Where do you go from #1? If you're veteran saxophonist Richard Elliot, long known as the "James Brown of Contemporary Jazz" for the intense soul inspirations of his recordings, a relentless tour schedule and joyfully exhausting onstage performances, you dig deep into your R&B/jazz roots. You keep the infectious melodies and funky grooves flowing and follow a two word mantra that says it all about where you've been and the places you're headed: Rock Steady-the name of his highly anticipated debut on Artistry Music.
With a bestselling discography of over 15 recordings since 1986's Initial Approach, thousands of live dates spanning over two decades and one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in contemporary urban jazz, it's incredible to hear Elliot declare: "What I'm doing now, enjoying this upward trend in my career, is seriously the most fun I have ever had." Then again, the multi-talented tenorman, composer and producer has been on one of the most incredible rolls of his career since the 2005 release of Metro Blue, which debuted at #2 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart.
The album's key single, a simmering cover of The Stylistics' "People Make The World Go Round," spent an unprecedented 11 weeks at #1 on Radio & Records airplay chart. In 2007, "RnR," the title track from the dual album Elliot recorded with fellow genre superstar-and co-producer of "People"-Rick Braun, stayed at #1 on the chart for over two months. Elliot and Braun crisscrossed the U.S. as part of Jazz Attack (with Peter White and Jonathan Butler) in 2005 and 2007, and spent 2008 touring as RnR. The saxman also did media appearances and performed in South Africa for the first time, and did his first ever shows in Russia and St. Petersburg in January 2009. He and Braun are also headlining another Jazz Attack tour with Butler this year. Around that time, Elliot and Braun also teamed up with their manager Steve Chapman and industry veteran Al Evers to form ARTizen Music Group, whose roster included urban saxman Jackiem Joyner and acid jazz standout Shilts (from Down To The Bone). They later sold the label to their current recording home, Artistry Music.
In the past, Elliot's never been big on starting off a new recording project with an overriding concept in mind, preferring to let each one develop more organically-but he came up with a unique starting point for Rock Steady, developing the album around the idea of calling upon his roots and influences in R&B to create an overall vibe that had a decidedly retro feel while also incorporating more contemporary flavors. He sets his cool agenda by dubbing one of the disc's crazy-cool, hard funk horn jams "Retro Boy" and ventures from there. From the slow burning grooves and classic funk horn textures of "Straight Up" through the soaring and passionate, James Bond film score-like "Restless" and the simmering, Hammond B-3 tinged "The Preacher," there's a little taste of everyone Elliot was listening to while growing up in Los Angeles. He found his voice on the tenor through the likes of King Curtis, David Sanborn, Tom Scott, Average White Band, The Bar-Kays, Sly Stone, every singer on the Motown roster and even Tower of Power, the legendary Bay Area band the saxman toured and recorded with from 1982-87.
"The funny part of how Rock Steady took shape is that I had the whole retro-soul idea in place when I started to write and record 'Metro Blue,'" he says. "But because I don't like to limit the way the creative flow is going, that album took on a decidedly European flavor, which turned out so well that we kept going with it. So we got a bit sidetracked but in a good way, and Rock Steady gets back to that original idea. I see all of my solo albums as if they are vocal albums but using the sax as the voice, and once again, I had fun challenging myself as a writer and player, offering the latest step of my evolution in these areas. When formulas work in the past, many artists have a tendency to do the same thing again and again. But it's more exciting to forge ahead and try new ideas that fit into my natural growth as an artist."
Elliot called on his deep all-star soul-jazz rolodex to find the perfect combination of players to help him realize his evolving "old school" meets "new school" vision. Beyond working with his longtime core touring band members Ron Reinhardt (keyboards), Dwight Sills (guitar), Nate Phillips (bass) and Ricky Lawson (drums), he ensembles with Braun, who is also the album's co-producer. Also of note are percussion great Luis Conte, keyboardist Jeff Lorber, saxophonist Gerald Albright and trombonist Nick Lane; veteran singer Lynne Fiddmont steals the show on the title track with her infectious "What It Is" vocals. Lorber adds his clever keyboard flair to "Straight Up," a track he wrote with Elliot, Braun and Albright; and the silky and atmospheric seduction "License To Chill," a co-write by Lorber, Elliot and Braun. Elliot and Albright toured together in the early 2000s (with Lorber) as part of the Groovin' For Grover tribute phenomenon, but Rock Steady marks the first time these two powerhouse saxmen have recorded together.
Elliot and Braun built the 11-tune collection around three rarely covered 70s R&B classics that represent that influence on the tenorist's musical development, but in a way that enhances their emotional power and rhythmic energy rather than simply copping the original vibe. The three foundational tunes Elliot tackles on Rock Steady are Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up," whose original nine minute version appeared on the singer's 1970 debut album Curtis; the Aretha Franklin-penned title track, which was a Top Ten pop hit for the Queen of Soul from her 1971 album Young, Gifted and Black; and "Keep On Truckin'," a #1 pop hit for Eddie Kendricks in 1973, two years after he left the Temptations.
As he's done throughout his career on classic soul hits like "People Make The World Go Round," "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," Elliot makes each track his own. He gives "Move On Up," which he became reacquainted with as part of the soundtrack to the 2002 film "Bend It Like Beckham," the full treatment; it's a bright, snappy, bold and brassy jam that is at the heart of the album's concept. Elliot does Aretha proud on the title track with some of the disc's edgiest and happily raging sax melody lines, which roar over Reinhardt's spirited B-3 and Braun and Lane's sassy horn section. Saved for the last track is "Keep On Truckin'," whose title is as much a metaphor for Elliot's lengthy and fruitful, full of twists and turns career, as "Rock Steady" is the project's big production number, a complete 70s soul immersion balancing throbbing funk grooves with cool sax verses, soaring horns and even a shimmering synth vibes flavor courtesy of Reinhardt.
Other key tracks which further reveal the diversity Elliot forges within the overriding theme include the sensuous and slow burning "Yaquala," named for the wife of the song's co-writer, keyboardist Tim Gant; "Candice Dance," a cut titled for Elliot's teenage daughter, whose whirlwind personality is perfectly reflected on yet another intense blast of energy that the saxman likens to "the wind carrying furniture up into a massive tornado;" and "Spindrift," a co-write by Elliot and bassist Nate Philips that artfully blends electronica atmospheres with a shuffling dancehall vibe.
The Scotland born, L.A. raised Elliot found his musical voice on tenor as a teenager and landed his first professional gig touring with Natalie Cole and The Pointer Sisters while he was still in high school. Before joining Tower of Power-which began a stretch that he calls the most influential period of my early career-he played in the adventurous fusion band Kittyhawk and did some dream recording sessions with his Motown heroes Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops and The Temptations. He later performed with Melissa Manchester and Yellowjackets, which found him hooking up for the first time with the legendary fusion band's founding drummer Ricky Lawson.
Elliot was still on the road with TOP when he released his debut album Trolltown in 1986. Its success gave him the confidence to leave the band and start a solo career which has been seriously rockin' steady ever since. Embarking upon one of instrumental music's most dynamic and multi-faceted career, Elliot's sound played a huge part in pioneering the genre and radio format that became today's contemporary urban jazz. Over the years, he has scored four #1 albums (On The Town, Soul Embrace, After Dark and Jumpin' Off) and a growing number of #1 airplay singles.
In addition to his participation in the current decade's all-star tours like Groovin' For Grover and Jazz Attack, in the mid-90s he helped launch another of the genre's annual franchises, the Guitars & Saxes tours, which he continues to participate in. At his peak, Elliot was annually doing over 100 tour dates, but he has scaled back to spend more time with his family.
Outside of music, Elliot has been an entrepreneur engaged in the latest emerging technologies. In the 90s, he co-founded the cutting edge multi-media company PacificNet that served some of the giants of the corporate business, entertainment and sports industries. At one point, the company-which created important music related systems like Code Sonics-employed 50 people. He is currently a partner in World Processing, a company that provides effective and convenient ways for people to move their money around via "stored value cards" and mobile devices.
"I think calling this new album Rock Steady was an obvious and inspired choice for many reasons," Elliot says. "The music that inspired the CD has an enduring quality and is part of our American musical heritage. Beyond that, it's the perfect metaphor for the good fortune I have had to be doing what I love to do for so many years. I took a risk leaving TOP for a solo career and never dreamed at the time that I would still have these wonderful opportunities to record and tour over 20 years later. I don't gauge my career based on sales, popularity and money. However, what matters most is my personal and artistic growth and the opportunities that reveal themselves as I evolve."
Buena Vista Social Club®, the album produced by Ry Cooder, is the biggest selling world music album ever, with over 8 million records sold. Now for the first time comes the recording of the historic performance at New York's famous Carnegie Hall, which became the centre-piece of the hugely successful film directed by Wim Wenders. This is only the second album ever by the original Buena Vista Social Club®.
Produced by Ry Cooder, the album features brilliant and unrepeatable performances by legends including Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Ruben González, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Cachaíto López, and Guajiro Mirabal.
The original Buena Vista Social Club album was one of three projects recorded during the two-week session organized by World Circuit Records at EGREM Studios, Havana, Cuba, in March 1996. The session also produced Introducing Rubn Gonzlez and the Afro-Cuban All Stars' A Toda Cuba Le Gusta. The original concept for the Buena Vista Social Club was of a small guitar-based band, featuring Ry Cooder (who also acted as producer) playing alongside musicians from Mali and Cuba. However, this was abandoned after the two Malian musicians booked to play failed to arrive because of problems with their passports. The line-up for the session was finally comprised of musicians who had played on the Afro-Cuban All Stars album, including bolero vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer (b. 20 February 1927, San Luis, Cuba) and pianist Rubn Gonzlez (b. 26 September 1919, Santa Clara, Cuba, d. 8 December 2003, Havana, Cuba), plus others suggested by Cooder, such as veteran singers Compay Segundo (b. Maximo Francisco Repilado Munoz, 18 November 1907, Siboney, Cuba, d. July 2003, Havana, Cuba), Manuel "Puntillita" Licea Lamot (b. 4 January 1927, d. 4 December 2000) and Omara Portuondo (b. October 1930, Havana, Cuba), as well as Eliades Ochoa of Cuarteto Patria. The songs chosen for the session were a collection of Cuban classics, both old and new. The resulting album was gentle and folky but also passionate, with a variety of sounds and styles including piano instrumentals, acoustic ballads, dance tunes and a bolero sung by former lovers Portuondo and Segundo. Cooder described the recording session as "the greatest musical experience of my life" and he appeared happy to let the Cuban veterans take the spotlight, allowing his presence to be felt through his distinctive playing, as he had done three years earlier on Ali Farka Tour's Talking Timbuktu. The Buena Vista Social Club was released in June 1997, and was well received by the critics, featuring in many best world, Latin and folk album polls for that year. The album was awarded a Grammy for "best tropical dance album of 1997". It also appeared in many national album charts around the world and went on to sell millions, but earned Cooder a $100,000 fine from the US state department for breaching the embargo against Fidel Castro's communist regime.
Released two years later, Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer, featured the venerable vocalist performing a varied programme of up-tempo dance tunes, swampy sounding Cuban-blues fusions and lush, string-laden boleros. Cooder again produced and played guitar. Other contributors to the first album, including Ruben Gonzalez, were again involved, alongside other well-known Cuban musicians. Ferrer promoted the album with tours of Europe and the USA. A documentary film, Buena Vista Social Club, was made in 1999 by German director Wim Wenders and was shown in cinemas and on television throughout the world. The third instalment in the series featuring Portuondo ("Cuba's Edith Piaf"), was released the following spring. Cooder recorded one further album in Cuba with local guitarist Manuel Galban, for which he was granted a special exemption from state department rules by outgoing US president Bill Clinton.
Track List :
Disc 1 CHAN CHAN DE CAMINO A LA VEREDA EL CUARTO DE TULA LA ENGAÑADORA BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB DOS GARDENIAS QUIZÁS, QUIZÁS VEINTE AÑOS
Disc 2 ORGULLECIDA ¿Y TÚ QUÉ HAS HECHO? SIBONEY MANDINGA ALMENDRA EL CARRETERO CANDELA SILENCIO
Musicians :
Octavio Calderón - trumpet Joachim Cooder - drums / percussion Ry Cooder - guitars Terry Domech - congas Ibrahím Ferrer - vocals Roberto García - bongos, cowbell, guiro Hugo Garzón - vocals Juan de Marcos González - bandleader, backing vocals, güiro Rubén González - piano Manuel 'Puntillita' Licea - vocals Pío Leyva - vocals Orlando 'Cachaíto López - bass Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal - trumpet Eliades Ochoa - guitar, vocals Omara Portuondo - vocals Jesús 'Aguaje' Ramos - bandleader to Ruben González, trombone Salvador Repilado - bass Compay Segundo - guitar, vocals Benito Suárez Magana - guitar Barbarito Torres - laoud Alberto 'Virgilio' Valdés - maracas Amadito Valdés - timbales
Reviews :
MOJO 29th September 2008 Thrilling live album from Cuban icons-in-the-making (4 stars)
The story of Buena Vista Social Club - ageing Cuban virtuosi assembled into a supergroup by visiting American producer Ry Cooder; sell eight million records; find fame outside of the island; win Grammy - remains remarkable 10 years after the fact. Now the names Compay Segundo, Rùben González, Ibrahim Ferrer (all deceased) and Omara Portuondo are considered world music elite, but when they and the other BVSC players stepped on-stage at a sold-old, ecstatic Carnegie Hall in 1998, less than a year after recording their album, they were still unknown to most Americans. For the show, 10 of the self-titled studio LP's tracks were reprised, often faithfully, but with more verve and panache. Six more meet that standard. Produced by Cooder, At Carnegie Hall, doesn't so much add to the legend as confirm the original was no studio-contrived fluke.
Jeff Tamarkin
------------------
HMV Choice 29th September 2008 Tenth Anniversary memento of their legendary one-night-only Carnegie Hall show
In 1996, Worldcircuit boss Nick Gold went to Havana to meet guitarist/ producer Ry Cooder and bandleader/ talent scout Juan de Marcos González. The idea was to rendezvous with some Malian musicians also heading that way and record them collaborating with local artists. However, visa shenanigans meant the African contingent failed to show, so an alternative, improvised plan emerged. The result was a multi-generational group of acknowledged veterans, overlooked luminaries and younger players that became known as the Buena Vista Social Club.
Their eponymous album has since become the biggest selling word music album of all time, at eight million sales and counting. A year after its 1997 release, the group appeared at Carnegie Hall - one of the only three live shows they ever did. The occasion was immortalised in Wim Wenders' atmospheric documentary, and now this live double disc set commemorates that occasion.
Naturally, At Carnegie Hall has a different sound and energy from the mellow, intimate feel of Buena Vista Social Club in the studio. "Records are one thing and live music is to me a 110% different situation," Cooder told me when asked how the two albums differ. "You have a dynamic situation...something that unfolds dramatically, so that the audience is brought along."
To put it another way, these 77 minutes of music race by in a blur of fevered excitement, from the opening twin vocal intro of Eliades Ochoa and Compay Segundo on Chan Chan to the closing calm of Silencio, the diaphanous duet between Ibrahim Ferrer and 'Buena Vista Sister' Omara Portuondo. In between, we're reminded of just why they made such a global impact, with their unforgettable tunes and peerless music mastery.
Barbarito Torres steals the show early on with a gymnastic laoud solo El Cuarto De Tula. Their phenomenal pianist Rùben González is the next to grab the limelight on the brief but sweet La Engarñadora and the languid instrumental 'title' track, which finds him wandering around the keys with dizzying virtuosity. There are two other outings from his ravishing solo debut, in Mandinga and shortened version of the surreally beautiful danzón Almendra. And then there's Ferrer, fresh from recording his own solo debut, crooning through Dos Gardenias and showing a more fiery face on Candela.
'Gracias, Company Segundo, muchas gracias' Omara Portuondo murmurs the project's guiding light as she finishes singing Veinte Años with him. This was no empty platitude. It really sounds like she meant it.
Jon Lusk
------------------
Uncut 27th September 2008
Watching Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club film nowadays is rather like watching return of dad's Army - with only vampish Omara Portuondo and the cowboy Eliades Ochao surviving as the Clive Dunn and Ian Lavender on this ageing collective. This double-CD set captures the gang in their finest two hours at Carnegie Hall in 1998, and is probably better set than the Grammy-winning studio album. The complete recording reveals many (until-now) hidden delights that we can enjoy in full. They include Rùben González's terrific jazz flourishes on "Siboney" and 'Mandinga", the duelling guitars on "En Cuarto de Tula", the frenzied vocal duet on "Quizás Quizás" (known to Doris Day fans as "Perhaps Perhaps") and Ry Cooder's Duane Eddy guitar on the lovely "Silencio".
John Lewis
---------------------
Jazzwise 24th September 2008 The Buena Vista Social Club were an international phenomenon: a multi-generational group of Cuban musicians who won fame by stealth back in 1998, when their eponymous album rose like a Phoenix and went straight to the top of the charts. A decade and eight million album sales later comes this live 2-CD recording of their famed night at Carnegie Hall. Here are the foreign yet familiar sounding strains of such humalong tunes as 'Chan Chan', 'Dos Gardenias' and 'Quizas Quizas', arranged on a bed of acoustic guitars and related string instruments and made all the warmer by the circumstances. Backing musicians the calibre of the bassist Cachaito Lopez and Barbarito Tores provide a solid-rock foundation for vocalists including Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo - both of whom, like the jazz pianist Rùben Gonzalez, have passed away since. This inevitably imbues the disc with even more misty-eyed nostalgia. But here they all are: overjoyed, superbly talented and very much alive. Rated 4 stars.
Jane Cornwell
-------------------
Word 17th September 2008
"From oblivion to becoming The Beatles!" Wim Wenders recalls the Buena Vista Social Club "fairytale"
It is the ambition of many to be name-checked in a song by Half Man Half Biscuit. In one of the tunes on their new album CSI: Ambleside there is a lyric that, when they played the song at the Cornbury Festival, provoked a ripple of recognition. It concerned the ubiquity in executive cul-de-sac land of the Buena Vista Social Club CD. Becoming a cliché of British social attainment: it isn't bad for a bunch of musicians who were all north of their eighties when they were finally, at last, gifted the worldwide recognition their skill deserved.
