Tour Dates Around NYC & East Coast Following CD Release

Anyone who’s ever puzzled over the oddly altar-like mirrored globes that serve as the centerpiece of many a suburban garden will instantly be in on the joke that provided the title for trombonist Joe Fiedler’s Sacred Chrome Orb (Yellow Sound Records, release date March 29). While Fiedler attaches no particular significance to the name, it does represent a delight in the incongruous, a refreshingly skewed perspective, and an off-kilter sense of humor, all qualities that pervade the music of his unique, intensely expressive trio.

On their third CD, the Joe Fiedler Trio has developed an expansive language all their own. Fiedler is an inventive trombonist whose talents have found him founding the eccentric brass band Big Sackbut, working with visionary leaders Andrew Hill, Lee Konitz and Maria Schneider and avant-garde giants Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor; in big bands led by Satoko Fujii and Charles Tolliver; a member of the Captain Beefheart tribute band Fast and Bulbous; or accompanying pop stars like Jennifer Lopez and Wyclef Jean.

His compositions thus draw on a wealth of diverse sources and experiences, but nothing has been more inspiring, he insists, than his bandmates themselves. In bassist John Hebert and drummer Michael Sarin, he has found two highly individual voices who meld into a chameleonic unit, able to morph from the airy to the explosive with supple, surprising grace.

The uncommon trombone/bass/drums line-up was inspired by similar trios led by Albert Mangelsdorff (to whom Fiedler paid tribute on the trio’s 2006 debut) and Ray Anderson. But despite surface similarities, Fiedler, Hebert and Sarin have evolved their own unmistakable slant on that tradition, which the leader was keen to showcase on this new release. “The trio has matured nicely,” Fiedler says, “and has something strong to say.”

Nowhere is the group’s cohesive strength more evident than on the title track. A tightly-woven mesh of angular lines and stop-time rhythms, the tune’s urgent vitality demonstrates the trio’s ability to wrest emotion from complexity, each sharp turn and sudden lurch striking sparks.

The piece was in part inspired by the use of similar dynamics by saxophonist/composer Bennie Wallace, Fiedler says. Many of the compositions on the album, in fact, took other musicians or styles as the leaping-off point for creation, though the links between inspiration and outcome are rendered virtually invisible by Fiedler’s original approach.

“I get into these listening phases and tunes come out of them,” Fiedler explains. “I’ll hear or feel something that just gives me a little nudge. If I played you the records, they wouldn’t sound anything alike, but one rhythm or shape or vibe will push me to sit down and write something weirdly related.”

Both “Ging Gong” and “Ethiopia” came from one such period, which Fiedler spent intently listening to Ethiopian pop singers. The stream of Fiedler’s creative consciousness can be traced to a high bass line that Hebert plays on the bridge of his instrument in “Ging Gong,” which Fiedler intended to approximate African thumb piano – an instrument not present on the pop records he was listening to at the time.

Similarly, the buoyant lyricism of “#11” was sparked by a recording of a Rachmaninoff cello sonata performed by Vladimir Horowitz and Mstislav Rostropovich at Carnegie Hall’s 85th anniversary; the ebullient “Priestish” by a Billy Harper tune that Fiedler performed while on tour with tuba player Bob Stewart’s quintet; and the shadow-tinged “Next Phase” was written mid-flight after listening to Andrew Hill.
The latter is also a showcase for Fiedler’s dramatic use of multiphonics. His approach advances the technique used by players from Mangelsdorff to Coltrane, freeing him to use harmonics and overtones pianistically. “I used a much more sophisticated use approach to multiphonics this time around,” Fiedler says. “I see it as a major departure; it reminds me of the difference between Dixieland versus more modern jazz.”

Fiedler announces his bold take on multiphonics from the outset, entering the opening track, “Occult”, with a sound like a train whistle. The atmosphere that this striking sound creates is sustained throughout the ensuing six minutes, with both the leader and Hebert stretching out over Sarin’s simmering intensity.

As its title implies, the groove-heavy “Two Kooks” is an opportunity for the trio to embark on a more light-hearted excursion. “I felt like we needed to just swing and get funky on something,” Fiedler says, “to do something fun and not as serious.”

On a more personal note, “Chicken” was named for the composer’s six-year-old daughter, though, as Fiedler admits, “it’s not really a kid tune. When I played it for her, she ran out of the room and buried her head in the sofa. I’m not sure what that means.”

Whatever it means for Fiedler’s young daughter, Sacred Chrome Orb is likely to provoke strong reactions in any listener, even if it doesn’t send them scrambling for the couch cushions.

