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Recording

Trombonist Robin Eubanks Releases "More Than Meets The Ear," A Groundbreaking Big Band Album By Eubank’s Mass Line Big Band Out November 27, 2015

Source: Fully Altered Media
September 4, 2015

Multiple DownBeat critics poll winner and electric trombone pioneer Robin Eubanks has covered vast terrain in the course of a 30-plus-year career, but until this year he’d never made a big band album. That changes with the release of More than Meets the Ear (ArtistShare), a groundbreaking collection of Eubanks’ muscular, interwoven compositions. And it introduces his new, all-star ensemble, the Robin Eubanks Mass Line Big Band. For those who are less familiar with Eubanks’ body of work, this album ...

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Recording

Composer, Arranger, And Pianist Miho Hazama Releases Second Album On Sunnyside Records, "Time River," Out October 2nd, 2015

Source: Fully Altered Media
August 28, 2015

Hazama Draws on Her Former Life in Tokyo and Her New One in New York City, Displaying An Ambitious and Nuanced Musical Temperament Time River Features Hazama’s m_unit, a hybrid big band/chamber ensemble with special guests saxophonist Joshua Redman & accordionist Gil Goldstein On her knockout debut album, Journey To Journey, composer/arranger/pianist Miho Hazama marked the transition from the world of academia to the stages and studios of New York City, her native Tokyo, and the wider world. Three years ...

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Recording

Paul Hemmings, Jazz Ukulele Provocateur, Releases "The Blues And The Abstract Uke" Out October 9th, 2015

Source: Fully Altered Media
August 28, 2015

Beautifully realized trio album with Gaku Takanashi, Rudy Royston plus guests Curtis Fowlkes, Greg Tardy Paul Hemmings has mastered the uncommon and highly compelling art of jazz ukulele. On The Blues and the Abstract Uke (the title clearly a nod to the great Oliver Nelson), Hemmings reveals a richness of harmony, a bell-like tone and a deep, unforced sense of swing that many will not expect from the small four-stringed instrument. In Hemmings’ hands, and with the unfaltering musical support ...

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Recording

Adegoke Steve Colson, 40+ Year Veteran Of AACM, Releases "Tones For" (Silver Sphinx Records), His First Solo Piano Album, Paying Tribute To Great Abolitionists – Out November 20th

Source: Fully Altered Media
September 1, 2015

On his first ever solo piano CD, Adegoke Steve Colson takes listeners on an epic journey through historic African-American struggles. