MG News --Oct. 25, 2008
MG News Archives
Elias brings Bossa Nova a birthday gift
Bossa Nova is ubiquitous. Although it has inculcated itself into the pantheon of popular music, its gently inspired origins can be obscured. But at the ripe age of 50, those roots will ably be celebrated by the inimitable Elaine Elias.
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| Elaine Elias |
The pianist/vocalist, who has the longest tenure with Blue Note Records since its phoenix in 1984, will release Bossa Nova Stories, her 21st album for the label.
Bossa Nova was born in Brazil in 1958 when guitarist João Gilberto recorded Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes's "Chega de Saudade." With Gilberto's smooth samba-derived rhythm and soft-spoken, non-vibrato vocals on the song helped to launch a movement that easily fused seductive Brazilian rhythms with jazz and European classical harmony.
Elias brings this formidable aesthetic to bear on the 14-song collection, leading a top-notch band, all of whom are steeped in the bossa nova tradition, including guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, drummer Paulo Braga and bassist Marc Johnson. Guests include harmonica legend Toots Thielemans, Brazilian post-bossa singer/songwriter Ivan Lins and up and coming guitarist Ricardo Vogt. Produced by Elias and Steve Rodby, the album also features seven tracks with full orchestration beautifully arranged and conducted by Rob Mathes, and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, in London.
Classic bossa tracks include "The Girl From Ipanema," "Desafinado," "Chega de Saudade" and "Minha Saudade." Jazz standards given the bossa treatment include two Johnny Mercer numbers, "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Day In and Day Out," and the Gershwin evergreen "You Can't Take That Away From Me." In addition, there are two new standards fortified by bossa: Stevie Wonder's "Superwoman" and "The More I See You," made into a pop-music hit in 1966 by Chris Montez.
The connective tissue in this endeavor is Elias her piano-vocal interplay is the fulcrum of the music, the hitching post for the thoroughbred accompaniment.
Eliane Elias' official Web site: http://elianeelias.com/
Blanchard/Lee film partnership explored
The modern jazz musician has learned how to make a living in a variety of ways. Beyond recording and touring, doing workshops at universities or television/video gigs, one of the most prestigious and creative avenues of expression is the film score.
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| Terrence Blanchard |
It is truly the collaboration of sight and sound, and one of the most consistent and successful teams has been the firebrand maverick Spike Lee and the chameleon-esque Terrence Blanchard.
Lee will introduce an evening dedicated to Blanchard’s highly-regarded jazz scores and R&B-tinged songs from Jungle Fever, Bamboozled, Malcolm X, Clockers, Inside Man, 25th Hour, Mo Better Blues, When the Levees Broke, and Miracle at St. Anna at the New Jersey Performing Center at 8 p.m. Nov. 1 in Prudential Hall.
The Terence Blanchard Quintet -- Aaron Parks, piano; Brice Winston, saxophone; Michael Olatuja, bass, Marcus Gilmoret, drums; and Fabian Almazan, piano -- and The Terence Blanchard Orchestra will be joined by three distinctive and diverse guest vocalists: Grammy-winning, R&B/jazz song smith Patti Austin, rising singer-songwriter Raul Midon and neo-soul up-and-comer Bilal, who will help recreate the vocal selections from the films. The mult-media event also will feature stills from each film segment projected on a screen above the orchestra.
For more information, visit the NJPAC Web site.
Don Byron retrospective planned
Oct. 16, 2008
Reedman/composer/arranger Don Byron’s sonic palette is so expansive, he needs more than one set of musicians to adequately present music from his vast repertoire. This will be evident Nov. 13-16 at New York City’s Jazz Standard when his diverse pantheon will be celebrated along with his 50th birthday.
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| Don Byron |
For almost two decades, Byron’s unique music persona has charged filament of a variety of music from classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, klezmer (Jewish secular folk funk), rhythm & blues, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge improvisation. He, in his words has persistently pursued the goal of achieving “a sound above genre."
“Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet – it just doesn’t begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category.” –TIME Magazine’s
The bands:
Nov. 13, 7:30-9:30 p.m,
Don Plays the Music of Mickey Katz
Byron, clarinet; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; JD Parran, saxophones, clarinet; Alan Ferber, trombone; Todd Reynolds, violin; Uri Caine, piano; Kenny Davis, bass; Ben Wittman, drums; Sam Guncler, vocals.
This is a re-formation of the groundbreaking and virtuosic klezmer ensemble that recorded Byron’s eponymous Nonesuch album.
Nov. 14, 7:30, 9:30-11:30 p.m.
Bug Music Sextet -- Byron, clarinet; Rob DeBellis, saxophones; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Uri Caine, piano; Mark Helias, bass; Ben Wittman, drums
Named after Byron’s 1996 album Bug Music, this sextet performs arrangements of works by three Swing-era composers Swing Era – Duke Ellington, Raymond Scott, and John Kirby.
Nov.15, 7:30, 9:30-11:30 p.m.
Don Byron Quartet -- Byron, clarinet, tenor saxophone; Edward Simon, piano; Kenny Davis, bass; Eric Harland, drums.
Evolved from his acclaimed Ivey-Divey Trio, Byron’s new quartet mines the work of Lester Young and Eddie Harris as muse. The repertoire also includes Byron’s Lester Young-inspired compositions recently commissioned by Chamber Music America and other new original works influenced by these tenor sax icons.
Nov. 16, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Music for Six Musicians -- Byron, clarinet; James Zollar, trumpet; Edward Simon, piano; Leo Traversa, bass; Milton Cardona, congas; Ben Wittman, drums.
This set will reflect Byron’s Latin and Afro-Carribean heritage ot music that Spin magazine calls “hothouse arrangements.” Featured on a self-titled 1995 disc and on 2001’s You Are #6, this is simultaneously Byron’s longest- running band and one of his most innovative, validating the past while establishing new frontiers.
Visit Don Byron's Web site
Ukranian Jazz!? Swedish tango bands!!? Okay. Okay. I know jazz is like a cosmic spore, inculcating all who come in contact with this metamorphic music. It’s, you know, like the Borg: “Resistance is futile!”
And so it goes.
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| Dave Holland |
Thusly, the Jazz in Kyiv festival is going to make Kyiv the European jazz capital for three days, Oct. 17-19. The festival includes concerts and master classes held by world stars and the best Ukrainian jazzmen, jazz photo exhibitions and movies. Kyiv hasn’t seen so much jazz before. You betcha!!
Three-time Grammy winner Dave Holland and his band, Al Jarreau and Charlie Hunter are among the internationally recognized musicians that will be on hand for the festival.
The goal of the project was to present all kinds of jazz music. Guests on the first day include Swedish musicians New Tango Orchestra, who don't actually play jazz, but their appearance at the festival will be a commemoration to Argentinean music and creator of new tango, Astor Piazzollo.
The first day finishes with British bassist Holland, a representative of modern jazz.
The best Ukrainian jazz musicians will open Day Two as a part of Misha Tsyhanov’s United Quintet and Alex Fantayev band. The day will conclude with Ukrainian-Israeli
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| Al Jarreau |
bassist and vocalist Avishai Cohen and a new vocal project. He will perform ethnic music, his own compositions and improvisations.
The third day will start with American guitarist Charlie Hunter, whose guitar-bass play has forged for him a unique identity. The headliner of the fest is iconic vocal usician, Al Jarreau, the only singer in history who received Grammy awards in three categories at once – jazz, pop and R&B. It will be his first concert in Kyiv.
Go to jazzinkiev.com for more information.
Oct. 15, 2008
Shorter gets birthday fete
Absolutely Live Entertainment, LLC and New Audiences Productions will help legendary music innovator Wayne Shorter celebrate his 75th birthday with a concert at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 at Carnegie Hall, at 57th Street & 7th Avenue in New York City.
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| Wayne Shorter |
Saxophone master Shorter will present a repertoire of his classics music and also the New York premiere of his collaborative work, Terra Incognita, performed with his quartet and the Imani Winds Ensemble. Shorter's quartet features established young luminaries such as pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. Shorter was commissioned by the La Jolla Music Society in 2006 to compose a piece for the Imani Winds Ensemble.
The National Endowment for the Arts “American Jazz Master” has forged an indelible path as a member of groundbreaking groups and as a soloist, starting in the late 1950s as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He spent six years with a mid 1960s Miles Davis band that included Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter, recording about a dozen albums, among them the groundbreaking Bitches Brew.
Along with fellow Miles Davis alum, the late Joe Zawinul, Shorter formed seminal fusion act Weather Report, which prevailed through the 1970s and into the 1980s. The band served as a finishing school for many young players, most notably bassist Jaco Pastorrius.
The Newark, NJ native’s style, which is distinguished as much for the absence of excess as it is for flourishes of color, has earned him substantial recognition from his peers, including nine Grammy® Awards and 13 Grammy® nominations to date.
The events in his incredible life's journey have been compiled by author Michelle Mercer in "Footprints: The Life And Music of Wayne Shorter" (A Tarcher/Penguin.)
Tickets for his celebration concert are on sale now at the Carnegie Hall box office, at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling Carnegie Charge at 212-247-7800.
More information about Absolutely Live Entertainment, a festival, tour and concert production company led by industry veteran Danny Melnick, can be found at absolutelylive.net.
Rim
Shots --Oct. 12, 2008
International jazz ambassador Hugh Masekela has traveled the world, playing London, New York, Paris and more in any given year. But his fond memories of childhood in Emalahleni, which was called Witbank at the time, has prompted him to plan a movie about those years.
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| Hugh Masekela |
“I want the film to depict how Witbank was back in those days. There is so much about the place that defines who I am, even today, “ he says.
The movie is very much in the planning phase, but Hugh high has hope for substance.
“I don't want to be involved in films that are small, or where we Africans lose,” he says.
“There are very few films that depict happiness in Africa, but that is what I want my film to convey. I have had a very colourful life and I want the film to convey the splendour of those early days." ...
The International Center for the Arts at San Francisco State University will hold its second annual Generations Jazz Program International Competition and Fellowship for Emerging Young Combos, inviting up-and-coming jazz combos in all countries to enter. The winning combo will earn a year-long fellowship, with stipend, at San Francisco State University studying with the all-star Generations Band, including jazz masters Jimmy Cobb, Ray Drummond, Eric Alexander and Andrew Speight. Deadline for rntry is March 23.The Generations Jazz Program represents an effort by the International Center for the Arts and San Francisco State University to help bring jazz education back to its traditional model of inter-generational mentoring in the combo format...
Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker inhabit another jazz legend's life on the big screen when he stars in and directsa film on jazz legend.Louis Armstrong. Whitaker portrayed Charlie Parker for director Clint Eastwood in "Bird." According to Variety, Whitaker will direct and star in "What a Wonderful World." The trade magazine said that the film will begin shooting in the summer in Louisiana.Whitaker said that Armstrong "lived an amazing life" and "shifted the way music was played" in the U.S. and around the world.Armstrong died in 1971 of a heart attack, just one month shy of his 70th birthday.Whitaker, 47, won a Best Actor Oscar in 2007 for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland."
Blue Note celebrates 70 with album, tour
Seventy years is along, long time. Seems like forever. But on Jan. 13 Blue Note Records will commemorate the label's 70th anniversary with the release of Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records, an eight-song collection of classics from the venerable label’s vaults re-animated by t all star aggregation, the Blue Note 7..
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are pianist, musical director, and current Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, alto saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash. The album is produced by Charlap, Michael Cuscuna and Eli Wolf, and executive produced by Danny Melnick, founder of the event production company Absolutely Live Entertainment, which will produce the band’s expansive 51-city North American tour lifting off Jan. 7.
Charlap offers kudos to the foresight of Blue Note founder Alfred Lion, who launched the label in 1939, for "creating a forum for composers to write music. He trusted them to go ahead and do what they do best."
The Blue Note 7 “a true collaboration” comprised of the next generation of major players, “all leaders in their own right," said Bruce Lundvall, president of Blue Note Records, who is also celebrating 25 years since he relaunched the label in 1984.
Charlap says the choice of material was dictated by the band's desire to cover diverse tunes with different moods and arranging approaches.
The Blue Note 7 tour, which begins on Jan. 7 in Yakima, WA, and continues with concerts at universities and concert halls in 50 cities across North America. The tour will culminate in a six-night run in mid-April at Birdland in New York. European dates will also be announced for Fall 2009.
Eagle Eye Media, a subsidiary of Eagle Rock Entertainment, will release The Crusaders Live At Montreux 2003 on DVD Tuesday (Oct. 14).
The Jazz Crusaders were a bridge from the soulful jazz territory of the early 1960s to the pop accessible sounds that dominant smooth jazz radio formats today. And over the course of their 40 plus album journey, they have delivered some of the most memorable performances of the late 20th century and early in this millennium.
In 2003, touring in support of their Rural Renewal album, the Crusaders, led by founding members Joe Sample on keyboards and Wilton Felder on tenor saxophone, stopped at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, where they are always well-received.
The band at this time included funky guitarist Ray Parker, Jr. (a perfect fit for their syncopated soulful direction) and unique vocalist Randy Crawford. Highlights of the two-hour+ set include a nine-minute version of their classic “Street Life" as well as Ray Parker, Jr.'s signature “Ghostbusters."