GA Russell

Gary Shandling died today. RIP. He was one of the few comedians my age that I used to enjoy. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/03/24/comedian-garry-shandling-dead-at-66/

"The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald," Jane Monheit's First CD On Her New Emerald City Imprint, Due for Release April 8 Produced & Arranged by Nicholas Payton, CD Features Monheit's Trio (Pianist Michael Kanan, Bassist Neal Miner, Drummer Rick Montalbano) Plus Daniel Sadownick, Percussion; Brandee Younger, Harp; Nicholas Payton on Trumpet & Keyboards March 24, 2016 Vocalist Jane Monheit had long thought about recording an Ella tribute. Fitzgerald's beloved songbook albums held "Biblical" importance for her when she was growing up and have never lost their hold on her. Those dreams have come to fruition with Monheit's new album, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald. It was the perfect maiden project for her new label, Emerald City Records, which will release the disc April 8, on the cusp of the Ella Fitzgerald centennial. On this new offering, Monheit pays joyous tribute to her idol while sharing a definitive portrait of herself, guided by her producer, arranger, and trumpet great, Nicholas Payton. "This record is really different," Monheit says. "It's the first time I've made a recording without a label and so I was able to make all the decisions myself. Honestly, when I listened back to the takes, I heard a different singer than I've heard before -- a more mature one. It was a little scary because there's a certain raw quality to some of the vocals but we gave no thought to fixing them. These were the vocals of a 38-year-old woman with a lot of life experience. These tracks really express who I am." "My first priority was to make Jane comfortable, so all she had to worry about was showing up and singing," says Payton, who first met her in Brazil about five years ago and stayed in touch casually. "But on the other hand, I wanted to make her a little uncomfortable by pushing her into places she might not push herself. She is so multifaceted. I wanted to showcase a lot of different things she loves to do on any given night with her band that haven't necessarily been brought forth on her recordings." From the first song, "All Too Soon," a highlight of Fitzgerald's Duke Ellington Songbook, it's evident that this album is not going to be your usual Ella salute -- the kind that plays up the incomparable singer's swinging, scatting, girlish side. Monheit is all woman here, pouring herself into the lyric with sultry savoir faire. "It is a salute in name only," writes Christopher Loudon in his JazzTimes review. "Fitzgerald and Monheit are very different singers, their approaches to the material similarly valid but utterly distinct. Monheit's style is plusher and denser -- crushed velvet to Fitzgerald's silk. . . . " As the arranger of eight of the songs, Payton updated the harmonies and overall feel of several of the tunes. "I wanted to make them romantic and sexy," he says. "We look at love and sex a lot differently today than we did 60 years ago." Longtime band mates, pianist Michael Kanan and bassist Neal Miner, who each arranged two songs, also made contributions to the fresh arrangements on the album. Kanan, Miner, and drummer Rick Montalbano -- Jane's working trio -- appear on the new CD, along with percussionist Daniel Sadownick; harpist Brandee Younger (on two tracks); and Payton, on trumpet, piano, and organ. "Nick wasn't planning on playing on the album," says Monheit, "but after we discovered what strong chemistry we had, it was inevitable that we had to play together. It was a real honor and a thrill for me." Jane Monheit has been on the world stage for nearly half her life, since placing as first runner-up (behind Teri Thornton) at the 1998 Thelonious Monk Institute's vocal competition. The Long Island native studied voice at the Manhattan School of Music, where she met her husband, Rick Montalbano, and graduated with honors in 1999. Her debut album Never Never Land -- featuring Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and Lewis Nash -- was released the following year. Monheit recorded prolifically for a number of different labels before realizing in the last couple of years that she needed to take more control of her artistic and career decisions; hence, the birth of Emerald City Records. "You have no idea how exhausting it was, bouncing from label to label," she says. "Everyone wanted to mold me into something else. It became harder and harder to put trust in people and to be myself." In Payton, the vocalist has found a true creative partner. "I felt an instant trust in him that I had never felt before with any other producer," she says. The two envision The Songbook Sessions as the first in an ongoing series of collaborations. Backstage at Birdland: Jane with Daniel Sadownick, Nicholas Payton, Rick Montalbano, Michael Kanan, and Neal Miner. Photo: Richard Conde Monheit and her trio will be featuring the music of The Songbook Sessions at the following dates: 3/22-26 The Royal Room at the Colony Hotel, West Palm Beach, FL; 3/30 Weill Concert Hall, NYC (w/ Michael Kanan); 4/7 Pines Theatre, Lufkin, TX; 4/9 Lancaster Middle School, Kilmarnock, VA; 4/10 Capitol Ale House, Richmond, VA; 4/14-17 Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle (JM Quintet); 4/18 Kuumbwa, Santa Cruz, CA (JM Quintet); 4/21-22 Yoshi's, Oakland (JM Quintet); 6/2-5 Blues Alley, Washington, DC; 6/25 Disney Hall, Los Angeles; 6/26 Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, CA; 8/6 Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT; 8/13 Louis Armstrong Home & Museum, Corona, Queens, NY; 9/3 Grand Hotel, Mackinaw Island, MI (JM Duo). Monheit will appear as a special guest with the Nicholas Payton Trio at the following: 7/5-10 Bird's Basement, Melbourne, Australia (to be confirmed); 7/13 Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey); 7/16 The Old Tobacco Factory, Rovinjin, Croatia; 7/21 Jazz à Grans (France); and additional European dates to be confirmed. Jane Monheit "Something's Gotta Give": At Birdland with special guest Nicholas Payton Photo of Jane Monheit: Bill Westmoreland Web Site: janemonheitonline.com

Here is an interesting chart that says that web surfing is only 6% of web traffic while Netflix is 35%. I'm guessing that means that streaming produces more traffic than static websites do. http://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-03-23/google-and-media-titans-clash-in-a-war-on-internet-piracy

If you haven't already, I recommend that you go to the Santoro Filoso article, and then click on the links of the games. I've really enjoyed reading the sports pages from 1960 and 1961. ***** Rob Ford died yesterday. You may recall that when the time came to face the press regarding scandalous behavior, he chose to wear an Argos jersey. http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer/2016/03/23/if-something-needed-fixing-rob-ford-was-a-good-guy-to-call.html ***** The Bombers have released Clarence Denmark and Bryant Turner. http://www.tsn.ca/bombers-release-veterans-turner-denmark-1.457955 http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/22/bombers-release-denmark-turner/ http://3downnation.com/2016/03/22/bombers-release-turner/#comments ***** The Lions have signed former Rider QB Keith Price. http://www.tsn.ca/lions-sign-former-riders-qb-price-1.458307 ***** The Riders have signed former Stamps RB Matt Walter. http://www.tsn.ca/roughriders-sign-canadian-rb-walter-1.458337 http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/23/riders-add-running-back-depth-in-matt-walter/ ***** Craig Butler, who is now with the Ticats, has injured his knee, and may be out for the year. http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/23/report-ticats-butler-could-be-sidelined-for-season/ http://3downnation.com/2016/03/23/15687/#comments http://3downnation.com/2016/03/23/loss-of-butler-poses-significant-challenge-for-ticats/#comments ***** The draft will be May 10 and will have 7 rounds. Here is the order as it stands now. http://www.tsn.ca/2016-cfl-draft-order-1.449779 ***** Here is a good analysis by TSN's football crew of what they expect each team will go for on draft day. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl-draft-primer-what-teams-might-need-1.450557 ***** Ricky Ray says that he is now throwing without pain for the first time in two years. http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/23/landry-first-time-two-years-ricky-ray-throwing-pain-free/ ***** Ticats radio will have a new play-by-play announcer this year, but it hasn't been announced who. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/22/15683/#comments

