Noa Lur estrena "Badakit" y tres pianistas banderas en Bogui Jazz, Madrid

Haz CLIC en la portada del CD para escuchar el repertorio del concierto y para más información.

CONCIERTO DE NOA LUR QUARTET con Pepe Rivero, Reinier Elizarde "El Negron" y Michael Olivera Viernes, 13 de diciembre de 2013 a las 22:00 h en Bogui Jazz. Barquillo 29, 28004 Madrid. Entrada anticipada: 10 €. Comprar aquí Entrada en taquilla: 12 €.   PRESENTACIÓN DEL DISCO BADAKIT Noa Lur acompañada de Moisés Sánchez, Luis Guerra y Pepe Rivero. Habrá tres pianos para tres pianistas. Sábado, 14 de diciembre de 2013 a las 20:00 h en Lo Otro.Confirmar asistencia por mail en info@lootro.com

Jazz Promo Services

Nnenna Freelon & The John Brown Big Band

"Christmas"

(Brown Boulevard Records)

Street Date November 12, 2013

 

 

Nnenna Freelon and "Christmas"

 

Nnenna Freelon’s mother was a lover of Christmas - the story, the anticipation, the excitement, but

most all, the gathering of her family around her. In her passing, she left her daughter with a gift that has resulted in a dream fulfilled and a holiday album that will extend a mother's love of Christmas to listeners everywhere.

Venerated jazz vocalist and six-time Grammy nominee Freelon had long wanted to record a holiday album, but couldn't garner enough interest from her label. So she did what most people do in need of a little help, she turned to a Loved one, With a small inheritance received from her mother, she approached John Brown; a long-time member of her musical family, director of Duke University's jazz program and leader of John Brown's Big Band, The two, who have shared the stage and collaborated often during their twenty-year friendship, have now joined together to release Christmas,  a selection of holiday songs. Brown produced thealbum and will release it on his own label, Brown Boulevard.

For Freelon, Christmas has always been a time of church and family, "The secular and the sacred were all a part of the celebration. And I love that it's the one holiday where singing is in the forefront. The music is part of the celebration; and definitely one of the elements that make the holidays special. The songs bring up memories of family, childhood traveling, good food - the parts of the season that warm the heart and the home."

Her favorite holiday albums have always been big, brassy creations from artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. She certainly could have created an album that mirrored the vibes of these Christmas classics, but that was not her artistic vision or her personal style. Freelon has built a career on looking at standards from a non-traditional point of view. And since no body of material has been covered more than holiday music, the songs proved to be the perfect setting to stretch Freelon and Brown's abilities to explore new arrangements and present new takes on traditional songs.

The two artists made their lists of possible tracks independently (both of which she describes as "very, very

                                                                                    

 

                                         Nnenna Freelon and Chico Pinheiro in Barcelona, Spain                       

 

 

long!” then worked together to narrow them down. According to Freelon, deciding which songs to include was

sort of like cooking a holiday meal, "You assemble everything, start throwing things together, and as a dish starts to take shape, you taste and see what it needs. You might take something out or put a little more in, until finally you come up with a combination that feels right."

The final ten songs are an eclectic mix of classic and modern, secular and non-secular and one track that while never considered a holiday tune, has been creatively transformed into one.

If anything proves the spirit of Christmas lives in the heart with no regard for the month on the calendar or reading on the thermometer it is this - when Freelon, Brown and John Brown's Big Band arrived at legendary music man Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium Studios in Kernersville, NC, the state was experiencing its hottest summer on record. So with temperatures soaring, Freelon and the band began the work of conjuring a musical family Christmas in June.

The album kicks off with "Single Jingle Bells," a new way to dash through the snow even more quickly thanks to a brisk arrangement by legendary saxophonist Frank Foster. Foster, who passed away during the album`s production, was close to both Freelon and Brown. According to Freelon, "Single Jingle Bells is incredibly special to me because Frank is no longer with us, and we had no idea that would be the case at the time. So it's very special that we will always have this piece of his spirit with us." After his passing, Foster's widow

 

 

    Nnenna Freelon passionate

 

entrusted his life’s work to Brown`s jazz program at Duke University as she felt, in his hands, Foster's legacy

would be secure and his work continued to be Heard.

