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Cellar Live New Releases


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Release date July 15:

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From the liner notes, written by the artist: <P> I've known Cory Weeds for many years and have always admired him as an artist and label owner. Last year, I had the idea for a new recording that would be more traditional than my other albums which often placed the organ in a more unconventional role with electronics and wind ensembles. I wanted to write some pretty, swinging, bebop tunes with a classic approach that would give a nod to all my biggest influences; Jack McDuff, Melvin Rhyne, Don Patterson, Larry Young, and Jimmy Smith. Cellar Music's esthetic seemed like a perfect fit for the concept, as did Cory's musicianship which is evidenced in the tracks here. Ed Cherry on guitar was an obvious choice. He's lyrical, funky, and a brilliant accompanist. We've also worked together for many years and know each other's style very well. Cory had worked with Bill Stewart before and suggested him as drummer for the group. I was naturally very excited to play with one of my heros. Bill's hard swinging and masterful control were perfect for the date. With Jackpot, we've tried to deliver a super swinging session with memorable tunes and super soulful blowing. I hope you enjoy.<P>Brian Charette

 

 

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Release date August 5:

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There is something to be said for moving the music forward while remaining deeply rooted in and respectful of the tradition. North Carolina-born jazz pianist Thomas Linger threads that needle masterfully on his debut album Out In It. Joined by an all-star cast of musicians (Peter Bernstein on guitar, Yasushi Nakamura on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums), Linger's thoughtful and inviting musicianship leaves the listener looking forward to where he'll take the music next. Linger's debut album is all about feeling. Never mind the often-virtuosic performances or the thoughtful compositions. Out In It is jazz as it should be, swinging and cohesive, and we are all lucky to hear it.

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Release date June 17:

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Gleaning new insights from old songs, & making space for each player's distinctive voice. All refreshing elements of jazz that's vital and alive. The latest album from tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart joins him with trumpeter sensation Bruce Harris Like the vibe in New York City where Stewart lives, the music on this invigorating recording has a dynamic spirit. Along with Harris the set features an all-star quartet with Tardo Hammer on piano, David Wong on piano and Phil Stewart on drums recorded live at the renowned Rudy Van Gelder studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Includes 8 tracks including some original compositions and the band's take on classics like "I'm A Fool to Want You" originally recorded by Dexter Gordon in the same studio in 1965! Right from the first song there's an expectant anticipation about where Stewart and the musicians will go with the uniquely curated repertoire. They deliver on the promise, with ardent jazz that both honors tradition and sounds timeless.

Release date August 5:

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This album has been a long time in the making! 20 years of friendship having both grown up on Long Island and many hours of shedding together has come full circle with the release of Takes One To Know One. FUN describes this album best. Two friends coming together to make joyous music. Joined by seasoned veteran Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass and much talked about young drummer Jimmy MacBride.

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Release date September 9:

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Multi-award winning jazz vocalist,Joe Coughlin's career has spanned 4 decades. He's one of the rare breed of singers able to inhabit and truly flourish in the land where jazz meets the great American Song Book. Evident from his first eponymously titled release 40 years ago, it continues to this day where he is reunited with pianist Bernie Senen­sky and drummer Terry Clarke, both of whom performed on that first recording. Joe cites Johnny Hartman as an early influence when, as a teenager he began to develop an interest in and talent for vocal jazz. Joe and Johnny have also shared sidemen, both having recorded with Lorne Lofsky, Chris Connor and Buff Allen. Over the years, Joe has honed his craft and developed his own sound although the nods to Hartman and Sinatra are still evident. Along with Canadian jazz icons Bernie Senensky and Terry Clarke, joining Joe on this recording are Neil Swainson on bass, a true jazz heavyweight and consummate tenor player, Ryan Oliver. Not surprisingly, the result is impressive. The album opens with an uptempo, swinging rendition of Eino Swan's When Your Lover Has Gone, a main­stay of the Hartman and Sinatra catalogue and takes us on a voyage through that Great American Song Book with stops along the way including a magnificent (perhaps definitive) version of Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life. The deep connection and empathy among Joe and the band members is evident throughout this truly splendid journey.

