Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month ( May 2012 ) - Brenda Hopkins Miranda

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Brenda Hopkins Miranda is the consummate musician, having excelled as pianist, composer, arranger, improviser, band leader, writer and educator. She holds a Bachelors degree in Classical Piano from the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, a Masters degree in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory in Boston, and completed Doctoral Studies in Musicology from the Universidad de Granada in Spain. From 2003-2006 Hopkins Miranda was appointed Director of the Music Program of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. She has also been on the staff at the Inter American University Metropolitan Campus, where she taught improvisation, piano, harmony and other courses. She has been an active mentor in master classes, seminars and workshops at diverse institutions and taught privately. As an academic author her music related articles have been published in various newspapers and magazines.

Having grown up with the magical blend of rhythms and melodies which encompasses Puerto Rican music, she developed her innate talent and expanded her repertoire to include Caribbean, Latin American,with authentic Spanish and flamenco influences as well. She has been active as a first call pianist for a host of Latin American artists on international tours and recording dates, and is a recognized composer and artist on soundtracks for several short films. As a bandleader Hopkins Miranda has released three recordings of original music on her BHM label: “Boricua on Board,” (1998) “Bohemia,” (1999) and her latest effort which was a culmination of her years in Spain, the 2009 release of “Recuerdos de Granada/Memoirs of Granada.”

It was while in studying in Granada, Spain that Ms. Hopkins began to seek out the nightlife and music of the city. With her background and experience, it was inevitable that she would wind up sitting in on jam sessions like those at the famed Booga Club, leading to her forming her own Latin jazz ensemble called Zona Boricua, in honor of her Puerto Rican roots. This opened up more venues of engagement as in the ancient Albayzin part of the city, where she teamed up with Raiz and Duende a local flamenco dance show known locally as tablao, and her immersion into this classical Spanish art form was complete. Then the music took over.

Over the next two years she continued to hone her skills and absorb the flamenco culture while concentrating on composing and forming the ideas which would lead to “Recuerdos de Granada/Memoirs of Granada.”

Upon her return to Puerto Rico she set out to assemble the musicians for the recording project and in June of 2009 went into the studio to make this a realization of a purpose. This record would be not only her own reminisces of her time in Granada, but a way to show appreciation and gratitude to those she encountered, assisting, and encouraging her on her musical sojourn in the city.

In her own words “Recuerdos de Granada/Memoirs of Granada, is the story of those two years. To show how everything you live, you experience, you hear, influences you as a person and artist. It is about realizing that we are not as separated as it seems that there is more that brings us together than what seems to keep us apart. To once again let the south of Spain and Puerto Rico meet musically... my music is all about being honest and sharing who I am at the moment, and right now this was the latest experience that deeply touched me.”

by James Nadal for “All About Jazz”

Recordings:

Simple (Zona Boricua Records, 2012) Group leader, composer, arranger, pianist and producer

Puya P'a ti en vivo live in Puerto Rico DVD (Ahorake Corp., 2010) Guest artist for Puya on "Si aja"

Recuerdos de Granada/Memoirs from Granada (Zona Boricua Records, 2009) Group leader, composer, arranger, pianist and producer

En lo que Vol. 1 (En lo que música, 2009) Various artists, pianista y compositora

En lo que el hacha va y viene, Yeva (Ahorake/Rum&Humble 2007) Pianist, keyboardist

La Mecedora (2007) Short film written and directed by María Bird Picó sponsored by the Puerto Rico Film Commission and Procuradoría de la Mujer Pianist, composer

Nuestra versión; Rafael Hernández (ICP 2006) Producer

Seres , Seres de Plasticina (2003) Pianist

Yo Misma fui mi ruta (2002) Short film on the work of Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos written and directed by Karen A. Rossi Pianist, composer

Union, Puya (MCA 2001) Pianist

There the Eye Goes Not, Michael Bullock Quartet (Tautology 2001) Pianist

The Already and the Not Yet, James Falzone Septet (2000) Pianist

Bohemia (BHM Music 1999) Group leader, composer, arranger, pianist and producer

After the Storm, Lonnie Elfbaum Solo Piano Compositions (Elf Music 1999) Pianist

Boricua on Board (BHM Music 1998) Group leader, composer, arranger, pianist and producer

Concerts, international tours and/or recordings:

Bob Moses, George Russel, Oskar Cartaya, William Cepeda, Anthony Carrillo, Cachete Maldonado, Paoli Mejías, Endel Dueño, Juancito Torres, Polito Huertas, Oscar Stagnaro, Charlie Sepúlveda, Henry Cole, Peter Row, Israel Paz, Ricardo Pons, Aldemar Valentín, Efraín Martínez, Héctor Matos, Samuel Morales, Furito Ríos, Eggie Castrillo, Puya, Yeva, Luis Enrique Juliá, Ricardo Montaner, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Pandora, Lucecita Benítez, Glenn Monroig, Ednita Nazario, Yolandita Monge, Roy Brown, Choco Orta, Roberto Figueroa, Luis Ángel, Jessica Cristina, Marco Antonio Muñiz, Lourdes Robles, Zorayda Santiago, Chucho Avellanet, Proyecto M, Hilda Ramos, Tambó Tropical, Los Pleneros del Coco and many others.

The album “Memoirs from Granada” was chosen amongst the top albums of 2009 by Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular, the newspaper “El Nuevo Día”, and radio shows En Clave de Jazz”, “Saravá” and “Son del Caribe”.

Chosen artist of the week by the jazz sites: Jazz N’ Bossa and VID90 Jazz.

Pianist and composer for the flamenco show in Granada, Spain, “Raíz y Duende” for a year and a half, which was part of the Festival Patrimonio Flamenco 2008, organized by the Granada City Council.

Pianist, composer and leader of her own groups including the Brenda Hopkins Miranda Group, Zona Boricua, Rumba con Piano, Daydream, Island Project and others.

Performed as a group leader in music festivals in Puerto Rico, United States, Central and South America and Spain, including the XXVII Festival Internacional de Jazz de Granada and the I Festival Intercultural de Motril “Entreculturas”.

Chosen to be the opening act for Jerry González and Jorge Pardo at La Telonera in Spain and guest pianist for the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Ángel Barrios” Big Band. She performed in Spain with international artists Dan Ben Lior, Toto Fabris, Rachel Maduri and others.

Included in a documentary about foreigners living in Andalucía presented by Spanish TV channel Canal Sur.

The first woman to perform on the TV show “En Clave de Jazz TV” in a special edition dedicated to Puerto Rico’s jazz pianists.Also included on the “En Clave de Jazz” radio program’s list of the “most important Puerto Rican pianists”.

Participated on the first encounter of Puerto Rican women in jazz “E-Jazz”. Performed as a group leader at the Boriquén Jazz Fest, Mayagüez Internacional Jazz Fest, Noches de Jazz del Hotel Marriot, Noches de Jazz del Café de la Plaza en Santurce, Festival de Jazz Chivas Regal, and others.

Invited to perform for the Dalai Lama on his first visit to Puerto Rico in 2004.

Guest artist for the show Pasión, Romance y Embrujo joining Spanish cantaor Israel Paz and singer Ana del Rocío, the Festival de Arte y Música Experimental “Giratorio” and the “Entre celta, jazz y flamenco” show at the Fundación Nacional Para la Cultura Popular.

Keyboard player for four years for the number one TV show, “Marcano el Show, whereshe played with guest artists like Tito Puente, Sheila E., Néstor Torres, Dave Valentín, Charlie Sepúlveda, El Gran Combo, Franco de Vita and others.

Appointed Director of the Music Department of the national government agency Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, administrated the Banda Estatal de Puerto Rico, produced many recordings, concerts, wokshops, seminars and was a member of the Board of Editors of the music magazine, Resonancias.

Educator:

Offeres workshops, conferences, seminars and master classes on a variety of themes including: creativity, jazz, instrument performance, piano, improvisation, composition and arranging, the art of practicing, and music business at different institutions, universities and schools.

University music professor at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico and Universidad Interamericana Recinto Metropolitano.

Hired to design the Jazz Caribbean Music Program for the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico.

Also taught at the Agencia de Talleres Educativos, Boston Music Company, Intermezzo (director), Polifonía, Villa Piano and Academia de Artes El Señorial.

Education:

Universidad de Granada, Spain Doctoral studies in Musicology and Creativity (2007-09)

New England Conservatory Contemporary Improvisation Master Degree (2000)

Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico Classical Piano Performance Magna Cum Laude Bachelor Degree (1991)

Berklee College of Music Jazz Piano Performance studies Music Scholarship (1996)

Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Literature studies (1985)

Publications:

El Nuevo Día (11 de julio de 2010) Petróleo puertorriqueño

Claridad (23 al 29 de abril, 2009) La ruta de lo popular y el reggaetón

Revista de Cultura Lenguas de Fuego (noviembre 2007) www.lenguasdefuego.net/Hablando_Jazz Hablando Jazz

Entorno (febrero 2007) Hablando jazz

Pa’l Músico de Aquí (III 2006) La Música como profesión

Revista Domingo, El Nuevo Día (23 de julio de 2006) http://www.herencialatina.com/Nacimiento_y_Muerte_MP/nacimiento_vida_y_muerte_de_la_m.htm Nacimiento, vida y muerte de la música popular

Revista Domingo, El Nuevo Día (23 de abril de 2006 El Mestizaje no es una amenaza

Resonancias (Mayo, 2004) Revista musical del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña La Improvisación: el arte de tomar decisiones musicales

Resonancias (Marzo, 2003) Revista musical del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña La Mujer en el jazz: abriendo caminos

www.bhmmusic.com(Noviembre, 2002) La Improvisación

www.bhmmusic.com(Marzo, 2001) Sin Atajos, el arte de practicar

Claridad (Junio, 1998) Las Trampas de lo hallado

Now, Music (Abril, 1998) Musician Now

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (April 2012) - David Sanchez

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (April 2012) - David Sanchez DAVID SANCHEZ BIOGRAPHY

Ask a roomful of jazz fans about Grammy Award-winning saxophonist David Sánchez and the ensuing buzz will be filled with exultant praise for one of the finest saxophonists of his generation. Such comments are entirely valid, to a point. Born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Sánchez is unquestionably one of the finest, most progressive players on the contemporary scene, as more than a decade’s worth of bold, brilliant work has already proven. But, is Sánchez a master of Latin Jazz or an exemplary player who also happens to be of Latin heritage? The distinction may seem subtle, but is actually profound. As noted critic Bob Blumenthal observed, “[Sánchez] has been nurturing his own distinct variety in recent years, one that draws heavily on…Miles Davis and John Coltrane and weaves rhythms in fluid strands. In a review, world-renown jazz critic Howard Reich saluted the young bandleader saying, “Technically, tonally and creatively, he seems to have it all. His sound is never less than plush, his pitch is unerring, his rapid-fire playing is ravishing in its combination of speed, accuracy and utter evenness of tone.” What results is far closer to the more daring postbop tradition than to standard Latin music.” Pose the question to Sánchez himself, and he heartily responds, “ I think the music speaks for itself. If you really listen, you’ll discover that it would be incomplete to call it Latin Jazz. But I don’t get concerned about labels. It’s like art in a museum. You see a painting and it means something to you, but it means something completely different to someone else. I know my influences and I know my direction. I just keep doing what I’m doing.”

In 2004, the recording “Coral” earned David his first Latin Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Album and his fifth Grammy Award nomination. This recording features orchestrations and arrangements by Carlos Franzetti with the City of Prague Philharmonic. After that, Sánchez concluded a seven album relationship with Sony Music. Three years of intensive writing, performing and shopping around for a new musical home followed, with Sánchez ultimately opting to sign with Concord, where his latest, and arguably most artistically progressive album, Cultural Survival, was released on May 20, 2008. Of the new relationship he’s forging with Concord, Sánchez says he finds it “very refreshing. I mean, I was allowed to include a piece commissioned by Chamber Music America’s “New Works: Creation and Presentation Program.” The highly prestigious program is made possible through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation [the album closing “La Leyenda del Cañaveral]. The piece is set to a poem and extends to 20 minutes - that’s how supportive the label is. To me it’s all great news.”

Explaining Cultural Survival’s intriguing title, Sánchez says, “It’s generally about the human condition. How we keep pushing ourselves away from nature instead of being part of it. How other beings are suffering from our actions, including other humans that perhaps are more sensitive, and who are in direct contact with natural events.” I love listening to NPR and especially “All Things Considered.” But I’m often left wondering, ‘where is the world going?’ You realize you’re surrounded by a new generation that seems a little unconscious, living in their own space.”

Longtime Sánchez listeners will notice significant lineup changes on Cultural Survival, most notably the absence of piano on all but three of the eight tracks and the inclusion of guitar. It was, he explains, “an idea that came from different directions. First, I was listening to a lot of African music — from southeast Cameroon, [Baka Forest people], from Ethiopia [Ari people] and also music from Mali. The Ngombi [eight string instrument use by the Baka] and the Shungi [Ari for the Lyre] are very strong influences for this album and the reason why I added guitar, especially on the first tune [“Coast to Coast”], and the final one [“La Leyenda del Cañaveral”].

