As evidenced in headlines throughout the spring, the effects of the April 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano were mostly catastrophic: air travel disrupted, travelers stranded, global commerce stalled. But the repercussions can also be heard, with far more positive results, in the deeply intuitive interactions of the Honey Ear Trio’s debut CD, Steampunk Serenade (release date March 22, Foxhaven Records).

When that infamous ash cloud resulted in the cancellation of a planned six-week European tour for drummer Allison Miller, she seized the initiative and called Honey Ear Trio mates Erik Lawrence (saxophones) and Rene Hart (bass and electronics). “We knew we wanted to make a cooperative trio CD,” Lawrence says, “but with our busy schedules we only had single days in various months, which would have been disconnected and disjointed. All of a sudden we had a month straight where we could rehearse two or three times a week and really try to add content and concepts to the empathy that we already shared.”

That empathy, so evident in the way the trio plays effortlessly with time and structure throughout the CD’s thirteen tracks, may have been galvanized in that intensive rehearsal period, but it was built on a foundation laid over several years of interaction. Hart and Miller began performing together in the mid-1990s; Lawrence began working with Hart, who is married to Lawrence’s sister, shortly thereafter. The three came together in 2005 and have since worked as a unit with trumpeter Steven Bernstein (in the quartet Hipmotism), keyboardist John Medeski, and poet Robert Pinsky.

While the source of the kind of elusive chemistry shared by Hart, Lawrence and Miller is nearly impossible to pinpoint, one trait that all three share is an interest in a vast array of musical styles beyond the borders of jazz.

Miller, recently named a “Rising Star Drummer” in Downbeat’s Critics Poll and a member of Modern Drummer’s 2011 Pro Panel, has toured not only with organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith and saxophonist Marty Ehrlich but with singer/songwriters Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant and Brandi Carlile.

Lawrence counts jazz greats Chico Hamilton and Sonny Sharrock among his mentors, but has also worked with ex-Jimi Hendrix drummer Buddy Miles and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint and tours extensively with The Band’s Levon Helm. He has performed with Bob Dylan, David Bromberg, Aaron Neville, and Medeski Martin & Wood, and teaches at Williams College, Dartmouth College and Montclair State University – following in the educational footsteps of his father, Arnie Lawrence, founder of New York’s New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

Hart’s resume similarly strays from straightahead jazz to experimental music to pop and neo-soul, with artists like saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Don Braden, trombonist Julian Priester, and pianist Anat Fort on the one hand, and James Hunter and Bilal on the other. He has appeared on the stages of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brian, and on numerous film soundtrack recordings.

“We all come from the jazz tradition,” Miller explains, “but we’ve all veered away from that tradition over the years. So we communicate in such a similar way that we’re able to trust each other and explore all the different variations of what you can do with form and time and feel.”

The range of territory the trio can cover is exemplified immediately on Steampunk Serenade’s first two tracks. Opener “Matter of Time” is an elastic ballad whose mood and character shifts constantly; Miller’s “Olney 60/30”, written in honor of landmark birthdays for her and her mother, is rollicking and aggressive, alternately chaotic and fiercely focused.

“Olney 60/30” also marks the first appearance of Hart’s electronics, which in this case lends his upright bass a menacing electric snarl. Throughout Steampunk Serenade, Hart employs electronic elements in subtle ways that complement but never overwhelm the trio’s mastery of their more traditional instruments. “The danger is making it sound like a ten-year-old girl’s room,” Hart laughs. “Unicorn posters on the walls and sparkles everywhere – I try to err on the side of wanting more rather than having too much.”

One of the most innovative uses can be found on the trio’s surprising rendition of “Over the Rainbow”, in which Hart’s playing of the melody in reverse is echoed backwards, lending the familiar melody a bizarre otherworldliness. “We exploded the image of this song,” Lawrence says, “taking it out of Kansas and into the cosmos.”

The same could be said for the trio’s fresh take on the well-worn concept of the saxophone trio. Like opening a door from a black-and-white life into a new Technicolor world, the Honey Ear Trio transforms a familiar setting into something vibrant, startling, and distinctly their own.

