Saturday, January 31, 2015

"Fundamental Sessions" in LA, Feb 4th

Featuring DJs Joseph Dakota, Crimson Twins, Mark Anthony and Will Mancia
Opening set by Drea Stone
This next Wednesday, February 4, from 9pm to 2am @ The Office Lounge (2412 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA)

"New" CDs by Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Wes Montgomery and Larry Young coming out soon

The LA-based Resonance Records, founded by jazz impresario and recording engineer George Klabin, is preparing the release of two albums (of previously unreleased material) in partnership with the Stan Getz estate. "Moments In Time," a deluxe packaged 1CD/2LP set recorded live during an engagement (from May 11 to 16, 1976) at the famed San Francisco venue Keystone Korner (headed by producer Todd Barkan in the 70s), captures Stan leading a quartet with pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Clint Houston, and drummer Billy Hart. Resonance's plans are to release this recording on the same day they will issue "Getz/Gilberto '76," also recorded at the Keystone Korner, with the same band backing Getz and Brazilian bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto.

The illustration of the cover of "Moments In Time" was created by one of the most talented and important illustrators today, Mr. Takao Fujioka. "I first met Takao while in Osaka, Japan last August and was immediately taken by his work. I commissioned him to create this cover and am really happy with the results," says Steve Getz, Stan's beloved son who once toured my native Brazil playing percussion on his father's band (actually this same band heard on the album). Takao-san is also the publisher of the Osaka based jazz magazine, 'Way Out West'. The Jazz Gallery in NYC recently did an exhibition of his work. You can also check out more at Takao's website: http://www.jazgra.com/

Next April 18, to celebrate the Record Store Day, Resonance will be releasing a special issue titled "Selections from Getz/Gilberto '76," available only as a 10-inch vinyl LP. That same day the label will issue 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.
The tapes of the January 18,1959 Indianapolis jazz club performance that unites Wes Montgomery & The Eddie Higgins Trio formerly belonged to the late-great Indiana photo journalist, Duncan Schiedt, who passed away in 2014. Members of the Indianapolis Jazz Club that Scheidt co-ran recorded this performance. The trio consists of Higgins on piano, an unidentified bassist (!) and Walter Perkins (who was Ahmad Jamal's trio before Vernell Fournier) on drums.

As Producer Zev Feldman notes, "In 2013, Duncan contacted me about tapes he had of Wes playing with Higgins at a jazz club society that he and a bunch of his friends ran in Indy. The senior members of the club continually passed down this found tape to younger members of the club; Duncan was the last living member, and he passed these tapes onto me. Duncan hoped that these tapes would be released one day in partnership with the family, which is exactly what we've done," with the blessing of Higgins' widow, Meredith D'Ambrosio, whom Feldman found via Sunnyside Records president, François Zalacain.

Feldman adds, "Duncan & I became friends while working on the Echoes of Indiana Avenue project. I'm grateful to Duncan for his lasting friendship and for sharing this with the world to hear. It is nothing short of amazing that after decades of no new Montgomery music, Resonance has brought to light new documents that will help Wes's legacy live on: the upcoming May 2015 release of "In the Beginning" and, thanks to Duncan, One Night In Indy."

This Limited Edition 12" LP (pressing of 2500) will be presented on 180 gram vinyl at 33 1/3 rpm by Erika Records and includes over 40 minutes of music. The six tracks: "Give Me the Simple Life," "Prelude to A Kiss," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Ruby My Dear," "Li'l Darlin'" and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." With a cityscape view of Indianapolis suggesting a night to be remembered, Burton Yount artistically designed the cover, based on a pic (from the mid 50s) of the Indiana Historical Society.
Another important discovery -- from the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) in France which includes the Office of Radio and Television (ORTF) archives -- "Selections from Larry Young In Paris - The ORTF Recordings," features never-before-released 1964-1965 live & studio recordings from American jazz organist & pianist Larry Young.

This project came about in 2012 when Resonance began to inquire what was in the ORTF archives (now a part of INA, the National Audiovisual Institute). Feldman discovered that these Larry Young recordings had been sitting in their vault for nearly 50 years since the mid '60's. This project tells the story of Larry Young as an American jazz artist living in Paris. Featured artists include Woody Shaw on trumpet, Nathan Davis on saxophones and Billy Brooks on drums plus numerous French artists (Nathan Davis Quartet recordings are included in this release).

This Limited Edition 10" record is pressed on 140 gram vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM by Erika Records (pressing of 1,500). The tracks are "Beyond All Limits," "Luny Tune," "Frame of Thought" and "Larry's Blues." The cover is artistically designed by Burton Yount using a previously unpublished photograph by Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images. In 2015/2016, listeners can look forward to a 2-CD and 3-LP full length edition.
Resonance is also announcing the forthcoming release, next May 12, of Wes' "In The Beginning," a 26-track collection available as both 2-CD & 3-LP sets, as well as digitally. "In the Beginning" is only the third new release of predominantly unheard material from guitar legend Wes Montgomery since his passing in 1968. Recordings include a complete never-before-released 1955 Epic Records session produced by Quincy Jones, licensed from Sony Music Entertainment; newly discovered 78 RPM sides with Wes as a sideman, recorded for Spire Records (1949); a live recording from the home of sister Ervena Montgomery, Indianapolis (1956); live recordings from the Turf Club (1956), the Missile Lounge (1958) in Indianapolis and the C&C Music Lounge in Chicago (1957).

The CD version includes a 55-page booklet of liner notes by 2015 GRAMMY award-winning journalist and noted jazz historian and biographer Ashley Kahn, legendary producer Quincy Jones, guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who and others, alongside rare never-before-published photos from the Montgomery Estate and friends in Montgomery's native Indianapolis.

The 3-LP version is presented on 180-gram vinyl mastered by engineering legend Bernie Grundman, and pressed on 12" LPs at 33 1/3 RPM (by R.T.I.) in a hand-numbered slipcase with an 8-panel booklet. Limited-edition pressing of 1,500. The LP set includes extensive liner notes, as noted above, a digital download card and collector postcards of unpublished photos.
Some past Resonance titles include the critically acclaimed "John Coltrane Offering: Live at Temple University," Charles Lloyd's "Manhattan Stories," Wes Montgomery's "Echoes of Indiana Avenue" and Bill Evans' "Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate." Located in Beverly Hills, CA, Resonance Records is a division of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation, a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation created to "discover the next jazz stars." Resonance artists include Richard Galliano, Polly Gibbons, Tamir Hendelman, Christian Howes, Claudio Roditi and Donald Vega, among others.

Friday, January 30, 2015

News From The Jazzinstitut Darmstadt

22 January 2015
Contrast Trio / Vijay Iyer

Markus Wölfelschneider talks to the members of the Contrast Trio, a young band based in Frankfurt, Germany ( Die Welt). They complain about the missing support for jazz in Germany's former "jazz capital" and explain, "Whoever seriously wants to play jazz in Frankfurt, needs to leave town at one point." The young musicians talk about their new CD, about changes in their musical concept over the last years, about playing without written music in front of them, and about a side gig as theater musicians in "Peter Pan", playing pirates sent over board towards the end of the play. --- Phil Gallo talks to the pianist Vijay Iyer about working with the ECM label, about the development of his trio, about communicating with his audience, about using hip-hop elements, about working with an orchestra, and about his teaching concept at Harvard University which tries to link the music with the social realities in the country ( Billboard).


