Home » Stories » ECM puts together a 50th anniversary concert@JALC / STEREOGUM

Stories for May 30, 2020

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    Laila Biali discusses 'Out of Dust' with 88.9WUCF
     
    Posted At : May 28, 2020 12:00 AM

    JUNO Award winner Laila Biali's new album, Out of Dust features not only contributions from the singer/pianist's husband; Ben Wittman and son, but also multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fisher, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis. "There's a line from a song by the indie gospel group, Gungor, that has become like an anthem to me," Biali says. "‘He makes beautiful things out of dust.' That's where the title for the album comes from, and as a songwriter and musician, my ultimate intention and hope is to spread a little more love." Listen to the attached Laila Biali - 88.9WUCF: Orlando FL Interview with Kayonne Riley 

  • Michael Whalen inteviews with 88.1WMBR
     
    Posted At : May 27, 2020 12:00 AM

    Michael Whalen's "Sacred Spaces" is an epic recording nearly ten years in the making. "I have been pursuing a spiritual ‘awakening' for most of my adult life. Over the past decade, I realized that I am 100 percent responsible for whatever my relationship with a ‘higher being' might be," says Whalen. Filled with sonic landscapes built from hundreds of layers of sound, "Sacred Spaces" is Michael's tour-de-force electronic project, which seamlessly blends his natural gift for melody with fresh textures and percolating rhythms. Deeply inspired by Michael's film and TV work and his love for progressive rock, "Sacred Spaces" is the ambient recording of the year. MW spoke with 88.1WMBR: Boston, 'New Edge' host; Ken Field. Listen to the attached file

  • Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, collaborate with Sharon Isbin - strumming together in unique teaming / REPUBLICWORLD.COM
     
    Posted At : May 25, 2020 12:00 AM

    Legendary maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangaash will be collaborating with multiple Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. The new album will give viewers a unique teaming of two classical music instruments strumming together. The album, "String For Peace", is scheduled to release on the 22nd of May on the ZOHO label (ZM 202004).  Strings For Peace is a perfect blend of various classics. Viewers will get to listen to a melodious eclectic east-west fusion of sarod and classical guitar. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Sharon Isbin have been contemplating about the east-west fashion and finally, their fusion will come to fruition. The album will contain four tracks and cover various ragas composed by Amjad Ali Khan.  SEE THE FULL REPUBLICWORLD.COM PAGE

  • Todd Mosby's 'Open Waters' wins the 2019 ZMR 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album'
     
    Posted At : May 24, 2020 12:00 AM

    Produced by Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman, and with a sound described as "an album to daydream to", Open Waters finds Todd Mosby once again embarking on a creative journey navigating through elements of Jazz, New Age, Folk and Indian music. Coming from a family of inventors (he is the co-inventor of the Imrat guitar along with Kim Schwartz and Imrat Khan), Mosby's early musical DNA was formed from his love of Bluegrass and Folk music, which eventually expanded into Fusion and Jazz.  Todd Mosby's 'Open Waters' wins the 2019 ZMR 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album'

  • Michael Shapiro discusses 'Archangel' with Spokane Public Radio
     
    Posted At : May 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    On ‘Archangel', Michael Shapiro breathes new life into the famous Toccata from the Fifth Organ Symphony by Victorian French composer Charles-Marie Widor with this arrangement for full orchestra named Widorama! played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by the composer. Shapiro's arrangement of the famous Toccata, frequently used by organists for weddings and church services, brings the work into the concert hall in highly dramatic fashion. The album also includes; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra' , ‘Perlimplinito, Opera Sweet, A Lace Paper Valentine for Orchestra' , and ‘Roller Coaster for Orchestra.' Shapiro sat down with Spokane Public Radio's James Tevenan to discuss the recording and his superb career. Listen to the attached file


  • Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow 'Life Goes On' is richly poignant but never lugubrious / the absolute sound
     
