tedeschi trucks band: Kasım 2012

30 Kasım 2012 Cuma

TONY BENNETT - UNIVISION HOLIDAY SPECIAL WITH VIVA DUETS PARTNERS ON 12/9 // NEW MEMOIRLIFE IS A GIFT: THE ZEN OF BENNETT MAKES THE NY TIMES BESTSELLER LIST // ENTIRE MUSIC CATALOG ON ITUNES

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Tony Bennet (Photo by Paul Bergen/Getty Images)

For his Spanish-language fans, Tony has a special Christmas treat coming soon. On Sunday December 9th at 10pm EST, Tony and his VIVA DUETS partners will star in "Feliz Navidad Con Los Nuestros: Tony Y Sus Amigos". This will be the first time a non-Hispanic media personality will have their own primetime special on Univision, the largest Spanish-language TV network in the world. Hosted By Univision's Giselle Blondet, the one hour music special will give an inside look at the album, VIVA DUETS - featuring segments with Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Romeo Santos,Vicente Fernandez, ThalÃa, Juan Luis Guerra and more.

Tony's new memoir, THE ZEN OF BENNETT: LIFE IS A GIFT was just released on November 20th – and already made it onto the NY Times Bestseller List! The book is described as the perfect accompaniment to this legend’s warm, sophisticated, and graceful melodies that have made him beloved by generations of fans.

Also earlier this week, Tony's entire music catalog became available on iTunes! Revisit all the phases of his unstoppable career: http://smarturl.it/TonyiTunes

Wanna learn more about what's happening with Tony? Check out some of his most recent interviews below:
CNN / Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien: http://youtu.be/ti5I7TMJme0
WYNC / The Leonard Lopate Show: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2012/nov/26/zen-tony-bennett
BlogTalkRadio / Storytellers with Eric Olsen & Chitra Agrawal: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/storytellers/2012/10/24/legendary-singer-tony-bennett
Rolling Stone / Exclusive with Patrick Doyle: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tony-bennett-taps-latin-music-stars-for-viva-duets-album-20121023

Connect with Tony Bennett:
http://www.tonybennett.net
http://www.facebook.com/tonybennett
http://twitter.com/itstonybennett

VIVA DUETS - US STANDARD TRACKLISTING1. "The Best Is Yet to Come" with Chayanne
2. "The Way You Look Tonight" with ThalÃa*
3. "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Christina Aguilera
4. "For Once In My Life" with Marc Anthony
5. "Are You Havin' Any Fun?" with Dani MartÃn*
6. "The Good Life" with Franco DeVita
7. "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" with Gloria Estefan
8. "Just in Time" with Juan Luis Guerra
9. "Cold, Cold Heart" with Vicentico
10. "I Wanna Be Around" with Ricardo Arjona
11. "Rags to Riches" with Romeo Santos
12. "Return to Me (Regresa A MÃ)" with Vicente FernÃ¡ndez*

VIVA DUETS - US TARGET TRACKLISTING
1. "The Best Is Yet to Come" with Chayanne
2. "The Way You Look Tonight" with ThalÃa*
3. "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Christina Aguilera
4. "For Once In My Life" with Marc Anthony
5. "Are You Havin' Any Fun?" with Dani MartÃn*
6. "The Good Life" with Franco DeVita
7. "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" with Gloria Estefan
8. "Just in Time" with Juan Luis Guerra
9. "Cold, Cold Heart" with Vicentico
10. "I Wanna Be Around" with Ricardo Arjona
11. "Rags to Riches" with Romeo Santos
12. "Return to Me (Regresa A MÃ)" with Vicente FernÃ¡ndez*
13. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" with Miguel BosÃ©*
14. "Blue Velvet" with Maria GadÃº*
15. "The Very Thought of You" with Ana Carolina
16. "The Way You Look Tonight" with ThalÃa* (Guitar Only)

With millions of records sold world-wide and platinum and gold albums to his credit, Bennett has received seventeen Grammy Awards -- including a 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year for his "MTV Unplugged" CD which introduced this American master to a whole new generation -- and the Grammy Lifetime Award. His 2007 prime-time special, "Tony Bennett: An American Classic," won seven Emmy Awards. His initial successes came via a string of Columbia singles in the early 1950's, including such chart-toppers as "Because of You," "Rags to Riches," and a remake of Hank Williams "Cold, Cold Heart." He had 24 songs in the Top 40, including "I Wanna Be Around," "The Good Life," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" and his signature song," I Left My Heart In San Francisco," recorded 50 years ago this coming January 2012. This song garnered him two Grammy Awards. Tony Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums charting in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and now in the first two decades of the 21st century. He has introduced a multitude of songs into the Great American Songbook that have since become standards for pop music. He has toured the world to sold out audiences with rave reviews whenever he performs.

Clothes Don't Always Make The Man

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Bored by the conversation of her sorority sisters, Sam aimlesslylooked out the window. The frat boysthey spoke of with such veneration were nothing more than well dressedmannequins; handsome but vapid.
She thought of Jesse. The way he looked in jeans as henailed the floor boards on the deck. How the sweat ran down his back, finding itsnatural path. The way she felt when he’d pick her up and spin her until she wasdizzy.
She thought of her brother, smiling broadly as he greetedhis friend, instantly reminding her she was just the little sister.

ZZ Top "Sharp Dressed Man" ...Maybe not all girls are crazy for them.

This post is for the prompt of Sharp Dressed Man for Lance's 100 Word Song My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog

Jimi Jamison Proves It's "Never Too Late"

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A little fun today. Today a friend and fellow writer and I are both doing a album review, but we are guesting on each other's blog. So filling up the space here is Jim Wood from gojimmygo.net Read his take of the CD then jump over to his site to read mine.

