".

Endereço para correspondência:
Jazz Station Marketing & Consulting, JSR Casting, LaCalifUSA Pictures
CEO & Founder: Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Address:
JSR - LA
9930 Liebe Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90210

JSR - NY Address:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro
PO Box 1338
Radio City Station
New York, NY 10003

Jazz Station Records (JSR), a division of Jazz Station Enterprises
CEO & Founder · Los Angeles ·
Address:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Jazz Station Records - LA
1545 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
JSR - NY
PO Box 1338
Radio City Station

Melena & Her Afro-Cuban Jazz Band @ Steamers

SATURDAY, APRIL 18,  THE RETURN OF CUBAN PERCUSSIONIST EXTRAORDINAIRE MELENA 

AND HER AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ BAND

Featuring: Oscar Hernandez, Eddie Resto, Anderson Quintero, Serafin Aguillar & & Javier Vergara

Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe

138 W. Commonwealth Ave

Fullerton, CA 92832

Ph: 714-871-8800 

Melena Francis Valdes is a world-class percussionist and educator of Afro/Cuban Music History and Percussion. She has toured, performed and recorded with legendary artists such as Barry White, Stevie Wonder, Macy Gray, Julio Iglesias, Chucho Valdes & Irakere, Chayanne, John Tesh, Eva Ayllone, Peru Negro, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ray De La Paz, Mario Ortiz Jr., Chino Nunez and many more. Melena teaches all levels of percussion, and has experience with special needs students as well. 

She has conducted Master Classes nationally and internationally such as: Montreal Drum Festival, Puerto Rico Music Conservatory, Percussion Gallery (Ponce, P.R.), Los Angeles Music Academy, Brownsville University, Remo Drum Center, Braille Institute, Boys and Girls Club, and more. She has specialized her studies in the Afro-Cuban tradition, and has taught her students the importance of the history and knowledge of Afro-Cuban drumming. Melena performs with her Afro-Cuban Jazz and Salsa band worldwide and is one of the most accomplished female percussionists in the Latin Music Industry. Enjoy!

Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra live @ The Lighthouse Cafe, this Sunday, April 19

Enjoy "Jazz Brunch" at the Lighthouse Cafe (30 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach) with a showcase of music by highly-acclaimed composer Alan Chan this next Sunday, April 19. His 17-piece big band “is bringing a set of sounds that haven’t been heard before in an L.A. big band” (Rick Baptist) and “with utterly unique tonal personality.”(Kirk Silsbee). ACJO's debut "Shrimp Tale" album was named one of the best CDs in 2014 by the Jazz Critique Magazine in Japan, and was elected "Best Big Band CD of the Month" by Arnaldo DeSouteiro's Jazz Station blog.

Cover $10 at the door; from 11am to 2:30pm
http://alanchanjazzorchestr.com/ • http://thelighthousecafe.net/

The Orchestra:

WOODWINDS: Kevin Garren, Alex Budman, Jimmy Emerzian, Vincent Trombetta Jr., Ken Fisher

TRUMPETS: Rob Schaer, Jon Bradley, James Blackwell, Michael Stever

TROMBONES: Alan Kaplan, Alex Iles, Ryan Dragon, Steve Hughes

RHYTHM: Jamey Tate - drums, David Hughes - bass, Andrew Synowiec - guitar, Andy Langham - keys

Grammys on the Hill: Take Action

On Monday, The Recording Academy was in New York to help announce new bipartisan legislation called the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. We were joined by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and dozens of artists, musicians, producers, and songwriters. This important bill would finally establish performance rights for artists on AM/FM radio, and provide that all radio services - satellite, Internet, cable and terrestrial - pay artists fair value for their work.

Monday was a great moment for the music community, but to see this bill passed into law we need a movement. So yesterday in Washington, D.C., hundreds of your fellow Academy members walked the halls of Congress to take the message of fair pay for all music creators directly to their representatives during our annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day.

Now it's your turn: use our online advocacy tools so that your representatives can hear from you. It only takes a few minutes to make your voice heard for music creators. Our theme this year is Music Creators United, and united we can make a difference.

"Remembering Joe Sample" tomorrow night!

Tomorrow, April 16, in Charlotte, NC, we remember the music of Joe Sample featuring Joe's son, Nick Sample on bass, Wilton Felder (original Crusader) on saxophone, Alex Bugnon on piano and Raymond Weber on drums. 
http://tix.cpcc.edu/events/remembering-joe-sample-the-official-tribute-concert

Maria Schneider: a new album with her Orchestra and a bonus track with Toots Thielemans

Just a heads up that composer Maria Schneider's long-awaited first album with her Jazz Orchestra in 8 years, "The Thompson Fields," will be available through ArtistShare on June 2nd. The Maria Schneider Orchestra will celebrate the CD release at Birdland in NYC June 2 - 6.

In the meantime, Maria is releasing two bonus tracks for her ArtistShare fans. The first, features a recording made in September 2014 of Toots Thielemans performing alongside Ivan Lins and Maria's band on her arrangement of Ivan Lins' bossa-ballad "Lembra de Mim."  Maria originally wrote this arrangement when she toured with Toots, Ivan and the Danish Radio Orchestra ten years ago.  The download of this new recording will be made available to all ArtistShare "Thompson Fields" Participants on April 29, Toots Thielemans' 93rd birthday!

