lunes, 28 de diciembre de 2020

Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo Release duo album El Arte Del Bolero

 Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo 

Release duo album El Arte Del Bolero 

Digital release available January 8, 2021 via Miel Music


 

On September 28, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, alto saxophone icon Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo recorded a concert at The Jazz Gallery in New York City which was livestreamed in November. When they listened to the recording of the concert, they knew it was something to share.


Miguel writes in the liner notes to the album: “As an instrumentalist, I spend a lot of my time working on making the saxophone an extension of my creative process. This process is always filtered through interpretation and expressiveness, and more often than not I find myself looking up to some of my favorite singers (people like Ismael Rivera, Cheo Feliciano and Andy Montañez) as sources of inspiration. In their individual voices I can hear a reflection of their unique personalities, all manifested at the highest level through their interpretation of songs. These melodies become vehicles for their creativity—a canvas on which they’ll portray their feelings and states of mind.


Miguel_Zenon_photo_by_Noah_Shaye_


But these are not just any songs. These are songs they have heard hundreds of times, familiar pieces of music they know very well, and that is sort of the way I feel about the repertoire on this album. We chose compositions from the Bolero era that we could just play right away, without giving it a second thought: songs from the times of our parents and grandparents that somehow stuck around long enough for us to get to know them and truly love them. They are all as essential to our development as the music of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane or Thelonious Monk, but perhaps even more familiar. When we play these songs, we can hear the lyrics in the back of our minds—something that provides a very deep connection, one that is hard to replicate in any other situation. It really is almost beyond familiar. These songs are part of us.


Luis_Perdomo_photo_by_Myo_Campbell


We recorded this music as a live show, all in one take, without much preparation other than discussing tonalities and some basic elements on form. We were more than pleasantly surprised with the results and decided that they deserved to be shared. There is nothing like making music with someone else, finding a common language we can grab onto and then just going and exploring that together. We hope this comes across here, and that you enjoy the music.”

 

About The Music

Como Fue: Popularized by the great Benny Moré, this song has long become a Latin-American standard. Luis and I have been playing the song for years, usually in the key of Eb. We decided to play it in Db here, mainly inspired by a recent immersion into the music of Billy Strayhorn.

Alma Adentro: A song we previously recorded with a larger ensemble on a 2012 album of the same name. Sylvia Rexach, the composer of this piece, is a favorite of my mother’s, and I was exposed to her music as a young child. This is a song that always brings back feelings of longing and deep nostalgia, a yearning for things no longer there.

Ese Hastío: Ray Barreto recorded this under the title of “Piensa En Mi” on his legendary 1979 album Rican-Struction, which is the version that Luis and I fell in love with. I had never played the song before, but Luis suggested it since he had recorded the piece as an instrumental on his album Pathways. It ended up fitting perfectly into our program. 

La Vida Es Un Sueño: Written by the Cuban genius Arsenio Rodriguez, a revolutionary artist who changed the course of Latin-American music forever. Blinded by a tragic accident as a child, Arsenio moved to the United States later in life in hope that doctors there could find a cure to his condition. Legend has it that, shortly after finding out from his doctors that this would not be the case, he wrote this song. The last verse says it all: “La realidad es nacer y morir / Porque llenarnos de tanta ansiedad / Todo no es mas que un eterno sufrir / El mundo esta hecho de infelicidad.”

Que Te Pedí – Immortalized by Latin diva “La Lupe” in her seminal 1965 version (recorded with Tito Puente), this song has since become an anthem for lost love and heartbreak all over Latin-America. We had performed this before, but this was the first time we played it as a duo.

Juguete – This classic, written by the legendary Bobby Capo, was popularized by Cheo Feliciano on his 1972 album La Voz Sensual de Cheo. It’s certainly of those songs that is constantly quoted everywhere and never gets old. We’ve been playing it for a while and decided to do it a little faster here, with an extended vamp at the end to close things out.

 

About Miguel Zenón

A multiple Grammy® nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, Zenón has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American folkloric music and jazz. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has recorded and toured with a wide variety of musicians including Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman and is a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective. 

_Miguel_Zenon_photo_by_Noah_Shaye_


Zenón’s 2021 releases will also include the spring release of Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman featuring Zenón with Ariel Bringuez, Demain Cabaud and Jordi Rossi and the fall release of an album with his long-standing quartet. 

About Luis Perdomo

                                           Luis_Perdomo_photo_by_Nick_Carter

Originally from Venezuela, Grammy® nominated pianist, composer, arranger and educator Luis Perdomo moved to NYC in the early 90s and has since established himself as one of the most in-demand musicians on the scene. He has recorded and/or performed with Ravi Coltrane, David Sanchez, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, Tom Harrell, John Patitucci, Ray Barretto, Brian Lynch, Robin Eubanks, Dave Douglas, David Weiss and The Cookers, David Gilmore, Ralph Irizarry & Timbalaye, Henry Threadgill and Steve Turre. He has collaborated with Miguel Zenón for 20 years. Perdomo has performed at festivals and venues in over 50 countries and has released nine recordings as a leader. He has also appeared on over 200 recordings as a sideman including, most recently, two Grammy nominated albums: Ravi Coltrane’s Spirit Fiction and Miguel Zenón’s Sonero. In 2002 he earned the 2nd Grand Prix at the 3rd Martial Solal Jazz Piano Competition in Paris.

