Indie Jazz label 577 records has just released the new TEST and Roy Campbell Jr. album, recorded live at the Hinton House. The live recording of the performance took place in April, 1999.
According to Jazz Times, Roy Campbell Jr. was considered a favored player among the free jazz aficionados. He was praised for his adventurous approach and mixing of genres including world music, hip-hop, and reggae. Unfortunately, Roy Campbell Jr had passed away on January 9th, 2014, at 61 years old.
Campbell was joined by bassist Matt Heyner, drummer Tom Bruno, and saxophonist Daniel Carter, with Sabir Mateen also playing saxophone alongside the group. According the album notes, this performance was a benefit gig to repair the No Neck Blues Band’s van. John Fahey, Lee Ranaldo, and No Neck Blues Band joined the stacked lineup at their loft, The Hinton House, and raised the ‘bread’ to fix the van. Spirits were lit with a listening and enthusiastic audience. The cathartic energy rising.
The performance and energy were frantic and steadily increasing as the show went on. Listeners tuned in to the live performance clearly enjoyed the free-jazz and the atmosphere Roy Campbell Jr. and company provided.
TEST occupied the public space of New York City. TEST’s typical audience was a passerby on a subway platform, a curious security guard on a smoke break in midtown, or the most ‘in the know’ subset of gig-goers. TEST, distinctly honed their working band approach, by actively gigging multiple times a week across the NYC subway map.
When TEST performed at a venue, listeners would witness the bullseye acumen of a working band. This ethos of the band choosing to ‘play anywhere/all the time’ separated TEST from other groups.
One of the hardest working musicians in the scene, Campbell lived at the north end of the Bronx, but nightly could be found downtown, uptown, or somewhere in the middle playing weekly at venues such as Lenox Lounge, The Pink Pony, Brecht Forum, Tonic, Knitting Factory and CBGB’s Gallery.
The free-jazz album has left listeners feeling nostalgic for the time. The Test and Roy Campbell album has given jazz aficionados the opportunity to live in that moment of free-jazz history. The album is now on Bandcamp.
The non-profit Giant Art Steps have announced a new series of performances honoring the legacy of U.S. Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis. “Walk with the Wind” will occur on The Mall in NYC’s famous Central at 1 p.m. Featuring acoustic music and small groups, the series is free for those attending.
While the special series began on August 28th with a performance by Wayne Escoffery’s trio, there are numerous other opportunities to catch feature performances. Upcoming on September 19th is Giant Step Arts’ own Leap Day Trio featuring drummer Matt Wilson, bassist/vocalist Mimi Jones and saxophonist Jeff Lederer. On September 20th, vibraphonist and Blue Note recording artist Joel Ross Quartet with saxophonist Sergio Tabanico, drummer Craig Weinrib and bassist Rashaan Carter will perform.
The pandemic has been disastrous for musicians, many of whom normally earn a living through live performances and tours. We’ve presented and recorded music in various venues, including partnering with the non-profit Jazz Gallery, but the current circumstances have forced us to improvise. We wanted to find a way to continue supporting musicians, bring them together with audiences, safely, and enable them to have a payday! Walk with the Wind, honoring the legacy of the great American John Lewis, is one way we are accomplishing this, and the response has been tremendous. Our goal is to raise enough money from foundations and donors so that we can have performances each spring and fall.
Jimmy Katz
Giant Art Steps was created in January 2018 by Jimmy and Dena Katz. Both renowned jazz photographers, the Katzs set out to provide an environment for modern jazz’s most ingenious artists without the confinements of making a profit. Membership into the non-profit is by invitation only, where jazz artists are given control over their artistic projects. Giant Step Arts provides substantial financial and artistic resources for those bold musicians ready to take their careers to uncharted territory.
Giant Step Arts [is] a nonprofit dedicated to giving underappreciated but visionary jazz musicians the support they need to make quality live albums. Palmer is a…thrifty improviser with a vast dynamic range and an ambitious composer.
Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times
Upcoming Show Schedule:
Sept. 19– Leap Day Trio
Sept. 20 – Joel Ross Quartet with saxophonist Sergio Tabanico, drummer Craig Weinrib and bassist Rashaan Carter
Sept. 26 – Drummer Nasheet Waits with saxophonist Mark Turner and bassist Rashaan Carter
Sept. 27 – Immanuel Wilkins with drummer Nazir Ebo and bassist Burniss Earl Travis
Oct. 3 – Saxophonist Melissa Aldena with bassist Pablo Menares, drummer TBA
Oct. 4 – Saxophonist Darius Jones with drummer Gerald Cleaver and bassist Dezron Douglas
Syracuse native Martin Sexton is set to play a live concert at New York’s oldest operating drive-in, Fingerlakes Drive-In in Auburn. Announced earlier this week by Creative Concerts and Fingerlakes Drive-In, the concert will take place September 19 at 6PM.
With social distancing guidelines in place, each car pass sold will be for standard passenger vehicles only. There has been a limit of four concertgoers per vehicle allowed.
Martin Sexton got his start serenading the streets and subways of Boston during the early 90’s. Not only have fans heard his explosive voice in famous venues across the world but also many of his songs have been featured in spotlight TV shows such as Scrubs and Parenthood to name a few.
The American Singer-Songwriter has produced nine studio albums including his most current release “Mixtape of the Open Road.” After a successful tour, a decision was made to keep going with more performances beginning with the Fingerlakes Drive-In.
His authentic style of artistry has Billboard magazine calling him “The real thing, people.” Furthermore Rollingstone noted Sexton has “Outstanding taste in songwriting as well as a soul-marinated voice.”
Tickets to the live event are on sale now here. NYS Music is running a contest for one car pass to Martin Sexton on the 19th, and Allman Betts Band on Friday the 18th. For more info, enter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
“A Spirit,” a melodic jazz single by Buffalo’s Donny Frauenhofer is the latest quarantine composition from the Intrepid Travelers frontman.
Frauenhofer plays piano on “A Spirit,” and also handled production, mixing and mastering. Colin Brydalski plays bass and behind the drum kit is Isaiah Griffin. Support these musicians through Patreon, and read below for Frauenhofer’s take on “A Spirit.”
This composition is one that I’m most proud of. I wrote it in one night during the quarantine, and the name comes from the sensation of being alone, but not feeling alone. Whether you call it a muse, a ghost, a spirit, a god, a manifestation of your own subconscious – sometimes things that seem separate from ourselves visit us to deliver a message. I’m not interested in the explanation of why or what this sensation is, but rather communicating the sensation itself. This song is both the product of that, and expresses that feeling.
The Amico Barady Quartet, a jazz band started 15 years ago by Vinnie Amico and Jay Barady, are the featured performers. The band members include Vinnie Amico (moe., drums), Jason Barady (Floodwood, mandolin), Rich Williams (saxophone/flute) and Zach Fleitz (bass).
photo by Frankie Cavone
The Palace Sessions is a monthly live music series featuring local regional musicians performing at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY. The Palace Theatre’s mission is to enhance the Capital Region’s cultural and economic development with world-class arts and entertainment. Like many other live music events, The Palace Sessions had to postpone and revamp their previous musical events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to be able to welcome live music back to the hallowed halls of the Palace Theatre. This historic building exists to entertain and create memories and after a nearly four-month absence due to COVID-19, it is a thrill to know that it will again. We hope that our patrons will enjoy these performances as much as we do!”
Billy Piskutz, Executive Director of the Palace Performing Arts Center.
Donations to benefit the Palace Performing Arts Center can be made here or directly through the Palace Theatre’s Text to Give program by texting Palace2020 to 44321.
The Palace Sessions are sponsored by KeyBank, CDPHP, St. Peter’s Health Partners, 102.7 WEQX, Albany.com & High Peaks Event Production. Check out a preview of what’s to come with photos from Frankie Cavone of Mirth Films.