"I've wanted to record Toots with my band for many years, so I was  overjoyed that he felt enthusiasm to do this," says Maria. "He had announced his retirement, but I was hopeful he would to grace us with a solo. As soon as he agreed to do it, I jumped a plane to Belgium to record him in his home.  He plays with such elegance and charm.  Nothing in this world touches the heart like Toots.  It will be fun to give Toots this little gift on his birthday. "

The second bonus download will be made available to ArtistShare fans the following week.  It's a new rendition of Maria's "Dance You Monster To My Soft Song," first recorded in 1992 on her debut Evanescence recording.  "This features Dave Pietro on alto, and Mike Rodriguez and Greg Gisbert on trumpet.  Over the years we've developed new ways of approaching old music, so it was really fun to re-record this one." says Maria. "The solos on this cut, as well as on the entire new recording, illuminate an astounding level of interaction on the part of these players that I imagine could have only come through years of playing together."

Anyone who purchases the new album automatically receives access to these downloads. With "The Thompson Fields," composer, arranger and bandleader Maria Schneider celebrates a long-awaited reunion with her vaunted jazz orchestra, a homecoming nearly a decade in the making. Featuring eight new original works by the leader, "The Thompson Fields" makes brilliant use of Schneider's 18-piece jazz orchestra, a long-standing ensemble that spotlights such first rank players as Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Frank Kimbrough and Lage Lund.

The performances reveal an ever-deepening relationship between Schneider and her musicians, many of whom she has worked with over a quarter of a century.  The album follows a momentous year that found Schneider's recent album "Winter Morning Walks" garnering three wins in the classical category of the 2014 Grammy Awards, making her one of the rare musicians to win Grammys in both the jazz and classical categories (the late Brazilian guitar virtuoso Laurindo Almeida and the then-young lion Wynton Marsalis were the first ones).

Schneider has long been known for her autobiographical music, and with "The Thompson Fields," she goes further, sharing a deep relationship to southwest Minnesota, her childhood home. Although the music reflects her love of native landscape, birds, and prairie, Schneider delves not just into her own roots, but also into what "home" means in broader terms.

The album opens with "Walking by Flashlight," a poignant expression of an early morning walk as depicted by poet, Ted Kooser in Winter Morning Walks.  "I think this may be the only time that alto clarinet was ever featured on a big band album," Schneider claims.  "Alto clarinet has long been relegated to use almost exclusively in wind ensembles, but Scott Robinson elevates this instrument to a place of very tender expression.  I can actually hear Kooser's poetry in Scott's expression of the melody."  Now reorchestrated as an instrumental work, this song was also featured in Scheider's Grammy-winning song cycle, "Winter Morning Walks."

Schneider's most recent work,"The Monarch and the Milkweed," features Marshall Gilkes on trombone and Greg Gisbert on flugelhorn.  Inspired by the beauty and abounding life found in Minnesota native prairie, this piece is specifically dedicated to the monarch. "This butterfly is one example of a creature we love and are inspired by, but that depends upon certain dwindling aspects in the environment - in this case, the milkweed - without which the monarch will go extinct.  Four generations of monarchs and over 3,000 miles of flight from Mexico complete its life cycle, with milkweed as the only plant it can eat.  The piece is inspired by these incomprehensible, complex cycles and interrelationships in nature, reflecting on how they largely depend upon attraction and beauty, and ultimately now how they depend on our appreciation and valuation of beauty," Schneider explains.

The title, "Arbiters of Evolution," refers to the remarkable mating rituals  and performances of the birds-of-paradise species native to New Guinea.  Schneider sets up each solo section for McCaslin and Robinson to conjure up their own highly evolved and spectacular performances. This work was inspired by Maria's love of birds and the environment and her involvement with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The title piece, "The Thompson Fields," was inspired by a beautiful multi-generation farm near Schneider's home in Windom, Minnesota.  Pianist Frank Kimbrough improvises bitonally in a unique harmonic environment that creates an evocative depiction of the view from the Thompson silo overlooking bean fields billowing in the wind.  "From the vantage point of the silo, I felt the wind carrying all the intersecting stories of my youth, along with the stories of a whole community," Schneider says.  "I felt a convergence of past and present generations and tried to put that magic into this music."

"Home" also speaks vividly of the open landscape that is home for Schneider.  She dedicated the piece - first premiered at The Newport Jazz Festival - to George Wein, one of the most influential forces in the discovery and development of jazz musicians.  "Even though this music is highly personal to me, the concept of home is universal.  Wherever we are first rooted, or whatever place gives us our sense of 'home,' not only nourishes our life, but nourishes those with whom we share it.  George's home, the Newport Jazz Festival, has been a home for jazz for musicians and audiences for decades.  Jazz has been well nurtured within George's loving home, and he most certainly helped to nourish my development, and the development of countless others." This work features the universally admired voice of Rich Perry on tenor sax.

"Nimbus" evokes the drama of the Midwestern sky and weather.  Schneider elaborates, "One can see the Midwest prairie landscape as unspectacular, but we certainly dole out high drama when it comes to weather.  For instance, seeing a ominous roll cloud looming on the horizon simultaneously instills one with awe and an instinctual fear. Given this imagery, it is fitting that saxophonist Steve Wilson be featured on this piece because he can play with such intensity, bringing a captivating power and presence to his solos through his rock solid sense of groove, his surging sound, and his unexpected but thoroughly satisfying lines."

