Category: jazz

Categories
Common Detroit Jazz Festival festivals hip hop jazz jazz festivals Karriem Riggins rap United States

Detroit Jazz Festival announces addition of Karriem Riggins, Common to 2011 festival lineup

Common

In a recent news release, organizers of the Detroit Jazz Festival are pleased to announce an exciting addition to the festival lineup-a special collaboration with Detroit native drummer Karriem Riggins and hip hop artist Common on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011.

“This extraordinary presentation of jazz and hip hop gives the festival an opportunity to step out of the box and attract a new audience while maintaining the connection to the festival’s artistic core – jazz,” said Terri Pontremoli, festival artistic director. “The connections and gaps between the two genres will be celebrated on Labor Day on the JPMorgan Chase Stage.”
This kind of project is not unusual for Riggins, who has spent the better part of his career successfully straddling the two worlds of jazz and hip-hop. The Detroit native established his jazz chops under the tutelage of Betty Carter, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Burrell. In addition to being a mainstay in Diana Krall’s quartet, he has made a name for himself in hip hop circles as a producer and collaborator with the likes of Common, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Slum Village and Kanye West.
Common rose to prominence as one of hip hop’s most poetic and respected lyricists, having recorded over eight albums and garnering multiple Grammy Awards. The album Be with Kanye West garnered four Grammy nominations, and the Grammy award-winning Finding Forever debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. His ninth album, The Believer, The Dreamer, will be released in November 2011.
Other special guests joining Common and Riggins will be announced at a later date. For more information on Karriem Riggins, go to www.karriemriggins.com.
For the full 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival artist roster, visit detroitjazzfest.com.

Categories
jazz Jazz Legacy Productions music releases Tim Mayer United States

Saxophonist Tim Mayer to release “Resilience” on Sept. 27, 2011

According to a news release, Tim Mayer, ace tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger, will release Resilience on Jazz Legacy Productions on Sept. 27, 2011.
While not his maiden voyage, Mayer has recorded extensively as a sideperson, Resilience is Mayer’s debut as a leader and first disc for Jazz Legacy Productions. It would be easy (and typical) to record an album of readily recognizable standards, but Mayer struck a balance between ambition and user-friendliness. With a core quartet of Mayer, pianist George Cables, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Willie Jones III, plus a select group of guests (Claudio Roditi, Mark Whitfield), Mayer’s platter swings from the get-go. A few tracks have additional players for a richer sound-a bit plush, a hair away from lush, with thoughtful yet vigorous arrangements in the vein of Tadd Dameron, Don Sebesky, and pre-1965 Gil Evans.
Tim Mayer’s horizons have grown exponentially. He has performed locally with Jon Faddis, Nick Brignola, Slide Hampton, and Bob Mintzer. He expanded his scope to include Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz styles, playing with Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Giovani Hidalgo, and Danilo Perez. Done with Berklee in 1997, Mayer joined Sol Y Canto, a folklorico-oriented Boston-area band that he’s performed with sporadically ever since. More recently, with his band 5LMN2 (Los Cinco Elementos), Mayer still explores the area(s) where jazz and Afro-Cuban sounds overlap and coalesce. Another venture, Gonzalo Grau y La Clave Secreta (formerly known as Timba Loca) released Frutero Moderno, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Tropical/Latin Album. Another avenue of expression is his appreciation of exotica, which is evinced by his membership in the Waitiki 7. Mayer and Randy Wong produced two Hawaii Music Award winning albums for the group – New Sounds of Exotica (2010) received Adult Contemporary Album of the Year and Adventures in Paradise (2009) won Exotica Album of the Year. Contrary to the purist line of thinking, a human does not live by jazz alone. As if that weren’t enough, Mayer has an extensive resume in the sphere of Cape Verdean folk and pop, playing on albums by Bana, the Mendes Brothers, and Jack Pina.
In the great kitchen that is jazz, Mayer has notions waiting to be realized and served up in style. Realizing it’s not enough to simply cook well, Mayer knows how to present a savory meal. Compositionally, his stove is stoked by the blazing heat of hard bop trumpet icon Lee Morgan.
“Everything he played was solidly rooted in the blues,” Mayer said in a news release. Band-wise, his ideal is Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. (Think of Blakey as “restaurateur” whose kitchens are perhaps the finest proving grounds for chefs of the future.) With those muses, it’s no wonder the varied and tangy Resilience has the zing and gusto of a fine repast, one that leaves the listener with a cozy afterglow.