Joe Fiedler Trio Tour Dates:

April 10 – Saint Peters/Jazz Vespers, NYC (with Kozlov, Sarin)

April 19 – University of the Streets, NYC (with John Hébert-bass, Michael Sarin-drums)

April 21 – The Local 269, NYC (with John Hébert, Michael Sarin)

May 1 – The WindUp Space, Baltimore, MD (with John Hébert, Michael Sarin)

May 16 – The Lily Pad, Boston, MA (tbd)

May 27 – Muddy Waters, Burlington, VT (with Rob Morse-bass, Dan Ryan-drums)

May 29 – On The Rise, Richmond, VT (with Morse, Ryan)

Joe Fiedler Website

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Joe Fiedler on Myspace

For more information on the Joe Fiedler Trio, please contact Matt Merewitz

Fully Altered Media / matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-384-2839.

Lugerner’s Septet With His New York Peers Featured on Narratives

A Bay Area transplant to the NYC scene, multi-reedist Steven Lugerner releases two albums that display the full spectrum of his compositional abilities. A student of such luminaries as Fred Hersch, Ralph Alessi, Jamie Baum, Jane Ira Bloom and fellow multi-instrumentalist Charles Pillow, Narratives features Lugerner’s working septet, while on These Are The Words he is joined by trumpeter Darren Johnston, pianist Myra Melford, and drummer Matt Wilson.

Heard throughout both discs on alto and soprano saxophones, flute, clarinet and double reeds, Lugerner’s musical training began in the third grade on clarinet. From there, he became involved through concert and symphonic bands throughout his school career, including the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, where he discovered and picked up the oboe. “Doubling was something I fell into; it’s the way I function in playing music,” says Lugerner. “Whenever I’m writing music or improvising, I never hear my role being exclusively on one instrument. I always hear certain portions of any given piece played by different instruments. Doubling has leaked into all other aspects of my musical life.”

Comprised of a crew of good friends and fellow New School alumni, the septet on Narratives was born out of Lugerner’s diverse musical background. “Symphonic music is a really heavy influence, and being a part of a youth orchestra at such an early age certainly rubbed off on how I hear and conceive music in my head.”

Musically maturing around San Francisco’s burgeoning hardcore/metal scene and the city’s diverse cultural environment, Narratives was conceptualized with a wide-reaching aesthetic. Each member of the band was selected for their specific sound, with trumpeter Itamar Borochov’s idiosyncratic trumpet style balancing Lucas Pino’s tenor virtuosity; pianist Glenn Zaleski’s “improvised symphonies” colored by guitarist Angelo Spagnolo’s sonic manipulations; anchored by the fat rhythm section of Ross Gallagher on bass and Michael Davis on drums. “All of these compositions have been floating around in my head for close to four years,” Lugerner says. “Each one has seen multiple rewrites and revisions, slowly blossoming into individual narratives.”

Calling the Torah “the ultimate narrative,” These are the Words is based on The Five Books of Moses and the practice of Gematria, which assigns numerical values to the Hebrew alphabet. A method favored by medieval Kabbalists, Gematria was often used to derive further insight into the mystical interrelationship between words and ideas.

Lugerner’s move to New York prompted a rediscovery of his Jewish heritage. “I began studying with a local rabbi, in addition to Judeo-Christian theology courses at the New School. During that time, I was exposed to a lot of new ideas and knowledge. Somewhere along the line, I was introduced to Gematria.” Lugerner uses multiple Gematria methods as his compositional and improvisational launching point, selecting verses from the Torah and applying their Gematria numbers. These numbers were utilized in compositional techniques: in the creation of melodies and harmony, as intervallic relationships to use in improvising, time signatures, and tempo markings. “I wanted to create Jewish music that didn’t necessarily sound overtly Jewish. I wondered if it was possible to create something undeniably Jewish, just by its association with its raw materials.”

With all this underlying structure, These are the Words is still full of spontaneity and vibrancy. The compositions allow much space for improvisation, and the full band only met in the studio to record. The ensemble was inspired by a show Lugerner saw at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, featuring Melford and Johnston with clarinetist Ben Goldberg and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa. The quirky instrumentation and Melford’s intensity stuck with Lugerner. Johnston often fills the trumpet chair in Lugerner’s septet on the West Coast, and Melford’s playing history with Wilson spans many years. This pair of pairings defines the sound of These are the Words as much as its lack of bass. “Playing without bass, I felt, would free Myra and Matt’s roles, and would expose the colors in what Darren and I are playing,” says Lugerner, describing the specificity of the mute and reed combinations that shift throughout the album.

The large sound of Narratives, shaped by three horns and Spagnolo’s wash of guitar effects, jumps out from the opening “Flux Capacitor.” This is contrasted by the intimacy of These are the Words and its emphasis on the subtleties of small ensemble interplay. Lugerner’s music has often been described as cinematic, and both albums clearly reflect that adjective in different ways.

