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jazz music performances releases United States

Guitarist/composer Bill Horvitz pays homage to late brother on latest album

billhorvitzEight years after his brother’s untimely death, guitarist and composer Bill Horvitz pays homage to Philip with his latest release, The Long Walk, set for national release, April 2.  Special tribute performances are being planned for the San Francisco Bay Area (March) as well as New York (June).

The Long Walk is a suite of eight pieces composed by Bill Horvitz for the 17-piece Bill Horvitz Expanded Band as a tribute to his youngest brother Philip Horvitz, who passed away suddenly of a heart failure in 2005 at the age of 44. Philip was an inspired writer, director, actor, dancer, and choreographer, who worked primarily in San Francisco and New York. The music includes a wide range of styles drawing on jazz, funk, folk, and new music. The compositions are tightly composed and arranged and contain sections of conducted improvisation. Each piece relates in some way to a part of Philip’s life.

After Philip died, Horvitz wanted to compose music as a tribute to him, and about a year after his death, began hearing the beginnings of new compositions that felt in different ways related to Philip’s life. As Horvitz worked tirelessly on his compositions, the music evolved and he began adding instruments. The resulting pieces are a collection of jazz, rock, folk, classical, and funk-influenced works that have come out of the enormous range of emotions Horvitz has felt since his brother’s untimely death.

“I did not compose this music with literal ideas about Philip in mind, but found elements that related to him as each piece grew,” Horvitz said in a news release. For example, “Child Star” with all the appropriate fanfares, refers to a time very early in Philip’s life when he often performed for his family, “Philip would create theatrical pieces, command performances based on Broadway musicals, for which he printed and sold tickets. He would dance in the living room and lip sync or sing along with recordings, all highly choreographed and rehearsed to a tee.”

Bill Horvitz has spent nearly 40 years combining composition and improvisation and expanding the voice of the guitar in both large and small ensembles. Between 1978 and 1988, he lived and worked in New York City, where he worked with a long list of composers and musicians. Horvitz’ lengthy and varied experience in the realms of jazz, rock, classical, folk, and new music have resulted in an entirely original compositional voice-a voice that is forceful and innovative, yet always intelligently accessible. As a guitarist, Horvitz stretches the boundaries of guitar music and points it in new and exciting directions. He fuses traditional and extended techniques in a most inventive way; his strikingly personal instrumental vision endows his music with an infinite array of tonal color.

In addition to leading and playing in The Bill Horvitz Expanded Band, since 2004, he has sung and played guitar, banjo, and ukulele with TONE BENT, a folk duo with his wife, composer, musician and singer Robin Eschner. Their first release, Say What You Will, has been described as “a roaring ride through the heartland of human experience.” They’re second release Angels In the Kitchen will be released in the spring of 2013. Horvitz also leads and composes for the instrumental trio, The Skerries, with bassist Scott Walton and drummer Tom Hayashi. He is a founding member of Take Jack, a nine-member vocal and instrumental band and has composed music for theater, film, dance, art installation, and spoken word.

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gospel music United States

Funeral details confirmed for founding member Cleotha Staples in Chicago

Cleotha Staples
Cleotha Staples

Funeral services have been confirmed for Cleotha ‘Cleedi’ Staples (a founding member of the pioneering folk-gospel group, The Staple Singers), who died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease, on Feb. 21, 2013.

“We will keep on,” Mavis Staples says of her sisters’ death in a news release. “Yvonne and I will continue singing to keep our father’s legacy and our sister’s legacy alive.  I just finished my second record with Jeff Tweedy, and it will be dedicated to my dear Cleedi’s memory.”

The viewing takes place at 6 p.m. Thursday Feb. 28 at Leak & Sons Funeral Home, 7838 South Cottage Grove, Chicago. The funeral service takes place at 10 a.m. Friday March 1 at Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 W 95th Street, Chicago. The burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Ms. Staples will be buried in the Staples family plot alongside her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples; her mother, Oceola Staples; and her sister, Cynthia Staples.

The Staple Singers burst on the national scene in 1956 with the Vee Jay Records hit “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again.” With Pops’ blues-influenced guitar, Cleotha’s bright high notes, Pervis’ falsetto and Mavis rich contralto, they were on their way to stardom. They became one of the biggest gospel outfits of the era and turned out best-selling gospel classics such as “On My Way to Heaven,” “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” “Don’t Knock,” “Pray On” and their signature hit, “Uncloudy Day,” generally accepted to be the first gospel record to sell one million copies.

In the ’60s, the group began to record inspirational mainstream music such as “For What It’s Worth” and “Why? (Am I Treated So Bad).”  By 1968, they had moved on to Stax records where they enjoyed a steady run of Top 40 hits like “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom Yeah)” and “Touch a Hand, Make a Friend” (1974).  The iconic million-seller “I’ll Take You There” spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart and four weeks at that spot on the R&B singles chart. The group also earned other million-sellers such as “Respect Yourself” (1971), “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)” (1973) and “Let’s Do It Again” (1975). The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and they also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Cleotha is survived by her siblings Pervis, Yvonne and Mavis; her dedicated caretakers Penny and Sushi; and a loving and wonderful extended family of nieces, nephews and treasured friends.

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arts jazz music performances releases United States world

Terri Lyne Carrington pays homage to Duke Ellington’s “Money Jungle”

In 1962, Duke Ellington recorded a trio date with bassist Charlie Mingus and drummer Max Roach that is today considered one of the pivotal jazz recordings of the 1960s. Money Jungle, the 1963 album that emerged from the session, was – among other things – a commentary on the perennial tug-of-war between art and commerce. In some ways, the album’s 11 tracks were intended as a sort of counterbalance to the capitalist bent of the Mad Men generation.

Fifty years later, this precarious balance in the world of jazz – or in any art form, for that matter – hasn’t changed much. Enter Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington, who enlists the aid of two high-profile collaborators – keyboardist Gerald Clayton and bassist Christian McBride – to pay tribute to Duke, his trio and his creative vision with a cover of this historic recording. Carrington’s Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue was released by Concord Jazz on Feb. 5, 2013.

Duke’s original recording is something that has haunted Carrington since she first heard it about a decade ago. “I had bought it on CD, from the discount bin in a music store,” she says in a news release. “I put it on in my car, and I immediately just felt something mysterious about it. There was just an energy that moved through the tracks. Duke and Charles and Max had a chemistry about them. There was this tension that you could hear, and yet they fit together like a hand in a glove.”

In preparation for the project, Carrington read up on Duke’s biography. “I felt like a method actor, she says. “I just dug as deep as I could in the time that I had to get a glimpse of his perspective on things. When you start rearranging music by someone like Duke Ellington, you better feel really good about what you’re doing. In the end, I felt confident that I didn’t do him a disservice, because he was a very open-minded artist, and he was very much about moving forward.”

Carrington considers her Money Jungle – like its predecessor – primarily a trio album, but she’s not averse to some enhancement and additional textures along the way. Helping out with the rearrangements and reinterpretations is an impressive list of guest artists: trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Robin Eubanks, reed players Tia Fuller and Antonio Hart, guitarist Nir Felder, percussionist Arturo Stabile and vocalists Shea Rose and Lizz Wright. Herbie Hancock appears in a spoken word segment as the voice of Duke Ellington.

The music of Duke’s Money Jungle may have first emerged a half-century ago, but “there’s nothing old about great music and great musicians,” says Carrington, who sees her own Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue as addressing some of the same issues as its 1963 predecessor. “There’s always something that’s new, if you know how to listen to it. You have to be able to appreciate the past if you want to have a future. I think that’s a big part of our job as artists and entertainers and educators – to keep reminding the younger musicians how important our predecessors were – especially the people who made the music what it is today. So it was my goal to bring some fresh light and fresh energy to some of Duke’s music in general and this recording in particular.”

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gospel music United States world

Cleotha Staples of the legendary Staple Singers dies at 78

Left to right: Cleotha, Yvonne and Mavis Staples. Roebuck “Pops” Staples is seated. Photo Provided - 1984 .
Left to right: Cleotha, Yvonne and Mavis Staples. Roebuck “Pops” Staples is seated. Photo Provided – 1984.

According to a recent news release, Cleotha ‘Cleedi’ Staples, a founding member of the pioneering folk-gospel group, The Staple Singers, has died at age 78. She had battled Alzheimer’s disease for the last decade and passed away peacefully at her Chicago home on Feb. 21, 2013.

Staples was born April 11, 1934 in Drew, Mississippi.  She was the first-born child of Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his wife, Oceola.  The family moved to Chicago in 1936 for better job opportunities. In the Windy City, siblings Pervis, Yvonne, Mavis and Cynthia were born. Pops worked a variety of manual labor jobs during the day, and Oceola worked at the Morrison Hotel at night. To entertain the children in the evening, Pops began to teach them gospel songs while he strummed along on his $10 guitar. His sister Katie enjoyed the sing-a-longs so much that she arranged for the family to sing at her church one Sunday morning in 1948.  The family was called out for three encores and more than $7 was raised in the offering basket.  Pops realized the family group had a future, and The Staple Singers were born.

The group began to sing on WTAQ 1360 AM radio and made its first recording with “These Are They” for Pops’ own Royal Records in 1953. They then recorded for United Records before striking gold with Vee Jay Records where they recorded “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again” in 1956. With Pops’ blues-influenced guitar, Cleotha’s bright high notes, Pervis’ falsetto and Mavis rich contralto, they were on their way to stardom. They became one of the biggest gospel outfits of the era and turned out best-selling gospel classics such as “On My Way to Heaven,” “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” “Don’t Knock,” “Pray On” and their signature hit, “Uncloudy Day,” generally accepted to be the first gospel record to sell one million copies.

The family became active in the Civil Rights movement after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL in 1962 while on tour, and they often performed at events at the request of Dr. King.  As they became immersed in the Movement, their music broadened from gospel music to more mainstream material.  In 1963 they became the first black recording artists to cover a Bob Dylan song (“Blowin’ in the Wind”), and they also recorded songs of protest such as “For What It’s Worth,” “Freedom Highway” and “Why? (Am I Treated So Bad).”  By 1968, when Pervis had left the group for the Army, and Yvonne Staples took his place, they began to record for Stax Records, home of southern soul stars such as Otis Redding, Booker T. & The MGs and Sam & Dave.

At Stax, the Staples enjoyed a run of Top 40 hits, becoming known as “God’s greatest hitmakers” with such songs as “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom Yeah)” (1971), “This World” (1972), “Oh La De Da” (1973), “Touch a Hand, Make a Friend” (1974) and “City in the Sky” (1974).  The iconic million-seller “I’ll Take You There” spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart and four weeks at that spot on the R&B singles chart. The group also earned two other million-sellers at Stax with “Respect Yourself” (1971) and “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)” (1973).

Although Pops and Mavis usually handled vocal leads on Staple Singers songs, Cleotha was featured with Eddie Floyd (of “Knock on Wood” fame) on “It’s Too Late” from the 1969 Stax Records duets LP Boy Meets Girl.  Her velvety soprano was powerful and dynamic on the bluesy ballad about a lost love.  She also appeared with her family’s group in Ghana in 1971 at the Soul To Soul concert, appearing along with Wilson Pickett, Ike & Tina Turner and Santana; at the historic 1972 Wattstax festival in Los Angeles and in Martin Scorsese’s landmark 1978 concert film “The Last Waltz,” in which Ms. Staples and her family sang “The Weight” with The Band.  The Soul To Soul concert and the Wattstax Festival, known as “the Black Woodstock,” have both been the subject of recent documentaries.