Categories
Christian McBride jazz Mack Avenue Records releases United States

Bassist Christian McBride to release project featuring big band on Sept. 27, 2011

Bassist Christian McBride reaches another milestone with the release of The Good Feeling, his first big band recording as a leader and newest release for Mack Avenue Records, on Sept. 27. For over 20 years, McBride has appeared in numerous musical settings with just about any musician imaginable in the jazz as well as R&B and pop worlds. From playing with the likes of Milt Jackson, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny; to playing with and/or arranging for the likes of Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Lalah Hathaway, Sting and the legendary James Brown, what has always been unique about McBride is his versatility. In addition to his work in the neo-soul arena with The Roots, D’Angelo, Queen Latifah and others, the Philadelphia native has also led his own ensembles: The Christian McBride Band, A Christian McBride Situation and his most recent group, Inside Straight (fresh off their critically acclaimed 2009 effort, Kind of Brown). There are many sides to the musical persona of Christian McBride, and The Good Feeling has him realizing another one: as the leader, arranger and conductor of his big band.
McBride’s first foray into the world of big band composing and arranging dates back to 1995, when he was commissioned by Jazz At Lincoln Center to write Bluesin’ in Alphabet City, featured on The Good Feeling and originally debuted by Wynton Marsalis & The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra. Since that time he has composed a number of pieces for larger ensembles including The Movement Revisited, a five movement suite dedicated to four of the major figures of the civil rights movement: Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Putting a big band together is no easy task, but in this particular band, McBride feels fortunate to work with some of the most talented musicians in the jazz world. For his part, McBride feels that this process turned out the way he had hoped, with many musicians involved with whose work he is particularly familiar.
“[Trumpeter] Freddie Hendrix is one of the flagship guys in the big band, as is Frank Greene, along with trombonists Michael Dease and Steve Davis. (Steve and I go way back. He was one of my first calls). And the saxophone section was kind of a no brainer – Steve Wilson and Ron Blake – who have been the saxophonists in my last two working bands. I had to have those guys,” McBride says in a news release. “Now, one thing that seems to be my ‘Achilles heel’ with any band that I’ve had during my career is the piano chair, simply because everyone’s working all the time. But the X-Man, Xavier Davis, came in and did such a fantastic job.”
McBride’s interest in writing and arranging with a performer in mind is a trait that has been integral to the success of many great leaders of large ensembles, the most notable being the Duke Ellington Orchestra, with Ellington writing for specific musicians. McBride believes that philosophy works in his big band as well.
“Once you get the guys that you want, then you can write and arrange accordingly,” McBride said. “I’ve done that with all of my small groups. With the big band material, I had Steve Wilson in mind for Brother Mister; you’ve got Shake ‘n Blake that I wrote for Ron Blake. That song actually started out as a duo between he and I, but I thought it would work well for big band, so I just took the time to expand it; I just thought that song would be perfect for him. And I’m already hearing material that would be specifically suited for Michael Dease in the future. I think that’s what all the great band leaders have done – write music with the guys that you have in your band in mind. Because you know what will work.”


Categories
jazz Latin latin jazz Sammy Figueroa Senator Records United States world

Sammy Figueroa & Latin Jazz Explosion to release “Urban Nature” on Aug. 30, 2011

Percussionist Sammy Figueroa has not only has become a successful leader in his own right, but is also one of the most exciting artists in Latin Jazz today. In a recent news release, Figueroa calls Urban Nature, his third recording with his twice Grammy nominated band, The Latin Jazz Explosion, “the most satisfying record we’ve ever done. It truly reflects my personality.” Urban Nature also marks a new beginning – this is his debut album on Senator Records, an imprint created for Sammy in cooperation between Berlin’s Senator Entertainment and Ashé Records.

“The Latin feel in jazz has been around since jazz began,” Figueroa said. “It’s all about the rhythm, the movement and certain swing. When you hear it, you don’t have to be Latin to like it. It just does something to your system that one cannot explain. On this album, we had the opportunity to successfully combine the joy of Latin rhythms with the sophistication of jazz harmonics. I hope the listener will enjoy this music as much as we have playing and recording it.”