Tour Dates

May 11th – Septet @ Barbès (Brooklyn, NY)
June 30th – Septet @ Tea Lounge (Brooklyn, NY)
July 25th – Septet @ Yoshi’s (Oakland, CA)

West Coast Quartet Dates with Melford, Johnston & Wilson TBA

RELEASE DATE: March 22, 2011

www.stevenlugerner.com

For more information, contact Matt Merewitz / matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-384-2839

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

Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things Latest Recording, Stories and Negotiations,
featuring Art Hoyle, Julian Priester & Ira Sullivan

Stories & Negotiations is Third Installment
In A Trilogy of Recordings Devoted to the Remarkable Period of 1954-1960 Chicago Jazz,
And Its Relation to Chicago Jazz Today

Release Date: April 20, 2010
Catalog #482-1070

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

cover art for Royal Toast

On their fifth CD, Royal Toast, The Claudia Quintet raise a glass in salute to their regal muse with a set of new music fit for a king – albeit one with more refined tastes and open mind than your average monarch.

If a round table seems a wholly appropriate setting for this egalitarian ensemble (with an extra place setting this time out), theirs is as much Algonquin as Camelot, renowned for their sophisticated wit as well as their sharply-honed musical jousting.

As composer/leader John Hollenbeck points out, the title might also sound a bit “silly” – but there’s something in its odd incongruity that exemplifies the band’s one-of-a-kind sound.

“I like toast,” Hollenbeck explains with characteristically laconic humor, “and I noticed that if you put ‘royal’ in front of something, it seems elevated.”

The Claudia Quintet has similarly been finding the majestic in the mundane (or vice versa) for more than a dozen years. Nowhere is that more evident than on Royal Toast, where Hollenbeck began by collecting song titles found in often unlikely sources, divorcing them from their original context, and devising music inspired by these evocative phrases.

Hollenbeck’s compositions somehow conjure raucous beauty from dizzying complexity, enticing the emotions with lilting melodies or irresistible grooves while engaging the cerebral side in a surreptitious workout. The music marries jazz, new music, post-rock – but no laundry list of influences is quite sufficient to describe their iconoclastic sound. Suffice it to say, you can feel secure bringing your hipster nephew and your math professor along to a gig, and everyone will go home happy.

Of course, no one could pull off such a a trompe l’oreille without a well-honed ensemble, and the Claudia Quintet has, through intensive collaboration since their 1997 debut, developed a language all their own. The music can best – perhaps only – be defined by the individuals who create it – Hollenbeck on drums, Drew Gress (Tim Berne, Ravi Coltrane, Fred Hersch) on bass, Matt Moran (Slavic Soul Party, Mat Maneri, Ellery Eskelin) on vibraphone, Ted Reichman (Anthony Braxton, Marc Ribot, Paul Simon) on accordion, and Chris Speed (Bloodcount, Yeah No, Human Feel) on clarinet and tenor sax.

As attuned as the Quintet have become to each other, they’re each remarkably attuned to themselves, as Hollenbeck discovered while recording the CD. Bridging several of the pieces on the album are short improvised interludes in which each member plays a short improvised duet with himself – unbeknownst to them until the tracks were in the can. While they sound as if each side of the mirror is reacting to the other, they were actually played separately and married after the fact.

“I didn’t know if it was going to work, so I didn’t tell anybody I was doing it,” Hollenbeck admits. “And I couldn’t believe it because each one just worked fabulously. It was totally unbelievable how they breathed in the same places – Drew even has a rest in the same spot. I think the result is better, actually, than if I had asked them to react to their solos. That might have been a little artificial.”

The quintet is here supplemented by pianist Gary Versace, a longtime collaborator of Hollenbeck’s (including the composer’s Large Ensemble and in the Refuge Trio along with vocalist Theo Bleckmann).

“Gary and I have very similar aesthetics,” Hollenbeck says, “so what he plays is exactly what I would I be doing if I could play piano really well. Gary has a very composerly approach, so he’s very sensitive to the music and tries to make his part sound composed even when it’s not.”

The addition of Versace means that half of the band is now essentially playing percussive instruments, giving Hollenbeck more opportunity than ever to follow his polyrhythmic muse – which emerges most fully on the gleefully intricate title track. But the album begins not with force but with lush intoxication. “Crane Merit” sets an unexpectedly atmospheric mood, enveloping the listener with an idyllic warmth.

Introduced by a Hollenbeck solo that gradually builds into funky propulsion, “Keramag” is the album’s toe-tappingest tune, densely wrought and utterly infectious. It and “Zurn” have the titles with the least concrete associations; the latter is a through-composed piece that generates considerable tension through an insistent drum/piano figure that is thoroughly dispelled by its ethereal finale.