Available on all digital platforms including Miguel’s Bandcamp page.

 

www.miguelzenon.com

www.luisperdomojazz.com

jueves, 10 de diciembre de 2020

Humberto Ramírez realizará el Festival Puerto Rico Jazz jam de manera virtual

Humberto Ramírez realizará el Festival Puerto Rico Jazz jam de manera virtual

  

la conexión estará disponible desde mañana VIERNES 11 DE DICIEMBRE, 2020 para la venta en

www.tcpr.com 



El trompetista, director y productor Humberto Ramírez realizará de manera virtual la onceava edición del festival Puerto Rico Jazz Jam. El sábado 30 de enero a las 8 p.m. se efectuará la transmisión a través de Ticket Center Streaming.

 

“Hemos decidido llevar a cabo el festival de manera virtual para darle continuidad al proyecto, un respiro al público y, lo más importante, ofrecer un taller a los músicos que tanto hemos sufrido el impacto económico de la paralización de la industria del entretenimiento.”, expresa el también arreglista.



Esa noche, la arpista Elisa Torres abrirá el concierto acompañada de Elías Santos Celpa en el bajo, Savier Díaz en la percusión y Mario Pereira en la batería. Entre las piezas que interpretará se encuentran: “Almendra”, Bajo la luna llena” y “Sous le ciel de Paris”.


 

Ramírez por su parte, estará estrenando su nuevo disco “Focus” acompañado de Frankie Pérez en el saxofón, Edgardo Rivera en el piano, Giovanni Ortiz en el bajo, William “Kachiro” Thompson en las congas y Leonardo Ozuna en la batería.  “Fiesta Mood”, “Acuario” y el sencillo que da nombre al disco “Focus” formarán parte del repertorio.

 

El enlace de conexión estará a la venta a partir de mañana viernes 11 de diciembre a través de www.tcpr.com. Con una sola conexión todos en el hogar pueden ver el concierto. Cualquier persona alrededor del mundo podrá conectarse. Puerto Rico Jazz Jam 2021 es una producción de Humberto Ramírez.

sábado, 5 de diciembre de 2020

Gabriel Vicéns blends Jazz and Puerto Rican Rhythms in his New Album, “The Way We Are Created”

Gabriel Vicéns blends Jazz and Puerto Rican Rhythms in his New Album, “The Way We Are Created”

 

The guitarist expands his musical expression by mixing bomba and plena rhythms from his native Puerto Rico with his unique brand of Jazz.



 

“The Way We Are Created,” the third album from the brilliant New York City-based musician Gabriel Vicéns, offers a detailed picture of his multiple talents. It portrays the evolution of his own voice, not only as a guitarist but as a composer and conceptualist as well.

Vicéns has previously released two widely acclaimed albums, “Point In Time” and “Days.” Vicéns has blossomed into his signature sound on “The Way We Are Created;” a delicate sound that conveys robust, cleanly-articulated ideas, with solos that add depth to his melodic and thematic compositions.

The album becomes a part of the Inner Circle Music canon, a label established by influential saxophonist Greg Osby, which “provides a forum for some of the next generation’s most provocative composers and stylists.” Also behind the release of the album is the Puerto Rican non-profit organization 71 Associates, which was created by Jochi Dávila to help experimental musicians.

Vicéns’ music has arrived at a complex but sentimental soundscape, as this set of compositions live within the world of bomba and plena, which are folkloric Puerto Rican styles. This album enjoys a natural, organic blend of Jazz with fiery, propulsive rhythms, in his own original compositional style.​ ​The Afro-Puerto Rican percussion instruments barril de bomba and panderos de plena intertwine beautifully within the harmonic and melodic complexity of jazz, while Vicéns’ compositions utilize nostalgic yet challenging Afro-Carribean rhythms.

Thus, the album is an array of bold themes brimming with personality, including “It Doesn't Matter,” “The Upcoming,” and “A City of Many Mysteries,” which employ yubá, sicá, and rulé rhythms from the bomba tradition. “To The Unknown” is an energetic plena, and one of the many pieces on the record that stirs up your mind as well as your feet.

“This project is the result of my own investigation into the worlds of these traditions,” says Vicéns, a distinguished graduate from Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (BM) and Queens College (MM), currently pursuing his Doctorate in Guitar Performance in New York. “When I begin a composition, I first establish a rhythmic foundation which comes from Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric traditions, and then I build the composition from that underlying structure. The music you’ll hear on this record is authentic to my roots and comes directly from my life.”

“The Way We Are Created” was co-produced by star Puerto Rican saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and confirms Vicéns’ gifts as a skilled bandleader. Several of the finest New York musicians give life to these compositions with Román Filiú on alto sax, Glenn Zaleski on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, E.J. Strickland on drums, and Víctor Pablo on percussion. Their solos shine with a cool, fluid mastery throughout the whole work. Three short interludes work as breathers while reinforcing the album’s coherence as a whole.

“Being able to release this album in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an incredible and challenging experience for me,” explains Vicéns. “There were moments I asked myself if this was the right time, but I arrived at the idea that art is a relieving outlet for people, can build community, and can comfort pain. I feel good about it.”