Also, I had the chance to work with Pat Metheny. He called me at the last minute to join his trio on tour as a special guest. Never before in my career had I worked with a guitarist on such a consistent basis. It was so fun. How you react to harmony is different, and you can go in so many directions. It’s more linear than horizontal, and it can really open things up. I had already written a lot of music with piano doubling but I wanted more of the guitar sound.”

As for his choice of guitarist, Sánchez says he was “impressed with Lage the first time I heard him. A lot of people focus more on a player’s ability and technical skills, but for me the most vital part of technique is the sound, and Lage’s sound is the first thing that attracted me. Ben [Street] knew I’d been talking about making a change to incorporate guitar, so he said ‘you’ve got to check this guy out.’ I called Lage, and he gave a great audition. Working with guitar is something I’ve only been doing for about a year, but it has enormous potential to grow in so many ways.

Of the albums’ two guest pianists, Robert Rodriquez, who appears on “La Leyenda del Cañaveral,” is, says Sánchez, “from a younger generation, and I was very impressed with him. His skill [and] musicianship are very strong. He did an unbelievable job. He came very prepared, and is a guy who is willing to commit everything to the music.” As for Pérez, Sánchez enthuses that “he is like my brother. We’ve known each other for such a long time, and having him on the album was a real treat. These days, he’s extremely busy playing with Wayne [Shorter] and teaching fulltime at the New England Conservatory. So, when he said he could do it, I was like, ‘Wow! Great!’ Words can’t describe his musicianship. These days, people are easily impressed with pyrotechnics, but you don’t see too many who are impressed with the ability to respond to any type of music. Danilo has that. It takes not only great ears, but also great intuition. To me, that is truly an amazing level of artistry, and it’s a blessing to have him on the recording.”

Musical Trajectory of David Sánchez Sánchez began playing percussion and drums at age 8 before migrating to tenor saxophone four years later. While a student at the prestigious La Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, he also took up soprano and alto saxophones as well as flute and clarinet. The bomba and plena rhythms of Puerto Rico, along with Cuban and Brazilian traditions, were among the biggest influences on Sánchez’s early taste in music. Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane had the greatest impact on his playing. “Charlie Parker is also a major influence, of course, and many, many others.”

In 1986 Sánchez enrolled at the Universidad de Puerto Rico in Rio Píedras, but the pull of New York was irresistible. By 1988 he had auditioned for and won a music scholarship at Rutgers University in New Jersey. With such close proximity to New York City, Sánchez quickly became a member of its swirling jazz scene. Some of his first New York musical experiences were with piano giant Eddie Palmieri, Hilton Ruiz and trumpeter Claudio Roditi who brought Sánchez to the attention of Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. In 1991, Gillespie invited the young saxophonist to join his “Live the Future” tour with Miriam Makeba. Sánchez has also performed and recorded with Kenny Barron, Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden, Lalo Schifrin, Tom Harrell and had the opportunity to perform with the legendary drummer Elvin Jones.

Whether with Gillespie, Palmieri, Haden and his other jazz mentors, or under his own name, Sánchez has continued to tour extensively, bringing his mix of mainstream jazz with Afro-Latin influences to delighted audiences throughout the globe.

David has also proven to be a compelling presence with student musicians and continues to be in demand for workshops and master classes throughout the world. Sánchez’s passion for teaching and sharing his art with up and coming musicians has led him to conduct clinics with students around the world. He works with high school students, and has led clinics and workshops with music students which often culminate in performances with student and faculty orchestras and big bands. In 2007 alone, he gave master classes in Brazil, at the Peabody Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University’s School of Music, University of Memphis, the University of Northern Iowa, Emory University, and Georgia State University. Sánchez has also completed year-long residencies, most recently at Georgia State University, at el Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, and with the prestigious Quad City Arts program.

Concurrent with what is sure to be a crowded tour schedule, Sánchez will continue his longstanding tradition of assisting with jazz education programs. Such work, he says, “gives me great satisfaction. At the same time, it’s a real challenge, and you end up learning so much yourself. You give, but you receive too. It gives me such tremendous joy. I see so much talent out there. I am very optimistic. But the music scene has become tougher than it was before and therefore there are not enough opportunities play. There’s no real chance for [young players] to develop their music. The only way to truly develop is by playing. The history of jazz bears that out. They have lots of technical ability and knowledge but wisdom is knowledge applied, and their knowledge isn’t getting applied as it could. I think it is not enough to study music, you need to experience it to be able to understand it’s power as a way of communication.”

DavidSanchezMusic.com

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (March 2012): Miguel Zenón

Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.

His latest recording, Alma Adentro (Marsalis Music, 2011), is a tribute to The Puerto Rican Songbook. On it he arranges and explores the music of five legendary Puerto Rican composers: Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach (whom he considers “the George Gershwins, Cole Porters and Jerome Kerns of Puerto Rican song”). The recording features his longtime working quartet of pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole, plus a ten piece woodwind ensemble orchestrated and conducted by close friend and collaborator Guillermo Klein. This groundbreaking project both honors the music of these masters while at the same time exposing their music to new audiences. Alma Adentro was chosen as the Best Jazz Recording of 2011 by iTunes and NPR, and was Nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón studied classical saxophone at the Escuela Libre de Música in Puerto Rico before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from Berklee College of Music, and a master’s degree in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. Zenón’s more formal studies, however, are supplemented and enhanced by his vast and diverse experience as a sideman and collaborator. Throughout his career he has divided his time equally between working with older jazz masters and working with the music’s younger innovators --irrespective of styles and genres. The list of musicians Zenón has toured and/or recorded with includes: Charlie Haden, David Sánchez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Guillermo Klein y los Guachos, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman. He has also participated in recent projects with Adam Cruz, Antonio Sánchez, Jason Linder, Miles Okazaki, Kenny Werner, David Gilmore and Aaron Goldberg.

He is a founding member of the groundbreaking SFJAZZ Collective, a group whose past and current members include Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, Nicholas Payton, Dave Douglas, and Eric Harland. In 2012, Zenón’s association with SFJAZZ will further expand to include his new role as resident artistic director along with Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Regina Carter and John Santos.

Zenón’s six recordings as a leader (including the above mentioned Alma Adentro) represent not only his growth as a musician, but also his ability to constantly evolve and reinvent himself as a conceptualist and producer.

His debut CD, Looking Forward (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002), represents a snapshot of the very eclectic musical interests of the then 24 year old musician, and was selected by the New York Times as the number one “alternative” jazz recording of 2002.

His second recording as a leader, Ceremonial (Marsalis Music, 2004), was described by All About Jazz as a “ head on crash of Latin, Jazz and Classical traditions--modern Jazz at it’s very best, ” and garnered unanimous critical praise and recognition both within and outside the jazz world.

