: 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.
Buckwheat Zydeco - Lay Your Burder Down ( Alligator R. )
One For All - Return Of The Lineup
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.
Paolo Bonfanti - Canzoni Di Schiena
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.
Elisabetta Antonini - Un Minuto Dopo
She completely embraced my philosophy, from the most fundamental notion which I tell all my students : in order to be a jazz singer, to be able to take full advantage of all that being a jazz singer entails, you need to become a complete musician. You must be able to play the piano, understand harmony, know about the tradition of jazz, be aware of all the different genres in contemporary music, write your own compositions or at least be able to reinterpret the pieces you sing, and , in time, find your own voice. In just a few years Elisabetta’s modesty and determination have enable her to become a proficient teacher, a sophisticated singer, as well as a talented composer and arranger as you will hear in this her debut album, which I have very much been looking forward to, as have many of my colleagues who know her and hold her in high esteem.
“Un Minuto Dopo “ is an extraordinarily mature first album; full of attention to detail and innovative lines, enhanced by the choice of a drummer-less ensemble made up of fellow musicians who are perfectly suited to the task : Alessandro Gwis is as at home with complex rhythms, be they Latin – American or otherwise, as he is with spacious atmospheric moods with his impeccable resonant touch and his extraordinary yet discrete electronic brushstrokes ; Gabriele Coen, with his mellow dusky clarinet, is just a comfortable playing rhythm as he is in his role as a soloist, whether improvising melodically or adding humorous sound effects as punctuation. Finally , the special guest, the wonderful Paul McCandless, whose unmistakeable oboe opens the album with a lyrical intro on “Cerco Il Mare”, which was Elisabetta’s remarkable first composition. Next you will find “Lungo La Strada “ and “Un Minuto Dopo” ( listen to Gwis’s delightful solo interrupting the rhythmic flow, while hinting and reminding us of it from the upper octaves of the piano, and Coen’s relaxed mellifluous entry… a jewel in the crown ), pieces which show off her melodic – Rhythmic skills with ideas which are never trite or predicable. The next two pieces are “ La Ballata dell’Alfiere and “ Out of the Rolling Ocean”, which is a splendid setting of a poem by Walt Whitman. These pieces illustrate her knowledge of the European jazz tradition, by paying tribute to one of its leading lights, the great Kenny Wheeler, famed for his skilful use of harmony and counterpoint. And what a marvelous luxury it is to have McCandless’s top class oboe playing supporting and adding colour to the delicate washes of sound portrayed by the voice.
However Elisabetta is also very capable of producing original complex arrangements. Who would rearrange Frank Foster’s original Leo Rising and produce a version like this abandoning the fast bop framework ? Elisabetta’s reworking of the piece embellishes its melodic aspects and exalts the really fast phrases giving them a spacious background over which her magnificent fellow musicians interweave a splendidly textured canvas for McCandless’s wonderful soprano solo. And finally a reinterpretation of four compositions by our terrific Enrico Rava ; these melodies, which are well-known and dear to many of us, are enjoyed in a different light thanks to Elisabetta’s interpretations of the profound and imaginative lyrics by Marina Tiezzi.
Elisabetta’s precise vocal style, delicate yet authoritative at the same time, caresses both notes and words. Finally we come to Alice in Wonderland, her intonation is impeccable and her tonal colouring delightful, finishing this album off beautifully with a tribute to the jazz standards which she knows and loves so much.
“Un minuto dopo “ is the first step in Elisabetta’s artistic career, which I foresee as being – as I very much hope it will be – long and fruitful.
Here is a picture of an artist who is continually exploring and evolving.
Enjoy.
Maria Pia De Vito.
Roy Rogers - - Split Decision
Split Decision is eclectic Americana and contemporary blues recordings at it's finest. Edgy guitar tracks, deep grooves, tense rockin' blues and ballads. Surprises include jazz instrumentals with saxophone by George Brooks (Zakir Hussain and Etta James) and a rare duet with multi platinum flamenco recording artist Ottmar Liebert. Also, special guests include Phil Aaberg on keyboards (Elvin Bishop, Peter Gabriel) and son Sam Rogers on vocal percussion and some other surprises!
