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About Maria Schneider
Instrument: Composer / conductor
Maria Schneider Orchestra: Sky Blue
by Edward Blanco
Composer and orchestra leader Maria Schneider won her first Grammy for her 2004 ArtistShare album, Concert In The Garden, and now has garnered two Grammy nominations for her 2007 release, Sky Blue. Nominated for “Best Large Ensemble Album and “Best Instrumental Composition ("Cerulean Skies ), Schneider cements her reputation as one of the great composers of our time. What is clearly evident from the outset is that Sky Blue is not your typical big band recording. Those expecting the swing ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at the Jazz Standard, NYC
by Budd Kopman
The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at the Jazz StandardThe Jazz StandardNew York City, New York November 20, 2007 This year's Thanksgiving week stand at the Jazz Standard, the third year in a row for the band, started off with what can only be described as a magical experience. The club was sold out for both shows on this night, and will most likely be for the rest of the week. The ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider Flies into Boston: "Look, Up in the Sky! It's an Orchestra!"
by Jason West
Maria Schneider Orchestra Berklee Performance HallBoston, Massachusetts November 17, 2007 The power of Maria Schneider's musical imagery calls to mind a variation on a superhero movie tagline: “You will believe a band can fly." And fly they did on what was their Boston debut, with the orchestra's diminutive blonde bandleader, adorned in matching black slacks and blouse, piloting her 18-piece supergroup and a capacity audience on an expansive, multifarious aural flight around the globe. ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider Orchestra: Sky Blue
by Michael P. Gladstone
It will be very surprising if Maria Schneider's Sky Blue is not named as one of the most treasured albums of 2007. The album brings together the teachings of her mentor, Gil Evans, and, to some extent, the sweeping panoramas of Aaron Copland into a majestic orchestral setting. There is no question that Schneider's contributions as a composer have never been so important, with these compositions inspired by her real life experiences, and performed by the ensemble of the Orchestra ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider: Raising the Bar
by Tom Greenland
Maria Schneider, one of the most innovative big band composer/arrangers of the past two decades, is on a roll--in an era of declining record sales and rising recording costs, she is flying high. Sky Blue (2007), her second release through ArtistShare, has garnered considerable accolades; largely fan-funded, the album is not only an artistic triumph but a product and paragon of the new jazz business model. In a recent conversation, Schneider shared her thoughts on femininity, musical influences, writing, audiences ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider: Sky Blue
by AAJ Italy Staff
La ArtistShare è una casa discografica che si fonda su di una idea produttiva intelligente alla quale, con successo, stanno aderendo molti artisti americani. In pratica si tratta di trovare fans e appassionati disponibili ad autotassarsi secondo diverse possibilità e impegni per ricoprire il ruolo di produttori di un progetto discografico sul quale l’artista ha un controllo pressoché completo. Questi micro-produttori assumono un ruolo importante in tutte le fasi del progetto e vengono costantemente aggiornati e coinvolti, potendo in qualche ...
Continue ReadingMaria Schneider Orchestra: Sky Blue
by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
The warmest of accolades have already been heaped upon Maria Schneider's new record, and deservedly so. How, everyone seems to wonder, could Schneider possibly top the Grammy-winning Concert in the Garden (ArtistShare, 2004)? Forget that. How could she possibly top the first four minutes of “The Pretty Road," the track that opens Sky Blue? Somehow, Ingrid Jensen's long and suitably airy solo lifts the piece higher still. And then there are four more incredible numbers...Beyond the oft-remarked lineage ...
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