GA Russell

Marcus Shelby Places Suite Exploring Negro League Baseball At the Heart of "Transitions," Set for June 7 Release by MSO Records Bassist-Composer-Bandleader's Latest Features Four-Part Suite, Seven Standards Performed by His 15-Piece Big Band, Special Guests Mads Tolling & Tiffany Austin Performances as Resident Artistic Director At SFJAZZ, 5/23-26 April 26, 2019 Bassist, composer, and bandleader Marcus Shelby brings together three of his greatest passions -- African-American history, baseball, and big-band jazz -- on Transitions, the latest work by his 15-piece Marcus Shelby Orchestra, set for a June 7 release on his own MSO Records. While the album offers Shelby's lush arrangements of classic tunes by Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Cole Porter, its centerpiece "Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues" is an original four-part suite inspired by the history of Negro League Baseball. It also features superb work by two special guests, violinist Mads Tolling and acclaimed vocalist Tiffany Austin. Shelby's work to date has established his penchant for deep musical dives into African-American history and culture. Transitions is not a full-length opus like his 2007 oratorio Harriet Tubman or 2011's Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but it is unquestionably on the same ambitious path as those two works. It's also a natural choice of subject matter for San Francisco-based Shelby, a self-described baseball aficionado who (when he's not on the bandstand) can often be found cheering on his beloved San Francisco Giants. "I did a whole theatrical project that premiered last September at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival," he explains. "It re-created the environment of a Negro League baseball park. This suite was inspired by the research I did for that project. But it's more about these four cities -- Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Kansas City -- that were very central to the Negro Leagues." Those were also central to the development of jazz, and Shelby's pieces reflect the parts they played in that development. The suite's opening "Transition 1 (Pittsburgh)," a nod to two powerhouse teams (the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays), also reflects the city's blues tradition and the hard swing generated by native-son drummers from Art Blakey to Jeff "Tain" Watts. Its finale, "Black Ball Swing (Kansas City)," celebrates the Kansas City Monarchs -- "the best known, most respected team of all time in the Negro Leagues," Shelby says -- with both the riff-driven style of the Count Basie Orchestra and the supercharged bebop of Charlie Parker, both Kansas City exports. Transitions also includes one composition each by Charles Mingus and George Shearing, along with two by Cole Porter and three by the grand master of big band writing, Duke Ellington. It's "an album that mirrors a live performance," he says. "It's like seeing one of our concerts. It felt good to break away from doing programmatic music to playing some straight-up blues and swing and standards." The Duke's gorgeous but rarely played "On a Turquoise Cloud" is a feature for guest violinist Tolling, while his "Mood Indigo"and "Solitude," along with Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland"and the two Porter tunes, are vehicles for Tiffany Austin's vocals. Marcus Shelby was born February 2, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska, moving to Sacramento, California at the age of five. He played the bass as a teenager, but his real passion was for baseball and basketball, earning a college scholarship in the latter. At 22, however, a concert by the Wynton Marsalis Quartet reignited his love of music, and he returned to school at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, where he studied with Charlie Haden and James Newton. First gaining attention in Los Angeles as a cofounder (with drummer Willie Jones III) of the hard-bop band Black/Note in the early 1990s, Shelby relocated to San Francisco in 1996. He quickly established himself as an essential creative force on the Bay Area arts scene, leading both the Marcus Shelby Trio and the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra and earning increasingly prestigious commissions from dance companies, theatrical productions, and presenters. Shelby opened a new chapter with the release of 2006's Port Chicago (Noir), a major orchestral work inspired by the World War II incident that saw 50 young black seamen convicted in the largest mutiny trial in U.S. naval history. Since then he's focused his creative energy on a series of meticulously researched, hard-swinging works exploring African American history, like 2007's Harriet Tubman (Noir) and 2011's Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Porto Franco). Marcus Shelby will perform as Resident Artistic Director at SFJAZZ, 201 Franklin St, San Francisco, Thursday 5/23 through Sunday 5/26. The four-night run will feature the artist in collaborations literary (with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket), political (with Angela Davis), and Ellingtonian (with Faye Carol, Kenny Washington, and Mads Tolling), along with an evening dedicated to the performance of "Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues." Remember Rockefeller at Attica - Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra Web Site: marcusshelby.com

Maybe you're right, sonnymax!

Wirecutter yesterday recommended the U-Turn Orbit Custom turntable, which starts at only $179.00. The price goes up if you add a cue lever or a preamp. https://uturnaudio.com/products/orbit-basic-turntable

ECM Areni Agbabian Bloom Areni Agbabian: voice, piano Nicolas Stocker: percussion Release date: April 26, 2019 ECM 2549 B0029232-02 UPC: 6025 675 2590 5 Areni Agbabian casts a quiet spell with her art, as an improvising vocalist, folk singer, storyteller and pianist. Her voice has been described as “bell-toned” by The Guardian and “lush” by theLos Angeles Times, the music she creates with it “intensely focused, moving toward some kind of hidden truth,” according to The New York Times. Agbabian’s ECM debut, Bloom, has a richness that belies its spare ingredients: just her evocative voice and piano, along with the subtly ingenious percussion of Nicolas Stocker (who was last heard on ECM with Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile ensemble). Born and raised in Los Angeles into an Armenian family, Agbabian came to international attention via performances and recordings with groups led by Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan. Bloom draws deeply on the singer’s Armenian heritage, as she reinterprets sacred hymns, a traditional spoken-word tale and a dark folk melody transcribed by the great Armenian composer and ethnomusicologist Komitas. She intersperses these among her own vocal and instrumental compositions, which channel a wide world of influences, from Komitas to Tigran Mansurian, from Morton Feldman to George Crumb, from Patty Waters to Kate Bush. The melody that recurs through the highlights “Petal One,” “Petal Two” and “Full Bloom” glows with an aural and emotional purity that’s characteristic of Agbabian’s music. Agbabian recorded Bloom at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano, Switzerland, with ECM founder Manfred Eicher producing. The two had met some years before at a post-concert dinner in Paris, with Eicher then listening to her first solo album, Kissy(bag). About the experience of working with the producer for Bloom, Agbabian says: “First of all, the studio in Lugano is a warm wooden room with a natural reverb and projection, perfect for this sort of acoustic music. With his years of experience, Manfred guides an artist to the correct balance musically. As far as my songs went, he suggested a few changes that made them more appropriate for a studio recording as opposed to concert performance. He also suggested that I play slightly different takes of the same material, which created recurring motifs that gave the album narrative shape. There are a couple of pieces credited to Manfred, ‘Rain Drops’ and ‘Whiteness,’ that serve as parentheses within the storybook feel of Bloom. He had suggested that I play a mid-range chord in E-flat and slowly make my way up the keyboard with an airy feel. He conducted these moments live in the studio space.” Stocker also contributes two solo percussion pieces to the album, “Light Effects” and “Colored.” About the collaboration with the percussionist, Agbabian explains: “When I was invited to check out the studio in Lugano, I met Nicolas while he was playing a Nik Bärtsch session. I could immediately tell that Nicolas was a very kind person, and I really liked the color palette of his percussion setup, which he extended with unique bells and gongs. We ended up working together intensively for a few weeks before recording, both in L.A. and Zurich. I added a few items to his percussion set, such as Tibetan singing bowls. Also, the piano preparations on some of the pieces ended up giving us a unified percussion sound, especially on my piece ‘The Water Bride.’ And ‘The River’ was a pure improvisation by the two of us from which his polyrhythmic groove in ‘Colored’ emerged.” Agbabian has been a singer since she was an infant, already humming melodies at the age of 11 months. Growing up in a world of sound, she was hitting xylophones and drums by age 4, making up melodies and rhythms. She sang rhymes and folk songs with her aunt, a trained opera singer and Armenian music specialist, and her mother, a storyteller and Armenian folklorist. These women imprinted the Armenian language, its tones and inflections, into her mind and body. At age 7, Agbabian began a study of classical piano that lasted for 20 years. Throughout this period, she continued her vocal work, and by her early 20s, she had sung in many choirs of Armenian sacred and Bulgarian folk music, eventually performing traditional Armenian folklore and music professionally. She gradually integrated these byways of her musical journey into an individual musical path. After some years performing in the improvised music scene of New York City, Agbabian returned to her hometown of Los Angeles. She joined Hamasyan’s quintet, touring the world and recording two albums with him; she also wrote the lyrics to “Lament” on his Shadow Theater LP. As a vocalist, Agbabian has worked not only in jazz and folk music but also in contemporary opera, dance, new music and multimedia performance, with her credits including the opera What To Wear by Bang on a Can composer Michael Gordon. She released her solo album Kissy(Bag) in 2014. Of late, Agbabian has been performing Armenian and Persian music in Los Angeles with Lernazang, a group of young folk instrumentalists; she also collaborates with guitarist Gagik “Gagas” Khodavirdi, her husband. Throughout Bloom, a sense of spiritual yearning makes itself felt, strikingly so in Agbabian’s own deeply introspective songs “Patience” and “Mother,” as well as in the Armenian sacred hymn “Anganim Arachi Ko.” The connection between the traditional material and the original songs is virtually genetic. She explains: “Armenian music is in my DNA. It speaks to me on a spiritual level that I cannot explain. In fact, the sacred music eventually is what changed my life. It was through it that I came to know God, and through the imagery of the Biblical stories of the Resurrection written in grabar (classical Armenian) that my heart was transformed. Intellectually, it is probably more difficult than any other music I have studied, European classical music included, especially because of Armenian music’s linguistic and rhythmic challenges, the microtonality and the memorization. I’m in my fourth year of participating in sacred music study and practice. This requires an understanding of ritual time, and supporting the cerebral process of understanding music with conscious listening of my whole person.” ECM Stephan Micus White Night Stephan Micus: kalimbas duduk, bass duduk, sinding, dondon, fourteen-string guitar, steel string guitar, Tibetan cymbals, cane whistles, vocals Release date: April 26, 2019 ECM 2639 B0029979-02 UPC: 6025 773 6220 0 Though the purity of the moonlight has silenced both nightingale and cricket, the cuckoo alone sings all the white night. (Anonymous, Japanese) “I’ve always been inspired by moonlight,” says Stephan Micus. “Often I go walking, swimming in the sea or, best of all, cross-country skiing when the moon turns the snow into millions of diamonds. Moonlight for me has a special magic.” Stephan Micus has a strong and physical relationship with nature, landscapes and the people who inhabit them, all over the world. You hear that in his music which is created for instruments he has collected in years of travels and re-fashioned for his own use. He plays all the parts and multi-tracks them with up to 22 layers on the ‘Fireflies’ track on this album. By contrast, ‘The Moon’ and ‘All the Way’ are solo pieces recorded in one take. On White Night, his 23rd solo album for ECM, Micus takes us on a journey into an imaginary world entering