Go Jimmy Go!

I have to give a big thank you to Kat for allowing me to guest post on herblog today.

Ironically, it was through a mutual admiration of Jimi Jamison and Survivorthat brought us together. So for our first cross-post to be about Jimi’s newalbum, “Never Too Late” is pretty cool.

Kat and I both have had the pleasure of meeting Jimi on several occasionsthis past year. But once we discovered he was releasing a new CD, our eyes litup like saucers.

As most writers do, (and admittedly with a bit of bias towards the subjectmatter) we both set forth to write a review of the new album. But once werealized just how amazing this new music was, we thought it might be evencooler to “guest post” our reviews on each other’s blog. So, without anyfurther ado, here is my review on Jimi Jamison’s ‘Never Too Late’: the absoluteBEST melodic rock album of 2012.

As most of you know, I’m a tried and true music fan of the 80′s. For me,growing up during the age of the Members Only jacket was a great time to bealive (at least as far as music is concerned).

Whenever my favorite bands would put out anew album, it was an event. I remember rushing home from the mall with my newfound treasure and making my way to my upstairs bedroom, where an emptyturntable eagerly awaited. For the next hour or so, it didn’t matter if theworld was ending; the music was all that mattered.

A great album from the 1980′s would typically have at least three hits onit. Songs that would be regularly played on the radio. The remaining trackswere usually just as good, but although these gems would never find a place onthe FM dial, they’d still become fan favorites.

Over the years, the “event” of buying and enjoying an entire album went theway of the dinosaur. Today, you’re lucky if there are even two songs from analbum that are worthy of repeated listenings. But just when I thought I’d belost in the wilderness of musical despair, along comes “Never Too Late” by JimiJamison.

Fresh off the heels of ‘Crossroads Moment’ and his duets album with BobbyKimball, Jamison again proves why he’s one of the greatest voices in rock. Injoining forces with writer/producer Erik Martensson, he’s given us a melodicrock treasure chest. One that’s filled with enough musical booty to fill thesoul and immerse our senses in tasty hooks and melodies and reunite us onceagain with the voice that defined a generation.

It’s worth noting that all eleven tracks on ‘Never Too Late’ are worthy ofa place in any music collection. From the opening piano intro on the track‘Everybody’s Got A Broken Heart’, the entire album is a cacophony ofsonic euphoria.

The standout for me though is the title track. With its multiple hooks andinspirational message, it’s reminiscent of many classic Survivor songs aboutkeeping faith and finding love. A song that will certainly endure the test oftime, and one that would surely blow up any arena wherever it’s performed.

On ‘The Air That I Breathe’,Jamison pours out his heart and soul about finding a complete love; evencomparing his personal defenses and walls with sand. Brilliant. In ‘Heaven Call Your Name’, Jamison asksthe question, Why? An emotionally haunting ballad that could easily be sungwithout music and still deliver the same impact.

‘Walk On (Wildest Dreams)’ closesout the album with the same power and intensity that began it all, and makesone lament why such a great collection of songs has to end. Fortunately though,21st century digital technology makes it easy to simply press repeat ratherthan flipping over a piece of vinyl to Side A. I guess progress is a goodthing.

In an age where talent shows give record deals out freely and careers aredictated by how many auto-tuned singles you can release at any given time, it’srare to find an entire album that can be this darn good. ‘Never Too Late’indeed.

For the next fifty minutes, I’d like you to conduct an experiment. Hop inyour mini-van (or whatever it is we middle aged connoisseurs of real music ownthese days) and drive somewhere with ‘Never Too Late’ as your soundtrack;preferably through the back winding roads of your own hometown on a beautiful,crisp day. Make sure you play the album from start to finish, and don’t justlisten to it; immerse yourself in it.

Do you hear it? Can you feel it?

It’s real music, and what could possibly be better than that?

Track Listing:
01. Everybody’s Got ABroken Heart
02. The Great Unknown
03. Never Too Late
04. I Can’t Turn Back
05. Street Survivor
06. The Air I Breathe
07. Not Tonight

Thanks for stopping by Jim. Next stop...
gojimmygo.net

Celebrating with Joe Walsh: Yeah Life's Been Good

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Happy Birthday Joe Walsh.

You hear the guitar, you know. He's up there, one of the few whose guitar playing is instantly recognizable. Think "Funk 49", think "Rocky Mountain Way." Good Stuff.

From the early days with the James Gang, through Barnstorm, the Eagles and throughout his solo career, the guitar of Joe Walsh sings, cries and sometimes hits you in the face. Creatively massaging notes, his playing is always interesting , usually taking you on an unexpected ride.

Not gonna do the hits today, instead let's sample a couple of oldies and something new. And if you want to have some fun, go over to Live From Daryl's House and check out last week's show where Daryl Hall welcomed Joe Walsh for an hour of talk and music. Real Good Stuff.

Released in 1985, "The Confessor"
A taste off his newest album Analog Man, "Wrecking Ball"
And one of my favorites... "Turn to Stone"

Blow out the candles Joe, and shred a little guitar.

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Are You Experienced?

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Sometimes when you sit down to write something, there's nothing there. My plan was to take up this week's 100 Word Song Challenge mainly because, well it's a Jimi Hendrix song. I first read the other entries in the challenge and maybe because I was blown away by one of them, or maybe because I was exhausted...I could not come up with an idea. So I sat with my laptop and nodded off. Just a few minutes later, I woke up and wrote this in less than ten minutes. Sometimes that's just how it works.

The song this week is "Are You Experienced" and as usual, with the song as inspiration, we write...something.

Maybe I'm finally getting into the spirit of the season.

