Ron Oswanski-December's Moon(Palmetto 2013)

2013 debut album from the Jazz keyboardist featuring heavyweights such as guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist John Patitucci, drummer Clarence Penn, and saxophonist Tim Ries, who produced the project. Though Ron Oswanski is one of the most prodigious Hammond B3 players on a Jazz scene rife with rising organ talent, he's just starting to introduce himself as a force in his own right. Also an accomplished accordion player, Oswanski has forged a lithe, lyrical and rhythmically charged contemporary sound steeped in the B3's earthy roots but informed by Post-Bop developments. With his finely calibrated sense of dynamics and expansive harmonic palette, he can burn with the best of them, and then slow things down for an exquisitely crafted ballad. He showcases his multifaceted sensibility on December's Moon.
Ron Oswanski website

David Linx / Diederik Wissels - Winds of Change (Just Looking Productions 2013)

David Linx et Diederik Wissels :
nouvel album !

Pour célébrer leurs 25 ans de collaboration artistique, David Linx et Diederik Wissels proposent un nouvel album intitulé Winds Of Change. Sortie le 26 mars 2013.

Pour ce nouvel album de 13 titres, David Linx et Diederik Wissels ont été accompagnés par Christophe Wallemme à la basse et Donald Kontomanou à la batterie.
Ils ont également invité Manu Codjia, Jacques Schwarz-Bart et Ibrahim Maalouf.

Ce dernier opus est à la fois une réflexion et un compte rendu de plus 20 années de collaboration dans un genre qu’on pourait qualifier de singer-songwriter dans le jazz.

Just Looking Productions

Ivan Paduart - Ibiza (MONS Records 2013)

Ivan Paduart - piano
Philippe Aerts - bass
Hans van Oosterhout - drums
Born in 1967, the Belgian pianist and composer Ivan Paduart sat at the piano for the first time at the age of 10. At the age of 17, he discovered jazz, and since then he has been climbing steadily upwards on the career ladder, garnering major awards and becoming recognized as a great on the international jazz scene. He has known his two companions on the album 'Ibiza', Philippe Aerts (bass) and Hans van Oosterhout (drums) for more than 25 years and has played with them alongside guest musicians such as Tom Harrell, Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine, Charlie Mariano and Bert Joris, to name just a few, on countless albums.
'Ibiza' though, is again a very special and independent work. The essence of this magnificent composition and its realization is best described by Ivan Paduart in his own words:
"The older I get, the more important it is for me to get to the point. I choose melodies, rather than using gimmickry and admittedly 'sexy tricks'. I have always tried to reach the heart and, to a lesser degree, the mind with my music, and yet still stimulate both. I find that this can best be achieved with pure and seemingly simple melodies enriched with complex harmonies. I very much hope that you have the same magical 'easy flow' feeling when listening as Philippe, Hans and I had during the recording of 'Ibiza'." MONS Records

SAXOPHONIST/VOCALIST BOB MOVER SET TO RELEASE TWO-DISC SET, "MY HEART TELLS ME," ON MOTEMA MUSIC - JUNE 11

SAXOPHONIST/VOCALIST BOB MOVER SET TO

RELEASE TWO-DISC SET, MY HEART TELLS ME,

ON MOTÉMA MUSIC - JUNE 11

Disc One Features Mover's Vocals on Deeply Soulful Standards

While Disc Two is Primarily Original Instrumentals

 

"Neither an avant-gardist nor exactly a mainstreamer, Mover is

one of the most accomplished and thoroughly engaging

saxophonists around." - Eric Levin, People Magazine

Stream Tracks from My Heart Tells Me

Bob Mover has attracted generations of listeners with his versatility, emotional depth and technical command on alto, tenor and soprano saxophones. Through his sideman stints with such legends as Chet Baker, Charles Mingus and Jaki Byard, and his work as a leader since the mid-'70s, Mover has attained the highest level of individuality and authority on his instruments - not just mastering the saxophone lineage but also claiming a place of honor within it.

Born in Boston, Mover relocated to Florida at age 12 and took up the horn the following year. At the age of 13, Mover came under the influence of Ira Sullivan, who he remains close friends with to this day. After leaving high school at the age of 17 to pursue his career, Mover bypassed a more traditional route of attending a music conservatory or arts-focused school. Instead, he studied with highly regarded jazz veterans such as Phil Woods, Al Cohn, and Richie Kamuca. While still a teenager, Mover had already sat in at the old Half Note in New York with the likes of Roy Eldridge, James Moody, and Zoot Sims, and others. In recent years Mover has also cultivated a sound and style as a vocalist, as heard on his 2008 release It Amazes Me... Following up that strong effort on his new two-disc release My Heart Tells Me, Mover divides his time between two different but closely related aesthetics.

Disc one showcases Mover singing a set of deeply soulful yet unaffected standards (the one instrumental is Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town"). Disc two is wholly instrumental (save for the Kenny Dorham ballad "Fair Weather"), with trumpet and occasional second tenor added, and the tunes are mainly Mover's own. This vocal/instrumental set follows in the spirit of Mover's one-time cohort, Chet Baker. 