at ‘The Eastern Gate’ and exiting at ‘The Western Gate’. In between the gates unfold the different scenes of the composition: ‘The Bridge’, ‘The River’, ‘The Moon’ and so on. Aside from the 14 string guitar, to conjure this world Micus plays instruments from Armenia, Tibet, India, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia, most of them in combinations never heard before. For each of his albums, Micus uses a defined cast of instruments to create its distinctive sound world. On White Night, the leading characters are African ‘thumb pianos’ (kalimba) and the Armenian duduk, two instruments which are extremely different in their personalities. The duduk always has a trace of melancholy, whereas the kalimba is imbued with a spirit of joy. To combine the two is like bringing two irreconcilable spirits together. The technical name for the kalimba is a lamellophone, which comprises metal tongues attached to a resonator. They are known by different names in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa - mbira, kalimba, sanza, ndingo etc. On this album Micus uses instruments he has collected in Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia. “These are old and unique instruments,” he says. “Most of them I found in remote villages and so each one has its own story connected with the people I met, with the landscapes and these memories help me create the music for them, something an instrument bought in a shop could never do. In most cases I change the tunings according to the music which evolves when I start improvising on them. My first kalimba I bought in Tanzania some 26 years ago.” “Whenever I travel I take a kalimba with me on my journey. It’s such a great instrument to carry along,” says Micus who has a practical relationship with these instruments. “It’s small and doesn’t disturb anyone. This enables me to keep working on some tunes and rhythms even if I am on the road.” One of the solo tracks at the heart of the album is ‘All the Way’, played on a kalimba Micus bought in a village where the indigenous San people have been settled in Botswana. This is a one-take performance on an instrument of 22 keys. “I admire the way that for thousands of years, the San lived on the land without leaving any traces or without doing any damage to it, just like the Australian aborigines or Native Americans. But strangely people have always looked down on these people, while really we should honour them for this great achievement”. This kalimba solo is a tribute to all people who respect our planet and preserve its amazing beauty. Another kalimba, from Tanzania, that Micus uses on ‘The River’, has small rings on its keys creating a buzzing sound like waves and splashes in the water. On ‘The Bridge’ and ‘The Forest’, Micus uses a kalimba specially created for this album. He commissioned the South African instrumentalist Phillip Nangle to build an instrument with just bronze keys instead of the usual steel ones. Bronze gives a warmer, more mellow sound, which makes a superb accompaniment to Micus’ voice singing his lyrics in an invented language. Micus has made two trips to Armenia to learn to play the duduk, the plaintive, oboe-like instrument which lends its melancholy tone to so much Armenian music. The first time he studied with Djivan Gasparyan, the second with Gevorg Dabaghyan, two musicians who are considered by many to be the greatest living masters. He’s used the duduk on two previous albums Towards the Wind (2002) and Snow (2008). Traditionally the bass duduk is only used as an accompanying drone, playing just one or two notes. But on the opening and closing tracks ofWhite Night Micus uses it for soulful melodies that frame his story with themes of deep profundity. You’ve never heard a duduk go as low as this. The other solo in the center of the album is ‘The Moon’, a duduk solo, played on a much smaller instrument than the standard one. The composition has nothing to do with traditional Armenian music, but certainly evokes the lonely, misty and ethereal shimmer of the moon in the night sky. For many of his CD booklets Micus chooses a small text to intensify the particular mood of each album. For White Night he’s chosen a Japanese poem, so the track ‘The Poet’ could represent the anonymous writer reciting his verse about the entrancing birdsong in the white, moonlit night. Other striking instruments we hear are Indian cane whistles multi-tracked many times, which in ‘Fireflies’ alternate with Micus’ own voice in chorus. “They are simple cane flutes which you play like a recorder. I bought them on the street somewhere costing a few cents each.” And there are the Tibetan cymbals which Micus bought in Ladakh. These are ritual temple instruments and their clashing rhythms bring a ceremonial quality to the opening and closing of this album. It’s a reminder that Stephan Micus’ music has a profundity, that connects to cultures all over the world and their musical expression. But as he says, “it makes no sense for me to play traditional Armenian duduk.” His desire is to take us on a journey, using rare and obscure instruments combined in a novel way, to reach out to our universal emotions. “Nowadays people in cities have lost contact with the moon,” says Micus. “I have lived all my life in the countryside and have had the privilege to experience many nights around the full moon. That’s why I dedicate this album to the moon which has always been a source of magic in many cultures. Music too is a source of magic which is where the two connect.” ECM Michele Rabbia/Gianluca Petrella/Eivind Aarset Lost River digital release date: May 31, 2019 CD release date: June 7, 2019 Michele Rabbia: drums, percussion, electronics; Gianluca Petrella: trombone, sounds; Eivind Aarset: guitar, electronics Lost River is an evocative post-ambient, richly textured sonic event, and one of the outstanding beyond-category recordings of recent ECM history. Drummer Michele Rabbia and guitarist Eivind Aarset had played many duo concerts, and Rabbia had also worked with trombonist Gianluca Petrella in other contexts, but this recording marks a premiere for the trio. Spontaneously improvised for the most part, and with mysterious detail flowering inside its soundscapes, Lost River keeps revealing new forms. Rabbia's drumming is freely creative and propulsive, and enhanced through his use of electronics. Aarset's flowing playing will delight listeners who have enjoyed his Dream Logic project and his contribution to recordings with Nils Petter Molvӕr, Tigran Hamasyan, Andy Sheppard and others. Petrella's role as a principal instrumental voice will surprise those who know him only as a great "jazz" soloist with Enrico Rava and Giovanni Guidi; his broad range is very well deployed in Manfred Eicher's widescreen production on this recording, made in Udine in January 2018. ECM Paul Bley / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian When Will The Blues Leave digital release date: May 31, 2019 CD release date: June 7, 2019 Paul Bley: piano Gary Peacock: double bass Paul Motian: drums In 1999, a year after recording the splendid reunion album Not Two, Not One, Paul Bley's highly innovative trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian took to the road with concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. When Will The Blues Leave documents a terrific performance at the Aula Magna di Trevano in Switzerland. Included here, alongside the angular freebop Ornette Coleman title track, are Paul Bley's "Mazatlan", brimming over with energy, Gary Peacock's evergreen "Moor", Gershwin's tender "I Loves You Porgy" and much more... All played with the subtlety of master improvisers, recasting the music in every moment.

The league has announced this year's Hall of Fame inductees. Jon Cornish Mervyn Fernandez Terry Greer Ernie Pitts David Williams Jim Hopson Frank Smith https://3downnation.com/2019/04/24/2019-canadian-football-hall-of-fame-class-features-stamps-cornish-riders-hopson/ https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/24/call-hall-2019-hall-fame-class-revealed/ https://3downnation.com/2019/04/24/davis-riders-hopson-books-a-spot-in-the-hall/ https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/24/oleary-hall-fame-nod-opportunity-cornish-inspire/ https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/24/cornish-this-is-the-best-team-ive-ever-been-a-part-of/

Thanks, Mike. I was thinking he may have been on Mark Murphy Sings, Murphy's third Muse album.

MONOPRICE 6.5-INCH POWERED COAXIAL STUDIO MULTIMEDIA MONITOR SPEAKERS (PAIR) - $102.90 may be $82 with code HOME20 https://www.rakuten.com/shop/monoprice/product/605650/

RIP. Did he make an album with Mark Murphy?

Onkyo TX-RZ830 9.2 Channel 4K Network A/V Receiver Black - $568.86 https://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-RZ830-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B07CVP44NL

The Complete Pye?

The league is having a contest. Correctly predict the first round draft picks, and win C$1,000. https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/16/predict-pick-get-right-win-cash/

View this email in your browser Giovanni Guidi Avec le temps Giovanni Guidi piano; Francesco Bearzatti tenor saxophone; Roberto Cecchetto guitar; Thomas Morgan double bass; João Lobo drums A program of strikingly contrasting energies and colours, with outstanding playing by all participants. [ WATCH ALBUM TEASER ] LISTEN / BUY Areni Agbabian Bloom Areni Agbabian voice, piano; Nicolas Stocker percussion Improvising vocalist, folk singer, storyteller, pianist: on her ECM debut Areni Agbabian focuses the range of her skills in music that casts a quiet spell. [ WATCH ALBUM TEASER ] LISTEN / BUY Eleni Karaindrou Tous des oiseaux Savina Yannatou: voice; Alexandros Botinis: violoncello; Stella Gadedi: flute; Vangelis Christopoulos: oboe; Yiannis Evangelatos: bassoon; Dinos Hadjiiordanou: accordion; Aris Dimitriadis: mandolin; Maria Bildea: harp; Eleni Karaindrou: piano; Sokratis Sinopoulos: Constantinople lyra, lute; Nikos Paraoulakis: ney; Stefanos Dorbarakis: kanonaki; Giorgos Kontoyannis: percussion, Cretan lyra. String orchestra conducted by Argyro Seira Karaindrou’s luminous themes and arrangements acquire new contours and continuity through the mixing and editing of producer Manfred Eicher. [ WATCH ALBUM TEASER ] LISTEN / BUY Sokratis Sinopoulos Quartet Metamodal Sokratis Sinopoulos: lyra; Yann Keerim: piano; Dimitris Tsekouras: double bass; Dimitris Emmanouil: drums A unique band, the quartet subtly sifts a vast pool of influence, its music informed by the players’ experience of folk forms, Byzantine and classical music, and many modes of improvising. [ WATCH ALBUM TEASER ] LISTEN / BUY Stephan Micus White Night Stephan Micus: guitars, duduk and bass duduk, cymbals, kalimba, sinding, voice, cane whistles, nay Stephan Micus is an extraordinary musical traveller, exploring the world, collecting instruments and then creating his own musical worlds from them. [ WATCH ALBUM TEASER ] LISTEN / BUY © 2019 ECM Records. All rights reserved. 1755 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

Kinuta, I was taught as a boy that the Maginot Line was a great failure. But not long ago I read that it was a great success, and that the Germans entered France where the Maginot Line did not exist. One aspect that I know very little about is the Vichy government. Specifically, what is it that the critics of Vichy think they should have done or not done? I'm not aware of them having any ability to tell the Germans "No" to anything the Germans demanded. France was a conquered country, right? With your English background, what were you taught about that?

Last month I picked up William L. Shirer's The Collapse of the Third Republic, and I'm looking forward to getting to it. https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Third-Republic-Inquiry-France/dp/0306805626/

Speaking of Lenny Bruce... HOW TO TALK DIRTY & INFLUENCE PEOPLE - $5.95 https://www.hamiltonbook.com/how-to-talk-dirty-influence-people-an-autobiography

The Searchers - The Farewell Album (50 songs + AutoRip) - down to 5.00 GBP https://www.amazon.co.uk/Farewell-Album-Searchers/dp/B07JYQTKNP/

Pioneer VSX-933 7.2 Channel 165 Watt Audio Video Bluetooth Network Receiver - $249.99 https://flash.newegg.com/product/0MJ-000T-00077

The AAF has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. That means it's over. The players are now free to sign with CFL teams. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/aaf-files-for-chapter-7-bankruptcy/ar-BBW2gSs https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/04/17/aaf-alliance-american-football-files-bankruptcy/3500708002/ http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/26546883/shuttered-aaf-files-chapter-7-bankruptcy https://www.al.com/sports/2019/04/its-official-the-aaf-files-for-bankruptcy.html https://3downnation.com/2019/04/17/aaf-officially-files-for-bankruptcy/ ***** This year, the league will again have a territorial draft. https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/17/cfl-draft-feature-territorial-picks/ https://3downnation.com/2019/04/17/the-cfls-new-territorial-exemption-rules-are-ill-timed-and-terrible/ ***** The union has announced that the players will not go to camp until the next contract is agreed to. https://3downnation.com/2019/04/17/the-cfls-new-territorial-exemption-rules-are-ill-timed-and-terrible/ ***** The league's writers have come up with a list of "15 draft day steals." https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/17/sinopoli-boateng-headline-15-draft-day-steals/ ***** The Bombers announced a profit of C$2.6 million for 2018. https://3downnation.com/2019/04/16/bombers-post-2-6-million-profit-for-2018-down-markedly-from-2017/ ***** Marshall Ferguson ranks his top 50 rookie prospects. https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/16/marshall-ferguson-ranks-top-50-prospects/