In his dream, Billy saw the bright colors, the movingpieces, some finished, some not. The stacks went on forever. He watched the workersfit the last minute additions into the correct order. Of course, he thought,there would have to be a system.

His head was spinning as he took in the full extent of theworkshop. As he saw the man in charge he couldn’t help but ask “How do you knowhow to do this?” The elderly gentstroked his long white beard, smiled and replied “Ho, Ho, Ho…I’ve been doingthis for a very long time."

29 Kasım 2012 Perşembe

Jimi Jamison Proves It's "Never Too Late"

Celebrating with Joe Walsh: Yeah Life's Been Good

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Happy Birthday Joe Walsh.

A Night To Remember: John Joins John Onstage

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"I'd like to thank Elton and the boys for having me on tonight."

So said John Lennon on November 28, 1974 as he intro'ed the last of three songs he sang at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Months before, as Elton John and John Lennon had guested on each other's albums, Elton asked John if he would appear on stage with him in the event that John's single "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," became a #1 song. Lennon, who had never had a #1 solo hit, figured, what the hell, and agreed.

On November 16, the song was on top of the Billboard charts and twelve days later John Lennon would make the last live concert appearance of his life.

Today, let's taste the songs he sang that night, thirty-eight years ago.

"Whatever Gets You Through The Night"
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"
"I Saw Her Standing There"

All these years later, the thought of what might have been still breaks my heart.
But today we celebrate what was.

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JAZZ TODAY: Luciana Souza's Multi-Directional Approach to Jazz Singing

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cover art

Luciana Souza is arguably the most impressive jazz singer working today. Four of her solo recordings have been nominated for Grammy awards, and she has managed to forge an instantly identifiable individual sound while still working across several disparate musical styles. Late August brings the release of two new recordings—her first in three years—that feature jazz standards on the one hand and classic Brazilian bossa nova on the other.

The operative question with Souza, in many respects, is what makes her a “jazz” singer rather than a singer in the Brazilian tradition. Ultimately, she is neither and both—just a very, very fine musician, of course—but her perspective and approach make answering this question entertaining, indeed.

I spoke to Souza in July about this question, about her perspective on these musical traditions, and about her new music. From the first moment of the conversation, she was bursting with history and humor, opinion and good-natured sass—a mile-a-minute talker who is both incredibly humble and sharply intelligent.

cover art

Souza was born and raised in Sao Paolo, Brazil, by parents who were musicians and composers. Literally exposed from birth to the initial flowering of the Brazilian bossa nova spirit, she came to the US at 18, attended Berklee for her BA and then earned a Masters in “jazz studies” at the New England Conservatory. She is authentically Brazilian and utterly jazz, utterly American at the same time.

Read my interview with Luciana Souza and the entire JAZZ TODAY column here:

Luciana Souza's Multi-Directional Approach to Jazz Singing

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Everybody's Talkin

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You want some powerful real music, the kind of music that shamelessly moves at you with emotion and soul? Is this just the tonic for you, what the doctor ordered, the sort of juice that might put hair on your chest or perhaps a skip in your step?

Well, let me recommend something in a husky yet pliant singing voice, good with a ballad like “Midnight in Harlem” but also game and glorious on an Elmore James blues like “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”. Let me suggest that such a voice—owned and used with authority by the lovely Susan Tedeschi—is just the ticket to getting your temperature rising. It growls and shouts as necessary but is equally capable of a caress. And this quality, of being multifaceted in a world that prefers pigeonholed pop stars who sing the same song over and over again, it’s too rare lately. It’s great.

I might also suggest that you try on something in a stunning electric guitar player. Not just a guitar that is fast or loud or flashy, though Mr. Derek Trucks is all those things when he chooses to be. But rather, I suggest you look into the kind of guitar that speaks—that sings—like an actual human voice. A slide guitar that moans and bends tones and a blues guitar that lives between diatonic notes and a jazz guitar even that moves in surprising harmonic twists when surprise or coloration makes sense.

Is that a big mess of description? Then just tune in to “Nobody’s Free”, a ten-minute stretch of live music that lets a guitar do just about anything that a guitar could want to do. It could want to start with a screaming set of jacked-up chords that rip and roar, then move into gentle finger-picking that accompanies the soothing-to-gutbucket vocal. And it could play a greasy figure behind the horns in ripping unison. And it could then let the rhythm section get out of the way, be very very quiet, and begin a sculpture of a solo that starts from a few squiggled notes, moves into dramatic blues figures mirrored in near duet by electric bass, and then trades a daring figures with the drummer before ending in a set of jazz-drenched twists and turns. And what if I then told you that the guitar playing underneath the subsequent flute solo was, if anything, even more subtle and astonishing: the kind of hip and detailed rhythm playing that is so good that it almost constitutes a “solo” unto itself—a jittery, complex, riveting set of scratches and chops and thrums that frames the horn perfectly?

Yup, that Derek Trucks can play.

Read the entire review here: Tedeschi Trucks Band: Everybody's Talkin

28 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba

CLARINETIST ANAT COHEN, DRUMMER MATT WILSON & DOUBLE-BASSIST MARTIN WIND - NEW TRIO FRESHLY DUBBED NY3 - PLAY GREENWICH HOUSE MUSIC SCHOOL

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"Anat does what all authentic musicians do: She tells stories from her own experiences that are so deeply felt that they are likely to connect listeners to their own dreams, desires and longings." - Nat Hentoff

The Sound It Out series presents NY3 - the all-star trio of clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, drummer Matt Wilson and double-bassist Martin Wind - in a very rare performance at 8:00 PM on Saturday, December 1, 2012, at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City's West Village. Cohen has won hearts and minds the world over, with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence having earned her top spots on both the critics and readers polls in DownBeat magazine several years running. Reviewing Cohen's 2008 headlining set with her quartet at the North See Jazz Festival, DownBeat said: "Cohen not only proved to be a woodwind revelation of dark tones and delicious lyricism, but also a dynamic bandleader who danced and shouted out encouragement to her group. . . With her dark, curly, shoulder-length hair swaying to the beat of the music as she danced, she was a picture of joy." The irrepressible Wilson is a first-call drummer for sessions ranging from straight-ahead jazz to the avant-garde, as well as bandleader in his own right with such groups as the popular Arts & Crafts. Wind has played with the top European jazz orchestras and with icons from Phil Woods to Pat Metheny, as well as leading his own bands. Tickets for NY3 are $20 ($15 for students), available at the door; go to www.greenwichhouse.org for more information.

