Category: United States

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

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date August 9, 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.

Black Smoke Music Worldwide/EPM Earnest Pugh gospel music releases United States

Vocalist Earnest Pugh climbs to #2 on Billboard Hot Gospel Songs Chart with radio single “I Need Your Glory”

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date August 8, 2011

Earnest Pugh

Gospel music artists Earnest Pugh, has placed four songs on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart over the last two years, including his No. 1 single in 2009 “Rain on Us.” Now, Pugh is poised to take the top slot again as his current radio hit “I Need Your Glory” climbs to #2 on next week’s Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart.
Pugh’s latest CD, Earnestly Yours (Black Smoke Music Worldwide/EPM), recently debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart for two weeks.
Pugh, a Memphis native (now living in the Washington, D.C. area) who was mentored by the late gospel great O’Landa Draper (who’s choir The Associates backed Billy Joel on his “River of Dreams” video in 1993), released his first solo CD in 2006 and showed off his five-octave vocals on the radio hit “Wrapped Up, Tied Up, Tangled Up.” After years of making respectable forays into gospel, Pugh finally hit it big in 2009 with “Rain on Us.” For more information, go to www.earnestpugh.com or www.mrkerrydouglas.com.

Christian McBride jazz Mack Avenue Records releases United States

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

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date August 3, 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.”

Bartlesville Oklahoma Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame Steve Goforth tulsa United States

Steve Goforth and Covenant Brass performs Sunday at Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 29, 2011

Steve Goforth

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame presents Steve Goforth and Covenant Brass at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 31, 2011 at the Jazz Depot, 111 E First St. (Upper Level), Tulsa, OK.
Trumpet and flugelhorn player Steve Goforth leads a brass quartet that not only plays jazz, but also performs classical and popular tunes. Goforth has played trumpet with the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra since 2001 and has been a professor of jazz studies at Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma City University.
General admission is $15; $10 for seniors and students and free for kids under 12. Reservations at the front tables are also available for $20. For tickets and more information, call (918) 281-8609. Click here to order tickets online: http://www.myticketoffice.com/events.asp?id=11&searchtext=1892&expand=yes

Bryan Wilson gospel United States Veda Brown

Gospel singer Bryan Wilson congratulates entrepreneur Veda Brown at concert

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 28, 2011

Veda Brown and Bryan Wilson. Photo by Bill Carpenter

Dove/Stellar Award nominated singer Bryan Wilson congratulates entrepreneur Veda Brown at the 10th anniversary celebration concert for her BlackGospelPromo.com e-blast and marketing service at the Impacting Your World Christian Church in Cherry Hill, NJ, on July 25, 2011. Wilson has performed alongside other gospel heavyweights such as Vickie Winans, Kurt Carr and Lonnie Hunter & Structure.

jazz Latin latin jazz Sammy Figueroa Senator Records United States world

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

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 21, 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.

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame performances swing tulsa United States western

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame presents “A Salute to Curly Lewis: Texas Western Swing Reunion” on July 21

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 20, 2011

Curly Lewis

The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, 111 E. First St. (Upper Level) in Tulsa, OK, will play a tribute at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21, 2011, to Curly Lewis, the only sideman immortalized on the Cain’s Ballroom Walk of Fame.
Lewis lent his fiddle and vocal talent to many of the greatest western-swing bands in history, including Hank Thompson, Leon McAuliffe, Bob Wills, and Tulsa’s own Johnnie Lee Wills.
In 1936, Lewis beat all the competition — both kids and adults — in a fiddling contest sponsored by Bob at Tulsa’s Avery Coliseum. He was only 11 then, but his career path had been set. After playing local radio shows (and bars for tips) during his teen years, Lewis joined Johnnie Lee Wills and His Boys, who’d taken over Bob Wills’ daily broadcasts at the Cain’s.
The tribute concert, led by trombonist Steve Ham, will feature songs made famous by the bands Lewis graced, along with a few surprises. Many of the musicians in this first-class tribute group, assembled byHam, have known and played with Lewis for many years.
Tickets are $15 and can be obtained by calling (918) 281-8609 or go online to http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=2762&pid=7071478.

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

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

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 19, 2011

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.”