Lura - Eclipse
Penned by B. Leza, the historic Cape Verdean writer sung by Cesaria Evora, the song Eclipse is a treasure-house of emotion and sobriety. It sets the tone for the album: delicately wrought, acoustic and full of grace. The track is a perfect illustration of sodade - a vague feeling of melancholy and sadness, a nostalgic relationship with land, sea and family sung by poets, sailors and their wives since time out of mind. Lura’s sensual voice sometimes conveys the distant regrets of her exile, a general, gentle sodade that is never bitter.
A Portuguese-speaking artist, Lura stands at the crossroads of Portuguese and Cape Verdean culture. Born in Lisbon in 1975 (the year of her country’s independence), she remains strongly attached to her family’s native land and the culture of Cape Verde. At the age of seventeen, she was already dancing and singing backing vocals for Juka, a Sao Tomé zouk singer. Giving up her swimming studies, she took the plunge into the musical deep end and soon acquired a reputation as a singer in her own right. In 1996, she recorded a first urban album of r&b and Afro-Portuguese zouk.
A well-received duet with Angolan singer Bonga, then partnerships with her fellow countrymen Tito Paris and Paulinho Vieira caught the ear of José Da Silva, head of Lusafrica and Cesaria Evora’s producer, and he signed her to his label. Lura released her first proper album, “Di Korpu ku Alma”, in 2004. It met with strong critical acclaim.
Following the success of her next album, “M'bem di Fora”, which came out in 2006, Lura travelled the world, winning over audiences who proved ever more loyal and attentive to her music. Thanks to her, Cape Verde’s younger generations rediscovered their local musical heritage. They began to dance, fall in love and weep to the beats their parents and grandparents loved. Displaying great maturity, “M'bem di Fora” laid the foundations for Lura’s future songs and now her new album, “Eclipse”.
Today, she lays firm claim to her Cape Verdean roots, as if all the better to transcend them. “I sing the music of my parents’ country. I identify especially with Santiago and Santo Antao, since they’re my father and mother’s islands. Singing the music of Cape Verde is like experiencing things I’ve never known,” she explains in smiling French.
Growing up in the Creole quarter of Lisbon, Lura was surrounded by beats from the leeward and windward islands, as well as Portuguese pop, jazz, African music and American soul. Today, all these influences are to be found on “Eclipse”. The album expresses love, joy and sometimes sadness. Its thirteen new tracks display incredible energy - for instance, Maria, a song written by Lura herself, whose bass and percussion showcase her voice magnificently.
Her bandleader and arranger, Toy Vieira, wrote the superb Um Dia with her in mind. On this ballad with its jazz notes and discreet backing vocals, a radiant Lura literally shines, as she does on the catchy Quebrod Nem Djosa (Poor as a Church Mouse), one of the album’s high points. This song by Vlu (Valdemiro Ferreira), one of Mindelo’s fashionable young writers, appeals to the honesty of Cape Verdeans facing economic adversity. Brass and backing vocals remind us that joy and good humour will always win out over life’s trials. Madagascan accordionist Régis Gizavo accompanies Lura on the tracks Marinhêro, Na Nha Rubera and Sukundida (the last two are the catchiest on the album). The sugary 60s backing vocals of Queima Roupa, one of the three songs written by Mario Lucio, form a delightful conclusion to the album. As a bonus, Canta Um Tango is the work of the group Kantango with lyrics by Teofilo Chantre. Recorded in Naples, the track gently establishes its post-modern tango credentials.
On “Eclipse”, Lura takes a loving, soulful look at the full musical range of her country, the different Cape Verdean genres from coladera to funana. Full of verve and energy, but also with more ingenuous touches, her voice again makes all the difference. Yet as she modestly confides: “My career has been a continual surprise to me since I discovered my voice in adolescence until now. I take it one day at a time, but I’ll be a singer for the rest of my life. I’m sure of it. I don’t know why.”
Well, we do know why when we listen to “Eclipse”. This fourth album confirms the immense talent of Lura, jewel of the new Cape Verdean generation.
The Flatlanders - Hills And Valleys
The three friends pooled their diverse, yet complimentary songwriting talents and co-wrote eight of the 13 tracks on the record, their first in 5 years, and only 4th studio album in 30 years.
Hills And Valleys was produced by Grammy® Award winning producer Lloyd Maines, who also appears on the album playing acoustic guitar, Dobro, pedal, steel and more.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock have been friends for almost 40 years, and members of that not-really-a-band, life-of-its-own musical entity known as The Flatlanders for nearly as long.