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Steven Feifke (pianist, composer, arranger/orchestator and conductor) and Bijon Watson (lead trumpet) have joined forces to bring together a big band featuring some of the most well known names in all of jazz. These two artists are frequent-flyer-mile performers in a number of internationally acclaimed large ensembles and noticed one small problem in each one: there is almost no generation gap! The longstanding tradition spearheaded by artists like Art Blakey and Horace Silver of hiring the young guns for an ensemble has all but disappeared in recent years. In creating The Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, Bijon and Steven make the objective of this band to strengthen that tradition of mentorship that has shaped and defined the jazz idiom since its earliest beginnings.

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Release date August 19:

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A long-time fan of the front-line pairings of the 1950s bands of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver (for whom Silver Mine is dedicated), Swainson shaped both his compositions and the blue-chip rhythm section of pianist Renee Rosnes (with whom he'd worked in the 1990s cross border band Free Trade) and Lewis Nash around this stylistic post-bop conception. With compositional dedications to musical influences (the aforementioned Silver Mine), to impactful places (Kyushu, a musical reflection of time spent on this Japanese island), to people (Fell Among Thieves references a biblical parable that Swainson relates to some wonderful people he has known who fell into difficult company and circumstance), this new recording offers a personal glimpse inside Swainson's musical and compositional mind.

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Release date October 7:

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Cellar Music has assembled a cast of all-star musicians from around the globe to play the original compositions of iconic Canadian tenor man Fraser MacPherson. Appearances by the likes of tenor saxophonists Scott Hamilton, Harry Allen and Grant Stewart, along with young up and comers like Jocelyn Gould and Virginia MacDonald, show just how revered MacPherson is.

Release date September 9:

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In 2015, Fitzgerald founded Tim Fitzgerald's Full House, a septet with a repertory mission that borrowed its name from one of Montgomery's compositions (and the live album on which it first appeared). Drawing members from the top shelf of Windy City straight-ahead jazz - the vibrant scene that tenor saxophonist Von Freeman called hardcore jazz - Fitzgerald turned to folks he's worked with extensively, including the sparklingly inventive pianist Tom Vaitsas and Grammy-nominated trumpeter Victor Garcia, as well as George Fludas, one of the city's greatest drummers and a veteran who has worked with Wes's pianist/vibraphonist brother Buddy Montgomery as well as Mel Rhyne, who played organ with Wes. Working towards this, their eponymous first record, Full House dug in for residencies and one-nighters, cultivating a deep understanding of the material and establishing an approach to Wes quite unlike anything previous. With a little big-band vibe that allows them to range back and forth from fulsome arrangements featuring a three-horn and guitar frontline to spare soulful small group sounds.? The results are transformative. It's both a songbook record and an achievement on its own terms. Fitzgerald's genuine love of Wes shines through, but it's not a devotee's slavish re-enactment. Each track crackles and flows with uncorked imagination. It's gorgeously conceived, a program of precise selections culled from the Montgomery archives and thoughtfully rearranged. The record elucidates the way his music could be ultra-hip modern and deep-in-the-soul down home at the same time.

Release date September 23:

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Fun House is guitarist David Blake's thrilling quintet effort featuring some of Vancouver's finest musicians. The collection of original compositions showcase the bands dynamic interplay and explosive improvisations. This album is David's third venture as a leader, but the first to expand the group beyond the realm of the trio. Including trumpeter Thad Bailey-Mai and pianist Brad Turner allows for the group to take on a number of intricate, fleshed out compositions. Ranging from through composed modern jazz odysseys Bernie Does It and Jon, No Jon to quick witted tunes such as Devil Stick and the title track Fun House, Blake utilizes the unique talents of each band member to create a rich sonic landscape. Inspired by modern jazz composers such as Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler and Herbie Hancock, David's tunes have intricate melodies, dark and mysterious harmonies, odd time signature romps and lots of improvisation. As a guitarist, David's virtuosic yet thoughtful solos are featured through out. With pianist Brad Turner providing a harmonic play ground, David takes the role of front man, along with long time collaborator Thad Bailey-Mai on trumpet. The exuberant rhythm section consists of bassist Conrad Good and Bernie Arai, two of Canada's most in demand players. Fun House is a thrilling collection of eight original tunes performed expertly by a quintet of Vancouver's finest.