Nature Boy https://artpepper.bandcamp.com/track/nature-boy

Composer/Arranger Lisa Maxwell to release highly-anticipated project Shiny! Boasts all-star big band lineup, dedicated to trumpeter Lew Soloff CD AND DIGITAL FORMATS AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE ON MAY 17, 2019. SCROLL DOWN OR WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. RECORD RELEASE EVENT AT THE CUTTING ROOM, NEW YORK CITY, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019 (MEMORIAL DAY) AT 7.30 PM. CLICK HERE Randy Brecker, Tony Kadleck, Chris Rogers, Trumpets Wayne du Maine, Bryan Davis Lawrence Feldman, Alex Foster, Lou Marini, Ada Rovatti, Woodwinds David Mann, Roger Rosenberg, Claire Daly Tom "Bones" Malone, Dan Levine, Mike Davis, Dave Taylor Trombones John Clark French Horn Paul Shaffer, Pete Levin, David Delhomme Keyboards Carmen Staaf, Andy Ezrin Piano Will Lee, Mark Egan, David Finck Bass Mike Stern, Oz Noy, Leni Stern, Smokey Hormel Guitar Danny Gottlieb, Steven Wolf, Ben Perowsky Drums Will Lee, Daniel Sadownick Percussion Kenya Hathaway, Will Lee Vocals Beth Gottlieb Vibraphone Special Guest: Mocean Worker (Bonus Track Remix) New York, April 16, 2019 - Celebrated within the jazz community as a multi-talented musician, Lisa Maxwell, finally releases a long-awaited album of her own material, dedicated to a special cohort. The lineup reads like a Who's Who of the music world. "My dear friend Lew Soloff and I talked about recording my arrangements many times over the years," she remembers. "Then he died suddenly and I realized I had to stop thinking about it and get it done!" She pulled together a group of New York's top jazz and studio players, all of whom had a connection with Lew. "Everybody wanted to be on board for this," says bassist Will Lee, "and the result is a gorgeous finished product!" Shiny! establishes Maxwell's talents as a gifted composer and arranger, showcasing a versatility that reflects her broad musical knowledge and experience. She wrote all of the album's arrangements, and 4 of the tunes are original compositions. They range in styles from boogaloo to straight ahead, to shuffle, to funk, to swing. Shiny! offers something for everyone, including a bonus track remix by renowned electronica/club jazz artist Mocean Worker! "My writing is heavily influenced by the TV themes of the 1970's," she says. "They're basically the foundation of my cultural identity. Great composers like Lalo Shiffrin, Henry Mancini, Neal Hefti and Earle Hagen underscored my life when I was growing up. I still get a tear in my eye when I listen to themes like The Odd Couple and The Bob Newhart Show. Like those composers, I have very definite ideas, but I write with the soloists in mind and give them freedom within the structure." She also cites Wayne Shorter and Gil Evans and as being hugely important in her growth. "Getting to watch Gil's band every Monday night [at New York's Sweet Basil] was such a gift. And a lot of those guys are on this album!" Maxwell connected to jazz at a young age. "I discovered bebop and that was it. I had found my people and my language at jam sessions in South Central L.A. and I'd sneak into as many jazz clubs as I could. I wanted to be like the great arrangers of Hollywood's Golden Age. Even though I often felt like I was the wrong sex, the wrong color, and born at the wrong time, I kept going for it." She studied with renowned arranger Dick Grove in Studio City, and with Herb Pomeroy at Berklee. "I took a film scoring class at UCLA when I was 17 and was hooked after I heard my charts played. Dick Grove was really my main mentor; he got me going as a writer. Then I won a Quincy Jones Arranging scholarship to Berklee and wrote for the recording orchestra. I ended up getting some amazing gigs as a sax player (Guns 'n' Roses, Joni Mitchell Project, Spinal Tap), but my calling is as a writer and arranger." She went on to orchestrate music for Warner Bros. Histeria!, and the Animaniacs/Pinky and the Brain feature, Wakko's Wish. Maxwell's original music has been licensed for numerous TV series." A breakdown of Shiny! showcases Maxwell's penchant for conceptual writing. Here are track-by-track comments: The album's title track, "Shiny!," is a nod to the 1970's, replete with wah-wah guitar, bongos, Fender Rhodes, and clavinet. The rhythm section is driven by drummer Steven Wolf's solid, deep-pocket boogaloo, with Paul Shaffer on Fender Rhodes, Will Lee on bass, Pete Levin on clavinet, Oz Noy and Smokey Hormel on guitars. Hormel takes a cool Eric Gale approach to the first guitar solo, leading right into Noy's high-energy response. Brecker delivers a stellar signature wah-wah trumpet solo as only he can, followed by Taylor's free jazz expression over a steadily building background. Capped with a satisfying TV ending, "Shiny!" lives up to its name! "Son of Creeper" was written by the late Hiram Bullock, original guitarist of the Letterman band. "Hiram was a close friend, and such an integral part of the music scene in New York," Lisa explains. "When he played, songs could take all kinds of weird and unexpected turns. I wanted to make the arrangement unique à la Hiram." Maxwell's version starts withStern's guitar, which is joined by Shaffer on organ, Lee on bass (also on the original