“The Way We Are Created,”​ i​ s an homage to the power of all artistic expressions, including painting. Vicéns is also an accomplished painter, and the cover of the album is a recent work of his. While discussing the thought process behind the album title, Vicéns says that “When I complete a work, sometimes it seems personified. It’s almost like the composition speaks in the first person, and is their own being. If compositions could speak for themselves, maybe they could explain to us the way they were created.”

To the listener, it’s a testimony to Gabriel Vicéns’ constant evolution as a musical thinker and leader, able to show new paths of expression for others to follow. Above all, “The Way We Are Created” is a great listen for jazz aficionados, and bomba and plena lovers alike. “When I came up with this title, it had two meanings. It’s a reflection on the way that all living beings are created to be naturally inventive and imaginative. It is a tribute to how we are all born to be creative.”



Acclaimed by Downbeat Magazine as “a thoughtful improviser with a quiet tone who makes every note count," Manhattan-based guitarist, composer, improviser, and painter Gabriel Vicéns is one of the most in-demand guitarists on the New York City jazz scene. Originally from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Vicéns made a move to NYC after a 5-year Professorship at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. He has been mentored by an impressive list of performers and composers, including Ray Anderson, Carlos Cabrer, Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, Daria Semegen Paul Bollenback, Antonio Hart, Fernando Mattina, Lois V Vierk, and Luis Perdomo. Legendary bassist Eddie Gómez says Vicéns is “a creative musician that displays a new vision on the guitar.” Vicéns playing and compositions are influenced by many genres, ranging from jazz, rock, new classical music, electronic music, and the Caribbean and Latin American folklore.

Vicéns has been featured at venues and festivals such as Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest, SF Jazz Center in San Francisco, Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Slovenia, Uno Jazz San Remo Festival in Italy, and the Festival Havana World Music in Cuba. In New York, he frequents prominent venues such as The Cell Theater, Cornelia Street Cafe, Latea Theater, Fat Cat, The Owl Music Parlor, and Terraza 7 both as a leader of his own groups and as a sideman. He is a member of the free improvisational collaborative group No Base Trio, alongside alto saxophonist Jonathan Suazo and drummer Leonardo Osuna. Vicéns has performed and worked with artists such as Alex Sipiagin, David Sánchez, Miguel Zenón, Luis Perdomo, Paoli Mejias, Will Vinson, Henry Cole, Joe Martin, Rudy Royston, among others. Internationally, he has performed throughout Slovenia, Italy, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the states.

As a painter, Vicéns is currently studying at The Art Students League of New York with renowned artist Pat Lipsky and has shown his work in many venues throughout the city. In 2018, Vicéns was invited to participate in the group exhibition Dislexia Geografica held at The Clemente Soto Vélez: Cultural and Educational Center featuring a wide range of artists from Latin America. Currently, Vicéns is actively painting and working on a project comprised of composing music inspired by his paintings and crafting paintings inspired by his music. 

Vicéns holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, a Master of Music degree from Queens College and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University. He is releasing his third album as a leader in January, 2021. Entitled The Way We are Created, his upcoming record will feature compositions influenced by folklore music from Puerto Rico, featuring saxophonist Roman Filiú, pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Rick Rosato, drummer E.J. Strickland, and percussionist Victor Pablo.

viernes, 4 de diciembre de 2020

Se publica la segunda edición de Boricua Jazz; libro que documenta la historia de los puertorriqueños en el Jazz.

 Se publica la segunda edición de Boricua Jazz; libro que documenta la historia de los puertorriqueños en el Jazz.

San Juan, Diciembre 1, 2020. Luego de una exitosa primera edición, sale a la venta la segunda edición del libro Boricua Jazz La Historia del Jazz Puertorriqueño: Desde Rafael Hernández a Miguel Zenón.


En mayo del 2019, luego de más de 10 años de entrevistas e investigación, se publicó Boricua Jazz: La Historia del Jazz Puertorriqueño, libro que documenta los aportes de los boricuas a la historia del Jazz. 

"Desde la publicación de la primera edición de Boricua Jazz en mayo del 2019, mucho ha ocurrido en la escena del Jazz Boricua; obras maestras de la discografía como la grabación Sonero de Miguel Zenón, y presentaciones magistrales en conciertos y festivales. Durante ese tiempo también hemos perdido amigos y grandes maestros del jazz como Ángel Cachete Maldonado, Ray Mantilla y Andrew Lázaro, entre otros. Por lo que nos pareció necesario actualizar el contenido del libro con todos esos acontecimientos." Wilbert Sostre, columnista especializado en Jazz, productor de radio y autor de Boricua Jazz

La presentación oficial de la primera edición de Boricua Jazz se realizó en Casa Norberto, Plaza Las Américas, el martes 18 de junio del 2019. En esa primera presentación estuvieron presente músicos como Frankie Pérez (saxofonista), Roberto Jiménez (saxofonista), Brenda Hopkins (pianista), Manuel Pérez Kenderish (guitarrista y percusionista), Angela Flecha (cantante), Ana Baiana (cantante), Ramón Ríos (guitarrista), Fabiola Muñoz (cuatrista), y José Chegüito Encarnación (saxofonista). La cantante y amiga Carola Ausbury estuvo a cargo de la presentación del autor y de la introducción musical junto a su padre el bajista Dan Ausbury.