Joe Garagiola has died. RIP. I remember that he said that almost everyone in the majors was the best high school player in his town. But he was not only not the best player in his town, he wasn't even the best player on his block. He lived across the street from Yogi Berra! http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/23/hall-fame-sportscaster-mlb-catcher-joe-garagiola-dead-at-90.html

"Continuum” - a new album from Nik Bärtsch’s Mobile - will release April 22nd. In early May, Nik will bring Mobile to the states for a few concerts: -May 1st in Portland, OR at the Alberta Abbey during the Portland Jazz Festival: http://pdxjazz.com/events/?tribe_paged=1&tribe_event_display=list&tribe-bar-date=2016-05-01 -May 5th in Troy, NY at the EMPAC http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2016/spring/mobile -May 6th in NYC at the Rubin Museum http://rubinmuseum.org/events/event/nik-bartschs-mobile-05-06-2016

Not much news in the past week. The Bombers announced that Drew Willy is now completely recovered from his injuries, and is ready to go. http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/15/bomber-qb-willy-healthy-ready-go/ ***** Here is the current status of the free agents. As you can see, not too many are still available. http://www.tsn.ca/2016-potential-cfl-free-agents-1.406129 http://www.cfl.ca/2016/02/07/fa16/ ***** Santino Filoso has written an article about the exhibition games the CFL and NFL teams played way back when. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/20/a-history-of-cfl-vs-nfl-exhibition-games/#comments

Yes, with Windows 7. At the suggestion of some here when I was having some problems, I tried Opera, but it didn't seem to be an improvement.

I just wanted to follow up, and let you guys know that FlashStopper has worked like a charm. I haven't had any problems. Thanks, sonnymax!

This reminds me of the electric keyboard things Warren Bernhardt did in the '80s. It's great music, but probably too poppy for most here. I definitely would recommend it for the youngster who would like to dip his toe into jazz.

Ron McClure is a name I haven't thought about in a long time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_McClure#Discography