Jíbaro (Marsalis Music, 2005), his third recording, was further proof that all the critical praise he had been receiving was well deserved. The recording is an exploration of a style of popular Puerto Rican folk music known as La Música Jíbara. The Chicago Tribune summed it up best when they wrote: “The instrumental prowess of Zenon's playing, the vigor of his compositions and the sensitivity of his band to Puerto Rican song forms point to new possibilities in jazz.” Like his previous recordings, Jíbaro was uniformly well received and appeared on many top ten lists including The New York Times, Latin Beat, El Nuevo Día, and the Chicago Tribune.

Decidedly more personal and introspective, Awake (Marsalis Music, 2008) incorporates a string quartet and additional horns to Zenón's core group and brings to the forefront his formidable skills as a writer and arranger. As was admirably put in Audiophile Audition: “ This is an album far beyond the usual sax & string outing, revealing a unique statement that communicates passion, intellect and spirit to the listener." Awake also caught the attention of the international press, garnering it 5 star reviews and top honors in publications like Jazzwise (UK), Jazz Man (France) and Jazz Magazine (France).

Zenón returned to his Puerto Rican roots for inspiration in his next outing, Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009), which draws from the traditional Plena music style of his home country and was supported by a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. On it Zenón augmented his quartet to include three percussionists/vocalists and took on the additional roles of both lyricist and vocalist. Jazz Times wrote that Esta Plena is “…music with integrity, energy, poise and a fresh vision of how the Afro-Caribbean jazz aesthetic can evolve without losing its deep roots." In addition to being hailed by critics (New York Times, Village Voice, El Nuevo Día , Downbeat, The Chicago Tribune ) as one of the best recordings of 2009, the recording earned Zenón two Grammy nominations (one for Best Improvised solo and one for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year) as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year.

As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Jazz Reach, Montclair University, and many of his peers.

He has been featured in articles on publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Boston Globe, Billboard, Newsday, Details, as well as gracing the cover of Downbeat Magazine and the Swiss jazz magazine, Jazz N More. He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions.

Zenon’s biography would not be complete without discussing his role as an educator. In 2003, he was chosen by the Kennedy Center to teach and perform in West Africa as part of their Jazz Ambassador program. Since then, he has given hundreds of lectures and master classes and has taught all over the world at institutions which include: The Banff Centre, Berklee College of Music, Siena Jazz, Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, Conservatoire de Paris, University of Manitoba, Manhattan School of Music, UMass-Amherst and the Brubeck Institute. He is also a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. But perhaps what best reflects his commitment to education and cements his growing reputation as a "cultural ambassador", is a program that he founded in 2011, called Caravana Cultural.

The main purpose of Caravana Cultural is to present free Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. The program makes a "cultural investment" in the Island by giving these communities a chance to listen to jazz of the highest caliber (Zenón invites some of the best musicians in the New York jazz scene to perform as guests), while at the same time getting young Puerto Rican musicians actively involved in the concert activities. Starting in February 2011 and continuing through 2013, Zenón will present a concert every four months. Each concert focuses on the music of a specific jazz legend (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, among others) and is preceded by a pre-concert presentation which touches on the basic elements of jazz and improvisation. Over the last six years Zenón has also personally organized "Jazz Jam Sessions" in the area of San Juan, as a way of creating a platform for younger jazz musicians to grow and interact with one another.

In 2008 he was selected as one of 25 distinguished individuals to receive the prestigious and coveted MacArthur Fellowship, more commonly known as the "Genius Grant”.

Zenón lives in New York City with his wife Elga.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (February 2012): Anat Cohen

Anat Cohen - Biography

An established bandleader and prolific composer, idiomatically conversant with modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and an expansive timeline of Afro-Cuban styles, Anat Cohen has established herself as one of the primary voices of her generation on both the tenor saxophone and clarinet since arriving in New York in 1999.

In September 2008, Anat Cohen released Notes From The Village, her fourth album as a leader. Recorded at Avatar studios in New York City, the album builds on Cohen's acclaimed 2007 releases, captures the thrilling energy of her live shows, and proves her to be an artistically adventurous writer and performer. Notes From The Village finds Anat leading a quartet of some of the most sought-after, engaging young performers in New York, including pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Omer Avital, and drummer Daniel Freedman, with accompaniment from guitarist Gilad Hekselman on three tracks. The album features compositions written by Cohen as well as her interpretations of songs by Fats Waller, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke and Ernesto Lecuona.

“In preparing for the recording,” says Anat “I really wanted to capture the free, risk-taking, open quality this band achieves when performing live. I also wanted to stretch my compositions, and arrangements.”

Early responses to the album have been overwhelmingly positive; The New York Times’ Nate Chinen wrote that “Notes From The Village is a resounding confirmation; yes, she is the real deal”, DownBeat Magazine awarded the release four stars, stating that “Cohen makes it seem easy, mixing a gift for melody and an improvisational fluidity that has few peers today.”

Anat’s previous outings, Noir and Poetica were released simultaneously in April 2007, inspiring a string of enthusiastic reviews. The Washington Post said that “Cohen has emerged as one of the brightest, most original young instrumentalists in jazz [...] [she] has expanded the vocabulary of jazz with a distinctive accent of her own.” The Village Voice spoke of her “Enviable insouciance” and how “she alludes to the mystical in a merry way,” and Downbeat Magazine expressed the opinion that “Noir could be a classic” and “[Cohen’s] stately intonation and unforced elegance on clarinet could take her to the top.” Noir and Poetica both appeared on many year-end best-of summary lists, including those of Paste Magazine, The New York Sun, Slate, JazzTimes and others.

Anat has performed for audiences in New York’s Village Vanguard, Jazz Standard, Iridium, The Jazz Gallery, and the JVC Jazz Festival. She has also appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s Yoshi's, Boston’s Regattabar, Umbria Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Anat’s July 2007 engagement at the Village Vanguard in New York was a historic one; Anat is the first female reed player, and the first Israeli to headline at the club.

Ms. Cohen’s accomplishments have been recognized in a flurry of awards and distinctions from critics and fans alike; In 2011 she was the winner of both DownBeat Magazine’s critics poll and Reader’s Poll in the Clarinet category, She topped the Rising Star-Clarinet category from 2007 through 2010, and in 2010 she won DownBeat Critic’s poll for both Rising Star Jazz Artist and Rising Star Jazz Soprano Saxophone. The Jazz Journalists Association named Anat Cohen Clarinetist of the Year from 2007 through 2011 – the first time in the history of the awards that an artist has earned top clarinet honors five years running.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Anat grew up with musical siblings; her older brother Yuval is himself a saxophonist of note, and her younger brother, Avishai, is one of New York’s busiest trumpeters. She began clarinet studies at age 12 and played jazz on clarinet for the first time in the Jaffa Conservatory’s Dixieland band. At 16, she joined the school’s big band and learned to play the tenor saxophone. The same year, Anat entered the prestigious “Thelma Yelin” High School for the Arts, where she majored in jazz. After graduation, she discharged her mandatory Israeli military service duty from 1993-95, playing tenor saxophone in the Israeli Air Force band.

In 1996, Anat matriculated at Berklee College of Music in Boston. There she met faculty member Phil Wilson, who encouraged her to play clarinet, and other inspiring teachers such as Greg Hopkins, Ed Tomassi, Hal Crook, George Garzone, and Bill Pierce, and an elite international peer group of students.

During her Berklee years, Anat visited New York during breaks between semesters, making a beeline for Smalls to soak up the hybrid of grooves, world music and mainstream jazz that people like Jason Lindner and Omer Avital were then evolving. Back in Boston, she played tenor saxophone in a variety of musical contexts with various bands including Afro-Cuban, Argentinean, klezmer, contemporary Brazilian music and classical Brazilian choro. Anat also began her association with Sherrie Maricle’s top-shelf all-woman big band Diva Jazz Orchestra, which continued into the new millennium.

Once ensconced in New York, Anat quickly found work in various Brazilian ensembles like the Choro Ensemble and Duduka Da Fonseca’s Samba Jazz Quintet, and started performing with David Ostwald’s “Gully Low Jazz Band,” which explores the music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and their Pan-American contemporaries.

Anat documented her bona fides on her debut CD, Place and Time, one of All About Jazz-New York’s “Best Debut Albums of 2005.” On the liner notes for Notes From the Village, Ira Gitler writes “She is formidable. Long may she continue to enrich the music in myriad ways.” There is every indication that her star will continue to rise for a long time to come.

Anat Cohen’s Clarinetwork Live at the Village Vanguard album, released April 2010, inspired by Benny Goodman and celebrating his centennial, is a musical tour-de-force. Cohen leads an all star rhythm section (Benny Green, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash ) on this exquisite live recording that returns the clarinet to its rightful role at the forefront of jazz. Winner of five consecutive Jazz Journalists Association “Clarinetist of the Year” awards and winner of DownBeat critic’s & Reader’s polls in the clarinet category (2011) Anat Continues to perfrom around the world in Various musical settings.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month: Hiromi (January 2012)

Hiromi Uehara first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. The buzz started by her first album spread all the way back to her native Japan, where Another Mind shipped gold (100,000 units) and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's (RIAJ) Jazz Album of the Year Award. The keyboardist/ composer's second release, Brain, won the Horizon Award at the 2004 Surround Music Awards, Swing Journal's New Star Award, Jazz Life's Gold Album, HMV Japan's Best Japanese Jazz Album, and the Japan Music Pen Club's Japanese Artist Award (the JMPC is a classical/jazz journalists club). Brain was also named Album of the Year in Swing Journal's 2005 Readers Poll. In 2006, Hiromi won Best Jazz Act at the Boston Music Awards and the Guinness Jazz Festival's Rising Star Award. She also claimed Jazzman of the Year, Pianist of the Year and Album of the Year in Swing Journal Japan's Readers Poll for her 2006 release, Spiral. Hiromi continues her winning streak with the 2007 release of Time Control and in 2008, Beyond Standard. Both releases feature Hiromi's super group, Sonic Bloom.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi took her first piano lessons at age six. She learned from her earliest teacher to tap into the intuitive as well as the technical aspects of music.

"Her energy was always so high, and she was so emotional," Hiromi says of her first piano teacher. "When she wanted me to play with a certain kind of dynamics, she wouldn't say it with technical terms. If the piece was something passionate, she would say, 'Play red.' Or if it was something mellow, she would say, 'Play blue.' I could really play from my heart that way, and not just from my ears."

Hiromi took that intuitive approach a step further when she enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music less then a year after her first piano lessons. By age 12, she was performing in public, sometimes with very high-profile orchestras. "When I was 14, I went to Czechoslovakia and played with the Czech Philharmonic," she says. "That was a great experience, to play with such a professional orchestra."

Further into her teens, her tastes expanded to include jazz as well as classical music. A chance meeting with Chick Corea when she was 17 led to a performance with the well-known jazz pianist the very next day.

"It was in Tokyo," Hiromi recalls. "He was doing something at Yamaha, and I was visiting Tokyo at the time to take some lessons. I talked to some teachers and said that I really wanted to see him. I sat down with him, and he said 'Play something.' So I played something, and then he said, 'Can you improvise?' I told him I could, and we did some two-piano improvisations. Then he asked me if I was free the next day. I told him I was, and he said, 'Well, I have a concert tomorrow. Why don't you come?' So I went there, and he called my name at the end of the concert, and we did some improvisations together."

After a couple years of writing advertising jingles for Nissan and a few other high-profile Japanese companies, Hiromi came to the United States in 1999 to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. For as open as her musical sensibilities had already been when she came to the U.S., the Berklee experience pushed her envelope even further.

"It expanded so much the way I see music," she says. "Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, 'This guy is the best,' 'No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else."

Among her mentors at Berklee was veteran jazz bassist Richard Evans, who teaches arranging and orchestration. Evans co-produced Another Mind, her Telarc debut, with longtime friend and collaborator Ahmad Jamal, who has also taken a personal interest in Hiromi's artistic development. "She is nothing short of amazing," says Jamal. "Her music, together with her overwhelming charm and spirit, causes her to soar to unimaginable musical heights."

At 26, Hiromi stands at the threshold of limitless possibility, constantly drawing inspiration from virtually everyone and everything around her. Her list of influences, like her music itself, is boundless. "I love Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt, I love Ahmad Jamal," she says. "I also love people like Sly and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre and King Crimson. Also, I'm so much inspired by sports players like Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. Basically, I'm inspired by anyone who has big, big energy. They really come straight to my heart."

But she won't, as a matter of principle, put labels on her music. She'll continue to follow whatever moves her, and leave the definitions to others.

"I don't want to put a name on my music," she says. "Other people can put a name on what I do. It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."



Telarc Discography:
Another Mind (2003) CD-83558
Brain (2004) CD-83600
Spiral (2005) CD-83631
Time Control (2007) CD-83655
Beyond Standard (2008) CD-83686

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (December 2011) - Eddie Gomez

http://eddiegomez.com/

Legendary bassist EDDIE GOMEZ has been on the cutting edge of music for over four decades. The Latin GRAMMY® award-winner’s impressive resumé includes performances with jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman. Eddie’s unique sound and style can be heard on hundreds of recordings spanning the worlds of jazz, classical, Latin jazz, rhythm & blues, popular and contemporary music.