The album transitions into “Spiritual Medley” wich opens with “Children Go Where I Send Thee” and Freelon

backed only by a drummer until Jhon Brown drops in on the upright bass. The drums, bass and her vocals build

and welcome the rest of the band to the track as Freelon transitions seamlessly into “Go Tell It on the

Mountain” followed by snippets of “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”, “Joy To The World” and “Angels We Have Herad On High”.

 

"Let It Snow" follows, starting with a few light musical flakes and quickly building to a flurry of swinging

horns. Freelon and Brown move on to Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here” in a nod to a more recent

childhood holiday classic.

Freelon, mother to three grown children, remembers well the excitement and exhaustion that comes along with the holidays for many parents. "I am very well acquainted with early Christmas mornings and tucking sleepy children in bed the night before, who in their excitement keep acting like Poppin' Fresh Dough - jumping out of bed at all hours looking to see if Christmas has arrived."

She took these memories and transformed a standard she's loved for years - Duke Ellington's "I Love The Sunrise." Freelon added an intro and outro to turn the song into a beautiful tribute to the dawn of Christmas day.

"The song struck me as perfectly expressing the sentiment of sleepy parents assembling toys until the wee hours and the sleepy children restless in their beds wondering if their Christmas dreams will come true the next morning. I knew that it was not a traditional choice for a Christmas album, but felt like it expressed the energy, anticipation and excitement that surround Christmas morning", says Freelon.

 

                                                               Nnenna Freelon romance

Freelon believes an added level of excitement and anticipation has been a part of the Christmas celebration since the very beginning and the next two tracks ("O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Little Drummer Boy") reflect that sentiment. "People traveled to Bethlehem because they heard something wonderful happening. Just like today, we travel home for the holidays to celebrate traditions old and new. The holidays are a time of expected traditions, but also of surprise," Freelon expressed.

And Freelon definitely unwraps a few holiday surprises. It takes musical guts to put a new spin on Christmas classic like "Silent Night." But Freelon's bluesy vocal styling and a big dose of Hammond organ breathe new life into one of the greatest holiday songs of all time, turning it into an unexpected toe tapping, head bobbing good time.

According to Freelon, "We want folks to come away feeling the real friendship that was present in the studio in the way the vocalist and musicians mingle, support and complement each other in the recordings." Nowhere is that more evident on the album than on "Baby, its Cold Outside." "John's debut as a vocalist creates a track where we have fun with each other as only old friends can," she said.

The surprises continue on "I” ll be Home for Christmas," which turns the slow Bing Crosby standard into a

joyful New Orleans style romp. Freelon believes their version resembles a gift whose contents are unexpected, but really, really appreciated, "Sort of like, 'Oh, wow! You shouldn't have! But Im really glad you did!"

So in a season that Freelon believes is all about love and home, she and Brown are busy establishing new holiday traditions. The two have concerts scheduled in Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro and Washington D.C. in the weeks leading up to Christmas, They hope these holiday shows will become annual events that allow them to share their music throughout in North Carolina and the southeast.

In summing up the experience of making Christmas, Freelon said, "It was such a gift to be able to have done this [album] - a gift for my mom for giving me the means to do it, a gift to share those moments in Kernersville with the musicians, and a gift John and I were able to give one another other. The ability to put this record out for friends, families, fans and folks we know will dig it is a gift we can pass on. It truly exemplifies the spirit of the season in gifting and receiving. It's a beautiful thing."

I ‘also proud the album is a North Carolina born and bred experience. I've made records in a lot of different

places, but to be able to make the record in my home state with a wonderful friend and great musicians was truly an honor. Excellence in the arts is everywhere in North Carolina. The state is emerging as a place that not only nurtures the arts, but also helps them to flourish and I'm very proud of that."

For more information, visit http://www.brownboulevard.com

National Publicity Campaign Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services

Ph.: 845-986-1677 / jim@jazzpromoservices.com 

Barcelona and his son Chucho surrendered to the illustrious Bebo Valdes

 

On several occasions before his passing on March 22, virtuoso Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés had requested that, upon his death, a party be thrown where attendees should eat chocolate and drink rum rather than weep.

