http://www.mackavenue.com/ en tony@mackavenue.com Copyright 2010 2010-02-26T20:06:04-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/hot_club_of_detroit_presents_seventh_annual_detroit_django_reinhardt_festiv/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/hot_club_of_detroit_presents_seventh_annual_detroit_django_reinhardt_festiv/#When:20:06:04Z   Mack Avenue recording artist Hot Club of Detroit presents their seventh annual Detroit Django Reinhardt Festival, Friday, March 19th through Sunday March 21st. Featuring special guests, guitarist Howard Alden and clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, Hot Club of Detroit is proud to bring this festival in celebration of Reinhardt's centennial to Detroit and Cleveland; two cities that Reinhardt himself performed in during his one and only American tour. By honoring the spirit of Reinhardt's music and combining it with modern jazz, Hot Club of Detroit has become an international sensation, along with the Reinhardt resurgence. "Django Reinhardt is the showerhead from which we all come down," says guitarist and Hot Club of Detroit bandleader Evan Perri. And while Hot Club of Detroit salutes the 100th Anniversary of Reinhardt's birth, they pay homage to their inspiration by branching out in new directions, as they display on their forthcoming Mack Avenue release, It's About That Time, due out in April. "To me," says Hot Club of Detroit rhythm guitarist Paul Brady, "Django Reinhardt was a jazz improviser like Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young or any of the other great improvisers of his time. We don't approach our music as a gypsy jazz band, but 100% as a jazz group;" evident in their choice of special guests, two of Jazz's finest: Howard Alden and Anat Cohen. George Kanzler of the Newark Star Ledger writes of guitarist Howard Alden, "He may be the best of his generation." Alden, named one of the top 75 jazz guitarists of all time in Downbeat, is largely responsible for the Reinhardt resurgence from his playing for Woody Allen's 1999 film, Sweet and Lowdown - about a fictional guitarist who worshiped Reinhardt. He has worked with such artists as Benny Carter, Mel Powell, Bud Freeman, Kenny Davern, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and George Van Eps, as well as notable contemporaries such as Scott Hamilton and Ken Peplowski. Alden returns for his second engagement with the Hot Club of Detroit since 2008. Hot Club of Detroit also welcomes Israeli-born and New York-based Anat Cohen, who is one of the most exciting and talented clarinetists and saxophonists on the jazz scene. A regular headliner all over the world, Cohen's accomplishments have been recognized in a flurry of awards and distinctions from critics and fans alike (garnering acclaim from Downbeat, The Jazz Journalists Association, and ASCAP).Additionally, Cohen is the first female reed player, and the first Israeli to headline at New York's famed Village Vanguard. Nate Chinen of the New York Times wrote of her 2008 release, Notes From the Village, "Notes From The Village is a resounding confirmation; yes, she is the real deal." Artist Updates, Press Releases 2010-02-26T20:06:04-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/hot_club_of_detroit_branches_out_on_new_cd/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/hot_club_of_detroit_branches_out_on_new_cd/#When:17:13:33Z   The blistering fretwork on the opening track of the group's third CD, It's About That Time, pays explicit homage to one of their six-string heroes - just not the one you might think. "On the Steps" is based on the chord changes of Pat Martino's "On the Stairs" (with a brief borrowing from John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" to complete the pun), and states at the outset what fans of these gypsy jazz revisionists have long known - that Django Reinhardt is far from the beginning and end of the Hot Club of Detroit's vocabulary of influences. "Django Reinhardt is the showerhead from which we all come down," says guitarist and bandleader Evan Perri. "But if he had lived, I don't think he would've been playing the same things he had in prior years. He was constantly evolving as a jazz musician." The Hot Club of Detroit has undergone a similar evolution since Perri formed the group in 2003 with fellow students at Wayne State University in Detroit. The ensemble rapidly accumulated accolades and audiences over the next several years, including a first-place win in the 2004 Detroit International Jazz Festival competition and multiple Detroit Music Awards. Their 2006 self-titled debut, while slightly more traditional than later releases, established their broad-minded approach to the Django resurgence. Since that time, it's become increasingly evident that their inspiration comes as much from the spirit of Reinhardt's playing as by its much-copied sound. While they've maintained some recognizable elements - the absence of drums, the percussive "la pompe" rhythm guitar technique - the Motor City quintet apply those elements to a decidedly modern sound, refusing to be constrained by allegiance to some time-honored, purist ideal. "To me," says rhythm guitarist Paul Brady, "Django Reinhardt was a jazz improviser like Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young or any of the other great improvisers of his time. We don't approach our music as a gypsy jazz band, but 100% as a jazz group." While Hot Club of Detroit salutes the 100th Anniversary of Reinhardt's birth, their approach as a jazz group is nowhere more evident than on the disc's title track, the Joe Zawinul-penned "It's About That Time," famously fused with "In a Silent Way" on Miles Davis' 1969 album. Brady hit upon the idea of fusing the tune instead with Reinhardt's oft-revisited "Heavy Artillerie," creating an atmospheric hybrid with a loping groove and an airy spaciousness. The ensemble also takes on Charles Mingus' "Nostalgia in Times Square," in 5/4, with bassist Andrew Kratzat providing an appropriately brawny, wood-smacking intro and Carl Cafagna getting the Eric Dolphy tent-revival treatment with a clap-along accompaniment for his tenor solo. Of course, Reinhardt's catalog is also plumbed for material, but other than the aforementioned "Heavy Artillerie," repertoire was found in its more shadowy, neglected corners. "We try to find Django tunes that haven't been performed to death," Brady says. "He wrote a ton of stuff so we can always find something that we can have fun and stretch out on." "Duke and Dukie," the first Django credit to appear on this record, perfectly fits that bill, a cheery three-chord romp that serves as a vehicle for lengthy improvisations during the band's live sets. "Sweet Chorus" provides a relaxed finish to the album, easy and intimate as a front porch jam session. The fiery "Noto Swing" is provided by another Reinhardt - Lulu, a mainstay of the German gypsy jazz scene. On each of its releases the Detroit combo has also flexed its classical muscles, beginning with Nino Rota's theme from "The Godfather" on their debut, followed by Maurice Ravel's "Tzigane" on 2008's Night Town. This time it's Frédéric Chopin's "Tristesse" E Major Etude, which shines a spotlight onto Julien Labro's lush bandoneon and Cafagna's melancholy clarinet. The remainder of the album consists of originals by the band members themselves: Labro's serpentine, Chick Corea-influenced "Equilibrium;" Cafagna's engaging "Restless Twilights;" "Papillon," a wistful ballad by Labro and Kratzat; Perri's aptly-named "Patio Swing;" Labro's knife-edged waltz "Sacré Bleu;" and Perri's "For Stéphane" - an homage to guitarist Stéphane Wrembel, not the original Hot Club of France violinist. As wide-ranging as the album is, the one constant is the group's sense of individuality, which Perri says he encourages from each of his band mates. "There's no point in going out and playing music if you can't be yourself," Perri says. "Sometimes you'll hear a Wes Montgomery riff in my playing, or you might hear an Eddie Van Halen riff or a Led Zeppelin influence, because that's who I am and for me to deny that wouldn't be true to my musicianship." Artist Updates, Press Releases 2010-02-24T17:13:33-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/much_of_kenny_rankin_catalog_remastered_for_re-issue/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/much_of_kenny_rankin_catalog_remastered_for_re-issue/#When:04:08:31Z   Singer-guitarist Kenny Rankin died in 2009, but his music and legacy is being kept alive by his family, who have organized a reissue schedule for nearly half of his back catalog. The releases were made possible by the generosity of the late, legendary comic George Carlin. (More on that later.)   The label imprint Sly Dog Records, marketed and distributed by jazz label Mack Avenue Records, will release six of Rankin’s earlier albums in the coming months, including classic Rankin material like Family (that’s the one with a cover of a naked Rankin holding his two young daughters, also naked—it was the ’70s, OK?) and Like a Seed. The albums will be officially released on Feb. 16. Interestingly, they’re labeled as “jazz/pop,” a tag that doesn’t really do justice to the genre-crossing yet singular Rankin. Son Chris Rankin said that it was important to him and his two sisters, Gena Rankin-Ray and Dr. Chanda Rankin, to see that his legacy was kept alive, but the impetus for these reissues actually came from their father, who had already made headway with getting back the masters before his death. “My dad was pretty well along on re-acquiring his work,” explained Chris. “It made it so much easier for us to do what had to be done.”   However, the reacquisition is a story that seems unbelievable, at least without knowing about the distant past. At the beginning of his career in the late ’60s, Rankin recorded two albums for Mercury, before being signed to a label called Little David, which was run by Monte Kay, perhaps best known to jazz aficionados as the manager and impresario for the Modern Jazz Quartet. Kay also managed and booked Rankin, as well as a young comic named George Carlin. (Like Rankin, Carlin came from a tough NYC neighborhood.) Naturally, Kay sent both of his nascent acts out on the road together in the ’70s, and although the two performers didn’t know each other from their childhood, they quickly bonded, pounding out a living on the road at clubs and colleges across the country.   Over time, Rankin released several fairly successful albums on that Little David label, which was distributed by WEA. And, of course, that label also released albums from the aforementioned young comic, who subsequently became one of the most influential comedians of his generation.   Cut to 30 years later. Eventually, the catalog of Little David ended up under the control of Carlin. A few years ago, Rankin contacted his old tour buddy about getting back the master tapes and rights to those old recordings. Sadly, many label owners relish such an opportunity to cash in on old inventory, demanding a king’s ransom for tapes gathering dust in a vault. Carlin, however, took a different approach. He sold the rights to the masters—all of them—back to Rankin for the princely sum of $1. No typo. “He was a man of heart and generosity,” said son Chris of Carlin. “And Little David had also gotten rights to the first two records as well, so Dad was able to get much of his earlier work back, thanks to George’s kind act.”   Chris said he hopes these reissues will introduce some of his father’s more recent fans to his work as a composer. “As he got older, he tended to downplay his own compositions,” said Chris. “He saw himself as an interpreter of other people’s music.” Indeed, Rankin covered the Beatles, just like nearly every singer of the ’70s and ’80s, but it was Rankin who was called by McCartney to perform Lennon-McCartney songs at the induction of the pair into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. “That meant so much to my Dad,” recalled Chris. “To get that sort of acknowledgment from the person who created the music in the first place. Just as all musicians seek approval from their peers.”   Chris, a veteran of the music business himself, credits his father with introducing him to the power of music in creation. “I remember going to recording sessions with him in New York City in the ’60s. I must have been about 7. Of course, I was always ready to tag along. What an education.” The young Rankin grew up to become a live music engineer, working at high-profile venues or on the road with top-notch acts like Crosby, Stills & Nash. Those skills came in handy when the time came to turn the two-track masters into remastered CDs. “We wanted to make sure that people would hear the same intimacy and dynamics that were on the original recordings. Too often digital remastering means changing the sound for the wrong reasons.”   Finally, about “that ’70s cover.” Chris, who appears on the back cover with the rest of the family, has a different take on that photo session. It seems that the photographer just happened to be one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. “Actually, Richard Avedon took those photos,” Chris laughed. “We still have the contact sheets. We felt very fortunate that Dad had relationships with so many talented and interesting people.”   It helps to be talented and interesting yourself. The younger Rankin sees his father’s legacy as someone who saw music beyond genres. “He had a very broad musical palette, because of where he grew up in a neighborhood where he heard everything. And he exposed us as kids to everything from MJQ to CSN. He was open to all genres.”   Chris thinks that audiences past and present will reconnect with his father’s work for different reasons. “We think that fans of his later work will see a different side of Dad. And fans of his earlier work have always asked about those albums, which have not been available for some time.”   Scource: Jazz Times Artist Updates, Mack Avenue News, Press Releases 2010-01-30T04:08:31-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/kind_of_brown_listed_as_one_of_writer_reviewer_tom_pierces_top_five_rel/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/kind_of_brown_listed_as_one_of_writer_reviewer_tom_pierces_top_five_rel/#When:22:26:12Z Christian McBride & Inside Straight – Kind of Brown (Mack Avenue) The enormously respected, award-winning bassist Christian McBride, with 20 years of playing with stalwarts like Bobby Watson, Benny Golson, Roy Hargrove, Freddie Hubbard, and many recordings on his own needs little introduction to jazz fans. But given the fact that most of his own CD’s the past 10 years have focused on fusion, pop and funk, this CD could be viewed as a re-introduction to devotees (like myself) of the straight-ahead, post-bop subgenre. The bright-sounding, exuberant original material played so joyously by the powerfully swinging band of alto/soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin and drummer Carl Allen, along with McBride, proclaims this is JAZZ, with a capital “J”! - Full Article Mack Avenue News, Reviews 2010-01-15T22:26:12-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/mack_avenue_records_receives_2_naacp_image_award_nominations/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/mack_avenue_records_receives_2_naacp_image_award_nominations/#When:23:10:40Z BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., (January 6, 2010) -- The 41st NAACP Image Awards nominees were announced today during a press conference at The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills.  