Born in 1944 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Eddie moved to New York City with his family at an early age. His love of music led him to the double bass as a precocious 11-year old student in the public school system. Two years later he was accepted to the High School of Music and Art and soon began private studies with the great double bass teacher Fred Zimmerman. During these years, he performed with many professional dance bands and was a member of the Newport Youth Band led by Marshall Brown. By 18, he had performed with such jazz luminaries as Buck Clayton, Marian McPartland and Paul Bley.

Eddie continued his studies at the Juilliard School of Music, where his contemporaries included Chick Corea, Hubert Laws, James Levine, Itzak Perlman, Paula Robinson and Gary Karr. By the end of his third year of school, he dreamed of a career as a performing jazz musician. Later that summer he joined with Gary McFarland and soon after the Gerry Mulligan Quintet.

In the spring of 1966, both Mulligan’s group (with Eddie on bass) and the Bill Evans Trio performed for a week at the famed Village Vanguard. That week at the Vanguard changed Eddie’s life forever. When Bill Evans heard the young phenom, he practically hired him on the spot. Bill called a few weeks later and Eddie’s dream had been realized. At age 21, he was the bassist with the Bill Evans Trio – and rose quickly to fame. TIME magazine declared in its review of the trio’s first recording, “Eddie Gomez has the world on his strings.”

Joining the Bill Evans Trio was indeed a turning point in Eddie’s career. He had arrived in a big way and the jazz community took notice. For 11 years, Eddie played an integral role in the Bill Evans Trio’s sound and evolution. This period
of vast artistic growth with Bill Evans included performances throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, as well as dozens of recordings – two of which won GRAMMY® awards. During this time, Eddie also realized another dream performing on many occasions with the great Miles Davis, in the Davis quintet that also featured Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams.

In 1977, Eddie left the Evans Trio to explore new musical territory. For the
next decade, he performed in many diverse musical contexts, working with
Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, McCoy Tyner, Hank Jones, Nancy Wilson, Tania Maria, Ray Barreto, the All Star groups “Steps Ahead”
and “New Directions” and many others, as well as on GRAMMY®-winning recordings with Chick Corea.

EDDIE GOMEZ, Steve Gadd, and Richard Stoltzman are Special Guest Artists with Mika Yoshida (2008)

In the classical music world, Eddie has been a guest artist with The Kronos Quartet, Tashi Ensemble, Japanese marimbist Mika Yoshida and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. His recordings with Stoltzman have included “Begin Sweet World” and most recently “The Goldberg Variations” and other pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach. At Carnegie Recital Hall, Eddie premiered a musical piece written specifically for him by William Thomas McKinley.

In popular music, Eddie has performed and recorded with artists such as Bobby Darin, Tim Hardin, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Mark Knoffler, Michael Franks, Judy Collins and Jennifer Holliday. He has also been a member of “The Gadd Gang,” Steve Gadd’s
All Star R&B/jazz band.

Today, Eddie tours and records with his own group, which he formed in 1992 with pianist Stefan Karlson and legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb. The group’s recordings include “Live in Japan,” “Dedication” and “Uptown Music.” He is composing for
his own projects as well as for film and television most notably for the prize-winning William Steig animation, “The Amazing Bone.” Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and featured guest artist on many high profile projects.

Eddie's recent recording “Duets,” co-led with Carlos Franzetti on piano, won Best Instrumental Album at the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards. His recordings as a leader include “Next Future,” “Outlaws,” “Live in Moscow,” “Street Smart,” “Power Play,” “Mezgo,” “Discovery,” “Gomez,” “Down Stretch,” “What’s New at F, “Palermo” and “Trio.” The recordings feature guest artists including Michael Brecker,Richard Tee, Randy Brecker, Al Foster, Steve Gadd, Chick Corea, Jeremy Steig, Jack McDuff and John Abercrombie. His recordings co-led with pianist Mark Kramer include “Entropy,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Art of the Heart.” In 2006, his DVD “An Evening with Eddie Gomez” was released – with Eddie and Mark Kramer performing and lecturing on the intricacies and dynamics of improvisation.

A sought-after educator, Eddie is Artistic Director at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he has been professor and artist-in-residence since 2005. He has been artist-in-residence and associate professor of jazz double bass at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and recently was resident artist at Stanford University, North Texas State University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University,
and the prestigious Berklee College of Music. He gives master classes at many of the major universities and conservatories throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and South America.

Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and featured guest artist on many high profile projects.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (November) - Miguel Zenon

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (November) - Miguel Zenon

"This young musician and composer is at once reestablishing the artistic, cultural, and social tradition of jazz while creating an entirely new jazz language for the 21st century.”

-- MacArthur Foundation,2008.



Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.



His latest recording, Alma Adentro (Marsalis Music, 2011), is a tribute to The Puerto Rican Songbook. On it he arranges and explores the music of five legendary Puerto Rican composers: Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach (whom he considers “the George Gershwins, Cole Porters and Jerome Kerns of Puerto Rican song”). The recording features his longtime working quartet of pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole, plus a ten piece woodwind ensemble orchestrated and conducted by close friend and collaborator Guillermo Klein. This groundbreaking project both honors the music of these masters while at the same time exposing their music to new audiences.



Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón studied classical saxophone at the Escuela Libre de Música in Puerto Rico before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from Berklee College of Music, and a master’s degree in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. Zenón’s more formal studies, however, are supplemented and enhanced by his vast and diverse experience as a sideman and collaborator. Throughout his career he has divided his time equally between working with older jazz masters and working with the music’s younger innovators --irrespective of styles and genres. The list of musicians Zenón has toured and/or recorded with includes: Charlie Haden, David Sánchez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Guillermo Klein y los Guachos, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman. He has also participated in recent projects with Adam Cruz, Antonio Sánchez, Jason Linder, Miles Okazaki, Kenny Werner, David Gilmore and Aaron Goldberg.



He is a founding member of the groundbreaking SFJAZZ Collective, a group whose past and current members include Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, Nicholas Payton, Dave Douglas, and Eric Harland. In 2012, Zenón’s association with SFJAZZ will further expand to include his new role as resident artistic director along with Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Regina Carter and John Santos.

Zenón’s six recordings as a leader (including the above mentioned Alma Adentro) represent not only his growth as a musician, but also his ability to constantly evolve and reinvent himself as a conceptualist and producer.



His debut CD, Looking Forward (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002), represents a snapshot of the very eclectic musical interests of the then 24 year old musician, and was selected by the New York Times as the number one “alternative” jazz recording of 2002.


