Metheny Mehldau - Release date 9/12/06

The collaboration between Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau is something that must have been written in the stars. Fans of both men have wondered if it would ever take place, and the end result on the Nonesuch release of Metheny Mehldau is the confirmation that it was destined. Hyperbole? Put it on and listen before you offer that remark seriously. Of the ten cuts here, eight are duets; the other two feature Mehldau's rhythm section, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. Metheny wrote seven of these tunes, and Mehldau wrote the other three. Each man's compositional style is evident from the word go. There's the luxurious counterpoint that extends form the haunting melody of "Unrequited." Further, there is the natural extension of rhythm and swing on "Ahmid-6." But the real accomplishment here is the ease with which these men play such sophisticated and engaging music that is, perhaps on paper, difficult. But its expansive sense of lyricism and yes, rhythmic interplay, is continually surprising; there is no competition in these tunes, they flow, one into the other with a language being made on the spot. On the quartet tunes, such as Metheny's "Ring of Life," the influence of postmodern drum'n'bass — à la electronica — is heard in the tough breakbeats played by Ballard and the counter-rhythmic invention of both Mehldau and Grenadier. It is Metheny's melodic voice, his continually approaching the euphoric, that holds it all together and makes something utterly moving out of it. The gentle swing of "Say the Brother's Name" (also by Metheny) takes Mehldau's sense of the phrase and expansive left-hand technique as it finds harmonic invention in the middle register as the key to unlocking the track's mystery. Mehldau's typically understated solo splits the seam and allows the genuine intensity of the cut to come through. Rhythmically there are breaks here too, but not as pronounced or as forceful as on the earlier selection. Indeed, when all is said and done, the listener is left wanting — more that it. One wishes that a double album would have been made, one with the duet — so full of startling moments it's impossible to list them all — and quartet, whose genuine sense of extrapolative swing is not only inherent, but infectious.

Review by Thom Jurek - allmusic.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Diana Krall | From This Moment On - Release date 9/19/06

“This album coincides with a happier time in my life. I think it’s very obvious in the music. It reflects how I’m feeling now, the joy that I have in my marriage and family, and hopefully in the future.”

It had only been a few days since singer and pianist Diana Krall publicly announced that she and husband Elvis Costello were expecting their first child. Her remarks may have primarily focused on her upcoming album, but it was easy to discern the rosy glow as she discussed imminent arrivals, and how she came up with the name for one of them.

“I already knew before we went into the studio the title of the record. I definitely knew it was going to be From This Moment On.”

Cole Porter’s romantic ode to great expectations (with its hip, heartening couplet, “No more blue songs/Only whoop-dee-doo songs”) could not be more apt a title track for Krall’s tenth album. From This Moment On is an eleven-song collection that captures the Canadian-born sensation in full swing, in great company, and at the top of her game. It could also be called her strongest, most cohesive release to date.

Krall is the first to admit that the album’s marked, upbeat theme was not originally her intention (“I never try to link tunes together or find songs that work together as a whole. It happens organically in the recording process, or not at all.”) But she does assume credit for knowing the songs she would be recording when she, her quartet and the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra assembled for two weeks in Los Angeles’s famed Capitol Studios this spring.

“I didn’t really sit down with anybody prior to recording it and say, ‘I think I want to do this.’ I knew exactly what I wanted from the get go. I started writing down song titles last summer, but a lot of these tunes I’ve had in my back pocket for years. I’ve been working on ‘How Insensitive’ for about ten years. ‘Day In, Day Out’ I started working on when I was about 24. I mean these are all tunes that finally have found their place.

“Every tune has to have some sort of personal connection. But I didn’t want it all to be too upbeat – like ‘Willow Weep For Me’, which for me is more of a social comment, adds a question mark to that positive feeling.”

In songs, mood and delivery, From This Moment On reveals Krall’s personal ardor for that golden era of song-making, when Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and (especially) Nat “King” Cole were in their prime. It’s musical territory that Krall has often explored, but this album was certainly not a case of simply repeating past formulas: Krall’s A-team of support – producer Tommy LiPuma, engineer Al Schmitt and arranger/bandleader John Clayton – were on hand to ensure that inspiration was kept on an edge, unhindered by the studio environment.

“I’m not exactly working with people who are going to just say, ‘Oh it’s lovely, Diana.’ We never go an automatic pilot, you know? Sometimes I feel incredibly exposed during the recording process but fortunately I have the safety net of people whom I can listen to, and agree or disagree with. There’s nobody hanging over me and saying you have to do this or that. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t surprises and it can be an extraordinarily intense environment. The emotions can run high since people care so passionately about the music and what we are doing.”

Krall – for the few still unknowing – is the sensation whose cool, heavy-lidded vocals and strikingly sensitive piano-playing has helped her transcend barriers of genre to become a popular artist of the first order who has carved herself a permanent position at the top of the jazz charts.

The seeds of Krall’s crossover success are firmly rooted in her upbringing. Born in Nanaimo, Canada, to a musical family – her father is a stride-style pianist and serious record collector -- she grew up absorbing music that laid the foundation for her future growth. She attended Berklee College of Music in the early ‘80s, moved to Los Angeles where she continued her studies with the likes of bassist Ray Brown and pianist Jimmy Rowles, who convinced the young pianist to focus on her singing as well. By 1990, Krall relocated to New York City where she began performing on a regular basis with her trio. In 1993, she released her debut album on a small Canadian independent label.

