ICONIC JAZZ PIANIST AND BANDLEADER RAMSEY LEWIS TO RELEASE CONCORD JAZZ DEBUT SEPTEMBER 29TH
SONGS FROM THE HEART INCLUDES EIGHT ORIGINAL TRACKS WRITTEN
FOR JOFFREY BALLET COMPANY'S PRODUCTION OF "TO KNOW HER"
On September 29, Concord Jazz will release Songs From the Heart: Ramsey Plays
Ramsey, the debut Concord Jazz CD from iconic pianist and bandleader Ramsey
Lewis.
Songs From the Heart contains a refined collection of 12 new originals that he
composed over a period of two years, and including music from two
commissioned world premiere performances at the Ravinia Festival in Highland
Park, Illinois, just north of Chicago. Eight songs come from the score of 2007's
ballet To Know Her...written for the Joffrey Ballet Company and four pieces come
from 2008's Muses and Amusements suite performed with the Turtle Island
Quartet.
At the age of 74, Ramsey Lewis has not only continued to be active in the jazz
world, but he's also forging ahead with a newly inspired creative instinct as a
composer. Songs From the Heart, Lewis' first trio recording in five years, features
eight pieces with bassist Larry Gray and drummer Leon Joyce, and four piano
solo performances.
PRESTIGE RECORDS RELEASES SIDE STEPS,
A 5-CD BOXED SET OF JOHN COLTRANE'S PRESTIGE RECORDINGS
AS A SIDEMAN TO A HOST OF JAZZ LUMINARIES
Over the past three years, Prestige Records has released boxed sets of Coltrane's numerous sessions from the mid- to late '50s, each spotlighting a specific dimension of his tenure with the label.
Fearless Leader - released in September 2006, in celebration of Coltrane's 80th birthday - showcases his recordings as a bandleader. Interplay, released in September 2007, contains Coltrane's early collaborative recordings with a variety of stellar musicians from the same era.
Side Steps is the third and final set in this series, scheduled for release on October 6, 2009. The 5-CD set captures Coltrane in a supporting role, as a sideman to leaders like Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Red Garland, Tadd Dameron and others.
The collection of 43 tracks represents the entirety of Coltrane's session work as a Prestige sideman, from mid-1956 to early 1958, with the exception of his work with Miles Davis (which is featured in The Miles Davis Quintet: Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, released in 2006).
The beautiful Side Steps boxed set features:
*24-bit remastering from the original analog master tapes
*72-page book with rare photographs, discography, and sessionography
*Insightful essays by noted music historian Ashley Kahn
*Interview transcript with Prestige founder Bob Weinstock
*Fully reproduced original album cover artwork and notes
AN IDEAL GIFT IDEA FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON!
Editor's Note: I have the opportunity to listen to this wonderful disc and it is most excellent. It is definitely a great addition to your music collection.
My annual pilgrimage to the Monterey Jazz Festival started off a little different. I had stopped at a friend's house to pickup my digital recorder. I got back in my car and it would not start...dead! I called AAA and they came out and pronounced my battery dead. Average car battery life is 3-5 years and my battery was almost 5 years old. David from the AAA dispatch service sold me a brand new battery right on the spot and I was back on the road again. Thank you David and AAA!
I arrived safely in Monterey just before 6pm, checked into my hotel and went to the festival. I initially went without my cameras so I could get my press credentials, festival gear, and some dinner. Typically, Friday evening starts off really mellow and picks up as people arrive throughout the evening.
My first show for Friday evening was singer Lizz Wright in Dizzy's Den, She looked radiant and sounded phenomenal. This was her first visit to Monterey since her debut performance here in 2002 which was also my first visit to Monterey. It is always amazing to watch an artist grow and develop over the years. It's a joy to see Lizz as she brings something new to every performance. Whether it is a nuance, a turn of phrase or just bringing her life experience, her rich vocals captivates her audience. Her set included a smoldering rendition of "I Idolize You," "Hey Mann" a gospel/bluesy "Walk With Me," "Blue Rose," "Another Angel," and "Coming Home." She melted us with "Dreaming Wide Awake" and closed out the evening with "Thank You." We showed our gratitude with standing ovations. Her wonderful band included David Cook on keys, Robin Mactangay on guitars, Nicholas D'Amato on bass, and Brannen Temple on drums.
I stopped in the Night Club, where the John Patitucci Trio was on a serious groove with John on bass, Joe Lovano on tenor sax and Brian Blade on drums. I went back to Dizzy's Den to witness the incredible singer/bassist Esperanza Spalding and her band. This was a hot show as there were lines waiting outside to get in. I closed out the evening in the Coffee House Gallery with 23 year old New Orleans pianist Jonathan Batiste and his quintet. I came in on a composition that included a nod to "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and Jonathan on vocals. Next, he played a composition that alternated seamlessly between a ragtime/stride piano rhythm and a straight ahead rhythm. He was truly spellbinding and just incredible to watch.
There is more great music ahead for the weekend. There are still tickets available. For more information, www.montereyjazzfestival.org.
Single-Show Arena Tickets Include Access To One Arena Concert Plus 8 Additional Stages On The Grounds
Monterey Jazz Festival Full Arena Packages And Grounds Tickets Still Available
Single-Show Arena And Grounds Tickets Include World-Class Music, Jazz Education, Conversations and Forums, Clinics, Activities For Kids And Families, International Shopping, Food, And Films On Monterey Fairgrounds, September 18 - 20, 2009
New Grooves Party On Friday; Family Day Activities On Sunday
September 12, 2009; Monterey, CA; Offering jazz fans a rare opportunity to see some of the jazz world's finest talent, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced that it will be selling Single-Show Arena Seats for the 52nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival presented by Verizon, September 18 - 20, 2009. Single-Show Arena Tickets give patrons the ability to purchase a reserved seat for the Arena concert of their choice, and includes access to 8 additional stages on the Grounds, as well as all Grounds events and activities.
Prices range from $55 to $65 for each of the Single-Show Arena Tickets, available by phone (925.275.9255), online (montereyjazzfestival.org), and at the Monterey Jazz Festival's Monterey Fairgrounds Ticket Office starting on Monday, September 14th.
Fans can choose from five Arena shows including:
Friday night (featuring Conrad Herwig's Latin Side All-Star Band with special guests Randy Brecker and Joe Lovano; the Monterey Jazz Festival All-Stars featuring Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling, and Russell Malone; and Esperanza Spalding). Friday night tickets are priced at $55.
Saturday afternoon (featuring Susan Tedeschi; Pete Seeger; and John Scofield and the Piety Street Band). Saturday afternoon tickets are priced at $60.
Saturday night (featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; Dee Dee Bridgewater; and the Hank Jones & Joe Lovano Quartet with John Patitucci and Brian Blade). Saturday night tickets are priced at $65.
Sunday Afternoon (featuring George Duke; the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra with Special Guest Wynton Marsalis; and the Los Angeles County High School County for the Arts Big Band). Sunday afternoon tickets are priced at $60.
Sunday night (featuring the Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White Trio; the Dave Brubeck Quartet; and Jason Moran & The Bandwagon). Sunday night tickets are priced at $65.
"This is great news for fans who have always wanted to attend Arena shows, commented Timothy Orr, marketing associate for the festival. "It's unprecedented in recent history. We feel that it's the best value for people on a budget to get an Arena show of their choice, on the day of their choice. Since the Single-Show Arena Tickets also give access to the grounds, it's a tremendous value, especially in today's economy.
In addition to the newly launched Single Show Tickets, the Festival also has available Full Arena Packages (with one reserved seat for all 5 Arena shows), as well as daily and Full Weekend Grounds Tickets. All tickets are on sale now by phone at (925) 275-9255 and on the Monterey Jazz Festival's website, montereyjazzfestival.org.
Full Arena Packages for all 5 performances begin at $225. Daily Grounds Tickets are from $35 (Friday) and $45 (Saturday or Sunday); full Weekend Grounds Tickets are $110.00. MJF's new Family Discount Pack is $80 for 2 Adult and 2 Youth Tickets for a single day. Grounds Ticket prices will increase by $5.00 when purchased from Tuesday, September 15 through Sunday, September 20 and patrons are advised to purchase tickets now.
Amnesia
853 Valencia St (between 19th & 20th)
Thurday, September 10th
9PM, $5 cover
The SFJAZZ Hotplate series features some of the Bay Area's best artists celebrating the music of their favorite jazz legend each month. We begin with the SF Weekly's "Best Jazz Artist," guitarist Terrence Brewer, paying homage to the legendary Wes Montgomery on Thursday, September 10th.