Those substances were distributed gratis in the lobby of Barcelona’s BARTS Theater to the 1,450 attendees of an Oct. 29 memorial concert co-curated by Barcelona Voll-Damm International Jazz Festival Artistic Director Joan Anton Cararach and Bebo’s son, maestro Chucho Valdés.

Titled “Rumba Para Bebo,” the program spanned an expansive stylistic range: Cuban classical composers Ernesto Lecuona and Ignacio Cervantes, ritualistic music from Kongo and Yoruba religious practice, and various compositions by Bebo Valdés that addressed the blues, modern jazz, descargas, boleros and son.

Bebo Valdés earned international recognition as a mambo king while employed as house arranger at Havana’s Tropicana Club from 1948 to 1957. He left Cuba in 1961 and lived his final half-century in Sweden.

The Barcelona celebration of his life was a three-day affair. Spanish director Fernando Trueba, a key figure in the revival of Valdés’ career after 1995, was on hand for screenings of his 2000 documentary Calle 54, which climaxes with a wrenchingly intimate Bebo-Chucho duet on Lecuona’s “La Comparsa”; his 2010 animated film Chico Y Rita (in collaboration with Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando), which vividly evokes ’50s Havana and features Bebo’s music on the soundtrack; and Old Man Bebo, a revealing 2008 biographical documentary directed by Carlos Carcas and produced by Trueba.

During the run-up, the festival—in conjunction with Barcelona’s Conservatori del Liceu—presented master classes by Chucho Valdés, classical piano maestro Mauricio Vallina, pianist Omar Sosa and conguero Yaroldy Abreu—a member of Chucho’s various groups since the late ’90s, most recently the Afro-Cuban Messengers.

Indeed, the think-as-one synchronicity of Abreu and ACM bandmates Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé on batá drum, Rodney Barreto on drumset and Gastón Joya on bass was crucial to the continuity of the concert.

 

 This is what generates the Latin Jazz in people. Chucho Valdes

                                                          Here unleashes her emotions with her ​​dancers and dance.                                     

 

Chucho Valdés played throughout with a more spontaneous attitude than during his band’s sold-out concert at the 2,000-seat Palau de la Música the following evening. Within two discursive solos on “Bebo’s Blues”—played duo with Spanish bassist Javier Collina, Bebo’s frequent partner during the aughts and himself a Paul Chambers devotee—Chucho refracted Wynton Kelly, Earl Hines and Cecil Taylor, among other sources, before shifting to a series of choruses in his own argot. He remained on stage for “Lagrimas Negras,” spinning out elegant, vertiginous variations that complemented and counterstated his sister Mayra Valdés’ impassioned delivery and the moves of an artful dance troupe drawn from two different Barcelona companies.

It was delightful to hear the nuanced pianism of Lazara Cachao, whose supportive montunos allowed the drums to shine on “Descarga del Bebo” and prodded Gaston Joya into uncorking an arco bass solo that channeled the spirit of Bebo’s lifelong friend Israel “Cachao” Lopez. Her lyric, meditative passage illuminated Mayra Valdés’ sensitive reading of “Serenata a en Batanga,” while on “Pan Con Timba” her informed comp cushioned a flugelhorn solo by Jerry González on which the Madrid-based maestro showcased his plangent tone and hip harmonic concept, as he also did on “Besame MuchLuis Raul Montello” with pianist Javier Massó “Caramelo,” his partner for the past decade in the Madrid-based ensemble El Commando De La Clave.

Honoring Bebo’s classical roots and branches, Vallina inhabited Lecuona’s “Tres Danzas Cubanas” and “Tres Danzas Afrocubanas,” illuminating the message with micro-calibrated touch and fluid phrasing. Then he welcomed Paloma Manfugás to the left side of the bench for a four-hand tour through Ignacio Cervantes’ “Tres Danzas.”

 

 

This album was the result of the remarkable reunion of Father and Son Valdes

 

Somehow, it seemed perfectly natural to hear this music juxtaposed with Omar Sosa’s “Invocación-Malongo,” an intense ritualistic “black mass” based on the palo monte tradition of Cuba’s Kongo religion. 

