GA Russell

Does anyone know Denson from his years with Lee Konitz? pfMENTUM Records to Release Two Duo CDs by Bassist Jeff Denson-- "I'll Fly Away" with Pianist Joshua White & "Two" with Clarinetist Claudio Puntin-- On April 15 West Coast CD Release Shows, With Jeff Denson Trio Featuring Joshua White, Scheduled for Early June March 28, 2014 Best known for his work in the celebrated cooperative trio Minsarah (which he founded with Florian Weber and Ziv Ravitz) and his seven-year tenure in the Lee Konitz New Quartet, bassist and composer Jeff Denson has also led a highly regarded quartet featuring Weber, Ralph Alessi, and Dan Weiss. Now Denson is preparing to showcase other aspects of his virtuosity and exquisite musicality with the April 15 release, by the San Diego-based pfMENTUM label, of two very different duo albums, I'll Fly Away and Two. The discs provide a fascinating window into Denson's vast range as an improviser. A singular collaboration with the powerhouse San Diego pianist Joshua White, I'll Fly Away is an emotionally charged project devoted to hymns and spirituals. Two is a melodically rich free improv session with the remarkable Swiss clarinet virtuoso Claudio Puntin. In many ways the projects couldn't be more dissimilar, but they're united by Denson's insistence that the bass can play any musical role. "I don't want to be tied down to being a function player," he says. "I don't want to have to only play the role of the bass as a supportive root function instrument. I love doing that, but I don't want to always have to do that. Even in more straight-ahead situations I find ways to play melodies. I want to be able to play textures. In a duo setting, there's a great deal of freedom." It's a context perfectly suited to his interactive sensibility. "When you play in duo you have 50 percent of the responsibility and you need to be 100 percent committed to what you're doing if the music is going to travel and work and move places," Denson says. "You're either connecting directly with them or not. Everything they play, you must notice. But there are so many options. Deciding not to go with them can be really exciting too." The sacred music project with White grew out of several hymns that Denson performed at funerals for his father and his maternal grandmother who helped raise him, including the title track, performed in three divergent renditions, and the breathtaking solo arco version of "Amazing Grace." The session was recorded in one day and all but one track is a first take, "a really good demonstration of how we share and communicate and share musical aesthetics. We are both really adventurous and take a lot of risks. I just wanted to do what we do." The collaboration with Puntin had a very different genesis. It began, Denson writes in his succinct notes for Two, "in Cologne, Germany in 2008, and ended two years later on a rainy day in Berlin: two musicians, from two continents, two years apart, on two different days, in two different cities, met and recorded this music without discussion or plan . . . . " Investigating a wide array of moods and textures, the music can be playful or threatening, innocent or carnal. "We didn't talk about anything beforehand," says Denson. "We turned the mics on and just played. The music is completely improvised; the chord changes that appear are all spontaneous." Jeff Denson, 37, was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. He attended Berklee (where Minsarah was formed), earned his Master's in jazz studies at Florida State University, and relocated to Southern California to pursue his doctorate (at UC San Diego) in contemporary music performance with an emphasis in composition. Based since 2011 in the East Bay, he is a full professor at the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly the Jazzschool Institute) and has forged ties with some of the Bay Area's top players, including bassoonist Paul Hanson and guitarist Mimi Fox. A prolific composer and arranger, Denson has written music for an array of jazz settings, from big band to trio, as well as for string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera (which he plans to premiere in 2015). While New York City offered a bustling life as a freelancer, Denson has found musical fulfillment on the West Coast. "I can make my living playing everybody else's music being a supportive player, but I wasn't so interested in that," Denson says. "I'm most interested in doing something unique musically by pushing my own work. And I love teaching. So I can inspire people, and focus on what I want to do." Denson will be working with his trio featuring Joshua White (far left) and drummer Jon Arkin at the following West Coast CD release shows: 5/31 Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco; 6/2 SOhO Restaurant and Music Club, Santa Barbara; 6/3 Jazz at the CAP, Los Angeles; 6/4 The Loft at University of California San Diego, La Jolla; 6/7 Café Stritch, San Jose; 6/8 Duende, Oakland; and 7/25-26 Moody's Bistro, Bar & Beats, Truckee. He'll also be performing with the Joshua White Quintet 6/5 at the Del Mar (CA) Foundation. Jeff Denson's Secret World European Tour 2014, featuring trumpeter Cuong Vu, pianist Alex Conde, and drummer Jon Arkin, is now being finalized for late October. The quartet will be appearing in Heilbronn, Cologne, Osnabrük, and Dortmund, Germany, among other cities. A European CD Release Tour for Denson's trio is being scheduled for January 2015. Photography: Peter Varshavsky Web Site: www.jeffdenson.com Like: Follow:

This is now up on Spotify. I like it! It is quite laid back. It could have been recorded sixty years ago. If these guys played in a neighborhood bar, I'd go there all the time.