"A Potter's Song" is dedicated to Laurie Frink, who has played with Schneider's band on every recording. Frink's death in 2013 was a great loss to the music community.  A fellow Midwesterner, Frink was not only highly regarded as a trumpet player, having played with Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, Mel Lewis and many others, she was also among the world's most in demand trumpet and brass teachers.  But the title of this work came from Maria's additional admiration for Laurie's skillful ceramic work.  Gary Versace's accordion, which has been a mainstay in Maria's orchestra since she first wrote for him on "Concert In the Garden," creates beautiful and lyrical lines over Schneider's winding, ever-evolving harmonies, and highlights the influence of Brazilian music on Schneider's compositions.

"Lembrança" is a dedication to the universally loved Brazilian musician, Paulo Moura, who gave Schneider the once-in-a-lifetime experience of hearing his old samba school rehearse in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of his youth.  The work includes layers of powerful Brazilian percussion played by Rogerio Boccato alongside drummer Clarence Penn. Featuring an exuberant trombone solo by Ryan Keberle, as well as a lyrical and tender bass solo by Jay Anderson, the piece conjures up the experience of standing in a dark street in the crevasses of Rio, hearing the power of a samba school rehearsing in the night.

"Watching Paulo proudly standing there, looking thoroughly at home and grounded in that powerful experience on a very ordinary street in Rio, was something I fully understood," Schneider says.  "I feel the same way when I climb atop a silo in Windom and view the landscape that is home to me.  I can't help but feel tremendous emotion and gratitude, looking back in time, remembering all the forces that shaped my life and so many lives that I know."

Schneider's deeply personal statement carries into the visual realm with this beautiful package. The stunning photographs by Briene Lermitte were all taken on and near the Thompson farm this past August. Uniting with Cheri Dorr's elegant design, the album's graphic elements allow Schneider to share another level of personal connection with those who listen to her music.

Schneider continues to involve her fans in her music on an even broader level.  Four of these eight works were commissioned directly by individuals through ArtistShare. Schneider has used the new means of production since her first ArtistShare album release in 2003. "The relationship I have with these people is deeply meaningful to me," Schneider states. " They make it possible for me to create and record music, and I've come to know many of them quite well. I cannot overstate how deeply important they are to my life. I could no longer do this without them."

Over a decade ago, the ground-breaking company ArtistShare broke the mold when it demonstrated, through Schneider's successful example, how music could be funded and released. ArtistShare crowd-funded before "crowd-funding" was a word, and Schneider's first ArtistShare album, "Concert In the Garden," not only won the first Gramy with Internet-only sales, but heralded the crowd-funding era. Over the following thirteen years, Schneider has developed a growing concern for intellectually property rights. This brought her to engage with lawmakers, the Library of Congress, and others to protect the rights of music creators. These efforts have included testifying before the Congressional subcommittee on intellectual property in April of 2014, and speaking out against Spotify and streaming on CNN. Schneider is often quoted in national articles on music creators' rights and the perils of current streaming services.

Milton DeLugg's obituary - The NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/arts/music/milton-delugg-accordionist-composer-and-tonight-show-bandleader-dies-at-96.html

Milton Delugg, 96, Dies; Accordionist, Composer and ‘Tonight Show’ Bandleader
By Jim Roberts for The New York Times

(Wayne Howell, left; Jerry Lester, second from left; Milton Delugg, right; and the actress Dagmar on "Broadway Open House" in the early 1950s. Credit Everett Collection)

Milton Delugg, who accompanied Al Jolson on the accordion, co-wrote the Nat King Cole hit “Orange Colored Sky,” conducted the band for Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” and was musical director of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for three decades, died on April 6 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96.

The cause was heart failure, his son Michael said.

Mr. Delugg dutifully took piano lessons as a child, but his eclectic musical career was kindled when he was a young teenager and his father noticed a store-window advertisement offering an accordion and six free lessons for $68.

Young Milton played jazz accordion gigs, trying to break into the business, but he also enrolled in an accounting course at Los Angeles Junior College in case his music career did not work out. He dropped out when he was hired by the staff orchestra at Paramount studios.

It was the first of what he described as a series of lucky breaks in a career that spanned eight decades and collaborations with, among others, Frank Loesser, the songwriter; Abe Burrows, the director and humorist; Paul Winchell, the ventriloquist; and Chuck Barris, the producer of game shows including “The Gong Show,” the farcical “talent” contest for which Mr. Delugg was the bandleader.

Mr. Delugg was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 1918, to Samuel Delugg, a meat wholesaler, and the former Mollie Seltzer, a homemaker. He married Anna Mae Renfer, with whom he had two sons, Michael and Stephen, who survive him.

In 1939, Mr. Delugg joined Matty Malneck’s orchestra, which performed on Broadway that year in the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical “Very Warm for May.” The show bombed. “There has seldom been a book that fought entertainment as successfully as the story of this musical play,” Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times.

After enlisting in the Army Air Corps radio production unit during World War II, Mr. Delugg directed the music for radio shows in New York. He was among Jolson’s last accompanists before the singer’s death in 1950. That same year he became the bandleader for “Broadway Open House,” a precursor to “The Tonight Show” hosted by the comedian Jerry Lester. It was perhaps the first late-night show on network television.

“Nothing else was on at 11 o’clock,” Mr. Delugg recalled in a 2008 interview with the Archive of American Television. “You had to listen to ‘Broadway Open House.’ ”

“Orange Colored Sky,” which he wrote with Willie Stein, was played on the show and later recorded by Nat King Cole. It was one of the first songs to become a hit because of television.

In 1966, he returned to late-night television as musical director of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He was there for more than a year, between the much longer tenures of Skitch Henderson and Doc Severinsen.

Through the relationships he developed at NBC, he was hired as the network’s music director for its broadcasts of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a role he played through 2013.

