photo by Lynne Harty
Vijay Iyer Trio - Thursday & Friday, Sept 22-23
Vijay Iyer Sextet – Saturday & Sunday, Sept 24-25
THE JAZZ STANDARD
116 East 27th street (Betweek Park & Lexington), New York City
Sets 7:30, 9:30pm each night
3rd set at 11:30 on Friday & Saturday
Two nights ago, bassist Ben Williams, winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Competition sold out The Harlem Stage Gatehouse on the heels of the release of his debut album, State of Art (Concord Jazz).
The New York Times‘ Nate Chinen wrote in the Jazz Listings for June 24 – 30:
“You may know Mr. Williams, a bassist, for his sterling sideman work, or for winning the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2009. Now you can know him for “State of Art,” his polished debut, due out on Tuesday on Concord. It’s a portrait of modern jazz at the crossroads of pop and R&B…”
That was followed up by the Times’ Ben Ratliff who wrote in The Week Ahead:
“The jazz bassist Ben Williams, originally from Washington but living in Harlem, won the Thelonious Monk Competition two years ago…He’s serious, with excellent rhythm, tone, and energy. The record — summery, cruising jazz-funk with a Fender Rhodes — improves toward the middle of each track, when the band members interact and start to show what they can really do…”
The Washington City Paper’s Mike West wrote an album review of State of Art but his most impressive words for Williams came in his weekly Set List:
“It might not be out of line to suggest that Ben Williams is the face of a new golden age in D.C. jazz. The New Yorker-by-way-of-Michigan Park came up working with local bass gurus Michael Bowie, Herman Burney, and Carolyn Kellock before moving onto Michigan State University, Juilliard’s Jazz Studies program, and finally the Big Apple jazz scene, where he played with edgy young musicians like Stefon Harris and Marcus Strickland, as well as artists like Jacky Terrasson and Terrell Stafford. Then he won the 2009 Thelonious Monk Competition for bass, and immediately graduated from insider’s favorite to ‘The One To Watch’….This one is the event of the week.”
The Washington Examiner called him “an original” and “a natural bass player.”
CapitalBop.com’s Giovanni Russonello interviewed Williams and previewed his show thusly:
“Williams’ acoustic bass playing is warm, earthy and precise – not to mention richly lyrical; it’s no wonder he’s a sideman for some of the top names in the game, including Jacky Terrason and Marcus Strickland. As a bandleader, he’s a crusader for the contemporary, playing cards from throughout the deck of African-American popular music. On the album…you’ll find grooving original compositions, a tune dedicated to a hard-bop great but narrated by an emcee, a Woody Shaw classic infused with go-go rhythms and covers of songs by Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Not to mention one glistening, dissected version of a jazz standard.”
The Washington Post raved:
“Ben Williams is not your usual 20-something jazz musician. Unlike so many of his peers, the bassist doesn’t try to stuff 16th notes into each solo, instead filling them with melodic, carefully shaped phrases.”
This past weekend, Williams made a homecoming to his native Washington, DC for his debut as a bandleader at Bohemian Caverns along with Marcus Strickland on tenor sax, Christian Sands on piano, Gilad Hekselman on guitar and John Davis on drums with special guest percussionist Etienne Charles on djembe and other percussion on Saturday night. Williams had packed shows both nights.
Ben Williams & Sound Effect perform July 19 at 92YTriBeCa as part of the The Checkout Live Series hosted by Josh Jackson of WBGO-FM Newark. At 8:00 p.m. 200 Hudson St. New York, NY / http://www.92y.org/Tribeca
“What a great CD! Powerful writing by Volker, combining jazz, classical and African elements. And if you think you know Lenny Picket from Tower of Power and Saturday Night Live, check him out on ‘Solace’.” – Jim McNeely
History can be perplexing for modern bandleaders. Breaking new ground while retaining traditional beauty isn’t exactly easy. But on NY 10027 Volker Goetze has come up with a win-win approach that does exactly that. The trumpeter-composer has lots of skills when it comes to balancing craft and experimentation, and they give his orchestra debut a sturdy feel that boasts plenty of personal perspective.
A German native who has been living in New York for the past several years, Goetze is an award-winning arranger and forward-thinking improviser. His broad global perspective earned him critical kudos for 2008’s Sira, a collaboration with Senegalese kora master Ablaye Cissoko. The rich big band charts Goetze wrote for his NY 10027 group are almost the opposite of the spare interactions found on Sira, but they do share one trait. These elaborate new tracks have an unmistakable brio driving their every move.
You can hear it on “Tree,” a swirling piece that was nominated for a BMI Charlie Parker Composition Award. Its heady patterns shift from intricate and challenging to lush and pleasurable. And you can hear it on “Snow Crystal,” a luminous excursion that moves quickly but offers the beauty of a ballad.
“I want the pieces to be full of vitality,” explains the 39-year-old Goetze, “and I also want them to avoid set formulas. My goal is to stress the essence of the individual songs. I use my experience to find something new each time out.”
On the gorgeous opening number, that meant making space for Lenny Pickett’s unique clarinet approach. The Saturday Night Live bandleader is known for his wailing tenor sax. ‘Solace’, which was presented at the 2008 Jazz Composer’s Symposium (directed by Chuck Owen) lets Pickett showcase another side. Tonguing the instrument, and soloing in a lower register, he brings an idiosyncratic sound to the proceedings.
“He’s unbelievable,” says Goetze. “I love his Tower of Power playing, but people should know he has much more to offer, especially as a clarinet virtuoso. I heard him using a small clarinet to render an unusual approach, and I wanted to find a spot for it. Most composers write up high for the E-flat clarinet. But when you play in a lower range, it sounds even more beautiful.”
Another unusual instrumental deployment comes on “Cissokos Kora.” The radiant plinks of the African strings are the prelude to full band’s entry. The piece perpetually morphs, developing its percussive melody lines through a trombone excursion and then back to more strings – only this time it’s a fuzzed guitar romp by Sebastian Noelle. Somewhere along the way it becomes a seductive examination of textures driven by a deep rhythmic undertow.
“I like to find uses for different cultures,” says Goetze. “We also incorporate some Afro-Cuban bata playing in there. It’s smart to learn from a variety of places.”
That sounds like a description of the changes taking place on “Inside the Outside World.” While working on a trio album together, Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos told Goetze that walking from the east side to the west side of Manhattan, you could come across all the cultures in the world. For this track the trumpeter recorded the sidewalk and subway sounds on a trip from Queens College to his Harlem home. The snippets of urban ambiance enhance the flavor of the chart, acting as cues for certain motifs.
“A rapper, a ghetto blaster, the voices on the train – it’s all part of New York’s beauty. I saw [my teacher] Markus Stockhausen doing a solo piece with a tape playing behind him. It’s an interesting approach, and I’d like to explore it more. But players need to be open to it. An ensemble is a like a city that a soloist cuts through.” John Beaty’s careening alto sax maneuvers develop quite a trajectory as they spill forward.
Goetze’s own path has been a bit more direct. He says he’s always known he wanted to be a musician, and he always had a dream to come to the United States. As a teen in his rural hometown, he played in a church brass choir. A mentor told him he needed a wider perspective and voila, they were in Cologne seeing Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time. From there he investigated Don Cherry’s work. The floodgates soon opened. We Want Miles, Dizzy Gillespie albums, the Gil Evans Big Band – he absorbed it all. He came to Vermont to study in 1988, and while visiting a New York-based aunt, he discovered Cherry was a friend of her. They hung out a bit together in the East Village. “It took a long time to become confident enough to convince my family to let me study music here,” he says, “but I ultimately got a grant, and stayed.”
He found that he had talent for arranging, and after writing horn charts for a Brazilian musician, others asked him for advice as well. “They encouraged me! At my graduation concert I wrote pieces for big band. I was fast. I remember writing an arrangement for ‘Well, You Needn’t’ in a day. Of course, these days I take much more time with things like that.”
He wants to make sure that his music is always conveying passion. “You know, bringing character out of the music, like the elders did,” he says. “Randy Weston can play a blues, and it seems simple, yet it’s so colorful, full of surprise and complexity. Johnny Hodges plays a melody and it’s beyond beautiful. Yes, this is a time when anything can be incorporated into a chart, but I don’t want to lose that essence they had. I try to write from the heart.”