El sábado 29 junio del 2019, se realiza la segunda presentación de Boricua Jazz en la Librería Mágica, Rio Piedras. En esta ocasión la presentación musical estuvo a cargo de Elmera Jazz Ensemble, agrupación de estudiantes de la Escuela Libre de Música, bajo la dirección del Maestro David Rivera.

El sábado 28 de septiembre del 2019, Boricua Jazz llega a la Librería El Candil en Ponce con una presentación que tuvo la participación de los Maestros Alfredo Falú (saxofonista), Irving Cancel (bajista), y con el colega de la radio Naphis Torres.



El sábado 23 de noviembre, como parte de las actividades del Festival de Jazz del Conservatorio de Música, se realizó la cuarta y última presentación del libro Boricua Jazz en el 2019. En esta ocasión el Profesor del Conservatorio de Música Jaime Bofill estuvo a cargo de la introducción en la presentación de Boricua Jazz.  Agradecemos al Maestro baterista y amigo Fidel Morales por la invitación a participar de este gran evento en donde el autor de Boricua Jazz también tuvo la oportunidad de moderar el conversatorio ‘Nuevos Caminos del Jazz’ junto a los Maestros Alex Acuña, Ramón Vázquez y Brenda Hopkins.

Agradecemos a los medios que compartieron la información sobre el lanzamiento de Boricua Jazz; Jaime Torres Torres y La Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular, Periódico El Nuevo Dia, Periódico La Perla, Judith Felicié y Manolo Almeida en sus respectivos programas en Radio Oro, Isabel Pichardo y José Vélez en Radio Universidad, Agatha Amarilis y su programa Estas Invitado en Vid 90.3 FM, Mayagüez, Rafa Rodríguez y su programa Salseando en Radio Leo 1170 AM, el programa Bomba, Plena y Mucho Más con Maddy y Tony en WPAB 550 AM Ponce, AmaRie Magazine, y Magazine-PR. Especial agradecimiento a la amiga y promotora de salsa Lexie Marie Torres por su ayuda en la promoción del libro Boricua Jazz.

La nueva edición de Boricua Jazz ha sido revisada y contiene nuevas fotos, nuevas biografías y actualizaciones en algunas discografías, biografías y eventos. En los momentos que se revisaba el contenido de esta segunda edición de Boricua Jazz el mundo se enfrenta a una crisis por la pandemia del Covid-19. La escena de la música y del Jazz al igual que otras industrias se han visto seriamente afectadas. Debido al cierre de locales y suspensión de conciertos, los músicos de Jazz y otras formas musicales se han visto obligados a realizar presentaciones exclusivamente a través de videos en vivo transmitidos por las redes sociales.

“En tiempos de pandemia, la buena música y en especial el Jazz adquieren aún mayor importancia. Las personas que permanecen por largos períodos de tiempo aislados en cuarentena necesitan actividades que contribuyan a su crecimiento personal y salud mental. Con o sin pandemia, de muy pocas actividades se obtienen mayores beneficios que del consumo de la buena música.” Wilbert Sostre

Wilbert Sostre, historiador y crítico de Jazz es también el productor y conductor del programa Puerto Rico Jazz que se originó en Radio Vieques 90.1FM, www.radiovieques.net, donde se transmitió desde junio del 2018 hasta noviembre 2019. En noviembre 2019 Puerto Rico Jazz pasa a Brave New Radio, WPSC 88.7FM William Paterson University, New Jersey y se transmite todos los domingos de 8 a 9am, hora de Nueva York, 9 a 10am hora de Puerto Rico.

Por los pasados 15 años Wilbert Sostre ha escrito reseñas de grabaciones y eventos de jazz para publicaciones como Jazz Times, Jazz Inside Magazine, Latin Jazz Network, All About Jazz, y Diálogo, entre otras. Además ha sido invitado a las emisoras Radio Universidad, Radio Oro, Yunque Radio, Vid 90.3, Radio Leo, WPAB, Ponce y el canal de televisión ABC Puerto Rico para compartir sus conocimientos sobre el Jazz.



Desde su publicación en el 2109, Boricua Jazz se ha utilizado como referencia en cursos universitarios, en libros y publicaciones en internet. El libro Boricua Jazz se encuentra a la venta en Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NF34977

Información adicional: Jazzin' Magazine, jazzinmagazine@gmail.com 787-942-9772

jueves, 19 de noviembre de 2020

RESONANCE’S PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BILL EVANS LIVE AT RONNIE SCOTT’S TO BE RELEASED AS TWO-LP RECORD STORE DAY EXCLUSIVE ON BLACK FRIDAY, NOV. 27; CD AND DIGITAL EDITIONS ARRIVE DEC. 4

RESONANCE’S PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BILL EVANS LIVE AT RONNIE SCOTT’S TO BE RELEASED AS TWO-LP RECORD STORE DAY EXCLUSIVE ON BLACK FRIDAY, NOV. 27; CD AND DIGITAL EDITIONS ARRIVE DEC. 4

Stunning 20-Track Set is Third Resonance Collection of Unissued Material Featuring Pianist Evans’ Short-Lived, Brilliant 1968 Trio With Bassist Eddie Gomez and Drummer Jack DeJohnette Deluxe Package Includes An Overview Essay by Veteran Critic Brian Priestley, New Interviews with Gomez, DeJohnette, Pianist Chick Corea, and Evans’ Good Friend Chevy Chase, and a One-of-a-Kind Album Cover Drawing by Legendary Artist David Stone Martin

Los Angeles – Resonance Records will proudly release Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott’s, the label’s third collection featuring hitherto unheard recordings by the great pianist’s short-lived 1968 trio with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette, as a two-LP Record Store Day exclusive on Black Friday, Nov. 27. The album will subsequently see release as a two-CD set and a digital download on Dec. 4.

Resonance – a division of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation, a non-profit corporation created to discover the next jazz stars – has previously issued two widely acclaimed, never-before-heard albums by Evans’ ’68 unit.

That combo recorded the pianist’s second Grammy Award-winning Verve album, Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival; recorded on June 15, 1968, it was the only contemporaneous album released from the lineup during its brief existence.

Unearthed by Resonance co-president Zev Feldman (a/k/a “the Jazz Detective”), Some Other Time: The Lost Session From the Black Forest (2016) was a two-LP/two-CD studio date, cut five days after the Evans-Gomez-DeJohnette trio’s Montreux appearance, which had sat unheard in the German vaults for 50 years. A second historic discovery, Another Time (2018), was recorded two days later by the Netherlands Radio Union in Hilversum.

These collections garnered praise in DownBeat and JazzTimes in the U.S., Jazzwise in the U.K., and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll; Some Other Time topped Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart.

Drawn from Jack DeJohnette’s personal archives, Live at Ronnie Scott’s comprises 20 scintillating tracks captured during the Evans trio’s month-long ’68 residency at the eponymous saxophonist-impresario’s Soho club. (It is Resonance’s second live Evans album to emanate from that venue: 2019’s Evans in England derived from a 1969 stand at Scott’s, featuring Gomez and drummer Marty Morell.)

Recordings by the Evans-Gomez-DeJohnette lineup are as prized as they are rare. DeJohnette was an especially simpatico accompanist for Evans, for he had been a pianist before taking up the drums. Despite their chemistry, the trio played together for a mere six months. During their stay at Scott’s, Miles Davis stopped in to check out the band, and the trumpeter swiftly recruited DeJohnette for his new group. By the end of 1968, Morell was hired by Evans as his replacement, and he drummed behind the pianist through 1974.

Distinguished British critic, author, broadcaster, and pianist Brian Priestley, who witnessed Evans’ ’68 trio in action, puts the London stand and Evans’ then-current repertoire in context in newly commissioned notes for the release. He writes that the performances’ “compelling, indeed at times overwhelming, musical quality is such as to impress this listener all over again.”

Live at Ronnie Scott’s also features a joint interview, conducted by Feldman, with DeJohnette and Grammywinning pianist (and, in his early career, drummer) Chick Corea, who played with DeJohnette in Miles Davis’ storied late-‘60s lineups.

Recalling his short but memorable stint with Evans, DeJohnette says, “The music was at a really high creative height, and I’m glad I documented that, and the tape was good enough for Resonance to run with it…You really get a chance to hear Bill stretch.”

“Bill was a big hero for me and for all of our generation,” Corea says of Evans.

“Bill was just like the generation just before us, and we all looked up to him with his recordings with [bassist] Scotty [La Faro] and [drummer] Paul [Motian].”

In his own interview with Feldman, Gomez says of the recording, “It’s enlightening to go back and relive moments that are ingrained in your memory in a totally different way; time just does that. Fifty, fifty-two years; that’s a half a century. That’s a long time. So going back and listening to it and reflecting on it and seeing the changes in all three of us from this perspective gives you a different view.”

Perhaps the most unexpected element of the package is an extensive interview with the great comic actor and jazz buff Chevy Chase. He encountered Evans’ music as an underage jazz club-goer and began a friendship with the pianist as a student at Bard College, where he played in a band with classmate Donald Fagen of Steely Dan.

He tells Feldman that Evans’ music was “the most lyrical jazz you could ever hear, in terms of jazz that wasn’t sung. It was just beautiful. And yet, very complex. Everybody I know tried to be Bill, but all you have to do is put a little video of Bill on or a record and say, ‘Try that.’ He really had a touch on the piano that he couldn’t match.”

Gracing the cover of both the LP and CD iterations of Live at Ronnie Scott’s is artwork drawn from a neverbefore-published, one-of-a-kind lithograph by the late, legendary artist/illustrator David Stone Martin, whose distinctive interpretations of jazzmen in action were featured on dozens of classic jazz LPs, notably including many for Norman Granz’s labels of the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Feldman writes, “I had one big decision to make: do we go all the way and recreate a jacket in the same manner of DSM’s classic covers of the 1940s and 1950s, even though our album isn’t from that era? Or do we go a different, more modern route and simply incorporate DSM’s artwork into a more contemporary style image? I thought long and hard about this. Ultimately, I came to see it as an opportunity to recreate that special era, a nod to those classic 1940s and ‘50s Verve/Clef/Norgran album covers.”