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Release date September 9:

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A collection of songs musing on the what-ifs and close-but-no-cigars of love, Hey There is your introduction to Canada's next chanteur de jazz, Jeremy Wong. His rich, lyrical baritone shows clear ties to his antecedents, evoking the great jazz singers and crooners of old. The ten tracks feature only the finest players of the Vancouver jazz scene, bringing together the youth of Ardeshir Pourkeramati (tenor sax, arrangements) and Alvin Brendan (guitar) with seasoned veterans Chris Gestrin (piano), John Lee (bass), and Jesse Cahill (drums). Slick reharmonization and arranging keep old standards new and fresh, while two originals showcase Jeremy's thoughtful, introspective lyrics, leaving the listener feeling wistful and lucky to have been loved: a hopeful romantic, much like him.

Release date October 21:

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Harlem based saxophonist and Philadelphia native, Sam Taylor presents his third release for Cellar Live,featuring trumpet master Terell Stafford. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios in January of 2022, a time when much of what we believed in as a society was being redefined and reimagined, Taylor chose to invite his musical elders to join him on a journey of generosity and letting go. Surrendering to the music he loves, interpreting the songs and sharing with others, LET GO remains true to Sam Taylor's musical values. There is an emphasis on mentorship and tradition, as Terell Stafford was a childhood hero of the young saxophonist while in Philadelphia. Joined by Jeb Patton (piano), Neal Miner (bass) and Willie Jones III (drums), Taylor and Stafford joyfully perform a collection of songs by the great Barry Harris, Benny Golson, and Coleman Hawkins, along with interpretations of rarely played standards from the American Songbook. The title track, LET GO, is an original by Taylor, his first to be recorded. The quintet swings hard and with purpose, honoring the spirit of those who came before, with a clear message: Music is an act of giving. Let go.

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To document this trio and the work we did during those last two years, Spike chose to pay respect and play the music of two of the giant fathers of modern music: Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington! They both have a unique compositional style that lends perfectly for ALL musicians to digest and then interpret with their own voice.

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The SmallsLIVE Newsletter - 8/15/2022



Dear Friends:

Post COVID, when Smalls and Mezzrow were once again allowed to operate, it was no longer legal for us to use funds publicly raised by the SmallsLIVE Foundation to operate the businesses.  This left unallocated funds for the foundation to use in a proper fashion.  It was decided to use the remaining funds to honor and support senior jazz artists. The SmallsLIVE Foundation announces the debut of the "SmallsLIVE Living Masters Award".

A SmallsLIVE Living Masters is a senior (age-wise) jazz artist, universally acclaimed by their peers, and with a relation to Smalls or Mezzrow Jazz Clubs. There is a $10,000 cash award component for the artist for their personal use as well as a live video/audio recording done in the clubs. Our goal is to honor and aid the masters who are still with us (still gigging and doing it every night) and to document their current work.

We have partnered with Cory Weeds and The CellarLive Music Group to distribute these final projects. There will also be full HD video on the SmallsLIVE Youtube channel. The cover photos and other beautiful shots are from photographer William Brown.  Glen Forest and GB's Juke Joint did the engineering, mastering and video work. Glen and his studio sound has been a big part of SmallsLIVE since the inception of the label.