His second recording as a leader, Ceremonial (Marsalis Music, 2004), was described by All About Jazz as a “ head on crash of Latin, Jazz and Classical traditions--modern Jazz at it’s very best, ” and garnered unanimous critical praise and recognition both within and outside the jazz world.



Jíbaro (Marsalis Music, 2005), his third recording, was further proof that all the critical praise he had been receiving was well deserved. The recording is an exploration of a style of popular Puerto Rican folk music known as La Música Jíbara. The Chicago Tribune summed it up best when they wrote: “The instrumental prowess of Zenon's playing, the vigor of his compositions and the sensitivity of his band to Puerto Rican song forms point to new possibilities in jazz.” Like his previous recordings, Jíbaro was uniformly well received and appeared on many top ten lists including The New York Times, Latin Beat, El Nuevo Día, and the Chicago Tribune.



Decidedly more personal and introspective, Awake (Marsalis Music, 2008) incorporates a string quartet and additional horns to Zenón's core group and brings to the forefront his formidable skills as a writer and arranger. As was admirably put in Audiophile Audition: “ This is an album far beyond the usual sax & string outing, revealing a unique statement that communicates passion, intellect and spirit to the listener." Awake also caught the attention of the international press, garnering it 5 star reviews and top honors in publications like Jazzwise (UK), Jazz Man (France) and Jazz Magazine (France).



Zenón returned to his Puerto Rican roots for inspiration in his next outing, Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009), which draws from the traditional Plena music style of his home country and was supported by a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. On it Zenón augmented his quartet to include three percussionists/vocalists and took on the additional roles of both lyricist and vocalist. Jazz Times wrote that Esta Plena is “…music with integrity, energy, poise and a fresh vision of how the Afro-Caribbean jazz aesthetic can evolve without losing its deep roots." In addition to being hailed by critics (New York Times, Village Voice, El Nuevo Día , Downbeat, The Chicago Tribune ) as one of the best recordings of 2009, the recording earned Zenón two Grammy nominations (one for Best Improvised solo and one for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year) as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year.



As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Jazz Reach, Montclair University, and many of his peers.







He has been featured in articles on publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Boston Globe, Billboard, Newsday, Details, as well as gracing the cover of Downbeat Magazine and the Swiss jazz magazine, Jazz N More. He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions.



Zenon’s biography would not be complete without discussing his role as an educator. In 2003, he was chosen by the Kennedy Center to teach and perform in West Africa as part of their Jazz Ambassador program. Since then, he has given hundreds of lectures and master classes and has taught all over the world at institutions which include: The Banff Centre, Berklee College of Music, Siena Jazz, Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, Conservatoire de Paris, University of Manitoba, Manhattan School of Music, UMass-Amherst and the Brubeck Institute. He is also a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. But perhaps what best reflects his commitment to education and cements his growing reputation as a "cultural ambassador", is a program that he founded in 2011, called Caravana Cultural.



The main purpose of Caravana Cultural is to present free Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. The program makes a "cultural investment" in the Island by giving these communities a chance to listen to jazz of the highest caliber (Zenón invites some of the best musicians in the New York jazz scene to perform as guests), while at the same time getting young Puerto Rican musicians actively involved in the concert activities. Starting in February 2011 and continuing through 2013, Zenón will present a concert every four months. Each concert focuses on the music of a specific jazz legend (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, among others) and is preceded by a pre-concert presentation which touches on the basic elements of jazz and improvisation. Over the last six years Zenón has also personally organized "Jazz Jam Sessions" in the area of San Juan, as a way of creating a platform for younger jazz musicians to grow and interact with one another.

In 2008 he was selected as one of 25 distinguished individuals to receive the prestigious and coveted MacArthur Fellowship, more commonly known as the "Genius Grant”.

Zenón lives in New York City with his wife Elga.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 31 - august 6) - Carolina Ferrer

BIO/DISCOGRAPHIE - CARO FERRER – 1er et 2è album
Em seu novo disco, "Samba pelo avesso", Caro Ferrer homenageia o samba,
desdobrando-o em todas as suas variações. São onze novas canções – todas autorais – que navegam do samba-blues ao samba funk, passando pelo côco e o samba de roda ou
cruzando o afoxé com o cha cha cha. Assinando a direção musical com ela, Jorginho Amorim, parceiro de estrada.

O disco é um segundo mergulho nessa praia por onde Caro passeia, escapando das
facilidades da bossa-nova sussurrada e do samba cliquante. O primeiro foi em 2009, com "Jasmim no ar", que despertou a atenção dos grandes nomes da comunidade musical
franco-brasileira para seu timbre, a um so tempo suave e grave, e o balanço do seu fraseado.

As letras abrem o pano para o um universo muito feminino – jasmim, mar, maternidade,
temperos, perfumes de gavetas, bordados, velas, véus, missangas e espelhos. Um "neosurrealismo" de rimas fortes, dito com convicção. A poesia de Caro começa então a letrar melodias de Marcio Faraco, Jorginho Amorim, Adriano Tenorio, Aline de Lima e outros.

Em "Samba pelo avesso" ela nos apresenta sua visão musical sem fronteiras numa seleta
escolha de estilos, certeira na mistura, na dosagem e na unidade. Suas letras, também sem fronteiras, espelham aversão à categorização e ao rotulo e o resultado é um groove percussivo, inventivo e invertido, cheio de surpresas. E sem maionese.
Caro embarca o publico com sua presença intensa e sua voz "blues" e vem levantando as
salas por onde passa - Comedy Club, Blue Note, L'Entrepot, etc. Mas ha quem prefira ouvi-la de olhos fechados, como o parceiro Marcio Faraco..

Manager : Barbara Waechter
tél. : +33 (0)6 62 43 94 83
@ : barbara.w.waechter@gmail.com

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 17 - 23) - Chucho Valdes

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 17 - 23) - Chucho Valdes

Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger Chucho Valdes is a highly accomplished and influential figure in the world of Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz. Born in Quivican in 1941, Valdes is the son of the similarly influential Cuban bandleader Bebo Valdes from whom Chucho first received piano lessons. Having exhibited musical talent from a young age, Valdes eventually enrolled in the Municipal Music Conservatory of Havana, graduating at age 14. Inspired by such jazz pianists as Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk, Valdes quickly formed his first jazz trio and began a fruitful period that found him landing several high-profile performance jobs in hotels around Havana including performing with the Sabor De Cuba Orchestra which was directed by his father. These performances continued throughout the '60s and allowed Valdes not only to perform with the best musicians in Cuba, but begin to formulate his own unique ideas about mixing jazz, classical and Cuban styles of music. In 1970, Valdes and his combo became the first Cuban jazz group to perform abroad after appearing at the Jazz Jamboree International Jazz Festival in Poland.