Blue Note New York has announced their fall schedule for Blue Note Live, a completely online concert series featuring 19 performances from jazz legends, including the John Scofield Trio and Joe Lovano. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at bluenotelive.com.
The performances will be broadcast at 8:00 P.M. EST. They will then be re-streamed at 11:00 P.M EST that day, 8:00 P.M. Japan Local Time (7:00 A.M. EST), and 8:00 P.M. Central European Time (2:00 P.M. EST) the following day.
The series hopes to continue a relationship between the fans and the artists as well as other fans. To do this, they plan to use several interactive features through the livestream including a chat feature where they can interact in real time.
Blue Note New York Streaming Live Fall Schedule:
John Scofield Trio FT. Steve Swallow & Bill Stewart – September 11 at 8:00 p.m. Michel Camilo – September 12 at 8:00 p.m. Bill Frisell Trio FT. Thomas Morgan & Rudy Royston – September 18 at 8:00 p.m. Keyon Harrold – September 19 at 8:00 p.m. Madeleine Peyroux – September 24 at 8:00 p.m. Phony Ppl – September 25 at 8:00 p.m. Marcus Strickland Trio FT. Ben Williams & E.J. Strickland – September 26 at 8:00 p.m. Will Calhoun’s Changing Times Trio FT. Orrin Evans & Uganna Okegwo – September 30 at 8:00 p.m.James Carter Organ Trio – October 1 at 8:00 p.m. Joey Alexander – October 2 at 8:00 p.m. James Francies – October 3 at 8:00 p.m. Theo Croker – October 9 at 8:00 p.m. Mike Stern – October 10 at 8:00 p.m. Eddie Palmieri Afro Cuban Jazz Sextet – October 15 at 8:00 p.m. Ben Williams – October 16 at 8:00 p.m. Kenny Werner & Chris Potter Duo – October 17 at 8:00 p.m. Joel Ross “Good Vibes” – ‘Who Are You’ Album Release Concert – October 23 at 8:00 p.m. Joe Lovano’s Joyous Encounter – October 24 at 8:00 p.m. Trio 3: Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille FT. Vijay Iyer – October 30 at 8:00 p.m.
American pianist, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer Marco Benevento.
Benevento has been a well known pianist in the New York experimental jazz scene since 1999. His career lead him to collaborate with other musicians such as, Matt Chamberlain and John McEntire. He was nominated for the Jazz Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards in 2008. His most recent en devour was creating his own record label called, “The Royal Potato Family,” along with manager Kevin Calabro. His latest studio album was created using his label, Let it Slide.
MASS MoCa is museum & performing arts center that highlights the work of contemporary artists in particular and has been open since 1999. It resides in an old factory in North Adams, MA and is considered one of the leading contemporary art museums. They host visual arts, performances, and educational programs year round.
Although he normally plays with band mates, Karina Rykman and Dave Butler, this performance is a solo act. The show goes on at 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
For more information on Marco Benevento and his upcoming performance at MASS MoCa visit their website.
One of the true gems of southwestern New York on Chautauqua Lake is the Chautauqua Institution. There you can find a blend of arts programming, educational and religious opportunities and recreational activities are available to those who visit the grounds during the year. And every few years, the music event Jazz at Chautauqua is part of the annual programming.
The Institution, originally the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, was founded in 1874 as an educational experiment in out-of-school, vacation learning. It was successful and broadened almost immediately beyond courses for Sunday school teachers to include academic subjects, music, art and physical education.
Thanks to Jazz Lives, who consider Jazz at Chautauqua 2013 “another unforgettable interlude of music and friendship,” we bring you a selection of ballads from the September 22, 2013 Jazz at Chautauqua performances. A medley of ballads began and ended the music-filled weekend, including “Easy Living,” “Daydream,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” and “I Know Why (And So Do You).” Featured players include Marty Grosz (guitar), Harry Allen (tenor sax), Dan Block (clarinet), Bob Havens (trombone) and Duke Heitger (trumpet).
