martes, 29 de diciembre de 2015

Bassist, Composer, Arranger Chuck Israels Signs with Dot Time Records

Famed Bassist Chuck Israels
Signs with Dot Time Records


New Release
"Garden of Delights"   
 Chuck Israels
   

Bassist Chuck Israels Proudly Presents New Project  
"Garden of Delights"  
   
Dot Time Records is excited to announce the signing of composer, arranger and bassistChuck Israels. Best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1961 through 1966, he is also recognized for his pioneering accomplishments in the Jazz Repertory as Director of the National Jazz Ensemble from 1973 to 1981.
Chuck's first release with Dot Time Records is entitled "Garden of Delights", and will be released on April 15, 2016. In addition during the next year, Dot Time Records will also release selected archival recordings of the National Jazz Ensemble. The first release in this series is expected in early 2016.
Recently retired from directing the jazz studies program at Western Washington University, Chuck moved to Portland, Oregon to work in its vibrant jazz community and participate in his favorite Northwest city's cultural life.
During his distinguished career Chuck has built a strong discography both as a leader and sideman including; "Coltrane Time", with John Coltrane; "My Point of View", with Herbie Hancock; "Getz au Go-Go", with Stan Getz; and many recordings with the Bill Evans Trio, including "The Town Hall Concert"; "The Second Trio"; "Trio '65; Live at the Trident"; "Time Remembered"; and "Live at Shelley's Manne Hole."
The Chuck Israels Orchestra was founded in 2011 to showcase some of the best jazz instrumentalists and vocalists in the Northwest playing finely crafted and demanding arrangements of the most exciting and durable music we know. The band has played at such international events as the Detroit Jazz Festival. Their debut CD, "Second Wind," received a 4 ½ star review from DownBeat. 


Chuck Israels
The Chuck Israels Orchestra 
   
What The Critics Are Saying:
"...Israels' charts are the heart of his band's unique personality. Israels has fashioned an orchestra that flows in beautiful channels, and beauty is something jazz can use these days. This is a band to check out. The originals are original, the standards are freshly reworked and they are played with passion and understanding. The pulse, never bombastic, moves the listener as surely as it moves the band. Israels deserves a lot of credit, but more importantly, the opportunity to be widely heard."   - Ira Gitler, DownBeat

"...thrilling, nearly perfect...old-school in the best sense...tightly disciplined unit."
- Allen Morrison, DownBeat 

Dot Time Records

Press Contact:
Scott Thompson PR
scott@scottthompsonpr.com

jazzglobalbeat.blogspot.com

viernes, 25 de diciembre de 2015

Is the season to give the gift of music! / Es la epoca para dar regalo a la música! (Donative / Donacion)



                       


                                 
                                                                                                              
      Is the season to give the gift of music!
       Es la epoca para dar regalo a la música!
In the heading of this letter logos identifying our websites appear: Jazz Caribe, Jazz Global Beat and Fundacion Jazz Venezolano in them for more fifteen (15) years have promoted and made known musicians, singers, bands, orchestras, composers, arrangers, albums or CDs, record labels, gigs, festivals, genres: Latin Jazz, World Music and Contemporary Jazz.
Also our radio program has been a vehicle for the dissemination of all material and information we receive or obtain.
All this makes us very happy because the object of these organizations, non-profit, are these and other projects that are in progress as we receive your support.
We are at Christmas, closing the year 2015 with great positivism and envisioning next year 2016.
We are already making changes that you observe and we are confident of their acceptance, including our own radio, which is in trial and in which you can enjoy a self-created programming.
If you, your group, your company or institution wants to sponsor us are welcome; and those who have already done our appreciation for the confidence in us. By the end of next January 2016 we publish the first list of our beloved and respected donors.
"No matter the size of your contribution, what counts is the gesture".
In any of our websites you will find the donation box office at the beginning of each own:
Luis Raul Montell

Merry Christmas and Happy Year 2016

En el encabezado de esta carta aparecen los logos que identifican nuestras webs: Jazz Caribe, Jazz Global Beat y Fundación Jazz Venezolano, en ellas por mas quince (15) años hemos promovido  y
dado a conocer músicos, cantantes, bandas, orquestas, compositores, arreglistas, álbumes o CDs, sellos discográficos, conciertos, festivales, en los géneros: Jazz Latino, World Music y Jazz Contemporáneo.
También nuestro programa radial ha sido un vehículo de difusión de todo el material e información que nos llega u obtenemos.
Todo esto nos hace muy felices porque el objeto de estas organizaciones, sin fines de lucro, son esos y otros Proyectos que están avanzando en la medida que recibamos su apoyo.
Estamos en Navidad, cerrando el año 2015 y avizorando con mucho positivismo el próximo año 2016.
Ya estamos realizando cambios que Ustedes observaran y seguros estamos de su aceptación, entre ellos nuestra propia radio, que está en periodo de prueba y en la cual Ustedes podrán disfrutar de una programación de creación propia.
Si Usted, su grupo, su empresa o institución desea patrocinarnos son bienvenidos; y a aquellas personas que ya lo han hecho nuestro agradecimiento por la confianza en nosotros. A finales del próximo mes de enero 2016 publicaremos la primera lista de nuestros queridos y respetados donantes.
"No tiene importancia el tamaño de su contribución, lo que cuenta es su gesto".
En cualquiera de nuestras webs Usted encontrara la taquilla de donación en el propio comienzo de cada una de ellas:
Luis Raul Montell

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año 2016

jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com

lunes, 21 de diciembre de 2015

Rick Bogart - Clarinetist from New Orleans to New York - Dec. 27 Gig! Plus!

Rick Bogart 
Jazz Clarinetist
From
New Orleans to New York

Weekly Gigs at the 
New York Yankees Steakhouse
and the Thai Broadway Restaurant! 
 
"Whether in the 1970s New Orleans or the 21st century New York City, the clarinet and voice of Rick Bogart sounds forth the true spirit of jazz."  - JazzTimes
   

Appearing Weekly at the  
New York Yankees Steakhouse


The Rick Bogart Trio:
Sundays: JAZZ BRUNCH - Dec. 27
12 noon to 3pm &
Fridays:  5 pm to 9 pm
Jazz Near You New York Event Spotlight! 

The The New York Yankees Steakhouse is located at
7 West 51st St., across from Rockefeller Center. 
 
During the regular baseball season, every Sunday 2 tickets for hometown games will be given away!

Bogart is also a mainstay in the NYC theater district at:
Broadway Thai Restaurant
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday Nights
212-226-4565
(no cover)
241 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019
 

Rick Bogart Trio -  
Rick Bogart Trio - "What A Wonderful World"

    
  
"One of the greatest clarinetists of our era" Danny Stiles, WNYC Radio, New York's premier Public Broadcasting System. Rick Bogart is one of the most active jazz clarinetists in the world today. With a mellow sound on the clarinet and a unique vocal style he appeals to the general public.
Rick Bogart will be leading his splendid trio with Rick on clarinet and vocals, joined by Keith Ingram on piano and Alex Gressel on bass.
Press Contact: Scott Thompson PRwww.scottthompsonpr.com
scott@scottthompsonpr.com

jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com

viernes, 11 de diciembre de 2015

Jason Kao Hwang New CD "Voice" + Upcoming Live Appearances (Dec. tomorrow 12 and sunday 13)!


Pre-release sale has begun at Innova Records. 

VOICE
Music: Jason Kao Hwang

Poetry: 
Lester AfflickFay ChiangSteve DalachinskyPatricia Spears JonesYuko Otomo,and Davida Singer
Musicians: Tom Buckner, Deanna Relyea – voice, Joe McPhee - tenor sax/pocket trumpet, William ParkerKen Filiano - bass, Piotr Michalowski – sopranino saxophone/ bass clarinet, Taylor Ho Bynum – cornet/ flugelhorn, Andrew Drury – drum set,  Sang Won Park - kayagum, Jason Kao Hwang – violin/viola


Liner Notes by Yuko Otomo

Each of the poems I chose had a personal resonance. They felt like my voice speaking words of my own to express essences that I could not bring to consciousness before. I also heard music in them. All the poems have an inherent and unique flow of rhythms, textures and colors that would challenge and engage music. Aware of this dynamic, I composed sonic spaces that allowed each poem to fully resonate. These spaces created were always infused by improvisations, orchestrated for the unique voice of each musician & vocalist, and developed in direct correspondence with the poems’ evolution. Throughout each poem’s sonic architecture Deanna Relyea and Thomas Buckner were fully empowered to improvise so that the poems would truly become their words, which they chose to sing or speak. In this recording, each word is a sound and each sound is a poem. I am grateful for these indivisible vibrations that offered me lifelines to grow.
Jason Kao Hwang