In 1973, formed the innovative and highly influential Latin jazz ensemble Irakere. The group featured various members of the Orquesta Nacional de Musica Moderna including such stars of the Cuban music scene as trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and alto saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera. With its unique mix of jazz, rock, funk, classical and traditional Cuban rhythms, Irakere was an explosive and creative ensemble that quickly caught the attention of international audiences. Although there have been many compilations of Irakere, it was the band's Grammy winning 1979 self-titled concert album, recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival a year before, that really sparked international interest in the group. Although the band's line-up has changed over the years -- D'Rivera defected to the United States in 1980 and Sandoval (who did not defect until 1990) formed his own group in 1981 -- Irakere continues to perform and record with Valdes and new members.

Although Valdes never left Cuba, the four-time Grammy winning and three-time Latin Grammy winning virtuoso has kept a high-profile touring schedule and in 2006 was named the Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Since the '80s, Valdes has released a steady flow of albums including 1986's Lucumi (Messidor), 1998's Bele Bele en la Habana (Blue Note), 2000's Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note), 2002's Fantasia Cubana: Variations on Classical Themes (Blue Note) and 2010's Chucho's Steps.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 10 - 16) - Aline de Lima

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 10 - 16) - Aline de Lima



http://www.alinedelima-music.com/
ALINE DE LIMA

Marítima é o terceiro álbum de Aline de Lima. Arrebol (2006) e Açaí (2008) foram produzidos respectivamente por Vinícius Cantuária (radicado nos Estados Unidos) e pelo japonês Jun Miyake (residente em Paris). Estas colaborações enriquecedoras ensinaram à cantora-compositora os fundamentos da produção musical. Em Marítima, Aline de Lima decidiu navegar sozinha. Porque ela tem uma forma benéfica e positiva de teimosia. Por trás de uma graciosidade delicada, existe um temperamento que não se rende, nem à métodos, nem à formatação.

As onze faixas de Marítima nasceram da obstinação de criar um "som". Aline de Lima juntou o evidente legado da música popular brasileira às excentricidades musicais extraídas do folclore multicor do Maranhão, território indígena, africano e europeu. Um todo combinado às influências transnacionais do modernismo digital.

Aline de Lima tem os pés fincados na cidade onde cresceu, em São Luís do Maranhão. Mas sua cabeça sempre esteve em outros lugares: na Suécia, onde ela foi morar no final da adolescência, e depois Paris, onde ela vive há dez anos.

Marítima, composição da cantora que deu título ao CD, toda produzida com violões, viola caipira, marimba, percussões de bumba-meu-boi e tambor de Mina, navega em direção ao Atlântico equatorial, à 2,3 graus de latitude sul. As águas do rio Amazonas acariciam soberbamente as margens do Estado do Maranhão. Ali pode-se praticar a cabotagem, à partir de São Luís, Alcântara, Cururupu, Belém, Macapá, com passagem direta sob a linha do Equador, exatamente sob o sol. Porém, Marítima vê além da linha do horizonte, uma visão que percorre um azul infinito e de repente repousa sobre os picos vulcânicos do Cabo Verde, por exemplo.

Um Mar de Mar, a faixa que encerra o álbum foi composta pelo cabo-verdiano Mário Lúcio, grande navegador da esfera musical lusitana, africana, caribenha e atual Ministro da Cultura do arquipélago de Sahel. O que canta Aline de Lima com delicadeza é um entrelaçamento de trocadilhos da raiz "mar" (maria juana, marimba, maracujá, Maracatu, Marrakech, maripousa, Maranhão...). Com Mário Lúcio, cantor, escritor, pintor, ex-advogado formado em Cuba, Aline compôs Lua de Janeiro.
Do Caribe, a jovem artista toma emprestado a leveza de um reggae-blues que ela chama de Upaon Açu. "Upaon-Açu" é o nome antigo de São Luís do Maranhão dado pelos índios Tupinambás, e quer dizer “Ilha Grande”, referindo-se à ilha em que a cidade foi construída em 1612.
Em 2010, Aline de Lima passou alguns meses no Brasil, esteve gravando no Rio de Janeiro e em São Luís. Nesta viagem, ela conheceu músicos e cantores, alguns como Flávia Bittencourt, com quem ela descobriu afinidades e compôs Flor de Brasília.
Mas onde há fumaça, há fogo: ao viver em Paris, Aline de Lima volta no tempo através da História. São Luís foi fundada por um francês, Daniel de la Touche, senhor da Rivardière, que se aliou aos índios para resistir aos portugueses. Marítima é um álbum que constrói pontes. Upaon-Açu, escrito em Português, também oferece uma estrofe em língua francesa. No álbum, Paris é homenageada em Português, ao ritmo de um samba o qual começa com bordões que lembram o Fado: Paris-Velho Novo Mundo é um retrato íntimo da cidade onde também rola um futebol. O esporte preferido do ídolo Chico Buarque, um aficionado da capital francesa (“Em Charletty, marca um gol Chico Buarque...”) e onde um calor comparado ao do sertão nordestino predomina durante alguns dias de verão de uma cidade "deslumbrante” - incrível e maravilhosa.
O acordeon chegou ao Brasil pelos portugueses, e continua animando o tradicional São João e as demais festas nordestinas. É rústico e florece como um mandacaru no xote Fina Flor, composto por Aline de Lima, que o interpreta com uma belíssima melancolia fadista. É também o instrumento que acompanhou as maravilhas de Edith Piaf. Em Arrebol, Aline de Lima interpretou Septembre (“setembro”) de Barbara, uma bela canção do patrimônio musical francês, aplaudida pela imprensa e pelo público. Em Marítima, ela interpreta uma música criada em 1960 para a cantora Edith Piaf, Cri du Coeur (grito do coração), com melodia de Henri Crolla e letra de Jacques Prévert ("Não é somente minha voz que canta/ É uma outra voz, uma multidão de vozes / Vozes de hoje ou do passado / Vozes engraçadas, ensolaradas / Desesperadas, maravilhadas, vozes desoladas e quebradas / Vozes sorridentes que se extasiam/ Loucas de amor e de alegria..."). Uma jóia rara.
Um outro amante de Paris, Márcio Faraco, foi cúmplice da artista na composição Madrugada, a qual se encontra igualmente em O Tempo, CD lançado pelo cantor-compositor e violonista em março de 2011. Uma explosão de sensibilidade na noite que se esvai, com o tom muito “buarquiano” de uma cândida simplicidade: Robertinho Chinês ao bandolim e voz e violão de Aline. E como nós continuamos a ouvir as primeiras composições de Aline de Lima aleatoriamente em uma ou outra rádio FM, sabemos que as melodias e voz delicada que ela carrega em si seguem firmemente a sua estrada.
Véronique Mortaigne