23 January 2015
Ted Efantis / Tulsa, Oklahoma

Lavanya Ramanathan talks to the saxophonist Ted Efantis who is part of the Washington, D.C., jazz scene since the 1950s and recalls the changes in the jazz world over the years ( Washington Post). --- Kevin Canfield reports about the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in Tulsa which is in financial trouble and has not paid its property insurance which would give the insurance company the legal right to seize the assets ( Tulsa World). At the last moment the Jazz Hall seems to have paid their bills ( Tulsa World).


24 January 2015
Keith Jarrett / Boston, Massachusetts

Sabine Krüger talks to Vera Brandes who was only 18 when she organized a solo concert by pianist Keith Jarrett at the Cologne Opera House in January 1975, the recording of which became a hit for the label ECM ( WDR). The website also contains memories by Vince Mendoza, Ian Carr and Peter Erskine about Jarrett and "The Köln Concert". Max Florian Kühlen talks to Vera Brandes as well ( Rolling Stone). More reports by Jürgen Hein ( Hamburger Abendblatt), H. Piegeler and J. Preuten ( Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger). --- Jed Gottlieb reports about jazz life in Boston, Massachusetts, which allows students and graduates of Berklee College to perform and which has improved considerably, making the city's scene "better than it was a few years ago" ( Boston Herald).

25 January 2015
Eberhard Weber / Pop

Mirko Weber talks to the German bassist Eberhard Weber who turned 75 last week and was celebrated with a star-filled concert at Stuttgart's Liederhalle ( Stuttgarter Zeitung). Weber talks about the joys of performing on stage, about the specific sound he was able to create on his instrument, about his time with Jan Garbarek and one of his greatest fans, the singer Kate Bush, and about life with and without music. Sebastian Scotney ( The Telegraph) and Udo Eberl ( Südwest Presse) attended the concert. --- Robert Siegel talks to Ben Yagoda, the author of a recent book about the time "when pop broke up with jazz" ( NPR). Yagoda explains some of the changes in popular taste in the early 1950s, and then focuses on the success of Mitch Miller's "Sing Along" show and the rebirth of the Great American Song in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

26 January 2015
Branford Marsalis / Diana Krall

Jeremy D. Goodwin talks to the saxophonist Branford Marsalis about his growing classical repertoire, about it taking more discipline to play simple, about Dizzy Gillespie having told him that he felt no blues in his playing, about the need for an awareness of the roots of music, and about the connection between the different styles he worked in ( Boston Globe). --- Adam Jacques talks to the Canadian pianist and singer Diana Krall about a long career necessary to be where she's at now, about working with Paul McCartney and since long having been a fan of Elton John, about having been mentored by jazz musicians and having dreamt as a kid of becoming an astronaut ( The Independent).

27 January 2015
Till Brönner / Herbie Hancock

Christian Kellersmann writes about the German trumpeter Till Brönner's career and his own involvement in it as former Universal general manager, about the success of Brönner's different recordings and his own assessment of it, about getting Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts to endorse Brönner and about not being successful in convincing singer Caterina Valente to record a new album with the trumpeter, about changes in Brönner's recent career and his own expectations from the new Till Brönner Orchestra ( Kelly's Diary). Janina Bembenek ( BZ Berlin) and Peter E. Müller ( Berliner Morgenpost) attend the concert with the 20-piece big band at the Tempodrom Berlin. --- The pianist Matthew Shipp reads his colleague Herbie Hancock's new autobiography as a possible explanation of why jazz, as he puts it, "is so fucked up nowadays" ( The Talk House).

21 January 2015
... what else ...

David La Rosa reports about New York's highest court denying Duke Ellington's heirs the right to retry a lawsuit about international royalties against EMI Music Publishing ( The Jazz Line). --- Richard Williams has mixed feelings about the film "Whiplash" ( The Blue Moment). Nick Clark reports about other critical voices about the film from the jazz community ( The Independent), while Nicolas Pillai thinks jazz critics should stop worrying about the movie as it's not about jazz as much as it simply is a horror movie ( The Conversation). --- We used to have a column called "Oh, that's jazz, too". A new thinner aircraft seat named "Jazz" would fit in it perfectly ( AeroTelegraph). --- Peter Hum talks to the Canadian drummer Ken Harper ( Ottawa Citizen). --- Nate Chinen hears the pianist Marc Cary at Ginny's Supper Club in New York ( New York Times).

Obituaries
We read another obituary about the jazz researcher Lawrence Gushee who had died in early January at the age of 83 ( Champaign News-Gazette). --- We learned of the passing of the singer and arranger Ward Swingle at the age of 87 ( Telegraph, Washington Post, New York Times), the Mardi Gras Indians' Big Chief Bo Dollis at the age of 71 ( Jazz Times), the singer Cynthia Layne at the age of 51 ( Indianapolis Recorder), the trumpeter and recording engineer Paul Serrano at the age of 83 ( Chicago Tribune), the British educator Dave Hatfield at the age of 66 ( Yorkshire Evening Post), the rock guitarist Edgar Froese at the age of 70 ( New York Times, Die Welt), and the German jazz researcher Horst P. Bergmeier at the age of 78.

Last Week at the Jazzinstitut

Last Wednesday somewhere between 250 and 300 people attended the hommage to Charlie Parker at Frankfurter Hof in Mainz, performed by the saxophonist Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn and students from the Mainz Music University. Klaus Mümpfer reports for the local newspaper ( Allgemeine Zeitung)

On Sunday we heard a first serenade to the Jazzinstitut's 25th anniversary during the New Year's reception by the city of sciences Darmstadt. We will officially celebrate in September, however, the bassist Jürgen Wuchner, the trumpeter Valentin Garvie and the banjoist Roman Klöcker played music between Monk and space mission (Darmstadt is home to the ESA European Space Operations Center). Our local newspaper reports ( Darmstädter Echo).

Our preparations for the 14th Darmstadt Jazzforum continue. We are collecting suggestions for this international conference which will focus on "Gender and Identity in Jazz", at which we will not just talk about women in jazz, though, but also about the image jazz has developed over the years, both within the jazz world and to outsiders, how they were shaped and how they change.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Arnaldo DeSouteiro Bio / JSR (Jazz Station Records) - 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 380 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 380 albums and sessions featuring: Luiz Bonfa, João Gilberto, Dom Um Romão, Ithamara Koorax, Thiago de Mello, Dexter Payne, João Donato, Palmyra & Levita, Mario Castro-Neves, Jorge Pescara, Paula Faour, Fabio Fonseca, Claudio Roditi, Rodrigo Lima, Hermeto Pascoal, 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 380 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 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 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, 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 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).