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Mr. Delugg was a prolific composer. His “Roller Coaster” became the closing theme for the quiz show “What’s My Line?” He also wrote “Hooray for Santy Claus,” the theme for “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” a 1964 oddity that is on many lists of the all-time worst films.

His polka “Hoop Dee Doo” was heard often on “The Gong Show,” on which judges put losing contestants (and audiences) out of their misery in midperformance by striking a large gong. The group he led on that show was known as the Band With a Thug (rhymes with Delugg), and he also appeared as a comic foil.

In the television archives interview, Mr. Delugg recalled that he was given a speaking role on “Broadway Open House” after the episode on which he introduced the buxom actress and model Dagmar. As Mr. Delugg recounted the story:

“I brought Dagmar on the show because Jerry Lester had picked her, and I said, ‘What’s she supposed to do?’  And he said, ‘She’s the girl singer with the band.’ So I introduced her that night.  I said: ‘Jerry, this is Dagmar.  She’s the chick with the band.’  He said, ‘How does she sound?’ And I said, ‘Who cares?’ I guess it was my first laugh. After that, I had lines to do.”

“We never did find out if she could sing,” he said.

The Friends of Alec Wilder Present The 30th Annual Concert Sunday, April 19th

Emma-Jane Thommen @ Sayers Club, April 14

Emma-Jane Thommen will be singing alongside these talented beauties Mina and Flavia Watson @ Sayers Club (1645 Wilcox Ave.,Los Angeles), followed by DJ Bobby French ...well that's a lot of talent in one room! See you there!

Shannon Lee Blas & Bill Strout's Big Band 2000 live @ Steamers, next Monday, April 13

Monday, April 13, 8pm-11pm  $2 ALL AGES
SHANNON LEE BLAS WITH BILL STROUT'S BIG BAND 2000

It's the second-Monday-of-the-month again so the lovely Shannon will be back onstage with the 17-piece Bill Strout's Big Band 2000 @ Steamers Jazz Club (138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, CA)
Catch either set (8pm or 9:30pm) or both if you can. The cover-charge is just $2 per person
Call 714-871-8800 to RSVP. Hope to see you

Don't miss Big Band 2000, on hand to present sounds drawn from the popular music of the 40's through the 90's. Check out this band's classic repertoire from the big band books of the likes of Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, plus arrangements from such great jazz writers as Sammy Nestico, Bob Florence and Bill Holman.

Shannon grew up in San Diego where she began her music and theatre studies. She holds an AA in Music for Vocal Performance and finished her BA in Drama, with Honors in Acting, at UC Irvine. Her music and dramatic training make her a dynamic performer and musical "storyteller." For over twenty years she has sung jazz & popular music with multiple bands and ensembles and has performed music from all over the world.

She has shared the stage with the likes of Tom Kubis and Louie Bellson and performs regularly as the featured vocalist with Bill Strout's Big Band 2000. In 2011, Shannon completed an MBA/MFA in Theatre Management. She is now Patron Services Manager at Soka Performing Arts Center in Aliso Viejo, California while continuing to sing.

Other Music Pop-Up Shop @ JetBlue Terminal 5 @ JFK Airport, NYC, April 14

In celebration of indie music, vinyl culture, and upcoming Record Store Day, JetBlue has invited Other Music to host a vinyl pop-up shop at their home base, Terminal 5 at JFK Airport. On Tuesday, April 14, from 9am-6pm, Other Music will be bringing a ton of great vinyl and specialty items, setting up a cool vinyl listening lounge, and, as part of JetBlue's ongoing Live from T5 series, hosting some special live performances from Elle King at noon, Kevin Devine at 3pm, and Caveman at 5pm.

The pop-up and concerts will be post-security, in the atrium of JetBlue's Terminal 5, so if you happen to be flying in or out of JFK on the 14th, you are in for a special treat -- please stop by to say hi, hear some great live music, and pick up a couple of LPs!

R.I.P.: Milton DeLugg

(born on December 2, 1918 in Los Angeles, California, USA;
died on April 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA)

So sad to hear about the passing of composer, arranger, band-leader and accordionist Milton DeLugg on April 6, at age 96.

Although famous as the musical director for "The Tonight Show" and many other "jobs" during a prolific career, DeLugg only recorded his first accordion album in 1967, produced by Jim Foglesong for RCA Victor. Surprisingly, "Accordion My Way - Olé!" was a Brazilian-oriented project done not in a big-band mood, but with a tight jazz combo that includes Eumir Deodato (recommended to him by Luiz Bonfá) on organ -- actually, the ensemble recalls Deodato's Os Catedráticos group --, bassist Giulio Ruggiero, drummer Bobby Rosengarden, percussionists Phil Kraus (on vibes) and Johnny Pacheco (bongos, tambourine etc), and guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli & Al Casamenti.

The repertoire includes several Brazilian tunes; three of them composed by Luiz Bonfa for the Deodato-arranged soundtrack of the "Gentle Rain" movie -- "O Ganso," "Taking Judy Home" and its main theme "The Gentle Rain." DeLugg also recorded some bossa-nova gems "Summer Samba" (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sergio Valle), "Chora Tua Tristeza" (Oscar Castro-Neves/Luvercy Fiorini), "Amanhã" (Walter Santos/Tereza Souza), "Você e Eu" (Carlos Lyra/Vinicius de Moraes), plus bossa-oriented themes composed by himself ("Sometime Samba"), guitarist John Pisano ("So What's New?") and French maestro Michel Legrand ("Watch What Happens.")