Bill Evans Live at Ronnie Scott’s will be the fifth Resonance title to feature unreleased music by the pianist: 2014’s Live at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate was the label’s first Evans collection. Smile With Your Heart:

The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance, a mid-priced compilation, was issued in 2020.

Resonance Records is a multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning label (most recently for John Coltrane’s Offering: Live at Temple University for "Best Album Notes") that prides itself in creating beautifully designed, informative packaging to accompany previously unreleased recordings by the jazz icons who grace Resonance's catalog. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Resonance Records is a division of Rising Jazz Stars, Inc. a California 501(c) (3) non-profit corporationcreated to discover the next jazz stars and advance the cause of jazz. Current Resonance Artists include Aubrey Logan, Polly Gibbons, Eddie Daniels, Tamir Hendelman, Christian Howes and Donald Vega. www.ResonanceRecords.org

Photos by Francois Jaquenod

For more information please contact:

Ann Braithwaite / Braithwaite & Katz Communications

Ph: 781-259-9600 / ann@bkmusicpr.com

miércoles, 11 de noviembre de 2020

Lo Mejor del Jazz Boricua regresa a la radio de Estados Unidos

 Lo Mejor del Jazz Boricua regresa a la radio de Estados Unidos


Noviembre 10, 2020, San Juan, Puerto Rico. - Puerto Rico Jazz con Wilbert Sostre, el único programa dedicado al Jazz Boricua, regresa a Brave New Radio WPSC 88.7FM, William Paterson University, New Jersey, luego de una interrupción de más de seis meses a causa de la pandemia del Covid-19. 

Puerto Rico Jazz, programa producido por Wilbert Sostre, reanudó su transmisión a través de WPSC 88.7, New Jersey, el 1ro de noviembre del 2020. El programa dedicado a todo lo relacionado a la escena del Jazz de Puerto Rico tuvo sus orígenes en Radio Vieques en junio del 2018, donde se estuvo transmitiendo hasta noviembre del 2019. 

"Radio Vieques pide una licencia para estar fuera del aire durante un año, por lo que Puerto Rico Jazz pasa a transmitirse en Brave New Radio, emisora de la Universidad William Paterson, New Jersey." Wilbert Sostre, productor y conductor de Puerto Rico Jazz

La emergencia mundial debido al Covid-19, obliga a Brave New Radio a interrumpir todos sus programas grabados y en vivo, incluido Puerto Rico Jazz. Ya pasado el verano, Brave New Radio comienza a transmitir algunos de sus programas regulares, y el 1 de noviembre Puerto Rico Jazz regresa a su horario, todos domingos 8am hora de Nueva York, 9am hora de Puerto Rico.

El columnista especializado en Jazz Wilbert Sostre ha escrito reseñas y artículos para varias publicaciones en Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico; entre ellas,All About Jazz, Jazz Times, Jazz Inside Magazine, Latin Jazz Network, Caribe Jazz Magazine y Diálogo.

Wilbert Sostre sido invitado para compartir sus conocimientos de jazz a las estaciones de radio Vid 90.3, Radio Universidad, Yunque Radio, Radio Leo, WPAB, Ponce, y al programa de televisión En Record con Elwood Cruz en ABC Puerto Rico. Sostre es el autor del libro Boricua Jazz La Historia del Jazz Puertorriqueño, publicado en mayo del 2019.

"Nos complace estar de regreso en las ondas radiales de Brave New Radio compartiendo con la audiencia la más alta calidad de la música hecha en Puerto Rico."

jueves, 29 de octubre de 2020

Radio Vieques regresa a las ondas radiales

Radio Vieques regresa a las ondas radiales



Desde octubre del año pasado, nuestra emisora radial comunitaria Radio Vieques ha estado fuera del aire, a través de un permiso especial de la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC por sus siglas en inglés). Una determinación estratégica del equipo de Radio Vieques con el fin de reconstruir las instalaciones de transmisión en la isla municipio de Culebra.


Durante los primeros seis años, el proyecto comunitario cubrió casi el tercio oriental del archipiélago boricua, pero después del huracán María se perdió ese alcance. Con permisos especiales de la FCC y del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) se comenzó a transmitir con una antena pequeña en el techo del Fortín Conde de Mirasol en Vieques y con un transmisor de emergencia en el estudio. El permiso otorgado por la FCC fue extendido hasta octubre de este año.

La decisión de salir del aire fue con miras a concentrar todos los esfuerzos en la preparación y la búsqueda de un lugar apropiado en Culebra para colocar la antena y el transmisor. También para concretar la reorganización de trabajos administrativos. Radio Vieques se encuentra trabajando con su reglamento interno para celebrar una asamblea en 2021 y elegir y renovar su junta directiva.

“Volvemos al aire de nuevo a finales de octubre con una señal mínima y también streaming (transmisión por internet), mayormente con una programación grabada y, posiblemente, algo en vivo. En enero esperamos tener nuestro programa ancla, Las Voces del Este, por lo menos tres días a la semana” sostuvo Robert Rabin, gerente general de Radio Vieques. La emisora transmitirá nuevamente a través de su cuadrante 90.1 FM en Vieques, Culebra y el área Este de Puerto Rico. 



