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September 20, 2008 Back from my travels and busy with a new semester of teaching at NYU among many projects. Haven't had a chance to write up the rest of my Colombia story yet, but meanwhile there's a couple of things I'd like you to know about... BRIAN LYNCH and FONT presents: MADERA LATINO: THE AFRO-CARIBBEAN SIDE OF WOODY SHAW + SETTING STANDARDS @THE JAZZ STANDARD
Friday, September 26th Shows at 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30 PM A presentation of FONT (the Festival Of New Trumpet Music) – Dave Douglas, artistic director Brian Lynch – trumpet, arrangements www.brianlynchjazz.com Coincidentally, the piece I recently prepared for www.jazz.com profiling twelve of my favorite Woody Shaw recordings is up on their site. I think it might be interesting for you to check out, whether you already know the work of this seminal jazz artist or are new to his genius. Read it here. September 13, 2008 TRAVELS: SINGAPORE/COLOMBIA A lot of air miles have been logged in the last ten days by yours truly. First on the agenda was 24 hours in transit to Singapore from JFK to take part in the first Harry’s Jazz Festival as featured artist. Harry’s is a chain of restaurants and pubs in Singapore, some of which feature jazz on a regular basis. Harry’s Bar @ Boat Quay has had the same group playing six nights a week for 16 years! This group, fronted by a remarkable bassist from Los Angeles, Christy Smith, was the rhythm section for a powerful front line of NY players: myself, Keith Loftis (tenor sax) and Vincent Gardner (trombone). The proceedings tipped the hat to Buhaina (Art Blakey) by concentrating on Jazz Messengers repertoire, from classic Wayne Shorter up to some of the tunes I brought in to the last edition of the Messengers. House drummer Eddie Layman, whom I played gigs and sessions with in my early days in NY, did a fine job of stoking the rhythmic fires ala Art B. – and my fellow front liners were fantastic! I had played with Vincent before but really got a chance to hear him on this gig. He’s a hard swinging and amazingly literate (in the sense of knowing the tradition and repertoire of this music) player who totally knocked me out! Keith Loftis is a new musical acquaintance, but I know I’ll be seeing more of him – I love his style and sound on the instrument, capable of a great range of nuance accompanied by harmonic savvy & sophistication. These cats had me on my best behavior! A great time was had by all. Singapore has got a vital music scene and I met a lot of fine musicians there over that weekend – even a great all woman Cuban band in a club killing it! I’d like to give a special mention to a wonderful pianist and composer, Michael Stanton, who played a set with us one night. I really enjoyed playing with him and performing one of his tunes dedicated to the great Willie Bobo, who he worked with in California back in the day.
BL, Keith Loftis, and Christy Smith 24 hours back and a brief pit stop at home to drop off the dirty clothes and kiss my wife – and back to the airport, bound for Colombia and a tour with an all-star cast playing some great music. I first played percussionist Samuel Torres’ music early this year on a Monday night at the NY Blue Note, and was greatly impressed by the verve and sophistication of his compositions. Samuel was also an important part of the new Lila Downs recording, “Shake Away”, that I played on, arranged for, and co-produced. I was happy to have the opportunity to delve into his music further when he called on a star-studded group (myself, Joel Frahm on saxes, Manuel Valera on piano, John Benitez on bass, the amazing Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums, and Ralph Irrizary on timbales) to do a series of festival dates in his native Colombia. As I write, we’ve done two of four concerts, in Medellin and the very pretty city of Manizales, with two more dates to come in Barranquilla and Bogota. Along with playing Samuel’s music, we are also backing the legendary pianist Edy Martinez, who I’ve worked with previously in both New York and Europe, in a set of his own compositions, using added horn players from Colombia to fill out an expanded section. We’re having a great time in a beautiful land playing for avid audiences (Colombians are real music people!). Last night I had the great pleasure of hanging out with a lot of great musicians at the concert of the Buena Vista Social Club in Barranquilla, where I’m playing tomorrow. More in my next post…. September 2, 2008 CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL 2008 Chicago is, needless to say, a great jazz city, one of the iconic ones. Growing up in Milwaukee, it was a magnet. Milwaukee had a great scene, but we supplemented by frequent trips down, mostly to the Jazz Showcase, to see “the cats”. I also spent my first real time away from home in Chicago, playing in a R&B band, (hey old folks – remember The Brighter Side Of Darkness and “Love Jones”?), living not far from our next President’s crib in hip Hyde Park, and getting my feet more than a little damp learning about the hang and the complexities of negotiating a life in this music. Chicago, then and now, was/is a proud city, yet a relaxed and comfortable one, culturally complex and divided but somehow united in a certain way of proceeding, a solidness that to me is exemplified by the traditions of its African-American community and citizens. The jazz heritage is deep here, and is being maintained superbly by both its established world class artists and the new generation of young players. It was out of sight to spend a couple of days there this past weekend, having the privilege to play music in front of the enthusiastic yet discerning audiences at the Festival. We had a great set with Eddie Palmieri, especially with the reunion of the mighty original front line of the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Octet; Conrad Herwig, Donald Harrison, and myself.