But when the trio decided to collaborate on songwriting for Hills And Valleys, the fourth in a rather elongated string of Flatlanders albums, they realized it wouldn’t be easy. They’d done it before for one thing, first for the soundtrack to the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer, then for their “reunion” album, 2002’s Now Again. So they already knew they’d be as likely to spend hours trading tales and laughing uproariously as they would trying to agree on a lyric.
And they knew how long that could stretch out, too. “Sometimes we’d work on one line of a song for several days,” Ely reveals. “That’s just one line, not a verse. It’s hard to please all three of us at once.”
But for Hills and Valleys, they not only managed to come up with eight eloquent joint efforts, they added Ely’s “Love’s Own Chains” and “There’s Never Been,”Hancock’s “Thank God For The Road,” one by Gilmore’s son, Colin (“The Way We Are”), and, for good measure, their arrangement of Woody Guthrie’s “Sowing on the Mountain.” That one serves not only as an homage to one of their musical guideposts but, as Hancock notes, a representation of the album’s general theme: “the ups and downs, emotionally, of peoples’ lives these days.”
“One moment you’re sitting on top of the world,” he explains, “and the next, you’re ‘sowing on the mountain and reaping in the valleys.’” They didn’t set out with an agenda, but what Ely calls “the heavy-dutiness” of the last eight ears—9/11, Katrina, Iraq, border walls going up while the economy careened downward—all were definitely on their minds as they wrote.
“Even though all of us are very active politically, a lot of times we don’t want to bring certain things into our songs,” Ely explains. “This time, we had to say, ‘Hey, let’s look at this, not in a pushy way, but really figuring it out in our own heads. Putting it into a song and trying to unravel it.’” The psychological approach. Which explains how a song called “After The Storm” never mentions a specific deluge, but examines, via Gilmore’s gentle tremolo, the feelings of loss and lonliness one might experience “looking out after the storm, wondering what to do and where to go.” That was the first song they came up with. The last was “Homeland Refugee,” which addresses foreclosures and the “so-called security trust,” though it was composed months before the credit crunch triggered a string of bank failures that unleashed even more economic calamity. The song was partly inspired by an irony they saw in the current “reverse migration” of Californians to Texas, because their families had been part of the original Dust Bowl exodus. As they wrote at Hancock’s home in Terlingua (writing sessions were also held in Austin, where Gilmore and Ely live), they also watched the construction of a wall designed to prevent Mexican people from migrating to America. Telling a simple story in simple words, they cut right to the core of these complex issues.
An overt reference to Guthrie’s “Pastures of Plenty” and an implied one to his “Deportee (Plane Crash at Los Gatos)” further allude to those hills and valleys of earth and life—which they put in irrefutable perspective in the line: For everything this world is worth, we’re all just migrants on this earth, returning to the dust from where we came. “After the Storm” and “Homeland Refugee” form a trilogy of sorts with the Tex-Mex-flavored “Borderless Love.” Over the jaunty notes of honorary Flatlander Joel Guzman’s accordion, the song draws the conclusion: A wall is a mirror, it can only reveal/one side of the story that passes for real. But not all of these tracks are so obviously topical. “Just About Time” makes seeming allusions to a long-needed change in leadership, but it’s also a song about mortality—the happiest little rocker about death you’re likely to ever whistle inside the shower. It prominently features that early Flatlanders staple, Steve Wesson’s singing saw—which automatically adds levity just by the weirdness of its sound. Another original Flatlander, Tony Pearson, performs mandolin and sings harmony on the disc; both were heard on the band’s first recording, that long-fabled entity from 1972 that finally got a proper release 20 years later with the title, More A Legend Than A Band. Though Ely produced its follow-up, Now Again, and 2004’s Wheels of Fortune, Hills and Valleys was produced by another old friend who grew up in the cotton-furrowed flatlands of Lubbock: Lloyd Maines.