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

Killing Kittens' LA Penthouse Party, Next Saturday

Have you registered kittens?? Tick tock penthouse party on January 31! www.killingkittens.com

Sunday, January 25, 2015

CD Reissue of the Month - "Lalo Schifrin: No One Home"

CD Reissue of the Month
Lalo Schifrin: "No One Home" (Tabu/Ultra-Vybe Inc.) 

Reissue Supervisor: Tsuyoshi Hayashi
A&R: Masahiro Maeda (Ultra-Vybe)
Executive Producer: Mamoru Ko (Ultra-Vybe)
Remastered by Toshiyuki Abe

Produced, Arranged & Conducted by Lalo Schifrin
Associate Producer: Schuyler "Sky" Traughber
Recorded @ A&M Studios and Wally Heider Recording (Los Angeles, CA)
Mixed & Mastered @ Wally Heider Recording
Recording & Mixing Engineers: Jimmy Hite & Richard Bogart
Mastering Engineer: Phil Cross
Visual Coordination: Tony Lane
Illustration: Schuyler Traughber

Featuring: Lalo Schifrin, Ronnie Foster, Ian Underwood & Patrice Rushen (keyboards), Byron Miller & Ed Watkins (electric bass), Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler & Alex Acuña (drums), Paulinho da Costa (percussion, congas, timbales), Wah Wah Watson (electric guitar & voice bag), Tim May, Paul Jackson & Johnny Graham (guitars), Oscar Brashear (trumpet), Jerome Richardson & Kim Richmond (woodwinds), Sylvia Smith, Lynn Davis, Virginia Ayers, Sandy Graham, Ron Hicklin, Eddie Lehann, John Bahler & Debbie Hall (vocals)
Strings Concertmaster: Israel Baker
Orchestra Coordinator: Ben Barrett

"No One Home" -- the follow-up to "Gypsies" -- was Lalo Schifrin's second and last album for the Tabu label. Released in 1979, it was a disco-oriented project spiced with funk grooves, jazzy harmonies and some beautiful pop melodies like Minnie Riperton's "Oh Darlin'...Life Goes On" (great synth and vocal riffs) and specially Lalo's own ballad "Memory of Love," graced with a short but very elegant acoustic piano solo.

But the album centerpiece is really the title track, on which guitarist Wah Wah Watson steals the show using the 'voice bag' over a funky Rhodes groovitation. This expanded Japanese CD reissue includes four bonus tracks: single and instrumental versions of "No One Home" plus two tunes -- "Moonlight Gypsies" and the mellow "Prophecy of Love" -- from the "Gypsies" album recorded in 1978 and already issued on CD some months ago in Europe.

Blu-Spec CD of the Month - "Joe Farrell: Outback"

Blu-Spec CD of the Month
Joe Farrell: "Outback" (CTI KICJ 2315)

Rating: ***** (musical performance)

Featuring: Joe Farrell (flutes, piccolo, tenor sax), Chick Corea (electric piano), Buster Williams (acoustic bass), Elvin Jones (drums) & Airto Moreira (percussion)

Produced by Creed Taylor
Recorded & Mixed by Rudy Van Gelder @ Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, on November 4, 1971 (released in March 1972)
Front Cover Photo: Pete Turner
Liner Photos: Chuck Stewart
Album Design: Bob Ciano

Anna Mjöll live in LA @ Vibrato, January 30

This Friday, January 30, Miss ANNA MJÖLL, "Iceland's First Lady of Jazz" returns to Herb Alpert's VIBRATO in Bel Air, California, Friday January 30th, 2015!
This event is a near-guaranteed sellout, timely reservations are strongly recommended.
Call (310) 474-9400 for reservations.

Miss Mjöll, accompanied by the amazing Pat Senatore, Tom Ranier and Gary Novak will be singing the songs of Ella Fitzgerald, Astrud Gilberto, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe and more...

Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc.
2930 Beverly Glen Circle
Bel Air, CA 90077

The brainchild of seven-time Grammy winner Herb Albert, Vibrato Grill & Jazz blends the rich elements of world-renowned jazz, art and gourmet cuisine for an evening to remember. The restaurant is owned by Pasadena’s Smith Brothers Restaurant group (Parkway Grill, Arroyo Chop House and Smitty’s Grill) and serves an exquisite menu of American contemporary dishes. Must tries include the dessert menu’s warm bittersweet chocolate truffle cake, chocolate glazed butterscotch pudding, caramel apple pie and Meyer lemon tart. Located at the top of Mulholland Drive and Beverly Glen Circle, Vibrato’s sophisticated jazz sounds and the deliciously fragrant food will lure you in from all over the city.
"Sunday night, Santa Monica. Last Sunday night I was having a really good time, sitting in the Baked Potato, halfway between Hollywood and the Valley, and listening to jazz singer Anna Mjoll perform with her really good band. I wish I could be doing the same thing tonight, but it’s a much longer drive to her gig. She’s playing in Reykjavik. Yeah, Iceland. She’s closer to the ocean there... than she was in the Valley. But she’s a lot closer to the Arctic Circle too.

Why in the world would a jazz singer book herself into a small club in an island nation with one fifth the population of the San Fernando Valley?

Because she’s home for the holidays.

Anna Mjoll is not much of what you usually picture as a jazz singer. Few of her performance photos show her in a dress. More likely you’ll get what I saw at the Potato: strategically very torn jeans, punkish spiked bracelets, stylish “armlet” tattoo, leather half-vest and a thin leather headband holding in place her long golden (really, really golden) locks, white-toed black tennies (but no candy cane-striped knee socks this time), and centerfold-class beauty and figure. Her idea of patter is to regale you with odd and gory anecdotes (decapitation, burger breath). I wonder if she dresses up a little at home? Keeps the stories a little more conventional, with mom and dad in the crowd?

Probably not.

Mjoll seems very comfortable on stage, like she was born there (almost true), comfortable in her own skin and very comfortable with her material and her inimitable delivery of it. She has a barely detectable accent, but it does make her sound just a little different from everyone else, in a charming way.

Her band was absolutely stellar. She always seems to attract really good players. (“Jazzmaz” features an enviable cast in Vinnie Colaiuta, Don Grusin, Luis Conte, Charlie Bisharat, and the late and very missed Dave Carpenter, as well as Mjoll’s talented father Olafur Gaukur producing, arranging and on guitar.) At the Spud she had Mike Miller on guitar, John Gilutin on keys, Ian Martin on bass and Gerry Brown on drums, impressive chops-meisters and cookin’ this night. A real treat was provided when Reggie Hamilton sat in for a few on bass, even though he had literally just flown in from Europe and went straight to the club. His solo excursions alone were worth the price of admission.