To Be Released June 7, 2011 on SkipStone Records
Erik Friedlander’s Bonebridge is a collection of spirited pieces with intelligent twists and turns, and a distinctive American flavor. Pairing his cello with Memphis native Doug Wamble’s savvy slide-guitar makes for a buoyant and expressive front line: the two instruments are kindred spirits when played in this fresh context.
Erik’s father Lee, a photographer, would take his family with him on assignment, and one such job was the Galax Fiddler’s Festival in Galax, Virginia. It was 1971, and the Friedlander family was camping out with hundreds of bluegrass fans. Erik would walk around the festival grounds listening to the numerous pick-up bands that had impromptu sessions. Trucks would roll up, doors would open, and groups would come together. “Do you pick?” people would ask each other.
Click HERE to watch video about the Bonebridge project
One staple of the bluegrass sound is the lap-steel guitar and Erik, then an 11-year old cello player, quickly became a fan. Men with their guitars turned face up and hitched at their waists, pressed down on the neck of the guitar with a silver slide- the bending tones left a lasting impression: “The sound is so expressive and I think is in some ways similar to the cello being bowed — both instruments are legato and singing. It hit me like a flash when I was contemplating my next project – why not put my cello together with slide?! After making this connection, everything fell into place and the music started writing itself.”
Guitarist Doug Wamble joins a honed unit. Friedlander, Mike Sarin (drums) and Trevor Dunn (bass) have played together in New York City for years (Dave Douglas, John Zorn, Marty Ehrlich), most recently in the Broken Arm Trio. “I wanted to find a musician with experience leading a band and driving a rhythm section.” Friedlander says of Wamble, “A player with charisma, but also a player who can understand the music from a leader’s perspective. Wamble has great ideas, and a deep sound. He understands how to shine, but also how to blend with the cello. He’s just the right guy for the job.”
Friedlander’s finger-picking cello style, his back porch pizzicato, is even more developed and fluid on Bonebridge. He created unusual plucking techniques first on Block Ice & Propane (2007/Skipstone), approaches that are rooted in his early years studying folk guitar. Rediscovering these dormant guitar abilities was a revelation: “For years I thought of the primary voice of the cello as the bowed sound. I would think, ‘bow first’ and then only a little pizzicato if I had run out of ideas. Now I’ve turned that whole way of thinking around. On Broken Arm I hardly used the bow at all and Bonebridge has a similar approach. It’s all about what the music needs, and it’s great to have this whole other quality in my arsenal.”
Versatile Trombonist JOE FIEDLER Releases SACRED CHROME ORB, March 29 on Yellow Sound Records
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)
For more information on the Joe Fiedler Trio, please contact Matt Merewitz
Fully Altered Media / matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-384-2839.
Lugerner Joined By Myra Melford, Darren Johnston & Matt Wilson
On These Are The Words, Based on Kabbalist Numerical System
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
For more information, contact Matt Merewitz / matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-384-2839
Album features Dan Tepfer (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass)
and Ted Poor (drums)
CD RELEASE PERFORMANCE
@ Jazz Standard
October 26, 2010
(7:30 & 9:30pm)
Exclusive Album Preview & Online Press Kit:
Dan Tepfer Trio — Five Pedals Deep
(contact us for password)
Photo: Vincent Soyez
In his forthcoming trio release, Five Pedals Deep on Sunnyside Records, wildly inventive pianist Dan Tepfer plumbs the depths of conventional harmony, engaging pop modalities, minimalism, and jazz tradition with the audacity and irreverence of a deep-sea explorer. The 28-year-old, Brooklyn-based pianist has forged a richly layered collection of lyrical, immediately accessible compositions that upon repeated listenings reveal a nuanced scaffolding of atmospheric soundscapes beneath the surface.
Beyond the eclectic influence of such vanguard groups as indie rockers Dirty Projectors and electronica maven Aphex Twin, Tepfer drew much of his inspiration for the album from Thelonious Monk. “When you listen to Monk’s music, you can put it on for anybody, it doesn’t matter if they’re into jazz, and they love it,” says Tepfer. “The reason for that is that it’s got really strong melodies, there’s a real coherence to the sound, it grooves, and there’s a strong feeling of fun that comes through in the music. I think in many ways I’m trying to do a contemporary version of that.”