I like Carey's records. Trumpeter/Composer Ian Carey's 5th CD, "Interview Music: A Suite for Quintet+1," To Be Released April 8 By Carey's Kabocha Records The Quintet+1 Features Pianist Adam Shulman, Alto Saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, Bass Clarinetist Sheldon Brown, Bassist Fred Randolph, & Drummer Jon Arkin CD Release Show at the Sound Room, Oakland, April 9 March 18, 2016 Bay Area trumpeter and composer Ian Carey's big, bold new jazz suite, Interview Music, is the centerpiece of his like-titled new album, due for release by his Kabocha Records on April 8. The piece, which was premiered in 2013 at the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly the Jazzschool) in Berkeley, is a 45-minute, four-movement adventure and Carey's longest composition to date. It is a vehicle for both his intricate writing and the improvisational chops of his group, the Ian Carey Quintet+1, last heard on 2013's acclaimed album Roads & Codes (Kabocha Records), which received praise from DownBeat and NPR, and appeared on many critics' best of 2013 lists. Carey's rhythm section -- pianist Adam Shulman, bassist Fred Randolph, and drummer Jon Arkin -- goes back more than a decade with him. They are joined by alto saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, whose woody, clarinet-like sound makes for fascinating interplay with the band's extraordinary recent addition, the expansive bass clarinetist Sheldon Brown. The title of Interview Music is "not about trying to get more interviews," quips Carey, though he's not averse to the idea. It refers to a recent discussion in the jazz world over the increasing percentage of new music being funded through nonprofit commissions and grants, and whether that system favors what the late pianist Mulgrew Miller called "interview music" -- high-concept, programmatic works, often with subject matter like visual artists, literary figures, or social movements. Carey turned the tables on the argument by writing a new extended piece for his ensemble which specifically rejects that approach. Somewhat ironically, Interview Music was funded by just such a grant (from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's Musical Grant Program), but Carey noted when applying that he specifically did not want to go into the project with a pre-existing concept. "I write first and figure out what it's about after I hear it," he says. "If it's about anything!" Happily, the grant committee agreed, and funded the piece's composition and premiere performance. The result is a challenging work which runs the gamut from intricate through-composed sections to raucous group improvisation. His goals as a composer -- providing individually tailored solo contexts for each improviser, utilizing the dense counterpoint favored by his favorite composers, and moving beyond the melody-solos-melody roadmap of more traditional jazz writing -- show up in surprising ways, including a passacaglia (a classical form built around a cycling melodic figure) and a movement in which the horns and rhythm section each spend most of the time in completely separate tempos (borrowing a trick from Carey's idol Charles Ives), but the improvisational talents of the ensemble are never far from the forefront. "As complicated as the writing got, I never wanted to lose sight of the fact that it's a jazz piece," Carey said. "Improvisation and swing should still be the stars of the show." The new CD closes with Carey's "Big Friday," which the composer calls "a suite in miniature." It was recorded at the end of the Interview Music session and "felt appropriately like a 'victory lap.'" L. to r.: Sheldon Brown, Adam Shulman, Fred Randolph, Ian Carey, Kasey Knudsen, Jon Arkin. Originally from upstate New York, Ian Carey, 41, lived in Folsom, California and Reno before moving to New York City in 1994, where he attended the New School (studying composition with Bill Kirchner, Henry Martin, and Maria Schneider, and improvisation with Reggie Workman, Billy Harper, and Andrew Cyrille). During a productive seven years in New York, he was able to perform with musicians as varied as Ravi Coltrane, Ted Curson, Ali Jackson, Marion Brown, and Eddie Bert, but when an opportunity arose to spend a summer in San Francisco, he realized he was ready for a break from the Gotham grind. He soon met the musicians who would become the core of his quintet, which transformed over the following twelve years and three albums (2005's Sink/Swim, 2010's Contextualizin', and Roads & Codes) into a tightly-knit unit dedicated to tackling Carey's original compositions. In 2012, looking to augment the group's sonic palette, he expanded the group to the current six members. (He also recorded a well-received duo date, 2014's Duocracy, with pianist Ben Stolorow.) "For me, there is something for everyone in the music," says Carey of Interview Music. "It works as jazz, with enough red meat for the straight-ahead crowd. And it's heavily influenced by chamber music, so it can appeal to people who are into that. Still, I didn't know how it would go over. When we performed it as part of a chamber series and people responded positively to it -- regular jazz music fans and chamber music listeners, but also people who just decided to give it a listen -- I was so gratified." The Ian Carey Quintet+1 will be performing Interview Music and more at the Sound Room, 2147 Broadway, Oakland, on Saturday 4/9, 8:00pm. Ian Carey Quintet+1: Interview Music Band photo: Brian Yuen Web Site: iancareyjazz.com Like: Follow:

Happy Birthday 2016 Rooster!

Happy Birthday 2016 Chuck!

Happy Birthday 2016 Conrad!

Sonny Rollins's "Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol. 4" To Be Released By the Saxophonist's Doxy Records With Distribution by Sony Music Masterworks/OKeh Available Digitally April 8 & On CD April 15 CD Contains 7 Tracks Recorded Between 1979 & 2012 Plus a Previously Unreleased 23-Minute Medley From the Boston 9/11 Concert March 15, 2016 For his new album Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol. 4, the great tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins once again taps into his vast archives of his own concert recordings to compile superior performances for release in the acclaimed Road Shows series. The album encompasses some 33 years (1979-2012) yet coheres with all of the compelling logic and narrative force of an extended Sonny solo. Holding the Stage, to be released by Doxy Records digitally April 8 and on CD April 15, the second album in a distribution agreement with Sony Music Masterworks and its jazz imprint OKeh, is truly a treasure chest that includes tunes Rollins has never before recorded and musical relationships previously undocumented. "This album consists of various periods of my career, with something for everybody," says Rollins. "It's who I am, and the music represents just about every aspect of what I do." Three Rollins originals pay tribute to departed friends and colleagues. The soulful blues "H.S.," for Horace Silver, has been a concert staple since its appearance on Sonny's 1995 Milestone album Sonny Rollins +3. Saxophonist/arranger Paul Jeffrey, who died last year at 81, is remembered in the funky "Professor Paul," a new composition making its recorded debut here. Of "Disco Monk," from 1979's Don't Ask (Milestone) and rarely performed since, Rollins told CD annotator Ted Panken: "It was disco-disco-disco then, everywhere you went, but I heard something juxtaposed with [Thelonious] Monk within this disco craze, and I wanted to meld them in a way that both styles would be themselves and yet be one." Another highlight is a previously unreleased 23-minute medley (and concert closer) from his September 15, 2001 Boston performance, most of which had been immortalized in Rollins's final Milestone album, the Grammy Award-winning Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert. "Sweet Leilani," introduced on his This Is What I Do album of the year before, morphs into a richly evocative solo cadenza and an epically ecstatic "Don't Stop the Carnival." In the Harlem of his youth, Rollins told Panken, "music was happening on every street corner. So the idea of 'keep the music going' is in that song. Don't stop the carnival. In the case of 9/11, that was especially prophetic." Since launching his Doxy Records imprint in 2006 with the Grammy-nominated studio album Sonny, Please, Sonny Rollins has been turning to his concert recording archive dating back nearly 40 years for release on the label. The selections in Volume 1 (2008) spanned nearly three decades and included a trio track from the saxophonist's 50th-anniversary Carnegie Hall concert, while Volume 2 (2011) focused primarily on his historic 80th-birthday concert at New York's Beacon Theatre. Volume 3 (2014) marked the first recording of "Patanjali" and hinged on a stunning 23-minute excavation of Jerome Kern's "Why Was I Born?" Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol. 4 was produced by Rollins and his longtime engineer, Richard Corsello. Personnel includes trombonist Clifton Anderson; pianists Stephen Scott and Mark Soskin; guitarists Bobby Broom, Peter Bernstein, and Saul Rubin; bassists Bob Cranshaw and Jerome Harris; drummers Kobie Watkins, Perry Wilson, Victor Lewis, Jerome Jennings, Al Foster, and Harold Summey Jr.; and percussionists Kimati Dinizulu, Sammy Figueroa, and Victor See Yuen. Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway, and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information, please visit SonyMasterworks.com. Photography: John Abbott Album Purchase Links iTunes http://smarturl.it/sr-road-vol4 Amazon http://smarturl.it/sr-road-vol4-cd

Here are more top 10 videos from last year... catches http://www.cfl.ca/2015/12/18/top-10-catches-of-2015/ strange occurrences http://www.cfl.ca/2015/12/18/top-10-wtf-moments-of-2015/ plays http://www.cfl.ca/2015/12/18/2015-kegsize-plays-of-the-year/ ***** Dave Naylor says that he hears that no one in the NFL wants to sign Johnny Manziel. The Ticats have him on their neg list. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/could-manziel-be-headed-to-the-cfl~828157

Little Feat - OAS - $9.99 prime http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Series-Little-Chicken/dp/B003097B64

Swayze Waters has signed with the Carolina Panthers. There was a nice article about him in this morning's paper, including a large color photo of him in his Argos uniform. I should say that never once did I think of Patrick Swayze when Waters entered a game. I always thought of John Cameron Swayze! Different generations, I guess. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article65636362.html ***** The union is in the market for a new Executive Director. http://www.tsn.ca/cflpa-looking-to-hire-executive-director-1.452850

I'll try that next time!

