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http://www.cleanfeed-records.com/festivalpdf/
Hope to see you all there !!!
John Hebert
John Hebert is the answer to the sad trivia question, Who is the last bassist to play with pianist Andrew Hill? That final performance came on Mar. 29th, 2007 at Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan in a trio with drummer Eric McPherson; Hill would die just over three weeks later. For the New Orleans-born Hebert, being part of the bass lineage of Hill, a pantheon that has included Richard Davis, Ron Carter, Reggie Workman and even Hebert’s teacher from William Paterson University, Rufus Reid, was “a life-altering thing. I didn’t want to play any other music but that because it totally built my confidence and made me stronger as a musician. Because he never said, ‘Do this, you need to play like this.’ It seemed that whatever I was doing was cool and it felt right.” Hebert admits to not being totally immersed in Hill’s music before the first call for a gig at the 2001 JazzBaltica Festival. But right away, Hebert describes the experience in lofty terms: “It was liberating to play and being validated in a sense of how I was approaching music or how I was hearing music, hearing the bass and my way of thinking of how it should be played. …And then more gigs came and he just kept calling and I was like, ‘hell yeah, let me do these gigs.’” From 2003 until his death, Hebert was Hill’s regular sideman, a description that belies the equal partnership that Hill demanded from his musicians, and recorded on the pianist’s critically-acclaimed second return to the Blue Note label, Time Lines (with McPherson, reedplayer Greg Tardy and trumpeter Charles Tolliver). Though Hebert has been ubiquitous in New York in a number of ensembles since the turn of the century, his time with Hill was instructive in a way musicians can’t get from playing solely with their peers. “It was a great sort of school for me to go to,” Hebert says. “Having that mentorship, if you want to call it that, doesn’t exist as much to me anymore, someone from the generation that can bring you into their language, their world and you sort of grow and develop with them and they sort of help you along in that way.” And since that experience, Hebert feels that his performing opportunities are a direct result of people wanting his particular approach to the instrument. Speaking of those that employ him, Hebert says, “I’m hoping they know what I’m going to do. I don’t really curb what I’m doing for a particular gig. I’m always trying to be myself and play the way I play, to a certain extent. I still want to make everyone else sound good but I try not to compromise musicianship for that.” Hebert also credits Hill for another important point in his development, the assurance to become a leader. Just released, and being celebrated this month, is the bassist’s debut album Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12). It features his compositions as played by a group of empathetic musicians of long standing: saxists Michae Attias and Tony Malaby with Adam Kolker on flute and bass clarinet for four of ten tunes, and a pair of drummers, Nasheet Waits and Satoshi Takeishi, who plays percussion on the date. When asked if he would have done a record before his time with Hill, Hebert responds frankly: “I would have been too scared though I was making records as a sideman back then. It felt right. I had been writing music, I had done a few gigs on my own in town… It maybe came out with [Hebert's wife] Lo Jen saying, ‘why can’t you do your own gigs?’ or maybe even Andrew said it, ‘You should be leading your own band.’ …Talk about no fear; no one can say shit to you when it’s your band. …It’s your music, you know how it’s supposed to go.” Hebert, despite his burgeoning pedigree, is still developing himself as a musician. He observes: “I’m always trying to listen back and think what am I doing or how can I change that and try different things out. So that’s always a struggle. But I think anyone finding their voice comes from playing, just experience. …So it’s a matter of hooking up the right situation and being with people that you vibrate with and that’s going to bring out what you do naturally.”
For Hebert, the group on Byzantine Monkey is a perfect example of the above dynamic. All the players come from what Hebert describes as “a very large ensemble that breaks off into factions and you fit yourself in somehow.” He first met Waits on that initial Andrew Hill gig. Attias and Takeishi are the remaining two-thirds of Renku. Hebert has played on Kolker’s last two albums. Hebert and Malaby are in Attias’ group Twines of Colesion. Remarkably, considering the full schedules of all involved, booking the studio time was nailed on the first attempt: “It all just fell into place. I booked two days in the studio and everyone was in town. I mean for these cats that are on the record, to get everyone in the same place at the same time was an act of god.” And to this already secure environment, Hebert added the lessons he learned from Hill. “I’m pretty loose when it comes to playing my music. Just count it off and see what happens. …I trust that the cats in the band will interpret it in the way that would be musical.”
Hebert has another recording to be released in February, a trio with pianist Benoit Delbecq and drummer Gerald Cleaver. But the bassist is not making a transition into full-time leadership, knowing full well that few performers can survive today’s market under those circumstances. But he is very encouraged by his first foray. “You see that as possible. You get that first thing out of the way, okay now I see that it is possible to do and it can be rewarding, emotionally or whatever, so think about doing more things. …It gives you something to shoot for within your own musical spectrum. So you have something to write for. That really is very important, writing your own music and getting your voice across and being heard.”
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33969
Wednesday, september 16th
8:00 – Luis Lopes / Daniel Levin / Reuben Radding
Luis Lopes – guitar
Daniel Levin – cello
Reuben Radding – double bass
8:00 – Luis Lopes / Daniel Levin / Reuben Radding
Luis Lopes – guitar
Daniel Levin – cello
Reuben Radding – double bass
9:30 – Harris Eisenstadt “Canada Day”
Nate Wooley – trumpet
Ellery Eskelin – tenor saxophone
Chris Dingman – vibraphone
Eivind Opsvik – double bass
Harris Eisenstadt – drums, compositions
Thursday, september 17th
8:00 – John O’Gallagher Trio “Dirty Hands”
John O’Gallagher – alto saxophone
Masa Kamaguchi – double bass
Jeff Williams – drums
9:30 – Daniel Levin Quartet “Live at Roulette”
Daniel Levin – cello
Matt Moran – vibraphone
Peter Bitenc– double bass
Nate Wooley – trumpet
Friday, september 18th
8:00 – Julio Resende Group
Julio Resende – piano
Dave Ambrosio – double bass
Joel Silva – drums
9:30 – Jorrit Dijkstra Solo
Jorrit Djikstra – alto saxophone, lyricon, electronics
10:30 – Avram Fefer Trio “Ritual”
Avram Fefer – tenor and alto saxophones, clarinet
Eric Revis – double bass
Chad Taylor – drums
Saturday, september 19th – Co-sponsored by the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT)
8:00 – Kirk Knuffke Quartet “Big Wig”
Kirk Knuffke – trumpet
Brian Drye – trombone
Reuben Radding – double bass
Jeff Davis – drums
9:30 – Darren Johnston “The Edge of the Forest”
Darren Johnston – trumpet
Sheldon Brown – tenor
Oscar Noriega – clarinet and bass clarinet
Trevor Dunn – double bass
Ches Smith – drums
Sunday, september 20th
8:00 – Charles Rumback Quartet “Two Kinds of Art Thieves”
Charles Rumback – drums
Jason Ajemian – bass
Joshua Sclar – tenor saxophone
Greg Ward – alto saxophone
9:30 – Fight the Big Bull “All is Gladness in the Kingdom”
Steven Bernstein – trumpet
Bob Miller – trumpet
Bryan Hooten – trombone
Reggie Pace – trombone
Jason Scott – tenor saxophone, clarinet
John Lilley – tenor saxophone
Matthew White – guitar, tunes
Cameron Ralston – bass
Brian Jones – percussion
Pinson Chanselle – trap set
Tickets at the door
$15,00 for two sets
Clean Feed Fest NY IV at Cornelia Connelly Center
(220 East 4th street, Lower East Side)
Critic’s Choice Recommended The List (Music) All AgesCharles Rumback Quartet
When: Sat., Aug. 15, 10 p.m.
Phone: heavengallery.com
Price: Donation requested
An exceptional musician with a knack for adapting selflessly to the needs of a wide variety of bands, drummer Charles Rumback plays in a slew of local jazz and rock combos, including the Horse’s Ha, Via Tania, L’altra, Colorlist, and Leaves. He favors understatement, devoting himself to supporting his partners with steady rhythm and shifting color. He’s finally releasing his first recording as a leader, the forthcoming trio date Two Kinds of Art Thieves (Clean Feed), and though he’s responsible for all the composed material and is clearly directing the proceedings from behind his kit—even on the carefully measured group improvisations that make up about a third of the album—he never hogs the spotlight. Fortunately saxophonists Greg Ward and Joshua Sclar seem to pick up on Rumback’s humility, and don’t simply flatten him with unrestrained blowing. They often improvise simultaneously, and because there’s usually no bassist (former Chicagoan Jason Ajemian guests on just two tracks), they have a lot of freedom to experiment harmonically. But instead of sounding like they’re working out some sort of eggheaded music-theory exercise, they seem to be pair dancing, meticulously shadowing and caressing each other’s tuneful postbop gestures—and the drummer holds everything together, content to play precisely what’s needed and no more. For this show Rumback will be joined by Sclar, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, and bassist Matt Lux.
When: Sat., Aug. 15, 10 p.m.
Phone: heavengallery.com
Price: Donation requested
An exceptional musician with a knack for adapting selflessly to the needs of a wide variety of bands, drummer Charles Rumback plays in a slew of local jazz and rock combos, including the Horse’s Ha, Via Tania, L’altra, Colorlist, and Leaves. He favors understatement, devoting himself to supporting his partners with steady rhythm and shifting color. He’s finally releasing his first recording as a leader, the forthcoming trio date Two Kinds of Art Thieves (Clean Feed), and though he’s responsible for all the composed material and is clearly directing the proceedings from behind his kit—even on the carefully measured group improvisations that make up about a third of the album—he never hogs the spotlight. Fortunately saxophonists Greg Ward and Joshua Sclar seem to pick up on Rumback’s humility, and don’t simply flatten him with unrestrained blowing. They often improvise simultaneously, and because there’s usually no bassist (former Chicagoan Jason Ajemian guests on just two tracks), they have a lot of freedom to experiment harmonically. But instead of sounding like they’re working out some sort of eggheaded music-theory exercise, they seem to be pair dancing, meticulously shadowing and caressing each other’s tuneful postbop gestures—and the drummer holds everything together, content to play precisely what’s needed and no more. For this show Rumback will be joined by Sclar, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, and bassist Matt Lux.
DARREN JOHNSTON On Wednesday, Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston will lead a band of locals through tunes from his swell new album, The Edge of the Forest (Clean Feed). Tonight he’ll demonstrate his versatility in a freely improvised set with bassist Jason Roebke and Nate McBride. They’ll play first, followed by Mind vs. Target, aka guitarist Shane Perlowin, bassist Joe Burkett, and drummer Michael Libramento. 10 PM, Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, donation requested. —Bill Meyer
wednesday12 DARREN JOHNSTON Darren Johnston is a consummately versatile trumpeter who sounds just as comfortable wrapping grainy ribbons of sound around a funk groove as he does steering perfectly pitched bop phrases through a landscape of swing or Latin beats. He’s recorded New Orleans-style parade music and Angolan protest songs with the United Brassworkers Front and free improvisations with Fred Frith and Larry Ochs, but it’s his original compositions, which both challenge and reward his sidemen with their elaborate rhythmic and harmonic settings, that make his new album, The Edge of the Forest (Clean Feed), so great. On “Broken,” Johnston uses the aforementioned combination of coarse blowing and heavy grooves to set up a series of thrilling contrapuntal exchanges with clarinetist Ben Goldberg and tenor saxophonist Sheldon Brown, then resolves with a fearsomely intricate but immaculately executed unison coda. Tonight he’ll lead four local players—trombonist Jeb Bishop, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, bassist Nate McBride, and drummer Frank Rosaly—through two sets that will include material from The Edge of the Forest. McBride will DJ before and after. See also
From Sept 16th to the 20th at Cornelia Connelly Center
It’s confirmed, the fourth issue of the CF Fest in New York will happen from sept 16th to the 20th at the Cornelia Connelly Center in Manhattan, New York. It’s pretty close (3 blocks) from the Living Theater where it happened last year. The programa will be announced really soon. Make your plans and don’t miss it !!!
Cornelia Connelly Center: 220 East 4th street, New York
Critic’s Choice Recommended The List (Music)
Herculaneum (CF 140)
When: Sun., July 12, 10 p.m.
Phone: 773-935-2118
Price: donation requested
Solid, consistent connections between Chicago’s indie-rock and free-jazz communities have existed for nearly two decades now, and no group embodies them like Herculaneum, a jazz band led by drummer Dylan Ryan—whose other projects include Icy Demons, Bronze, and Michael Columbia. Saxophonist Dave McDonnell, Ryan’s bandmate in Michael Columbia, also cofounded Bablicon; flutist and reedist Nate Lepine, a recent addition to the group, has played for Cursive, Manishevitz, and Head of Femur, among others. But they’re not just farting around with jazz when they don’t have rock shows to play, and they prove it with the superb new Herculaneum III (Clean Feed). Ryan’s tunes have never been more elegant, and his resourceful arrangements make the band sound much larger than it is—which is saying something, since the current lineup is a sextet, rounded out by trombonist Nick Broste, trumpeter Patrick Newbery, and bassist Greg Danek. The four front-line players all make excellent use of their solo space—particularly the hot-blowing McDonnell, who’s something of a wild card, and Broste, who’s got a fat tone, a lyrical style, and a broad knowledge of the instrument’s history in jazz. But just as rewarding (and more impressive) is the dense ensemble writing, which not only helps propel the soloists but gives each piece a multifaceted richness, with different sections in the same tune drawing on traditions as disparate as postbop and contemporary classical.
Lucky 7’s - Pluto Junkyard (CF 141)
The brainchild of trombonists Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert, the Lucky 7’s are a consummate example of post-Vandermark Chicago-based collectivism. Bishop’s longstanding work with fellow artists such as Rob Mazurek, Ted Sirota and Ken Vandermark informs his inside-outside approach, lending a forward thinking but historically aware sensibility to this versatile mid-sized ensemble. A New Orleans native, Albert brings the weight of his hometown’s history to play in this rousing septet, finding common ground between Big Easy swagger and Windy City muscle.
Joining Bishop and Albert on the brass heavy front line is the veteran performing duo of cornetist Josh Berman and tenor saxophonist Keefe Jackson. Together with Bishop and Albert they form an engaging horn section, unfurling pointillist explorations one minute and rousing Second Line riffs the next. Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and former New Orleans residents bassist Matthew Golombisky and drummer Quin Kirchner comprise the swinging rhythm section, with Adasiewicz’s scintillating accents amplifying the unit’s unique tonality.
Pluto Junkyard is their sophomore effort, following their 2006 debut Farragut (Lakefront Digital). The majority of the pieces are written by Bishop or Albert, with one each from Jackson and Kirchner. Eschewing conventional AABA forms and head-solo-head structures, these episodic tunes feature an array of advanced compositional devices. Shifting tempos, fluctuating rhythms and unexpected bridges, turnarounds and codas yield a string of dynamic mood changes. Vibrant bouts of controlled collective improvisation and effusive unaccompanied horn cadenzas materialize repeatedly throughout the album, revealing conceptual parallels between Chicago-based, AACM-oriented free improvisation and New Orleans-styled polyphony.
Extrapolating the advancements of Post-War jazz with an infectious blend of contrapuntal invention and elastic freedom, many of the tunes invoke the seminal efforts of visionaries like Andrew Hill, Oliver Nelson and George Russell. The album’s second half maintains this abstract yet accessible approach with a few stylistic detours, including “Future Dog (For Jaki)” which vacillates between collective freedom and funky Afro-Latin grooves, and Albert’s introspective post-Katrina meditation “Afterwards.” The coruscating power chords that fuel “The Dan Hang” feature Bishop tearing into his rarely played electric guitar, while “Sunny’s Bounce” is a joyous, in-the-pocket ode to Sun Ra’s early Delmark sides, closing the album on a high note.
Approaching classic New Orleans traditions from a modernist perspective, the Lucky 7’s challenge preconceived notions about contemporary brass bands. An excellent offering from the fertile Chicago-New Orleans axis, Pluto Junkyard presents a compelling vision of the future, informed by the past.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33259
To be happening again at the Living Theatre from sept 17th to the 21st, no intermissions this time !
Program will be placed soon.
Don’t miss it !!!
CF 140 – Herculaneum “Herculaneum III“
Nick Broste – trombone
John Beard – guitar
Greg Danek – bass
Nate Lepine – flute
David McDonnell – alto saxophone and clarinet
Partick Newbery – trumpet and flugelhorn
Dylan Ryan – drums and vibraphone
CF 141 – Lucky 7’s “Pluto Junkyard“
Jeb Bishop – trombone (guitar on “The Dan Hang”)
Jeff Albert – trombone and bass trombone
Josh Berman – cornet
Keefe Jackson – tenor saxophone
Jason Adasiewicz – vibes
Matthew Golombisky – double bass (electric bass on “The Dan Hang”)
Quin Kirchner – drums
CF 143 – Transit “Quadrologues”
Jeff Arnal – percussion
Seth Misterka – alto saxophone
Reuben Radding – bass
Nate Wooley – trumpet
CF 144 – João Paulo / Dennis González “Scapegrace”
João Paulo – piano
Dennis González – Bb cornet and C trumpet
CF 145 – Avram Fefer / Eric Revis / Chad Taylor “Ritual”
Avram Fefer – alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
Eric Revis – double bass
Chad Taylor – drums