Her show was very similar to the excellent one I saw a few weeks earlier at Charlie O’s, including the stories, but it nagged at me that there was some missing piece this night. Then she gets to the very last number, “Blue Skies” (except for an ill-advised bowing to a persistent request for “Route 66” – ya gotta end high and leave ‘em wanting more). She goes to town with energized scatting throughout, and it jumps out that this was the one, where Anna Mjoll was in her element and shining. She had done some scatting in previous numbers, but not much, not as much as at Charlie O’s. I don’t think it was just the scatting that made the difference, but it was definitely tied to that.
You don’t listen to Christmas music for weeks before the day now, do you? The last week before Christmas is prime time for me, enough to get the spirit but not to OD. So the timing is perfect to download Anna Mjoll’s “Christmas Jazzmaz,” at CDBaby.com. I like the last four songs the best because they’re sung in Icelandic, and the “Santa Baby” is probably the sexiest and most fun version you’ll ever hear."

Charles Andrews
Music Forums Moderator

Christmas CD of the Year
Anna Mjöll: "Christmas Jazzmaz" (Tónaljón)
Music performance: *****
Sound quality: *****
Featuring: Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Ólafur Gaukur (acoustic & electric guitars), Dave Carpenter (bass), Don Grusin (piano & keyboards), Luis Conte (percussion) and Charlie Bisharat (violin).
...
"In a few words? OK. The most charming and enchanting songstress in the current jazz scene has released the best "Christmas album" of this century.

Really? Yes, absolutely!!! Throughout the years, dozens of jazz artists have issued Christmas projects. Most recently, back in 2005, Diana Krall released the excellent "Christmas Songs" CD, with a big budget production directed by Tommy LiPuma and the impeccable backing of the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. No surprises to be found, though. The typical Christmas tunes with nice vocals and predictable arrangements.

Five years later we get Anna Mjöll's "Christmas Jazzmaz." What a difference! Surprises abound on each track. Backed by a small group, with smart scores by producer Ólafur Gaukur (who happens to be Anna's father, and is a guitarist whose touch and phrasing on the acoustic instrument reminds me of Luiz Bonfa's approach on the 12-string guitar), the LA-based Icelandic Jazz Princess delivers fresh and creative performances of such songs as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas."

Even the opener "Jingle Bells" sounds intriguing and -- I know it will be hard to believe -- "new". Actually, I had to hold my breath during the first five songs, since "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let is snow" is a pure delight and I can't find words to express my feelings for her "Santa Baby." Do yourself a favor and listen. Never a vocal Christmas jazz albums sounded so charming and ...seductive! Anna's phrasing and the highly personal tone of her silky "innocent" voice (the missing link between Bjork and Blossom Dearie) are pure delight. And again: so far, the best Christmas CD of this century. Happy Holidays!"

To order a CD copy or a digital download:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/annamjoll2

- Arnaldo DeSouteiro
"Do yourself a favor and catch her now, at an intimate small club, before she breaks out into larger venues."
-Charles Andrews, Music Forums Moderator, HomeTheaterSpot.com
"Icelandic jazz vocalist Anna Mjöll has developed a considerable buzz in L.A. selling out every night of recent weekend shows at Vibrato."
-Tom Meek, LA Jazz.com
"Someone recently referred to Anna's new CD, recorded in California and mixed in Reykjavik, as "a must have by the sweetest woman and singer this side of Iceland!"
I must add: a must have by the sweetest voice in the current jazz scene. Period."

"Shadow..." features the LA-based Icelandic jazz diva surrounded by an all-star band led by her lucky arranger/producer/guitarist Ólafur Gaukur: drummers Vinnie Colaiuta (the current drummer's drummer all over the world) & John "JR" Robinson (Quincy Jones' favorite drummer ever, with Micahel Jackson's "Thriller" on his impressive discography), bassists Dave Carpenter & Neil Stubenhaus, keyboardist Don Grusin and percussionist Luis Conte, whom I first met when he was playing on Madonna's "Blond Ambition" tour. In some tracks - "I Get A Kick Out ofv You", "C'est Si Bon" and "Fever" -,

After repeated listenings, "Shadow..." evokes me memories of Peggy Lee, Astrud Gilberto and specially Blossom Dearie. Anyway, despite all these mentioned references echoing on my mind, Anna Mjoll sounds like her own woman, capable to enchant and fascinate the listener with highly personal interpretations of top-class songs.
The rhythm section changes on Johnny Mandel's classic "The Shadow of Your Smile," but once again Anna's approach is unique and amazing, intertwined with Ólafur Gaukur's 12-string acoustic guitar a la Luiz Bonfa.

She knows how to caress a melody and seduce the listener, like happens throughout the album. Another highlight, "Fever," firstly made famous by Peggy Lee and later revived by Madonna, is a singing lesson in the sense of how to make each and every word sound with the proper impact and feeling.

Don Grusin's piano floats in perfect empathy with Anna's milky vocals on Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love." Don't lose your time trying to compare her with Dionne Warwick or Diana Krall. Mjoll's once again sounds ultra-peculiar.

A latin-tinged arrangement of the French classic "C'est Si Bon" follows, featuring the horn section and Conte on percussion. Anna's sounds, to use French words, "coquette et sensuel." A beautiful original by Gaukur, "Saman Bú Og Ég" (the composer solos on the electric guitar while backing himself on the 12-string acoustic guitar), and two Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes complete the repertoire. The arangements includes a lovely guitar-wordless vocal solo section. Her phrasing would make Jobim proud.

A surprising mood also envolves "Água de Beber," sung in Portuguese. Both Jobim songs, also appear as bonus tracks on Icelandic versions written by the multi-talented Gaukur.

"Shadow of Your Smile" is by far one of the best vocal jazz releases of 2009. Gifted with an abysmal potential, no one can accuse Anna Mjoll's of musical compliance. This wondrous girl (all the great booklet pics were shot on location in Iceland by Ess) knows how to take chances.
- Arnaldo DeSouteiro

SACD of the Month - "Miles Davis: Doo-Bop"

SACD of the Month
Miles Davis: "Doo-Bop" (Pioneer)

Big Band CD of the Month - "Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra: Shrimp Tale"

Big Band CD of the Month
Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra: "Shrimp Tale" (Crown Heights) 2014

Rating: ***** (music performance & sonic quality)

Composed, Arranged & Produced by Alan Chan
Recorded @ The Bridge Recording (Glendale, California) by Greg Curtis, assisted by Milton Gutierrez
Mixing & Mastering: Rich Breen
Cover Design: Shiman Shan
Photos: Nevin Wong

Featuring: Andy Langham (piano), David Hughes (bass), Jamey Tate (drums), Andrew Synowiec (guitar & banjo), Wayne bergeron, Rob Schaer, Rick Baptist, Tony Bonsera & Michael Stever (trumpets), Andy Martin, Charlie Morillas, Dave Ryan, Paul Young & Steve Hughes (trombones), and Kevin Garren, Alex Budman, Tom Luer, Jeff Driskill, Vince Trombetta & Ken Fischer (saxes).

The Alan Chan Jazz Orchestrahas emerged, since its formation in 2011, as one of the brightest lights on the Los Angeles jazz scene.Last year, Chan gathered a group of topnotch studio and jazz players -- 19 pieces in all, plus guest trumpeter Wayne Bergeron -- and produced a two-day session. First to be released, in the fall of 2013, was the EP Rancho Calaveras. Now comes the orchestra's debut CD Shrimp Tale, released on Chan's imprint, Crown Heights Audio Network.

