News

Miguel Zenón Releases Oye!!! Live in Puerto Rico; Debut as Leader at Village Vanguard; Curates Four Nights at SFJazz

Posted on May 7th, 2013 by Matt

Saxophonist/Composer, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Miguel Zenón
Releases ‘OYE!!! Live in Puerto Rico’
By Miguel Zenón & The Rhythm Collective
On Miel Music, Out May 28, 2013

OYE!!! Album Release Coincides With
Four-Night Residency at SF Jazz May 30 – June 2

Featuring THE RHYTHM COLLECTIVE (May 30),
ALMA ADENTRO: The Puerto Rican Songbook (May 31),
IDENTITIES: Tales From The Diaspora (June 1) &
DUOS with LUIS PERDOMO & PAOLI MEJIAS (June 2)

Two Weeks Prior 
Two Weeks Prior, Zenón Celebrates 10 YEARS with His Quartet
In VILLAGE VANGUARD DEBUT AS A LEADER – MAY 14-19
with Luis Perdomo, Hans Glawischnig & Henry Cole

The life of a jazz musician is often about fusing life experiences, creative coalitions, new ideas about rhythm, content, flow and innovative musical languages. Saxophonist Miguel Zenón has long been occupied with finding common musical threads in the North American jazz tradition and the music of the African diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America, and his newest project, Oye!!! Live in Puerto Rico, is his latest triumph in this quest. Read the rest of this entry »

Louisville, KY’s LIBERATION PROPHECY Releases 2nd LP, ‘Invisible House’ June 11 on Calvin Cycle Collective

Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by Matt

Liberation Prophecy’s
LIBERATION LIVING ROOM
Concert Series/Webisodes
Featuring Ben Sollee, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
Plus More To Come

“Takes new approach to concerts for kids,”
says
Louisville Courier-Journal

Liberation-Prophecy-“It began in a real free-spirited kind of way, so it was about the idea that we were going to free ourselves, and that was the prophecy,” Jacob Duncan says with a laugh. “Free ourselves through making music, you know?” Liberation Prophecy’s leader, composer, arranger and alto saxophonist, Duncan has been doing exactly that since 1995, when the band’s inaugural incarnation surfaced as a quartet in the back room of a coffee house in his native Louisville, Kentucky. Since those experimental salad days, Duncan has taken the Liberation Prophecy mission with him around the country, assembling like-minded musicians in Denton, Texas and New York City. Now back home in Louisville, Duncan’s current Liberation Prophecy is a facile, empathic octet that brings his compositions to life with a proprietary blend of precision, intuition, without-a-net-high-wire-daring, and inspired avant-anarchy. Now two albums into its questing, Liberation Prophecy continues to astonish.

At the time of its first release, 2006’s Last Exit Angel, Liberation Prophecy felt the influence of early Carla Bley, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Frank Zappa, Sun Ra and songwriters Randy Newman and Tom Waits. That heady mélange of inspirations manifested in a debut of remarkable maturity, adventure, and promise. “With the first album there were more traditional elements of jazz, and samba and avant-garde,” Duncan says. “But with the new one, Invisible House (2013), there’s more rock, and I think it’s more present—simple and present. These are actually just songs…they’re stories, and they’re colors and melodies that you could actually remember. That’s the idea— something that’s listenable, but at the same time collaborative and eclectic.” Those collaborations, three songs with lyric contributions from Will Oldham (“Let’s Not Pretend”), Greta Smith (“Wish I May”), and Pokey LaFarge’s Joe Manning (“The Lazy Mist”) are unequivocal successes, and signal Duncan’s continuing growth as an artist. Read the rest of this entry »

Portland, Oregon’s Blue Cranes to Release ‘Swim’, Produced by Nate Query of The Decemberists. On CD and Limited Edition Colored Vinyl Via Cuneiform Records on June 4, 2013

Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by Matt

Since their formation in 2007, Blue Cranes have become a key player in the Portland, Oregon creative music/DIY scene and one of the most exciting groups to keep tabs on in the Northwest. They’ve developed a singular musical voice grounded in melody and explosive improvisations—marking off their unique microcosmic territory in “post-jazz” circles.