The album title originates from a bibulous evening Tepfer spent with a cousin. “We were at a party, and we’d drunk five bottles of wine, and she said something like, ‘You get pretty happy when you’re five bottles deep.’ What I heard was ‘five pedals deep,’ and I thought that was a beautiful way of expressing the feeling I often get when I’m playing, a feeling of being drunk on music,” says Tepfer. “A pedal is a long bass note that ties different harmonies together, and it’s one of my favorite musical devices.”
Tepfer features the deft interplay of two eminent musical contemporaries, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Ted Poor, a departure from his longtime collaboration with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Richie Barshay, his touring trio for the past six years.
“It’s like when you’ve been married for a long time,” says Tepfer. “You just know someone so well that even if you are completely improvising, you can still hear in your head how he’s going to react. With Thomas and Ted, there was none of that. I had no idea.”
The “sound of surprise” is evident throughout, the players never relying on reflexive facility as they navigate the varied terrains of Tepfer’s original compositions, mostly written over the past two years. This ranges from the minimalist ostinato of “All I Heard Was Nothing,” to the dense drum ’n bass-inspired rhythms of “Peal Repeal,” to the languorously dissonant beauty of “The Distance,” with four minute-long interludes serving as connective tissue. Tepfer’s visceral tie to the music cuts through in the wistfully nostalgic “Le Plat Pays,” Belgian troubadour Jacques Brel’s stirring homage to his homeland.
“Growing up in Paris, my first girlfriend was a huge Jacques Brel fan,” Tepfer says. “I just remember learning the lyrics and being so captivated by that tune in particular. There’s so much meaning contained in this appearance of simplicity.”
In his solo rendition of “Body and Soul,” Tepfer includes a subtle nod to mentor Lee Konitz, conspicuous by his absence, although Konitz’s influence is deeply felt. “Nobody plays ‘Body and Soul’ like Lee does,” Tepfer says. In 2009, he released a duo album with Konitz called Duos with Lee. “One thing that’s really come up for me in the last four years now, playing with Lee pretty regularly, is the integrity of melody. I feel sinful if a phrase doesn’t get resolved.”
Born to American parents, Tepfer spent his first 18 years in Paris, beginning classical piano studies at the Paris Conservatoire Paul Dukas at the age of six. He had improvisation in his blood, though, inherited from his grandfather, West Coast jazz pianist Chuck Ruff. With a fecund intellect that extends far beyond music theory, Tepfer went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, writing his undergraduate thesis on “Numerical Simulations of Galactic Superwinds.”
While in Scotland, he also played in the Edinburgh Jazz Festival and the International Fringe Festival, even conducting a production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Telphone. He later earned a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, and has performed alongside legendary jazz musicians Steve Lacy, Paul Motian, Ralph Towner, and Billy Hart, among others.
Though at this point his passion for cosmology has taken a back seat to his musical career, it continues to inform his worldview. “I think the tone of my music reflects who I am, and who I am is somebody who is fascinated by the huge scale of the universe,” Tepfer says. “I love seeing myself on the earth from really far away, and I’m sure that comes out in the music somehow.”