Later, ballads including “My Funny Valentine,” “Please,” “Laura,” “If We Ever Meet Again” (Horace Gerlach) and “Sophisticated Lady” seem to tell the full range of relationship through their titles. Selections are peformed by Randy Reiinhart (cornet/trumpet), Andy Schumm (cornet/trumpet), Andy Stein (saxophone), Marty Grosz (guitar), and Rossano Sportiello (piano).
From 2009, enjoy “Chinatown,” performed by Pete Siers (drums), Frank Tate (string bass), Ehud Asherie (piano), Bob Havens (trombone), Dan Block (clarinet), and Duke Heitger (trumpet).
File this one under so nice the Analog Players Society had to release it twice. The first disc, TILTED, is a percolating live acoustic jazz session featuring four of the genre’s finest players. The second, Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film, is a loop based reimaging of the sounds waxed during the former, a fractal audio swirl that gives props to the sample-heavy production of hip-hop’s Golden Age and a new kind of noir cinema sound.
The culprits behind this very forward-thinking project are the Analog Players Society, the brainchild of producer/engineer Amon Drum (aka Amon aka J. Amon). This heavy collective originated at Amon’s first studio, The Hook, which recently moved and expanded to be reborn as The Bridge Studio, a new Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based favorite of NYC’s most cutting-edge players.
Photo by Jude Goergen.
The APS collective features a rotating ensemble cast of some of the Big Apple best soundmakers. APS’ various projects, which are all decidedly eclectic by nature, carry serious strains of the Jazz, Dub, Funk, Afrobeat and Soul within. Analog Players Society’s 2012 debut album, Hurricane Season In Brooklyn, impressively debuted in the top 15 of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart, and earned press accolades from NPR’s Fresh Air, Wired, and All About Jazz to name a few.
Fast forward to April 2019 and the Analog Players Society is reborn during a live jazz session produced by Ben Rubin (aka Benny Cha Cha) and Amonat at The Bridge Studio. Rubin gathered four of the best jazz musicians in New York City for the occasion: tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin (David Bowie’s last bandleader on Blackstar), pianist Orrin Evans (the Bad Plus), and the in-demand rhythm section of bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Eric McPherson.
The fruits of this meeting are featured on TILTED, which comes out today on Ropeadope Records. It boasts three lengthy explorations, all full of quirky creative turns and high-wire harmonic interplay.
Nothing like the tinkle of a toy piano to set the mood for this most unique cover of Monk’s angular and playful Epistrophy. McCaslin is the focal point for most of this 10-plus minute journey. He deconstructs lines and floats across Evan’s alternatively chopped single note support lines and lush, complex chord painting. McPherson’s unique drumming, evident on all the tracks, is at its most impactful here. He’s a man more inclined towards orchestral stomps, punky thunks and unexpected breakdown fills than cliched, cymbal-ridin’ chinga chinga cocktail lounge swing. To my ears, his style owes more to someone like Captain Beefheart’s John “Drumbo” French and the delightfully jerky time of Prime Time-era Denardo Coleman than traditional post bopper. And making this even more oddly Monk, Evan’s goes two hands for his solo here, one on the piano grand, and one on his toy ivories!
Photo by Jude Goergen.
On the other cover here, One Note Samba, the quartet wrestles a tasty dose of avant garde out of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s mellow bossa nova classic, with McCaslin tossing about the memorable melody, bringing a bit of sinister mood with the subtle delay and harmonizer laden on his horn. With the sole original, Freedom is but a Fraction of Humanity, what starts as a lovely, yearning ballad turns into a high-speed chase, with especially fierce soloing from Evans. All of these tracks are produced and engineered to perfection by Rubin and Amon, imparting a crisp acoustic experience, notable on Douglas’ deep soulful bass, and with tasteful use of electronic effects that give it just the right among of left field fun.