Taye Diggs (“Private Practice” - ABC), Michael Strahan (“Brothers” - FOX) and “FOX NFL Sunday”), Wanda Sykes (“The Wanda Sykes Show” - FOX), Kyle Massey (“That's So Raven,” “Cory in the House” - Disney Channel), Chris Massey (“Zoey 101” - Nickelodeon) and Tatyana Ali (Young and the Restless – CBS) joined NAACP Image Awards Committee Chair, Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, Executive Producer of the telecast, to announce the categories and nominees.  The 41st NAACP Image Awards will air live on Friday, February 26 (8:00 – 10:00 PM ET/PT Tape-Delayed) on FOX. This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of the 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members, and winners will be announced during the live airing of the 41st NAACP Image Awards.   Outstanding Jazz Album “Detroit” – Gerald Wilson Orchestra (Mack Avenue Records) “He and She” – Wynton Marsalis (Blue Note Records) “Kind of Brown” – Christian McBride & Inside Straight (Mack Avenue Records) “Poetically Justified” – Marcus Johnson (Three Keys Music) “The Real Thing” – Vanessa Williams (Concord Records)   - Read Article Artist Updates, Mack Avenue News 2010-01-07T23:10:40-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/the_blues_foundation_nominates_johnnie_bassett_in_2_categories/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/the_blues_foundation_nominates_johnnie_bassett_in_2_categories/#When:00:34:37Z 2010 - 31st Blues Music Awards 2010 The Blues Foundation will present the 31st Blues Music Awards on May 6, 2010, at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, TN. Performers, industry representatives and fans from around the globe will have the chance to celebrate the best in Blues recording and performance from 2009. Among those heading the list of honorees for the 31st Blues Music Awards is Joe Louis Walker, who garnered five nominations, including Album of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, and Song of the Year for "I'm Tide" from his recent release Between a Rock and the Blues. Tommy Castro, Rick Estrin, Louisiana Red, Duke Robillard and Super Chikan each received four nominations. (Full nominee list is below) "Many nominators noted that narrowing each category to five was an especially difficult task this year, but I think the nominees are very reflective of the past year's releases. In this holiday season, I like to think of this as a present blues fans can open immediately," Jay Sieleman, The Blues Foundation's Executive Director said. "I would hope Blues fans will add the nominated releases and tickets to their shopping lists!" Almost every nominee will be in attendance and perform so it's safe to say it will be one of the best shows of the year; where else do you get the chance to see a lineup including the best of the best in blues all in one evening? The 30th Blues Music Awards were widely hailed as the best ever so order now to get the best seats for the show. Members get seating preference and are the only fans who vote to decide which nominees will actually take home the Blues Music Award. Online voting begins December 10 for members. Voting, ticket and host hotel information can be found by clicking on the links to the left. The Blues Music Awards are universally recognized as the highest honor given to Blues artists. The presenting sponsor will once again be The Gibson Foundation. 2010 BMA sponsors include ArtsMemphis, BMI, Casey Family Programs, Eagle Rock Entertainment, FedEx, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. The Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Charter Members' Dinner will be held on May 5, the night before the Blues Music Awards. Hall of Fame honorees will be announced in mid-February. Read Full Article Artist Updates, Mack Avenue News 2009-12-11T00:34:37-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/christian_mcbride_getting_the_inside_straight/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/christian_mcbride_getting_the_inside_straight/#When:17:40:34Z If we think about it for a little while, it's possible to believe that there is something almost mystic and undeniably powerful about jazz. The way it developed through the years and its constant ignition-like energy; the creativity of those who lead the way and those who continue the journey today; the improvisation that takes over souls and willingly delivers its magic for an amazed world to listen. Jazz is a growing teenager whose future is as wide and vast as the horizon that lies before its tapping feet. Looking back, one also realizes that nothing you ever heard before can quite be compared to anything you are hearing today, for jazz is a never-ending adventure, and part of its ongoing, boundless imagination gently rests its head on a past so brilliant that the mind can only welcome what the heart feels...and that can only be described with music.   