"The way I write, I want to tell a story in every composition," says Chan, 36, a classically trained pianist born and raised in Hong Kong. "My pieces tend to be open-ended. I go into different scenarios. They can read rough, jumping from one place to another, breaking grooves, but I like that kind of phrasing because in a way that's almost like talking, the way we phrase and rephrase things."

Most of his big band compositions reflect the modern world in affecting ways and, without explicitly incorporating ethnic forms, capture important aspects of the Asian-American experience.

"Compositions that unfold and morph, challenging structures, inventive voicings and ever-changing orchestral colors set this group apart. Chan has given Los Angeles a jazz big band with an utterly unique tonal personality," wrote Kirk Silsbee in a Down Beat feature published last year.
 
When Chan was growing up in Hong Kong, the country was still under British rule. Chinese music was marginalized there, and little jazz was available, so he was exposed mainly to classical and Chinese folk music. Even when he later immersed himself in jazz studies, he says, he never lost his connection to traditional Asian forms.

Chan went on to study jazz arranging with Gary Lindsay as an undergraduate at the University of Miami in the late '90s (a time and place he nostalgically recalls on "Shrimp Tale"), but he never thought he'd lead a big band. As a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, he primarily studied classical composition. (He acquired his master's in composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City after being part of an exchange program at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.)

But with the encouragement of two distinguished composer-arrangers at USC, Shelly Berg and Vince Mendoza, he became involved with jazz. And the more he listened to the work of artists including Thad Jones, Bob Mintzer, Uri Caine, Brazilian living legend Hermeto Pascoal, and the recently deceased Fred Ho, he says, "the more attractive jazz's harmonic language became to me. It felt like a bold new world."
In 2008, Chan became a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in New York City. Under the guidance of director Jim McNeely, he made significant advances as a composer and arranger,incorporating classical elements into the background of some of his pieces. That the musicians he worked with were so adept at performing his compositions from scratch gave him a major boost.

After receiving commissions from around the world and having his charts performed by such ensembles as the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge, and the Millennium Jazz Orchestra of the Netherlands, Chan formed his Jazz Orchestra in 2011 -- the year he won the Dutch ArtEZ Jazz Composition Contest. He was also a finalist in last year's Brussels Jazz Orchestra Composition Contest.

The Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra performed two CD release shows, one on each coast. Their appearance at Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood was followed by Alan's debut at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn. Much of the new CD's material was composed nearby in his studio in Gowanus. He was especially excited to perform this music in his beloved old Brooklyn neighborhood. Hopefully, there will be many more concerts all over the country.  

Steve Gadd celebrates his 70th birthday with a new CD, "70 Strong," and a new worldwide tour

Scheduled for release here in the USA next April 7 (the drummer's birthday is on April 9), "70 Strong" celebrates Steve Gadd's 70th birthday. It's the second CD by his latest group, The Steve Gadd Band, and they will be kicking off their special 2015 tour with three nights in Hollywood at Catalina Bar & Grill this weekend: January 29-31. The group includes Michael Landau (guitar), Walt Fowler (brass), Larry Goldings (keyboards) and Jimmy Johnson (5-string electric bass).

Saturday, January 17, 2015

"Friends of Jeff Golub," All-Star Memorial Concert in NY, Jan 21

Randy Brecker, Mindi Abair, Kirk Whalum, Mark Egan, Steve Ferrone, Chuck Loeb and Henry Butler are among the "Friends of Jeff Golub" scheduled to perform on the Golub memorial, next January 21 @ BB Kings Blues Club in NY, at 8pm.

List of releases for the Record Store Day

Here's a list of releases that will come out on April 18, 2015 to celebrate the Record Store Day:

● The 1975 - Facedown EP (12-inch)

● The 1975 -  IV EP (12-inch)

● The 1975 - Music For Cars EP (12-inch)

● Ryan Adams - "Come Pick Me Up" (Alternate Take) / "Rope Gets Tight" (7-inch)

● Gregg Allman - picture disc (10-inch)

● Animals - The Animals No. 2 EP (10-inch)

● At the Gates - Gardens of Grief (coloured LP, 1500 copies)

● Atreyu - So Others May Live (7-inch)

● Chet Atkins - My Brother Sings ( 2000 copies)

● Avcii - The Days/Nights remix EP (12-inch)

● Banks - The Remixes Part 2 (12-inch, 2000 copies)

● Azealia Banks - Broke with Expensive Taste (Deluxe Version) (LP)

● Courtney Barnett - John Cale cover / new song (12-inch, 2500 copies)

● Jeff Beck - "Hi Ho Silver Lining" / "Beck's Bolero (red 7-inch, 1750 copies)

● Jeff Beck - "Love Is Blue" / "I've Been Drinking (blue 7-inch, 2000 copies)

● Jeff Beck - "Tallyman" / "Rock My Plimsoul" (gold 7-inch, 1750 copies)

● Bedhead - Live in Chicago (LP, 1000 copies)

● The Black Keys/Junior Kimbrough - "Meet Me in the City" (7-inch, 6000 copies)

● Blackberry Smoke - Wood Wire and Roses EP (colored 10-inch)

● Black Dahlia Murder - Grind 'Em All (covers 7-inch)

● Blitzen Trapper - Harvest (live Neil Young covers LP)

● David Bowie - "Changes" (7-inch)

● David Bowie/Tom Verlaine - "Kingdom Come" (Side By Side 7-inch)

● Braid - Kids Get Grids (7-inch)

● Junior Brown - "Better Call Saul - Theme" (7-inch, 1000 copies)

● John Butler Trio - "Ocean" / "Heading South" (12-inch)

● Candlemass - Live (2LP, 1000 copies)

● Carcass - Choice Cuts (red and clear splatter 2LP, 1500 copies)

● Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (red vinyl LP)

● Clutch - From Beale Street to Oblivion (purple 2LP, 1000 copies)

● Cold War Kids - Five Quick Cuts EP (12-inch, 2000 copies)

● Comeback Kid - Rain City Sessions EP (white or clear red 10-inch, 1850 copies)

● James Cotton - Cut You Loose! (LP)

● Country Joe & the Fish - Together (LP)

● D Generation - Queens of A (10-inch)

● The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack (green LP)

● Miles Davis - The Prestige 10" Collection Volume 2 (5x10-inch box set)

● The Dixie Cups - Chapel of Love (LP)

● Dom Flemons - What Got Over (10-inch, 1000 copies)

● Doc & Merle Watson - Ballads from Deep Gap (LP)

● Justin Townes Earle - Live at Grimey's (10-inch)

● Electric Wizard - Time to Die (silver LP)

● Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream (LP)

● The Everly Brothers - 15 Everly Hits (LP)

● Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho (6x7-inch box set)

● Curtis Fuller's Quintet Featuring Benny Golson - Blues-ette (LP)

● Charlie Feathers - Charlie Feathers (10-inch singles compilation, 1500 copies)

● Garbage - single (orange 10-inch)

● Marvin Gaye - "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) / "Once Upon a Time (Featuring Mary Wells) (7-inch)

● Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto '76 EP (green 10-inch)

● Joe Gibbs - African Dub: Chapter 2 (picture disc LP)

● Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain (colored LP)

● Gov't Mule - Stoned Side of the Mule Volume 2 (live Rolling Stones covers LP, 3500 copies)

● GWAR - America Must Be Destroyed (45 RPM 2LP, 3000 copies)

● Herman's Hermits - Blaze (LP)

● The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (purple or white LP)

● The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever (red LP)

● Hutch and Kathy - Hutch and Kathy (pre-Thermals band) (LP)

● I'm Here (A Soundtrack to the Short Film by Spike Jonze) (LP)

● Interpol - "Everything Is Wrong"/"What Is What" (7-inch)

● Islander - Violence & Destruction (white or teal LP, 900 copies)

● Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Flashback (Rarities Collection) (blue 2LP + CD)

● Jungle Rot - Terror Regime (blue or red LP, 900 copies)

● Robert Earl Keen - Gringo Honeymoon (LP)

● Kid Cudi - Satellite Fight: The Journey to the Mother Moon (LP)

● The Kinks - Kinksize Hits EP (7-inch)

● The Kinks - Kinksize Session EP (7-inch)

● The Kinks - "You Really Got Me (Live)" / "Milk Cow Blue (Live)" (7-inch)

● Alvin Lee - Still on the Road to Freedom (LP, 750 copies)

● Lees of Memory - "Soft Places Within A Dream II" (7-inch)

● The Lego Movie Deluxe Soundtrack (picture disc with poster, 2000 copies)

● Jesse Malin - Hardcore Feeling (10-inch, 500 copies)

● Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (picture disc)

● Bob Marley - Bob Marley Interviews: So Much Things to Say (LP)

● Mastodon - "Atlanta" ft. Gibby Haynes from Butthole Surfers (pictured disc)

● The Mavericks - Mono (LP)

● Paul McCartney - The Family Way: Original Soundtrack Recording (LP)

● Midlake - Live in Denton, TX (LP + DVD)

● Wes Montgomery ft. the Eddie Higgins Trio - One Night In Indy (LP)

● Charlie Musselwhite - Stand Back! (LP)

● Orange is the New Black Original Television Soundtrack (orange and black vinyl)

● Charlie Parker - The Charlie Parker Story (LP)

● Dolly Parton - The Grass Is Blue (1999 LP on vinyl for the first time)

● Path of Resistance - Who Dares Wins (white or green vinyl, 900 copies)

● The Pizza Underground - First Demo Session (7-inch)

● Power Glove - EP 1 (bright red vinyl, 1000 copies)

● Steven Price - Fury (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (10-inch)

● Record Store Day Presents: Trojan Records Rude Boy Rumble (LP)

● Real Friends - More Acoustic Songs EP (12-inch picture disc, 1500 copies)

● Brian Reitzell - 30 Days of Night: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (blood red vinyl, 1000 copies)

● Rev. Horton Heat - "It's a Rave-Up" / "Beer, Write This Song" (red or pink 7-inch, 1850 copies)

● Ride - OX4 (best-of LP)

● Rise Against - Eco-Terrorist In Me (7-inch)

● Rick Ross - The Maybach Edition (LP)

● Run the Jewels - four-song EP (12-inch picture disc, 5000 copies)

● The Seshen/Lost Midas - Reworked (clear splatter 7-inch)

● Kenny Wayne Shepherd - A Little Something from the Road Volume 1 EP (live 10-inch)

● Sinatra, Frank - Songs for Young Lovers (10-inch)

● Slayer - "When the Stillness Comes" / "Black Magic" (live) (7-inch picture disc, 5000 copies)

● Sleaford Mods - Tiswas EP (12-inch picture disc, 1000 copies)

● Todd Snider - "Impending Doom" (7-inch, 1500 copies)

● Social Distortion - Social Distortion (split-color blue and white vinyl, 1500 copies)

● St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Live from the Alabama Theater 12" (Alabama-shaped 12-inch picture disc, 2000 copies)

● STRFKR - "Astronaut" / "Little Lover" (7-inch, 1000 copies)

● Tears for Fears - "Shout" / "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (12-inch)

● Temples - Mesmerise Live EP (coloured 12-inch, 3000 copies)

● George Thorogood - George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers (LP)

● Those Darlins/Diarrhea Planet - Live at Pickathon (split LP)

● Tove Lo - Truth Serum EP (pink 10-inch)

● Twin Peaks - single (7-inch)

● Typhoon - "Prosthetic Love (Piano Version)" (7-inch)

● Various Artists - Ork Box ft. Television, Richard Hell, Alex Chilton, the Feelies (7-inch box set, 2000 copies)

● Various Artists - Lows in the Mid Sixties Vol. 54: Kosmic City Part 2

● Venom - From the Very Depths (LP)

● The Walking Dead: AMC Original Soundtrack Volume 2 (picture disc, 1800 copies)

● Warzone - Fight for Justice (grey or red LP, 900 copies)

● Junior Wells - It's My Life Baby! (LP)

● When I Reach That Heavenly Shore: Unearthly Black Gospel - 1926-1936 (3LP)

● Whiplash: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (LP)

● Wood, Brenton - Oogum Boogum (white LP)

● Larry Young - In Paris: The O.R.T.F. Recordings EP (10-inch)

● Frank Zappa - "200 Motels" (7-inch)

● The Zombies -R.I.P. (The Lost Album) (LP)

R.I.P.: Lincoln Olivetti

(born on April 17, 1954 in Nilópolis, RJ;
died on January 13, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, RJ)

Brazilian keyboardist, composer, arranger, conductor and producer. Rest in Peace.

12" Vinyl Reissue of the Month - "George Benson: Body Talk"

12" Vinyl Reissue of the Month
George Benson: "Body Talk" (CTI/Speakers Corner) 1973/2015

Produced by Creed Taylor
Arranged & Conducted by Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis
Recorded & Mixed by Rudy Van Gelder @ Van Gelder Studios (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey) on July 17 & 18, 1973
Cover Photo: Pete Turner
Liner Photo: Steve Salmieri
Album Design by Bob Ciano

Featuring:
George Benson (electric guitar), Earl Klugh (acoustic & electric guitars), Harold Mabern (Fender Rhodes electric piano), Ron Carter (acoustic bass), Gary King (electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Mobuto (congas & percussion), Jon Faddis, John Gatchell & Waymon Reed (trumpet & flugelhorn), Gerald Chamberlain, Dick Griffin (trombone), Frank Foster (tenor sax).

