LINK HAZE: LINKS TO TODAY'S CULTURAL CLAPTRAP

Solid. Links to some cultural claptrap from the front lines. Random bits and species.

DEREK JETER BACK AT SHORTSTOP

ERIC CLAPTON’S NEW RELEASE

 

DAVID BOWIE'S FIRST RELEASE IN A DECADE 

36th ANNUAL FREIHOFER's SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL LINE-UP 

IGGY & THE STOOGES NEW ALBUM AND TOUR

JAZZ TIMES: CHARLES LLOYD TO PLAY 75th B'DAY AT KENNEDY CENTER

NEXT GENERATION JAZZ FESTIVAL

JERRY GARCIA SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION fet. WARREN HAYNES at WOLFTRAP

And more on the JERRY GARCIA SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION TOUR:

Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes:

A new symphonic project celebrating American music icon Jerry Garcia. This ground-breaking orchestral adventure features Garcia's storied original compositions as well as classic interpretations of timeless standards that were hallmarks of Garcia and the Grateful Dead's shows. Renowned vocalist/guitarist Warren Haynes collaborates with the nation's finest orchestras, lending his soul-soaked, introspective blend of rock, blues, R&B and jazz to Garcia's masterworks.

For pre-sale information on many of these shows check in at

 The Official Jerry Garcia Website

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 - 7:30pm Heinz Hall - Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes
in association with Princeton Entertainment
Conductor: Fawzi Haimor
Ticket Price: $78, $56, $48, $40, $30
General On-Sale begins: Monday, March 25th at 9am ET via PittsburghSymphony.org

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 -- 8:30pm Tanglewood Music Center -- Lenox, MA
Boston Pops Present a Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes
Conductor: Keith Lockhart
Ticket Price: $79, $52.50, $23.50
Tickets available now via BSO.org

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 -- 8:00pm The Mann Center for the Performing Arts - Philadelphia, PA
The Mann Center Presents Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
in association with Princeton Entertainment
Conductor: Fawzi Haimor
Ticket Price: $75, $52.5, $35, $19.5
Tickets available now via: MannCenter.org

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013 -- 8:15pm Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts - Vienna, VA
National Symphony Orchestra Present a Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes
Conductor: Emil de Cou
Ticket Price: $75, $52, $42, $35, $20
General On-Sale begins Saturday, March 16th at 10am ET via Wolftrap.org

Thursday, August 1st and Friday, August 2nd, 2013 -- 7:30pm Davies Symphony Hall - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Symphony Performs a Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes
Conductor: Sarah Hicks
Ticket Price: $100, $75, $55, $30
Tickets available now via: www.garciaorchestra.tickets.musictoday.com and www.sfsymphony.org

Sunday, August 4th, 2013 - 8pm Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Featuring Warren Haynes and 55-piece Orchestra
Ticket Price: $100, $85, $70, $55, $40
General On-Sale begins: Saturday, March 30th at 10am PT via GreekTheatreLA.com

NEW REMASTERED MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR DVD from THE BEATLES

More info at THE BEATLES official website.

From BASS MUSICIAN:

Paul McCartney’s Rickenbacker Remixed On Restored Magical Mystery Tour Movie

JAZZ NEWS - GUITARIST REZ ABBASI 9th CD COMING 10/9

Guitarist REZ ABBASI Releases His Ninth Album Continuous Beat on Enja Records, October 9, 2012 Voted #2 Rising Star Guitarist in 2012 Down Beat International Critics Poll  Inventive guitarist Rez Abbasi takes the pulse of the modern guitar trio on his ninth album, Continuous Beat. Embracing the use of electronics and effects to broaden his sonic palette to a much further extent than he ever has in the past, Abbasi evolves the scope and range of possibilities of the traditional guitar/bass/drums format far beyond its apparent limitations. “People often think of the jazz guitar trio and relate it to all things historical,” Abbasi says. “That's not to say that the Jim Hall trio records aren’t some of my favorite albums of all time. But it’s 2012 now and we've heard a lot of purely ‘warm’ guitar trio albums. I wanted to stimulate the listener’s aural perception throughout the album - to give them a sense of textural surprise from start to finish that embodies both that warmth and the desire to push away from the commonplace.” The occasion for Abbasi’s first ever trio release was his discovery of the very special chemistry between himself, bassist John Hebert, and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. He has known and played with both for over fifteen years, but their uniting as a trio was a fortunate accident brought about by unfortunate circumstances. In late 2011, Abbasi was looking forward to performing for the first time with one of his musical heroes, the legendary drummer Paul Motian. He had composed a number of new pieces for the date, which was to be a trio with Hebert. Unfortunately, a week before the gig Motian was forced to cancel due to the health issues that would lead to his passing last November. Instead of canceling the date altogether, however, Abbasi tapped Takeishi to step in, knowing the Japanese-born drummer’s openness would mesh well with pieces composed with Motian in mind. “I knew Paul's playing intimately from recordings and seeing him live multiple times,” Abbasi says. “I felt this was a good opportunity to write a few tunes with his character in mind, the operative description being ‘complexity within simplicity.’ In other words, music that was comfortable enough to play without a rehearsal, yet stimulating enough to create an interactive trio sound. That seems to encapsulate his aesthetic.” Two of those pieces feature on Continuous Beat, whose title acknowledges the “immortality of great artists” like Motian, Abbasi explains. With Motian’s death, the album became something of a loose tribute and includes pieces from two composers associated with the drummer: Gary Peacock’s “Major Major” and Keith Jarrett’s “The Cure.” The trio also offers an evanescent arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Off Minor,” a Motian favorite. “Paul's life galvanized this project,” Abbasi says, “but then it went further from there.” The disc begins with the solo “Intro,” which offers a key to the album’s transformation of Abbasi’s approach. The piece is based on an Indian raga that the Pakistani-born guitarist has played often, but by using a reverse delay the material is mutated into something alien and unpredictable that Abbasi can play against, almost a duo with himself. That piece is bookended with Abbasi’s warm yet melancholy solo rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner,” which closes the CD. “Recording that was kind of cathartic in the sense that being an American at this point in history can be confusing, especially when you were born in Pakistan,” he says. “The question of ‘what it means’ arises given the climate of terrorism, the state of the union, the economy, immigration, et cetera. So I essentially tried to put the beauty back into my faith, although I'm not a ‘patriotic’ type at all. The melody has so much energy behind it that it simply felt right to do a modern day version with modern harmony.” Another meaning behind the album’s title came out of the fact that at the same time that Abbasi was mixing the session, his mother-in-law was undergoing triple bypass surgery. Alternating between the ER and the studio “was strange and emphasized the vitality of the heart,” he says. That vital heartbeat is evident in the trio’s interactions as soon as they appear on “Divided Attention” and is maintained throughout Continuous Beat. Both “Rivalry” and “iTexture” were written with Motian in mind, the latter also being a tribute to Apple founder Steve Jobs following his death. “Back Skin” is a piece built on an Indian form that Abbasi has explored in different fashion in saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition. In projects like that trio and throughout his own work, Abbasi continually explores the conjunction between jazz and South Asian music. The guitarist moved to the US from Karachi, Pakistan at the age of four and went on to study at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music. He studied Indian music with a disciple of Ravi Shankar and performed and recorded with jazz greats including Billy Hart, Dave Douglas, Marilyn Crispell and Greg Osby. His own music has fused those two sounds in intriguing and surprising ways throughout his nine releases. Most important on this latest album for Abbasi was the chance to reconnect in such an intimate fashion with two longtime collaborators. “We've always had a connection,” he says of his triomates, “partly due to the way we interact as humans, partly due to what our vision of what music can be, and partly due to our unspoken telepathy. As jazz musicians we tend to move forward and make new relationships but there also comes a time to look back at some of our more meaningful relationships.” Release Date: October 9, 2012

www.reztone.com Publicity Contact: Matt Merewitz - Fully Altered Media 347-384-2839 matt@fullyaltered.com fullyaltered.com twitter.com/fullyaltered

JAZZ NEWS - TROMBONIST CLIFTON ANDERSON 3rd CD DROPS 9/25

Trombonist-Composer

CLIFTON ANDERSON

Releases His Third CD, and so we carry on,

On Daywood Drive Records, September 25, 2012

 With DONALD VEGA (piano), ERIC WYATT (tenor sax),
ESSIET ESSIET (bass) and STEVE WILLIAMS (drums)

Recording Also Features Special Guest Artists:
MONTY ALEXANDER, BOB CRANSHAW, KIMATI DINIZULU,
KENNY GARRETT, STEVE JORDAN, WALLACE RONEY,
JEFF "TAIN" WATTS, WARREN WOLF and VICTOR SEE YUEN

"With people increasingly faced with turmoil, uncertainty and crisis,
I wanted to create music that uplifts the listener and offers a sense of hope to prevail."
- Clifton Anderson