There are voices that speak our thoughts, emotions and needs. They vibrate the air to deliver the contents. We speak and talk. We hear and listen. And there are other kinds of voices that are alive but mostly unheard. Some loud and intense, some soft, almost mute, all saying something that needs to be heard. Although heard by no one yet, they are definitely and clearly there. A poet gives them actual voices using their instrument: words. Poems come alive, when written, to be heard by all, including poets themselves. Every poem speaks a different story, creates a different landscape and brings in a different idea since everybody is unique.

And then, there are musicians and vocalists. They do a similar thing to what poets do. They hear unheard music, alive and well, but not yet shared with anyone. They make music to cause the unheard music to come alive using their  voices and instruments, alone and collectively. The music they create gives out vibrations to the air by dispersing the actual particles of sounds in it. This way, they deliver the story, the landscape and the idea once unheard to us as a living  breath.

This VOICE project is a very personal one in the most profound sense. It is a “first person” experience not just for Jason, but for everyone involved. That is why I prefer to call all the participating artists by their first names here. Jason heard his own voice that he could not express in words in the poems created by Davida, Patricia, Fay, Lester, Steve and myself. When something “personal” goes deep enough to a certain degree, it reaches a tipping point where the “personal” changes itself into the “universal”.  He heard the voice and the music in these poems. So, he composed a sonic space inspired by his personal experience and invited his musician friends, vocalists, Deanna and Tom, instrumentalists, Joe, William, Sang, Piotr, Taylor, Andrew and Ken to share his experience. And this was the last recording his EDGE quartet (Jason, Taylor, Andrew & Ken) did before going on hiatus. How amazingly beautiful it is to see our personal voices once unheard being shared as universal voices with others in such an organic and empathetic way despite different backgrounds and personal histories!

VOICE has its own unique history. First created and premiered as “Words of Our Own” for Larry Ochs’s Words and Music series at the Stone NYC in March 2010, it was later performed again at A Gathering of Tribes in April 2010 and for the Interpretations series at Roulette in January 2012. “Lifelines” came into life soon after inspired by the Roulette performance. Commissioned by Edgefest, it premiered there in November 2012 and again was performed at the Stone in December that same year. “Words of Our Own” was recorded in 2012 and “Lifelines” in 2014. VOICE is the resulting creative development of these projects.

VOICE is also a community project. It grew out of the shared garden called New York City. Like a tree or a wild flower, it grew out of our commitments to our creative lives.  As for the poets and musicians involved here, we’ve all known each other one way or the other over the years through joys, struggles and a shared spirit to make the world a better place. Some of us met at various creative spaces such as Basement Workshop and A Gathering of Tribes, crossing the borders of genres and cultural differences. We all are extremely happy to have our beloved friend, Lester Afflick, who passed away much too young, as an integral part of this project. The poems included here are from his book of poetry: “I Dream about You Baby” edited by Marci Goodman and published by Steve Cannon’s Fly By Night Press posthumously with the support of his close friends.

Now, the voices, once unheard and impossible to reach, are here with us, welcoming us all to listen to them with open arms. Let us listen to them from every corner of our streets, memories and dreams. Here VOICE speaks to us in the most humble, personal and genuine timbres and tones, as we walk together or alone in this landscape called LIFE.  - Yuko Otomo
Here's a preview announcement of VOICE in El Intruso.

My quintet Sing House, featuring Andrew Drury (drum set), Ken Filiano (string bass), Chris Forbes (piano), Steve Swell (trombone) and myself (composer/violin/viola) just completed recording our next CD.  Look out for a release in 2016!