Urban Nature is a salute to the creativity that Sammy, a native New Yorker, has experienced during his time in Miami. The album’s kinetic cover photo, taken in motion on the causeway between Miami Beach and the mainland, reflects this message, and the music’s combination of earthy rhythms and heady harmonies, carries it forward.
After two decades as New York’s number-one percussionist, recording and performing with artists such as Miles Davis, the Brecker Brothers, Sonny Rollins (with whom he is currently touring) and pop stars David Bowie, Chaka Khan, and Mariah Carey to name a few, Sammy was ready for a change. He moved to South Florida where, between the extraordinary Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a community of excellent musicians from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Argentina, he discovered a vibrant Latin jazz scene, rich with musical opportunities.
Gathering together some of the best players in town, Sammy and his band made their debut at the Hollywood Jazz Festival in 2002. He hasn’t looked back since. The band’s first two albums, And Sammy Walked In and The Magician, each received Grammy nominations for Best Latin Jazz Album and their exciting performances have gained them enthusiastic fans throughout the United States and Europe.
The Latin Jazz Explosion features the brilliant pianist Silvano Monasterios and accomplished bassist Gabriel Vivas (both from Venezuela), Alex Pope Norris on trumpet, saxophonist John Michalak and the young Puerto Rican drummer Nomar Negroni. On Urban Nature, the group is joined by special guests Ed Calle on sax, Mike Orta on piano and Venezuelan percussionist José Gregorio Hernandez.

Categories
jazz Kyle Eastwood performances releases Rendezvous Music world

Bassist Kyle Eastwood to release “Songs from the Chateau” on Aug. 30 on

These days, Kyle Eastwood is less and less known as the son of Clint Eastwood and more of a universally respected musician and leader in his own right. A virtuoso bassist on electric and upright, as well as a talented composer with a keen ear for great tunes and the subtleties of modern jazz, he is right at the forefront of the contemporary scene, having chosen to immerse himself in the music he loves. Dynamic and pulsing, full of swing, great rhythms and memorable melodies, Songs from the Chateau is Eastwood’s fourth U.S. effort on Rendezvous Music (licensed from Candid Records – one of the leading independent jazz labels in the UK). 


When he is not on tour, Eastwood spends much of his time between Paris, where he has lived on and off for five years, and Los Angeles and is very much at home in France; Eastwood’s preceding release on Rendezvous, Metropolitain, was also recorded in France, so it was natural to look there for an ideal place where he and his musicians could relax for a few days and allow their creative juices to flow. Such a place turned out to be the fabulous 15th Century Couronneau in Ligueux, deep in classic Bordeaux country, and Songs from the Chateau was born. To capture the authentic sound of the all-star band Eastwood has on display, producer Crofton Orr and the engineering of Simone Griva were enlisted. Also on board was long time collaborator Michael Stevens (cowriter with Eastwood on the scores for films including “Changeling” and “Gran Torino”).

Although it was recorded in Bordeaux, most of the record was written on the road and at rehearsals while Eastwood and his band were on tour in the spring and summer of 2010. As the tour progressed, so did arrangements and concepts for the album. By the time they got to recording at Chateau Couronneau, the band was already very comfortable with the music and was free to let the beautiful setting inspire them.

Eastwood said in a news release, “The whole idea of the project was to have a little break after the tour was over and take our time and record in a very relaxed way. We went in and recorded the way we would usually play a gig and I think this album really captures the way this band plays and interacts musically in a live setting.”

There’s a simple explanation as to why this group meshes so well together. Eastwood has been carefully developing this band for years; the most recent addition to the group has already been with the band for four years. “Some of my favorite albums in jazz were made by musicians who stayed together and developed this kind of group feeling and that is something that has always been important to me,” he said.

Categories
Concord Jazz jazz releases Terri Lyne Carrington The Mosaic Project United States

Producer/Composer Terri Lyne Carrington releases The Mosaic Project on Concord Jazz