This was on our local news. Two Globetrotters who went to State and Carolina perform for the cameras. http://abc11.com/sports/globetrotters-with-unc-ncsu-ties-make-amazing-shot/1239274/

"The Music of Jackie McLean," New CD by Saxophonist Steven Lugerner & His Band Jacknife, To Be Released by Primary Records April 22 Pianist Larry Willis Will Be Jacknife's Special Guest For April West Coast Tour In Support of the New Album March 11, 2016 For the last year and a half, San Francisco Bay Area woodwind expert Steven Lugerner has been digging into the music of jazz legend Jackie McLean with Jacknife, Lugerner's hard-hitting West Coast post-bop quintet. The group has completed work on an album, The Music of Jackie McLean, slated for release on April 22 by Primary Records, and will be touring the West Coast next month with special guest Larry Willis, the virtuoso pianist and former McLean sideman. Exploring tunes from McLean's seminal early- and mid-1960s Blue Note albums Jacknife, It's Time, Let Freedom Ring, and New Soil, the new album brings together a formidable cast of rising talent, including pianist Richard Sears, bassist Garret Lang, drummer Michael Mitchell, and trumpeter JJ Kirkpatrick, all of whom will be on the April shows (with Willis replacing Sears). Larry Willis made his recording debut on McLean's 1965 date Right Now and appeared on the original Jacknife album (1966) and other recordings by the saxophonist. Lugerner connected with Willis last summer at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where Lugerner has been Manager of Education Programs since 2013 and Willis was a visiting artist. Although Lugerner never had the opportunity to meet McLean, who died in 2006 at age 74, he listened deeply to the alto giant's recordings as he was coming up. "I studied with alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo, who studied directly with McLean at the Hartt School in the early 1990s," says Lugerner. "Mike was a huge influence on me when I was in college." And during his undergrad years at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music Lugerner took an orchestra class with trumpet great Charles Tolliver, who played such an important role in McLean's mid-60s bands. The modal opening track "On the Nile," a piece by Tolliver, debuted on McLean's Jacknife, which was recorded in 1965 but only released a decade later. The unaccountably shelved album also provided "Climax," an impressive composition by Jack DeJohnette, who was making his recording debut. Both tunes eschew harmonic complexity in favor of sinuous melodies that allow soloists to generate hurtling momentum. For Lugerner, it's a sound that embodies the roiling environment of New York, "the grittiness, the hustle and fast-paced lifestyle, the energy that the city brought to their lives. 'On the Nile' takes no prisoners, but it's accessible, a modal, vampy piece that hits a few key centers. In a way it anticipates developments in rock and hip-hop." Like fellow altoists Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman, McLean infused much of what he played with the feel of blues, whether or not the tune itself was a blues. The jaunty hard-bop anthem "Hip Strut" from New Soil was the tune that turned Lugerner into a McLean devotee during his first year at the New School. He included another classic JayMac blues "Das Dat," from It's Time, a consistently thrilling album with Tolliver, Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Roy Haynes. The best-known piece on the new album, McLean's mischievously lyrical "Melody for Melonae," hails from Let Freedom Ring, a quartet session with Walter Davis Jr., Herbie Lewis, and Billy Higgins. "I chose all the tunes because the melodies were super-strong," Lugerner says. "I'd listen to the albums and these are the songs I'd hum walking down the street. I love the juxtaposition of 'Melody for Melonae' and then this straight-ahead blues. I think Ornette and Jackie were the two bluesiest players that have ever existed." Lugerner's collaborators are similarly inspired by McLean's music. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, and based in Los Angeles, trumpeter JJ Kirkpatrick has gained attention with the Sophisticated Lady Jazz Quartet. New York-reared drummer Michael Mitchell is making waves on the Bay Area scene with the electro-acoustic Negative Press Project. Bassist Garret Lang, who's now based in his native Los Angeles, has recorded with emerging players such as saxophonist Ben Flocks and reed player Levon Henry. And pianist Richard Sears, a Bay Area native now based in New York, is a rapidly rising star who released an acclaimed 2015 trio session Skyline and recently recorded his six-part suite for drum legend Tootie Heath, who's featured on the project (along with Lugerner and Lang). In a relatively short period of time, 27-year-old Bay Area native Steven Lugerner has collaborated with a heavyweight roster of jazz masters, including pianist Myra Melford, percussionist John Hollenbeck, tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, altoist Miguel Zenón, soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, flutist Jamie Baum, and drummer Matt Wilson. Last year's digital-only release Gravitations Vol. II was a gorgeous duo project that places piano great Fred Hersch in an entirely new context. A skilled and diversified woodwind doubler on saxophones, bass clarinet, B-flat clarinet, oboe, English horn, flute, and alto flute, Lugerner is suitably focusing on the alto saxophone for his work with Jacknife: "This is one project where I can bring just one horn." Steven Lugerner & Jacknife, Featuring Larry Willis Thursday 4/14 Café Pink House, Saratoga, CA Friday 4/15 Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco, CA Saturday 4/16 Wilf's, Portland, OR Sunday 4/17 The Royal Room, Seattle, WA Monday 4/18 Stanford Coffee House, Palo Alto, CA Thursday 4/21 KPFA (The Hear and Now w/ Derk Richardson), Berkeley, CA Friday 4/22 Piedmont Piano, Oakland, CA Saturday 4/23 Café Stritch, San Jose, CA Preview: The Music of Jackie McLean Photography: Jamie Tanaka Web Site: stevenlugerner.com Like: Follow:

Pianist/Composer Peter Horvath's Second Album as a Leader, "Absolute Reality," To Be Released March 25 By His Foreign Matter Records Collaborators Include Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Victor Bailey, & Lenny White March 10, 2016 Based in the San Francisco Bay Area since the mid-1980s, keyboardist/ composer Peter Horvath has thrived in the region's highly diverse environment, where various music scenes often overlap. He's played post-bop with Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, and Charles McPherson, and funk fusion with the Victor Bailey Group, Marcus Miller, Bennie Maupin, and Lenny White. He's played Latin jazz with Arturo Sandoval, Ray Obiedo, and Pete Escovedo, and funk and R&B with Pee Wee Ellis, Lalah Hathaway, Melba Moore, Ledisi, and Rosie Gaines. But his in-demand status left him little time for his own music. Now, picking up where he left off in 1995, when Lake Street Records released his critically hailed chart-topping debut Foreign Matter, Horvath is following up with Absolute Reality, his second album as a leader. The CD, which will be released by his Foreign Matter Records on March 25, showcases some of most potent improvisers in jazz and Latin music including trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist Bob Mintzer, drummer Lenny White, bassist Victor Bailey, and guitarist Ray Obiedo. "It's kind of crazy it's been 20 years since my last album," says the Hungarian-born musician. "During that time I was on the road constantly, both nationally and internationally, with artists like Victor Bailey and Lalah Hathaway. When my touring schedule slowed down a bit in 2012, I decided it was time to focus on my own music and get it out there." Absolute Reality is a highly personal and supremely engaging album by an artist eager to celebrate the musical riches he's experienced in the Bay Area. The opener and title track is both a manifesto and a statement of purpose co-written by saxophonist Norbert Stachel, who provides consistently smart horn arrangements throughout the album. "Carla," featuring a gently insinuating groove from Lenny White and a soulful, lyrical performance by Bob Mintzer, showcases Horvath's gift for crafting yearning melodies. No tune better captures the singular mélange of styles that came together in the Bay Area than "Fake Out," a funk-driven tune that sounds like a theme for a 1970s street-wise detective show by way of Steely Dan. "Escape from Oakland" marks the first encounter between Victor Bailey and Ricky Lawson, who together "create this ferocious groove," says Horvath. For pure straight-ahead blowing, Horvath digs in with "Foreign Matter," a treacherous post-bop workout that features Randy Brecker's witty and casually virtuosic trumpet. The album closes with Horvath's tune for his son, "Braden's Song," a striking, ebb-and-flow solo piano piece that provides a tantalizing glimpse at another side of the artist. Born in Budapest, Peter Horvath grew up behind the Iron Curtain at a time when availability of American jazz recordings was very limited. But as the son of Hungarian pop star Mátrai Zsuzsa, he had access to recordings she brought back from touring outside the country. He also credits his maternal grandfather with introducing him to the infinite possibilities of the piano. "My mom was the Barbra Streisand of Hungary, but I wanted a normal mom," Horvath recalls. "In hindsight it was a wonderful thing. Through her I got exposed to jazz. She still lives in Budapest and still performs." Already passionate about the piano, Horvath experienced a jazz epiphany as a young teen when he heard the music of Oscar Peterson. While pursuing his love of jazz, he continued to immerse himself in the European classical tradition, studying at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music. At 17, he won the National Jazz Combo Competition in Gyor, Hungary and a year later he chose to leave his homeland behind. Horvath went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, a move that also led to steady jazz work on the Austrian scene. A scholarship to Berklee brought him to the United States in 1983, when he was 22, and by the end of the year he had left Boston to settle in the Bay Area. He arrived in California as a straight-ahead jazz player, but working with funk vocalist Rosie Gaines introduced him to the jazz-steeped Bay Area R&B scene, where he flourished. All of those influences are readily apparent on his 1995 album Foreign Matter, a highly successful project featuring regular compatriots such as John Pena, Steve Smith, Ray Obiedo, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Benny Rietveld, Santana's Tony Lindsay, and David Garibaldi (with whom he collaborated on a series of widely influential instructive videos for Warner Bros.). He draws on some of the same cast on Absolute Reality, in addition to the great Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Victor Bailey, Lenny White, Dean Brown, and others. It took some time, but Horvath's second album marks the return of a bandleader with a singular and expansive musical vision "that encompasses all the things I've been exposed to," he says. "I wanted to do something that represented all this musical and cultural diversity." Peter Horvath "Absolute Reality" Web Site: peterhorvath.com Follow:

The Ticats today promoted Eric Tillman to GM. I think we can say that his rehabilitation is now complete. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/11/15613/#comments http://www.tsn.ca/ticats-promote-tillman-to-gm-1.451957 http://www.cfl.ca/2016/03/11/ticats-promote-tillman-to-gm-allemang-burke-appointed-assistants/ ***** Drew Edwards points out that the Ticats had the most free agents, but came out OK. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/09/free-agency-could-have-been-a-disaster-for-ticats-it-definitely-wasnt/#comments ***** The Rules Committee has recommended expanding video replay and these three other changes: "• Offensive lineman will now be able to gesture to defensive players while outlining blocking assignments pre-snap while in a three-point stance. • teams that gives up a field goal in the last three minutes of a game will be forced to receive a kickoff instead of being able to take the ball at the 35-yard line. • a defensive player who gives a ball to a fan after a turnover would no longer be flagged for objectionable conduct." http://3downnation.com/2016/03/10/cfl-looks-to-further-expand-replay-use/#comments http://www.tsn.ca/cfl-rules-committee-recommends-eye-in-the-sky-1.451523 Darrell Davis thinks that more video review is a terrible idea, and will cause too many delays. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/11/15606/#comments ***** Arland Bruce had sued the league regarding concussions. Today the trial judge ruled that it is a matter covered by the collective bargaining agreement, and therefore not in his jurisdiction. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/11/b-c-judge-throws-arland-bruce-lawsuit-out-of-court/#comments http://www.tsn.ca/talent/b-c-judge-rules-in-favour-of-cfl-in-concussion-lawsuit-1.452031 ***** The Bombers took Andy Mulumba with the second overall pick in the 2013 draft. He instead played three years in the NFL. He is now a free agent for both leagues. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/11/andy-mulumba-becomes-nfl-and-cfl-free-agent/#comments ***** The various regional combines have been held this week. However, the number one prospect isn't participating. David Onyemata of the Manitoba Bisons will have his own "pro day" Monday before both CFL and NFL scouts. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/10/15600/#comments ***** I never pay attention to the combines because so many first round picks fail to live up to expectations. Justin Dunk gives five reasons why fans should care. http://3downnation.com/2016/03/11/15609/#comments

I'm loving Disc One of this. There is so much to absorb that I'm going to wait a long while before I open up Disc Two.