When it comes to left field fun, it will be hard to beat the second release birthed from these sessions, Soundtrack for a Nonexistent Film, to be released on October 30.
Running a little over 30 minutes in all, Soundtrack is comprised of 12 miniatures composed entirely lifted from short samples from TILTED’s tracks, seven by Amon on the A side; five by Rubin on the B side. These tiny gems are looped and mutated electronically to create a new kind of moody, one that is part street, and part cinematic cool.
The opener, Chase, features a driving 70s Miles Davis beat (think Al Foster on Agartha) on which Amon hangs an edgy bit of melodic sax, only to break the drive periodically with the ringing of solo piano chords and time changes. He gets extra points from me on this one with the injection of the fartiest sawtooth wave bass synth lines, vintage Krautrock or early ELP. My favorite Amon remix is Act Cool. It features a Hip-Hop beat under a warm, melodic acoustic bass, lush pads and McCaslin’s sax at its breathiest, a kind of Ben Webster Goes to Mars experience.
Photo by Jude Goergen.
Rubin’s five pieces demonstrate his devotion to in-the-pocket rhythms and dub mixing, most evident on the ska-infused Brooklyn Blackout and the jazzy blues of Starry Night. What’s a delight about all the tracks here is how the duo recycles and dramatically changes these little phrases, whipping them into a wide range of compositions, ones that always seems to milk something evocative out of these humble two-bar nuggets.
Key Tracks: Epistrophy, Freedom is but a Fraction of Humanity, Act Cool, Brooklyn Blackout
Some of jazz legend Mynton Marsalis’ best work of the last four decades has been influenced by socio-cultural and political issues. In 1985, his Black Codes(From the Underground) won a Grammy, in 1996, Blood on the Fields became the first jazz piece ever to win a Pultzier Prize, All Rise was performed by Symphonic Orchestras all across the world in 2002, and in 2007, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary was said to “[reveal] some important truth about this country with a lot of anger and heart.” It seems only fitting that now, during this historical time of national protest, Wynton Marsalis release a new work that reflects on these human rights issues.
The Ever Fonky Lowdown directly addresses the racism, deception, and greed that clouds the country’s chances of human rights for all and pushes us further away from democracy. It was written in 2018 to combat human suffering and exploitation on the universal scale, but is now, in 2020, more topical than ever. The album’s narrator, “Mr. Game,” says it himself: “We are here tonight, but this is an international hustle. It has played out many times across time and space and is not specific to any language or race. It takes on different flavors according to people’s taste, but always ends up in the same old place.” These issues have been happening to countless all throughout history, and it is time to strip away the distractions to attack the injustice’s sources directly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IurvhGqimkY
The Orchestra singers act like a narrative Greek chorus and call upon several different forms of jazz, Gospel, American folk, swing, New Orleans funk, and more. The celebratory music is its own character and satirically expresses the joy with which humans hurt one another. The 53 track piece is both entertaining and thought provoking.
“Usually I research and learn a lot of new material for longer pieces. For this one, I went with music and mythology that I have lived. From the music my father and great New Orleans drummer and composer James Black played in the 60’s, to the funk we played in the 70’s, to the modern jazz we have been blessed to play, teach and shape over these last decades, The Ever Fonky Lowdown is an antidote to the poisonous (and largely unquestioned) cultural mythology that continues to infect our general quality of life.”
Wynton Marsalis
Marsalis wants the listener to question what is shown to him: the propaganda, media, and populism. He encourages all to look beyond what is shown to us and find our immediate reality and work to improve it. Essentially, The Ever Fonky Lowdown asks, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Marsalis answers:
“There’s no real answer on the Left or the Right. The solution lies outside of the game. But, we have to rise above our position on the board to get a broader view…..and then decide individually, if we have the will to fight for a collectively better country (or world) populated with ‘others’. It boils down to the basic question of predation vs. symbiosis—do we want to help one another or exploit each other?”
