Category: world

Categories
comtemporary jazz jazz music releases United States Vince Mendoza world world jazz world music

Vince Mendoza presents all-star cast for new project “Nights on Earth”

After a remarkably productive decade which saw him writing stellar orchestral arrangements for recordings by such popular singers as Bjork, Melody Gardot, Sting and Joni Mitchell (he won two of his six Grammy Awards and 25 nominations for his contributions to her Both Sides Now in 2000 and Travelogue in 2003), Vince Mendoza has shifted focus back to his own compositions for the first time in 13 years. His most personal and compelling project to date, Nights on Earth is yet another crowning achievement in the career of the acclaimed composer-arranger-conductor.
On this eagerly-awaited follow-up to Epiphany (which he recorded in 1997 with the London Symphony Orchestra), Mendoza recruited an all-star cast of longtime collaborators like guitarists John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Nguyen Le, drummer Peter Erskine, percussionist Luis Conte, organist Larry Goldings, steel drummer Andy Narell, pianists Kenny Werner and Alan Pasqua, saxophonists Bob Mintzer and Joe Lovano. He is also joined by such new friends as Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, Malian kora player and singer Tom Diakite, Argentinian bandoneon master Hector del Curto, Algerian drummer Karim Ziad, French saxophonist Stéphane Guillaume and young American jazz stars in bassist Christian McBride, drummer Greg Hutchinson and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, a winner of recent awards from the Jazz Journalists Association and DownBeat. Along with members of the Metropole Orkest, the Dutch ensemble that Mendoza has presided over as chief conductor for the past six years, they bring to life these evocative pieces that flow directly from the composer’s heart to his pen.
“I always thought that being a musician is about having a community of artists that inspires you,” says Mendoza in a recent news release, “and I think part of the process of the creation of this recording has to do with the people that I have met and learned from along the way. A lot of what this music has to do with is celebrating that community of the musicians from the many traditions that they represent.”

While names such as Abercrombie, Scofield, Lovano, Werner, Mintzer and Erskine represent the jazzier side of Mendoza’s community of artists (they appeared on his 1990 Blue Note album Start Here and his 1991 follow-up for the label, Instructions Inside), musicians like Souza, del Curto, Diakite and Ziad represent his adventurous explorations into world music (as on 1992’s Jazzpana and more recently on 2009’s Viento: The Garcia Lorca Project).


“I have an affinity with these musicians and their music, as they also have with my writing,” says Mendoza. “I wanted to incorporate them into my compositions, to frame their voice in an interesting way. And I thought they would have a connection to my writing style in their improvisations.”




Categories
contemporary jazz Curtis Brothers jazz music releases Truth Revolution United States world

Curtis Brothers team with musical mentors on sophomore release “Completion of Proof”

Brothers Luques (bass) and Zaccai Curtis (piano) follow in the rich family tradition of jazz. Jazz music has frequently been the family tie that binds. And as with the Curtis Brothers, those are also siblings that recorded and performed together. Based on the brilliance of Completion of Proof, clearly Luques and Zaccai Curtis have joined that auspicious tradition.
Significant clues to the Curtis Brothers desire for self-determination can be found in not only the declarative title of this date – Completion of Proof, but also in the bold moniker they’ve chosen for their record label, Truth Revolution. There is an obvious sense of the Curtis Brothers on a quest for artistic truth, and in the case of their label they’re just as obviously seeking freewill in the business side of their recorded life as well. In this time of artists eschewing the tired, old pie-in-the-sky sense of waiting for a mythical record “deal,” Luques and Zaccai have clearly set out on a path of autonomy on the recorded side of their respective and collective careers.
For Completion of Proof, the Curtis Brothers have enlisted a powerhouse crew of musicians – many of whom serve as mentors to the Curtis Brothers – including drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., Brian Lynch on trumpet, and their Artist Collective mentor, Jimmy Greene on saxophones. The date also includes alto saxophonist “Big Chief” Donald Harrison. It was Harrison who gave the Brothers their first touring band experience. 

“He really showed us how to act, play, and what not to do on the road,” says Zaccai. The underrated fire-breathing saxophonist Joe Ford “has always been an influence from a very early age.” The brothers play in Lynch’s band and alongside Ford with Jerry González Fort Apache Band as occasional subs for Andy González and Larry Willis. Percussionists Rogerio Boccato, Pedro Martinez, and Reinaldo De Jesus help bring further folkloric Pan African flavor to the date.
In developing this venture the brothers had this group of mentors in mind. “We wrote all the music to fit this band,” says Zaccai in a news release. “We thought of the sound of each band member and tried to feature each one in the music. We set a date and nailed the music at the studio; no rehearsals and all within 1 or 2 takes! These guys are really the best jazz musicians alive, and we are honored to be blessed with their presence on this recording.”