Website: http://www.dantepfer.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tepferdan
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 26, 2010
For more information, please contact
Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media
matt@fullyaltered.com
(215) 629-6155
August
Vijay Iyer – Solo (ACT Music) – August 31
Iyer’s 1st solo piano recording
September
Blue Cranes - Observatories (self-released) – Sept. 14
Portland, OR chamber jazz group w/ Reed Wallsmith (saxes), Sly Pig (saxes), Rebecca Sanborn (keyboards), Keith Brush (bass), Ji Tanzer (drums)
Eddie Gomez & Cesarius Alvim – Forever (Plus Loin Music) – Sept. 14
Bass/Piano Duo w/ Eddie Gomez (bass), Cesarius Alvim (piano)
Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green – Apex (Pi Recordings) – Sept. 28
w/ Mahanthappa (alto sax), Bunky Green (alto sax), Jack DeJohnette (drums on half), Jason Moran (piano), Francois Moutin (bass), Damion Reid (drums on half)
October
Kellylee Evans – Nina (Plus Loin Music) – October 12
w/ Evans (vocals( Francois Moutin (bass), Andre Ceccarelli (drums)
Ed Ruscha / Nels Cline / David Breskin – DIRTY BABY CD Box Set (Cryptogramophone Records) – October 12
an interdisciplinary art-music-poetry collaboration between visual artist Ed Ruscha, guitarist/composer Nels Cline + 16 musicians & poet/producer David Breskin
Scott Amendola Trio – Lift (Sazi Music) – Oct. 19
w/ Amendola (drums, electronics), Jeff Parker (guitar), John Shifflett (bass)
Dan Tepfer – Five Pedals Deep (Sunnyside Records) – October 26
Trio w/ Tepfer (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass), Ted Poor (drums)
November
Since our last post, Pete Robbins record siLENT Z Live came out on the alto saxophonist’s own imprint, Hate Laugh Music. Pete had two consecutive CD release shows at The Tea Lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn and at Cornelia Street Cafe in Manhattan which received nice preview coverage from The New York Times who called siLENT Z “a willfully progressive outfit” and Time Out New York who wrote “In saxist Pete Robbins’s siLENT Z project, highly developed harmony, complex meter and searing improv merge with a world of experimental loops, ambient soundscapes, hard beats and general abandon. The ’70s term jazz-rock doesn’t cut it, so the best description of this outfit is probably the artist’s own: Brooklyn prog-modern (post)jazz.”
A few nice things have come out so far for Pete.
- Pete was interviewed and played live in studio at WBGO by Josh Jackson for their new music program, The Checkout.
- There was a nice review by All About Jazz-New York’s Elliot Simon.
- There was a nice review by Derek Taylor on his new blog Master of a Small House.
- Phil Freeman reviewed the record for his excellent new webzine, Burning Ambulance in his 31 Days of Jazz Reviews series.
- Pete was featured in the November issue of Down Beat – as a “Players” feature by John Ephland.
- Pete was the subject of a feature interview on AllAboutJazz.com by Gordon Marshall entitled “Balance Dream.”
- Composer/blogger George Grella wrote a fantastic review of siLENT Z Live back in June.
- About.com concert review by Jacob Teichroew.
Stay tuned for more updates on Pete. You can follow his goings-on with his new blog as well as through the regular channels: Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
Composer & Master Percussionist Adam Rudolph
Tours in March & April With Moving Pictures Quintet and Octet
(Boston, New Haven, Teaneck, Philadelphia, New York City)
NOTE NEW NYC VENUE, CITY WINERY
Yeyi Duet With Multi-Instrumentalist Ralph Jones Tours Midwest
(Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Oberlin)
This March and April, master percussionist Adam Rudolph will tour the East Coast with a brand new edition of his Moving Pictures Quintet and Octet. Rudolph originally founded the group in the late 1980s as a vehicle for his explorations of what would later come to be known as “world music,” a field he has been exploring since his first recordings in the 1970s.
Rudolph recently received his second Chamber Music America “New Works” commissioning grant. On this tour, Moving Pictures will premier new compositions he wrote for the current lineup with the help of the CMA grant. The new lineup features veteran bassist Jerome Harris, the saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Jones, the trombonist and percussion player Joseph Bowie (brother of the late Lester Bowie) and percussionist Matt Kilmer. Members of the ensemble continuing in the current incarnation include cornetist/flugelhornist Graham Haynes, guitarist Kenny Wessel and the Moroccan-born oudist/percussionist Brahim Fribgane. Together the musical credits of theses artists span the entirety of contemporary instrumental music from Ornette Coleman to L. Shankar.
With a pair of new releases on his own Meta Records label, Rudolph celebrates two decades-long partnerships in which he’s found just that kind of alchemy. On Towards the Unknown, the string section from Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra is woven into a concerto for the percussionist and legendary saxophonist Yusef Lateef; Rudolph is then featured in a second concerto, composed for him by Lateef and featuring thirteen members of the S.E.M. Ensemble conducted by Czech composer Petr Kotik. And with Yeyi, Ralph Jones employs an arsenal of woodwind instruments to complement Rudolph’s percussion battery in a wide-ranging, deeply spiritual dialogue.
Rudolph and Jones’ partnership dates back more then thirty years to the 1974 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, where they performed on a bill that also included Sun Ra and James Brown. They were brought together by trumpeter Charles Moore, with whom they later cofounded the Eternal Wind Quartet.