That is when Christian McBride comes in handy. His versatility has been praised and admired for years, making it seem as though the 37-year-old bassist extraordinaire should be in his late seventies by now. He has mastered an instrument that for many is the absolute essence of jazz, guilty of giving it a sense of unity and control. The former Juillard student's work with a bow is a simple, and rather delicate indication of just how deep his artistry really goes. Leave it to the bass player to show you the way to musical perfection. And better yet, leave it to him to show you a good time while listening to his new straight-ahead band, Inside Straight, with Carl Allen on drums, Eric Reed (a most celebrated side man for Wynton Marsalis) at the piano, Steve Wilson (Dave Holland Big Band) on sax and Warren Wolf Jr., on vibes, completing this faultless circle that he has created for his new studio project, Kind of Brown (Mack Avenue Records, 2009).   Some may think Ray Brown and maybe Paul Chambers while listening to a still-young-enough Christian McBride, but the Philly native is truly his own artist, and always has been. At this point in his career, he does not need the comparisons that many still keep trying to impose on him. Kind of Brown is nothing but an unnecessary proof of greatness—something to listen to while getting ready to admit that maybe, just maybe, McBride is one of the best things that has ever happened to jazz in particular, and music in general.   All About Jazz: I have heard a little bit about the process of coming up with the name of Inside Straight. Tell me about that.   Christian McBride: [Laughs] Yeah...Two years ago I was hanging out in the Village Vanguard one night, and I realized that I hadn't played there in 10 years! And any jazz musician worth his salt should be playing the Village Vanguard. So I asked Lorraine Gordon, the owner of the club, if it would be okay if I came back, and she said, "Of course it would be okay, I'd love for you to come back, but you know what we do down here. I don't want that band that you usually play with here, that is not a band for the Village Vanguard," talking about the Christian McBride Band. I said "I know, I know, I'll put a band together just for this gig." So I called Steve Wilson, Warren Wolf, Eric Reed and Carl Allen, and we went down there and played, and it turned out to be such a successful week, musically, commercially, financially, that we were all happy.   Everybody was happy, Lorraine was happy, we had a full house crowds for each show for six nights in a row...The writing was on the wall, I had to keep the band together, and all the guys on the band wanted to keep on playing together, people who came for the show wanted me to keep the band together, there were a lot of people from different record labels that were interested, and even they said "look, whether we sign you or not, make sure you keep this band together." So it was overwhelming. I didn't think I was going to be able to keep the band together, because everyone in the band has their own projects, especially Eric Reed, Carl Allen and Steve Wilson.   So it took us almost a year to play together again, but we finally got some gigs booked, and that's when we played the Monterey Jazz Festival, and this is also right before we went into the studio to record Kind of Brown. So we were in Monterrey, and we were listed as the Christian McBride Quintet, and you know, every jazz band in the world with five guys is called a quintet. It's boring. There's no creativity whatsoever. For all the creativity jazz musicians have when it comes to making music, we have no creativity when it comes to naming our bands! It's always such and such quintet, such and such quartet, such and such trio...oh man, so boring. So what could we name our band?   