And an unexpected treat came my way when I was asked to appear as special guest with one of Chicago’s true musical treasures, the great pianist Willie Pickens, on his festival performance. Willie’s amazing and probing playing, along with a stellar rhythm section of bassist Larry Gray and drummer (and longtime buddy) Joel Spencer, was a stimulus and a challenge to rise to!
I heard a lot of great music as well; I’ll just mention the trumpeters: the outstanding young trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (with Vijay Iyer’s great quintet); Chicago bad axe Pharez Whitted (with his own fine sextet); David Douglas, brilliant with his new band Brass Ecastsy; Sean Jones, killing in the jam session at the Jazz Showcase, and young Chicagoan Marquis Hill, someone to watch out for. Another highlight of my weekend was those after concert jam sessions, hosted by the legendary Ira Sullivan, at Joe Segal’s newly reopened Jazz Showcase. Ira was concentrating on alto and soprano sax most of the two nights I heard him, but he did give all us trumpet players some lessons by picking up the flugelhorn on a couple of tunes. Inspiring! Here's a excerpt of Eddie's band at the Festival, from You Tube. Off to Singapore tomorrow, and then straight from there (8 hours layover in NY) to Colombia. We’re talking major jet lag coming up here! September 1, 2008 BLOGSTART I’ve been trying to get one of these things going for a long time, and when I was working on my ArtistShare project (PLUG: the Grammy Award winning “Simpático” featuring Eddie Palmieri) I was keeping a “Web journal” on a semi-regular basis as part of the project. I say “semi-regular” when it should have been “actually regular”; the difference being in that it was like pulling teeth for me to post more than a few lines, even when real interesting things were happening that I was happy to share with la gente. Writing is something that I enjoy, but have troubles with – mostly in getting started on a piece. Hmmm, reminds me of my issues in music writing now…. And maybe it’s my old school coming out where communicativeness seems corny – don’t show the people your hand and all that. On the other hand, I’ve always felt at home sharing my process with people, and I think that representing yourself as an artistic enigma is both corny and counter-productive, not to mention out of date. And I do have a lot of opinions about things, as any of my colleagues and friends can tell you. So, at the verge of a lot of new activity for me artistically (hopefully – more on that later on), I think I’ll give this a try again. Maybe after a period of getting-into-it fatutity I’ll be able to get some chops up to be able to hold some interest. We shall see…. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT BRIAN LYNCH ON MYSPACE Brian Lynch and Spheres of Influence on MySpace
GRAMMY WIN FOR "SIMPÁTICO"! The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project: Best Latin Jazz Album 2006 I'm proud to announce that The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project recording, "Simpatíco" has received a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2006. I'd like to thank everyone involved in the project, from the musicians to my close friends on the support team and the Participant Contributors (Executive Producer, Gold, Silver, and Bronze) for making it possible. For more info about "Simpático", read on below or go straight to my project site to participate! To listen to tracks from "Simpático", click below at: http://www.artistshare.com/grammy/brianlynch/index.htm Thank you for wishing us luck at the Grammys! Brian "Simpático" - THE BRIAN LYNCH / EDDIE PALMIERI PROJECT powered by ArtistShare Brian Lynch proudly announces the release of his new recording project, The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project, in collaboration with ArtistShare, the innovative website based content delivery system. The Brian Lynch/ Eddie Palmieri Project showcases the acclaimed trumpeter and composer with his longtime musical mentor, the legendary Eddie Palmieri in a CD project of new original music by Lynch, special collaborative works composed by Palmieri and Lynch together, and recastings of classic Palmieri compositions. The recording also features two very special guest artists: the legendary saxophonist Phil Woods (another of Lynch’s musical godfathers) and the great vocalist and songwriter Lila Downs (Brian and Lila specially co-wrote a new song for this project). The distinguished group of jazz & Latin masters Brian has assembled for this project includes such luminaries as: Conrad Herwig (trombone) This unique musical experience will be shared with its audience using the cutting edge ArtistShare system, as utilized in recent projects by Maria Schneider and Jim Hall. Participants will be able to experience the artistic process through weblogs, streaming and downloaded audio and video, downloaded compositional sketches and finished music, and even online lessons. Follow every step of the way, as Brian creates and crafts this project! A limited edition CD of the final product will be released exclusively through the project website. Become a participant in the Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project today by clicking through to my ArtistShare powered project site. Then check out the different Participant Offers that have something to interest everyone, whether you’re a fan, musician, or committed to supporting the arts. Be a part of jazz history and check it out today! Log in and sign up for a free ArtistShare account and receive a FREE mp3 download of never before released music by Brian Lynch and Spheres Of Influence! To sign up, just click here |
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