This will be only the second show to date by NY3, so sparks are sure to fly as the trio airs fresh takes on standards and a brace of new originals. Cohen, who will be playing both clarinet and tenor saxophone, says: "The music we perform as a trio comes from the jazz tradition, but it's very playful - we have fun with sounds and melodies, following our instincts, without overanalyzing. Matt Wilson is like a kid onstage, and that's what I like to be - it's great to have a partner in crime like him. Matt gets these incredible sounds from the drums, and Martin has this deep, round, almost classical sound on the bass, using his bow in such a musical way. And not having a traditionally harmonic instrument in the band, no piano or guitar, it frees us from pre-assigned roles, so we can really explore the music - so we can play in every sense of the word."

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and now a citizen of the U.S., Anat Cohen has been voted Clarinetist of the Year six years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association, as well as 2012's Multi-Reeds Player of the Year. Anat has toured the world with her quartet, headlining at the Newport, Umbria, SF Jazz and North Sea jazz festivals as well as at such hallowed clubs as the Village Vanguard. This fall, Anzic Records released her sixth album as a bandleader, Claroscuro, which ranges from buoyant dances to lyrical ballads as it showcases Anat's fluency in a global set of styles - from New Orleans and New York to Africa and Brazil. For more information, go to www.anatcohen.com.

Matt Wilson, born and raised in Illinois, has performed on some of the world's top stages, from Jazz at Lincoln Center to the White House. He has played on more than 250 recording sessions as a sideman, as well as released nine albums as a leader for Palmetto Records and recorded five more as a co-leader of such projects as Trio M with Myra Melford and Mark Dresser. For more info, go to www.mattwilsonjazz.com. As a composer and bandleader, Martin Wind has a long-running quartet with Scott Robinson, Bill Cunliffe and Tim Horner, as well as a duo with a fellow native of north Germany, guitarist Ulf Meyer; for more info, go to www.martinwind.com.

Events in the Sound It Out series at Greenwich House Music School include a post-show meet-and-greet for performers and listeners with refreshments provided by Greenwich House. Tickets for NY3 are $20 ($15 for students and seniors), available at the door. The Greenwich House Music School is located at 46 Barrow Street, half a block west of Seventh Avenue South (212-242-4770, www.greenwichhouse.org). Upcoming performances in the Sound It Out series at Greenwich House include Kris Davis & Tim Berne on December 6; and the Darius Jones Quartet on December 20, with Matt Mitchell, Trevor Dunn and Ches Smith. For additional coming attractions, see the Sound It Out concert schedule below; and there are more exciting shows being added - go to www.facebook.com/sounditoutnyc.

Established in 1905, Greenwich House Music has long been a focal point of the downtown arts scene, with pivotal figures from Henry Cowell, Edgar VarÃ¨se and John Cage to Meredith Monk, Joan La Barbara and Morton Subotnick linked with the institution. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen have performed at Greenwich House, and jazz has a history there, too: VarÃ¨se and composer Earle Brown, collaborating with saxophonist-producer Teo Macero, hosted an improvisation session in 1957 with a group that included such players Art Farmer and Charles Mingus. More recently, the Jazz Composers Collective held important concerts at Greenwich House in the '90s. Curated by Bradley Bambarger, the Sound It Out series aims to continue this tradition by hosting musicians from jazz and other venturesome genres, further binding Greenwich House Music with progressive scenes across New York City.

For more information about Sound It Out, contact Bradley: 917-805-8747; bradleyb3@earthlink.net.
Greenwich House Music School: 46 Barrow Street, New York City, www.greenwichhouse.org, 212-242-4770

NEW INSTRUCTIONAL DVD FOR 2013 BY JASON "MALLETMAN" TAYLOR‏

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Jason “Malletman” Taylor grew up in Brooklyn, NY listening to Lionel Hampton’s music. His curiosity was sparked by his mother, who was a fan of Hampton’s and would go see him perform at the Apollo Theater. This made Taylor interested in finding out more. However, he played the drums and xylophone before he eventually went on to play the vibraphone, which he describes as being “the most beautiful sounding instrument.” He became dedicated to mastering the “vibe” just like the late Hampton, who was so impressed during his first meeting with Taylor in 1981 that he took the young “Malletman” as his protÃ©gÃ© and became his mentor. In addition to touring with the legendary Hampton and his 18-piece band, Taylor also lived with Hampton and received the kind of personal training and experience that can only be described as “priceless.” Taylor toured the U.S. and Europe with Hampton, which ended with the two of them playing at President Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Gala and Disneyland in 1985. It was during that time when Malletman formed Mallet Records, a record company dedicated to its mission of “Keeping Real Music Alive.”