blue-cranes-all_online_uses-swimcover-1440The members of the quintet—Reed Wallsmith on alto saxophone, Joe Cunningham on tenor saxophone, Rebecca Sanborn on keyboards, Keith Brush on bass, and Ji Tanzer on drums—bring a unique array of experiences to their group-centered aesthetic, including work with AUThe DecemberistsLaura Veirs, Wayne Horvitz, Rebecca Gates, Laura Gibson, Ethan Rose, Pete Krebs, Black Prairie, and Portland Cello Project. The band takes an evolutionary step forward on their fourth full-length album, Swim, to be released June 4th on the Washington, D.C. area-based Cuneiform Records.

Swim is a departure from Blue Cranes’ previous, and in some ways simpler, albums. Steered dutifully by producer Nate Query of The Decemberists, it is a window into the sometimes messy emotional space of a group struggling with and celebrating the ephemeralness of life. This work is the culmination of several between-album projects, including a 30-day crowd-sourced Amtrak train tour in 2011, and a seven day group composition retreat, supported in part by a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council. However, the heart of Swim lies in indelibly profound life events—the passing away of two dear friends, a serious injury, two weddings, and the birth of a child (Wallsmith’s first)—events at tragic and uplifting extremes, both cathartic and celebratory. Read the rest of this entry »

Saxophonist/Composer Uri Gurvich Releases ‘BabEl’. Out April 23rd on Tzadik Records

Posted on April 11th, 2013 by Matt

BabEl-Album-ArtIn the Biblical account, the Tower of Babel stands as a monument to man’s hubris, the division of tongues into myriad languages a punishment for humanity’s defiance. But on his second CD, Babel (Tzadik), saxophonist/composer Uri Gurvich suggests that perhaps there’s a musical upside to that act of divine wrath. Gurvich assembles a multicultural group of virtuoso musicians to translate his Israeli-inspired melodies into a global sonic language.

Each member of Gurvich’s ensemble hails from a different country – the leader from Israel, pianist Leo Genovese from Argentina, bassist Peter Slavov from Bulgaria, drummer Francisco Mela from Cuba, and special guest oud player and percussionist Brahim Fribgane from Morocco. Together, the band essentially rejoins what the Tower’s aftermath put asunder, only with a much richer, more harmonious blend of diverse accents.

“I like the combination of people from different places playing my music, especially when each one of them is so strongly related to their own folkloric music,” Gurvich says. “There’s a very interesting mix of cultures coming together, with each of the players bringing their own thing to the table.” Read the rest of this entry »

Guitarist Gilad Hekselman Releases Fourth Album, THIS JUST IN (Jazz Village)

Posted on March 30th, 2013 by Matt

A Rapid Fire & Globally Relevant Endeavor,
Guitarist/Composer Gilad Hekselman Makes Commentary on Present Day Society’s 24/7 Information Glut,
On This Just In,
Featuring Hekselman’s Core Quartet: Saxophonist Mark Turner,
Bassist Joe Martin & 
Drummer Marcus Gilmore

Out APRIL 9, 2013 (Jazz Village / Harmonia Mundi)
(Updated Global Release Date)

 This-Just-In-Front-Cover
In the age of 24-hour cable news stations, the internet, smartphones and social media, the news cycle moves at an ever-quickening pace. On his scintillating fourth album, This Just In (Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi), guitarist Gilad Hekselman takes a cue from that rapid-fire information stream and files his latest report from the front lines of modern jazz. Read the rest of this entry »

THE ADORABLES by Zeena Parkins and The Adorables: out today!

Posted on March 20th, 2013 by Matt

Featuring Zeena Parkins, Shayna Dunkelman &
Preshish Moments
OUT TODAY – MARCH 19, 2013
On Cryptogramophone Records

CG147_cover_hi_RED

Zeena Parkins and THE ADORABLES is the latest band led by Zeena Parkins, famed electric harpist with Bjork, and stalwart of the downtown New York scene.  THE ADORABLES mixes lush acoustic orchestration with live electronics, beats, and unusual instruments, visceral, unearthly, exquisitely rich sounds with drones, crafted sound processing, feedback and the guts of harp strings.  The members of THE ADORABLES include percussionist Shayna Dunkelman and electronic music guru Preshish Moments. Dunkelman has worked with John Zorn, Ikue Mori, and William Winant, and is a member of the bands Xiu Xiu and Phantom Orchard OrchestraPreshish Moments has performed at Lincoln Center, the Barbican, the Southbank Centre, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Walker Arts Center, the Festival International de Musique Actuelle Victoriaville, among many other places. Read the rest of this entry »

Eric Hofbauer to Release Solo Guitar Recording, ‘American Grace’, via Boston-based Creative Nation Music

Posted on March 12th, 2013 by Matt

american-grace-cover-72dpi

 

On March 12, Creative Nation Music will release American Grace, guitarist Eric Hofbauer‘s third solo recording, completing the trilogy begun in 2004 with American Vanity and followed by American Fear in 2010. Throughout all three American Trilogy recordings, Hofbauer comments on varied aspects of American society and culture, covering a wide range of styles from ’80′s pop tunes, jazz standards, bebop and free jazz to country and blues.

Reflecting on his journey of exploration through three solo recordings, Hofbauer explains, “The trilogy is about process, coming of age, or coming to terms with the internal and external world. It’s autobiographical and I hope in some ways, universal. Grace is the final step… acceptance of who we are, regardless of what the universe has dished out. Vanity and Fearportrayed the more green side of that process, while Grace is the arrival of awareness, of embracing the duality inherent in life and humanity.” The nineteen tracks on American Grace cover a vast stylistic territory, connected together through Hofbauer’s unique deconstructionist sense of melodic interpretation, polyrhythm and bi-tonality. Original compositions sit side by side with startling interpretations of folk hymns, free jazz, 80′s pop classics, stride guitar, bebop and the blues.

Hofbauer’s two previously acclaimed solo guitar releases,American Vanity andAmerican Fear, dissect and examine American culture through spontaneous original compositions and stripped-down interpretations of musical touchstones that span country, jazz and rock. These stark, personal statements showcase not only Hofbauer’s undeniable skills as a musician, but also his trademark intelligence and humor, as he deftly puts his own affable, sometimes jaw-dropping spin on the music of everyone from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams to Andrew Hill and Charlie Parker to Nirvana and Van Halen.

“No other guitarist in jazz has developed a solo approach as rigorous, evocative, and thoughtful as Hofbauer,” writes Andrew Gilbert of The Boston Globe. In his review of American Fear, AllAboutJazz-New York’sTom Greenland adds, “For all its variety, drawing on recognizable elements of jazz and other musical traditions, Hofbauer’s voice emerges here unique and distinct, blending the comedic with the tragic—and having some serious fun.”

While best known for his innovative work as a solo artist, Hofbauer has been an integral member of Boston’s jazz scene as a musician, bandleader, organizer and educator for the past fifteen years. Hofbauer has performed and recorded alongside such notable collaborators as Han Bennink, Roy Campbell, Jr., John Tchicai, Garrison Fewell, Cecil McBee, Steve Swell and Matt Wilson. Hofbauer has earned critical acclaim for his work in a variety of musical projects, including recordings with the Garrison Fewell/Eric Hofbauer Duo, Garrison Fewell’s Variable Density Sound Orchestra and The Blueprint Project with Han Bennink.  In 2007, he founded his own group, Eric Hofbauer & The Infrared Band, which released its debut Myth Understanding in 2008 and followed up with LEVEL in 2011. Most recently, he has been performing with BOLT, an electro-acoustic improvising quartet featuring the notable Dutch free jazz player, Jorrit Dijkstra, and the new Eric Hofbauer Quartet, a modern jazz project featuring Hofbauer compositions.

Hofbauer teaches jazz composition, guitar, and jazz history at Emerson College and the University of Rhode Island. In 2009, he was honored with the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Music Composition, which included a grant he used to mix and master American Fear.

About Creative Nation Music

Founded in early 2004, Creative Nation Music is a respected outlet for new releases from the Boston jazz scene’s most distinctive musical personalities. CNM has released 22 albums to date and recently celebrated its 9th year in production, and is a respected outlet for independent creative improvised music.  True to its original principles, it remains focused on documenting and promoting the work of musicians living and working in the Boston area, with a special emphasis on jazz artists with distinctive musical personalities.

 

 

E. Normus Trio’s LOVE AND BARBITURATES out March 19 on Little King Records

Posted on March 7th, 2013 by Matt

EnormusTrio-LoveAndBarbiturates-WebReady

ASHEVILLE, NC– Consisting of an alto clarinet, N/S Stick and drums, this unique trio produces a truly leviathan sound that effortlessly blends jazz, rock and ambiance into something altogether new while simultaneously paying homage to the innovators of the past.

The E.Normus Trio has been a project of Jay Sanders and Steve Alford since 2007. At the heart of the group’s huge sound is Sanders’ use of the N/S Stick, an 8-string multi-mode instrument allowing him to play both bass and guitar. To this add Michael W. Davis on drums, who brings incredible jazz sensitivity coupled with tremendous power and superhuman control of time. Finally, atop this cacophony screams Alford’s primeval lead “voice”, six octaves of sweeping clarinet range. The E.Normus Trio creates a sonic palette hitherto unknown. Read the rest of this entry »

New Ches Smith & These Arches Record Out Today (!) on Clean Feed

Posted on March 6th, 2013 by Matt

Ches Smith & These Arches
HAMMERED (Clean Feed)

Featuring Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Mary Halvorson, and Andrea Parkins

CHES-HAMMERED-BIGThough drummer Ches Smith has a penchant for christening his compositions with playfully oblique names, the name he chose for the title track of the second album by his band These Arches couldn’t be more straightforward. “Hammered” is relentless, pounding, fueled by a driving, recursive pulse that goads tense, urgent playing from Smith’s quintet of master improvisers.

The piece is a vivid illustration of the precarious balance that Smith strikes between the worlds of avant-garde jazz and experimental rock. He’s in demand as the drummer for such forward-thinking jazz artists as Tim Berne, Darius Jones, Mary Halvorson and Trevor Dunn; and at the same time he’s provided the backbone for adventurous rock acts like Xiu Xiu and Secret Chiefs 3, not to mention uncategorizable hybrids between the two like Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog and Smith’s own Good For Cows. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Tepfer & Ben Wendel Release “Small Constructions” on Sunnyside Records

Posted on February 19th, 2013 by Matt

Keyboardist Dan Tepfer and multi-reed player Ben Wendel are lauded jazz artists who have made an album that goes beyond jazz, a set of songs without words that explores and celebrates multiplicity. Small Constructions – to be released by Sunnyside Records on March 12, 2013 – is a multi-tracked, multi-layered production featuring Tepfer and Wendel playing multiple instruments in multiple styles, extending from kaleidoscopic versions of Monk tunes to pieces based on Handel and Messiaen motifs, from a standard given an intimate, artful makeover to originals that underscore the duo’s melodic flair. Tepfer, a pianist who has ranged from solo improvisation to duets with sax icon Lee Konitz to variations on Bach, has been called a player of exceptional poise” by The New York Times, while Downbeat extolled his “ability to disappear into the music as he’s making it.” Wendel, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated jazz-rock band Kneebody, has also recorded rich, wide-ranging solo albums, with theLos Angeles Times praising him as “a composer with a restless ear.”

In his liner notes to the album, Tepfer writes: “We recorded Small Constructions over the course of a few days in the Yamaha artist space in Manhattan, with some of our favorite instruments close at hand: a beautiful piano, a Fender-Rhodes, three kinds of saxes, a bassoon and a melodica

Wendel explains the duo’s bond: “Dan and I have interesting similarities in our upbringings. We both grew up with opera-singing mothers, and we each started out studying classical music before we got into playing jazz. We have a shared aesthetic sensibility from this, extending from our choice of tunes to the way we improvise together, finishing each other’s sentences. I guess you could say that we’re kindred musical spirits.” Read the rest of this entry »

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