Thirteen years later, she can look back over a stellar career path: in ’99, signed to Verve, her career exploded when When I Look in Your Eyes won a GRAMMY© for best jazz vocal and became the first jazz disc to be nominated for Album of the Year in twenty-five years. In 2002, The Look of Love was a #1 bestseller in the US and a seven-time platinum album in Canada. 2004’s The Girl in the Other Room, was her first to focus on her own songwriting – featuring six tunes co-written with her husband – and last year’s Christmas Songs proved one of the season’s best-sellers.

From This Moment On delivers Krall closer than ever to her musical aspirations and, in many ways, serves as a tribute to her heroes and mentors. One can detect her gratitude in a variety of musical moments.

“There’s a couple of pieces that I put Ray Brown into – like his introduction to Count Basie’s Little Darlin’ on ‘You Can Depend On Me’ -- and a lot of [vocalist/pianist] Shirley Horn was present in ‘Come Dance With Me.’ Our treatment of ‘From This Moment On’ came together after listening to [trumpeter/composer] Kenny Dorham’s version which I really love. I hear [arranger] Billy May especially in ‘Day In Day Out.’

“I have to mention Fred Astaire’s influence on ‘I Was Doing All Right’ – and in fact, all through the album. I listened to a lot of Fred with Oscar Peterson while preparing for this project, as well as watching a lot of his early movies, like Swing Time."

“Do you know that great album with Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra, where he sings ‘Poor Butterfly’? ‘ Isn’t This A Lovely Day’ is very reminiscent of that. John [Clayton] wrote that arrangement at dinner the night before we recorded it. We were all sitting at a restaurant and he’s got a pad of paper. He was laughing and having the conversation and you see the wheels turning at the same time. And I loved playing piano on that. I think that’s my favorite piano work on the whole record – that, and ‘Exactly Like You.’”

Krall’s piano work and her arrangements – particularly on the album’s four quartet performances – are all standouts, as are a number of instrumental solos that she recalls with a marked fondness.

“That’s Gerald Clayton on piano on the title track -- he’s an amazing piano player and I think he played the hell out of that tune. I think Jeff Clayton’s alto sax solo on ‘Isn’t This A Lovely Day’ is a masterpiece -- definitely one of the highlights of the record. And Terrell Stafford played the perfect trumpet solo right after that! He walked in, nailed it in front of the whole band, and I said ‘Terrell, you sound like an old man.’ He’s only in his 30s! I meant it as the best compliment.

Krall is quick to point out that she is happy with everything on the album for different reasons, especially for the collaborative results. “I’m proud of tunes like ‘Exactly Like You’ specifically for every little note that [guitarist] Anthony [Wilson] plays, and simply for how the subtlety can work when we all play together, and how we all play what matters.”

“Playing what matters” could well be the subtitle to From This Moment On. There’s an economy and confidence that speak to the maturity of Krall as a performer, and a recording artist. “I really settled in with this record. I think I’ve let go of trying to prove something, and I wasn’t out to overplay solos. To just settle back into the bench and play those tough tempos and keep the solos simple and melodic and beautiful, and not have to pass a poll of some kind? That’s enough.”

From This Moment On is also a recording that cannot help but expose Krall’s feelings of being a wife and expectant mother. “It’s a reflection of who I am and where I am at this time. So I need to get that album out like now because that’s how I feel now. I don’t know how I’m going to feel six months down the road, so ‘Only whoop-dee-doo songs’? Yeah. Exactly.”

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Al DiMeola | Consequence of Chaos - Release date 9/26/06

On Consequence of Chaos, the legendary guitar hero and composer Al Di Meola delivers a searing, high caliber recording brimming with colorful and complex arrangements. Due at retail on September 26, 2006, Di Meola’s fifth Telarc album offers a contemporary set of fifteen original, genre-blurring compositions.
While Di Meola has sold more that six million records (including three gold albums) and won countless guitar awards in his prolific career, the jazz fusion pioneer has done something even more important in the process: he’s continued to push himself and his music forward.

“This is really a new and refreshing period for me,” says Di Meola. “This recording marks my return to playing solid-body electric guitar in the context of modern concepts and composition. I love the energy and the fact that I have reconnected to my first love.”

Di Meola’s restlessly creative spirit is joined on Consequence of Chaos by a stellar group of supporting players. Rounding out the core team are keyboardist Mario Parmisano, drummer/percussionist Ernie Adams and percussionist Gumbi Ortiz. The roster of special guests includes pianist Chick Corea, drummer Steve Gadd, keyboardist Barry Miles, bassists John Patitucci and Victor Miranda, and percussionist Kornel Horvath.

“My group has been playing countless years together around the world,” says Di Meola, “and our love of playing is even more evident on this recording.”

The followup to the critically acclaimed Flesh on Flesh (released on Telarc in 2002), Consequence of Chaos was produced by Di Meola and is dedicated to the memory of recording engineer David Baker.

The album begins with the deep grace and forward-thinking lyricism of “San Marco (Moderna)” and “Turquoise,” then shifts to the Eastern overtones of “Tao” and “Black Pearls.” Along the way, Di Meola’s awesome technique manifests itself in many ways: from the paint-peeling guitar work of “Odyssey” and “Red Moon” (one of two tracks featuring Chick Corea) to the challenging rhythmic syncopation of “Hypnose,” Tempest” and “Africana Suite.” Other highlights include the dreamy and introspective “Azucar,” and the heartfelt ballads “Cry for You” and “San Marco Vecchio.”