Yeyi & Towards The Unknown CD Release Date: April 20, 2010
ADAM RUDOLPH UPCOMING PERFORMANCE DATES
Mondays: March 8, 15, 22, 29, 2010
Go: Organic Orchestra (42 musicians)
Roulette Intermedium – 8:30 pm
20 Greene St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 219-8242
composed & conducted by Adam Rudolph
www.roulette.org
Friday March 26, 2010
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Moving Pictures Quintet with gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun
with Adam Rudolph, Ralph Jones, Graham Haynes, Kenny Wessel, Brahim Fribgane
7:30 pm – $20 general admission; $16 members, students, and seniors
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 478-3100
www.icaboston.org
Friday April 2, 2010
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Moving Pictures Quintet with Adam Rudolph, Joseph Bowie, Graham Haynes, Kenny Wessel, Brahim Fribgane
8:30 pm – $18
10:00 pm – $12
45 Crown St
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 785.0468
www.firehouse12.com
Saturday April 3, 2010
Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ.
Moving Pictures Quintet with Adam Rudolph, Joseph Bowie, Graham Haynes, Kenny Wessel, Brahim Fribgane
8:00 pm – $10 suggested donation
20 East Oakdene Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 836-8923
www.puffinfoundation.org
Friday April 9, 2010
The Painted Bride, Philadelphia, PA
Moving Pictures Octet with Adam Rudolph, Joseph Bowie, Graham Haynes, Ralph Jones, Matt Kilmer, Kenny Wessel, Jerome Harris, Brahim Fribgane
8:00 pm – General Admission – $ 25; Crush Card holder – $ 20; Member – $ 12.50
230 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1293
(215) 925-9914
www.paintedbride.org
Saturday April 10, 2010
CITY WINERY, New York, NY presented by World Music Institute
Moving Pictures Octet with Adam Rudolph, Joseph Bowie, Graham Haynes, Ralph Jones, Matt Kilmer, Kenny Wessel, Jerome Harris, Brahim Fribgane
7:00 pm – $20 General Admission; $15 for Students
155 Varick St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 608-0555
www.citywinery.com
Thursday April 22, 2010
University of Illinois-Champagne-Urbana
Yeyi – Adam Rudolph/Ralph Jones Duet
7:30 pm – FREE
500 Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61820-6986
(217) 333-1861
www.illinois.edu/calendar/
Friday April 23, 2010
The Velvet Lounge, Chicago, IL
Yeyi – Adam Rudolph/Ralph Jones Duet
67 East Cermak Road
Chicago, IL 60616-2122
(312) 791-9050
www.velvetlounge.net/calendar.html
Saturday April 24, 2010
Mexicains Sans Frontieres, Grand Rapids, MI presented by Blue Lake Public Radio
Yeyi – Adam Rudolph/Ralph Jones Duet
8:00 pm – $10
120 S Division Av #226
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
www.myspace.com/mexicainssansfrontieres
Sunday April 25, 2010
Kerrytown Concert House, Ann Arbor, MI
Yeyi – Adam Rudolph/Ralph Jones Duet
7:30 pm – $25 Assigned Rows 1-2; $15 Assigned Rows 3-5; $10 General Admission; $5 Student
415 North 4th Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1103
(734) 769-2999
www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com
Monday April 26, 2010
Oberlin College, Fairchild Chapel, Oberlin, OH
Yeyi – Adam Rudolph/Ralph Jones Duet
Concert Time TBA – FREE
39 W. College St.,
Oberlin, OH 44074
www.oberlin.edu
ADAM RUDOLPH BIO
Born in 1955, handrummer, percussionist, composer, multi instrumentalist and improviser Adam Rudolph has been hailed as “a pioneer in world music” by the New York Times. Currently he composes for his groups Moving Pictures, Hu: Vibrational, and Go: Organic Orchestra, a 15 – 50 piece ensemble for which he has developed an original music notation and conducting system. Over the past 25 years he has developed a unique syncretic approach to hand drumming in creative collaborations with outstanding artists of cross-cultural and improvised music, including Don Cherry, Jon Hassell, L. Shankar, Pharaoh Sanders, Fred Anderson, Hassan Hakmoun and Wadada Leo Smith among others.
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