Al momento la emisora se encuentra en la búsqueda de voluntarios, personas de otras partes de Puerto Rico y la diáspora interesados en colaborar y formar parte de los comités de trabajo. Próximamente se anunciarán talleres con miras a continuar fortaleciendo los conocimientos de la comunidad en temas radiales. 

Para más información, puede seguir a Radio Vieques en las redes sociales (facebook, twitter, instagram) o visitar www.radiovieques.net, donde pronto se podrá acceder a nuestra variada programación. 

viernes, 2 de octubre de 2020

Chucho Valdés, Dafnis Prieto, Regina Carter, Ramón Vázquez y Henry Cole son algunos de los virtuosos que estarán este domingo en Festival de Jazz Virtual

 Chucho Valdés, Dafnis Prieto, Regina Carter, Ramón Vázquez y Henry Cole son algunos de los virtuosos que estarán este domingo en Festival de Jazz Virtual

Virtuosos de la música se unen en el Festival Jazz en la Montaña, cuya cuarta edición se llevará a cabo de manera virtual este domingo 4 de octubre desde las 3p.m. a través de Facebook @festivaldejazzenlamontaña.


 





Se presentará el Chucho Valdés Trio, integrado por el baterista Dafnis Prieto, el bajista Ramón Vázquez y el Maestro Chucho Valdés en el piano y la dirección musical. Como invitada especial estará la violinista Regina Carter.

 

Ricky Rodríguez Trio (compuesto por John Ellis en el saxofón, Henry Cole en la batería y Ricky Rodríguez en el bajo), los profesores del Departamento de Música de la Universidad de North Carolina, Steven Anderson y Juan Álamo; y los Estudiantes de la Escuela Jesús T. Piñero de Cidra, junto a su profesor y director Manolito Rodríguez, también forman parte de este desfile de virtuosos.


 

El Festival Jazz en la Montaña se celebra en los pueblos del centro de la isla. Desde el 2017, cumple con la misión principal de llevar educación musical a estudiantes de comunidades especiales y de escasos recursos. Está constantemente haciendo actividades como clases magistrales, charlas, seminarios y talleres para los estudiantes de la Escuela Especializada en Música e Idiomas Jesús T. Piñero en Cidra, y otras escuelas cercanas en el municipio.

 

El Festival Jazz en la Montaña siempre ha sido un evento gratuito para todo el público y cuenta con el auspicio del Municipio de Cidra, el comercio local y empresas privadas.

miércoles, 23 de septiembre de 2020

Pianist Noah Haidu explores the genius of composer Kenny Kirkland with DOCTONE, an innovative multimedia project featuring music, a book and film

Pianist Noah Haidu explores the genius of composer Kenny Kirkland with DOCTONE, an innovative multimedia project featuring music, a book and film


Featuring Billy Hart, Steve Wilson, Gary Thomas, Todd Coolman, Jon Irabagon and Daniel Sadownick, project is out via Sunnyside Records on October 2, 2020,
a few days after what would have been Kirkland’s 65th birthday 
 
“Haidu is one of the finest young jazz lions…with jazz luminaries like trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon gracing the band as part of a core quintet, rising above their powerful performance is quite an accomplishment and Haidu does just that.” – Edward Blanco, JazzTimes
 
“Haidu’s ability to express deep feelings is striking.” – Tony Hall, Jazzwise (UK)


Noah Haidu has etched out an uncompromising identity as a pianist and composer by balancing cutting edge songwriting with stirring improvisations. On his new Sunnyside release Doctone, Haidu reaches a new level of self-expression while exploring the work of one of his major influences, the late Kenny Kirkland. As Noah writes in the liner notes: “Doctone is the first recording dedicated entirely to Kirkland’s original music. I view Kenny as the most unique composer and pianist of his generation. Because he died young and avoided the spotlight, his brilliant compositions have been overlooked for too long.”
 
Doctone is a multimedia project which includes a recording of Kirkland’s music, as well as an original book by Haidu and a film directed by Jeffrey Chuang. The documentary about Kenny’s life and his contribution to music will be released on what would have been his 65th birthday, September 28, 2020. 
 
When Haidu went into the studio in the summer of 2019 to record an album of music by Kirkland he set aside most of his preconceptions about making records. “I typically set out to build a cohesive statement with each album so that the pieces fit together like chapters in a book. This project was different. I didn’t work through the repertoire on many gigs or do a lot of rehearsing, though I’ve always been moved by these songs. The result was that in the studio I had a visceral response to material that was fresh and emotionally compelling. Kenny was known as Doctone by his close friends. I never got to know Kenny, but after working on this project I sometimes feel as though I did.” 
 
Haidu’s choices of collaborators added perspective to this passion project. Billy Hart is a relentlessly creative and vital drummer who both Haidu and Kirkland worked with early on in their development. Bassist Todd Coolman propels the band forward with a fluid, effervescent beat; tenorist Gary Thomas brings his remarkable language to Kirkland’s compositions; while contributions by saxophonist Jon Irabagon and percussionist Daniel Sadownick stretch the tonal palette. The masterful yet gritty alto/soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson seems to “breathe” the music rather than play it.
 