recording), and Wolf on drums. "All three of these guys played with Hiram for years, so the feel and the spirit are perfect," she says. The tune moves between a half-time shuffle and rock, fused together by Maxwell's tasty horn lines. Stern's emblematic solo leads into a New Orleans section, where various soloists trade 4's with Shaffer, and the band recaps the theme for the shout chorus as Foster's wailing SNL sax leads into the epic screaming trumpet ending. "Ludie," an up-beat, original jazz waltz, begs to be heard underscoring a TV show. "I wanted to write something for Lew (nicknamed Ludie) that reflected his character. I kept thinking of the happy feel of Mannix and tried to emulate that." The rhythm section is topped by drummer Perowsky, whose crisp, clean playing enhances his rhythm mates,Lee, Staaf, and Noy. Brecker's Flugelhorn solo feels like a spring morning, and Staaf's nimble piano solo shows off her tasteful style against Maxwell's background lines. "We'll Be Together Again" highlights Maxwell's rich re-harmonization of the ballad.Rosenberg's bass clarinet under the woodwinds brings out the sexiness of the orchestrations. This unique arrangement features the velvety vocals of Kenya Hathaway(with Will Lee singing harmony) leading into a heartfelt tenor feature by Marini. WithGottlieb, Egan and Ezrin's dynamic interplay behind him, the tune builds into a lush, climactic ending, and may require a breather before listening on. "Hello, Wayne?" is a straight-ahead tune, which echoes the sophisticated harmonic changes Wayne Shorter is known for. Gottlieb and Egan's driving straight-eighths intro, interlude, and ending seamlessly connect the heavily-swinging chorus and solo sections. Solos by Marini and Rogers remind all what high-level players they are. Rogers' trumpet solo propels the song into the shout chorus that transitions into the initial bass ostinato, andLeni Stern's noodling guitar riffs lead us out, until all that's left is Gottlieb's fading cymbals. Maxwell's arrangement of Wayne Shorter's "Beauty and the Beast" opens with double-forte trumpets holding high notes, then dives into a funky vamp over Lee's static bass line. Maxwell fleshes out Shorter's stirring melody with beautifully orchestrated woodwind and brass couplings over Gottlieb's responsive drumming, adding the rich texture of the full band to the Samba-ish bridges. "I like to create new horn sections by combining different instruments families, and I use the extremes of the instruments for coloristic effect. It creates a much richer pallet." Rovatti, with a beautiful tone and facility on soprano sax, is the first of three soloists, followed by a robust solo from Mann, and Leni Stern's lyrical guitar, peppered by the horns' funky background lines, ending the tune. "Israel" is straight ahead jazz with a "Rat Pack" feel, and the only tune to include an upright bass, played by Finck. Perowsky's crisp drumming and Staaf's comping serve as a solid foundation upon which the band's many elements interact. Maxwell also addedGottlieb on vibes to increase the flavor. Masterful solos from Clark on french horn, Rosenberg on baritone, and Brecker on trumpet shine like jewels in the crown of Maxwell's well-crafted arrangement, and conjure up James Bond at its best. With Feldman expertly leading the woodwind section on clarinet, Maxwell's original, "The Craw," is an homage to Ellington's early years. Demonstrating her stylistic proficiency, the voicings ring authentic and the arrangement flows from section to section, swinging all the way. Ezrin and Levine personalize the melody on piano and trombone, respectively, followed by solos from Daly and Mann. The album ends with "Shiny! Remix (MOWO 70's Emergency Mix)," Mocean Worker's(aka Adam Dorn) electronica take on the Maxwell's opening original. MOWO chops up the tune, and puts it back together as a funky dance groove with a Sly and the Family Stone feel over edits of Brecker's solo. "I wanted to keep it in today, and Mocean Worker has a fresh take on things," says Maxwell. She continues, "Music is always changing, and it's important to stay current so the word 'jazz' doesn't get stuck in yesterday's comfort zone. Miles (Davis) was the master of change. I think he would've dug the MOWO Remix!" For further info, please go to http://www.lisamaxwellmusic.com. CLICK THE IMAGE TO WATCH THE VIDEO "The music was great, the attitude was great, and we just had a ball doing this record!" - Randy Brecker "She puts instruments together and creates absolutely beautiful sounds. Lisa Maxwell is too much!" -Paul Shaffer "Lisa Maxwell is awesome! She writes her ass off, she arranges her ass off, and she's a beautiful person as well." - Mike Stern "Some deep writing in there and amazing players. Lisa is gifted and unique in a world of sameness."- Steve Lukather TRACKS 1. Shiny! [9:37] 2. Son of Creeper [6:41] 3. Ludie [4:01] 4. We'll be together again [5:28] 5. Hellow, Wayne? [6:07] 6. Beauty and the Beast [8:53] 7. Israel [4:51] 8. The Craw [4:38] 9. Shiny! Remix [5:18] All Arrangements by Lisa Maxwell Compositions by: Lisa Maxwell, Wayne Shorter, Hiram Bullock, John Carisi, and Carl Fischer Recording Engineer: Noah Evans Recorded at Sear Sound NYC 2018 Mixing Engineer: Paul Wickliffe at Skyline Productions