1985 was also the year that Malletman flew away from Hampton’s nest and began promoting his first recording, Once Upon a Mallet (1984) which caught the attention of quite a few people. In 1986, Malletman released his sophomore recording, Good Grief/My Destiny after which, Taylor returned to his true love - performing. Over the years to follow, he developed his unique live show into one that awed audiences and critics alike. As the 1980’s ended, Taylor released the successful Love Attack which featured the singles, “Love Attack” and “Pick Me Up.” “Love Attack” (The Remix) was number 24 on the Let’s Dance! Record Pool Urban Chart in December 2000, placing higher than singles by artists such as Outkast, Lil’ Kim, Eminem and Erykah Badu. Malletman went on to record other releases. Taylor is a five-time Grammy ballot-nominee. His nominations include Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for “The Christmas Song” (1998). His CD single, Live at Mallet’s Place (2005) features “Once Upon a Mallet,” a lively original composition, along with a seductive version of the jazz standard, “Misty.” He is currently working his next release, which will offer at least 10 tunes.

Malletman is known for his unique presentation of Jazz, R&B and Swing, creating a signature sound that is all his own, which he calls “Vibrafunk.” He has been in the company of such greats as Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, George Clinton, James Brown, Branford Marsalis, Steve Washington, B.B. King, Slide Hampton and Bill Cosby, who is a well-known jazz fan. Taylor has opened up for Earth Wind and Fire (2003), Isaac Hayes (2002), Pancho Sanchez (2000), The Manhattans (1996), Najee (1996), Paquito D’Rivera (1996), Pieces of a Dream (1996), Diana Reeves (1995).

Malletman has a new instructional DVD coming out in 2013 entitled "The Mallet Code".

Source: sonicbids.com

WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET ANNOUNCES 2013 U.S TOUR DATES; NEW ALBUM - WITHOUT A NET - SET FOR RELEASE IN FEBRUARY

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The legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter will make his triumphant return to Blue Note Records after 43 years with the February 5, 2013 release of Without A Net, his searing new album with his long-running Quartet featuring pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. Shorter has revealed the album cover artwork for Without A Net, which features drawings by Shorter himself.

The Quartet has also announced 2013 U.S. tour dates including major concert events in New York City and Los Angeles. On February 1, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Quartet will perform four compositions by Shorter alongside works by Beethoven and Ives at Carnegie Hall. On February 9, the Quartet will be appearing at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles for the world premiere of Gaia, a newly commissioned work that Shorter composed for Esperanza Spalding and the LA Phil. The Quartet will also be featured at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (May 5) and will perform at Chicago's Symphony Center (June 7) and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC (September 26). See below for a full list of confirmed tour dates.

Shorter, who will be entering his 80th year in 2013-first recorded for Blue Note in 1959 as the precocious 26-year-old tenor saxophonist (and prolific composer) in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, which brought him to the attention of label founder Alfred Lion who eventually signed him to his own recording deal. Shorter went on to make a spectacular run of classic albums for Blue Note between 1964-1970 including Night Dreamer, Juju, Speak No Evil, Adam's Apple, Schizophrenia, and Super Nova during a period of time that also paralleled Shorter's years with Miles Davis, first as a member of the trumpeter's trailblazing quintet, and later as a part of Davis' early fusion masterpieces.

Without A Net is a 9-track musical thrill ride that consists of live recordings from the Wayne Shorter Quartet's European tour in late 2011, the one exception being the 23-minute tone poem "Pegasus" which features the quartet with The Imani Winds recorded at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The album features six new Shorter compositions, as well as new versions of his tunes "Orbits" (from Miles Davis' Miles Smiles album) and "Plaza Real" (from the Weather Report album Procession). The quartet also reinvents the title song from the 1933 musical film Flying Down To Rio, which film buffs (such as Shorter) know as the first on-screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET - 2013 U.S. TOUR DATES
Feb. 1 - Carnegie Hall New York, NY
Feb. 9 - Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA
Apr. 12 - Schermerhorn Symphony Center Nashville, TN
May 5 - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
June 7 - Symphony Center Chicago, IL
Sept. 26 - Kennedy Center: Eisenhower Theatre Washington DC
Nov. 2 - Orchestra Hall Detroit, MI
Source: wayneshorter.com

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Everybody's Talkin

Rez Abbasi Trio: Continuous Beat

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In past outings, jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi has created challenging bands that mixed and matched voices in ways that fostered cultural cross-pollination and dressed up his strong compositions. Continuous Beat is a different kind of collection, and it may just be the leader’s best. Certainly it is his most joyful and pure: a trio record that really makes us appreciate Abbasi as a guitar player, as an interpreter, and as a writer of irresistible tunes.

This band—with John Hebert on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums—plays as one but in a state on continual conversation. Hebert’s lines are strong and independent, ripe in low tone and interesting all on their own. Takeishi plays such that he is constantly creating a poly-rhythmic dance, pushing and pulling the groove without overwhelming the rest of the band. And with a leader who is as melodic as Abbasi, the total package is a joy to listen to in every measure.

While this is no “smooth jazz” outing, the spirit about Continuous Beat is as appealing and easy on the ears as a Pat Metheny record. Indeed, the inevitable comparison is to Metheny’s first trio record, Bright Size Life from 1975. As on that sparkling debut, this band achieves a perfect balance between consonance and departure. This is jazz that plays straight to what audiences love—melody and infectious rhythm—without sacrificing group conversation and adventure.

As the title implies, this new record is rich in a pulsating groove. “Divided Attention” uses a tricky time signature but doesn’t skimp of propulsion, with the guitar and drums rapping out a syncopated groove that becomes the melody itself. Abbasi’s ability to pluck a killer melody starts in his statements using a “clean” sound on the head, then it shifts to a more distorted sound for the true solo, with the lines of improvisation starting to get faster and harder over time. “Back Skin”, another original, works a memorable melody through both the bass line and the guitar lead (played here on a guitar-synth that uses a sound less grating than Metheny’s), leading to a strong solo that flows naturally like a river over the same hooky groove until the band increases the tempo and takes things forward with rushing momentum, twice shifting tempo. It’s a perfect example of how Continuous Beat refuses to play it too safe.

Read my entire PopMatters review here: Rez Abbasi Trio: Continuous Beat

27 Kasım 2012 Salı

NEW RELEASES - ROBERTA FLACK, TATHAM, MENSAH, LORD & RANKS, RAUL DE SOUZA

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ROBERTA FLACK - CHRISTMAS SONGS

A great remake of Roberta Flack's Christmas album from 1997 – one that remixes the whole record from scratch, and comes up with a sound that's even warmer than before! Flack's voice is wonderful for these Christmas tunes – filled with raspy soul and personal charm that really sends things home – especially on some of the less-iconic Holiday tunes, which Roberta really makes her own. Instrumentation is mellow, and really draws a deeper sound in this new mix – just the right vibe for the laidback, late night Christmas mood. Titles include "25th Of Last December", "There's Still My Joy", "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", "The Christmas Song", "When There's Love", and "Because The Child Was Born". CD also features a bonus track – "Cherry Tree Carol". ~ Dusty Groove

TATHAM, MENSAH, LORD & RANKS - TATHAM, MENSAH, LORD & RANKS
Bristling sounds from a killer lineup – a 4Hero-related project done by the quartet of Kaidi Tatham, Akwasi Mensah, Matt Lord, and Dego Ranks – music that definitely explores the next level of expression for the 2000 Black generation! All the best London touches are firmly in place here, but the groove's also fresher than before, too – wonderfully cosmic, yet nicely abstract in a few places too – showing the kind of complication that Tatham's brought to his rhythms in recent years – yet still maintaining all the soulful, righteous focus we could have hoped for! The album features guest work by Eric Lau, Sarina Leah, Bembe Segue, and Nadine Charles – and titles include "THB", "Kenny", "Naive", "Seven4", "Mind Skies", "Badly Persuaded", "Stars Shine For You", "Quantum Shift", "You Know It's Like That", and "Mr Pickles". ~ Dusty Groove

RAUL DE SOUZA - UNIVERSO MUSICAL DE RAUL DE SOUZA (CD/DVD)

A wonderful tribute to the mighty talents of trombonist Raul De Souza – a package that features individual DVD and CD performances by the musician, brought together in one cool little set! Both formats feature recent material, ostensibly recorded for this package – and all tracks on the CD are not on the DVD – and vice versa – which means that you'll get an even broader picture of Raul than you might expect! The performances are great, too – very jazzy, with a style that focuses heavily on De Souza's lead trombone lines and solos – without much other instrumentation getting in the way. Given the many styles that Raul's used over the years, it's great to hear such a back to basics jazz-based set – echoed by guest work on the DVD from Joao Donato on piano and Hector Costita on tenor sax. DVD titles include "Spiritual", "A Vontade Mesmo", "St Remy", "Funky Man", "Bossa Eterna", "Jumping Street", and "Violao Quebrado" – and CD titles include "Alibi", "Ligia", "10 Minutos", "Voila", "Viva O Rio", "Up Jumped Spring", and "Todas As Tribos". Comes in an oversize package – with notes in English and Portuguese! (All Region, NTSC coded.) ~ Dusty Groove

Clothes Don't Always Make The Man

Jimi Jamison Proves It's "Never Too Late"

Celebrating with Joe Walsh: Yeah Life's Been Good

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Happy Birthday Joe Walsh.

Starting the Night with a Little Yarn

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For the second Saturday night in a row, I found myself travelling for a little music. What could be better than that?

This adventure took me about thirty miles away from the weekend house in the Poconos, to the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg PA. Headlining the night was Newgrass band Railroad Earth. We will get to them another day, but today I'd like to spread the news about the support band that night. Brooklyn NY based Americana-Alt Country band Yarn.

Other than the fact they were great, what amazed me is that until last Wednesday when I was pretty sure I would go to the show, I had not heard of them. Bad job by me. But in researching the particulars of the show, I started to check out their music and their website. As I launched their website's music player, the first song "Fussing & Fighting," a country-style tune with references to listening to Jim Croce got my interest. As fun as the first song was, it's not quite indicative of their true sound.

Saturday night they started the set with the song "Annie," an aching song which starts slowly and builds to include some beautiful harmonies and a catchy chorus. This immediately got me happy. This opening act was gonna be good.

The rest of the set did not disappoint. The six-piece band has clearly worked hard on their craft. Everything in sync, each piece a perfect compliment to the others. Good songwriting, good singing, good musicians. It all added up to a great start of the night.

Check out their music at Yarn

If you get a chance, they are definitely worth a go-see.

.

26 Kasım 2012 Pazartesi

MILES DAVIS QUINTET - LIVE IN EUROPE 1969: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 2

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"THIRD GREAT QUINTET,’ aka ‘THE LOST BAND’ OF 1969-’70, WITH MILES DAVIS, WAYNE SHORTER, CHICK COREA, DAVE HOLLAND, AND JACK DeJOHNETTE AT THEIR PEAK – NEVER RECORDED IN STUDIO

DELUXE 3-CD + DVD PACKAGE PRESENTS PREVIOUSLY ONLY BOOTLEGGED 1969 LIVE RECORDINGS FROM ANTIBES JAZZ FESTIVAL (FRANCE), STOCKHOLM, AND COLOR VIDEO RECORDING IN BERLIN ON DVD

Follows critically-acclaimed, award-winning box set of 2011, Live In Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1, starring ‘second great quintet’ of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams

Columbia/Legacy again pays tribute to musical legend Miles Davis with the release of Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2, the second edition in the label’s widely-heralded Miles Davis Bootleg Series. The sequel to 2011’s critical and commercial blockbuster, Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1, this new set moves ahead two years and presents the ‘third great quintet’ of Miles, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette, a lineup of the world’s most highly-regarded jazz musicians, then and now. This 3-CD + DVD box set will be available everywhere January 29, 2013, through Columbia/Legacy.