Fusion CD of the Month - "Jimbo de CTI"

Fusion CD of the Month
Akira Jimbo: "Jimbo de CTI" (Electric Bird) 2015
Release Date: January 07, 2015 

Rating:
***** (musical performance)
**** (sound quality)

Produced, Arranged & Programmed by Akira Jimbo
Featuring: Akira Jimbo (drums & electronic percussion), Abraham Laboriel (bass & vocals) & Otmaro Ruiz (keyboards, pianos & vocals)

Recorded by Talley Sherwood @ Tritone Studio (Glendale, CA)
Mixed by Tom McCauley @ B2 Studios (Valley Village, CA) for Mixworks
Mastered by Gene “The Machine” Grimaldi @ Oasis Mastering (Burbank, CA)
Recording Coordinated by Keisuke Nakai for Songbirds Inc.
Photos: Hiroshi Tanimoto & Keisuke Nakai
Design: Kiyomi Hashimoto

Japan's top jazz drummer, and a rare case of jazzman with the popularity of a pop star in Japan (like Sadao Watanabe), Akira Jimbo -- who became famous as a member of the Casiopea supergroup -- delivers a joyful tribute to Creed Taylor's CTI Records, snobbed by jazz purists in the 70s but now recognized as one of the most important jazz labels ever.

"Most of the CTI guys got a bunch of shit at the time from jazz purists--I don't like purists in any music, because conservatism bleeds creativity dry because they listened to and created their own form of jazz that would be not only accessible to mainstream listeners, but as sophisticated as anything that was happening at the time--or since," the renowned jazz historian Thom Jurek states. "For me, it was the greatest jazz label. Yes, that is heresy because IO didn't say Blue Note or Prestige or Verve, but no other label was able to paint as many different canvasses and bring jazz to people who had previously been intimidated by it.  If you listen to Til Bronner's 'Til,' Gerardo Frisina's 'Movement,' Nicola Conte's 'Love & Revolution,' the influence of CTI is everywhere to be heard."

We can add the brand-new "Jimbo de CTI" to this list. It's a killer album focused on Jimbo's favorite albums from the CTI catalog of the 70s. Most of the tunes come from Eumir Deodato's "Prelude" (the monster hit "2001 - Also Sprach Zarathustra" adapted from Richard Strauss' symphonic poem, the latin-tinged tribute to Carly Simon and Carole King titled "Carly & Carole," and "Spirit Of Summer," originally written as a ballad) and "Deodato 2" (two epic themes composed by the Brazilian genius, "Super Strut" and "Skyscrapers.")

Akira Jimbo also selected tracks from other legendary albums: Airto Moreira's "Fingers" (the dancefloor anthem "Tombo In 7/4"), Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Stone Flower" (its title track that also fascinated Carlos Santana, who covered it twice), Freddie Hubbard's main theme from "Red Clay" (that became an instant contemporary jazz classic), and one lovely tune composed by Jane Hall for his husband Jim Hall, "The Answer Is Yes," included on Jim's best-selling album ever, "Concierto."

Curiously, though, instead of using a large band with strings and horns, like was typical of CTI in the Seventies, Jimbo-san opted to recreate these tunes in fast & furious arrangements performed "only" by a frenetic trio, completed by LA-based Venezuelan keyboard wiz Otmaro Ruiz and the Mexican-born bass legend Abe Laboriel, who also lives in California.

Even a sumptuous ballad like "Spirit Of Summer" receives a funkyfied groove, and it works pretty well. The epic "Skyscrapers," one of the album highlights, gets an irresistible dance mood, with Jimbo's massive breakbeats, Laboriel's astounding solo and Ruiz shining on the Rhodes as well as in the reproduction of the horn riffs from Deodato's arrangement (even the French Horn parts!!!) The closing theme, "The Answer Is Yes," is the only track with a kind of straight-ahead feeling, on which Jimbo starts using brushes. In all other tracks, the power trio plays with an impressive level of energy, intensity and excitement, with Otmaro's overdubs on his keyboard arsenal giving us the impression of a larger ensemble. The cover pic is a copy of the famous portrait done by the renowned NY-based Irish photographer Alen McWeeney for "Deodato 2."
ラインナップ:
神保 彰 Akira Jimbo (Drums)
エイブラハム・ラボリエル Abraham Laboriel (Bass・Vocal)
オトマロ・ルイーズ Otmaro Ruiz (Keyboards・Piano・Vocal)

<セルフライナーノーツ>
 
テレビとプラモに夢中だった高校生の頃、友人に薦められて聴いたデオダートの「スーパー・ストラット」が僕の音楽の目を開かせてくれました。現代風に表現するとすれば「ガ、ガ、ガチで、か、か、かっけー!」、、、
 
デオダートの作品を一通り揃えた後、CTIのロゴを目印に様々なアーティストのアルバムを順番に聴いて行く中でスティーヴ・ガッドのドラムプレイに出会い、稲妻に打たれたような衝撃を受けてドラムを叩き始めました。60年代風に表現するとすれば「がびーん! がちょーん!」70年代風だと「な、なんじゃこりゃー!」、、、
 
プロデビュー35周年の今年、CTIのカヴァーアルバムをリリースする事は、僕にとって音楽人生の原点を見つめ直すという特別な意味を持っています。正規の音楽教育を受けなかった僕には、CTIこそが教科書であり、教室であり、学校であったのです。CTI愛こそが僕の進路を決定付けました。CTI愛。「シーティーアイアイ」、、、

1950年代よりジャズアルバムの制作に携わっていたクリード・テイラー(敬称略)は、60年代後半に大手A&M内に Creed Taylor Issue を立ち上げ、オクターヴ奏法を発案したギタリスト、ウェス・モンゴメリーとの一連のアルバムや、ボサノヴァをいちはやく紹介する作品でジャズカテゴリーとしては異例の商業的成功をおさめます。1970年に独立し Creed Taylor Incorporated を設立。天才エンジニア、ルディ・ヴァン・ゲルダーとタッグを組んで、クオリティーの高い一連の作品群を生み出しました。ヘッドアレンジ(簡単なメロディー譜を元に、現場で口答でアレンジする)が主流のジャズの世界にコンセプチュアルなアルバム制作の手法が持ち込まれ、時にはストリングスやホーンを配した大掛かりなサウンドメイクが施されました。巧みな選曲、絶妙なミュージシャンのセレクト、大衆性と芸術性の見事な融合、統一感のあるジャケットデザイン、様々な要素が相まって、独自のレーベルイメージが構築されました。硬派のジャズファンからは軟弱とのレッテルを貼られ、批判される事も多かったようですが、主流派が停滞し、前衛も行き詰まり、袋小路に迷い込んだ感のあった当時のジャズマーケットに新しい風を吹き込んだ功績は万人の認めるところでした。そして、そのクリードの開いた扉が、その後のクロスオーヴァー・ムーヴメント、80年代以降のフュージョンへと繋がって行くのです。

うー、、、書いていると段々気持ちが熱くなってしまいますが、10代後半の不安定な心に、励ましと、勇気と、時には安らぎを与えてくれたアルバムから、特に思い出深い曲をセレクトしました。どうしてもデオダートが多くなってしまいます。(5曲)その他もアントニオ・カルロス・ジョビンやアイアートなど、9曲中7曲がブラジル関連。原曲の雰囲気を尊重したものもあり、思い切ってアレンジしてしまったものもあります。共演のエイブラハム・ラボリエルとオトマロ・ルイーズは僕の音楽の盟友達。鉄壁のトリオ演奏を核に、懐かしさと新しさが共存するようなアルバムを目指しました。気に入っていただけたら嬉しいです。そして遡ってオリジナルのCTI作品を聴いて頂けたら更に嬉しく思います。