"I'm flipped on Brazilian music," DeLugg told Harold Stern in the liner notes. "I think it's different, exciting and the best source of pop music today. It may well become an important major trend in music."

Both "Accordion My Way-Olé!" and "Presening Milton DeLugg And The Tonight Show Band" LPs deserve to be reissued on CD. Rest In Peace, Milton.

Movable Feast - Spring / Summer Calendar

The Jazz Bakery Performance Space - a nonprofit organization


TICKETS
Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $30 one show no intermission.

"UNDER THE RADAR"
FRED HERSCH
SOLO PIANO

VENUE: Broad Stage, The Edye Second Space
1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401

The Moss Theater is a beautiful performance space. Acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota (Disney Concert Hall).KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Saturday, May 9, 2015 - 8:30pm
General: $40 one show no intermission.

AARON GOLDBERG TRIO
BASS / DRUMS TBA
W/ SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY
SAXOPHONIST JOSHUA REDMAN
VENUE: Moss Theater (at The Herb Alpert Educational Village)
3131 Olympic Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90404

The Moss Theater is a beautiful performance space. Acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota (Disney Concert Hall).KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Monday, May 11, 2015 - 8:30pm
General: $35 Students: $25
one show no intermission.

VIJAY IYER
SOLO PIANO

VENUE: REDCAT
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

REDCAT is located in the Disney Hall complex. Parking in Disney Hall.
KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Saturday, May 16, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $30 Students: $25
one show no intermission.

SOP SAXOPHONEIST
JANE BUNNETT & MAQUEQUE
ALL FEMALE CUBAN BAND
DAYMÉ AROCENA -VOC MAGDELYS SAVIGNE -PERCYISSY GARCÍA -DRUMS/PERC YUSA -BASS AND TRES GUITARDANAE OLANO -PNO CELIA JIMENEZ -BASS/PERC
VENUE: Moss Theater (at The Herb Alpert Educational Village)
3131 Olympic Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90404

The Moss Theater is a beautiful performance space. Acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota (Disney Concert Hall).KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Thursday, June 11, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $25 one show no intermission.

ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ
SOLO PIANO

VENUE: Kirk Douglas Theatre
9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

The Kirk Douglas Theatre is the Jewel of the Culver City Theater District. Free Covered Parking at Culver City City Hall, enter on Duquesne Ave. KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.


TICKETS
Friday, June 12, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $30 Students: $25
one show no intermission.

DRUMMER
DAFNIS PRIETO SEXTET
TRIANGLES AND CIRCLES
PETER APFELBAUM-REEDS FELIPE LAMOGLIA -ALTO SAXOPHONE MIKE RODRIGUEZ -TRUMPETMANUEL VALERA -PIANOJOHANNES WEIDENMUELLER -ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC BASS
VENUE: Musicians Institute
1655 N. McCadden Place Hollywood, CA 90028

The Musicians Institute concert center is an incredible experience! with state of the art sound & huge video screens flanking the stage, creating an intimate view of artists in-the-moment! KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Thursday, June 18, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $40 one show now intermission.

PIANIST - SINGER ELIANE ELIAS
Marc Johnson -bass
Rafael Barata -drums/perc

VENUE: Moss Theater (at The Herb Alpert Educational Village)
3131 Olympic Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90404

The Moss Theater is a beautiful performance space. Acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota (Disney Concert Hall).KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

TICKETS
Sunday, June 28, 2015 - 8:00pm
General: $35 Students: $25
one show no intermission.

DRUMMER
ANTONIO SANCHEZ
and MIGRATION
SEAMUS BLAKE -SAXOPHONES
JOHN ESCREET -PNO MATT BREWER -BASS
VENUE: Moss Theater (at The Herb Alpert Educational Village)
3131 Olympic Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90404

The Moss Theater is a beautiful performance space. Acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota (Disney Concert Hall).KJAZZ 88.1 - official media sponsor.

Jazz Bakery Jukebox: Artist's Choice Series
Visit the international sensation! Listen to the all time favorite jazz recordings as picked by the artists who appear in the Jazz Bakery Movable Feast.

Ralph Sharon's obituary - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ralph-sharon-20150412-story.html

Ralph Sharon dies at 91; pianist brought Tony Bennett his signature song

Ralph Sharon sits at the piano at his home in Boulder, Colo., in 2003 beneath a portrait of himself painted by Tony Bennett. (Carmel Zucker / Boulder Daily Camera)

By ELAINE WOO for The LA Times

Ralph Sharon, a British-born jazz pianist who accompanied Tony Bennett on and off for more than 40 years and brought the singer his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," died March 31 in Boulder, Colo. He was 91.

His death from natural causes was confirmed by his son, Bo.

Sharon was one of England's finest jazz pianists before moving in the early 1950s to the United States, where he would work with such jazz and pop headliners as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Mel Torme and Rosemary Clooney. A bandleader, composer and arranger, he also recorded two dozen albums with Kenny Clarke, Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton, Jo Jones and other noted artists.

His most enduring association, however, was the one he forged in 1957 with Bennett.

Sharon did not think he and the singer would make a good musical match. He was steeped in jazz, while Bennett was known for his renditions of popular songs like "Blue Velvet," Stranger in Paradise" and "Cold, Cold Heart."

The pianist later admitted he didn't even know who Bennett was, but that didn't matter at the audition.

"The first guy who showed up was OK, but the second guy, Ralph Sharon, just had to hit a few notes for me to know he was the piano player for me," Bennett wrote in "The Good Life," his 2010 autobiography. "Hooking up with Ralph was one of the best career moves I've ever made."