According to a news release, Hebert-Carrington Media co-founder Terri Lyne Carrington has released her visionary musical odyssey entitled The Mosaic Project (Carrington’s fifth album overall and her first on Concord Jazz).
Carrington, a veteran producer and composer, is joined by Esperanza Spalding, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nona Hendryx, Cassandra Wilson, Helen Sung, Tineke Postma, Geri Allen, Patrice Rushen, Ingrid Jensen, Sheila E. and Gretchen Parlato, with special appearances by iconic figures such as the legendary Angela Davis.
Since her debut in 1989, Carrington has established a reputation for assembling artists of varying styles into an eclectic brand of jazz that incorporates elements of bebop, soul, funk and much more. The Grammy-nominated artist creates music that adheres to the traditions of jazz yet speaks to a much broader and more diverse audience. Carrington brings this same diverse sensibility to The Mosaic Project, an album that once again gathers a myriad of voices and crystallizes them into a multi-faceted whole that far outweighs the sum of its parts.
“The Mosaic Project is a beautiful gathering of great female artists,” Carrington said. “Though it is my project, it is the personalities, the lives, and the talent of all of these women that make this project so special and indeed a group offering and unique statement we made together based on common, yet diverse, points of view.”

Categories
2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award arts jazz Jazz at Lincoln Center National Endowment for the Arts New York United States

National Endowment for the Arts announces the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award recipients

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced via news release the recipients of the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award – the nation’s highest honor in jazz. The five recipients will receive a one-time award of $25,000 and be publicly honored at the annual awards ceremony and concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center at its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
With this class, the NEA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the NEA Jazz Masters Awards, which recognizes outstanding musicians for their lifetime achievements and significant contributions to the development and performance of jazz.
The 2012 NEA Jazz Masters are:
Jack DeJohnette, Drummer, Keyboardist, Composer
(born in Chicago, IL; lives in Willow, NY)
Von Freeman, Saxophonist
(born in Chicago, IL; lives in Chicago, IL)
Charlie Haden, Bassist, Composer, Educator
(born in Shenandoah, IA; lives in Agoura Hills, CA)
Sheila Jordan, Vocalist, Educator
                        (born in Detroit, MI; lives in Middleburgh, NY and New York, NY)
*Jimmy Owens, Educator, Trumpeter, Flugelhorn Player, Composer, Arranger
(born in Bronx, NY; lives in New York, NY)
*Jimmy Owens is the recipient of the 2012 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
“These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman in a news release. “Through their contributions, we have been challenged, enlightened, and charmed, and we thank them for devoting their careers to expanding and supporting their art forms.”
“Jazz is considered by many as one of America’s greatest cultural gifts to the world,” said Wayne S. Brown, NEA Director of Music and Opera. “These artists are being recognized for their extraordinary contribution to advancing the art form and for serving as mentors for a new generation of young aspiring jazz musicians.”

The NEA Jazz Masters awards were announced in conjunction with the announcement of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships and NEA Opera Honors recipients. Please go to arts.gov for the list of these recipients.
Categories
Baltimore jazz Mack Avenue Records perfomances releases United States Warren Wolf

Multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf to release self-titled project on Mack Avenue Records on Aug. 16

The release of Warren Wolf, the eponymous debut album for Mack Avenue Records by Warren Wolf on August 16, will make it as apparent to jazz fans as it already is to jazz insiders that the 31-year-old vibraphonist is the next major voice on his instrument. 

Joined by a unit of authoritative swingers (bassist Christian McBride, pianist Peter Martin, drummer Greg Hutchinson, alto and soprano saxophonist Tim Green, and, on two tracks, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt), vibraphonist Warren Wolf, 31, offers a ten-piece program that admirably represents his singular blend of efflorescent chops, muscular attack, lyric sensibility, harmonic acumen, encyclopedic knowledge of hardcore jazz vocabulary, tireless groove and downright musicality.

“I’m trying to bring forth what most cats did back in the day, coming out right at you swinging, nice and hard, not a lot of hard melodies or weird time signatures,” Wolf said in a recent news release. “I like to play really hard, fast and kind of flashy. I like to take it to a whole other level.”
“What he does on vibes is pretty incredible,” said McBride, Wolf’s employer since 2007 in the Inside Straight band and co-producer of this album along with Mack Avenue EVP of A&R, Al Pryor. “You can’t hear Warren and not be highly impressed. Give him some music to learn, he pretty much has it committed to memory in a matter of minutes. In a couple of days, he has it on the piano. Then suddenly, he’s internalizing every part of the music-the melody, the chord changes, the song’s overall personality.” You’re listening to him, thinking, ‘Yeah, that’s what I had in mind.'”
Born and raised in Baltimore, where he currently resides, Wolf is less widely known to “civilians” than his bona fides would merit. Still, he’s anything but a newcomer on the scene. In addition to two self-released recordings and two dates for the Japanese market on which he tears through producer-selected repertoire with panache and an informed point of view, his CV includes gigs with such eminent veterans as McBride, Bobby Watson, Mulgrew Miller and Tim Warfield, and recent encounters with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the George Coleman-Joey DeFrancesco Quartet and a Music of the Modern Jazz Quartet project led by pianist Aaron Diehl, the 2011 American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship winner. He also leads a strong working unit with Green, pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Kris Funn and drummer John Lamkin.