In addition to their long musical history with Maines (he was a member of Ely’s band for years and produced Gilmore’s Hightone Records debut), Gilmore points out a trait that further strengthens their bond: Maines’ off-the-wall sense of humor is similar to theirs. His Dixie Chick connection apparently didn’t hurt, either; daughter Natalie’s bandmate Martie Maguire contributed some fiddle. A who’s-who of Austin sidemen (and friends) also participated: Robbie Gjersoeon guitars; Glenn Fukunaga on bass; Rafael Gayol on drums; Bukka Allen ..boards and accordion; Brian Standefer ..o; and Pat Manske on percussion. Maines played steel, mandolin, banjo and guitar, and contributed harmonies. Perhaps all that involvement makes him an honorary Flatlander, too. But none of them takes the designation too seriously.
As with each Flatlanders album or tour, no one knows about a next one; they’re a product of fate, chance, inspiration, the gods … and come around when they come around. They’ve each got successful solo careers to keep up as well. But here they are, 37 years after they were prodded into recording together the first time, still collaborating—and still the best of friends. In his soft Texas drawl, Ely sums the philosophy behind their creativity: “We might as well write music and make songs up, because there’s not anything that we’d rather be doing.”
Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock have been friends for almost 40 years, and members of that not-really-a-band, life-of-its-own musical entity known as The Flatlanders for nearly as long.
But when the trio decided to collaborate on songwriting for Hills And Valleys, the fourth in a rather elongated string of Flatlanders albums, they realized it wouldn’t be easy. They’d done it before for one thing, first for the soundtrack to the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer, then for their “reunion” album, 2002’s Now Again. So they already knew they’d be as likely to spend hours trading tales and laughing uproariously as they would trying to agree on a lyric.
And they knew how long that could stretch out, too. “Sometimes we’d work on one line of a song for several days,” Ely reveals. “That’s just one line, not a verse. It’s hard to please all three of us at once.”
But for Hills and Valleys, they not only managed to come up with eight eloquent joint efforts, they added Ely’s “Love’s Own Chains” and “There’s Never Been,”Hancock’s “Thank God For The Road,” one by Gilmore’s son, Colin (“The Way We Are”), and, for good measure, their arrangement of Woody Guthrie’s “Sowing on the Mountain.” That one serves not only as an homage to one of their musical guideposts but, as Hancock notes, a representation of the album’s general theme: “the ups and downs, emotionally, of peoples’ lives these days.”
“One moment you’re sitting on top of the world,” he explains, “and the next, you’re ‘sowing on the mountain and reaping in the valleys.’” They didn’t set out with an agenda, but what Ely calls “the heavy-dutiness” of the last eight ears—9/11, Katrina, Iraq, border walls going up while the economy careened downward—all were definitely on their minds as they wrote.
“Even though all of us are very active politically, a lot of times we don’t want to bring certain things into our songs,” Ely explains. “This time, we had to say, ‘Hey, let’s look at this, not in a pushy way, but really figuring it out in our own heads. Putting it into a song and trying to unravel it.’” The psychological approach. Which explains how a song called “After The Storm” never mentions a specific deluge, but examines, via Gilmore’s gentle tremolo, the feelings of loss and lonliness one might experience “looking out after the storm, wondering what to do and where to go.” That was the first song they came up with. The last was “Homeland Refugee,” which addresses foreclosures and the “so-called security trust,” though it was composed months before the credit crunch triggered a string of bank failures that unleashed even more economic calamity. The song was partly inspired by an irony they saw in the current “reverse migration” of Californians to Texas, because their families had been part of the original Dust Bowl exodus. As they wrote at Hancock’s home in Terlingua (writing sessions were also held in Austin, where Gilmore and Ely live), they also watched the construction of a wall designed to prevent Mexican people from migrating to America. Telling a simple story in simple words, they cut right to the core of these complex issues.
An overt reference to Guthrie’s “Pastures of Plenty” and an implied one to his “Deportee (Plane Crash at Los Gatos)” further allude to those hills and valleys of earth and life—which they put in irrefutable perspective in the line: For everything this world is worth, we’re all just migrants on this earth, returning to the dust from where we came. “After the Storm” and “Homeland Refugee” form a trilogy of sorts with the Tex-Mex-flavored “Borderless Love.” Over the jaunty notes of honorary Flatlander Joel Guzman’s accordion, the song draws the conclusion: A wall is a mirror, it can only reveal/one side of the story that passes for real. But not all of these tracks are so obviously topical. “Just About Time” makes seeming allusions to a long-needed change in leadership, but it’s also a song about mortality—the happiest little rocker about death you’re likely to ever whistle inside the shower. It prominently features that early Flatlanders staple, Steve Wesson’s singing saw—which automatically adds levity just by the weirdness of its sound. Another original Flatlander, Tony Pearson, performs mandolin and sings harmony on the disc; both were heard on the band’s first recording, that long-fabled entity from 1972 that finally got a proper release 20 years later with the title, More A Legend Than A Band. Though Ely produced its follow-up, Now Again, and 2004’s Wheels of Fortune, Hills and Valleys was produced by another old friend who grew up in the cotton-furrowed flatlands of Lubbock: Lloyd Maines.