Donald Lawrence gospel music releases United States

Grammy Award Winner Donald Lawrence releases new CD YRM: Your Righteous Mind on Aug. 9, 2011

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 19, 2011

Grammy Award winning producer, composer and recording artist Donald Lawrence and his dynamic support ensemble, Co., return to retail shelves with a new CD entitled, YRM: Your Righteous Mind (Verity Gospel Music Group/ Quiet Water), on August 9, 2011. Over the past two decades, Lawrence has dazzled audiences as the front man for the now retired Tri-City Singers, while carrying on a solo career that has produced radio hits such as the #1 smash “Back II Eden” and “Healed.”
On YRM, Lawrence blends the classicism of traditional gospel music and retro soul grooves with uplifting, messages of self-affirmation and practical exercises of faith. “Spiritual,” a bass heavy old school soul-styled groove is currently #17 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. Among the collection’s highlights are the upbeat mantra “YRM (Your Righteous Mind)” featuring Dorinda Clark Cole; the smooth “We Agree” with Israel Houghton; The “I Am” Factor sermonette by Zimbabwe’s charismatic Bishop Tudor Bismark; siblings Tobbi White Darks and Tommi White’s rousing makeover of Chaka Khan’s 1984 hit “Through the Fire”; and a spirited update of Lawrence’s mentor – the late Bishop Walter Hawkins’ 1984 gem “When the Battle is Over.”
YRM is a continuum of what he’s been preaching for years. “This project really doesn’t differ from my past ones,” he says in a news release. “I want to continue to teach, through song, spiritual principles and laws based on scriptures.”
Lawrence and Co. are doing in-store appearances such as J&R in New York City on Friday, Aug. 12 and a Dallas performance at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Manpower conference on the Aug. 13. They will be joined by special guest artists for a full concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14 on the main stage during Central Park’s Summer Stage concert series. Lawrence will also appear on BET’s flagship gospel television program, “Bobby Jones Gospel” and a special episode of TV One’s “One on One with Cathy Hughes.” There’s also a Sirius XM Satellite Radio in-studio concert in the works for the Praise Channel 64.The Chicago-based Lawrence began his career as a music director for R&B legend Stephanie Mills and vocal coach for En Vogue. In the mid 1990s, he made headlines as the leader of the Grammy-nominated Tri-City Singers choir that enjoyed a dozen radio hits such as “The Blessing of Abraham,” “The Best is Yet to Come” and “Encourage Yourself.” In 2004, Lawrence launched a solo career that has included signature songs such as “Back II Eden” and “Healed.” Since 2007, Lawrence has served as spokesman for Verizon Wireless’ “How Sweet The Sound” national gospel choir talent competition.

Bishop T.D. Jakes gospel releases rhythm and blues Shirley Murdock The Journey Tyscot Records United States

Singer Shirley Murdock collaborates with Bishop T.D. Jakes on radio single “Dream”

Post author By mitchmuse
Post date July 13, 2011

Veteran soul and gospel vocalist Shirley Murdock is on a journey just as the title of her forthcoming release The Journey (Tyscot Records) suggests.

Back in the ’80s, Murdock set out to become a gospel singer, but her path led to becoming a back-up singer for the funk band, Zapp.

Bandleader Roger Troutman eventually snagged Murdock a record deal with Elektra Records, where she recorded Top 10 R&B hits such as “As We Lay,” “Go on Without You,” “Husband” and “In Your Eyes.” In 2002, renowned evangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes made Murdock’s lifelong dream of recording a gospel CD come true when he released her first gospel album, Home.

Jakes has now made another dream come true for Murdock. A while back, he launched a “Back to the Bible” conference. When Murdock’s husband and songwriting partner, Dale DeGroat, heard about it, he wondered if there was a theme song for it.
“Dale e-mailed Bishop one evening and shared some ideas with him about a song,” said Murdock, in a recent news release. (Murdock first collaborated with Jakes on his 1999 Sacred Love Songs set.)
“By 8 a.m. the next morning, Bishop had e-mailed Dale some incredible lyrics. If you’ve ever sat down and talked to Bishop … OMG, then, you know his words are so full of wisdom, knowledge and revelation.”
So DeGroat and Murdock took those lyrics, added music and crafted a new radio single, “Dream.”
“The song is anointed because it’s full of the word,” Murdock says of the inspiring ballad of hope and perseverance. “It’s like the voice of God speaking directly to your spirit, reminding you, that He’s not a man that He should lie…if He spoke it, will He not do it? This song will stir up and rekindle that word, that’s been spoken into your spirit and remind you that your dream can not…will not die.”
The song is one of 12 musical chestnuts that Murdock either wrote or co-wrote for The Journey, produced by Kevin Bond (who’s produced Yolanda Adams and Marvin Sapp) and recorded live at The Broadcast Group Complex in Charlotte, NC. R&B singers Kelly Price, Regina Belle and gospel powerhouse Beverly Crawford performed with Murdock on various tracks.
The Journey will be released Oct. 8, 2011, and is Murdock’s second gospel project with Tyscot Records. For more information on Murdock, go to www.tyscot.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-Murdock/138053567564.