"Trombonist Clifton Anderson gives US the soul, substance and spirit to carry on.
Listen closely, this music will move you through the days ahead in spite of..."
- Gary Walker, WBGO Radio

What happens when you get a bunch of friends together? Trombonist, composer and producer Clifton Anderson went into the studio in September 2011 to record and produce his third release as a leader, and so we carry on, with a stellar lineup of guest artists who also happen to be his friends. The featured friends -- pianist Monty Alexander, soprano saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Bob Cranshaw, trumpeter Wallace Roney, percussionists Kimati Dinizulu and Victor See Yuen, and drummers Steve Jordan and Jeff "Tain" Watts -- blended seamlessly with Clifton's working band, pianist Donald Vega, tenor saxophonist Eric Wyatt, bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Steve Williams, to create a musical blueprint for hope, renewal and carrying on.

and so we carry on opens with its title track, an original composition full of intense tones and powerful energy, letting listeners know that this is stress-relieving, feel good music. In total, there are six new original compositions, each brilliantly crafted to take the listener on an emotional journey to provide musical relief for motivation to navigate through hard and confusing times. There are also three uniquely arranged standards; the Rogers & Hart ballads "Where or When" and "Falling in Love with Love," both given fast-paced treatments, and a bright, sunshiny take on the eternally optimistic "Tomorrow," from the musical Annie.

The provocative CD cover image by artist Rudy Gutierrez is a disturbing mixture of chaos, turmoil, and just plain old scary stuff. Clifton Anderson hopes that the musical journey on and so we carry on will be the right antidote to enable people to feel better after listening.

Clifton Anderson was born on October 5, 1957 in Harlem, New York City. He grew up surrounded by music. His father was a church organist/choir director, and his mother a singer and pianist. It was no surprise that Clifton exhibited an affinity for music at an early age. When he was seven years old, he got his very first trombone, a gift from his uncle, legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. 

Clifton attended the prestigious Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art in New York City and is a graduate of The Manhattan School Of Music. In 1983, Clifton got the call to join his uncle Sonny on the road. For over three decades, he performed as a member of Sonny’s group and toured extensively with him around the world. Clifton has also appeared on ten of his recordings and has produced four releases for Sonny’s label, Doxy Records. 

In 1997, Clifton released his first recording as a leader/producer on the Milestone label entitled Landmarks. Landmarks received critical acclaim internationally and made the top ten playlists on US Jazz radio coast to coast. At the end of 2007, Clifton went back into the studio as a leader to produce the highly anticipated, critically-acclaimed Decade (2009). 

Clifton has worked and performed with a “who’s who” of diverse musical legends, such as Stevie Wonder, McCoy Tyner, Frank Foster, Slide Hampton's World Of Trombones, Dizzy Gillespie, The Mighty Sparrow, Lester Bowie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paul Simon, Carlos Garnett, Terumasa Hino, Keith Richards, Muhal Richard Abrams, WyClef Jean, Geri Allen, T.S. Monk, and Charlie Haden, among others.

and so we carry on 

Clifton Anderson
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Label: Daywood Drive Records
Distributed by BFM Digital

Management:

Brian McKenna / McKenna Group Productions

brian@mckennagroupproductions.com

Publicity:

Stephanie Dawn Agency {SDA}

Steph Brown

StephbSDA@gmail.com
Davida Garr

garrgirl@comcast.net

JAZZ NEWS - NEW CD FROM PIANIST SEAN WAYLAND

Visionary Pianist/Composer SEAN WAYLAND Releases His 21st Album, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols. 1 & 2 (Seed Music), October 9, 2012 Double Album Release Features Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, Mark Guiliana, Donny McCaslin, Nate Wood, Mark Shim, Jochen Reuckert, Orlando Le Fleming, James Muller and Matt Penman Australian-born pianist, composer and keyboardist Sean Wayland creates a stunning work of improvisational jazz/funk on his latest recording, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols. 1 & 2.  A creative star of Sydney’s jazz scene, Wayland relocated to Brooklyn in 2005 (following a brief earlier stint in New York) and has spent a good part of the last decade living in New York touring and recording mostly with his piano trio featuring Jochen Rueckert and Matt Penman. All the while, Wayland has maintained a high profile in Australia through his collaborations with Australian virtuoso guitarist James Muller and drummer Andrew Gander. Rueckert and Penman both feature prominently on the new double album, which also heavily features rising drum star Mark Guiliana.  An extremely prolific instrumentalist and composer, Wayland mines a vein of jazz which has its roots in such influential recordings as Herbie Hancock’s Thrust, Alan Holdsworth’s Secrets and John Scofield’s Blue Matter.  Wayland delivers 26 fresh-sounding compositions on Click Track Jazz as he effortlessly combines influences ranging from jazz piano greats Herbie Hancock and Kenny Kirkland with jazz funk and fusion masters Allan Holdsworth and Wayne Krantz, both of whom Sean has worked with in the last year. Wayland’s studies of composers of various idioms find expression in the truly rare grooves of Click Track Jazz. Deeply rooted in the jazz piano tradition, Wayland strongly feels funk rhythms and electric instruments to be equally worthy of exploration by the serious musician of today. Click Track Jazz combines the tradition of the acoustic jazz piano trio with modern rhythms and newly created instruments including Sean's own programs created on the computer-based Nord Modular G2X synthesizer. “Actual Proof,” from Thrust, is a real American masterpiece,” Wayland says. “The way it’s recorded, Herbie’s Fender Rhodes playing and Mike Clark’s drumming created an entirely new genre. I heard Holdsworth’s Flat Tyre right after 9/11 while gigging in Japan. The sounds of the synths there really captured me.  That’s when I realized it was possible to do something very interesting and original with synthesizers.” Click Track Jazz features a heady rollercoaster ride of rapt musicianship and inspired melodies, across-the-bar-line improvisations and seriously unctuous groove machinations. Vol. 1 includes “Belt Parkway,” with its darting acoustic piano, swirling synthesizers, and slippery rhythmic syncopations, bop-flavored quartet vehicle, “Boxing Day,” the Holdsworth-tinged synths and arrangement of “Conglomerate,” the Hammond B3/acoustic piano infused drive of “Flypaper,” the Wayne Krantz enlightened ruminations of “Marshmallows,” and Americana-inspired closer, “Stop I Want to Get Off.” Bringing a fresh perspective to American standards, Wayland finds a unique slant on Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” to introduce Vol. 2. Over a pulsing Mark Guiliana rhythm, Wayland improvises on a Nord Lead modular synth, the duo battling like Ninja swordsmen, Coltrane’s classic melody eventually erupting through the smoke before the song spins out and collapses, as quickly as the track began. Wayland explains the significance of finding and playing with Guiliana in the context of his larger body of work. “I think Mark has revolutionized improvised drumming. It's a real step forward in the language and concepts. He sounds like what has been in my head for years and previously only my computer drum programming could realize. It’s actually a dream come true to hear my music performed by him. I believe that over the last few years of playing and touring, we have developed a unique way of playing together.” Other highlights of Vol. 2 include the odd phrase-shifting explorations of “Mark Is Enough,” the atmospheric synth tonalities of “QY70,” “Technocalypse,” with its squirrely melody and gently insinuating rhythms, and the ominous “Waiting for the Computer to Take Over.”  Throughout Click Track Jazz, Wayland merges various strains for an album that is simultaneously challenging, refreshing, and forward thinking. A graduate of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music where he won the Jack Chrostowski Piano Award and was a finalist in 1993’s National Jazz Piano Awards, Wayland arrived in New York City in 1999 and soon became a fixture on Harlem’s chitlin circuit, and a regular at Lower East Side haunt, The Living Room, supporting Madeleine Peyroux and Jesse Harris. Constantly learning, recording and expanding his knowledge base, Wayland also adapted his keyboards to suit his vision. “I’ve spent a great deal of time tinkering with what’s possible,” Wayland explains. “For synthesizers, I created a patch that allows me to transpose the whole keyboard by playing notes on the bottom octave.  Rather than spending time practicing insane chromatic systems I can play them on the spot.” Since arriving in New York, Wayland has recorded at a furious clip with a compelling collective of like-minded musicians. Most recently, Pistachio and Pistachio 2 (featuring Keith Carlock, Tim LeFebvre & Adam Rogers from 2009), Live at 55 Bar Dec 2009 (featuring Mark Guiliana & Jeff Hanley), and The Show Must Go On (featuring Rueckert & Penman, 2010) paved the way for Wayland’s most powerful statement yet, Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine, Vols 1 & 2. “The new record is an attempt to straddle multiple styles,” Wayland says.  “It blurs the division between playing rhythm changes, actually having a chord sequence and having no chord sequence.  Overall, I wanted to make a funky, improvised record that was also as acoustic as possible.”  Release Date: October 9, 2012  www.seanwayland.com Publicity Contact: Matt Merewitz - Fully Altered Media 347-384-2839 matt@fullyaltered.com fullyaltered.com twitter.com/fullyaltered