"I consider myself a musician who sings, as opposed to a singer," says Mover. "On my previous record I sang about six out of 11 tunes, but in a performance I'll sing only two or three tunes in a set. I find that singing opens my heart chakra - I'm even more connected to the music by actually conveying the lyrics."

Mover's singing, with its unique mix of passion and restraint, brings out the beauty in this songbook material from Porter, Ray Noble, Harry Warren, Michel Legrand, Dietz & Schwartz and more. "I don't feel the need to embellish a lot vocally," says Mover. "I can do that on the horn, but one thing I can't make it do is pronounce words."

Photo Credit: Jean-Baptiste Millot

A highlight of disc one is the title track, "My Heart Tells Me," from the 1943 film Sweet Rosie O'Grady starring Betty Grable. "I was made aware of this song by my friend [pianist] Tony Castellano - we'd play with Ira Sullivan as a trio and we'd go through 50-60 songs in maybe five or six hours. Tony found this and he showed it to me."

Two pieces, "Gone With the Wind" and "You've Changed," feature Mover in a compelling duo setting with the great Kenny Barron. "Everything's always there with Kenny," Mover says. "You can always rely on him to play great and help everyone else play great. The first time I heard him live was in 1964. My mom took us out to the Village Gate and we heard him with Dizzy Gillespie. I was impressed because he was only 19 or 20, and I was 12 or 13. He was still kind of in my same generation."

"Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone)," by Will Jason & Val Burton, is a contemplative song about love in New York City. Mover originally called his dear friend Sonny Rollins suggesting that he play it, and recalls singing it on the phone together, and Rollins saying, "Nice song, and nice sentiment. Why don't you play it." Mover took up the challenge, opening with a vibrant cadenza, somewhat reminiscent of Rollins, before the ballad tempo kicks in. "It's a humble song," he remarks. "I like the idea of thanking something bigger than you for being as happy as you are."

The one vocal number on disc two is "Fair Weather" by hard bop trumpet legend Kenny Dorham. "There are love songs, but occasionally there are 'life' songs. This one captures KD's approach to life, that the human race could achieve a certain idealistic state of being," explains Mover. Mover spent much of the summer of '69 learning from Dorham, as well as pianist Wynton Kelly, saxophonist Charles Davis, and vocalist Evelyn Blakey. "KD and Wynton used to show me turnarounds and 'passing' changes, how there were chords that weren't on the sheet music and how they could be put in. I learned in 40 minutes what would have taken three years at a university. KD didn't live long enough for me to really thank him. Putting this song in the world now is my way of trying to do that."

The presence of trumpeter Josh Evans on disc two signals a different, more band-oriented direction. "I heard Josh in Washington Square Park when I was pushing my daughter on the swing," Mover says. "I heard a trumpet from the other end of the park and I wanted to see who this guy was. I could hear Art Farmer and Don Cherry and everything in between, but Josh told me his biggest influence was Jackie McLean, having grown up in Hartford and having known Jackie since he was in his early teens."

Three tracks on disc two, "Fair Weather," "Survival of the Sickest" and "Sweet Basil," feature Mover and Evans with second tenor saxophonist Steve Hall, creating a more expansive horn-section sound. "Steve's a unique player and a very creative and dedicated guy, so I wanted to give him some space and hopefully let the world know him a little better."

"Sweet Basil," based on "Cherokee" and first recorded for the 1979 Vanguard LP Bob Mover (also featuring Barron on piano), is named for the long-defunct Greenwich Village jazz club where Mover played regularly in the '70s. "Survival of the Sickest" is inspired by harmonic nuances learned at the feet of the great Jaki Byard. "Chet's Chum," as Mover explains, "is a line that I wrote based on 'Sweet & Lovely,' there's an airiness about the tune that brings memories of Chet to me." And "Dee's Dilemma," though written by the late Mal Waldron, "is a tune that I learned with Chet," Mover continues. "Both of these tunes have a counterpoint element in the blowing, which is something that Chet liked to do and still hasn't been overused in jazz."

Tying all the music together on bass is Bob Cranshaw. "Bob is the complete bassist. He has the right space between the notes, he hears all the changes, he can feel your lines heading in a certain way and knows where the musical gravity is going to land," explains Mover. "Drummers Steve Williams and Victor Lewis are both players of deep swing and rare sensitivity. Williams and Cranshaw, having worked with so many singers, both know a lot of the lyrics. So when you're singing, you really feel that they're breathing with you."

From beginning to end on My Heart Tells Me, Mover invites us to breathe with him as well. In the words of Chuck Berg, writing in DownBeat magazine, "Mover's music rings with a profundity that speaks to both heart and mind."