The Redblacks have decided not to have an OC this year. (We'll see how long that lasts.) Receivers coach Winston October will call the plays. https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/15/report-campbell-says-receivers-coach-winston-october-call-plays/ https://3downnation.com/2019/04/15/redblacks-wont-name-offensive-coordinator-for-2019-season/ ***** The Redblacks have hired Joe Paopao to be their running backs coach! https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/15/redblacks-name-joe-paopao-running-backs-coach/ https://3downnation.com/2019/04/15/redblacks-hire-joe-paopao-as-running-backs-coach/ ***** The scouting bureau has issued its final 2019 rankings. https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/12/cfl-scouting-bureau-final-2019-rankings/ https://www.cfl.ca/2019/04/12/wilkinson-desjarlais-climb-final-cfl-scouting-bureau-rankings/ ***** As completely expected, the Board of Governors has approved all of the proposed rule changes. https://3downnation.com/2019/04/10/cfl-board-of-governors-approve-rule-changes/

Fluance RT81 High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable Record Player with Dual Magnet Cartridge, Elliptical Diamond Stylus, Belt Drive, Built-in Preamp, Adjustable Counterweight & Anti-Skating, Solid Wood Cabinet - $209.96 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F2EXIFM

© 2019 ECM Records US, A Division of Verve Music Group. All rights reserved.

Mine arrived today. I'll open it up Sunday.

Mark, I agree with your description of "professional and dull." I think that Costa did a lot of work for Steve & Eydie's records. I think they would have been much better if Marty Paiche had done those arrangements.