The Staple Singers moved to Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label in the mid-1970’s, where they scored another No. 1 smash, “Let’s Do It Again,” in December 1975 before signing with Warner Bros. Records.

Cleotha’s last recordings were with the Staple Singers for backing sessions on Abbey Lincoln’s Devil Got Your Tongue CD (1993) and Pops Staples’ two solo albums, Peace to the Neighborhood (1992) and the GRAMMY Award-winning Father Father (1994).  After Pops died in 2000, the Staple Singers ceased to perform as a group.

Ms. Staples was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her family in 1999 and also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

Cleotha is survived by her siblings Pervis, Yvonne and Mavis, her dedicated caretakers Penny and Sushi, and a loving and wonderful extended family of nieces, nephews and treasured friends.

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arts jazz music performances releases United States

John Hollenbeck to release new CD “Songs I Like a Lot” on Jan. 29

John Hollenbeck didn’t seek out popular music when he was kid, but it was always there, and it became an undeniable part of him. Songs I Like a Lot (to be released Jan. 29 on Sunnyside Records) is an album on which the adventurous and internationally renowned composer, esteemed for his ability to strike upon new sounds, turns instead toward familiar forms, and weaves other peoples’ songs into his own unique tapestry.

Growing up in Binghamton, New York, Hollenbeck frequently heard “Wichita Lineman,” a song originally by pop writer Jimmy Webb, as sung by one of his father’s favorite pop balladeers Glen Campbell. Although he was more interested in music that sounded new to him, Webb’s songwriting left an indelible impression. For Songs I Like a Lot, Hollenbeck scoured his memory in search of songs that had similarly become inextricable from his musical outlook. He compiled a big list, and whittled it down with help from vocalists Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry, who are featured on the album, along with pianist Gary Versace.

Commissioned by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, who also recorded the album, Songs I Like a Lot became an exhibition of imaginatively remolded songs from a diverse array of musical worlds. The album contains covers of songs by Jimmy Webb, avant-garde saxophonist Ornette Coleman, the power pop band Queen, sound artists Nobukazu Takemura and Imogen Heap, and the traditional Appalachian ballad “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Broad in their stylistic range, the songs have each carved out a distinct path, and are now connected by having been cast anew with Hollenbeck’s dexterous hand.

John Hollenbeck, the drummer and composer who, according to the New York Times, “inhabits a world of gleaming modernity,” has developed a career based on fusing jazz, classical minimalism, rock, and avant-garde music. He has stunned jazz audiences with his work in Claudia Quintet, and is a rising star in new music circles thanks to his collaborations with vocalist Meredith Monk, and for pieces commissioned by Bang on a Can and the People’s commissioning fund, Ethos Percussion Group funded by the Jerome Foundation, Youngstown State University, Gotham Wind Symphony, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and the University of Rochester.

Past projects for the Grammy-nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble have featured renderings of other composers’ works, such as “Foreign One,” a track from the album External Interlude that flips and gnarls the themes from pianist Thelonious Monk’s “Four in One.” On Songs I Like a Lot, the approach is different:

“Usually when I arrange, I totally dissect and put the piece back together in my own way,” Hollenback said in a news release. “But this time, I knew the song must be intact and recognizable, so that was the challenge. Some pieces are close to the originals, and I concentrated on orchestration, and giving them a different twist. Others are far away, but still maintain the essence of the original.”

Despite the challenge of having to maintain the structure of the songs he arranges, Hollenbeck manages to treat each piece with his inimitable style, replete with lush and tightly dissonant chords, glimmering as a result of using woodwinds such as flutes and clarinets intermingled with brass instruments. The machine-like repetitive rhythms, inspired by the motoric pulses of minimalism, give the music a sense of unfaltering motion and direction.