Live In Europe 1967 (released September 2011), the debut entry in the Miles Davis Bootleg Series, was by far the most acclaimed historic jazz box set of 2011. It received a “5-star” review from Down Beat magazine, and was voted Historical Album of the Year in the Down Beat Readers and Critics Poll.

Live In Europe 1967 was ranked the #1 reissue in both the Critics and Readers polls of JazzTimes magazine, and the Jazz Journalists Association voted it Best Historical or Boxed Set. The package received an “A” from Entertainment Weekly, and Pitchfork.com said “At its heart, jazz thrives on bold, sensitive interaction in the moment, and Live In Europe 1967 represents the pinnacle of that practice.” Rave reviews appeared in a wide array of publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Slate, and many others.

In his Sunday “Arts & Leisure” rave review of Live In Europe 1967, New York Times critic Nate Chinen concluded: “It’s humbling to think that a release like Live in Europe 1967 might help illuminate jazz’s present as well as its past, but that’s what great archival work can do. So congratulations, Columbia/Legacy. Now, what’s next?” The answer to his question is: Live In Europe 1969.

“After we finished In a Silent Way,” Miles told his biographer Quincy Troupe (in the definitive Miles The Autobiography, Simon & Schuster, 1990), “I took the band out on the road; Wayne, Dave, Chick, and Jack DeJohnette were now my working band. Man, I wish this band had been recorded live because it was really a bad motherfucker. I think Chick Corea and a few other people recorded some of our performances live, but Columbia missed out on the whole fucking thing.”

Live In Europe 1969 lives up to the Miles Davis Bootleg Series mission of presenting live performances that are previously unreleased, have previously only been bootlegged, or are very rare. The new box represents the first major collection to be devoted exclusively to the short-lived ‘third great quintet,’ sometimes referred to as Miles’ ‘lost band’ of 1969-70: Shorter on soprano and tenor saxophones, Corea on electric piano (and occasionally acoustic piano), Holland on acoustic bass, and DeJohnette on drums.

The Miles-Shorter-Corea-Holland-DeJohnette lineup (in tandem with other players) began to solidify during the 1968-‘69 recording dates that became the Filles De Kilimanjaro and In a Silent Way albums. And they were at the core of the dozen or so musicians joined together by Miles in August 1969, for the principal sessions that became the landmark turning point of his Grammy Award®-winning Bitches Brew.

But the ‘third great quintet’ by itself was never documented in the recording studio. Their European tours of 1969, represented on this new package, are some of the only existing recordings of the group, and the first legitimately released audio recordings by this stellar lineup. Underscoring their official debut here, over 43 years later, is a superbly shot multi-camera color DVD of the band at its hottest in Berlin in November, 1969. Miles is seen in the best of health in 1969, eating a macrobiotic diet (along with the other band members), and avoiding drugs. As a result, his playing was never stronger than on these 1969 concerts, with his chops at an absolute peak.

Live In Europe 1969 captures the short-lived quintet in three separate concert settings, starting with two full-length (one hour-plus) sets at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France on CD One (July 25th) and CD Two (July 26th). The locale moves to Stockholm on November 5 for the program heard on CD Three. In Stockholm, the quintet performed as part of “The Newport Jazz Festival In Europe” and they are introduced (on the CD) by the festival’s producer and founder, George Wein.

The DVD is the complete 46-minute color performance of the quintet at the Berlin Philharmonie on November 7, 1969. As with Live In Europe 1967, the paradox of Live In Europe 1969 is the fact that the concerts were recorded by state-owned radio and television outlets – a case of European bureaucracies (thankfully) preserving our American jazz heritage. This has also enabled Legacy to have access to the best-sounding original masters in each case.

The audio and video sources of Live In Europe 1969 have been remastered from the best available masters, which Legacy has secured from the European broadcast centers who originally documented the material. As with all of Legacy’s Miles Davis historic projects over the past two decades, the remastering has been done by multi-Grammy Award®-winning Sony engineer Mark Wilder. The audio and video is far superior to any previous circulating [bootleg] versions of this material.

In the tradition of Legacy’s historic releases, Live In Europe 1969 will include a booklet with comprehensive liner notes. The box also includes full discographical data, as well as rare or uncirculated photography and memorabilia.

For this package, an expansive 3,000-word essay (“Field Recordings from a Future-Leaning Past”) has been written by noted journalist Josef Woodard, winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for jazz writing in 1998, best known for his jazz writing in the Los Angeles Times. The essay features quotes from an interview with Miles in 1989, and interviews at various times (up through 2012) with all of the surviving members of the band. Shorter, Corea, Holland, and DeJohnette, whose contributions to Miles’ bands are legendary, are among the most prominent and acclaimed living jazz artists, still recording classic music and touring all over the world.

Live In Europe was produced for release by multiple Grammy Award® winners Richard Seidel and Michael Cuscuna, and was co-produced by multiple Grammy Award® winner Steve Berkowitz, the same team responsible for Live In Europe 1967.

The tracklisting for Live In Europe 1969 reveals that the Quintet was playing an inspired, wide-ranging repertoire. Material ran the gamut from 1969’s In a Silent Way (“It’s About That Time”) and Bitches Brew sessions (“Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” “Sanctuary,” “Spanish Key,” “Bitches Brew”) all the way back in time to standards like “I Fall in Love Too Easily” (from 1963’s Seven Steps To Heaven) and Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight.”