Bob Mover ·  My Heart Tells Me

Motéma Music ·  Release Date: June 11, 2013

  

For more information on Motéma Music, visit motema.com

    

For media information, please contact:

DL Media ·  610-667-0501

Maureen McFadden ·  maureen@dlmediamusic.com 

Don Lucoff ·  don@dlmediamusic.com

 

Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos and bios)  

on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com

USA, NJ : Grace Kelly Quintet @ Levoy Theatre

Grace Kelly Quintet

Levoy Theatre

 Levoy Theatre
126 - 130 N. HIGH STREET
MILVILLE, NJ

June 1, 2013 8:00 PM
Door Open: 7:30 PM 

Facebook 

website: http://levoy.net/events/the-grace-kelly-quintet/

 

Tonatiuh Vázquez Vilchis-Nin Yolkokol (Esta Pasión)(2013)

Jazz is the artist’s most pure manifestation in the search of his own voice. Inside of a globalized society, Jazz has become an amalgam, composed by colors and styles, that represent the human conscience in the contemporary world; “Nin Yolkokol” (This Passion), produced by the terrific Mexican saxophonist Tonatiuh Vázquez, is the most pure demonstration of a style where there is neither barriers nor limits.
In this discography, one can hear from the most classical repertoire, like Gershwin with a cha-cha-cha version of Summertime, to a complex and elegant harmonic sound made by the string section interpreting one of the darkest compositions of the prolific Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, named Por Causa de Voçe.
Tonatiuh Vázquez is not only a great performer, but also a brilliant composer, arranger and leader. In “Nin Yolkokol,” Tonatiuh met a terrific group, formed by recognized young musicians in the Mexican Jazz scene: Samuel Martínez
on the piano, Vladimir Coronel and Yaury Hernández on drums, Emiliano Coronel on bass, and Guillermo Barrón on percussion, and two special guests; Charlie Sepulveda and Rafael Alcala.
“Nin Yolkokol” is a big accomplish in Tonatiuh’s career and a link to the promising artistic trajectory of this young musician. I am sure we will hear of Tonatiuh’s work
in the years to come.

Rafael Alcalá
Academic Director of Musinetwork School of Music
cdbaby

Christian Gruber-Ruesz - Sunny: Gruber-Ruesz Quartet (feat. Rolland Guggenbichler, Karl Sayer, Oliver Krammer & Peter Havlicek) ( M.o.d. Records 2013)

The history of jazz can be characterized as a non-violent battle for survival between the various instruments. In this art form the appearance of an immutable line-up of instruments that has outlasted the vagaries of time is illusory. Everything is specific to given periods of jazz history, everything is in transition. What today has an aura of eternity may tomorrow be relegated to the sidelines. The tuba, once responsible for the base notes, has been ousted by the double bass. The cornet has almost completely disappeared. And what of the clarinet? After the swing era it had to cede its place in the limelight. The saxophone, trumpet and piano have retained their dominance, while bass and percussion are still associated with the musical background — but who knows where they will be a few decades from now. Since the ’sixties exotic instruments have infiltrated the genre, and the ethnic movement has attracted attention to cultures remote from the urban world of jazz. Today we can look back to Alice Coltrane on the harp and Guy Klucevsek on the accordeon. Cognoscenti are also familiar with Rufus Harley, who squeezed the Scottish bagpipes, and Steve Turre, who uses sea shells to express his musical thinking. Meanwhile, classical instruments like the French horn, oboe or bassoon have found acceptance in the jazz family.

Christian Gruber-Ruesz, too, immerses us in a world of instrumental by-ways. True, the broad stylistic thrust of his music is familiar — Latin, funk, bebop, modal jazz, blues and gypsy swing. Yet Gruber-Ruesz sounds different. His perspective reaches far beyond these styles, is open to a variety of folk elements, and thus gives a personal slant to the jazz quartet. The Portuguese mandolin, the Greek bouzouki and the gypsy guitar alternate to produce unusual listening that sometimes recalls Vienna. Indeed, a contra-guitar also makes a guest appearance on two tracks. Gruber-Ruesz sees Vienna as a cultural and stylistic melting pot that symbolizes his aesthetic eclecticism. Incidentally, what you are hearing is a live recording and not the result of studio tinkering. Recorded at Vienna’s Aera café, the music takes its life from its air of spontaneity. Applause is audible, but only on two occasions. Gruber-Ruesz set out to create a wide musical span of the type found in a symphony. In formal terms, Live in Aera reminds me of a suite, but that will probably be all the same to listeners once they have been captivated by the stylistic range of this production. Which is all to the good.

The world turned upside down! Portuguese mandolin meets modal jazz, blues meets bouzouki … In Sunny Christian Gruber-Ruesz creates a pot pourri that the listener is happy to take as it comes.

Ljubisa Tosic
Christian Gruber-Ruesz: mandoline, gypsy-guitar, bouzouki
Rolland Guggenbichler: piano, keyboard
Karl Sayer: kontrabass
Oliver Krammer: drums
Peter Havlicek: kontra gitarre
https://www.facebook.com/christian.gruberruesz