Vocal Jazz CD of the Month - "Boris Savoldelli & Garrison Fewell: Electric Bat Conspiracy"

Vocal Jazz CD of the Month
Boris Savoldelli & Garrison Fewell: "Electric Bat Conspiracy" (Creative Nation Music/Ninth World Music)

Rating:
***** (musical performance)
**** (sonic quality)

Produced by Garrison Fewell & Boris Savoldelli for CNM
Recorded & Mixed by Piero Villa @ Rumore Bianco Studio (Ensine, Italy)
Mastered by Kevin Frenette @ Abrasive Chair Music
Photos: Luciano Rossetti @ Phocus Agency
Design: Alessandro Antonuccio

The provocative meeting of vocalist extraordinaire Savoldelli with guitarist Fewell (also heard on percussion in some tracks) results in an astonishing album. Fewell's style -- no matter if playing acoustic, electric or "prepared guitar" -- reminds me of the late British guitarist Derek Bailey. Fewell sounds so adventurous like Bailey, but he has his own musical identity, and, at least on this album, shines specially on the acoustic guitar numbers.

Boris Savoldelli is the Mark Murphy of the new millenium, of the next galaxy, a highly creative vocal stylist that crosses all boundaries. He and Fewell co-wrote most of the songs, using a poetry by Sun Ra on "Silence Is Music," on which Luca Donini plays bass clarinet. The level of energy is even more impressive on the opener, Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," as well as in the jazz standards that they wisely re-construct: "Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise" (one of Art Farmer's favorite tunes), and two haunting ballads: "My One And Only Love" and "You Don't Know What Love Is," the perfect finale for this more than intriguing date.

Instrumental Jazz CD of the Month - "Akua Dixon"

Jazz CD of the Month
"Akua Dixon" (Akua's Music) 2015

Rating: ***** (musical performance & audio quality)

Produced & Arranged by Akua Dixon
Engineers: Rich Tozzoli, Paul Antonell (Clubhouse Studios), Aaron Nevezie (Bunker Studio), Ted Orr (Creative Music Studios)
Mastered by Dave Glaser @ Airshow Mastering
Album Sequencing: Awilda Rivera
Photos & Artwork: Jose Iorio (G! Productions)
Liner Notes: George Kanzler

Virtuoso jazz cellist Akua Dixon entered a new creative phase with the sleek 2011 quartet session "Moving On," her first album under her own name. Her new self-ttled CD, "Akua Dixon," is a dazzling string conclave that surveys the cellist/composer/arranger's expansive stylistic reach. Dixon's label, Akua's Music, released the disc two days ago.

The project showcases Dixon as a powerfully emotive improviser and dauntingly creative arranger exploring sumptuous American Songbook ballads (Richard Rodgers' "It Never Entered My Mind," Arthur Schwartz's "Alone Together" and Henry Mancini's multi-Grammy winning song "Moon River"), a famous bolero (Consuelo Velasquez's "Besame Mucho," covered by João Gilberto on his "Amoroso" masterpiece with Claus Ogerman), erotically charged nuevo tango (Astor Piazzolla's "Libertango"), and a rootsy Ellingtonian opus ("Freedom".) 

"When I look back at my history I've written for all different sizes of string ensembles, from duos and trios to orchestras," Dixon says. "But the string quartet is the easiest unit to keep together and keep working, and it's the situation I've written for the most." The repertoire also includes Nat Simon's "Poinciana" (Ahmad Jamal's biggest hit ever) and a great take on Israel 'Cachao' Lopez' "A Gozar Con Mi Combo."

The eponymous CD features Dixon's working string quartet (Patrisa Tomassini, first violin; Gwen Laster or Chala Yancy, second violin; and Ina Paris, viola) plus special guests like bassist Kenny Davis, violin star Regina Carter, and violin master John Blake Jr. (in one of his final recordings before his passing last August).

Also featured, on one track apiece, are Dixon's children -- drummer Orion Turre, heard on the album opener, Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" (the algum highlight) and vocalist Andromeda Turre, who contributes a swooning version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." "They got exposed to a lot of different music growing up and both became wonderful musicians," says their proud mother. "Making music for me has always been a family affair." And this family affair already became the first item in our list for the best albums of this new year. 
Born and raised in New York City, Akua Dixon grew up in a family suffused with music. She started playing with her sister, the late violinist Gayle Dixon, shortly after the cello came into her life in the 4th grade. After graduating from the prestigious "Fame" High School of the Performing Arts, Dixon studied at the Manhattan School of Music at a time when the only track available focused on European classical music. She describes her post-graduation gig in the pit band at the Apollo Theater as an essential proving ground. Backing a disparate array of stars from Rev. James Cleveland and Barry White to James Brown and Dionne Warwick, she developed a vast idiomatic repertoire.

With the doors of most symphony orchestras closed to African-American musicians (to say nothing of women), Dixon found a home in the Symphony of the New World, which is where she experienced the Ellingtonian epiphany that led her to jazz. "I started immersing myself in jazz and spirituals, and became determined to learn the secrets of improvising," she says.

It's hard to overstate the centrality of Dixon's contribution to the rise of visibility of bowed strings in jazz. In the early 1970s the New York scene was exploding with creatively ambitious and talented string players, many of whom gathered in the String Reunion, a 30-piece orchestra founded by Noel Pointer. Dixon served as the ensemble's director of new music, supplying the group with a steady stream of original compositions and arrangements. At the same time, she launched her own string quartet, Quartette Indigo, which made its big-league debut at the Village Gate with her sister Gayle Dixon, Maxine Roach, and John Blake Jr.

Dixon collaborated closely with another jazz giant in the early 1980s as a founding member of the Max Roach Double Quartet. She had honed her rhythmic drive backing the likes of James Brown, but learning to phrase bebop with one of the idiom's founding fathers was an invaluable experience.

After years of lending her skills to recordings by masters such as Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Buster Williams, Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Tom Harrell, and her former husband Steve Turre, Dixon made a bold statement of her own with 1994's Quartette Indigo (Landmark), a classic album featuring violist Ron Lawrence and violinists Gayle Dixon and John Blake Jr. (reissued by 32 Jazz). Supported by a grant from the NEA to compose the music, she delivered a brilliant second album in 1997 with "Afrika! Afrika!" (Savant) with Lawrence, and violinists Regina Carter and Marlene Rice.

She spent much of the next decade immersed in education, teaching at various institutions and conducting dozens of performances through the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series. With the release of Akua Dixon, however, Dixon has refocused her priorities and put her own music on the front burner.

In support of the new CD, Dixon will be appearing with her string quartet 1/18 at the Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church, 122nd Street and Fifth Avenue, NYC (the church she attended growing up was in this facility). Other CD release shows include: 1/30 Trumpets, Montclair, NJ; 4/18 Sistas' Place Coffee House, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; and, 4/24 Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, NYC.
Photography: Jose Iorio
Web Site: akuadixon.com