"Local jazz just got a big boost." --SF Weekly
"This series is a winner all around... a low-cost introduction to some of the music's greatest names in a wholly relaxed atmosphere." --San Francisco Examiner
The Guardian's "Best Local DJ," Vinnie Esparza, will also spin classic and deep jazz cuts throughout the night. Plus, you can enter to win tickets to the 27th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, as well as valuable SFJAZZ merchandise, including hoodies, t-shirts and CDs. All for just a $5 cover - come dig what's cookin' on the Hotplate!
Upcoming shows:
10/09 - 9pm - Wil Blades plays Jimmy Smith
11/12 - 9pm - Joe Bagale plays Ray Charles
12/10 - 9pm - Spaceheater plays Rahsaan Roland Kirk
It is a good week when three new jazz piano releases are coming out on Tuesday, 8/25.
Jazz piano legend McCoy Tyner's new release, Solo: Live From San Francisco (Dig) [LIVE] was recorded live during the SFJAZZ Spring Season in May 2007. I attended this magnificent concert and am very excited about this album which includes, "Naima," "You Taught My Heart To Sing," "I Should Care," "Sweet And Lovely," and "In A Mellow Tone."
Young jazz piano virtuosos Eldar and Robert Glasper also have new releases on Tuesday.
Eldar'sVirtue features mostly original compositions by Eldar performed with bassist Armando Gola and Ludwig Afonso. Eldar also welcomes guest appearances by trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonists Joshua Redman and Felipe Lamoglia.
Pianist Robert Glasper presents both sides of his musical persona with Double-Booked, his third album for Blue Note Records, which will be released on August 25. The album bridges Glasper's parallel careers as the leader of an acclaimed jazz trio and a first-call sideman with hip-hop artists such as Mos Def, Q Tip and The Roots. Moving nimbly from the acoustic Robert Glasper Trio to the hip-hop fusion Robert Glasper Experiment, the young keyboardist puts his versatility front and center. Special guests on the album include vocalist Bilal and a cameo apprearance from rapper Mos Def.
Memphis
Minnie's Bar-b-que Joint of San Francisco Presents
EXCLUSIVE EAST BAY SCREENING
AWARD-WINNING NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT
HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS NEIGHBORHOOD AND ITS MUSIC
Screening
and Discussion with Iconic
New
Orleans Newspaperman and Author Lolis Eric Elie
Special Appearance by Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage
Choir
All Proceeds Benefit the
Oakland Public Conservatory of Music
OAKLAND--The winner of "Best Documentary" at the
2008 San Francisco Film Festival, Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black
New Orleans gives viewers a riveting introduction to of a little-known
part of American history set in the fascinating New Orleans neighborhood where
jazz was born.
Scheduled to
coincide with the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, this exclusive, one-night-only event is
scheduled for 6:30p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Kaiser Center
Auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd Floor. On hand to discuss the film
with audiences will be its co-producer, co-writer and central narrator,
nationally renowned New Orleans newspaperman Lolis Eric Elie. Director Dawn Logsdon and producer Lucie Faulknor
will also bring their perspective and expertise to the panel discussion.
Linda Tillery
and the Cultural Heritage Choir will make a special appearance. Also featured
are the Oakland Public Conservatory Youth Marimba Band and The Frederick
Douglass Youth Ensemble.
All proceeds
benefit the Oakland Public Conservatory
of Music, the East Bay's leading source for affordable music education and
performance for local youth and families. The event is made possible by Memphis Minnie's Bar-b-que Joint of San
Francisco, which Gourmet Magazine said "may well be the finest barbeque
restaurant in the state."
"American music
would undoubtedly don a different swagger without the city of New Orleans, and
the Tremé district in particular," said Angela Wellman, founding director of
the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music. "This event is a perfect opportunity
for our community to celebrate jazz and the city that birthed it, and to
support the Conservatory's efforts to nurture jazz study, scholarship, and
appreciation for generations to come."
Arguably the
oldest black neighborhood in America, Faubourg Tremé was home to the largest
community of free black people in the Deep South during slavery. In the film -
which critics have called "revelatory" and "flat-out brilliant" - Elie takes
audiences on a tour of his city, and explains why this most un-American of
American cities must be saved. But the neighborhood's recovery after Katrina is
just another chapter in its singular history.