Season One and Season Three are now $10.96.

Now I'm jealous of Bill Murray! http://beerstreetjournal.com/this-is-bill-murray-in-pbr-pants/

I never particularly liked All Our Reasons. I like One is the Other much, much more.

This was my first Clifford Brown album, and I still enjoy it.

The NLRB ruled today that the Northwestern football players can unionize. http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/03/26/college-football-players-can-unionize-federal-agency-says/ Here's ESPN's take. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10677763/northwestern-wildcats-football-players-win-bid-unionize

mjee, that's a Membran box. Do you have it, and if so, how is the sound? Don't most people here look down on Membran?

Check this out! The league's chief statistician used the data to pick four dream teams. http://www.macleans.ca/interactive-cfl-dream-teams/

This is a favorite of mine from EMI/Blue Note. 60 Great Jazz Classics for Lovers (used - $7.45) http://www.amazon.com/60-Great-Jazz-Classics-Lovers/dp/B00008ES6Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=11THRBMFZMWGGPMZHKQR These are probably just as good. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Jazz-Classics-Various-Artists/dp/B00008ES6X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0NCKQND5C8D8XZ2X06F8 http://www.amazon.com/60-Great-Jazz-Classics-Movies/dp/B00008ES6Z/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0J7KV7TZJNSDPFB185M5

It's been two and a half weeks since March 8, so I'll try to list things in chronological order. The Toronto city government is pushing for the Argos to play in BMO Field, the current home of Toronto's soccer team. http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2014/03/07/mlse_city_pushing_to_move_argos_to_bmo_field.html ***** The Argos released Khalif Mitchell so he could pursue NFL opportunities. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=445832 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4675645 ***** The Eskimos released Chris Thompson. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=446278 http://cfl.ca/article/esks-release-veteran-db-thompson ***** The Riders have hired Avon Cobourne to be their running backs coach. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=446535 http://cfl.ca/article/backfield-help-cobourne-joins-riders-coaching-staff ***** Rey Williams has retired as a player, and will become the Riders' Director of Player Development. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=446537 http://cfl.ca/article/reys-day-williams-announces-retirement ***** Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson tweeted that he would like to play with BC. Wally gave it some consideration and turned him down, so Jim Popp added him to the Als' neg list. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=446799 ***** The Rules Committee has recommended that defensive pass interference be subject to video review. I am not aware of the Board of Governors ever turning down the Rules Committee. http://cfl.ca/article/video-review-of-pi-gets-one-step-closer http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=446862 ***** The draft's projected #1 pick, McGill OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, skipped the league's combines last week, and will try out for Arizona, Seattle and Cleveland. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=447199 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=447337 ***** Winnipeg has been awarded the 2015 Grey Cup game, says Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/2015-Grey-Cup-willed-be-played-in-Peg-251972661.html?device=mobile ***** One more. Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson passed away today, so now we can expect the press on slow news days to speculate about the Bills moving to Toronto. http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=447323#YourCallTop

This one is now up on Spotify. It is much more out than his last album (which wasn't out at all), but I like it very much. It reminds me of something but I can't think of what. Maybe you will know what I am referring to when you listen to it. It swings hard throughout.

My bank has charged me $26.94. I was thinking around $30, so I'm happy.

Jim, I agree with you that the explanation of the peacock's colors is BS. That sounds like something NBC's current owners made up. I also doubt very much that the Coca-Cola logo has anything to do with the Swiss flag.

Here are two lists of logos with hidden items in them. Enjoy! http://funnado.com/brand-logos-with-subliminal-messages/ http://funnado.com/more-brand-logos-with-hidden-symbols/

NCIS - Seasons 1-9 Each season is only $9.99. This may be for today only. http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_n2sxwi&ie=UTF8&node=8405006011

Happy Birthday 2014 martini!

Chuck, the less alcohol in the bottle, the more I can drink!

1964 was quite a year for Blue Note.

Wings Seasons 1 & 2 - $8.99 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EQ2KU7G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=RVSBV717YT9&coliid=IM6POIGH70VMG Seasons 3 & 4 - $9.49 http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Season-3-Timothy-Daly/dp/B00GOC74QG/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_y

Here is a list of 48 beers of less than 5% ABV which are recommended by Draft Magazine. Any thoughts? http://draftmag.com/features/less-filling-tastes-awesome/