Haidu’s connection with Kirkland goes back to Noah’s youth when Kirkland turned pop music on its head playing jazz solos and keyboard grooves in Sting’s early “post-Police” tours. Over the years, Haidu has mined many of the raw musical elements which caught his ear in those early days. Regarding Kirkland’s influence, Noah says: “The greatest lesson I take from him is a certain ‘devil may care’ attitude to performance: once you have enough vocabulary and genres to draw on you just go for it and see where the inspiration leads.” 
 
Haidu recorded Doctone at a point of peak creativity. His extended six-part suite Infinite Distances received 4.5 stars from DownBeat Magazine and made that publication’s “Best Albums of the Year” issue in 2018. Perhaps as a reaction to his father passing away a few days before Infinite Distances was released, Haidu has since found new avenues of expression during his performances. Haidu says of his evolution: “Although these days as a composer I gravitate towards long-form, through-composed pieces, as a performer I feel an urgency to express musical ideas and emotions spontaneously, so that changes the repertoire. I don’t often play my most complex pieces in public.”
 
In early 2019 Haidu toured with a new band featuring Hart and Coolman and the inception of this trio gave Haidu the opportunity to present a fresh repertoire centered around Kirkland’s original compositions. Hart had a strong connection with the music. Kenny had been on his first two recording dates as a leader and they had played together during the 1970’s on various fusion, Afro-Latin, and avant-garde projects. 
 
By summer 2019 the band decided to record nine of Kenny’s songs over a couple of days. The sessions were documented on video, and the musicians talked throughout about their relationship to Kenny and his music. Hart recalled the origins of some of the pieces and shared that he was having an “emotional reaction” to recording the music. Steve Wilson talked about the inspiration he felt when first hearing Kirkland with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet in the early 1980’s and how that band had inspired him and his contemporaries.

The album opens with a spontaneous yet lyrical free improvisation from Haidu and Hart: “Those were the first notes we played when we sat down in the studio. The opener captures a certain reverential melancholy that we were feeling about recording music by Kenny.”  Noah later titled the piece “The Doctor of Tone” in reference to Kirkland’s nickname. “Midnight Silence” offers a slow rendering of Kirkland’s dense yet gorgeous harmonies, sliding into new tempos and time signatures for Haidu’s solo and Wilson’s excursions. The brooding theme “Blasphemy” follows. Unlike Kirkland’s concise original recordings these versions feature improvisations which build to wailing explorations as the band reaches peak after peak. Kirkland’s two most well-known pieces are also included. The sinewy melody of “Steepian Faith” is treated with a funky odd-metered counter-point before finding its way back into the deeply joyful groove suggested by the original. The haunting “Dienda” is initially given an extended “out of time” exploration by Haidu, Hart, and Coolman before introducing the pulse and finally ending in a gospel-tinged 3/4 chorus. Gary Thomas’s unique melodic language and Haidu’s fiery soloing are heard on “Mr J.C.” “Tonality of Atonement” is a multi-directional trio statement, inspired by Hart’s initial encounters with Kirkland on the 70’s avant-garde scene. “Chambers of Tain” and “Fuschia” feature some of Kirkland’s most adventurous rhythmic ideas while “Chance,” first recorded by Kirkland and Hart on Hart’s 1984 album Oshumare, serves as a moody set closer.

Looking back on Kirkland’s impact, Haidu says “Kenny bridged so many musical worlds: Blues, R&B, fusion, modern jazz, and 20th century classical.” After Kirkland’s passing in 1998 Noah began collecting recordings and interviews to learn more about the pianist. In 2007 when he sat down with Branford Marsalis to talk at length about Kirkland’s life and music, the conversation left him eager to know more about Kenny. “I researched every article I could find and I started writing an unofficial biography without any particular plan to publish it. Although he was at the very top of his profession, Kenny wasn’t interested in fame. He didn’t record as a leader until his mid-30’s and he wasn’t motivated to become a big star. I can definitely relate to that.” Noah continues to interview Kirkland’s contemporaries, planning to complete his book and release a short film directed by Jeffrey Chuang documenting Kenny’s life on Kirkland’s 65th birthday, September 28, 2020.

At age 19 Haidu had studied at Rutgers University for about a year with the great pianist Kenny Barron. But Noah was soon skipping classes to sit in at jazz clubs in Barron’s hometown of Philadelphia. After his second year, Haidu left college and moved to Brooklyn to devote all his time to practicing and gigging with artists such as Essiet Essiet, Duane Eubanks, Walter Perkins, Melvin Sparks, Jeanie Bryson, and Norman Connors.  After the debut of his first album Slipstream, All About Jazz said of Noah “the cat can play his butt off.” 

In 2011 Haidu was called a “rising star” in JazzTimes and “an important new talent” in Jazzwise magazine. His subsequent albums and sideman work have seen him collaborating with Ambrose Akinmusire, Mike Stern, Buster Williams, Jeremy Pelt, Sharel Cassity, and Mark Whitfield Jr. After a 2015 MOCA concert his music was music dubbed “vibrant and adventurous” in the Miami Herald. New York Times writer Giovanni Russonello called him “an artist of focus and vision.” In 2017 DownBeat Magazine featured Haidu in an article entitled “Subversive Soul” and singled him out as an “assertive pianist and innovative composer.”  In addition, DownBeat gave his suite Infinite Distances 4.5 stars and chose it as a 2017 Best Album of the Year.