Di Meola’s electric guitar playing is what first garnered him an international following in the mid-1970s, when the young Berklee student joined Corea’s seminal fusion group Return To Forever.

“Chick was delighted to be a part of the project,” says Di Meola. “I knew he would just tear it up on ‘Red Moon.’ I think it’s some of the best playing I’ve ever heard from him. Our duet piece, ‘Cry for Me,’ was one of the best interactions I’ve ever had with any musician. Chick is truly superhuman on every musical level.”

Born into an Italian family in New Jersey, young Di Meola divided his time between guitar lessons and hanging out in the local clubs. Influenced greatly by jazz guitarist Larry Coryell, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where his marathon practice sessions are still the stuff of legends. After a brief stint with keyboardist Barry Miles, Di Meola rose to fame in 1974, as a charter member of Corea’s Return To Forever. He launched his solo career two years later with the release of Land of the Midnight Sun.

In addition to Corea, Di Meola has recorded with a pantheon of jazz and pop giants including Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Santana, John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia, Luciano Pavarotti, Steve Winwood, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Jaco Pastorius, Les Paul, Jean Luc Ponty, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa, Jimmy Page, Tony Williams, Stanley Clarke, Stevie Wonder, Irakere and many more.

Uncompromising and unafraid of creating expansive musical hybrids, Di Meola remains one of the most prominent forces in the contemporary jazz scene. Consequence of Chaos makes it clear that this guitar virtuoso’s undeniable talents continue to evolve and grow.

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

New Releases | September

Metheny / Mehldau, S/T [Nonesuch, 9/12]
Rhonda Smith, RS2 [215 Records, 9/12]
Sean Jones, Roots [Mack Avenue, 9/12]
Madeleine Peyroux, Half the Perfect World [Rounder, 9/12]
Marisa Monte, Universo Ao Meu Redor [Metro Blue, 9/12]
Michael Manson, Just Feelin' It [215 Records, 9/12]
Marisa Monte, Infinito Particular [Blue Note, 9/12]
David Gilmore, Unified Presence [RKM Music/Kindred Rhythm, 9/19]
Javon Jackson, Now [Palmetto Records, 9/19]
Diana Krall, From This Moment On [Verve, 9/19]
Fred Martin & The Levite Camp, Some Bridges [Concord, 9/19]
Scott Kinsey, Kinesthetics [Abstract Logix, 9/19]
Brazilian Girls, Talk to La Bomb [Verve Forecast, 9/19]
Boney James, Shine [Concord Records, 9/26]
Al Di Meola, Consequence of Chaos [Telarc Record, 9/26]
Keith Jarrett, Carnegie Hall Concert (2-Disc) [ECM Records, 9/26]
Medeski, Martin & Wood and John Scofield, Out Louder [9/26]
Natalie Cole, Day Dreaming [Verve, 9/26]
Tomasz Stanko, Chameleon (IMPORT) [Metal Mind, 9/26]
John Patitucci, Line By Line (+1 Bonus Track) [JVC Victor, 9/26]


Information provided by contemporaryjazz.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Upcoming Jazz Releases | 9/12/06

Al Hirt - Jazz A-La Carte (Australia) (Aim) - Reissue
Alan Broadbent - Every Time I Think Of You (Artistry Music Group)
Angelo Debarre - Swing Recontre (Harmonia Mundi)
Antonio Carlos Jobim / Astor Piazolla - Encontro (West Wind) - Reissue
B Sharp Jazz Quartet - B Sharp Jazz Quartet (Mama Foundation) - Reissue
Baden Powell - Samba de Uma Nota So (West Wind) - Reissue
Bill Frisell - Bill Frisell / Ron Carter / Paul Motian (Nonesuch)
Bobby Carcasses - Jazz Timbero (Tumi)
Bobby Hutcherson - Happenings (Blue Note) - Reissue
Branford Marsalis - Braggtown (Marsalis Music)
Brian Trainor - Why Try to Change Me Now? (Summit)
Calvin Newborn - Centerpiece (Empire) - Reissue
Carlos Puebla - La Caimanera (West Wind) - Reissue
Charles Earland - Black Talk (Fantasy) - Reissue
Chris McNulty - Whispers the Heart (Elefant Dreams)
Chris Washburne & Syotos Band - Land of Nod (Jazzheads)
Club D'Elf - Now I Understand (Accurate)
Coleman Hawkins - At Ease With Coleman Hawkins (Fantasy) - Reissue
Corbett vs. Dempsey - Eye & Ear (Atavistic)
Dave Brubeck - Best of Brubeck (1979-2004) (Concord) - Reissue
Dave Glasser - Above the Clouds (Arbors)
David Basse - Strike When Your Iron Is Hot (City Light) - Reissue
David Friesen / Larry Koonse - Connection (West Wind)
Delfeayo Marsalis - Minions Dominion (Troubadour Jazz)
Deodato - Greatest Hits
Dmitri Baevsky - Introducing Dmitri Baevsky (Lineage)
Donald Byrd - Off to the Races (remaster) (Blue Note) - Reissue
Dusko Gojkovic - After Hours (Enja)
Earl Bostick / Joe Pass / Richard "Groove" Holmes - Complete Quintet Recordings (Spain) (Lonehill) - Reissue
Eddie Diehl - Well, Here It Is... (Lineage)
Ella Fitzgerald - Best of (Laser Light) - Reissue
Eric Dolphy - Outward Bound (Fantasy) - Reissue
Ethel Waters - The Favourite Songs of Ethel Waters (Sepia) - Reissue
Freddie Hubbard - Here to Stay (Blue Note) - Reissue
Gal Costa / Antonio Carlos Jobim - Rio Revisited (Verve) - Reissue
Gallio / Frey / Voerkel - Tiegel (Atavistic)
Gilad Hekselman - Split Life (Smalls)
Greetje Kaufield - And Let the Music Play (Japan) (Polydor) - Reissue
Horace Silver - Doin' The Thing At The... (Blue Note) - Reissue
HR Bigband - Once in a Lifetime (TCB)
Jackie McLean - Demon's Dance (Blue Note) - Reissue
Jason Moran - Artist in Residence (Blue Note)
Jim Tomlinson - Lyric: Featuring Stacey Kent (Harmonia Mundi)
John Blum - John Blum Astrogeny Quartet (Eremite)
John Hart - Standards - Green and Blue (Ireland) (Hep)
John Mayer - Dhammapada (Harmonia Mundi)
Joyce Cooling - Revolving Door (Back Porch)
Juan Carlos Quintero - Las Cumbas...Las Guitarras (Inner Knot)
Khan Jamal - Drumdance to the Motherland (Eremite)
Kraig Grady - Beyond the Windows (Transparent)
Kristin Lomholt - Spell (Whaling City)
Lee Morgan - City Lights (Blue Note) - Reissue
Leon - My Soul Speaks (Verve)
Lionel Hampton Big Band - Air Mail Special (ITM Archives)
Lou Rawls - Merry Christmas Baby (Capitol) - Reissue
Ludovic Beier - Swing Reconte (Chant du Monde)
Madeleine Peyroux - Half the Perfect World (Rounder)
Mal Waldron - Hard Talk (Enja) - Reissue
Manhattan Transfer - Definitive Pop (Rhino) - Reissue
Marisa Monte - Infinito Particular (Canada) (Metro Blue)
Marisa Monte - Universo Ao Meu Redor (Canada) (Metro Blue)
Maynard Ferguson - MF Horn 2: Ballad Style (UK) (Vocalion) - Reissue
Michael Manson - Just Feelin' It (215)
Michael Musillami's Dialect - Fragile Forms (Playscape Recordings)
Mike Melvoin Trio - You Know (City Light)
Miles Davis - Workin' (Fantasy) - Reissue
Mort Weiss - B3 & Me (SMS)
Nick Ingman - Terminator (Hamonia Mundi)
Omer Avital - Ancient Art of Giving (Smalls)
Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammer (Sound Grammer)
Osland Saxophone Quartet - Comission: Impossible (Sea Breeze)
Pat Bianchi - East Coast Roots (Jazzed Media)
Pat Metheny - Gathering Sky (All Stars) - DVD-Video
Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau - Pat Metheny / Brad Mehldau I (Nonesuch)
Paul Murphy - Powers of Two Volume 2 (Mapleshade)
Pete Cater Big Band - Right Time (Harmonia Mundi)
Pete Fountain - King of New Orleans Jazz (Australia) (Aim Records) - Reissue
Ralph Sutton - At St. George Church (Arbors)
Ray Barrett0 - Rhythm Of Life (UMVD)
Rhonda Smith - RS2 (215)
Roger Kellaway - Heroes (IPO)
Salena Jones - Moment of Truth; Everybody's Talkin (Harmonia Mundi)
Sarah Vaughan - An Introduction to Sarah Vaughan (Varese Sarabande) - Reissue
Sean Jones - Roots (Mack Avenue)
Sonny Rollins - Tenor Madness (Fantasy) - Reissue
Sonny Stitt - An Introduction to Sonny Stitt (Varese Sarabande) - Reissue
Stefano Bollani - Piano Solo (ECM)
Steve Lacy - Esteem: Live in Paris 1975 (Atavistic)
Tangerine Dream - Tournado (Germany) (Membran) - Reissue
Tangerine Dream - Valentine Wheels (Germany) (Membran) - Reissue
Terry Callier - Life Lessons: The Best of Terry Callier (UK) (Music Club) - Reissue
Terry Gibbs - Findin' the Groove (Jazzed Media)
The Swingle Singers - Mozart: A Capella Amadeus (EMI Classics) - Reissue
Todd Marcus - In Pursuit of the 9th Man (Hipnotic)
Trio Elf - We 3 are 11 (Enja)
William Woods - Hear and Now (Whaling City)


Information provided by allaboutjazz.com
Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Boney James | Shine - Release Date 9/26/06

You’d never know it from the effortlessly soulful melodies and silky grooves of his records, but Boney James becomes a mad scientist in the studio while working to create sounds that feel as soothing as a tropical breeze.

“I was a nut making this record,” the acclaimed saxophonist/songwriter/producer admits with a laugh while discussing Shine, his 10th solo album and first for Concord Records. “My wife calls me Mr. Einstein. I’ll come in from the studio with crazy hair and this wild look in my eyes. I get obsessed – so much so that I actually have a song on this record called ‘Let It Go.’”

“But when I pick up the sax,” he adds, “I get out of that producer headspace and become the performer who just wants to take the audience on a journey.”

Shine features guest appearances by hip-hop/soul diva Faith Evans, jazz-guitar icon George Benson, R&B vocalists Dwele and Phillip Bailey, keyboard wizard George Duke, alternative-pop singer Esthero and Sounds of Blackness powerhouse Ann Nesby.

Boney produced the disc and played tenor, soprano and alto saxes, keyboards and flute. He wrote or co-wrote nine of Shine’s 12 tracks.

Faith Evans lends her supple pipes to the rambunctious, rock-tinged R&B song “Gonna Get It,” which Boney co-wrote with Rahsaan Patterson. “Faith is a huge star, and I was really flattered that she wanted to work with me,” Boney relates. “And I was floored not only by how hard she worked on the track, but by how incredibly gracious she was.”

“In the Rain,” a contemplative soul tune that was a #1 hit for Detroit group the Dramatics in 1972, is sung here by Dwele, another Motor City native. Boney traveled to Detroit to lay down the smoldering track, which showcases his sumptuous tone on tenor sax.

Shine finds the veteran musician conjuring an array of moods – from the jaunty bounce of the title track and “Gonna Get It” to the velvety seductions of “Love Song” and “Hypnotic,” from the delicate “In the Rain” and the introspective “Dedication” to the ebullient stride of “Let It Go.” What ties it all together, apart from Boney’s endlessly lyrical, emotive playing on tenor, soprano and alto sax (among other instruments), is a glow of joy that’s as evident in the record’s languid passages as in its most effusive solos.

“I realized, as I was putting the finishing touches on it, that this was a really upbeat, positive record,” Boney notes with satisfaction.

Perhaps no track on Shine better exemplifies this effervescent vibe than his rendition of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s shimmering classic “Aguas De Março (Waters of March).” “I’d never done a Bossa Nova tune, and this is one of my all-time favorites,” he points out. “It’s in constant rotation on my iPod.”

Boney can’t help gushing about his supporting cast, but his excitement about Benson’s contribution betrays the ardor of a longtime fan. “It was a big deal for me, having George on the record,” he says of Benson’s appearance on the song “Hypnotic.” “I’ve been listening to him since I was 12 or 13. I’d opened for him a few times; we knew each other from the road and various events. But it was a thrill having him play on my track.”

Having sold millions of records (resulting in four gold certifications), received two Grammy nods, a Soul Train Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination, and filled arenas around the world, Boney continues to rely on an intuitive approach to creativity. “I have piles of notebooks filled with ideas,” he reveals. “I never quite know what a project is going to be until it’s done. I just love the process of building a record, of putting all the little pieces together.”

“Not too long ago, another sax player asked me, ‘What’s your concept?’ I said I didn’t think I had one,” he recalls. “But the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that everything is rooted in playing songs I believe in. It’s all about that emotional connection.”

Born in Massachusetts and raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., James Oppenheim began playing music at the tender age of eight. “I started on clarinet,” he remembers. “I wanted to play trumpet – the instrument of choice for boys – but the music store was out of them and I didn’t want to wait. I was impulsive.”

By the ripe old age of ten, he was urged to take up the saxophone by his music teacher, who faced a glut of clarinetists; though he resisted at first, young James was persuaded when he saw a performance by a local junior high school’s stage band. “If I played sax, I could get into stage band, so I switched – and right away I loved it,” he recollects. “Mostly it was the sound. But it also opened up a world of pop songs I could suddenly play.” Soon he was fronting a small combo at school assemblies. “I began to define myself as a musician,” he says.

He’d been exposed to jazz through his father’s record collection, which included watershed LPs by the likes of Dave Brubeck and Bill Evans – not to mention the pop-jazz of Herb Alpert, which James covered with his school combo – but it was in high school that he first encountered the sounds that would influence him most. “Our teacher played us a Grover Washington record, and that’s when I really made the R&B-jazz connection,” he reports. “Then I got heavily into Stevie Wonder’s seminal records, Earth Wind & Fire, Curtis Mayfield, and jazz artists like the Crusaders and Ronnie Laws.”

His late teens – during which time his family relocated to Los Angeles – saw him join a promising band. “We got a little record deal but it fell through and we were crushed,” he remembers with amusement. “I said, ‘I could never be in the record business – it’s too frustrating!’” He headed off to UC Berkeley, intending to study law, and for a while scarcely touched his sax. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” he avers. “It was definitely a confusing year.” But a trip to L.A. to visit his folks put him in touch with a local fusion band, Line One. “I sat in with them at a gig, and a light bulb went on,” he declares. “It was the most fun I’d ever had.”

Another member of Line One, John Shanks, later became one of the hottest producers in pop music, working with artists like Sheryl Crow, Fleetwood Mac, Alanis Morissette and Ashlee Simpson; he and Boney would eventually meet up again – at the Grammys, when both were nominated.

Transferring to UCLA so he could continue playing with the band, Boney threw himself into music once again, delivering pizzas to eke out a living. Despite some prestigious opening spots on the road, a “Star Search” appearance and the tutelage of Little Feat’s Kenny Gradney, however, Line One never took off – and eventually dissolved.

Shortly thereafter, he auditioned for a spot backing up Morris Day, the charismatic former frontman of funk band The Time. Hired as a keyboardist, he was also given a sax spotlight in the set. “I’d felt like a loser, and suddenly I was touring with a big star,” He notes ruefully. “I was mainly playing keyboards and jumping around, but it was a thrill for me. Then the tour ended and I had to go back to delivering pizzas. That was a shock, but such is the life of a sideman.”

He subsequently backed up such artists as The Isley Brothers, Randy Crawford, Sheena Easton, Ray Parker, Jr., and Bobby Caldwell. It was on the road with Crawford that he earned his now-famous moniker; his per diem as a touring musician barely kept him fed, and a bandmate notoriously commented of his dwindling physique, “At this rate we’ll have to start calling you Boney James!”
Ultimately, though, it was the diminishing musical challenges of sideman work that pushed him in a new direction. “I was touring with a pop singer, Martika, and found myself triggering background samples,” he volunteers. “I didn’t see any future in it. I wanted to play my sax more, and the only way to do that was to write my own songs that featured me.” An opportunity arose to make a solo disc for the indie label Spindletop. “I had no expectations, but it turned out to be a cool record,” Boney remarks of Trust, which yielded several tracks that continue to garner radio play and led to a deal with Warner Bros.

Over the course of more than a decade, he delivered a string of hugely successful albums on Warner that blended jazz and R&B – virtually spawning the subgenre known as Urban Jazz.

2004’s Pure marked his debut as his own producer. “I did most of it in my home studio and there was a learning curve,” he acknowledges of the recording space in his L.A. home, which he shares with his wife, actress and filmmaker Lily Mariye (“E.R.”). “But while recording Shine I really saw the benefit of working at my place and on my own schedule. If I have an idea, I can realize it.”

Energized by a new release on a new label, Boney reaffirms his excitement about returning to the road. “The communal experience of playing live – that’s why I became a musician in the first place,” he insists. “It’s exciting and liberating. It never gets old for me.”

It also allows him a temporary escape from the mad scientist, who will most certainly have fresh challenges for him next time.

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Rippingtons | 20th Anniversary

Russ Freeman probably had no clue that he was starting a revolution when he put together a new band called the Rippingtons in 1986, but the advent of smooth jazz can be directly traced to the release of that band's debut Moonlighting album the following year. Some jazz purists may never forgive him for that, but Freeman and the group, having weathered numerous personnel changes, still reign within the genre and have every reason to celebrate. Hence this 20th Anniversary CD/DVD package, which finds Freeman, the guitarist/keyboardist who has been the sole mainstay throughout the decades, calling on a virtual army of past and present members to assist him in creating a fitting monument to his accomplishments. The legions who've followed the Rippingtons will know what to expect here: impeccably performed, perfectly enjoyable, occasionally stimulating pop-jazz without an out-of-place atonal squawk or honk in sight. What makes 20th Anniversary a standout is the parade of guests, among them most of the Moonlighting crew (except, thankfully, for Kenny G.) — pianist David Benoit, drummer Tony Morales, saxophonist Brandon Fields, and percussionist Steve Reid — and visiting saxophonists Dave Koz and Kirk Whalum, both of whom bring their distinctive wails to Freeman's compositions. Although the album is largely instrumental, a few vocalists, including Patti Austin and Jeffrey Osborne, take turns, and Brian McKnight has virtually all of the track "Anything" to himself, save for Freeman's classical guitar. It is, in the end, Freeman's guitar work that remains the main draw, though: technically proficient, he always manages to bring an emotionalism, albeit sometimes muted, to the proceedings, even if he sometimes seems as if he's aching to break out and try something truly daring and never quite does. One oddball moment: track 11, simply titled "A 20th Anniversary Bonus," suddenly and inexplicably morphs into the Spinners' '70s R&B hit "I'll Be Around," sung by Osborne, before the CD closes out. A separate retrospective DVD accompanies the audio disc.

Review by Jeff Tamarkin
allmusic.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Fattburger Co-Founder Hollis Gentry, Dies at 51.

Hollis Gentry III burst onto San Diego’s jazz music scene in the late 1970s. His handsome looks and searing saxophone solos quickly made him San Diego’s most popular player.

The Crawford High and UCSD grad garnered a huge local following in clubs like the legendary Crossroads. Later, along with childhood friend Carl Evans, he co-founded the group Fattburger. Later, Hollis Gentry’s “Neon” packed clubs across the country.

“Regrettably, he never got the wide acclaim that you and I and anyone who heard him would have hope he would have had, but I think people who heard him play knew that he ranked right up there,” Union-Tribune music critic George Varga said.

Hollis Gentry toured with Al Jarreau, Larry Carlton and Joe Sample. Hollis was a player’s player who caught the ear of internationally-acclaimed saxophone artist Charles McPherson.

“Hollis was very good, very talented,” McPherson said. “I think he was very natural as a player. I think he had a natural talent.”

Recently Hollis had been rehabbing from a rollover accident that nearly took his life just over a year ago. He was showing signs of improvement and hoped someday to play again. But his health deteriorated in recent weeks. He entered hospice and died in his Valencia Park home Tuesday evening shortly after 7 in the evening. He was a great musician, and a good friend.

“It’s a tragic thing that his demise was so early, but in the time he was here, I think he had a good time and he made a lot of people feel good,” McPherson said.

Hollis Gentry III was 51.

kfmb.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Vivendi buying BMG Music Publishing

Vivendi SA will pay $2.1 billion for BMG Music Publishing, owned by Germany's Bertelsmann AG, to become the world's biggest music publisher.

Vivendi's Universal Music Group was expected to sign a definitive agreement Wednesday to acquire the world's third-largest music publishing concern, the Financial Times reported.

The deal, which must clear EU and U.S. anti-trust regulators, gets Universal such artists as Christina Aguilera, Barry Manilow and Justin Timberlake.

The combination will not affect Bertelsmann's jointly held Sony BMG Music Entertainment recorded music business.

Read: Vivendi Buys BMG Publishing | Forbes

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Smooth Jazz Chart | Week Ended 9/4/06

LW TW Artist Album (Label)
1 - 1 - Peter White - "Playin' Favorites" (Columbia)
5 - 2 - Wayman Tisdale - "Way Up" (Rendezvous)
2 - 3 - Mindi Abair - "Life Less Ordinary" (GRP)
6 - 4 - Fourplay - "X" (Bluebird/RCA Victor)
4 - 5 - Nick Colionne - "Keepin' It Cool" (Narada Jazz)
3 - 6 - The Jazzmasters - "Jazzmasters V" (Trippin 'n Rhythm)
7 - 7 - Euge Groove - "Just Feels Right" (Narada Jazz)
8 - 8 - Pieces Of A Dream "Pillow Talk" - (Heads Up)
9 - 9 - David Benoit - "Full Circle" - (Peak)
12 10 Boney James = "Shine" - (Concord)

Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

"This Is Your Brain on Music"

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin's wonderful new book explains why music is a critical step in human evolution and why the songs we loved as teens remain stuck on "play" in our heads.

If you happened to have been born between about 1978 and 1981, there's a fair chance you count yourself an obsessive of the Southern California rock band Weezer. The affection would not make sense to those even just a bit older or younger, who might regard Weezer's guitar pop as clever and pleasing but also somewhat too shallow to have much lasting significance. Those of a certain age, though, experienced the group's 1994 eponymous debut release, known to fans as the Blue Album, as a thing of precise and overflowing emotion -- 10 tracks that functioned like keys to secret locks in the teenage brain, opening up all the awkwardness and anxiousness of those melodramatic high school years.

Read more here!

By Farhad Manjoo - salon.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Dewey Redman, 75, Jazz Saxophonist, Dies

Dewey Redman, an expansive and poetic tenor saxophonist and bandleader who had been at the aesthetic frontiers of jazz since the 1960’s, died on Saturday in Brooklyn. He was 75 and lived in Brooklyn.

The cause was liver failure, said Velibor Pedevski, his brother-in-law.

Walter Redman was born and grew up in Fort Worth. He started off on clarinet at 13, playing in a church band. Not long after, he met Ornette Coleman when they both played in the high school marching band. Their friendship would become one of the crucial links in his life.

Typical of late-1950’s jazz tenor saxophone players, Mr. Redman was informed by the sound and style of Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. But he didn’t immerse himself in technique and harmonic theory, as those musicians did, or lead a band until his mid-30’s. Until then, he said, he was largely playing by ear.

Consequently his playing always kept a rawness, a willingness to play outside tonality, a closeness to the blues and above all a powerful sound: an expressive, dark-toned, vocalized expression that he could apply in any situation. (This power could also come through his second instrument — he played a double-reed instrument he called a musette.) He has often been called a free-jazz musician, and he could indeed put a logic and personality into music that had no chord changes. But that designation doesn’t acknowledge how authoritatively Mr. Redman could play a traditional ballad like “The Very Thought of You,” or how his solos could become dramatic diversions in someone else’s written music, as in parts of Tom Harrell’s 1998 album “The Art of Rhythm.”

After attending Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where he played alto and tenor saxophone in the college band, and then a stint in the Army, Mr. Redman taught fifth grade in Bastrop, Tex., near Austin. In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles and then San Francisco, playing with Pharoah Sanders, Donald Rafael Garrett and others.

Mr. Redman missed the ascension of his old friend Ornette Coleman, moving to New York to join the band only in 1967. His performances with Mr. Coleman over the next seven years, on albums like “New York Is Now!,” “Love Call” and “Science Fiction,” on which his tenor saxophone meshes with Mr. Coleman’s alto, are good ways to understand some of the great jazz of the period, intuitively finding a third way between general conceptions of the jazz tradition and the avant-garde.

Mr. Redman also recorded with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra in 1969 and then, beginning in 1971, spent five years off and on with a band known to historians as Keith Jarrett’s American quartet, which included Mr. Jarrett, Mr. Haden and the drummer Paul Motian. Underrated by the public and ever important to musicians, it played a music that was more determined by harmonic structure than Mr. Coleman’s, but equally challenging and prescient in its drive to make organic sense of various schisms in jazz since post-bop.

Mr. Coleman then provided the impetus for the next phase of Mr. Redman’s work, but in absentia. Old and New Dreams was a quartet of mainstays from different Coleman bands: Mr. Redman, Mr. Haden, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell. They recorded and toured from 1976 to 1984, relying mostly on Mr. Coleman’s repertory. Though he had stopped playing with Mr. Coleman’s bands, he never stopped proclaiming his admiration for his old friend’s work and performed brilliantly during Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2004 concert of Coleman music, with Mr. Coleman in the audience.

From the mid-60’s on, Mr. Redman often led his own bands, usually quartets with piano, bass and drums; he recorded twice with his son Joshua Redman, the popular jazz saxophonist. Most recently his band included the pianist Frank Kimbrough, the bassist John Menegon and the drummer Matt Wilson. He played his final concert on Aug. 27 at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

He is survived by his wife, Lidija Pedevska-Redman, and two sons Joshua, of Berkeley, Calif., and Tarik.

nytimes.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Herbie Hancock Speaks on Jazz and the American Spirit

Herbie Hancock will address his experiences in jazz and the positive impact that this form of "American classical music" has played in shaping the world, in a speech scheduled to be delivered at the National Press Club on Monday, Sept. 18. Hancock will also discuss the positive impact jazz has made in the lives of young people and how it can further play a role in helping to create more talented, confident, and educated future generations. In addition, Hancock will encourage the media to play a more active role in advancing jazz, which is recognized around the world as America's greatest indigenous art form. Hancock will also perform musical excepts of some of his compositions during his speech.