Sharon was, according to Bennett, the "perfect accompanist," but he also played a broader role in shaping Bennett's sound: He urged the crooner to move beyond pop standards into jazz.

"He kept saying, 'If you keep singing these kind of sweet saccharine songs like "Blue Velvet," sooner or later the ax is going to drop on you and you're going to stop selling,' " Bennett once told National Public Radio, "

The result was the 1957 album, "The Beat of My Heart." Arranged and conducted by Sharon, it included Art Blakey, Jones, Chico Hamilton, Herbie Mann, Nat Adderly and other jazz masters. It changed Bennett's career, leading to collaborations with Count Basie and Ellington and a critically praised show at Carnegie Hall with sax player Al Cohn, guitarist Kenny Burrell, percussionist Candido and the Ralph Sharon Trio.

Bennett "loved jazz, loved to listen to it," Sharon told the Chicago Tribune in 1992. "So, if I may say so, I was like the missing ingredient for him. I could bring out the jazz element that already was there in the background."

In 1961 Bennett cut an album with Sharon on piano as the only accompaniment. Called "Tony Sings for Two," it was, Bennett said, "one of my finest records ever."

During this period Sharon discovered the song that Bennett would make famous around the world.

Songwriters George Cory Jr. and Douglass Cross had run into the pianist in New York and handed him some of their compositions, hoping the tunes would find their way into Bennett's repertoire. Sharon threw them in a drawer and forgot about them.

Two years later, in 1961, he was packing for a tour with Bennett and found "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" on the top of the stack of Cory and Cross songs he had stuffed in his shirt drawer. As luck would have it, the foggy "city by the Bay" was one of the stops on the tour, so Sharon tucked the song into his suitcase.

After a show in Hot Springs, Ark., Sharon went to the piano in the hotel bar and played it for Bennett. "I thought it was a great song," the singer later wrote.

When Bennett sang it at the Venetian Room in San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel, the crowd loved it. So did the rest of the country after he released the recording in early 1962. It won Bennett his first two Grammys.

Sharon was born in London on Sept. 17, 1923. His earliest musical training came from his American-born mother, an organist who played the accompaniment in silent movie theaters.

When he grew older, Sharon began listening to American jazz recordings and realized he had found his musical home.

He made his professional debut in 1946 as a pianist for British bandleader Ted Heath. By the late 1940s he was leading his own sextet, which included percussionist Victor Feldman, and made several recordings.

In 1953, he moved to New York, where he roomed with clarinetist Tony Scott. Within a few years he released "Around the World in Jazz," which featured a number of notable artists, including bassist Mingus, drummer Clarke and guitarist Joe Puma.

Over the next decades he would collaborate with some of the biggest names in American popular music, including Torme, Clooney and Robert Goulet, with whom he made a number of albums in the 1970s.

After parting with Goulet in 1979, he joined up with Bennett again and helped steer the singer's comeback, leading Bennett to his first Grammy in three decades with the 1992 album "Perfectly Frank."

In 2002 he retired as Bennett's musical director and, after 40 years in Sherman Oaks, moved to Colorado. He was still performing in clubs and hotel lounges until a few months ago.

Sharon is survived by his wife of 41 years, Linda Noone Sharon; their son, Bo; and two grandchildren.

Emly Elbert & Leni Stern live in LA next Friday!

Friday, April 10, 8pm @ Room 5 Music (143 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles), a rare solo appearance of Leni Stern in Los Angeles, on a bill with the incredible Emily Elbert... they'll collaborate, too! Hope to see you there!

http://room5la.com/event.cfm?cart&id=197815

Anne Sajdera live @ The Sound Room, April 11

This next Saturday, April 11, at 8pm, don't miss Bay-Area composer & pianist Anne Sajdera live @ The Sound Room (2147 Broadway, Oakland).

The Anne Sajdera Sextet explores the textures and colors of contemporary American and Brazilian jazz. Sajdera's arrangements of compositions by Herbie Hancock, Stefon Harris, Duke Ellington, Egberto Gismonti, Chico Pinheiro (as well as originals) take listeners on a thoroughly emotional, rhythmic and dynamic journey.

Featuring:
Erik Jekabson, trumpet
Harvey Wainapel, sax
Anne Sajdera, piano
Gary Brown, bass
Deszon Claiborne, drums
John Santos, percussion

Tickets: $20
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1382472

Anne Sajdera, long an invaluable part of the Bay Area Brazilian music scene, made a much-anticipated debut three years ago with "Azul," which highlighted her exquisite touch and rhythmic acuity. Sajdera co-produced the CD with Ray Obiedo and utilized her dynamic trio (Gary Brown, Paul van Wageningen) plus percussionists Airto Moreira and Michael Spiro. In addition to Sajdera’s sophisticated originals, repertoire includes compositions by Egberto Gismonti, Ivan Lins, and Wayne Shorter.

As a pianist, composer, bandleader and accompanist, Anne Sajdera is a creative force whose music encompasses an unusually far-flung array of traditions. With musical roots spanning the globe, she melds American and Brazilian jazz to her training in European and Hindustani classical music, creating an utterly personal sound that’s melodically verdant, harmonically sophisticated and rhythmically compelling. Unbound by any one musical passion, she draws inspiration from centuries old practices in which artisans sought to understand and experience the interior and exterior world through the act of creating art.

