Jane Ira Bloom / soprano saxophone & Allison Miller drums & percussion
"Tues Days"
In March and April of 2021 soprano saxophonist
Jane Ira Bloom and drummer Allison Miller came together on five Tuesdays in
March and April of 2021 to record some improvised sax and drum duets to see
what might happen. They didn’t set out to make an album - they just wanted to
play because they needed to improvise any way that they could. They played with
complete abandon, performing remotely from their home studios in New York City
in the reality of the world of 2021. Tues
Days is the result of
those recordings that now appear on Bloom’s Outline label and are available
through Miller’s Bandcamp site, mixed and mastered by bassist Mark Helias with
breathtaking fidelity. It’s a musical duet saturated in a kaleidoscope of
color. The music is spontaneous composition at its best by two masterful
improvisers – energetic, tactile, and alive. Miller’s multi-colored array of
percussion augments her drumset in exquisite counterpoint to Bloom’s signature
tone on the soprano sax. The music is both rhythmic and deeply lyrical - drum
and sax dancing around one another until their song is sung. The compositions
are Bloom and Miller making-it-up live and in the moment, taking you on a wild
ride through their musical universe.
_____________
Montreal Jazz Trio
Steve Amirault - Piano
Adrian Vedady - Bass
Jim Doxas - Drums
Montreal Jazz Trio’s self-titled recording is modern
jazz piano trio playing at its fnest. This exciting new
album was recorded in November of 2020 at the
storied recording studio Boutique de Son in Pointe
Claire, Quebec, and is being released by the
Montréal label ODD SOUND. The group features
three of Montreal’s fnest musicians: Steve Amirault
on piano, Adrian Vedady on acoustic bass, and Jim
Doxas on drums. This recording was self-produced
by the trio and mixed by Doxas.
_____________
Marcello Gonçalves - 7-string guitar
Anat Cohen - clarinet
"Reconvexo"
Anzic Records
Artists around the world responded to the forced isolation brought about by the 2020 pandemic in various ways. In Brazil, superstars such
as Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil (who, amazingly, will all be celebrating their 80th birthday in 2022) shared
performances from their homes, performing their hit songs for their fans. Performing in this new format, for people in need of healing and
comfort that music can provide, further strengthened the already deep impact these melodies and lyrics had on Brazilian culture.
Among those fans were Anat Cohen and Marcello Gonçalves, quarantined in Rio. As Marcello puts it: “I've been dreaming of Anat singing
those words through her clarinet, imagining how her unique way of interpreting melodies would powerfully convey the message of the lyrics
to anyone familiar with them, even when played instrumentally.” When listening to these quarantine-era performances, “each one of these
concerts reminded me of songs that I could play with Anat, so this project made even more sense to be done at this moment.”
Against the backdrop of a country and a world turning inward, distilling the importance of music in the lives of so many, the duo set out to
record an album inspired by the beauty of Brazil, and the spirit of its people. The result is at once intimate and virtuosic, mournful and
hopeful, soaked with the feeling expressed uniquely in the Portuguese language as saudade – bittersweet, at once deeply happy and sad,
and full of emotion.
_____________
Barrett Martin - Drums, Voice, Upright Bass, Piano,
Vibraphone,
Marimba, Steel Drum, African,
Brazilian, and Cuban Drums, Mbira, Kalimba,
Gamelans, Gongs
Dave Carter – Open & Muted Trumpet
Lisette Garcia – Shakers, Brazilian Surdo Drum, Gamelans
Stillpoint
is the moment between thoughts, when all mental chatter
ceases and the clarity
of absolute mind emerges from within.
Stillpoint
is also an album of original music and a book of short stories from
Latin
Grammy-winning producer, writer, and Zen practitioner, Barrett Martin.
Building
on his previous two books that also came with
musical soundtracks (The Singing Earth 2017, The Way Of The Zen
Cowboy 2019),
Stillpoint is a stand alone studio album, but it also serves
as the soundtrack
for Barrett’s 3rd book in the series titled, Stillpoint: Reflections From A Year On The
Cliff.
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