Honey Ear Trio Website

Honey Ear Trio on Facebook

Honey Ear Trio on Reverbnation

Chris Parrello –Things I Wonder (Stray Dog Music) – January 25
Chris Parrello – guitars, compositions; Karlie Bruce – vocals/lyrics; Ian Young – saxophones; Kevin Thomas – bass; Aviv Cohen – drums; Rubin Kodheli – cello; Greg Glassman – trumpet; Rich Hinman – pedal steel

February

Yaron Herman - Follow the White Rabbit (ACT Music) – February 8
Yaron Herman – piano; Chris Tordini – bass; Tommy Crane – drums

Youn Sun Nah– Same Girl (ACT Music) – February 8
Youn Sun Nah – vocals, kalimba, music box, kazoo; Ulf Wakenius – guitars; Lars Danielsson – acoustic bass, cello; Xavier Desandre-Navarre – percussion: Roland Brival – narration

Ben Kono – Crossing (Nineteen-Eight Records) – February 22
Ben Kono – saxophones, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn; Henry Hey – piano; Pete McCann – guitar; John Hébert – bass; John Hollenbeck – drums; Heather Laws – vocals/French horn

Gutbucket – Flock (Cuneiform) – February 22
Ken Thomson – alto saxophone; Ty Citerman – electric guitar/effects; Eric Rockwin – bass; Adam D Gold – drums

March

Vijay Iyer – Tirtha (ACT Music) – March 8
Vijay Iyer – piano, Prasanna – guitar, Nitin Mitta – tabla

Helen Sung – (re)Conception (Steeplechase) – March 17
Helen Sung – piano, Peter Washington – bass, Lewis Nash – drums

Steven Lugerner – These Are The Words/Narratives 2-CD Set (self-released) – March 24
CD 1 – These Are The Words: Steven Lugerner – B-flat Clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, soprano & alto saxophones, oboe, English horn; Darren Johnston – trumpet & flugelhorn; Myra Melford – piano; Matt Wilson – drums

CD 2 – Narratives: Steven Lugerner – soprano & alto saxophones, bass clarinet, B-flat clarinet; Lucas Pino – Tenor Saxophone; Itamar Borochov – trumpet & flugelhorn; Angelo Spagnolo – guitar; Glenn Zaleski – piano; Ross Gallagher – double bass, Michael W. Davis – drums

Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (Foxhaven Records) – March 22
Erik Lawrence – saxophones; Rene Hart – acoustic bass, electronics/looping; Allison Miller -drums, percussion

Joe Fiedler Trio – Sacred Chrome Orb (Yellow Sound Label) – March 29
Joe Fiedler – trombone; John Hébert – bass; Michael Sarin – drums

April

Anthony Wilson– Campo Belo (Goat Hill Recordings) – April 5
Anthony Wilson – guitar; André Mehmari, piano; Guto Wirtti, bass; Edu Ribeiro, drums

Kermit Driscoll– Reveille (Nineteen-Eight Records) – April 5
Kermit Driscoll – bass; Bill Frisell – guitar; Kris Davis – piano; Vinnie Colaiuta – drums

Marco Cappelli Acoustic Trio – Les Nuages en France (Mode Avant) – April 12
Marco Cappelli – guitar; Ken Filiano – bass; Satoshi Takeishi – drums

May

Art Hirahara – Noble Path (Posi-tone Records) – May 3
Art Hirahara – piano; Yoshi Waki – bass; Dan Aran – drums

Taylor Haskins – Recombination (Nineteen-Eight Records) – May 10
Taylor Haskins – trumpet, special effects, laptop, synths; Ben Monder – guitar; Henry Hey – keyboards & piano; Todd Sickafoose – bass; Nate Smith – drums; special guest Samuel Torres – percussion & kalimba

June

Erik Friedlander – Bonebridge (Skipstone Records) – June 7
Erik Friedlander – cello; Doug Wamble – slide guitar; Trevor Dunn – bass; Michael Sarin – drums

We realize we’re a little late to the punch, but if you haven’t already put the finishing touches on your 2010 year-end lists for jazz or other eclectic non-mainstream music, please consider the wonderful projects we’ve worked on in one way or another this past year. 

I would like to acknowledge all of you in the media and the industry for helping us make 2010 another successful year for Fully Altered Media. And of course we couldn’t do it without our amazing clients, listed below. 

I would also like to especially acknowledge former staffer Stephen Buono, all-around utility man Nick Venti and my new assistant Maribel Gil, who recently joined the Fully Altered team part-time, as well as day-to-day helpers Russ Flynn, Andy McGhie and Will Martina.

If you haven’t yet finished your year-end Top 10 or Top 20 or Top 50 lists, please consider the albums below. I hope that my eclecticism and open ears will continue to show through in the music we send your way.

To a Healthy & Productive 2011 and Beyond,
Matt Merewitz & Maribel Gil

Here are all the records we worked in 2010 for your consideration (in chronological order by release date):

Dave Rempis & Frank Rosaly Cyrillic (482 Music)

Colorist A Square White Lie (482 Music)

Sam Sadigursky The Words Project III: Miniatures (New Amsterdam)

Steve Colson Trio The Untarnished Dream (Silver Sphinx)

Thomas Savy French Suite (Plus Loin)

Dan Weiss Trio Timshel (Sunnyside)

Allison Miller BOOM TIC BOOM (Foxhaven)

Nels Cline Singers Initiate (Cryptogramophone)

Adam Rudolph & Ralph Jones Yeyi (Meta)

Adam Rudolph & Yusef Lateef Towards the Unknown (Meta)

Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things Stories & Negotiations (482 Music)

Jacky Terrason Push (Concord)

The Claudia Quintet Royal Toast (Cuneiform)

Pete Robbins sILENT Z – Live (Hate Laugh Music)

Ideal Bread Transmit: Vol. 2 of the Music of Steve Lacy (Cuneiform)

David Weiss & Point of Departure Snuck in (Sunnyside)

Rafi Malkiel Water (Tzadik)

Barry Harris Live in Rennes (Plus Loin)

Billy Bang Prayer for Peace (TUM)

Vijay Iyer Solo (ACT)

Blue Cranes Observatories (Self-released)

Eddie Gomez & Cesarius Alvim Forever (Plus Loin)

Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green Apex (Pi)

Kellylee Evans Nina (Plus Loin)

Nels Cline DIRTY BABY (Cryptogramophone)

Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly Featuring Roscoe Mitchell Empathetic Parts (482 Music)

Scott Amendola Trio Lift (Sazi)

Dan Tepfer Five Pedals Deep (Sunnyside)

The Dymaxion Quartet Sympathetic Vibrations (Self-released)

Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore Three Kinds of Happiness (Not Two)

Jerome Sabbagh I Will Follow You (Bee Jazz)

Look for some excellent new projects for January and beyond from:

•    Trumpeter Taylor Haskins to release new album Recombination on Nineteen-Eight Records in February 2011
•    Debut album, Steampunk Serenade by Honey Ear Trio Featuring Erik Lawrence, Rene Hart & Allison Miller to be released in March 2011
•    & much much more

For more information, contact Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media/
matt@fullyaltered.com / 215-629-6155

]]> http://fullyaltered.com/fa/2010/11/22/fully-altered-media-2010-the-year-in-review-2/feed/ 0 http://fullyaltered.com/fa/2010/05/01/quick-hits/ http://fullyaltered.com/fa/2010/05/01/quick-hits/#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 15:29:59 +0000 Matt http://fullyaltered.com/fa/?p=1036 Mark Stryker reviewed Adam Rudolph’s two new discs on his own Meta Records imprint in the Detroit Free Press.

NPR Music streamed The Nels Cline Singers new Cryptogramophone 2-CD release Initiate in its entirety for their First Listen series (audio no longer available as release date has passed). And we have a Tiny Desk Concert with the Singers planned for July.

NPR Music will also stream the new Claudia Quintet CD on Cuneiform, Royal Toast, in it’s entirety from May 10-18 (link coming soon).

Nate Chinen enthusiastically reviewed Jacky Terrasson’s first trio album in a dozen years, Push (Concord Jazz), in last Monday’s New York Times’ Critics Choice: New CDs.

Ben Ratliff reviews the latest Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things record Stories and Negotiations (482 Music) in the Sunday New York Times Arts & Leisure Playlist.

And we’ve been on a roll with All Music Guide – reviewing Adam Rudolph & Yusef Lateef’s, Towards the Unknown, The Nels Cline Singers‘ Initiate, The Claudia Quintet’s forthcoming release, Royal Toast, Jacky Terrasson’s Push, Allison Miller’s BOOM TIC BOOM, Steve Colson Trio’s The Untarnished Dream, Thomas Savy’s French Suite and Sam Sadigursky’s Words Project III: Miniatures. Kudos to Thom Jurek and Michael G. Nastos for all those reviews.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other noteworthy things, but I wanted to keep this short and sweet. See the client pages for more placements.

The example that Allison Miller sets on BOOM TIC BOOM (sic) is that of a powerhouse drummer with an unerring sense of swing and a moving melodicism; an inventive composer with a gift for memorable tunes that leave ample space for bright improvisations; and a bandleader who ably marries these pieces with the right collaborators to breathe life into them. Here, those collaborators are pianist/composer Myra Melford; longtime collaborator Todd Sickafoose on bass; and guest violinist Jenny Scheinman.

Raised in the Washington D.C. area, Miller began playing the drums at the age of ten and was featured in Down Beat magazine’s “Up and Coming” section in 1991. Five years later, after graduating from West Virginia University she moved to New York City to pursue what has became a fruitful career as a freelance drummer. Miller’s talents have landed her gigs in the mainstream music world, with artists like Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and most recently, folk singer Brandi Carlile; and her jazz skills have been embraced by everyone from saxophonist Marty Ehrlich to organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, with a wide range of leaders in between, including Erik Friedlander, Mark Helias, Steven Bernstein, Ray Drummond, Peter Bernstein, Sheila Jordan, George Garzone, Mike Stern, Rachel Z, Kevin Mahogany, Bruce Barth, Mark Soskin, andHarvie S.Sunday,

March 21st – Washington, DC
Bossa
8pm
2463 18th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009-2003
(202) 667-0088
www.bossaproject.com

Monday, March 22nd – Bryn Mawr, PA
Q&A at Bryn Mawr College
7pm-10pm
Goodhart Music Room (in Goodhart Hall).
101 N. Merion Ave
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Tuesday, March 23rd – Pittsburgh, PA
Club Cafe
7pm doors;  7:30pm – Jeff Berman’s EARLY WARNING; 8:30 pm BOOM TIC BOOM ($8 in advance, $10 at door)
56 South 12th Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
(412) 431-4950
www.clubcafelive.com

Wednesday, March 24th – Morgantown, WV
West Virginia University – College of Creative Arts – Creative Arts Center (CAC)
Large Rehearsal Room 200B
5pm-7pm
Morgantown, WV 26506-6111

Thursday, March 25th – New York, NY
Cornelia St. Cafe
2 shows: 8:30pm and 10pm ($10 – call for reservations)
29 Cornelia St
Manhattan, New York, NY 10014
(212) 989-9319
www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Friday, March 26th – Philadelphia, PA
Ars Nova presents Allison Miller’s BOOM TIC BOOM
Philadelphia Arts Alliance
8pm ($12)
251 S. 18th Street
www.arsnovaworkshop.org

Saturday, March 27th – Baltimore, MD
An Die Musik
2 shows: 8pm and 9:30pm ($20 – call for tickets)
409 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-4405
(410) 385-2638
www.andiemusiklive.com

Release Date: March 23, 2010

Album Features: Myra Melford, Todd Sickafoose & Special Guest Jenny Scheinman

“Some of my closest friends are extremely smart and powerful women,” Allison Miller says. “I can’t stress enough the importance of this community. There’ve been several women who’ve really helped me out in my career. I hope that I do the same for other women in the musical community.

The example that Miller sets on BOOM TIC BOOM is that of a powerhouse drummer with an unerring sense of swing and a moving melodicism; an inventive composer with a gift for memorable tunes that leave ample space for bright improvisations; and a bandleader who ably marries these pieces with the right collaborators to breathe life into them. Here, those collaborators are pianist/composer Myra Melford; longtime collaborator Todd Sickafoose on bass; and guest violinist Jenny Scheinman on one piece.

Half of the album is comprised of original pieces penned by Miller during a one-month break from the road during the summer of 2008. The diversity of influences evident in the music belies the short time span in which it was written, but is reflective of the wealth of musical experience that makes up Miller’s résumé.

Raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Miller began playing the drums at the age of ten and was featured in Down Beat magazine’s “Up and Coming” section in 1991. Five years later, after graduating from West Virginia University, she moved to New York City to pursue what has became a fruitful career as a freelance drummer. Miller’s talents have landed her gigs in the mainstream music world, with artists like Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and most recently, folk singer Brandi Carlile; and her jazz skills have been embraced by everyone from saxophonist Marty Ehrlich to organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, with a wide range of leaders in between, including Erik Friedlander, Mark Helias, Steven Bernstein, Ray Drummond, Peter Bernstein, Sheila Jordan, George Garzone, Mike Stern, Rachel Z, Kevin Mahogany, Bruce Barth, Mark Soskin, and Harvie S.

She also leads or co-leads several bands, including EMMA, with singer/songwriter Erin McKeown; TILT, with pianist Taylor Eigsti and bassist Jon Evans; and Agrazing Maze, with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, pianist Enrique Haneine, and bassist Carlo DeRosa. Miller has also been recognized by the Showtime network, which featured her music in the series The L Word, and by the US State Department when she was chosen to tour East Africa, Eurasia and Southeast Asia as a Jazz Ambassador. She will also be featured in a magazine article and web feature for Yamaha’s All Access 360 in January 2010.

For BOOM TIC BOOM, Miller assembled a trio that she knew would stretch the limits of the music she had written. “I come from a straight ahead jazz tradition,” she explains, “but I play so many different styles of music that I don’t want to stick strictly to that tradition. So, for BOOM TIC BOOM I wanted more of an avant-garde approach to my semi-traditional compositions.”

Key to this interpretation of her music is pianist Myra Melford, who Miller describes as bringing “electric light to my compositions. She plays with an incredible amount of spontaneous creativity and a lot of fire. There’s also a playfulness to the way she performs my music which I really love. Myra is always in the music and in the moment, but also completely individual and creative.”

The balance that Melford brings is evident immediately, as Miller opens the first track, “Cheyenne”, with a steamroller barrage that is met by Melford’s steely but delicate approach, a calm presence amidst the drummer’s effusive maelstrom. Later, on “Big Lovely”, inspired by Miller’s friend, singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon, Melford brings a knife-edged sharpness to the song’s down-and-dirty groove. Melford also contributes two compositions to the session. “Be Melting Snow” has a fractured urgency that evokes Miller’s most abstract and textured percussion, while “Night” provides the album with a hushed and atmospheric closer to contrast the disc’s otherwise exuberant mood.

To complete the trio, Miller chose bassist Todd Sickafoose, with whom she shares a long and rich musical history. The two first performed together under the leadership of saxophonist Jessica Lurie, forming a bond which has continued through each other’s projects and a busy two-and-a-half year stint touring the world with Ani DiFranco. “I think of Todd as my brother in music,” Miller says. “We just know each other musically inside and out. He’ll take the sheet of music, get the gist of what I’m trying to say, and then run with it, which frees me up to explore, too. I like to hire musicians for who they are and let them do their thing with my music. I don’t have any interest in controlling the situation.”