“At the heart of what I do is European classical music,” says Sajdera, a longtime San Francisco resident. “Around my house I’m always listening to Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Ravel and Bartók in particular. Harmonically it just captivates me and it always will. It’s an easy jump from that to Brazilian music, especially Ravel, and jazz is a real outgrowth from those extended harmonies. I’m using the same elements in my music but from a different angle.”

A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Sajdera started performing around the Bay Area scene in the late 1980s while earning a bachelor's degree in composition. Currently she leads a trio, a sextet, and a 10-piece chamber jazz ensemble featuring some of the most esteemed improvisers on the West Coast, including trumpeter Erik Jekabson, reed expert Harvey Wainapel, and saxophonist/flutist Mary Fettig. With strings, brass and reeds, the ensemble provides Sajdera with a vehicle for her most ambitious writing, from Brazilian-inflected originals to her arrangements of pieces by Herbie Hancock and Stefon Harris.

She also performs regularly around the Bay Area with guitarist Terrence Brewer, Sandy Cressman, a singer known for an expansive repertoire of Brazilian songs, and Alexa Weber Morales, who earned a Grammy Award in 2014 for her work the Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Given her history it’s not surprising that Sajdera is best known for her work in Brazilian settings. She spent more than a decade performing in and leading Bay Area Brazilian ensembles such as Phil Thompson’s Rio Thing, Dandara & Pandeiros do Brasil, and the California Music Award-winning Tropicalia combo Bat Makumba.

For Sajdera, there’s no particular mystery about her affinity for Brazilian music. With endlessly enthralling rhythms, a treasure trove of melodies and jazz-informed harmonies, it’s got everything she requires. And above all, the music makes her want to dance. “Dancing was a big feature of growing up,” Sajdera says. “As soon as I heard the music I started taking samba dance classes and percussion classes with Michael Spiro. Harmonically Brazilian music is so beautiful and complex. I think the whole attitude makes sense to my personality.”

Her debut album, 2012’s "Azul," is also a reflection of her deep and abiding passion for Brazilian music. Sajdera released the CD on her Bijuri label, and co-produced the session with veteran guitarist Ray Obiedo. Rather than simply exploring a program of beloved bossa novas, she mixes her ravishing original pieces with classic tunes by Brazilian masters Ivan Lins, Egberto Gismonti, and Chico Pinheiro. With a top-shelf cast of Bay Area players, the album features special guest percussionists Airto and Michael Spiro. As the Wall Street Journal’s Marc Myers described the project on his popular JazzWax blog, Azul is “a jazz samba album that shows the creative breadth and beauty of a San Francisco charmer.”

Born in Virginia to a military family, Sajdera grew up in San Diego. While the Southern California city isn’t usually associated with Brazil, she absorbed a Carioca’s deep love of the ocean and sun-drenched landscape. Piano lessons as a child led her to form a tight circle of musical friends who often gathered to play together. When she started performing in her late teens Sajdera held down the drum chair in a pop combo, but her primary creative outlet was writing for the band. Moving to the Bay Area in 1985, she enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a performance major and graduated as a composition major.

Focusing on 20th century repertoire, she performed regularly with the Conservatory Orchestra, which gave her exceptional opportunities like playing Stravinsky's Symphony in 3 Movements, and the overture for Nixon In China conducted by the opera’s composer John Adams. Her incipient investigation of jazz got a jumpstart when she began a relationship with an accomplished jazz guitarist, with whom she was soon playing casuals. A conservatory class at the Jazzschool with Marcos Silva sparked her enduring passion for Brazilian music.

Before long she was gigging around the Bay Area with her own band Pelo Mar, which honed a sophisticated repertoire of tunes by Hermeto Pascoal, Airto, Toninho Horta and Eliane Elias while performing at notable venues like the Make Out Room and the lamented Café do Brasil. An original member of Bat Makumba, she has performed many times in San Francisco’s huge Mission District Carnaval celebration.

Her interest in classical Hindustani music also surfaces in her playing through her knowledge of ragas. She spent several months in India, and has continued to cultivate this facet of her musical vision. As an educator she maintains an active private piano studio in San Francisco and Oakland and is an artist in residence at Nueva School in Hillsborough.

Amanda Castro back @ Steamers, April 9

Next Thursday, April 9, 11pm
Amanda Castro live @ Steamers (138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, CA)
$2-ALL AGES-! CALL 714-871-8800 RSVP

A note from Amanda: "We are back at Steamers! Come on by for some great music and fun! We will have Edmund Velasco on reeds, Blake white on bass, Bill Borjan on drums, Patrick Aranda on piano and yours truly on the mic! Hope to see you all!" I'll be there.

Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project & NYC CD Release Concerts, May 14 - 17

Composer/Producer/Conductor Ryan Truesdell Returns to the Jazz Standard For Fourth Annual Residency With Gil Evans Project, May 14 - 17, 2015, To Celebrate New Blue Note/ArtistShare CD "LINES OF COLOR: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard."