“I don’t think there’s anything Warren can’t handle,” McBride said. “My dream for him is that he eventually gets to collaborate with the super-duper heavyweights. I can’t wait to see where he’ll go next.”


Categories
classic jazz jazz Mitch Winehouse performances releases swing United Kingdom world

United Kingdom jazz vocalist Mitch Winehouse releases debut “Rush of Love”

At age 60, United Kingdom jazz vocalist Mitch Winehouse is turning a life-long ambition into reality, showcasing his in-depth knowledge and sheer passion for jazz and swing music with a 11-track debut called “Rush of Love,” featuring a host of rarely uncovered classics as well as four brand-new tracks.


“We love singing in our family” Winehouse said in a recent news release, “I was always singing at home. But this is a dream come true and musically, it’s a great album.” Despite his own undeniable music talent, Mitch is also realistic about the assumptions that will be made about his newfound career choice: “If Amy wasn’t my daughter I wouldn’t be given this opportunity. I’m not stupid, I know that. But if I couldn’t sing I wouldn’t have been given the opportunity either.”

Teaming up with old family friend Tony Hiller, writer of ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ and hundreds of other jazz and pop standards, was another logical step for Mitch who has, quite obviously, had the time of his life researching and compiling his music debut. “I had such a good time making this album,” Winehouse said. “We tried 40 songs we loved and worked through them with a pianist. If it didn’t work for us, we moved on, but just reliving them was enough.”

The album features the 1931 Bing Crosby classic ‘I Apologize’, and ‘Day by Day’, also later recorded by Crosby in 1946 as well as by Doris Day in the same year. ‘You Go To My Head’ has been re-worked by such fans ranging from Billie Holiday to Rod Stewart. Finally, the popular ‘April In Paris,’ taken from the 1932 Broadway musical ‘Walk A Little Faster’ and later performed by the likes of Louis Armstrong, is given the Mitch makeover.


Categories
jazz Jimmy Amadie performances Philadelphia piano United States

Philadelphia jazz pianist Jimmy Amadie to release “Something Special” on August 16

Philadelphia icon Jimmy Amadie returns to the spotlight with a new project called “Something Special” on Aug. 16, 2011, and he will make his first public performance since 1967 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at 5:45 p.m.  and 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14.
Amadie, 74, has battled many struggles over the years, but he is happy to share his love of music with his fans. 
“This is the best time of my life,” Amadie said in a news release. “I’m 74 years old and I’m getting better every day.”
Amadie’s story has been recounted often since his miraculous return to the piano bench in the mid-1990s, but it bears repeating. The North Philadelphia native was a promising young pianist in the 1950s, accompanying the likes of Mel Torme, Woody Herman and Red Rodney, when his performing career was brought to an abrupt halt by severe tendonitis in both hands. Playing the piano suddenly became sheer agony, and Amadie was reduced to improvising only in his head for the next 35 years. 
He managed to maintain an influential presence on jazz through those decades thanks to his own teaching (students included Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Di Martino and famed TV composer Edd Kalehoff) and the publication of two highly-regarded instructional volumes: Harmonic Foundation for Jazz and Popular Music and Jazz Improv: How To Play It and Teach It. His own belated recording debut finally arrived in 1995, thanks to a series of surgeries and his own indomitable fighting spirit.
Just as his luck seemed to be improving he was faced with a further setback. Following the 2007 recording of The Philadelphia Story, he was diagnosed with lung cancer; having reached the summit of one mountain, he suddenly found himself at the base of another.

Something Special is, in many ways, a direct result of that diagnosis. Most people are forced to reassess their priorities when confronted with a life-threatening illness; for Amadie, the cancer, which he continues to battle successfully, helped him come to the decision of recording his first trio session.
“I didn’t know if I was going to get another chance to play,” Amadie said. “I decided to give it my best shot and play without holding back. I’m glad I did. I can’t tell you what I learned.”