The results are songs that are no less familiar, moving, or catchy than they were in their original states. Instead, they unfold dramatically and unexpectedly, and are permeated with grand gestures and subtle overlapping textures that draw out and increase the overall intensity without tampering with the songs’ driving cores. As Hollenbeck says of Songs I Like a Lot, “all I can say is that this music is still pop to me… and I’m not trying to unpop it.”

 

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arts jazz music performances United States

Pianist Aaron Diehl to perform “The Music of John Lewis” via live webcast at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola

Aaron Diehl

According to a news release, Aaron Diehl will be performing two sets of “The Music of John Lewis”  via live webcast at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. in support of upcoming Mack Avenue Records debut, The Bespoke Man’s Narrative. This performance is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Birth of the Cool Festival. Joining him will be Warren Wolf, vibraphone; David Wong, bass; and Rodney Green, drums. Special guests are the MIJA String Quartet.

 Fans can view the Live Webcast Here or see the performance live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, 10 Columbus Circle #5, in Manhattan, NY.

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jazz music performances releases United States

Composer/saxophonist Joshua Kwassman spins tale of friendship on debut album

Joshua Kwassman. Photo Credit: Amanda M. Hatfield
Joshua Kwassman. Photo Credit: Amanda M. Hatfield

The journey from adolescence to adulthood can be a harrowing one. For composer and saxophonist Joshua Kwassman, that was true in a very literal sense, as a three-day bike trip, in August 2010, with an idolized childhood friend collapsed into chaos and shattered his youthful illusions.

While that trek itself found Kwassman growing up in a hurry, his musical recounting of the experience marks the debut of a remarkably mature young composer. Songs of the Brother Spirit, which will be released March 12, 2013, on Truth Revolution Records, spins the tale of that friendship into a moving, richly-hued collection of music influenced by composers from Ravel and Rachmaninoff to Maria Schneider and Vince Mendoza. The disc climaxes in the three-part suite “The Nowhere Trail,” which follows Kwassman and his friend Justin through that ill-fated bike trip.

“I learned to be an adult through that experience,” Kwassman says of the journey in a news release. “The essence of this album is about going through our relationship and how that has translated to my life.”

Kwassman conveys this autobiographical account through lush, modernist arrangements that suggest an ensemble much larger and more varied than its six pieces. The group assembled for the project includes the composer himself on a variety of woodwinds, the ground-breaking guitarist Gilad Hekselman; guitarist Jeff Miles on “The Nowhere Trail Part I”; and the wordless vocals of Arielle Feinman, a classmate at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

“She has this insane bel canto operatic training and an almost unlimited range,” Kwassman says of Feinman. “There’s a lot of depth in the kind of textures she can create with her voice. I think vocals bring a human quality to the music that no other instrument can.”

Songs of the Brother Spirit is the product of that experience, the document of an assured composer confidently allowing listeners to view the world through his own unique perspective. For more information on Joshua Kwassman, go to  JoshuaKwassman.com. For more information on Truth Revolution Records, go to TruthRevolutionRecords.com.

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arts gospel music performances United States

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to perform at Obama swearing-in ceremony

Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Long before the recent presidential election was decided, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (Democrat-NY and chairman of the 2013 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies) selected The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to perform its new rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the official swearing-in ceremony of the 57th Presidential Inauguration scheduled to take place on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013, before an expected crowd of a half million people on the National Mall. Attendees will include former presidents, senators, representatives, and cabinet officials.  The event will be broadcast live around the world.

“I’m pleased to invite The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to perform at the 57th Inauguration in January,” Schumer said in a news release this past June when he announced the choir’s addition to the program. “As a frequent visitor to their wonderful congregation, I know from first-ear experience how amazing this choir is, and I know they will wow the whole nation, too.”