Asked how their background and upbringing influenced the sundry aspects of Completion of Proof, Zaccai referred to the date as “American Classical Music in every way. Jazz is an interesting study to me. It is a science in all respects, but “soul” is the base. We named the CD Completion of Proof or in Latin Q.E.D. – quod erat demonstrandum – because this is how scientists indicated that they have proved their theory correct.”
For the Curtis Brothers, Completion of Proof is an affirmation of the basic root sources of jazz. Their music is rife with the blues, swing rhythms in recognition of the Africa-Caribbean-New Orleans lineage, and the basic core elements that make the music such a spicy, hard bop melting pot. In many ways, the music on Completion of Proof is for the Curtis Brothers a refutation of what they view from some of their peers as a denial or dismissal of those root sources. 

“Fast forward to today’s modern jazz, and you are lucky to hear just one of those elements come from a performance or recording,” Zaccai said. “Blues harmonies seem to be replaced with simplified classical harmonies. Drums and rhythms have been mixed down in the modern recording so you can barely hear them! Swing has been ripped from the music. In most cases there are no elements of the jazz language… never mind bebop!
“This CD is a response to this modern, swing-less, no-language – ‘jazz’ – that the labels are pushing, just like the Hard Bop response to Cool Jazz in the ’50s and ’60s.” 

Categories
contemporary jazz Marsalis Music Miguel Zenon music Puerto Rico releases United States world world music

Grammy-nominated MacArthur fellow and saxophonist-composer Miguel Zenón releases his fifth album

Miguel Zenon

In Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook (Marsalis Music), saxophonist, composer and arranger Miguel Zenón brings that jazz tradition home – his home.
The album is comprised of 10 pieces, two each by Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach, who Zenón refers to as “the George Gershwins, Cole Porters and Jerome Kerns of Puerto Rican song,” and it features his regular quartet augmented by a 10-piece wind ensemble. The music was arranged by Zenón and orchestrated by Argentine pianist, composer and arranger Guillermo Klein.
“This project grew out of my interest in exploring the history and development of The Puerto Rican song,” says Zenón in a news release. “… I started focusing on the similar characteristics between The Puerto Rican Songbook and The Great American Songbook, not only musically, but also in terms of cultural impact. From there on, the project started to take shape.”
Zenón has explored his musical heritage previously in albums such as Jibaro (2005), in which he revisited the country music of Puerto Rico, and last year’s Esta Plena, in which he reinterpreted the traditional plena style.
“These are songs I know well because either my parents listened to them or they were very popular when I was a kid, so I grew up listening to them,”  he says and, he notes, he’s not alone. “We have been playing some of these songs with the quartet for awhile, and after every concert we have people who come to tell us ‘You know, my mom used to listen to that song on the radio…’ or  ‘I used to hear that song when I was younger…’.”
But in Alma Adentro the subject is popular song  – and it transcends regionalisms.The wind ensemble and Zenón’s core quartet – Luis Perdomo, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass; and Henry Cole, drums – were recorded in the same room, live. 
“Very often when I play this type of material I’m thinking about the lyrics to the song,” he says. “In this case these are songs I know well so it’s actually difficult for me not to think about the lyrics. But eventually, you internalize the words and make it more your own, then it becomes something much more personal.”
Remaking popular songs is part of the stock in trade of a jazz musician, but Alma Adentro was a profoundly different experience for Zenón. 
“This was not just about melodies and harmonies,” he says. “There was a deeper, more emotional connection here. I grew up with these songs and they all had a very special and lasting effect on me.”

 

 

 

 


 

 


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
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
Alfa Jazz Festival Igor Butman jazz Live Stream performances world Wynton Marsalis

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Igor Butman to perform Friday via Live Stream

From left: Saxophonist Igor Butman and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis 

According to a recent music release, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will join Russia’s premier jazz musician, saxophonist Igor Butman in a concert that reaches across time and geopolitical borders.
Jazz – America’s model for collaboration and improvisation – will come to fans LIVE from Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural center at the Alfa Jazz Festival in Boghdan Khmelnitsky Culture Park. Participants will experience the rich, swinging feeling of jazz as two great musicians unite on the global stage on Friday, June 3, 2011 at 20:30/(1:30pm EST/10:30am PST). You can watch the Live Stream from Facebook and Ustream and on your iPhone using the (free) Wynton Marsalis app. http://www.facebook.com/wyntonmarsalis
http://www.ustream.tv/wyntonmarsalis
 
Categories
Jazz Journalists Association New York New York City perforrmances Randy Weston United States world

Jazz Journalists Association announces musical lineup for awards show in June 2011