The trio is joined by violinist Jenny Scheinman on Miller’s “CFS (Candy Flavored Sidewalks),” which begins with extremely sparse free improvisation, which congeals into a brisk hoedown. “I’m not personally a fan of jazz violin, but Jenny is the antithesis of what I thought an instrumental improvisational violinist is,” Miller admits. “She’s so melodic and lyrical, and her improvising is very energetic and melodic. She almost plays like a singer.”

BOOM TIC BOOM also features two standards: “Intermission” from pianist Mary Lou Williams, who Miller refers to as “a huge idol,” and Hoagy Carmichael’s classic “Rockin’ Chair,” the date’s only tune by a male composer. “I love the Louis Armstrong version of that song,” Miller says. “There are certain songs that I hear and immediately want to experiment with different chord changes and feels. On “Rockin’ Chair,” I love that melody, but I always heard it in a more modern version, rhythmically and harmonically.”

The end result is a multi-faceted album replete with spontaneity and emotional expression. “Maybe I’m just growing as a musician and a bandleader, but things just seemed to happen really naturally in the studio with this album,” Miller concludes. “I don’t know why that was and I don’t want to think about it too much, but it felt really good.”

For more information, please contact Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media – matt@fullyaltered.com / 347-527-2527

January 12
Dave Rempis & Frank Rosaly – Cyrillic (482 Music)
(saxophone & drums duo)

January 19
Colorlist – A Square White Lie (482 Music)
(Chicago minimalist electronic duo; 180-gram vinyl or download only – no CDs)

January 26
Greg Burk Quartet – Many Worlds (482 Music)
(new recording from 482 Music stalwart; American pianist based in Italy)

Sam Sadigursky – The Words Project III: Miniatures (New Amsterdam Records)
(poetry by Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, Léon de Greiff, Maxim Gorky, Fernando Pessoa + ensemble featuring vocalists Michael Leonhart, Heather Masse, Christine Correa, Jamie Leonhart, Monika Heidemann, Sunny Kim, Sadigursky + more)

FEBRUARY

February 02
Steve Colson Trio – The Untarnished Dream (Silver Sphinx Records)
(featuring Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille, Iqua Colson)

MARCH

March 19
Thomas Savy – French Suite (Plus Loin Music)
(bass clarinet-led trio recording featuring Scott Colley & Bill Stewart)

March 26
Allison Miller – BOOM TIC BOOM (Foxhaven Records)
(featuring Myra Melford, Todd Sickafoose + special guest Jenny Scheinman)

APRIL

April 13
Nels Cline Singers – Initiate (Cryptogramophone Records)
(Disc 1: Studio; Disc 2: Live; featuring Scott Amendola, Devin Hoff + special guests David Witham, Yuka Honda, Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich; engineered by Ron Saint Germain)

April 27
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things – Stories and Negotiations (482 Music)
(3rd installment of trilogy of recordings devoted to the remarkable, but often overlooked period of 1954-1960 in Chicago jazz; featuring Greg Ward, Tim Haldeman, Jason Roebke)

MAY

May 04
Jason Ajemian’s Daydream Full Lifestyles – Protest Heaven (482 Music)
(featuring Tony Malaby, Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker, Chad Taylor)

Other Upcoming Projects

- several recordings on the Finnish label TUM Records including Juhani Aaltonen, Kalle Kalima & K-18, Billy Bang Quintet, FAB Trio, Andrew Cyrille’s Hatian Fascination + many more (March-June)

- a new recording by drummer/composer Scott Amendola (one featuring guitarist Jeff Parker) to be released on his own label (April/May)

- a live recording by alto saxophonist Pete Robbins’ sILENT Z on his new label Hate Laugh Music (May)

- a new recording by the trumpeter/composer/arranger/bandleader David Weiss’s Point of Departure Quintet (featuring JD Allen, Nir Felder, Luques Curtis, Jamire Williams) to be released on Sunnyside Records

- an electro-jazz record by trumpeter Taylor Haskins’ Recombination (featuring Henry Hey, Ben Monder, Todd Sickafoose & Nate Smith) to be released on Nineteen-Eight Records (Summer or Fall 2010)