The Buena Vista Social Club was a place in Havana that in the 1940s served as a gathering place for Cuba's jazz performers. Soon after the revolution, it shut its doors and its beguiling soundtrack was lost for nearly half a century. In the early 1990s, the Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and Ry Cooder found some of the original club members, got them together in the studio and recorded the result. It was phenomenal. Cooder then got the band together and took them to Amsterdam, where the German Director Wim Wenders filmed their efforts. He also took footage at their subsequent Carnegie Hall concert and interviewed some of the now very old original players. The concert has just been re-released in a lavishly extended CD package and the resulting movie was nominated for an Oscar in 1999. It was a movie that was impossible to watch without the feet tapping. And the eyes filling with tears at the joy the performers had at finally being able to play once more the music that had remained unheard for so long. For Wenders, it was a movie he still cherishes.
What do you remember of the occasion filming the concert? Can you describe the chemistry between performers, audience and director?
Everybody was so excited that the most difficult task was to keep a cool head. For some of the Cuban musicians, this was the very first stay in New York - or at least the previous one was, like, 50 years ago. And their visas were for two days only - a miracle in the first place that they got them. Anyway, it was mayhem. No real time for a rehearsal. A quick soundcheck only. And remember: this was not a real band! They had never played together expect this one time in Amsterdam, a month earlier. Ry Cooder had invented this band, they were his creation. These men, as old and experienced as they were, they were nervous like a high-school band before the gig. I had seen stage fright before, but this was more than just a fright. They seemed terrified. And there was a scary amount of rum being consumed. But then, when they finally got onstage, there were the coolest cats. As a filmmaker trying to film the event, I couldn't have been dealt a tougher deck of cards. My cameramen and women were not allowed to carry headphones or even a walkie-talkie. I was unable to be in touch with them. I couldn't even place them during soundcheck. All of that was against some absurd union rules. So I placed my three cameras as good as I could and tried to run from one to the other. I was dripping wet after a while. I made gestures to them over the heads of the audience. I climbed on chairs to give them signals. It was miserable. We were not allowed onstage with any of our cameras but at the end of the show, at the last encore, I told my director of photography to just storm on to the stage and shoot the hell out of it. All they could do was throw us off. The greatest thing was what happened afterwards. We all ended up in some remote bar in New Jersey, and all the musicians jammed with some local Cubans until dawn. Then they had to get on a bus and drive to the airport. Their visas didn't allow them to stay.
Did you appreciate the concert's significance at the time?
Yes, somehow. It dawned on me that night in New York that what we had witnessed with our cameras, during the weeks in Havana, the subsequent and surprising concert in Amsterdam and now during the culmination in Carnegie Hall, was in no way a simple music documentary. We had actually followed - and lived - a fairytale! The path of these men - from being totally forgotten, from shining shoes in the streets of Havana, to world stardom had happened inside the parameters of our film! We had been so utterly lucky to accompany them coming out of oblivion and becoming The Beatles! It was very touching to watch Ry during the Carnegie Hall concert. He was so essential to the project; without him nothing would have happened, neither the CD nor the movie, and yet he was trying to hide onstage, in order to leave centre stage for the old men.
Your movie introduced the group to the world. Did you feel like an evangelist? Was you motive to give them the exposure they deserved?
I loved the music when Ry played it to me the first time, long before it ever came out. And making the music reach as many people as possible was the only aim. But when we planned the shoot, nobody could possibly predict the success of the film. Music documentaries were out; no such movie had had a major and successful release any more for at least a decade. Documentaries were practically no longer happening in cinemas. Buena Vista Social Club was going to change all that, against all odds. But did these "super-avuelos" deserve that? Nobody in front of my camera, in 40 years of filmmaking, deserved it that much!
Many of the guys have died - are you still in touch with any of those still around? Have you seen them playing recently?
I saw them all performing for years, in all sorts of places all over the world. And then one after the other they died. First Compay [Segundo, the guitarist] in 2003, who was 95. Then Rùben [González in the same year], who was 83. Then finally Ibrahim [Ferrer, the singer] in 2005, when he was 78. They are just starting to tour again, the remaining band, but I have not seem them yet. I shot a little thing with Pio Leyva in Havana - that was fun. I saw one of Compay's last concerts and he sent me a huge bouquet of flowers. I almost cried when I saw who they were from.
What effect did you film have on their lives?
Compay said to me, a couple of years after the film came out, "This is the best time of my life." He was way in his nineties then...Can you possibly have more effect on somebody's life? But the success didn't change their hearts. They waited so long. It was not going to ruin them.
Are there other equally unknown groups out there you would like to do the same with?
I made a film about the blues, produced by Martin Scorsese, called The Soul Of A Man about three forgotten Blues giants: Blind Willie Johnson, JB Lenoir and Skip James. But these men were long dead, so the film couldn't have any impact on their lives any more. But my heroes certainly reappeared out of out of oblivion thanks to the film.
The film kick-started a wave of interest in Cuban music - do you consider yourself a trendsetter?
Profession: "trendsetter". I'll write that on my registration next time I'm checking into a hotel. No, nobody could foresee that "Cuban trend." Out film just hit a right nerve at the right time.
It's a favourite movie of so many people. At what point in the process did you appreciate you had something special on your hands?
In the editing room. When I slowly found out what emotional impact the film had. First on myself and my editor, and then on my wife and the friends who visited us in the cutting room. When we saw out first finished print, even the colourist and the projectionist were dancing...
The band members seemed very relaxed but also quite unworldly in the movie. Did you ever wonder about what you might be unleashing on them?
No. We shot fast and furious, and the musicians got used to having us around. We lived in the moment, during the studio recordings, in Havana, in Amsterdam and also in New York. I didn't feel uneasy, neither before not afterwards because these men so much appreciated the attention, ours and the later world's.
How does it fit into your canon of work?
As a director, I don't judge my films by their acceptance or "success". I remember them for the experience, or the daily satisfaction during the making. And as such, BVSC remains a unique and utterly joyful time in my life. It never felt like work, neither the shoot nor the editing.
Jim White
---------------------
Salon 13th July 1998
Cuba's Buena Vista Social Club made its United States debut at Carnegie Hall last week, and the stage fairly ached under all the stories. Consider that singer Ibrahim Ferrer, who's been singing for more than 50 years, had been shining shoes on the streets of Havana when he was recruited to help record the collection of traditional Cuban songs that became "Buena Vista Social Club." And that retired pianist Rubén González, 78, had to chase away the effects of arthritis as his fingers rediscovered their old paths around the keyboard. At Carnegie Hall, a playful González couldn't stop blowing kisses to the adoring audience. And then there was Compay Segundo, an active musician and prolific songwriter since the 1920s and a living incarnation of the folkish style of music known as "son." Segundo, who is 91, helped to shape the sound of son by inventing a seven-stringed instrument called the "armónico," which doubled the guitar's "D" string to produce a cross between the Spanish guitar and the Cuban tres. At Carnegie Hall, he spun out the kind of sweetly lyrical solos that can come only from caressing steel and wood for the better part of a century. The concert ended with a bolero titled "Silencio," and the duet partners, Ferrer and Omara Portuondo, spent the instrumental portion dancing in slow romantic circles. The moment was calculated, corny and, like most of the evening, altogether irresistible. It was the kind of cerebral fish-out-of-water scene that you might imagine in a Wim Wenders film -- he was there, in fact, with cameras running. "The Buena Vista Social Club," which has already sold nearly a million copies around the world, is the hip hit of the season among the older demographic that I think of as the "midrock" crowd, and which guitarist Ry Cooder, who produced and played on the album, has been known to call the "Jeep Cherokee set." These are often affluent, well-educated music buyers in their 30s and 40s who don't often relate to the rap, rock and pop that dominates the youth-driven pop charts. This is an audience more likely to take its cues from NPR than MTV, and whose interests are often piqued by a sense of the exotic. And these days, Afro-Cuban music has become as sweetly seductive as the smoke of a contraband cigar. Still, the success of "Buena Vista Social Club" is far beyond that of most world music releases. Language is often the toughest barrier to widespread acceptance of international artists. Part of the reason that Bob Marley became not just the biggest star in reggae but the most widely heard world-music artist is that he sang in English. "Buena Vista Social Club" includes a lavish booklet with informative liner notes and translated lyrics, but for those like me who are linguistically challenged, the vocals are destined to be heard more as musical sounds than literal language. The mostly son-based music of "Buena Vista Social Club" manages to sound both foreign and familiar, with arrangements that are thick with a folkish bed of guitars and related stringed instruments. The collection's sweet, almost pastoral vibe is established by its first track, a haunting, minor-key tune by Segundo called "Chan Chan." Cooder's no novice at such hands-across-the-water collaborations. He's already won Grammy Awards for recent collaborations with Rajastanian guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt ("Meeting by the River") and Mali's Ali Farka Touré ("Talking Timbuktu"). And he's long enjoyed a reputation as a highly tasteful musicmaker, with his early albums introducing many to the music of such gifted artists as Blind Blake, Joseph Spence, Flaco Jimenez and Sleepy John Estes. The challenge for the midrock (or Jeep Cherokee) listener is where to go after "Buena Vista Social Club." A logical next step is "A Toda Cuba le Gusta" by the Afro-Cuban All Stars, which includes many of the same players as "Buena Vista Social Club" but focuses on Afro-Cuban jazz, with bold horn lines and quicker tempos imbuing the music with Latin swing. González, who helped develop the mambo and brought jazz harmonies to Cuban music, is featured on both albums as well as on a solo effort, "Introducing ... Rubén González." Though his playing is consistently inventive, this collection of Cuban tunes in the "descarga" (jam session) is less distinctive than the other two discs. Expanding my Latin horizons beyond the traditionalist world of these albums proved to be a bit bewildering. What I was looking for was propulsive percussion and inspired instrumentalists. Browsing through the various-artist compilations in a number of large, well-stocked record stores, I was confronted by hundreds of discs on unfamiliar labels that were filled with artists beyond my limited knowledge. Consequently, I gravitated to collections on labels known for authoritative reissues. Rhino, whose extensive reissue catalogue has long managed to mix the monumental with the marginal, has lately moved into the Latin market with a variety of compilations. "El Rey Del Timbal!" is a splendid disc dedicated to Tito Puente, the veteran band leader and timbale player best known to old rock fans as the composer of an early Santana standard, "Oye Como Va." Tracks stretching over nearly 40 years reveal Puente to be a master of creating dynamic interplay between syncopated horn lines and percolating percussion. Finding that one disc was just not enough. I also picked up a compilation on Concord of tracks from the '80s and '90s, "Oye Como Va! The Dance Collection." Frankly, now I've got enough Tito, but then, that's the way a midrocker dabbles. If you're looking to imagine yourself dancing the night away with mobsters in a Havana nightclub before the arrival of Fidel Castro, then you might enjoy "Mambo Mania!" The collection is filled with swinging moments, but there's also a campy element to these vintage dance tunes that is driven home by the inclusion of a tune by Desi Arnaz, who became the best-known of all Cuban musicians by becoming the sitcom straight man for his wife, Lucille Ball. "The Original Mambo Kings" (Verve) predates "Mambo Mania!" and focuses on the New York jazz world of the late-1940s. The disc is dominated by the work of a pair of seminal Havana-born musicians, trumpeter Mario Bauza and a vocalist known as Machito. Besides tracks by Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra, the collection also includes an "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite" with Charlie Parker on alto sax, and one of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's epic excursions into Latin jazz, "The Manteca Suite." As my Latin collection grew, it became clear that I preferred music that tended toward Afro-Cuban jazz than more pop-oriented tunes that took clear aim at the dance floor. This distinction was sharpened by another pair of Rhino compilations, "Salsa Fresca! Dance Hits of the '90s" and "Sabroso! The Afro-Latin Groove." The former is a good introduction to the slick and rhythmic sounds of contemporary salsa, but it also suggests that in these global days, the highly polished sounds and techniques of commercial dance music crosses the boundaries of different musical genres. Consequently, much of "Salsa Fresca!" strikes me as no deeper nor more memorable than a collection of yesterday's English-language dance tracks. By contrast, "Sabroso!" breathes the kind of Latin fire that'll appeal to rockers raised on the sounds of Santana. The majority of the tracks are from the 1960s, and while the instrumental improvisations are clearly inspired by the sounds of jazz, the rhythmic grooves also show the influence of rhythm & blues and funk. It's not the title of tunes like Willie Bobo's "Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries" and Mongo Santamaria's "Sweet 'Tater Pie" that makes "Sabroso!" a most delicious musical meal. It's the deep rhythmic grooves that left me searching for the ultimate albums by artists like Joe Cuba and Mongo Santamaria. Another explanation for preferring "Sabroso!" over "Salsa Fresca!" could be that while my introduction to Latin music has included familiarizing myself with these and a few dozen other discs, it's yet to include a night of dancing. That is where the hips will finally meet the beat, an image that puts fear into the heart of somebody who came of age during the days of free-form hippie dancing. Maybe that's why I was so charmed by those dancers shuffling slowly around the stage of Carnegie Hall. Looking at those swinging senior citizens, it was almost possible to believe that a midrocker still had time to learn how to really dance.
John Millward
----------------------------------
The New York Times 3rd July 1998
POP REVIEW; Ceiling Fans, Courtly Men And a Whiff Of Old Cuba The Buena Vista Social Club basked in the latest wave of Cubaphilia when it performed on Wednesday night. The concert was more than a musical occasion. Musicians from Cuba in their 70's, 80's and 90's, some emerging from retirement, were making their United States debuts at no less than Carnegie Hall. They had been rediscovered by an English recording company, World Circuit, and an American guitarist, Ry Cooder, who produced and played on their Grammy-winning album, ''Buena Vista Social Club'' (Nonesuch). Wim Wenders was filming the concert, and a largely non-Hispanic audience gave an uproarious welcome to songs that date back as far as the 1920's. With the bittersweet delicacy of a classic bolero, the Buena Vista Social Club simultaneously celebrated the vitality and virtuosity of its musicians and mourned the era they embody. The concert began with ''Chan Chan,'' an elegiac, minor-key love song in an old rural style; it ended with ''Silencio,'' a bolero with the singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo dancing cheek to cheek. In a love song about an unforgettable old flame, the 91-year-old guitarist Compay Segundo sang, ''Hoy represento el pasado'' (''Today I represent the past''). Some of the featured musicians were side men for the great Cuban innovators of the 1940's and 1950's. Mr. Ferrer, who had been shining shoes for a living before the Buena Vista sessions in 1996, sang alongside Beny More; Ruben Gonzalez, who had retired in 1991, played piano with Arsenio Rodriguez and with Enrique Jorrin. Working with members of a younger traditionalist group, Sierra Maestra, they preserve an era when Latin music was danceable but not frenetic, restrained yet puckish, and sensual but not blatant. Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Segundo sang with sweet, rounded tones, less cutting than current salsa singers, as the lyrics reveled in passion or reminisced about lost love. The concert toured old Cuban styles: the son, with its spider webs of fingerpicked guitars (partly lost in Carnegie Hall's acoustics), and the danzon, with an almost stealthy pace and, in Mr. Gonzalez's hands, some grand Romantic piano flourishes. There were also ebullient cha-chas and mambos that turned into descargas (jam sessions). Octavio Calderon and Manuel Mirabal made their trumpets beg and tease; Barbarito Torres, on the laoudc (12-string lute) played whizzing lines and jabbing dissonant chords. Mr. Segundo's guitar solos were gleaming and languid, lazing behind the beat and then sprinting. Mr. Cooder, the best-known musician to the United States audience, stayed discreetly in the back row onstage, now and then adding a hint of countryish guitar. He emerged to play alongside Mr. Segundo in the ragtime-flavored ''Orgullecida,'' adding jazzy slide-guitar chords that suggested Western swing. In the bolero, ''Y Tu Que Has Hecho?,'' Mr. Segundo, who has spent his career singing second, or harmony, vocals, sang lead in a baritone full of ardor and authority. Mr. Gonzalez was the group's most determined crowd pleaser, splashing across the piano with two-handed chords, ending phrases with sweeping glissandos and quoting Liszt during a danzon. In one tune, he carried a solo up to the top of the keyboard and beyond, playing the air while the audience cheered. The music was rich with tenderness and nostalgia, suggesting a world of tropical ease and prerevolutionary innocence. Part of Cuba's new appeal to the outside world is the notion, partly illusory, that its isolation has made it a time capsule, maintaining styles that have been overrun by hectic commerciality elsewhere. But these Cuban musicians, an apparition made possible by shifts in politics, ambition and taste, are not disappearing again. Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Ferrer and other core members of the Buena Vista Social Club will be touring the United States in the fall, keeping Cuba's past in the present.
In a career spanning five decades, pianist Monty Alexander has built a reputation exploring and bridging the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica, finding in each a sincere spirit of musical expression. In the process, he has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe and entertainment world: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bill Cosby, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among others.
Born on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six, although he is largely self-taught. As a teenager, he witnessed concerts by Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole at Kingston’s Carib Theater. These artists had a profound effect on Alexander’s aspirations. He formed Monty and the Cyclones in the late 1950s and also recorded on sessions with the musicians who would catapult Jamaican music to international recognition as The Skatalites (Bob Marley’s first backing band).
Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s, where he accompanied Sinatra and others. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, who hired him and eventually introduced him to former Charlie Parker collaborator and legendary bassist Ray Brown. Alexander recorded and performed with the two jazz giants on many occasions. Jazz’s greatest luminaries welcomed Alexander to their “musical fraternity” in the mid-1960s. Among these earliest enthusiasts for his playing were none other than Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis.
To this day, Alexander maintains an active touring schedule, from intimate jazz clubs to concert halls and jazz festivals around the globe. His collaborations span multiple genres, styles, and generations. His projects have been as varied as assisting Natalie Cole in her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole in 1991 (the resulting album, Unforgettable, won seven Grammy awards), performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” under the direction of Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and recording the piano track for the film score of Clint Eastwood’s Bird, a movie about the life of jazz titan Charlie Parker.
In August 2000, the Jamaican government awarded Monty Alexander the title of Commander in the Order of Distinction for outstanding services to Jamaica as a worldwide music ambassador. In Hal Leonard’s 2005 book The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time, Alexander was listed among the top five Jazz pianists of all time.
With the invitation and encouragement of Wynton Marsalis, Alexander conceived and directed the acclaimed program Lords of the West Indies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2008, broadcast nationally on BETJ. Alexander returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Fall 2009 with a new program Harlem Kingston Express.
As a leader, Monty Alexander has recorded over 60 albums to date. His 1976 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival performance with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton has become one of the most celebrated live recordings in contemporary jazz. His most recent albums on the Telarc label include trio sessions, such as Impressions in Blue, and the live concert recording Goin’ Yard. In the late summer of 2005, Alexander traveled to Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and teamed up with top Jamaican session players to record Concrete Jungle, a set of twelve Bob Marley compositions reinterpreted through Alexander’s jazz piano-centered arrangements. The resulting union of musical perspectives digs deep into the Marley legend and brings together the two worlds that Alexander most treasures, building the musical bridges that are the very essence of his craft. As a testament to his versatility, The Good Life, on Chesky Records is a collection of songs written and popularized by one of his all time favorite artists and good friends, Tony Bennett. His current release on Chesky is Calypso Blues, a tribute to his hero Nat Cole.
As the great thespian Patrick Swayze once said, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." The same is true of Sarah Borges. On the basis of her critically-lauded early work, particularly Diamonds in the Dark (2007), some pundits decided they know exactly where the Boston-area rocker and her cohorts, the Broken Singles, belong in the musical spectrum. They were mistaken. Her new record, The Stars Are Out, is about to stun them with a more vibrant, far-reaching display of what Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles are all about. And yes, there will be dancing.
"We always want people to dance," enthuses Borges. "That's the best way to get a show going." After months of touring in support of Diamonds, she knew the character of her third album needed to be more upbeat than its contemplative predecessors. "I was trying to think of songs that would fit really well into our live show." The results include the slinky, '60s stroll of "Me and Your Ghost" ("That's about going out and dancing, all the things you used to do with your loved one"); the flirtatious, guitar-driven kickoff, "Do It For Free"; and "It Comes To Me Naturally," a hip-shaking tale of a girl-about-town, originally recorded by bar band supreme NRBQ.
Diamonds and Borges' 2005 debut, Silver City, often found her work filed under the Americana banner. But the time had come for Borges to explore different terrain, both as a writer and performer. The Stars Are Out is a soundtrack for Saturday nights, not Sunday mornings. "When I say I explored country music as much as possible, that doesn't mean I became perfect at it," she quickly qualifies. Borges just felt ready to take a break, until she had something new to say in that realm. And rock has always been her first love. "This is a style of music I've always listened to, and been really excited about."
The ten selections of The Stars Are Out-five new originals, and five covers-were winnowed down from a list of dozens of candidates. Possible songs were put forth not only by Borges, but also her band mates-guitarist Lyle Brewer, bassist Binky, and drummer Rob Dulaney-and producers Paul Q Kolderie (the Pixies, Lemonheads, Radiohead) and Adam Taylor. "Every day, we'd sit down at the table, drink coffee and listen to records," she explains. "In the end, we had way too many songs, and had to pick the best of the best. We held ourselves up to high standards, so I think we got the cream of the crop."
The casual fan might ask the question. And, for that matter, the record label might ask the same question: Does the world really need another live album by STEVE WYNN after the gorgeous triple Live Tick 2-CD/DVD package of 2006? And that question must certainly be answered by a loud “YES!” when the performance is so different from anything Steve has ever done before and as exciting and fully realized as Live In Brussels, the 2-CD/DVD souvenir from last Fall's tour with the Dragon Bridge Orchestra, a six-piece combo that features Chris Eckman and Chris Cacavas along with Miracle 3 regulars Linda Pitmon and Erik Van Loo as well as the astounding violinist Rodrigo D'Erasmo.
Crossing Dragon Bridge itself was different from anything Steve had done before. There were strings, choirs, mellotron and more unexpected elements that gave the record a quiet, acoustic, melancholic sound. A very important contribution came from Chris Eckman who not only produced and engineered the record but also played many of the parts along with Steve in his Ljubljana studio. From the earliest talk of a tour to support the album it was essential that Chris be part of the live show. But the big surprise comes from Rodrigo D'Erasmo, unknown to many of you but a member of one of Italy's biggest bands, After Hours.
The show was recorded on October 2 at the Ancienne Belgique, one of the best clubs in Europe and one of Steve's favorite venues in the world. The audio and video facilities at this club are second to none and the show was captured in style. Naturally, much of CDB is represented here and taken to new levels but you can also expect to hear old favorites as well as unexpected buried treasures from Steve's career. Songs like “Boston,” “That's What You Always Say” (reconfigured as almost a chamber orchestra piece!) and “Amphetamine” site side by side with “Tears Won't Help,” “Here On Earth As Well” and “Silence Is Your Only Friend.” Even the most familiar songs sound unlike they ever have before.
Live In Brussels contains the complete show on 2-CDs and one DVD (PAL format only) and the sound was mixed and mastered by Andy Horn who also was at the helm on Live Tick. The tour lasted only 3 weeks, leaving a trail of stunning reviews. This band won't be touring again anytime soon but you can experience the whole event in your own home as though you were there in Brussels that night. Bring The Magic indeed!
Features the Dragon Bridge Orchestra: - Steve Wynn - Linda Pitmon (Drums, Vocals) - Chris Eckman (Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Vocals) - Chris Cacavas (Keyboards, Vocals) - Eric Van Loo (Electric and Upright Bass, Vocals) - Rodrigo D'Erasmo (Violin, Vocals)
There are roots rockers, and then there's Webb Wilder. His legendary live shows have inspired a burgeoning cult following. For over 20 years, Wilder has mined rock 'n' roll's most hallowed ground, but unlike so many others, he has approached it all with a rare irreverence and wit. His self-effacing persona gives Wilder's music a sense of fun and imagination often lacking among his peers. And while many other proponents of American roots music simply stopped at Elvis and Chuck Berry, Wilder's music incorporates influences as diverse as British Invasion, surf, country and roadhouse blues. As Billboard magazine noted, "The band is Georgia Satellites, part Dave Edmunds, part Elvis Costello and altogether wonderful." More Like Me finds Webb in great form, and combines some of his new songs like the honky-tonking title cut with obscure cover gems -- including a great version of Roky Erikson's brooding "Don't Slander Me."
Hardly a purist, he has described the music he and his band, The Beatnecks, make as, “Rock for Roots fans and Roots for Rock fans.” In essence: Rock and Roll. There’s nothing new about combining R & B, Rock and Roll, Country, Blues, Pop and Rock. The Rolling Stones and the Beatles proved that it can yield marvelous and diverse results. I said he wasn’t a PURIST. I didn’t say he wasn’t very PICKY about the quality of the music. That includes everything from the sonics of the recordings, the choice of players, the influences he draws on, the songs he chooses to cover, or how attentive he is to the craftsmanship of his own songs.
The self-proclaimed “Last Of The Full Grown Men" hasn’t limited his creativity to the music business. There’s the picture business. His critically acclaimed indie films made him a cult hero and led to a major motion picture (Peter Bogdonavich’s “The Thing Called Love,” Paramount). He’s done guest appearances on other’s albums (Ben Folds, Jason Ringenberg, Farmer Jason, William Shatner, Maura O’Connell), and a Disney produced duo of companion CD’s for the animated movie “Cars.” His smooth baritone has been used for voice-overs on countless radio commercials; he even did a stint as one of America’s FIRST Satellite DJs on XM Radio for four and a half years. Using all manner of media, Webb Wilder has been impacting Popular culture (and it him) for way over 20 years, all the while maintaining a devoted worldwide fan base through a relentless, never ending tour schedule.
More Like Me, his first collection of new material since 2005, is classic Webb - an exciting blend of bedrock American music and bittersweet ballads incorporating a host of influences. Not forgotten is his ever present irreverent attitude and wit. According to Gibson Guitar magazine, this “gives Wilder's music a sense of fun and imagination often lacking among his peers.”
A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Wilder moved to Austin, Texas in 1976 with his boyhood friend, Bobby “Crow” Field. Incorporating a British Invasion influence (among others) into their then double time tunes separated Wilder’s music from the pack. After moving to Nashville, Wilder and Field formed the Beatnecks in 1985. As Nashville moved toward unapologetically commercial fare, Wilder and Field were busy crafting their signature brand of rock 'n' roll, founded on classic influences from both sides of the pond. Wilder's debut, It Came From Nashville, a brazenly rocking bar-band rave-up, seems even more unlikely now than it must have seemed then. His subsequent albums (Hybrid Vigor, Doo Dad, Town & Country, Acres of Suede, About Time and Born To Be Wilder (live)), have continually maintained the high standard set by the first, becoming textbooks for aspiring roots rockers and showing there was (and is) a vibrant market for their hybrid brand of Southern musical gumbo.
In concert, Wilder spikes the punch between songs with potent doses of rustic wit and character, transcendent mediations, incantations, and codes by which to live. Webb’s first Blind Pig release, Born To Be Wilder captured that on-stage alchemy with a set featuring favorites such as “The Human Cannonball,” “Tough It Out”, “Miss Missy From Ol’ Hong Kong”, “Louisiana Hannah,” and others, at their rockin’ best in front of a sold out enthusiastic crowd. Elmore Magazine called Born To Be Wilder “a generous helping of fresh, tasty rock 'n' roll that will leave the listener asking for seconds," while American Songwriter said it “highlights the musical attributes that make him appealing and unique."
Music critics have always warmed up to the Webb Wilder juggernaut. The Associated Press described the band's music and stage performance as "a glorious amalgamation of grunge chords, killer grooves, Screamin' Jay Hawkins theatrics, a healthy sense of humor, and great pop melodies." It's "full of wit and personality, and devoid of technological or conceptual gimmickry," added the Houston Post.
The early films (Webb Wilder, Pvt. Eye: The Saucer’s Reign, Horror Hayride) have become underground cult classics. They were recently compiled on the Webb Wilder's Amazing B Picture Shorts DVD released in 2008. The DVD also features some WW related bonus material as well as some fine (non-Webb) films from acclaimed Webb Wilder cinematographer, Steve Mims.
The new studio album, More Like Me, is a potent collection that blends all the humor, wistfulness, urgency, soul, grease, heartache and humor that runs through the great Blues, Country, Pop, Soul and (most of all) Rock and Roll that Webb loves, lives and breathes into a sound that is just a little, well…”Wilder” than the rest. Fans of Wilder’s fretwork won’t be disappointed, as Webb gives his guitar plenty of attention on tracks like the Rock ‘n’ Roll rave up “She Said Yeah,” the heavy Hillbilly Boogie of “Honky Tonkin’ (In Mississippi),” as well as his low-fi and low DOWN (“Howlin Wolf meets The Cramps”) take on Roky Erikson’s, “Don’t Slander Me,” just to name a few. Always working in the two guitar format live, Webb includes long time axe men associates, George “the Tone Chaperone” Bradfute, Bob Williams and guitarist/co-producer, Joe V. McMahan to paint colors not otherwise provided by his own six string brush strokes. Bob provides textures that extend beyond the typical tenets of twang, like the electric sitar heard in “Pretty Is As Pretty Does.” His contributions don’t end there, either. Joe V. is all over the place and not only as a brilliant guitarist, co-producer and engineer. He and Bob both play pedal steel on one song each for instance. George joins Webb and Joe (all three do some “string stranglin’) on “Slander,” as well as providing the beautiful resonator mandocello on” “She’s Not Romantic,” also featuring atmospheric accordion (Michael Webb), one of the many NON-guitar spices seasoning the stew throughout the record. There are other guests, but every track is anchored by longtime drummer Jimmy Lester and Beatneck bassist, Tom Comet. Tom even got WAY involved with the cover art turning Webb’s concepts into reality. Along with “Romantic,” More Like Me contains some of Webb’s most irresistible tunes yet, like “Come Around” and “Too Cool For Love.” There are five Webb originals altogether with infectious melodies and left of center but, right on target lyrics that should appeal to anyone with a ticket to ride on the “mystery train.”
Webb Wilder is an evangelist for real Rock 'n' Roll. As a singer, guitarist, bandleader, film actor, songwriter and humorist, he may be roots-rock's only true Renaissance man. More Like Me will no doubt find favor with Webb’s devoted legion of fans, but with its affecting songs and masterful performances, it’s sure to bring many newcomers into the fold.
March 27th 2009 is the 100 years for the birth of the great saxophonist Ben Webster. This will be commemorated especially in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Webster lived his last years. The Ben Webster Foundation celebrates with a great concert and with a new co production with Storyville Records.
A double CD, titled The Brute And The Beautiful, will find both sides of Ben Webster with material never or very rarely heard before. The music was put aside for this occasion while Storyville and the Foundation worked in the 8 CD box DIG BEN which has won prizes and much acclaim since it’s release in 2007. The new album contains music recorded in the US by Webster himself, his first appearance on the Continent, ambitious work with strings, rough evenings in clubs, soft ballads, etc. Look forward to hearing the Beautiful Brute in all his splendour.
Tracks:
CD 1. In A Mellotone/Blues In B-Flat/Cotton Tail/Nasty Attitude/Dancing On The Ceiling/Indiana/The Man I Love/Sometimes I’m Happy/Things Ain’t What They Used To Be/Sweet Georgia Brown/Better Go/the Theme
CD 2. Star Dust/My Romance/Over The Rainbow/Old Folks/Come Sunday/Bye, Bye Blackbird/Tenderly/Embraceable You/Ad Lib Blues/Sophisticated Lady/Danny Boy/Going Home/You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To/The Theme
Widely acclaimed as one of today's finest narrative songwriters, Shindell has a rare gift for using detail to illuminate his characters'motivations and actions without ever getting mired in minutiae. Not Far Now's nine new compositions (complimented by a pair of outside songs) are haunting vignettes that exist vividly beyond the song that documents them. Shindell gives the listener a window into these lives, but their story continues long after the window is shut. "Time deposits me, the character I'm writing about, and a listener there at the first line," he observes. "Then, at the end of the song, at the end of the last line, life and time go on. The song happens in between those two moments."
The songs on Not Far Now are among Shindell's most cinematic and provocative, constructing scenarios in a voice that is notably free from moralizing, judgment, or conclusion. Opener Parasol Ants is a notable example, presenting a snapshot of a fallen small-time criminal, knocked to the ground within inches of a row of ants carrying chunks of green leaves over their heads. The thug is at once powerless in his own world and all-powerful in the ants.
State of the Union, a tale of an addict's journey into and out of sobriety with George W. Bush's annual congressional address as the backdrop, has been part of Shindell's live sets for several years now. Boldly unsentimental, it is an unglamorous glimpse into the day-to-day struggle that divides renewal and relapse, rendered by Shindell with unflinching clarity and honesty. Elsewhere, he crafts evocative tales of crooked developers ("One Man's Arkansas"), assumes the role a lovelorn street performer anxious to overcome physical and social barriers ("Juggler Out In Traffic"), and offers a stark, knowing reading of the late and much-missed Dave Carter's postmodern spiritual "The Mountain."
Nine years ago, New Jersey native and longtime New York resident Richard Shindell left home, relocating his family to Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Argentina feels like home now. Despite its many dysfunctions, the place and its people really get under your skin," he explains. "Some of the subject matter of the songs on Not Far Now is rooted in my experience of the local context. For example, 'Mariana's Table' is about a woman who sells empanadas to the truckers in a town called Brandsen, in the Province of Buenos Aires. 'Balloon Man' deals with a guy in our neighborhood here in Buenos Aires."
Before he moved, Shindell firmly established himself as a leading light on the American folk circuit, via a compelling series of albums of original songs (beginning with 1992's Sparrow Point), the live Courier (2002), and 2007's Vuelta. The Wall Street Journal proclaimed him "a master of subtle narrative," while Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times that, in Shindell's songs, "The tone is reflective, but the dilemmas and disappointments couldn't be more vivid." Shindell toured tireless behind each of his albums, building a dedicated following among both listeners and his fellow artists, leading to an offer to tour with Joan Baez and the formation of Cry Cry Cry, the all-star trio of Shindell, Dar Williams, and Lucy Kaplansky, who released an eponymous album in 1998 and toured regularly through 2000. Kaplansky contributes vocals to Not Far Now, and other guests on the project include bassist Viktor Krauss, venerable session drummer Steve Holley (Dar Williams, Joe Cocker, Elton John, Wings), keyboardist David Sancious, and vocalist and violinist Sara Milonovich, among others. Shindell plays an array of stringed instruments, including acoustic, electric, and twelve-string guitars, electric bass, percussion, piano, and bouzouki, which is featured prominently on many of Not Far Now's tracks. "I've been playing a lot of bouzouki," he says. "As the Irish discovered as well, it's a great instrument for accompanying the human voice. It also produces a very persistent, driving kind of sound, which I find generates a certain energy in an arrangement." The instrument is most strikingly used as an accompaniment on a powerful version of Cuban revolutionary songwriter Silvio Rodriguez's "Que Hago Ahora."
Of all the themes and characters investigated on Not Far Now, a surprising favorite emerges: "Get Up Clara," a soliloquy delivered by a weary traveler to his mule as he wanders rootlessly through the backroads, set in the later days of the Roman Empire. The song's appeal is obvious, Shindell insists. "Of the eleven songs on this record," Shindell reflects, "there are three that have shown up pretty regularly in my live sets during the past year or two. People seem to like 'Clara' the most, as do I. This is perhaps explained by the fact that Clara is a mule, and people generally like songs about mules."
That nice easy mark at the edge of the park Was a slam dunk if ever I saw one I don't know what happened, I just let it go by I guess maybe out of respect
This old town is my home, and I'm not so far gone That I don't feel like anyone else And it didn't seem right to add to the wrong I decided to get me some help
If not know then when? I said to myself, Over and over again Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk I've heard it can happen that way
I went down to the clinic on a hundred and tenth And got on the methadone program I waited on line every morning at nine For my little white cup, my reprieve
It was going OK, I was feeling alright I even got back with my daughter I lost a few friends, who were anything but And just took it one day at time
If not now then when, I kept asking myself Over and over again Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk They say it can happen that way
I can't say for sure how it all fell apart One thing just led to another Next thing I knew I had stolen a car I was flying straight up to the Bronx
Must've lost the old touch, I blew through a toll They caught me just outside of Rye Sporting all that remained of my new-found resolve A shirt that said NYPD
Some shred of my soul could almost believe That the Lord sent those cruisers for me Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk But it don't always happen that way
At the half-way house we're all sitting around Watching the State of the Union And I'm rolling that stone right back up the hill Watching out for the shit coming down
The President's up there grining that grin Thinking he's some kind of John Wayne We're howling and jeering all his talk about shooting And drilling our way out of this
If not now then when, I'll keep asking myself Over and over again Make it right? Get free? Get rid of the junk? That nice easy mark at the edge of the park Was a slam dunk if ever I saw one I don't know what happened, I just let it go by I guess maybe out of respect
This old town is my home, and I'm not so far gone That I don't feel like anyone else And it didn't seem right to add to the wrong I decided to get me some help
If not know then when? I said to myself, Over and over again Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk I've heard it can happen that way
I went down to the clinic on a hundred and tenth And got on the methadone program I waited on line every morning at nine For my little white cup, my reprieve
It was going OK, I was feeling alright I even got back with my daughter I lost a few friends, who were anything but And just took it one day at time
If not now then when, I kept asking myself Over and over again Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk They say it can happen that way
I can't say for sure how it all fell apart One thing just led to another Next thing I knew I had stolen a car I was flying straight up to the Bronx
Must've lost the old touch, I blew through a toll They caught me just outside of Rye Sporting all that remained of my new-found resolve A shirt that said NYPD
Some shred of my soul could almost believe That the Lord sent those cruisers for me Make it right, get free, get rid of the junk But it don't always happen that way
"Why don't you come out with a cd with orignal songs only ?" "Why don't you do a nice cd with standards only?" "Why don't you do one with all italian songs ?" "Why not Gershwin only?" "Why why why.....How should I know? Leave me alone !"
The real reason for this Cd is that, almost by chance and in a hurry, as well, I was in my friend Roberto Vigo's studio to record one song only, Perdado by Tito Fontana, bo be included in a memorial concert that takes place every year, around the date of his premature passing, celebrating our dear Tito. Unfortunately when his daughter Cinzia called me to inform me of the exact date I was already unavailable, but I had the idea to record one tune to then be played in the theatre, almost as I could actually be there on that evenening.
As soon as I arrived at the studio I immediately felt a particular affinity for the piano, a magnificent Yamaha C7, and I started recording. A few minutes went by and I had the take I wanted. It was done. I only had to get the Cd with Tito's song and send it to Cinzia, but something kept me at the piano. I played freely everything that was going through my head for a good half hour, slowly realizing that I could have a whole solo piano Cd. A couple of weeks later I went back to record other pieces, standards and original compositions, some of them born right there in the studio, thanks to that superpiano, Roberto's mastery of sounds and the relaxed atmosphere. And the absolute absence of pressure.
That's how it went. This cd represents what I am today. It represents my moments of joy and introspection, from the need to play something of mine, personal, to the pleasure of rereading a beautiful melody from the "Great American Songbook".
That's what the word jazz means to me. Freedom.
In the meantime the phone rings... "Why why why why".....How should I Know ? Leave Me Alone !
Dado Moroni
"Dado Moroni is without a doubt one of my favorite pianists. He has a great technique, a great harmonic sense and,as this recording shows, great sensitivity. This recording also shows the introspective side of Dado and it will definitely have an honored spot on my ipod
Kenny Barron
"Hello Dado, I think this Cd is a wonderful exercise in impromptu exploration of themes of your choosing. The sound is very special in quality, on a great instrument ! It's full of passion with humor added. Bravo!
Cedar Walton
"Dado Moroni is not only an exceptional pianist , he is an exceptionally swinging pianist. For this reason, he is admired around the world by both listeners and musicans alike. He is certainly admired by me. I find his accomplishment inspiring".
Mulgrew Miller
Edgardo Dado Moroni, born in Genoa, Italy on October 20, 1962, was exposed to jazz music very early, thanks to his parents' record collection and he started playing piano at age 4. Nowadays Moroni is one of the most considered Italian musician in the USA (also one of Ron Carter’s favourite pianist), a very rare case of super “musicians” musician. He performed in Italy and all over the world with Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Cobham ,Jimmy Owens); an extraordinary approach to the instrument that touch deeply the listener. He was a an enfant-prodige and plays many instruments with rare ability. From age 14 Dado started playing professionally all throughout Italy with some of the most important Italian players like Franco Cerri, Tullio De Piscopo, Luciano Milanese, Gianni Basso, Sergio Fanni and Massimo Urbani and at 17 he recorded his first album in trio with Tullio De Piscopo and American bassist Julius Farmer. He played and recorded with an impressive number of very great international musician: Phil Woods, Tom Harrel, Johnny Griffin.Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen, Tony Scott, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Ron Carter and many others. He took part in two historic band like the Paris Reunion (with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Curtis Fuller, Johnny Griffin e Jimmy Woode) and the Mingus Dynasty (con Danny Richmond, Jinny Knepper, John Handy, Craig Handy and Reggie Johnson). Now is playng in a new quintet called "the cube". Recently he recorded for Abeat two cds with Tom Harrell : "humanity" a piano/tromba duet ( Abeat 2007 )and " the cube" ( 2008 Abeat ).
The Italian virtuoso, pianist Stefano Bollani, began his collaboration with bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund in 2003. The chemistry between the 3 musicians has from the start been exceptional and their albums have been praised by critics and have sold several thousand copies.
The first album MI RITORNI IN MENTE that was released in 2003 was among the 10 best selling records in Italy that year. Following Danish and Italian tours, it became clear that this constellation was destined to be of a more permanent nature. They have been invited to play at clubs and festivals all over the world - their debut in New York was a successful concert at the legendary Birdland Club.
You need not be a musician to understand what bassist Jesper Bodilsen means when he says, “The fascinating thing about playing with Stefano is his brilliant musicality. You never know what’s going to happen; all you know is that it is so very inspiring. His playing combines playfulness and humor with something very deep.”
This is probably in part due to the fact that Bollani has always expressed himself in a wide range of idioms. Although classically trained, he has played jazz and pop since childhood, and even once contemplated a vocalist career. The diversity and unbiased outlook are two traits he shares with bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund. After fifthteen years of collaboration on numerous projects, these two musicians are possibly the tightest bass/drum team of their generation on the Danish jazz scene.
The trio’s first album was dominated by Italian tunes and standard type material. On their second album GLEDA the trio finds a melodic and original tone in a music concentrated around Scandinavian songs. This album was nominated for an Australian Bell Award in the category – Best International Jazz Release in 2006.
The carefully picked material enables the music to flow from this trio in a steady current of intelligence, imagination and delight in playing. Bollani finds his phrases in a deep understanding of the harmonic structures, allowing him to display extreme boldness without ever betraying the melody. Bodilsen is a granite foundation, demonstrating a large and flexible tone and an undisputed authority, while Lund spurs them on, constantly varying his sound.
They have succeeded in creating a beautiful, refreshing and modern sound in a wonderfully well-defined recording. Hearing one of Europe’s great pianists interpret these tunes is pure pleasure and together this trio turns the songs into small miracles!
”Never before at Copenhagen JazzHouse have we heard pianissimo so intense - and seldom have we listened as breathlessly as we did to Bollani’s ballad-like interpretation of an Italian popular song. And yet we were never for one moment allowed to forget that it was a trio playing for us that night. A trio at the highest level.” Boris Rabinowitch in Danish National Newspaper“Politiken”.
Produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) Features guests Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Steve Berlin, JJ Grey, and Trombone Shorty Features five originals and songs made famous by Led Zeppelin, Gov't Mule, Bruce Springsteen, Captain Beefheart, JJ Grey & Mofro.
: Alligator Records has released "LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN", the stunning label debut from American musical legend, Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr. and his band, Buckwheat Zydeco. The New York Times says, "Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances." The Louisiana accordion and organ master and vocalist recorded the new CD at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana with Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) producing (as well as leading the horn section). Buckwheat Zydeco celebrates its 30th anniversary with the new CD and a lengthy tour.
"LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN" is a major release for Buckwheat, and a remarkably conceived album. The album features five original songs and complete reinventions of songs made famous by Led Zeppelin (When The Levee Breaks), Bruce Springsteen (Back In Your Arms), Gov't Mule (Lay Your Burden Down), Captain Beefheart (Too Much Time), and JJ Grey & Mofro (The Wrong Side). Guests on the album include Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Steve Berlin, JJ Grey, and Trombone Shorty. With "LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN", Buckwheat Zydeco's large and loyal fan base will also welcome a massive influx of new converts.
According to Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer, Buckwheat Zydeco's recording for his label is huge. "Buckwheat is the iconic figure of Louisiana zydeco music worldwide. It's a thrill to bring an artist of this stature to Alligator. More important, he tears it up at every show. His energy level and accordion chops are just amazing, and he's a terrific, soulful singer. And he's no slouch on Hammond organ, either. I'm also excited to reunite Buckwheat with Steve Berlin of Los Lobos as producer. Berlin produced Five Card Stud, one of Buckwheat's finest albums, and we believe Buckwheat's Alligator debut is even better. Also, Buckwheat has been booked for years by Concerted Efforts, a great agency for American roots music."
During the 1990s and 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label (which continues to present favorite recordings from Buckwheat Zydeco as well as Sean Ardoin and Lil' Brian and the Zydeco Travelers) and maintained an extensive touring schedule. With his new relationship with Alligator and "LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN", his massive instrumental and vocal talents and boundless energy, Buckwheat remains and will continue to be not only the most popular zydeco artist in the world, but will find the largest and most enthusiastic audience of his long and storied career.