The novel rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was arranged by the choir’s founder, Carol Cymbala, and its music director, Jason Michael Webb, with majestic orchestral accompaniment that’s punctuated with innovative new harmonies while maintaining the classic feel of one of America’s most beloved anthems. Alicia Olatuja, a mezzo-soprano who has performed at Carnegie Hall, leads the song.  It will be bundled with the rousing new anthem, “Let Your Kingdom Come,” as an iTunes (and other online music retailers) digital download and made available to the public on Jan. 15. Both tunes are featured on the choir’s forthcoming spring CD release, “Love Lead The Way” – it’s 28th recorded album. Preview: https://soundcloud.com/brooklyntabernaclechoir.

The 300-voice choir is a blend of ethnic and economic backgrounds, with members ranging from lawyers and doctors to former drug addicts.  Over the years, the choir has performed at major venues such as Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden. Their amazing legacy includes six Grammy Awards, seven Dove Awards, two No. 1 Billboard charting CDs and over four million albums sold. For more information, call http://www.brooklyntabernacle.org.

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arts jazz music performances releases United States

Jazz guitarist George Benson teams with PledgeMusic on Nat King Cole tribute album

George Benson.
George Benson.

According to a recent news release, ten-time Grammy award winner George Benson is teaming up with PledgeMusic to support Benson’s latest release, a lush orchestral album saluting the gorgeous and timeless work of jazz pianist Nat “King” Cole. Benson is best known for the stunning pop-jazz crossover album Breezin’ (Warner Brothers) which topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 and went triple platinum. Benson is most notable for his silky technique and his ability to imbue his astounding musicality into elegantly accessible settings. This lavish tribute to the sublimely melodic Nat “King” Cole features Benson at his best: expressive, masterful and accompanied by heavenly orchestral arrangements. The campaign has currently reached 58 percent.

For five decades, George Benson has created a body of work that mesmerizes music fans and dazzles guitarists. For this project, Benson accompanied by a 42-piece orchestra. To thank his fans and pledgers, Benson offers exclusives for the campaign.

“I will personally autograph CDs and vinyl. You can get your name listed in the album artwork! You can even purchase my newly developed Ibanez LGB300 signature guitar which I’ll personally sign for you over a Skype chat!,” he says. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to the victims of Hurricane Sandy through MusiCares.

Since 2009, PledgeMusic has been committed to nurturing a broad range of talent through innovative methods that yield career-making results. The company has become the leading international direct-to-fan company. PledgeMusic is highly regarded for interactive innovations that offer artists and fans direct and unique ways for each to share in the music making experience. Twenty-nine PledgeMusic artists have been upstreamed to both major and independent labels and publishers. These campaigns have yielded six top 40 albums to date. Some successful campaigns include Dave Weckl, Charlie Hunter, Rachael Yamagata, Rhett Miller, Ben Folds Five, The Libertines, Juliana Hatfield, Luscious Jackson, David Lynch Foundation Music, The Beach Boys, The Damnwells, Funeral For A Friend, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, Madi Diaz, The Lumineers and Kopecky Family Band, among others.

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jazz music performances United States

Vijay Iyer Trio’s “Accelerando” tops polls for best jazz album of 2012

Vijay Iyer Trio. Photo by Jimmy Katz
Vijay Iyer Trio. Photo by Jimmy Katz

According to a recent news release, following a landslide victory in the 2012 Down Beat International Critics Poll as well as many national newspapers and websites including The New York Times (where the album was included by both the paper’s jazz critics, Nate Chinen and Ben Ratliff), NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Slate.com,PopMatters.com, CMJ, CBC and Amazon.com, pianist and composer Vijay Iyer and his Trio, featuring Stephan Crump and Marcus Gilmore, are now repeat victors in the Rhapsody Jazz Critics Poll, the successor to the Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll.

Iyer’s trio also won this poll in 2009 for their breakout album Historicity. The Rhapsody poll is now considered the most comprehensive and authoritative list of critics in North America, with 119 critics voting.

The band will follow up this banner year with a weeklong-run at New York’s Jazz Standard.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYiJx6-Eng