Saturday, December 12, 4pm
Oliver Lake and the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art Presents

Jason Kao Hwang/ AMYGDALA

Rami Seo - gayakeum
Michael Wimberly - djembe/percussion
Jason Kao Hwang - composer/ violin/ viola

Aljira Center for Contemporary Art
591 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey
973 622 1600
Suggested donation: $10

Aljira is proud to present “NO Boundaries”, a series of four concerts curated by world-renowned jazz saxophonist, Oliver Lake. The second performance in the series coming up on Saturday, December 12 features Jason Kao Hwang (composer/violin/viola) and his trio Amygdala with Rami Seo (Korean zither) and Michael Wimberly (djembe/percussion).
Biographies
Rami Seo is an accomplished gayakeum artist whose expansive musical repertoire spans the traditional and the contemporary, as well as current and cross-cultural compositions from across the globe. With an impending Master’s Degree in Ethnomusicology from Hunter College, Ms. Seo is a bona-fide scholar, musician, and performance artist. Winner of multiple performing arts competitions, she has graced many renowned stages throughout the U.S, Panama, Nicaragua, Korea and Japan, both as a soloist and in collaboration with other famed artists.
Michael Wimberly is a percussionist/composer/arranger/producer currently based in Harlem, NYC. Wimberly has recorded and toured internationally with Charles Gayle, William Parker, Sabir Mateen, Cooper-Moore, Borah Bergman, Steve Coleman, Roy Campbell, David Murray, John Blum, Sirone, Vernon Reid, Kidd Jordan, Cooper-Moore, Henry Rollins, Blondie, Mickey Hart, Teramasa Hino, Onaje Allen Gumbs. Oluyemi & Ijeoma Thomas and many others. As a percussion soloist Wimberly has been featured with Europe’s Rundfunk and Tonkuntsler Symphony Orchestras, International Regions Symphony of Europe, Yakima Chamber Orchestra,Yakima,WA., Sage City Symphony, Bennington, VT. As a composer Wimberly’s compositions appear in dance companies Urban Bush Women, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Philadanco, Forces of Nature, Complexions, Alpha-Omega, Purelements, and The National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique. Wimberly is currently a professor of music at Bennington College in Bennington, VT.
Curator of the NO Boundaries Jazz Series, Oliver Lake is a heralded saxophonist, artist, composer, arranger and bandleader. Whether composing commissioned works for The ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and The Brooklyn Philharmonic; arranging for Bjork, Lou Reed, and A Tribe Called Quest; sharing the stage with Me’shell N’degeocello and Yasin Bey, or leading one of his many groups from his Organ Quartet, World Saxophone Quartet, Trio 3 and his Big Band, Oliver Lake has demonstrated what it truly means to be a multi-dimensional artist. In 2014, Oliver Lake received the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award, a multi-year grant awarded to only 19 American artists in the field of jazz, theater, and dance.
In 2015 Jason Kao Hwang’s (composer/violin/viola) Burning Bridge, his octet of Chinese and Western instruments commissioned by Chamber Music America, recently performed at the Magic Triangle (Mass.) and the International Festival Musique Actuelle (Canada). Also, his symphony The Challenge: Tiananmen Square, commissioned by the Multicultural Music Group premiered at Lehman College. His recording, VOICE, will be released in January, 2016, by Innova Records. In 2014 Zizal, his duo CD with Ayman Fanous, was voted into the second round of the Grammy Awards. In 2012, National Public Radio selected Burning Bridge as one of the year’s Top CDS and the Downbeat Critics’ Poll voted him “Rising Star for Violin.” In 2011 and 2012 the critics’ poll of El Intruso voted him #1 for Violin/Viola. He also released Symphony of Souls (Mulatta), performed by his string orchestra Spontaneous River, and Crossroads Unseen, the third CD of his quartet EDGE. In 2010, the NYC Jazz Record selected Commitment, The Complete Recordings, 1981-1983, from a collective quartet that was Mr. Hwang’s first band, as one of the “Reissued Recordings of the Year.” As violinist, Mr. Hwang has worked with Will Connell, Jr., Butch Morris, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Anthony Braxton, Yoshiko Chuma, and many others.

Sunday, December 13, 4pm
Calabar Imports  
351 Tompkins Avenue (between Madison and Monroe Streets)
Brooklyn, NY
718 928 3970
Admission is Free
Curator Patricia Spears Jones has also selected excepts of my score Tiananmen Square: The Challenge for the current issue of the About Place Journal.
Wishing Everyone a Happy Holiday Season!

Kate Smith Promotions
www.katesmithpromotions.com     katesmithpromotions.kate@gmail.com

jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com

martes, 8 de diciembre de 2015

Jessica Jones Quartet At Shapeshifter Lab - Dec. 21 CD Release Performance!


Jessica Jones Quartet 
New CD "Moxie" 

Two-Tenor Sax Madness!

