Tuesday, July 17, 2012

JAZZ NEWS

Hot Club of Detroit  cuts fourth disc
The Hot Club of Detroit is a gypsy jazz band that enjoys bucking convention. The HCD respects the tenets of gypsy jazz co-founded by guitar player Django Reinhardt and violin player Stephane Grappelli, but the HCD go to great lengths to put an up to date spin on the music. On their last album, It’s About That Time, the HDC gave Charles MingusNostalgia at Time Square a gypsy jazz twist. On the 14th of August, Mack Avenue Records makes available Junction, The HCD’s fourth studio disc. According to the jazz writers who have an advanced copy, it’s the HCD’s most daring outing yet. How so? Pictured the outcome of a Reinhardt, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny and John Zorn collaboration. Junction is the HCD’s first time hooking up with a singer. Cyrille Aimee, who won the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition, is a guest star. Sadly, Junction is also the first time the HCD has recorded without saxophone player Carl Cafagna. In 2010, he left the band. On Junction the HCD uses two sax players Jon Irabagon and Andrew Bishop. They’re suitable replacements.


Mosaic celebrates Charles Mingus 90th birthday.
2012 marks the 90th birthday of the famed jazz bass player and composer Charles Mingus. To celebrate the occasion, Sue Mingus, his wife, teamed with legendary jazz record producer Michael Cuscuna to release Charles Mingus the Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-1965, a limited edition six disc box set. Mosaic Records releases the set September 16th, which contains mostly unreleased live dates in Amsterdam, in Monterey, in Minneapolis, and in New York’s Town Hall. Eric Dolphy, Charles McPherson, Johnny Cole, Jaki Byard, Clifford Jordan, and Dannie Richmond were members of the Mingus' workshop . Although it’s Mingus birthday, the box set is a present to Mingus’ fans who never heard his workshop band live.


Chrysler sponsors Detroit Jazz Fest
The 33rd Detroit Jazz Festival is being billed as the best festival in years. That’s not PR bull-crap. Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Pat Metheny, and Joe Lovano are headliners. On July 12th DL Media announced Chrysler is the festival’s new sponsor, which is a big deal. For nearly a decade now Gretchen Carhartt-Valade, the owner of Mack Avenue Records has mostly bankrolled the festival. "The automotive industry and jazz music both have rich histories in the city of Detroit. The partnership between Chrysler and the Detroit Jazz Festival bridges these great histories and brings key elements of our city together," said Valade. "Welcoming Chrysler as a presenting sponsor, and hosting its vehicles for a ride and drive, further proves this year will be the best festival we've seen yet".


Coltrane takes Spirit Fiction on the road
Jazz saxophone player Ravi Coltrane gears up for a multi-city tour that starts the 27th of July. Bank on Coltrane playing many of the tunes from his outstanding debut disc for Blue Note Records Spirit Fiction, which has been talked about lovingly by many jazz writers. The jazz world has been looking over Coltrane’s, the son of the great Alice and John Coltrane, shoulders since he put out his first disc Moving Pictures in 1998. It must’ve been tough establishing his brand with such famous parents, but Coltrane has built a bulletproof body of work, and Spirit Fiction is his opus. Coltrane will perform in Albuquerque, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles,  and Oakland,

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