"The Chase," Second CD by the David White Jazz Orchestra, Due for April 8 Release By White's Mister Shepherd Records CD Release Shows Scheduled in NYC At Saint Peter's Church, 7/9 & Harlem School of the Arts, 7/18 March 18, 2014 Trombonist/composer David White formed his powerhouse 17-piece ensemble, the David White Jazz Orchestra, in 2007 and introduced them to the jazz world four years later with his well-received debut, Flashpoint. "White clearly knows his jazz history," wrote one reviewer, "and strikes a perfect balance by incorporating his musical influences while defining his own progressive style." White now returns with a follow-up disc, The Chase, containing six new originals performed by his New York City-based orchestra, many of whose members have been associated with him musically since their high school days in Buffalo, New York two decades ago. The ensemble, while steeped in big-band traditions, takes the music in exciting new directions rife with vibrant voicings and rhythmic variety. White's Mister Shepherd imprint will release the disc on April 8. "There's a whole palette of orchestral colors within the big band that are not always tapped into," explains the 35-year-old leader. "When you take all the various colors and color combinations that are possible, it's like having a giant box of Crayolas where you can color and draw anything that you can imagine. Contrary to popular opinion, the big band has a rich palette for orchestration. A symphony orchestra has a standard instrumentation, but you wouldn't expect a symphony orchestra to sound a particular way. It's really up to the composer and the orchestrator use those colors in a unique way, and I don't want people to know what to expect when they hear my music." On the new disc, White's robust trombone gets the solo spotlight on "Persistence," a song he says was inspired by minimalist composer Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. Other highlights include the fast-burning "Mister Shepherd's Misadventures," with solos by tenor saxophonist Sam Dillon and trumpeter Miki Hirose; "The Shakedown," a funky 24-bar composition featuring alto saxophonist Andrew Gould (who's also worked with the Jon Faddis and Wallace Roney big bands); and "Blues for Sally Draper," a medium-tempo 12-bar blues named for the precocious character on Mad Men, White's favorite television show. Growing up in Buffalo, David White played recorder and trumpet before settling on trombone. He played in both the jazz band and concert band in junior high school and was playing professionally by the time he was 14 with a big band at Buffalo's historic Colored Musicians Club led by baritone saxophonist Macy Favor. "Macy was an important father figure since I had a single mother and my grandfather had passed," White says. "Music was always something that added discipline in my life. There's the discipline of practicing. There's the discipline of being in bands, which is more responsibility than a lot of 14-year-olds would have had. It let me get a lot of my trial and error out of the way at an early age. It was tuning my ear to blending with other musicians to playing in a trombone section to balancing the trombone section with the rest of the band." After high school, White spent a year at the University of Buffalo, where he studied with noted classical trombonist Richard Myers, before transferring to the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, from which he would earn Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music. At Purchase he studied with onetime Woody Herman trombonist Jim Pugh and played in the school's big band, small jazz groups, Latin jazz band, trombone choir, symphony orchestra, brass band, and wind ensemble. "If there was a trombone in it, I played in it," he explains. "I wanted to have the widest possible experience." White moved to the New York City area in 2003 and currently resides in Queens. He led his own quintet for seven years and has also played with Charli Persip's big band and currently with Valery Ponomarev's big band. Since its inception in 2007, the David White Jazz Orchestra has performed at such New York venues as Symphony Space, Garage Restaurant and Café, Tea Lounge, Somethin' Jazz Club, Saint Peter's Church, and the Full Gospel Assembly of Queens. The orchestra's membership has been, the leader says, "way more stable than I ever anticipated" over the past seven years. The trombonist cites J.J. Johnson ("the father of us all"), Ray Anderson ("the anti-J.J."), Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, and Grachan Moncur III as influences on his playing and Maria Schneider, Steve Reich, Gerald Wilson, and Thad Jones as being among the composer-arrangers who have most inspired him. As evidenced by 2011's Flashpoint and now The Chase, David White has become a jazz force to be reckoned with. He's a wonderfully innovative composer, the leader of a dynamic orchestra filled with brilliant soloists and section players, and a darn good trombone blower to boot. The David White Jazz Orchestra will celebrate the release of The Chase with performances at Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th Street, NYC, Wed. 7/9 at 1:00 pm; and at Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Ave., NYC, Fri. 7/18, 6:30 pm. Web Site: www.davidwhitejazz.com

Amazon UK says that this Miles Fillmore box will be released on the 24th, which is Monday; so I guess that you guys in the British Isles will receive it that day in the mail. Amazon says that my estimated delivery date is March 31 - April 4. Easter is April 20, so I will plan to open mine up then and tell myself the Easter Bunny brought it.

I'm on the Quora mailing list, and found this in today's email. Things programmers know that maybe you don't: Digital content can never be moved, only copied. You can never watch or listen to anything on the internet without having it copied to your computer first. You cannot password protect a computer from someone who has physical access to it, only encryption works. When you empty the trashcan, the files are not deleted. When you format your hard drive, the files are not deleted. Murphy was right. Your desktop computer can run advanced programs for free that used to be available only to big companies for $100,000. Like Unix, virtual machines and SQL servers. The Cloud simply means someone else's computer. That Office documents are actually ZIP files.

Scott, I think that fifteen feet per cable will be enough. It looks like that bluejeans site sells the cable by the foot.