So we were all sitting around trying to think of a name for the band, and my manager and I looked at each other and he said "look, let's have a contest, we'll have the audience name the band." So we got on stage at the Monterrey Jazz Festival, and we announced this contest for naming the band. And then people who came to the show that night were sending their submission to my Web site, and then the following night we would announce the winner. Turns out we got almost 3,500 submission in 24 hours! And it was just too many to go through in 24 hours. I would have needed a team to go through all of that! So it took about a week to go through everything, but we finally settled for Inside Straight. The couple that named the band, Debra and Doug Moody, they are responsible for the name of the group. All About Jazz Review Reviews 2009-11-26T17:40:34-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/gerald_wilson_orchestra_detroit_-_all_about_jazz/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/gerald_wilson_orchestra_detroit_-_all_about_jazz/#When:20:24:41Z Composer / arranger / ageless wonder Gerald Wilson, most of whose recent albums (Monterey Moods; New York, New Sound; Theme for Monterey; State Street Sweet) have been built around sectional themes, returns "home" on Detroit to paint an earnest musical portrait of his adopted city, one that not only spawned the nation's auto industry but has produced a wealth of renowned jazz musicians from the Jones brothers (Elvin, Thad, Hank) to Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Pepper Adams, Betty Carter, Paul Chambers, Billy Mitchell, Curtis Fuller, Yusef Lateef, Dorothy Ashby and many others.  Even though he was born in Mississippi, Wilson's family moved to Detroit when he was quite young, and he was graduated from Cass Tech High School, once known far and wide for its exemplary music programs. It was from Detroit that Wilson launched his career with the Jimmie Lunceford Band, and the rest, as they say, is history. Wilson has been composing and arranging almost ever since, and the NEA Jazz Master and "Living Jazz Legend" has half a dozen Grammy Award nominations to his credit. What is most remarkable, as epitomized on Detroit, is that, at age ninety-one, Wilson hasn't lost a step when it comes to writing sharp and exhilarating big-band charts. After framing a carefree mood with the snappy "Blues on Belle Isle," Wilson salutes his alma mater with "Cass Tech," a straight-on swinger with a sunny piano intro by Brian O'Rourke and pleasing solos by son Anthony Wilson on guitar, tenor Kamasi Washington and guest trumpeter Sean Jones. These are the first movements in the six-part Detroit Suite, performed by Wilson's Los Angeles Band; the last two (unrelated) numbers, "Everywhere" and "Aram," showcase his New York Band with guest flautist Hubert Laws brightening the landscape on "Everywhere." "Detroit" weaves its spell with easygoing grace, "Miss Gretchen" demurely unveils her loveliness before cutting loose, "Before Motown" is bold and sassy (with apposite solos by Jones, O'Rourke, Washington, fellow tenor Louis Van Taylor, trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez and trombonist Les Benedict), after which the turbulent "Detroit River" engulfs the listener in a tidal wave of big-band bravado enhanced by O'Rourke, Anthony Wilson, Van Taylor, trumpeters Jones and Ron Barrow, soprano Jack Kelso, trombonist Eric Jorgensen and violinist Yvette Devereaux (more than window dressing; she really swings, whether in the "River" or on "Belle Isle"). Washington, Jones and Anthony Wilson solo with the always-inspiring Laws and an unnamed trombonist on the mid-tempo charmer "Everywhere," while trumpeter Terell Stafford and alto Antonio Hart relish their moment in the sun on the colorful "Aram." Gerald Wilson has been and remains a marvel, and Detroit warrants a place among his finest works for big band. Would anyone care to wager against raising the ante to seven Grammy nominations? - REVIEW Reviews 2009-11-09T20:24:41-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/count_basie_orchestra_swinging_singing_playing/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/count_basie_orchestra_swinging_singing_playing/#When:23:29:39Z   Although over a quarter-century has elapsed since the passing of William "Count" Basie in 1984, the bandleader and pianist's legacy has proved one of the most durable from the big band era, and the Basie band's Swinging, Singing, Playing maintains the Basie tradition and carries it triumphantly into the new millennium. Dennis Wilson (not to be confused with his late Beach Boys namesake), who served in the Basie trombone section from 1977-87, first under Basie himself, then under Thad Jones and Frank Foster, returns to conduct the current ensemble in eleven of his own Basie-styled charts, including four original compositions. (Wilson is now Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).  "Giant Blues Flag Waver" is Wilson's compositional opening salvo, in which the traditional Basie groove joins forces with John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," with tenor saxist Doug Lawrence, drummer Marion Felder and guest pianist Geri Allen in the solo spotlight. Another guest, bassist Rufus Reid, captures solo honors on "Naiomi's Blues," which Wilson named for his daughter. Wilson says that he composed "Dark Morning" on the very day of Basie's death. It has remained unrecorded until here, where it receives a midnight-blue velvet treatment reminiscent of Neal Hefti's "Li'l Darlin'" and Henry Mancini's "Dreamsville." It's highlighted by Michael Williams' bucket-muted trumpet saluting Freddie Hubbard.  