The first six awardees are Sheila Jordan, Kirk Lightsey, Tyler Mitchell with Marshall Allen (co winners), David Liebman, Jesse Davis and George Coleman. The flagship project is Sheila Jordan with Alan Broadbent and Harvey S live from Mezzrow and is now getting reviews -  CLICK HERE

My sincerest thanks to all of the musicians, the fans and to everyone who supported the SmallsLIVE Foundation during the challenging COVID lockdown. These projects are created by you and are for the benefit of all humanity.

Sincerest Regards,

Spike
 

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1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

The SmallsLIVE Newsletter - 8/15/2022



Dear Friends:

Post COVID, when Smalls and Mezzrow were once again allowed to operate, it was no longer legal for us to use funds publicly raised by the SmallsLIVE Foundation to operate the businesses.  This left unallocated funds for the foundation to use in a proper fashion.  It was decided to use the remaining funds to honor and support senior jazz artists. The SmallsLIVE Foundation announces the debut of the "SmallsLIVE Living Masters Award".

A SmallsLIVE Living Masters is a senior (age-wise) jazz artist, universally acclaimed by their peers, and with a relation to Smalls or Mezzrow Jazz Clubs. There is a $10,000 cash award component for the artist for their personal use as well as a live video/audio recording done in the clubs. Our goal is to honor and aid the masters who are still with us (still gigging and doing it every night) and to document their current work.

We have partnered with Cory Weeds and The CellarLive Music Group to distribute these final projects. There will also be full HD video on the SmallsLIVE Youtube channel. The cover photos and other beautiful shots are from photographer William Brown.  Glen Forest and GB's Juke Joint did the engineering, mastering and video work. Glen and his studio sound has been a big part of SmallsLIVE since the inception of the label.

The first six awardees are Sheila Jordan, Kirk Lightsey, Tyler Mitchell with Marshall Allen (co winners), David Liebman, Jesse Davis and George Coleman. The flagship project is Sheila Jordan with Alan Broadbent and Harvey S live from Mezzrow and is now getting reviews -  CLICK HERE

My sincerest thanks to all of the musicians, the fans and to everyone who supported the SmallsLIVE Foundation during the challenging COVID lockdown. These projects are created by you and are for the benefit of all humanity.

Sincerest Regards,

Spike
 

That's nice.  Money well-spent.  Wish the MacArthur Foundation could do something similarly enlightened, since they have far more money.

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Release date November 4:

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Underrated pianist Kirk Lightsey steps into the spotlight to lead an extraordinary quartet featuring Mark Whitfield - guitar, Santi DeBriano - bass and Victor Lewis - drums, through a spirited program of tunes from Dave Brubeck to Tony Williams and McCoy Tyner. Recorded live at New York's venerable Smalls Jazz Club this record is part of the Smalls LIVING MASTERS SERIES.

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1 hour ago, jlhoots said:

The Seeber CD is excellent IMO.

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Although you may be less familiar with Aaron Seeber than the other artists on this live recording, you will immediately recognize the tradition of jazz drumming in his steady and sure cymbal beat. A native of Washington D.C. whose visibility on the New York jazz scene continues to rise, Seeber is both studied in the recorded legacy of his instrument and equipped with over a decade of experience.

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Release date November 4:

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Jason Marshall returns with an incredibly soulful date featuring some of New York's finest including pianist Marc Cary, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III. Recorded at the studios of Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey and produced by Jeremy Pelt. Jason has developed a style that encompasses the whole of African-American music.

Release date January 20:

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6 of New York City's heaviest hitters convene at RVG studios & presents music built to tickle your mind, hit you in the heart & get your feet tappin'. 

The Heavy Hitters music is built to tickle your mind, hit you in the heart and get your head swaying back and forth. We wanted to make soulful kickass swinging music that you might have heard on a Blue Note record back in the day. Not to look back but to say this is still relevant because this is happening right now. For us it's pretty much what we've been doing all of our lives. And of course we got to record it at Rudy Van Gelder's studio, a place I feel we are so lucky to still have up and running and that is putting out the same great sound we have all loved for all these years. To me it's a true "Jazz" sound. 

Track Listing:

Hub
New Day
Silverdust
Un Dia Es Un Dia
Big Richard
Chainsaw
This Is Something New
Cedar Land
Bluesit

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On 7/28/2022 at 10:08 PM, mjzee said:

Release date August 19:

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A long-time fan of the front-line pairings of the 1950s bands of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver (for whom Silver Mine is dedicated), Swainson shaped both his compositions and the blue-chip rhythm section of pianist Renee Rosnes (with whom he'd worked in the 1990s cross border band Free Trade) and Lewis Nash around this stylistic post-bop conception. With compositional dedications to musical influences (the aforementioned Silver Mine), to impactful places (Kyushu, a musical reflection of time spent on this Japanese island), to people (Fell Among Thieves references a biblical parable that Swainson relates to some wonderful people he has known who fell into difficult company and circumstance), this new recording offers a personal glimpse inside Swainson's musical and compositional mind.

Somehow slept on this one.  Will take a listen tonight and see if there is anywhere to pick up a copy.  As it turns out, this inspired me to check and Swainson is playing a set on Wed. at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto, and I might be able to get him to sign it.  So this is extra awesome!

Still looking forward to the show, but I just don't think there is anywhere to get a physical CD without ordering it through Amazon (and I would need one more day lead time).  Sonic Boom only stocks new vinyl and used CDs.  The last HMV closed a while ago.  I'll call She Said Boom, but I can't imagine they'll have a copy.  I guess there is a tiny chance they'll have some for sale at the venue, but Swainson is third or even fourth on the bill.  I guess it's worth finding out.

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9 hours ago, ejp626 said:

Somehow slept on this one.  Will take a listen tonight and see if there is anywhere to pick up a copy.  As it turns out, this inspired me to check and Swainson is playing a set on Wed. at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto, and I might be able to get him to sign it.  So this is extra awesome!

Still looking forward to the show, but I just don't think there is anywhere to get a physical CD without ordering it through Amazon (and I would need one more day lead time).  Sonic Boom only stocks new vinyl and used CDs.  The last HMV closed a while ago.  I'll call She Said Boom, but I can't imagine they'll have a copy.  I guess there is a tiny chance they'll have some for sale at the venue, but Swainson is third or even fourth on the bill.  I guess it's worth finding out.

Try to contact Swainson on-line and ask him to bring you a copy for you to buy at the show. I just did that with Michael Weiss, asking him if he could bring some copies of his latest Cellar Door CD with him Saturday. He replied that he'd have some there.

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13 hours ago, bresna said:

Try to contact Swainson on-line and ask him to bring you a copy for you to buy at the show. I just did that with Michael Weiss, asking him if he could bring some copies of his latest Cellar Door CD with him Saturday. He replied that he'd have some there.

I'm not at all sure he saw my post.  I think the CD is new enough he just brings a few to gigs, but I did manage to snag a copy from Swainson at the break and he signed my copy.  Sweet!  (Oddly enough, no one was hawking CDs at the break and there was no "merch booth."  I actually had to go up to Swainson and ask if he had any CDs.)  This is yet another area where The Rex has the advantage over Jazz Bistro.

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2 hours ago, John Tapscott said:

You can always order CellarLive CD's on-line. Fast service for Canadian customers.

 Cellar Live - The Finest in Live Jazz!

 

For sure, but I was hoping for (and got!) a signed copy.  I believe the entire catalogue is on iTunes and probably Spotify as well, so I've been doing a lot of sampling of the many great recommendations in this thread.  🤩

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Release date May 12:

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Release date April 21:

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Born & raised in Brooklyn, New York alto saxophonist Nick Greens comes out of the gate swingin' backed by an all-star band including Joe Magnarelli on trumpet, Jeb Patton on piano, Mike Karn on bass & Kenny Washington on drums. Green is a disciple of alto saxophonist Charles McPherson and he boasts a big, warm & robust tone. Green On The Scene is a wonderfully swinging date.

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