    Posted At : May 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    If there's an air of resignation to the way pianist/composer Bley has titled the movements of her opening suite-"Life Goes On," "On," "And On," "And Then One Day"-it is belied throughout this gently gripping album by Bley's indelible wit and unsinkable sanguinity. Both are evident in her pithy liner notes, her quotes of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "The Star Spangled Banner" in the "Beautiful Telephones" suite (inspired by remarks made by the current president during his first week in the White House), her play on call-and-response in the closing suite, "Copy Cat," and the unfrantic flow of her elegant melodies and soothing harmonies. The album title could reference Bley's career (more than five decades of recording), her age (she turns 82 in May), or the longevity of this uncannily simpatico trio (25 years and counting). Touching here on the blues and there on tango, now buoyant, now contemplative, the music is richly poignant but never lugubrious, bent but not sharply angular, spacious and light but never ungrounded. Swallow's unique electric bass sound and Sheppard's stately tenor and soprano sax tones, heard in ample solo space, seamlessly lock in with Bley's eccentric phrasing as the band sublimely plays on. SEE the absolute sound PAGE

  • 'Hot Time' from William Susman's 'Scatter My Ashes' featured on Punto Radio's animajazz
     
    Posted At : May 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    In episode 919 of "ANIMAJAZZ", conceived and conducted by BRUNO POLLACCI , broadcast TUESDAY 19 May at 20.30, on PUNTORADIO, also streaming on www.puntoradio.fm and in an immediate podcast of the evening includes; "Hot Time"; from William Susman's "Scatter My Ashes." OCTET''s inaugural album has been recorded over the past few years with renowned engineer John Kilgore and was released by Naxos on the label Belarca. The album features the music of William Susman including two song cycles (with poems by his sister Sue Susman) Scatter My Ashes and Moving in to an Empty Space performed by soprano Mellissa Hughes, as well as his Piano Concerto and the ensemble work Camille. "William Susman's remarkable achievement is to take the familiar instrumentation of American popular music, harmonic and rhythmic influences from jazz and Afro-Cuban music and sinuous melodic lines that are uniquely his own and weave them into something new and fresh, yet timeless and haunting. Memorable yet enigmatic, simple yet profound, Susman's music is irresistible." - John Kilgore (Grammy Award-Winning Classical Engineer) SEE THE Punto Radio animajazz PAGE

Top 10 for May

  • Owen Pallett :

    Spaceship Earth

     Milan Records announces today's release of SPACESHIP EARTH (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with music by composer, violinist, keyboardist and vocalist OWEN PALLETT.
  • Uno Helmersson :

    The Painter and the Thief OMPS

     Milan Records today releases THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with music by award-winning composer Uno Helmersson.
  • John Scofield :

    Swallow Tales

     Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, made in an afternoon in New York City in March 2019 - "old school" style as Scofield says, acknowledging that more than forty years of preparation led up to it.
  • Aska Matsumiya :

    Betty

     Milan Records and HBO today release BETTY (HBO ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK) with music by composer ASKA MATSUMIYA.
  • Nicola Benedetti :

    Elgar Violin Concerto

     GRAMMY award-winning Nicola Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics explores music by Britain's best loved composer, Edward Elgar.
  • Bear McCreary :

    Outlander

     Sony Music today releases OUTLANDER: SEASON 5 (ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK) with music by EMMY® and BAFTA award-winning composer BEAR MCCREARY.
  • Tom Holkenborg :

    White Lines - Music From The Netflix Original Seri

     Milan Records announces the release of WHITE LINES (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES) with music by multi-platinum producer, musician, composer and educator TOM HOLKENBORG aka JUNKIE XL.
  • Vox Clamantis :

    Cyrillus Kreek - The Suspended Harp of Babel

     Vox Clamantis, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve, has established itself as Estonia's foremost small vocal ensemble, at home in the worlds of both old and new music.
  • Jay Wadley :

    Driveways OMPS

     Milan Records today releases Driveways (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by composer and music producer Jay Wadley (Indignation, Tales of the City, ADAM).
  • Laura Benanti :

    Sucker

     Laura Benanti shares new single & music video her take on the Jonas Brothers' chart-topping hit "Sucker" The Tony® Award-Winning star will donate 100% of her earnings from the recording to foodcorps on the heels of Laura's social media campaign #sunshinesongs new music video is a moving tribute that celebrates families, loved ones & essential workers during an unprecedented time of the new track and video.

ECM puts together a 50th anniversary concert@JALC / STEREOGUM

Posted: November 21, 2019 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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People often talk about particular jazz labels having an aesthetic, a through-line that encompasses most if not all of their releases. Very few labels have been as convincingly tagged this way, in the public mind, as ECM. For five decades, they have been seen as the home for a particular sort of stately, reserved, starkly beautiful jazz that politely requests your focused attention - their CDs begin with five seconds of silence, a sort of cooling-off moment between whatever you were listening to before and whatever's about to come - and rewards it.

Of course, ECM doesn't have a single sound, even if the production favored by label head Manfred Eicher and his longtime engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug (who died 11/5 at 75) always had certain qualities in common, in particular a precise combination of clarity and room sound and very carefully deployed reverb. But within those parameters, the variety of music released on the label is stunning, so when ECM put together a 50th anniversary concert at Jazz At Lincoln Center at the beginning of this month, the question of who would perform was wide open.

The approach they settled on was brilliant. There were close to a dozen acts, each getting 10-15 minutes onstage. It began with Brazilian pianist Egberto Gismonti, performing solo in an extremely lyrical and romantic manner. That was followed by the trio of saxophonist Joe Lovano, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and drummer Carmen Castaldi, playing two pieces from their album Trio Tapestry, released earlier this year.

Throughout the night, solo performers like bassist Larry Grenadier, and pianists Nik Bärtsch and Craig Taborn, alternated with duos and trios. Easily the most thrilling portion of the concert, for me, was two back-to-back sets. The first was a duo performance by pianist Vijay Iyer, who started out on electric piano, and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. The two improvised together for about 10 minutes in a way that was simultaneously soft and gentle, but throbbing with energy. Then Iyer left the stage, but Smith remained. He was joined by guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Andrew Cyrille, and they performed a piece from Lebroba, the album they made together last year. It was louder and more aggressive than what Smith and Iyer had done, but his stunningly beautiful trumpet playing was the common factor, each note like an ice-cold dagger fired straight through every audience member's heart.
PHOTO CREDIT: Delphine Diallo       READ THE FULL STEREOGUM ARTICLE

Crossover Media Projects with Various

  • Various

    Orff: Carmina Burana Live From the Forbidden City

    Recorded live to the highest industry standards in front of the magnificent scenery of Beijing's Forbidden City, this unique gala concert celebrates the 120th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon. The concert features conductor Long Yu and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, both freshly signed as exclusive recording artists to Deutsche Grammophon, and performances from Aida Garifullina, Daniil Trifonov, Mari Samuelsen, and more.

  • Various

    A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper

    Impulse! has brought together some of the great progressive jazz musicians of our time to pay tribute to The Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper will be available on vinyl for Record Store Day on November 23, available on CD, digital, and streaming platforms on November 30, with a wide vinyl release on January 18, 2019.

    A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper includes performances and interpretations by artists such as UK saxophonist and Impulse! recording artist Shabaka Hutchings, Impulse! pianist Sullivan Fortner, Verve recording artist Miles Mosley, Onyx Collective, percussionist Antonio Sanchez, guitarist Mary Halvorson, The JuJu Exchange and more. 

    This stellar lineup represents some of the great progressive jazz artists from around the world: Shabaka from the UK Jazz scene, Miles Mosley and Cameron Graves from LA's West Coast Get Down, Onyx Collective from NYC, Makaya McCraven and the JuJu Exchange from Chicago.  

  • Various

    Beethoven

    Many people picture grim-faced Beethoven, shaking his fist at the heavens and persisting through deafness and illness to compose works of transcendent beauty, but he also stirs emotions that feel both deeply personal and ubiquitous. There are moments of red-cheeked optimism, quiet introspection, playful dances, heroic declarations, a restless search for the sublime. And while Beethoven is perhaps most famous for his sonatas and symphonies, he composed an opera, chamber works, songs, sacred music, incidental music for the stage, even dances. Taken together, these selections paint a rich portrait of Beethoven's humanity, which has attracted artists of the highest caliber such as Leonard Bernstein, Carlos Kleiber, Janine Jansen, and Martha Argerich. Some of these recordings are legendary, but all of them jump out with their undeniable virtuosity and brilliance. This collection may remind you of that iconic portrait of immortal Genius suffering for Art, but it will also reacquaint you with an artist from another time who somehow captured so much of the human experience.

  • Various

    The Royal Wedding - The Official Album

    Decca Records is proud to release The Official Recording of The Royal Wedding, one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year. Having recorded the entire service live at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle today, every piece of music, the readings, blessings and the vows will be available to listen to permanently on all streaming services in just a few hours: a first for a Royal Wedding. The physical album, on CD, will then be released into retail stores around the world from 1st June. 

    The musical highlight of the moving and joyous ceremony was British cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, one of the most exciting musicians of his generation, who was personally asked by the bride and groom to perform at their wedding. The 19-year-old musician took centre stage for the all-important signing of the register. Dressed in a black Paul Smith suit with vibrant pink tie, Sheku played three beautiful pieces: "Sicilienne" by von Paradis, Schubert's "Ave Maria," and "Après Un Rêve" by Fauré. He was accompanied by orchestra*, as the Royal Couple officially became husband and wife. Knowing he was performing not only for the Royal Family, 600 invited guests in the Chapel, and an estimated global audience of up to three billion people, the talented teenager was thrilled to be involved in the occasion:

  • Various

    Hopes and Dreams - The Lullaby Project

    History was written in 2000 BC, and 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Brahms' Lullaby, so this precious musical tradition has deep cultural and emotional roots. These personal songs bring people together, span generations, and tell stories about where we come from, who we are now, and our hopes for the future. The legacy continues with the release of Hopes and Dreams: The Lullaby Project on Decca Gold (Verve Label Group). The recording is inspired by the Lullaby Project, a program of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute which pairs pregnant women, new mothers, and family members with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting maternal health, aiding child development, and strengthening the bond between parent and child. Hopes and Dreams: The Lullaby Project features fifteen lullabies written by parents from across New York City, as performed by Fiona Apple, the Brentano String Quartet, Lawrence Brownlee, Rosanne Cash, Joyce DiDonato, Janice Freeman (The Voice 2017), Rhiannon Giddens (Nashville), Angélique Kidjo, Patti LuPone, Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs), Dianne Reeves, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Pretty Yende, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

  • Various

    Jazz Loves Disney 2: A Kind of Magic

    The second installment of the Jazz Loves Disney series, Jazz Loves Disney 2: A Kind of Magic features guest artists including Angélique Kidjo, Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Jacob Collier, George Benson, Madeleine Peyroux and more, taking on beloved melodies from the Disney canon. The album will be released on Verve Records on November 10.  The Jazz Loves Disney series celebrates the nostalgia and universal appeal of the music of Disney films. The rich catalogue of Disney songs that span genres and generations inspired producer Jay Newland and arranger Rob Mounsey to continue the series. 

    7 NEW  106 TOTAL
    SYND:     NPR, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Portland, Detroit, Denver, Memphis, Orlando, Albuquerque, Wichita, Madison WI, Honolulu, HI(Statewide), Barcelona, Berlin
    INTER: Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, South Africa
    Online: LaughingPlace, Troonradio, Quisqueya, udiscovermusic, The Healthy Mouse, The Daily Shuffle, Dis411, NextBop.com, MOJA, GreenArrow, Jazz Gallery 41, The Jazz groove, Sun Music, Jazz Weekly, Radio Free Amsterdam

    19 Jazzweek ADD's

  • Various

    The Passion of Charlie Parker

    The Passion of Charlie Parker is a new album from producer Larry Klein that tells the story of Charlie Parker using his music as inspiration for new songs that narrate his life. Guest artists include Gregory Porter, Madeleine Peyroux, Kandace Springs, actor Jeffrey Wright, and more. The album will be available on impulse!/ Verve digitally on June 16, with physical release to follow on June 30. Larry Klein says, "With this album I've endeavored to do something new and different in an effort to illustrate who ‘Bird' was as an archetypal character, and to draw attention to the huge impact that his work had on Jazz." Rather than create another tribute of traditional bebop tunes, Klein partnered with lyricist David Baerwald to create a musical play that tells the story of Charlie Parker's life while still playing with the jagged melodic nature of Charlie Parker's compositions.

    7 NEW  123 TOTAL
    SYND:     Jazz After Hours, Jazz Happening Now, Jazz Inspired, Voice of America
    Direct: SiriusXM
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Portland, Miami, Detroit, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Austin, Denver, Albuquerque, Orlando, San Antonio, Sacramento, Louisville, Knoxville, Madison WI, Rochester, Tampa, Honolulu, OR(Statewide), WV(Statewide), VT(Statewide), KS(Statewide), MS(Statewide), HI(Statewide), Toronto, Vancouver
    INTER: Canada, UK
    Online: GreenArrow, Jazz & Blues Report, KUHS/Vaya, Soulandjazz.com, Jazz Weekly, Radio Valencia, Que4 Radio, Freaky Party, theguardian

    45 Jazzweek ADD's