Monthly Archives: October 2017

KUDOS: Wynton Marsalis elected into DownBeat Hall of Fame + Reader Poll Winners Announced

DOWNBEAT – DownBeat is proud to announce the results of its 82nd Annual Readers Poll. Wynton Marsalis topped the Trumpet category, and readers elected him into the DownBeat Hall of Fame.

“The results of this year’s Readers Poll are an indication of the incredible variety and depth of talent on the jazz scene today,” said DownBeat Editor Bobby Reed. “Wynton Marsalis’ induction into the DownBeat Hall of Fame is a reminder that he is not only a remarkable composer and bandleader, but also one of the most skillful musicians to ever pick up a trumpet. With his induction into the Hall of Fame, he joins timeless luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday.”

Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will embark on a Big Band Holidays tour, which begins on Nov. 30 in Richmond, Virginia, and later makes stops in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. The band will enjoy a residency at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater on Dec. 13–17. For more info, visit Marsalis’ website.

Several other TKA artists were Readers Poll winners as well, including:

Jazz Artist: Chick Corea

Organ: Joey DeFrancesco

Guitar: Pat Metheny 

Vibraphone: Gary Burton 

Miscellaneous Instrument: Béla Fleck (banjo)

Read the full article on DownBeat

Wynton Marsalis on TKA

Joey DeFrancesco on TKA

Pat Metheny on TKA

Gary Burton on TKA

Béla Fleck on TKA

NEW ALBUM: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, ‘Echo In The Valley’

It’s release day for Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn‘s album, Echo in the Valley! See what everyone is saying so far:

“Two of the world’s most accomplished and innovative banjo players happen to be a married couple: Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn. They both push far beyond the bluegrass expectations of their chosen instrument: toward Africa, Asia, jazz and math-rock. Echo in the Valley, their second duet album, is both constrained — only what the duo can play and sing live in real time — and audacious as it traverses a world of possibilities.” – Jon Pareles, The New York Times

“As musicians and as songwriters, Fleck and Washburn are predisposed to embrace the entire world — its sounds and its occupants alike. Echo in the Valley ties the many threads of their interests into a work that dazzles without sacrificing a shred of approachability.” – Stephen Thompson, NPR Music

“They are powerful individually and even more powerful together.” – Tavis Smiley

“If I could talk to a younger me, I’d tell me to go slow,” she sings, as the banjo plucks furiously in an instrumental duet. “This time on earth, it moves so fast, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.” These aren’t complicated lyrics cased in metaphor, but a rather simple reminder to take a moment — as Ferris would say — to stop and look around once in a while. And it never hurts, especially if you’re Washburn and Fleck, to do this in a way that makes that time on earth sound just a little bit more beautiful. “ – Marissa Moss, The Bluegrass Situation

“[Béla and Abigail are] showcasing just how much fun can be had on the edge.” – Amanda Wicks, The Bluegrass Situation

“The haunting duet [“Don’t Let It Bring You Down”] finds Fleck and Washburn weaving spun-silver banjo lines into an ominous tapestry that mirrors the political discord in the months following Donald Trump’s election. Washburn’s repetition of the title line adds to the track’s eerie vibe, while reinforcing a message of hope and resilience.” – Brittney McKenna, Rolling Stone

Purchase Echo in the Valley here

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn on TKA

LIVE REVIEW: Harold López-Nussa Trio at Jazz at the Bistro in St. Louis

Craig Kaminer for SOPHISTICATED LIVING – Before last night, I don’t think I could name one contemporary Cuban jazz band. I love the music, the soul, the rhythm, the people, but for whatever reason, I don’t have one recording in my collection and as a result, I am always at a loss when I am asked about Cuban jazz.

I had never heard of Harold López-Nussa before I saw him at Jazz St. Louis. In fact, I didn’t even Google him before the performance like I usually do before seeing a new artist. So I went without any expectations. I went to the show as if I were new to jazz, with no prejudices, no sense of what I was going to hear, and no preview via YouTube.

With little introduction from the stage, the Harold Lopez-Nussa Trio jumped right in, just like you would expect as if you turned the corner in Old Havana and found them playing on the street or in a small cafe.  They weren’t old like you would expect from Cuban posters or picture books, but quite young, modern and sophisticated.  After apologizing for his “Spanglish,” Harold introduced his band which included his younger brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa on drums and friend Gaston Joya Perellada on bass.

Their songs moved from slow and romantic to fast and energizing, but all made me want to move, and even dance, much to my wife’s surprise.  Harold is a virtuoso on piano and you can tell he is as comfortable playing classical music as he is jamming in a cigar filled club.  His brother is fast and precise on drums, and his short, loud bursts on cymbals followed by soft riffs on bongos stole the show at times.  The brotherly love was palpable as they shot each other smiles and even played the piano side-by-side as they did as boys growing up.  Their “brother-by-another-mother” Gaston was not to be outdone, and he played a mean double bass while he danced with it like a high school sweetheart.

Read the full review on Sophisticated Living

Harold López-Nussa on TKA

FIRST LISTEN: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, ‘Echo In The Valley’

Stephen Thompson for NPR – Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn are two of the least complacent musicians around. With skill that can border on otherworldly, both push boundaries, stretching their sound beyond bluegrass, across continents and into everything from prog-rock to Eastern instrumentation. They’re also a married couple, which only enhances the seamlessness of their interplay: Echo in the Valley, their new album together, often sounds like the work of considerably more than two people.

According to the pair’s self-imposed rules for the project, it actually can’t be. Those rules include a banjos-only policy for instrumentation, with no guest players and nothing on record that the two can’t duplicate in a live setting. Echo in the Valley is Fleck and Washburn’s second album as a duo — the first, a self-titled set from 2014, won a Grammy — and it quickly jells into a comforting but inventive swirl of traditional tunes and sweeping originals.

Read the full review and stream the album on NPR

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn on TKA

KUDOS: The Dustbowl Revival named Featured Hotstar by Pollstar

Tina Amendola for POLLSTAR – The story of The Dustbowl Revival’s formation begins with Zach Lupetin relocating from the Midwest to Los Angeles in 2007. He wanted to start a band that played brass and string band styles, so what does he do? He posted an ad on Craigslist.

The Dustbowl Revival composed of Lupetin on guitar and vocals, Liz Beebe on vocals and ukulele, Joshlyn Heffernan on drums, James Klopfleisch on double bass, Ulf Björlin on trombone, Matt Rubin on trumpet, Daniel Mark on mandolin and Connor Vance on fiddle has since been making a name for itself playing its own mix of Americana, soul, funk, roots-rock and jazz.

Jeff DeLia of 72 Music Management said a client brought he and The Dustbowl Revival together.

“It’s kind of interesting how we connected. I also manage A.J. Croce and A.J. and Dustbowl were playing a festival called Tønder Festival in Denmark a little over a year ago. The drummer for Dustbowl became friends with the guitarist for A.J.’s band and they hung out a lot.” DeLia told Pollstar. “Dustbowl was looking for management and asked Michael [Bizar] if he knew anyone and Michael suggested me. I looked them up and I thought they looked incredible.”

Read the full article on Pollstar

The Dustbowl Revival on TKA

VIDEO: Watch The Soul Rebels Cover A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It”

Matthew Oshinsky for PASTE Magazine – It’s possible that no band in the world has a more impressive resume than The Soul Rebels. The eight-piece brass ensemble out of New Orleans plays upward of 250 shows a year in every conceivable setting from jazz to hip-hop to funk and rock, and their list of collaborators is too voluminous to do it any justice here—but we can try: Nas, Metallica, Rakim, Arcade Fire, Maceo Parker, Marilyn Manson, Slick Rick, Green Day, Talib Kweli, The Roots…

Back in March, they played a three-night stint at Brooklyn Bowl, with each night devoted to different New York hip-hop legends—Rakim, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, et al. All this to say: The Rebels know their way around a cover song. So when they visited Paste Studio for a three-song set this week, we were giddy with anticipation. Sure enough, the octet—that’s six horns, two drums—broke out a jazzed-up Tribe Called Quest signature, “Can I Kick It,” from Tribe’s 1990 debut, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

Watch the video on Paste Magazine

The Soul Rebels on TKA