"In the early 1800s, while most African
Americans in the South were toiling on plantations, free black people in Tremé
were publishing poetry and conducting symphonies," Elie said. "Long before Rosa Parks, Tremé leaders
organized sit-ins and protests that successfully desegregated the city's
streetcars and schools. And jazz, the area's greatest gift to America,
was born from the embers of this first American Civil Rights movement."
The mission of
the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music is to connect East Bay youth and their
families the world-class instruction and performance of private conservatories
at affordable rates. The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music exists to provide
local audiences access to
and an appreciation of our rich, shared and diverse American musical heritage.
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
was executive produced by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer/musician Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Nelson (Jonestown, Murder
of Emmett Till); directed by Dawn Logsdon; co-directed and written by
Lolis Eric Elie; produced by Lucie Faulknor, Lolis Eric Elie and Dawn Logsdon;
edited by Dawn Logsdon, Sam Green (Weather Underground) with original
music composed by Derrick Hodge (of Terrence Blanchard's Band).
Tickets for the
screening are $25 in advance, $30 at the
door and can be purchased at
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/76969.
All proceeds benefit the
Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.
This
film is a co-production of Serendipity Films, LLC, Independent Television
Service (ITVS), WYES-TV12 New Orleans and Louisiana Pubic Broadcasting (LPB) in
association with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).
Arena Tickets Available For 52nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By Verizon, September 18 - 20, 2009
Rare Opportunity For Heirloom Purchase Guaranteeing Seats For Years
Three-Day Arena Package Includes Exclusive Access To 5 Shows Of World-Class Music On The Legendary Jimmy Lyons Stage
Plus Access To 8 Other Grounds Venues
Great Seats Available For Exclusive Arena Performances Including Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke And Lenny White Trio; Dave Brubeck Quartet, John Scofield And The Piety Street Band, Pete Seeger, Susan Tedeschi, Hank Jones And Joe Lovano Quartet, George Duke
August 12, 2009, Monterey, CA; Offering a rare opportunity for fans to purchase and retain Arena seats, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced that Arena Packages for the 52nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival are still available. An Arena Package provides intimate access to exclusive world-class music on the legendary Jimmy Lyons Stage, the site of countless musical memories and historic events since 1958.
"Arena Tickets are like an heirloom purchase -- patrons can renew their seats every year," says Timothy Orr, Marketing Associate for MJF. "In times like these, upgrades, which in previous years would have been difficult, are now possible. The Arena is where you feel the weight of history, and this offers our fans a chance to be a part of that history."
Arena Packages are on sale now by phone at (925) 275-9255 and on the Monterey Jazz Festival's website, montereyjazzfestival.org. Arena Packages are available starting from $225, and include one reserved seat for each of five concerts on the Arena/Jimmy Lyons Stage, access to all performances and activities on eight additional stages throughout the Grounds throughout the weekend, plus conversations, exhibitions, panel discussions, international shopping, food and beverages, and more.
Photo of legendary jazz pianist Hank Jones at Monterey Jazz Festival 2006 by James Knox
I had the pleasure of recently hearing the band, VidyA, at Yoshi's Oakland. VidyA, which means knowledge in Sanskrit, intertwines South Indian classical music (Carnatic music) and jazz. The result of this pairing of genres was intoxicating. They played original compositions from their recently released self-titled album, Vidya.
Bandleader/saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan told a melodious story with each note. It was beautiful, lush, warm and romantic. His band which includes David Ewell (Marc Cary, Howard Wiley) and Sameer Gupta (Marc Cary) were very succinct. There were great moments of call and response between Prasant and Sameer as well great solos from each player throughout the evening.
"At age 13, bandleader/saxophonist, Prasant Radhakrishnan - now 26 - began rigorous studies with Carnatic saxophone pioneer and maestro Kadri Gopalnath and has earned acclaim among the elite musical circles of Chennai, the mecca of Carnatic music. He has performed hundreds of concerts across India, North America and Japan, both on his own and with Gopalnath. While Radhakrishnan has immersed himself deeply in his Indian cultural roots, as a first-generation American, jazz is also a native art form for him. He became intrigued with jazz in high school; later, as a student in the Jazz Studies program at the University of Southern California, Radhakrishnan began creating compositions integrating the two musical worlds, ultimately leading to the Carnatic/jazz tapestry of VidyA. So for Radhakrishnan, jazz and Carnatic music are an entirely holistic pairing. The sound of VidyA is one he hears in his mind's ear and seeks a way to re-create, as he continues to delve into these disparate, yet complementary elements of his Indo-American identity."
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