At no other time did Miles perform compositions from his be-bop era (“’Round Midnight”), modal era (the 1958 “Milestones”), ballads and blues of the early ’60s era (“I Fall In Love Too Easily,” “No Blues”), material from the ‘Second Great Quintet’ mid-to-late ’60s era (“Footprints,” “Nefertiti”) and late ’60s-early ’70s electric era (“It’s About That Time,” “Spanish Key”), all in the same set program, as he did at Antibes.

It is crucial to note that the versions of “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down” and “Spanish Key” at Antibes were performed live in July, well before the historic August 1969 Bitches Brew sessions, where they were first recorded in the studio. Likewise, the versions of “Bitches Brew” from Stockholm and Berlin are heard here several months before the album was released on Columbia Records in April 1970. As with Live In Europe 1967, the interpretations of the compositions are not only strikingly different than the original studio versions by other configurations of Miles’ groups, but differ wildly even from night to night on these four shows, again demonstrating the extraordinarily high level of creativity among these musicians.

The box set also contains multiple examples of Wayne Shorter’s unparalleled composing skills, from “Footprints” (dating back to 1967’s Miles Smiles) to multiple performances of his gems, “Nefertiti” and “Masqualero.” On the extremely rare and mostly acoustic set from Stockholm, there is a bonus track version of “This,” a Chick Corea composition that was never officially recorded by Miles Davis. Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 is an indispensable link between the work of our most important and influential jazz musician at the end of the ’60s, and the road ahead to what the ’70s would bring.

As Jack DeJohnette told Woodard a few months ago, “Miles just keeps growing and growing and growing,” a surprising thing to say about any musician more than 20 years after his passing. But with Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2, Legacy once again digs deep to reveal a little known period in the work of a giant, seen and heard performing with an amazing band, music that was unlike anything he recorded before or after.

“And so,” Woodard concludes, “these important ‘field recordings,’ from a mysterious past and unfolding future, take us to a place and a time between the cracks of the Miles Davis story as it is commonly understood. For that alone, never mind the rattling, exploratory poetry of this band’s sound, this is a significant cultural document for the ears and the ages, not just the archives.”

Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
CD One – Selections:
1. Introduction by AndrÃ© Francis
2. Directions
3. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
4. Milestones
5. Footprints
6. ’Round Midnight
7. It’s About That Time
8. Sanctuary
9. The Theme
(Recorded 7/25/69 at Festival Mondial du Jazz d’Antibes, La PinÃ¨de, Juan-les-Pins, France.)

CD Two – Selections:
1. Introduction by AndrÃ© Francis
2. Directions
3. Spanish Key
4. I Fall In Love Too Easily
5. Masqualero
6. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
7. No Blues
8. Nefertiti
9. Sanctuary
10. The Theme
(Recorded 7/26/69 at Festival Mondial du Jazz d’Antibes, La PinÃ¨de, Juan-les-Pins, France.)

CD Three – Selections:
1. Introduction by George Wein
2. Bitches Brew
3. Paraphernalia
4. Nefertiti
5. Masqualero (incomplete)
6. This
(Recorded 11/5/69 at “The Newport Jazz Festival In Europe,” Folkets Hus, Stockholm.)

DVD – Selections:
1. Introduction by John O’Brien-Docker
2. Directions
3. Bitches Brew
4. It’s About That Time
5. I Fall In Love Too Easily
6. Sanctuary
7. The Theme
(Recorded 11/7/69 at Berliner Jazztage in the Berlin Philharmonie.)

Jazz's Wizard of Wit—and Much More—Dave Frishberg

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On days when you might want your jazz with some wit and some delight, one sure solution is the music of pianist, songwriter and singer Dave Frishberg. Frishberg is most famous as the composer of a handful of incredibly funny and clever songs, many made famous first by singer Blossom Dearie.

“I’m Hip” is a monologue by a deluded beat-era hipster who thinks he’s utterly cool because “I even call my girlfriend ‘Man’”, set to a series of chord changes so tricky that the song is nearly unsingable. “Peel Me a Grape”, more recently done to sultry extreme by Diana Krall, is written in the voice of a woman who is perfectly up-front about the fact that she’s using her man for luxury and little more (“Don’t outthink me—just mink me”). And “My Attorney Bernie” is a celebration of an unscrupulous lawyer: “Thanks to you, my attorney Bernie / Thanks to you I’m considered well to do / Sure, I made out like a bandit exactly like you planned it / But like Murray, my accountant, told me yesterday—I owe it all to you”.

Indeed, as a solo performer and singer, the Frishberg-Woody comparison seems utterly on target. Frishberg’s appearance and age are similar to Allen’s. Both come off as spectacled nebbishes, perhaps—balding guys with a facility for smart wordplay and a weakness for New York City. Take a listen to Frishberg’s brilliant “Do You Miss New York” written from the point of view of someone who fled Gotham for the west coast (“Do you miss New York—the anger the action? Does this laidback lifestyle lack a certain satisfaction?”), and just try not to think of Allen’s take of Los Angeles from Annie Hall, a movie that Frishberg references in the song’s last verse.

But if that were all of Frishberg, a bunch of funny, impish songs, then I wouldn’t find myself returning to his work as often as I do. In fact, Frishberg is a musician and composer who covers the full range of moods and emotional keys. As a pianist, he’s one of a kind—straddling an amazing two-handed technique that starts with stride roots but fully absorbs bebop harmonies and modern rhythms. And as a writer of complex ballads and mood pieces, he’s a composer who goes far beyond yucks.

Read the entire PopMatters article here: Jazz's Wizard of Wit—and Much More—Dave Frishberg

JAZZ TODAY: Luciana Souza's Multi-Directional Approach to Jazz Singing

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