More functional spirit-raising transpired at the concert’s conclusion, more than two hours after it had begun, when all members joined Chucho for a new tune, “Rumba Para Bebo,” which, he said later, his father conveyed to him in a dream on their mutual birthday, Oct. 9. Everyone sang and danced; the celebration could have continued indefinitely had not Cararach and Valdés, concerned the stage floor might collapse, halted the proceedings.

The website ARTE Live Web has posted a film of the concert here. DownBeatTed Panken

George Cotsirilos very influenced by Latin rhythms produce "Variations"

 

 

Les cousines Ramon et Orlando "Maraca" enchantent encore les nombreux fans de la bonne musique à Paris les 9 et 12 Décembre 2013

Un grand duo est de rendre le pianiste versé Ramon et son cousin Orlando Valle "Maraca" Valle, en ces temps ont été réunis en Europe et le sang et le sentiment lieux musicaux en même temps et sur ​​la même scène à afficher sa virtuosité et le talent.
La réunion aura lieu sur deux jours consécutifs 9 et 10 Décembre 2013 à Sunside Jazz Club connue comme la "Ville des Lumières".
Ya "Maraca" a été un succès retentissant Octobre dernier au Théâtre du Châtelet présentant son Latin Jazz Band, maintenant aller dans un autre format qui est certainement attrayante.
Comme un aperçu de ce que seront ces deux spectacles exclusifs ici ont pour apprécier "El Guanajo Relleno".

Phenom Kevin Coelho release his Sophomore Album "Turn It Uo"

 

 

 

                              

                                                                                           Kevin Coelho and Lenny Pickett

 

 

Panama Jazz Festival 2014: its creator, the brilliant musician Danilo Perez

In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, becoming the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean and founding the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. Those events continue to resonate five centuries later as Panama celebrates the landmark anniversary. On his new Mack Avenue recording, Panama 500 (set for release on February 4), favorite son Danilo Pérez adds his voice to the tributes with a portrait of his native land, its storied history, rich culture and fierce struggles.

 

Pérez’s blend of influences makes him the ideal musical chronicler of his country’s history. Already a land bridge between the Americas with a vibrant indigenous culture, Panama also began to absorb European culture into its own following Balboa’s arrival. Pérez similarly weaves together jazz and Pan-American folkloric traditions with influences from European classical music.

 

“I have been working for years to make music that has an identity very similar to the role that Panama plays in the world,” Pérez says. “It’s a place where a lot of influences from all over the world come together.”

 

Pérez refers to Balboa’s arrival as a “rediscovery,” a word that succinctly encapsulates both the importance of his accomplishment and the controversy inherent in European colonization. As he traces Panama’s evolution over the 12 tracks on Panama 500, he gives literal voice to the indigenous Guna Indians of Panama, who provide intermittent narration to lend their own perspective on that history.

 

As Harvard professor Davíd Carrasco writes in his liner notes, “The magical performances in this album emerge from the encounters of indigenous shamans, Spanish migrants of desire, the human agony of African slaves, multicultural love, and transcendent improvisations on agony and love.”

 

To realize his expansive vision for this music, Pérez pulled together a host of musicians from his various endeavors. The album features both of his longest-running rhythm sections-trio mates Ben Street and Adam Cruz; as well as bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, with whom Pérez works in the acclaimed Wayne Shorter Quartet. “There’s a specific spectrum of language that I’ve developed with both trios,” Pérez says. “With Ben and Adam, we use Latin American vocabularies to connect closer with jazz and to expand on the idea of clave. And with John and Brian, it’s that language that we’ve developed playing with Wayne over the years that is indescribable. There’s a zero-gravity component to it, where things come out of nowhere.”

 

The rhythmic density is compounded throughout Panama 500 by percussionists from three different countries: Roman Díaz from Cuba, Rogério Boccato from Brazil; and Milagros Blades and Ricaurte Villarreal from Panama. The classical influence, as well as evidence of Pérez’ commitment to education, arrives in the form of violinist Alex Hargreaves, a former student of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, the globally-minded program for which Pérez serves as artistic director.Pérez explains that he composed the music for Panama 500 almost as the score for an imaginary film about the country’s past and present. “More than focusing on rediscovery we should focus on celebrating our histories, our stories, our music, our culture,” he says. “My vision is to create music that serves as a cultural passport, hopefully with Panama as the bridge of the world.”

¡¡Viva The Latin Jazz!!