"Sadly but truly, today's jazz community rarely receives such sublimely beautiful jazz combos as One For All...the group's amazing empathy and subtleness are its strongest trump cards…An early contender for sleeper of the year." John Murph, JazzTimes
"…an intense, swinger winner all the way around…One For All displays the fire, verve, and thrill of the best of straight-ahead jazz, in a clear, well-recorded venue, where the up-close feel of the small club is reproduced in stunning clarity." Steven Loewy, Cadence
"Crisply executed and painstakingly recorded (by engineer Rudy Van Gelder, the best)…Too Soon To Tell succeeds, in large measure, because of the judicious balance between arrangement and improvisation." Gene Kalbacher, CMJ
"Too Soon To Tell ...features crisply executed arrangements in a variety of meters, tempos and 'feels,' with thick, closely executed horn lines and cowbell-and-cymbal-heavy drums à la Blakey. Rudy Van Gelder's bristling, up-front production values fit hand and glove." Paul de Barros, Down Beat
"Get familiar with these names now 'cause these guys are gonna be around for awhile." George Fendel, Jazz Scene
ONE FOR ALL is a New York-based band comprised of six talented and successful musicians. Collectively, they have been sidemen to jazz greats Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, Chick Corea, Ray Charles, Louis Hayes, George Coleman, Benny Golson, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, Jackie McLean, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Barron, and Cecil Payne, among others. Having achieved exceptional musicianship individually,.each member of this jazz sextet possesses his own singular style and together they have created a rare, unique sound that has become the signature of ONE FOR ALL.
In 1988, trumpeter Jim Rotondi met drummer Joseph Farnsworth and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander.It was Farnsworth's association with the renowned New York jazz club, Augie's (now called Smoke), that eventually brought them to, former Art Blakey Jazz Messenger, trombonist Steve Davis. In the fall of 1996, the quartet joined forces with pianist David Hazeltine and bassist Peter Washington for a weekend gig at Smalls in Greenwich Village, NYC. In February of 1997, the newly formed sextet, now known as ONE FOR ALL, recorded their first CD, Too Soon To Tell, for the Sharp Nine Label at Rudy Van Gelder's Studio. They went on to record their critically acclaimed second project, Optimism, for Sharp Nine Records in February of 1998.
Eric Alexander is quickly becoming a "voice to be reckoned with" on the tenor saxophone. Having toured and/or recorded with jazz greats Charles Earland, Cecil Payne, Kenny Barron and Harold Mabern, Eric is now leading his own groups throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. A graduate of the William Paterson College Jazz Studies program, Eric now records for the Delmark, Highnote, and Criss Cross labels and has an upcoming release featuring Cedar Walton on Alfalfa Records.
Trombonist Steve Davis' work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Jackie McLean, and more recently with Chick Corea's sextet Origin, led trombone legend Curtis Fuller to declare, "I predict that Steve Davis will become one of the true masters of the slide trombone." Davis' impressive resume also includes stints with jazz legends Elvin Jones, Cecil Payne, Eddie Palmieri, Lionel Hampton, Cedar Walton and Charlie Persip. Young jazz greats with whom Davis has worked and/or recorded include Joshua Redman, Geoff Keezer, Brad Mehidau and Leon Parker.
Trumpeter Jim Rotondi first gained recognition by winning first prize in the International Trumpet Guild's Jazz Competition in 1994. Since that time he has toured and/or recorded with Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charles Earland, George Coleman and Ray Appleton's Sextet featuring Slide Hampton, Charles MePherson and John Hicks. Jim was also the featured solist at the 1992 Chile International Jazz Festival alongside saxophonist Joe Lovano and pianist Danilo Perez. Jim's second CD as a leader was released this fall on the Criss Cross label following the successful release of his debut CD, Introducing Jim Rotondi, in 1997.
Pianist David Hazeltine has successfully formed his own distinctive style and musical voice out of the accumulated greatness of modern piano tradition. Hazeltine made his professional debut at age 13 and later performed as house pianist at the famed Milwaukee Jazz Gallery, working with such greats as Charles McPherson, Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt, Pepper Adams and Chet Baker. In addition to leading his own trio (with drum legend Louis Hayes and bassist Peter Washington), Hazeltine's recent credits include work with Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters Big Band, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and singer Marlena Shaw. David's most recent release is a collaboration with vibes player Joe Locke, Mutual Admiration Society, on Sharp Nine Records.
Peter Washington is one of the busiest bass players around. He was mentored by the legendary Art Blakey and currently tours with the Tommy Flanagan Trio. Other performance/recording credits include work with Louis Hayes, Javon Jackson, and Wallace Roney, among others.
Drummer Joseph Farnsworth is considered one of today's finest young drummers. Currently working in the Benny Golson Quartet, Joe has also worked with jazz legends George Coleman, Cecil Payne, Junior Cook, and toured with with the Jazztet Reunion Band featuring Art Farmer, Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller. He also recently recorded his first CD as a leader for the Criss Cross label, featuring Cedar Walton and Eddie Henderson. For the past five years, Farnsworth has led the house band at Augie's, one of New York's famed breeding grounds for emerging jazz artists.
The New Cd, "CANZONI DI SCHIENA" out now! Produced By GIORGIO RAVERA with special guests such as ROY ROGERS, VITTORIO DE SCALZI (New Trolls), ALEX VALLE (F. De Gregori Band), LA ROSA TATUATA!
Born in Genova, Italy in 1960 Paolo began to play guitar in 1975 after studying music theory, harmony and piano. In 1986 attended a summer course at Barklee College of Music in Boston. Graduated in music semiotics at University of Bologna. From 1985 to 1990 he has been leading Big Fat Mama, one of the most important rock-blues bands in Italy, with whom recorded three LPs, played top clubs and festivals (opened for Johnny Winter, Pogues, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Los Lobos), appeared on several TV shows, worked with Italian (Fabio Treves) and american (Johnny Mars, Zora Young, Louisiana Red, Eddie C. Campbell) blues players. He is co-founder member of Downtown, together with living legends of the British blues such as sax player Dick Heckstall. Smith (Colosseum, Alexis Corner, John Mayall), drummer Mickey Waller (Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, Rod Stewart) and bass player Bob Brunning (Savoy Brown). The band split in 1991 after touring Italy extensively and Switzerland. He is currently playing with his own band (opened for Holmes Bros., Stephen Bruton, Lucky Peterson and toured with Dirk Hamilton, Fred James and Roscoe Shelton), as a soloist (opened for John Hammond, James Cotton, Dirty Dozen Brass Band), with Red Wine (one of the most important bluegrass bands in Europe), with guitarist Beppe Gambetta and with Fabio Treves. He has been writing for Italian music magazines, publishing a country guitar methos (with Beppe Gambetta), producing Italian rock-roots bands, playing on Cds of some of the most exciting local bands in his area and he also teaching and doing workshops all over the country. In 1992 his first solo CD, 'On My Backdoor, Someday', has been released, produced by Fred James who appears as guest with his wife Mary Ann Brandon as well as Gene Parsons, formerly with the Byrds, and Fabio Treves. In March 1994 he has been playing South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Tx and after awhile another CD, 'The Cardinal Points', has been released, partially recorded in Austin with Davis McLarty (Joe Ely Band), Jimmy Pettit (Joe Ely, John Campbell), David Grissom (Joe Ely, John Mellencamp), Michael Ramos (John Mellencamp, BoDeans), David Essig, Fabio Treves, Piero Leveratto (top Italian double-bass jazz player) and, obviously, his band. At the end of 1996 the CD 'Trying To Keep The Whole Thing Rockin'' has seen the light: an accurate report of the Paolo Bonfanti Band's live act.
March 27th 2009 is the 100 years for the birth of the great saxophonist Ben Webster. This will be commemorated especially in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Webster lived his last years. The Ben Webster Foundation celebrates with a great concert and with a new co production with Storyville Records.
Widely acclaimed as one of today's finest narrative songwriters, Shindell has a rare gift for using detail to illuminate his characters'motivations and actions without ever getting mired in minutiae. Not Far Now's nine new compositions (complimented by a pair of outside songs) are haunting vignettes that exist vividly beyond the song that documents them. Shindell gives the listener a window into these lives, but their story continues long after the window is shut. "Time deposits me, the character I'm writing about, and a listener there at the first line," he observes. "Then, at the end of the song, at the end of the last line, life and time go on. The song happens in between those two moments."
"Why don't you come out with a cd with orignal songs only ?"
The Italian virtuoso, pianist Stefano Bollani, began his collaboration with bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund in 2003. The chemistry between the 3 musicians has from the start been exceptional and their albums have been praised by critics and have sold several thousand copies. 
Produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) Features guests Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Steve Berlin, JJ Grey, and Trombone Shorty Features five originals and songs made famous by Led Zeppelin, Gov't Mule, Bruce Springsteen, Captain Beefheart, JJ Grey & Mofro. 
"Sadly but truly, today's jazz community rarely receives such sublimely beautiful jazz combos as One For All...the group's amazing empathy and subtleness are its strongest trump cards…An early contender for sleeper of the year." 
The New Cd, "CANZONI DI SCHIENA" out now!