The 87-year-old scat master Jon Hendricks teams with the thirtysomething British show business prodigy Jamie Cullum at the piano on the Basie-meets-James Brown (plus a hint of Joe Zawinul's "Birdland") "Blues On Mack Avenue," which also features Wilson in a plunger-muted solo saluting the late Basie trombonist Al Grey, in addition to an open statement by Wilson's Basie predecessor Curtis Fuller. (The album closes with the iconic Basie piano tag, on which Cullum maintains the final chord in a nod to The Beatles' "A Day In the Life," accompanied by Hendricks' laughter).  Flutist Frank Wess, a Basie veteran of nearly three decades (he introduced the flute into the Basie repertoire while doubling on alto and tenor), rejoins the band for Quincy Jones's "Jessica's Day," nearly 50 years after he first recorded the tune with Basie. Wilson has expanded Wess' flute lead on the original recording, Basie One More Time (Roulette, 1960), into a fully-realized solo feature, and the octogenarian Wess succeeds brilliantly.  In 1985, the Basie ensemble under Thad Jones appeared on The Manhattan Transfer's Grammy-winning Vocalese album (Atlantic, since reissued on Rhino), and one of the vocal quartet's founding members, Janis Siegel, reunites with the band in tributes to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, both of whom enjoyed long associations with Basie. André Previn's late-1950s paean to hipness "Like Young" is firmly in "First Lady Of Song" vein, while "Close Your Eyes" and "I Have Waited So Long," composed by Vaughan herself and featuring just the sax section led by the superb Marshall McDonald, echo "The Divine One," as Vaughan was nicknamed. Thad's older brother, the nonagenarian Hank Jones, provides outstanding piano accompaniment to all of Siegel's vocals.  The album's sole liability is vocalist Nnenna Freelon on "Too Close for Comfort" and Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays." She sings flat on the latter and her attempts at scat do not match those of either Siegel or Hendricks elsewhere on the CD ("Yesterdays" is redeemed by the electrifying drumming of Basie veteran Butch Miles. Cullum's vocal contribution is the Oscar Levant/Stanley Adams standard "Blame It On My Youth," which Wilson indicates as a salute to Tony Bennett, whose A Swingin' Christmas (Sony/Columbia, 2008), featuring the Basie band, was recorded just a few months earlier. On all other "Counts," however, Swinging, Singing, and Playing is an absolute winner.  Tracks: Too Close for Comfort; Giant Blues Flag Waver; Like Young; Jessica's Day; Blame It On My Youth; Close Your Eyes; Naiomi's Blues; Yesterdays; I Have Waited So Long; Dark Morning; Blues On Mack Avenue.    Robert J. Robbins - All About Jazz - review Reviews 2009-09-30T23:29:39-06:00 http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/new_york_times_nate_chinens_review_of_sachal_vasandanis_we_move/ http://www.mackavenue.com/news/article/new_york_times_nate_chinens_review_of_sachal_vasandanis_we_move/#When:19:54:14Z SACHAL VASANDANI “We Move” (Mack Avenue)Jazz singing is a flexible discipline: it’s not determined by repertory or the particulars of style. What makes a jazz singer has more to do with a set of tools and instincts, and by that measure Sachal Vasandani qualifies as one of the stronger new arrivals in the field. A New Yorker by way of Chicago, he released his debut, “Eyes Wide Open” (Mack Avenue), in 2007. At that time his pop tendencies registered as vaguely calculated, and it was hard to draw a bead on his taste. “We Move,” his second album, is more cohesive despite a similarly broad range of material: Mr. Vasandani, 30, has come a lot closer to articulating an identity, with jazz and pop commingling in unassuming ways. He wrote a handful of the songs, including “Every Ocean, Every Star,” a pragmatic meditation, and the title track, a pensive reverie partly credited to Erik Privert. The sound of these originals can call to mind the atmosphere of indie-folk acts like Bon Iver: haunted, a little fragile, rooted in focused solitude.The flexibility of Mr. Vasandani’s phrasing would mark him as a jazz singer whether or not he ventured any scat choruses. But it’s worth noting that he includes two songs with vocalese lyrics by Jon Hendricks, and that he nods elsewhere to Betty Carter and Mark Murphy, patron saints of jazz-vocal libertarianism. His version of “Don’t Worry About Me” comes from the playbook of Kurt Elling, whose influence here feels both profound and matter-of-fact. The best news about “We Move” is that Mr. Vasandani seems comfortable with precedent as well as freedom. But it’s also clear that he’s a jazz singer with good ideas, including some about what a jazz singer can be. NATE CHINEN - review Reviews 2009-09-21T19:54:14-06:00