“Sphinx”, on the other hand, brings very distinct associations to mind, which Hollenbeck followed through Egypt to African rhythmic influences. The word “Standard” crops up twice, and in each case the composer took this as a cue to use jazz as a leaping-off point, penning an abstracted ballad with “Ideal Standard” and a fractured anthem on “American Standard.”

The album closes with the elegiac “For Frederick Franck”, an homage to the Dutch-born painter, sculptor and author who died in 2006 at the age of 97. Hollenbeck’s personal connection to the artist comes via a sculpture park in upstate New York that Franck designed and where Hollenbeck proposed to his wife. But Franck’s expansive philosophy is also representative of Hollenbeck’s boundary-blurring approach to genre.

“The meaning of life is to see,” Franck espoused in his work, and the Claudia Quintet approach music with eyes wide open.

For more information please contact Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media (matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-527-2527).

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

With layers of keyboards, guitars and woodwinds, Erik Deutsch’s Hush Money is not your usual jazz album. The keyboardist and composer, a co-founder of Fat Mama and known for his work alongside trumpeter Ron Miles, singer Erin McKeown and guitarist Charlie Hunter among others, brought together collaborators from his time in Colorado and New York, headed up by guitarist and co-producer Jonathan Goldberger.

“I really set out to make an atmospheric record – one that didn’t sound like a sparkly jazz CD,” Deutsch says. “My last record (Fingerprint, Sterling Circle, 2007) was done on a Yamaha C7 [grand piano] and I was looking forward to achieving a much different sound.” Bed tracks were recorded to tape at The Bunker in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with Deutsch and Goldberger doing overdubs up the street at Goldberger’s home studio in Greenpoint. Analogue tape gives Hush Money a warmly saturated sound, as does Deutsch’s collection of vintage keyboards: an ARP Omni 2, Moog Source, and Casiotones augment the piano, Wurlitzer and Hammond organ tracks laid down at the Bunker. “I decided it would be cool to feature these keyboards; they’ve been in my arsenal since ’95 or ’96. One of the Casios I actually got when I was 13. A lot of people have seen me using these boards live over the years and probably associate aspects of my music with their individual tones. I’m very comfortable with them, but I haven’t dug into them too deeply in the studio.”  With some tracks boasting as many as five keyboard layers, the blend between keys and reeds is a hallmark of the album. “In a way,” says Deutsch, “this music is a tribute to my favorite keyboards!”

It’s also a tribute to some of his favorite musicians. While this incarnation of the group has been playing together for over a year, many of the relationships go back much further. Since Deutsch’s 2004 move from Boulder, Colorado to New York City, he has been colleagues with multireedist Mike McGinnis, whose versatile performances on flute, clarinets and saxophones shines on Hush Money, complementing Deutsch’s spectrum of keyboard textures. Guitarist Goldberger, Deutsch and bassist Jonti Siman are frequent collaborators, good friends and schoolmates – Goldberger and Deutsch met in college in 1995, and Deutsch has known Siman since the fifth grade. All of them are alumni of Fat Mama, a group renowned in the national “jam band” scene through the late 1990s. Upon their relocation to New York, alumni of the group created A Big Yes…and a small no, in which they play presently. Drummer Mark Dalio is another Colorado cohort, from Denver, and Deutsch’s bandmate in singer Erin McKeown’s touring outfit as well as the collective effort of County Road X. Bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck is a more recent acquaintance, having met on the road a couple of years ago while Schoenbeck was on tour with Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Ensemble and Deutsch was out with Hunter. Guests Eric Biondo on trumpet and baritone saxophonist Barry Saunders join the front line on “Dirty Osso Bucco” and “Quittin’ Time.”

The tunes on Hush Money have melodies that leave an indelible imprint upon the listener, decorated with novel arrangements and founded on infectious grooves. With Deutsch’s palette of keyboards, McGinnis’ various reed doubles, Goldberger’s guitar effects and Siman’s ability on both acoustic and electric basses, the possible combinations are remarkable. “Hearts for Purple Lions” features a section of flute, bassoon, Wurlitzer, Hammond and acoustic bass; “Get Out While You Can” features another notable orchestration of piano, Casio, Moog, steel-string acoustic guitar, clarinet, bassoon and electric bass. Hunter’s friendship and mentorship to Deutsch is palpable on Hush Money, from the catchy melody of the title track to the Latin- and African-inspired beats of “Black Flies” and “India Rubber.” “Charlie’s the one that got me excited to perform on the Casio,” Deutsch says. “I also learned a lot about the importance of groove in music, about performance energy, and about strengthening my foundation in the blues.”

In line with the attention to sonic detail that characterizes certain strains of indie rock and young rock-influenced jazz composers, Hush Money is the result of longtime colleagues pursuing new avenues.