Release Date: December 8, 2015
CD Release Performance: December 21, 2015
Shapeshifter Lab - NYC


Reunited After 30 Years!
 
This rare two-tenor quartet busts things wide open with new music, joined by old friends!




  

CD Release Performance: 
Shapeshifter Lab - December 21 
18 Whitwell Place - Brooklyn, NY 11215 
Phone: 646-820-9452 
MOXIE is the new release (12/8/15) from the Jessica Jones Quartet, reuniting band members from one of the band's original incarnations from over 30 years ago. Jessica recruited bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer Kenny Wollesen in the early 1980's when they were both still studying at the New School. Since then they have gone on to stellar careers in the creative jazz world, performing with many eclectic and exciting musicians.
The Jessica Jones Quartet has played in the Knitting Factory Jazz Festivals, and the Eddie Moore Jazz Festival in Oakland, California, where the group headlined with special guest Don Cherry. The group has been featured in venues on the east and west coasts of the US and has released three previous CDs to critical acclaim. The band reunited for one special night at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center (1/9/2014) and immediately hit the studio to document the results.
  
The album includes originals by saxophonists Jessica and Tony Jones that sweep across the spectrum from hard-driving swing to heart wrenching ballads and incorporates a modern take on a Haitian dance groove as well as a floating, serene journey through Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood."
As Jessica relates, "It was a joy to go into the studio with Kenny and Stomu; so much creativity came forth on songs I thought I already knew. Stomu and Kenny are fearless and incredibly skilled in the art of making music sound new and go places it hasn't gone before. Kenny responds and supports every sound, tiny to large, and Stomu is like a wild card pulling you down a road you didn't see before. I love what they brought to the sound of the band. The feeling was familiar yet the music was new." Jessica and Tony Jones have shared the stage with Don Cherry and Cecil Taylor among many other widely celebrated artists. The foundation of this quartet is based in the history of the music, influenced by the leaders of modern jazz. The Jessica Jones Quartet is once again nodding at the past, reflecting the present, and calling to the future.
  
Photos by Frank Stewart
 

Jessica Jones Quartet Contact: info@jessicajonesmusic.com

Press: Scott Thompson PR
scott@scottthompsonpr.com 

jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com 

viernes, 4 de diciembre de 2015

Essentially Ella - New CD - Lina Orfanos & Special Guests - Metropolitan Room (Dec. 6, 13 and 26)





"Essentially Ella"
Lina Orfanos
Release Date: December 12


Metropolitan Room 
Dec. 6 - Dec. 13 - Dec. 26 

Featuring:
John  Benitez, Essiet Okon Essiet,
Spiros Exaras & More! 

Lina Orfanos   
Essentially Ella
The sublime new CD by Lina Orfanos  and her
New York City
 Jazz crew hits the streets on December 12! 
  
An exciting homage to The First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. This CD captures the rhythms, the aliveness, the joy of Lady Ella and the songs she sang.
"A gorgeous vocal instrument ... Her (Lina's) ethereal sound and exquisite attention to detail had me dancing in my seat and tearing up at the same time...   A highly stylized jazz singer with one of the best bands I have ever heard... She sings from her soul?"                              - New York Cabaret Today
Lina Orfanos, vocals
John Benitez, acoustic bass
Charles Blenzig, piano/Fender Rhodes/keyboards
Spiros Exaras, electric guitar/classical guitar
Richie Morales, drums/shakers
Essiet Okon Essiet, acoustic bass
Gary Schreiner, accordion/harmonica/piano
Arrangements/Musical Direction: Spiros Exaras



Metropolitan Room

Lina Orfanos and Her Jazz Quartet
Dec. 6 - click here
Dec. 13 - click here
Dec. 26 - click here

Acclaimed international vocalist and recording artist Lina Orfanos is a mezzo-soprano who sings in popular, classical, jazz, and world musical styles.  She has a lush voice with faultless intonation and great rhythmic footing. Lina is immersed in the sonorous cultures of the United States, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. Singing in English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish comes easily to her. Whether performing an old Greek folk lament, paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Night and Day," or inspiring a young composer to set Spanish poems to music for her, Lina proves that songbirds can soar.  
Lina Orfanos - More Info - Click Here!
 


Press Contact: Scott Thompson PR
scott@scottthompsonpr.com
203-400-1818

jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com