"An unbelievable album. The band's performance is incredible; precise and energetic. Gil would be proud of what Ryan has done." - Bruce Lundvall, Chairman Emeritus of Blue Note Records

"4 1/2-stars. Superb renderings of some of the finest writing of the postwar big band period.... Players are uniformly excellent, but the star 'soloist' is the elegant ensemble amalgams that Truesdell found hiding among brass and reeds that others had missed. He makes familiar material worth hearing again. Buy it." -- John McDonough, DownBeat

Composer/producer/conductor Ryan Truesdell returns to the Jazz Standard with his award-winning Gil Evans Project for its fourth annual residency Thursday, May 14 - Sunday, May 17, 2015. The performances celebrate their triumphant sophomore album LINES OF COLOR: Live at Jazz Standard on the newly-formed Blue Note/ArtistShare label (www.GilEvansProject.com). The band will be debuting selections from the new CD, as well as other rarely performed works from Gil Evans' catalog - including music from the albums New Bottle Old Wine, Great Jazz Standards, Individualism of Gil Evans, and more. Sets at 7:30 and 10 p.m. with an additional set at 11:45 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets $30 - $35.  The Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27h Street, New York City. 212-576-2232. http://www.jazzstandard.com/

This highly anticipated release follows Truesdell's debut CD CENTENNIAL: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans, which won a posthumous Grammy Award for Gil Evans and the New York Times called "an extraordinary album."  LINES OF COLOR - the next step in Truesdell's endeavor to reveal hidden layers of Gil Evans' musical legacy - features some of New York's finest musicians including Lewis Nash, Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes, and Scott Robinson. The CD was recorded by Grammy award-winning engineer James Farber with the live engineering team of Tyler McDiarmid and Geoff Countryman.

LINES OF COLOR was recorded during the Gil Evans Project's annual week-long engagement at Jazz Standard in New York City from May 13-18, 2014. It consists of six newly discovered, never before recorded works (including "Avalon Town," "Can't We Talk It Over," and "Just One Of Those Things"), two arrangements with previously unheard sections ("Davenport Blues" and "Sunday Drivin'"), and three of Evans' well-known charts from his classic albums ("Time of the Barracudas," "Concorde," and "Greensleeves"). Throughout the engagement, the Gil Evans Project presented nearly fifty of Evans' works, most of which were performed live for the first time. Truesdell decided to record live for the Gil Evans Project's second album to honor the essence of Evans' music that craves live performance. "It allows Gil's colors and the overtones of the music to sound and blend in the room in a way that you can't get from a close-mic studio recording," says Truesdell.

"Live recording captures this intangible energy that's created when music is performed for an audience. It gives listeners a sense of the magic that happens when the notes are lifted off the page by these amazing musicians."

The eleven selections that make up LINES OF COLOR represent everything you hope for in a live recording: a beautiful sound, a lively, involved audience, and precise and inspired performances of remarkable music. Of this collection, six of the charts were originally written during Evans' tenure with the Claude Thornhill orchestra, including never-before-heard arrangements of "How High the Moon," "Avalon Town," and a rare Evans original composition, "Gypsy Jump," written in 1942. A fun tune with an unusual 36-bar form, "Gypsy Jump" seems to show a slight influence from the "Arabian Dance" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, also arranged by Evans for Thornhill during this time. "Can't We Talk It Over," a gorgeous ballad from the Thornhill Orchestra's late 1940s repertoire, illustrates Evans' strong bebop influences as evidenced by a direct musical quote from a Charlie

Parker solo. It is a wonderful feature for the Gil Evans Project's resident vocalist, Wendy Gilles. Bruce Lundvall, Chairman Emeritus of Blue Note Records said, "Wendy has an amazing voice which is a perfect fit for this music."

Two charts on the record represent the middle of Evans' career; one of which he and his band never recorded, and only performed once. In the spring of 1959, Evans and his orchestra played the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, sharing the billing with Dinah Washington and Thelonious Monk. For this concert, Evans chose to revisit a few charts from his past, including Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," which was based on the arrangement Evans did for his first album as a leader in 1957, Gil Evans + 10. Ever the reviser, Evans took the opportunity to do a bit of rearranging as well as re-orchestrating the chart to fit the instrumentation for the concert. The Gil Evans Project's first-time recording of this great Evans arrangement features incredible solos from Steve Wilson on soprano, trombonist Ryan Keberle, and pianist Frank Kimbrough.

The other tune from this era is Evans' great adaptation of Bix Beiderbecke's "Davenport Blues," originally recorded on the 1959 album, Great Jazz Standards. "I was ecstatic when I discovered Gil's score to "Davenport," says Truesdell. "There were four pages in the middle of the score that were omitted from the original version. I'm thrilled we were able to record the entire chart as Gil first conceived it." Rather than imitating trumpet soloist Johnny Coles' definitive performance on Evans' Great Jazz Standards album, Truesdell decided to take a slightly different approach. The slower tempo and Lewis Nash's heavy, slightly dirty swing feel emphasizes the bluesy elements and perfectly articulates Gil's hard-swinging rhythms. "I was blown away by Mat Jodrell's performance; he poured every bit of his soul and personality into the solo and really made it his own," says Truesdell.

Rounding out LINES OF COLOR is a collection of tunes from Evans' output in the mid-1960s, including the Gil Evans Project's dynamic renderings of "Time of the Barracudas," and "Concorde," which both first appeared on the Individualism of Gil Evans recording. "Greensleeves," originally arranged for guitarist Kenny Burrell, receives a fresh take from trombonist Marshall Gilkes, whose unparalleled tone and inventive melodicism uplift this familiar tune and Gil's singular writing.

With LINES OF COLOR, Truesdell has solidified his reputation as one of the foremost Gil Evans scholars, while leading a band of industry giants in an historic and invaluable undertaking. Picking up where the Gil Evans Project's 2013 Grammy award-nominated album CENTENNIAL: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans left off, LINES OF COLOR is an exciting glimpse into how Truesdell and his critically acclaimed band are fulfilling the most crucial aspect of his vision: to bring Evans' music to new ears, and to extend his legacy into the 21st century.

Available on iTunes and at www.GilEvansProject.com

www.GilEvansProject.com
www.RyanTruesdell.com