For nearly five decades, Hancock has played a significant role in the development in electronic and acoustic jazz and R&B. From his early years as a child prodigy steeped in Classical music, to his associations with iconic jazz legends such as Donald Byrd and Miles Davis, Hancock has been responsible for setting new heights in the growth of American music, with his unique piano and keyboard voicings and complex rhythms.

In addition to his on-stage performances and accolades, which includes an Academy Award for his soundtrack for the 1986 motion picture "'Round Midnight, " Hancock is an educator and global ambassador of jazz. Hancock currently serves as Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, an international organization based in Washington, DC, devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide. He has taken on a number of roles on behalf of the institute, from competition judge to master class teacher, to guest performer with the Institute's prestigious college program.

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

New Releases | September

Frank Gambale, Best of: The Acoustic Side [9/5]
Wolfgang Schalk Quartet, Soace Messengers [9/5]
Metheny / Mehldau, S/T [Nonesuch, 9/12]
Madeleine Peyroux, Half the Perfect World [Rounder, 9/12]
Marisa Monte, Universo Ao Meu Redor [Metro Blue, 9/12]
Marisa Monte, Infinito Particular [Blue Note, 9/12]
Diana Krall, From This Moment On [Verve, 9/19]
Fred Martin & The Levite Camp, Some Bridges [Concord, 9/19]
Brazilian Girls, TBD [Verve Forecast, 9/19]
Boney James, Shine [Concord Records, 9/26]
Al Di Meola, Consequence of Chaos [Telarc Record, 9/26]
Medeski, Martin & Wood and John Scofield, Out Louder [9/26]
Natalie Cole, Day Dreaming [Verve, 9/26]
Tomasz Stanko, Chameleon (IMPORT) [Metal Mind, 9/26]

Information provided by contemporaryjazz.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music

Upcoming Jazz Releases | 9/5/06

Ali Milner - S. T. (Canada)
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Warner Brothers Years (UK) (Rhino) - Reissue
Bobby Darin - Bobby Darin in Concert (Koch) - DVD-Video
Charles Mingus - Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop (Australia) (Phantom Imports) - Reissue
Charles Mingus - Very Best Of (Hon) (Jazz Collectors) - Reissue
Count Basie - Basie's Boogie (Collectables) - Reissue
Dani Siciliano - Slappers (Germany) (!k7)
Denki Groove - Best of (Germany) (Universal) - Reissue
Elin - Lazy Afternoon (Blue Toucan Music)
Ella Fitzgerald - Reprise Years (UK) (Rhino) - Reissue
Escoude / Ferre/ Reinhardt - Three of a Kind (Sphinx)
Frank Gambale - Best of: Acoustic Side (Wombat) - Reissue
Frank Gambale - Best of: Jazz & Rock Fusion (Wombat) - Reissue
Frank Gambale - Best of: Smooth Jazz (Wombat) - Reissue
Frank Sinatra - Great American Songbook (Legacy) - Reissue
Gary Burton & Makoto Ozone - Live at Montreux (RED) - DVD-Video
Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie (Australia) (Phantom Imports) - Reissue
George Winston - Gulf Coast Blues and Impressions - A Hurricane Relief (Windham Hill Jazz)
Ginger Baker - In Africa (RED) - DVD-Video
Hd2 - Songs from the Last Century (Blue Toucan Music)
Helio Alves - Songs from the Last Century (Blue Toucan)
Henri Texier - Amir (JMS)
Hugo Montenegro - Colours of Love
Humair / Heanneau / Texier - Akagera (Label Bleu)
Jazz Modes - Most Happy Fella (Collectables) - Reissue
Jazz Modes - Most Happy Fella (Collectables) - Reissue
John "Guitar" Hughes - Texas Bluesman (Dunya) - DVD-Video
Lanfranco Malaquti - Standard Obsession (Splasc(h))
Larry Adler - Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of Larry Adler (Australia) (Phantom Imports)
Lockwood / Top / Vander / Widen - Fusion (JMS)
Louis Armstrong - Great American Songbook (Legacy Recordings) - Reissue
Luca Cacuccio - Kind of Illusion (Splasc(h))
Lullaby Baxter - Garden Cities of To-Morrow (Canada) (Boompa)
Mahalia Jackson - Legend: The Best of Mahalia Jackson (UK) (Music Club) - Reissue
Miles Davis - Cool & Collected (Legacy) - Reissue
Nadine Goellner - Live (Sophisticated Moon)
Nilson Matta & Friends - Walking with my Bass (Blue Toucan Music)
Pagni Mezza Jazz Duo - Mp2 (Splasc(h))
Paola Casula - Nuvole De Carta (Velut Luna)
Peggy Lee - In Concert (Koch) - Reissue - DVD-Video
Peter Michael Escovedo - Moments (La Corporacion Muzic)
Petra & Ferruccio - Musica Nuda (France) (Bonsai Music)
Piers Faccini - Tearing Sky (Label Bleu)
Randy Weston - African Cookbook (Collectables) - Reissue
Rob Rogers - First Impression: The Band of Oboes (Guild)
Steve Hillman - World Over (C.E.D. Entertainment)
Thelonious Monk - Round Midnight (Collectables) - Reissue
Wolfgang Schalk Quartet - Space Messengers (Ion)


Information provided by allaboutjazz.com
Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music