In addition to their long musical history with Maines (he was a member of Ely’s band for years and produced Gilmore’s Hightone Records debut), Gilmore points out a trait that further strengthens their bond: Maines’ off-the-wall sense of humor is similar to theirs. His Dixie Chick connection apparently didn’t hurt, either; daughter Natalie’s bandmate Martie Maguire contributed some fiddle. A who’s-who of Austin sidemen (and friends) also participated: Robbie Gjersoeon guitars; Glenn Fukunaga on bass; Rafael Gayol on drums; Bukka Allen ..boards and accordion; Brian Standefer ..o; and Pat Manske on percussion. Maines played steel, mandolin, banjo and guitar, and contributed harmonies. Perhaps all that involvement makes him an honorary Flatlander, too. But none of them takes the designation too seriously.
As with each Flatlanders album or tour, no one knows about a next one; they’re a product of fate, chance, inspiration, the gods … and come around when they come around. They’ve each got successful solo careers to keep up as well. But here they are, 37 years after they were prodded into recording together the first time, still collaborating—and still the best of friends. In his soft Texas drawl, Ely sums the philosophy behind their creativity: “We might as well write music and make songs up, because there’s not anything that we’d rather be doing.”
Kenny Burrell ( New cd ) - Live At The Downstown Room
- B.B. King
"Burrell is the grand master of jazz guitar."
- Dizzy Gillespie
"There is no finer guitarist than Kenny Burrell"
- George Benson
"Kenny Burrell that's the sound I'm looking for."
- Jimi Hendrix
"Kenny Burrell is a great musician and his music has helped to make me what I am today."
- Stevie Wonder
"Kenny Burrell is one of my Favorite guitarists"
- Pat Metheny
After 40 years as a jazz professional, appearing on several hundred albums as leader and sideman, Kenny Burrell is among the handful of guitar greats who have forever changed the role of their instrument.
Staunch musical integrity and discriminate taste coupled with matchless technique have made the guitarist nonpareil among his peers. “My goal is to play with good tone, good phrasing and to swing,” says Burrell, “I strive for honesty in playing what I feel.”
“Master instrumentalist and composer,” “virtuoso,” “historic figure of American guitar.” “Ellington's favorite guitar player”--this is a typical sampling of the critical praise routinely bestowed on Burrell, who pioneered the guitar-led trio with bass and drums in the late Fifties. Although he has since worked in countless other formats, from big band to three guitars plus rhythm to solo, he has remained constant in his quest to get the most out of a natural, low-volume, acoustic sound. “My audience has developed so that they come to listen and are quiet,” he explains. “Thus I can work in a limited volume range and explore all the subtleties that can happen, which is my favorite part of the music.”
Aside from his performing and recording schedule, Kenny has been a teacher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for many years. Included in his teaching schedule is a special course that he developed on the music and life of Duke Ellington called “Ellingtonia”. Started in 1978, it was the first regular college course on Ellington taught in the United States. In addition he is also the founder and director of the Jazz Studies Program at UCLA where he is a professor of music and ethnomusicology. He is also a lecturer and director of workshops on guitar and Jazz studies, founder and President Emeritus, of the Jazz Heritage Foundation, and all around crusader for the recognition of jazz as a classical art form.
Kenny Burrell is also a prolific composer whose work is more and more in demand. Kenny is composer of the 1998 Grammy Award winning song “Dear Ella”, performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater. His compositions have been recorded by many other great artists such as Ray Brown, Jimmy Smith, Grover Washington Jr., John Coltrane, June Christy, Frank Wes and Stevie Ray Vaughn. More recently, he received a commission grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. to write an original, extended composition for the Boys Choir of Harlem which premiered at New York's Lincoln Center, and in 1997 was recorded for Concord Records.
Kenny is a man who has garnered the respect of the entire jazz world. “He's one of jazz's most gracious gentlemen,” says pianist Mike Wofford, “an educator and spokesperson for the entire tradition of American Jazz, Kenny is truly a goodwill ambassador for our music, and more importantly, a representative of the best in our society.”
Born in Detroit, Kenny Burrell was raised in a musical family. His mother, who sang in the Second Baptist Church choir, also played the piano around the house. His father was fond of the banjo and the ukulele. “He was just the kind of guy who could pick up string instruments and do something with 'em.” Kenny recalls, - “It kinda rubbed off on us.”
Kenny, who credits Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, as well as such blues men as T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters, played on his first major recording session in Detroit in 1951 with a Dizzy Gillespie combo that included John Coltrane, Milt Jackson, and Percy Heath. Even though the young guitarist was keeping heavy company, including that of such other up-and-coming Detroiters as Tommy Flanagan, Yusef Lateef, Pepper Adams, and Elvin Jones, he remained in Detroit to study at Wayne State University, from which he earned a B.A. in music composition and theory in 1955. He also studied classical guitar with Joseph Fava during that period and continues to employ finger-style and other techniques.
A six-month tour in 1955 with the Oscar Peterson Trio helped to set Burrell's sight on the Big Apple. The following year, he and Flanagan drove to New York City and were promptly drafted into the major league of jazz. Burrell not only became the city's most in demand Jazz guitarist, recording with his own groups and with Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Thad Jones, Kenny Dorham, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ammons - and many others, but played on pop sessions with the likes of Tony Bennett, James Brown and Lena Horn and worked in the pit bands of such Broadway shows as Bye Bye Birdie and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.
In all, Burrell has recorded more than ninety albums as a leader. This body of work has received much critical acclaim.
Since the mid-Sixties, the guitarist has been leading his own group plus working in “All-Star” settings and has performed with college bands and orchestras. He has also performed with professional orchestras such as the Detroit Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Though his combos vary in personnel, size and instrumentation, integrity and invention have constantly guided his music. “My inspiration comes from the message Duke gave - you are unique, be yourself, put out that thing that is you, then use your work ethic and produce great music.”
Kenny Burrell has been the recipient of many awards and has been voted “Best Guitarist” numerous times by music fans and critics worldwide. Recently he received this honor for the second time from the Jazz Times International Readers Poll.
His music and recordings have received much international recognition including the “Prix de Disc” from Switzerland. He has also received many academic honors including a Doctorate of Human Letters, and the 1997 Ellington Fellowship awarded by Yale University. He was voted “favorite Jazz Musician” by listeners of KLON Jazz Station in Los Angeles in 1996 and was inducted into the KLON Jazz Hall of Fame. He served on the awards panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and was the National Chairperson for guitars for the National Association of Jazz Educators. He has been dubbed America's “guitar laureate” by the Detroit Free Press.
( All About Jazz )
Louisiana Red - Back To The Bayou
Though a product of his tutelage with some of the greatest blues artists in history (Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and others), his music retains an individual stamp of personality, while remaining true to his teacher's lessons.
This album produced by Little Victor (and originally released on Bluestown Records), was recorded at the Juke Joint Studio (a state-of-art / old-school analog studio) with 24 track 2" tape machine, vintage RCA ribbon microphones, rare tube limiters and the original1960's Audiotronics mixing console that once belonged to the Stax Studio in Memphis.
Little Victor has long idolized Red, much as Red idolized many of his mentors and the the glowing love and mutual respect between artist and producer is the cornerstone of this record. Victor carefully chose some of hif favorite numbers and surrended Red with a stellar, grooving band.Victor's long history of performing with Red gave him an inside prospective of the artist and his repertoire.
The results exemplify the producer's loving vision of a definitive Louisiana Red record. Victor's sly guitar parts and down-home harmonica mesh perfectly with Red's rough and tumble work. Many of these songs capture the classic two-guitar interplay rarely heard on blues records these days. Red's singing is delivered with both melancholy and zeal. This is Red's best band album since his Roulette Recordings !
Chava Alberstein - Live
Now you can hear all this in her new double cd "Live"