According to a recent news release, pianist Randy Weston headlines the artist lineup, and tickets are now on sale at www.JJAJazzAwards.org for the 15th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards gala, to be held on Saturday, June 11, 2011, from 1 to 5 p.m. EDT at City Winery, 155 Varick St. at Vandam in New York City.
Randy Weston/African Rhythms
Photo credit Ariane Smolderen
Besides Weston, trumpeter Wallace Roney’s sextet, Canadian flutist/soprano saxophonist Jane Bunnett with Cuban-born pianist Hilario Duran and special guest Candido on congas, singer Gregory Porter (a nominee for the JJA’s Male Vocalist of the Year Award) and the Hammer Klavier Trio from Hamburg will perform at the event. The JJA gala, a fundraiser for the non-profit professional organization that promotes coverage of jazz in all media, will also feature announcements and presentations of the Awards to winners, and introductions of “Jazz Heroes” honored for extra-musical jazz activism in locales across the U.S. (in order to highlight the decentralized aspect of jazz activism, the JJA is not inducting “A Team” jazz activists this year). 
The Jazz Awards is being produced as live streaming video, viewable online (and later archived) at JJAJazzAwards.org. Free satellite parties have been convened to watch the Awards in Berkeley, Boston, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland OR, Seattle and Washington, D.C, among other sites.
The general public may purchase tickets to the Awards gala in New York for $150. Ticket reservations, the list of all nominees for 2011 JJA Jazz Awards, details about the satellite parties and videos of the performers are also available at JJAJazzAwards.org.

Categories
Charlie Christian Charlie Christian International Music Festival contemporary jazz jazz Oklahoma Oklahoma City United States world

TIZER comes to Charlie Christian International Music Festival in June

Lao Tizer

In a recent news release, Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc. in Oklahoma City, OK, announces one of three headliners for the 26th annual Charlie Christian International Music Festival. The nearly week-long event runs May 31 through June 4, 2011, in various venues in Oklahoma City. 
Keyboardist and recording artist Lao Tizer will headline the Friday, June 3 outdoor concert at Bi-Centennial Park located in front of the Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker Ave. in Oklahoma City. Lao, a “Best New Jazz Artist” nominee, a Yamaha-endorsed pianist and keyboardist and his all-star band (called TIZER) have graced the world stages alongside well-renowned artists including Isaac Hayes, Boney James, Wayne Shorter, George Benson, The Commodores, The Rippingtons, The YellowJackets, and Spyro Gyra.
In 2001, his band TIZER released Golden Soul through Frat House Records. The single, “Her
Poetry,” received accolades from all sectors of the industry and charted on both the Gavin
Charts and Radio & Records’ reports and reached Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart.
In 2006, TIZER returned to the studio to record Diversify for Yse Records. Two singles from the album charted on both Radio & Records Jazz Indicator and SmoothJazz.com charts. Diversify continues to appear on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album charts thanks to airplay and Lao’s very busy concert schedule.
Lao Tizer’s concert tour includes performances at Joy of Jazz, Johannesburg, South Africa; Dubai Jazz Fest; Barbados Jazz Fest, Java Jazz Festival- Jakarta, Indonesia, The Caribbean Sea Jazz Fest, Aruba and club performances in Seoul, South Korea.
Other bands performing on Friday, June 3 are Mitch’s Brew, Kelvin Drake “Mr. Guitar,” Cara Black Band, and Taylor Made Jazz.
For more information, call BLAC Inc. at (405) 524-3800 or go online to http://www.charliechristianfestival.com.




Categories
jazz Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards" JJA Jazz Awards nominees United States world

Jazz Journalists Association announces 2011 Jazz Awards Finalists

According to a news release, The Jazz Journalists Association has announced more than 200 finalist nominees in 39 categories of excellence in music creation and music journalism from which winners will be chosen for the JJA’s 15th annual JJA Jazz Awards. The complete list can be found at jjajazzawards.org.
 The winners in each category will chosen by the votes of the professional journalist members of the JJA, the non-profit professional organization of jazz writers, broadcasters, photographers and new media producers.  The winners will be announced at a benefit Gala at City Winery in New York City on June 11, 2011, from 1 to 5 p.m. EDT. The Gala, with awards presentations and featured musical performances, will be emceed by Josh Jackson, host of WBGO’s “The Checkout.” The entire event will be video streamed live online at jjajazzawards.org.
“The finalists for 2011 Jazz Awards prove that jazz is a lifetime music,” said Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, about the ballot. “Get good when you’re young, stick with it and the music gets even better.”
The JJA’s Jazz Awards Gala is a fundraiser for the nonprofit JJA‘s ongoing operations, which include training of and advocacy for journalists working in all forms of media. At the Gala, a coterie of “activists, advocates, aiders and abettors of jazz” who comprise the JJA’s “A Team,” and roster of community “Jazz Heroes,” from around the country, will be introduced.
Tickets for the general public to attend the Jazz Awards Gala at City Winery on June 11, 2011, go on sale on May 2, 2011, at jjajazzawards.org.
View an except from last year’s awards ceremony: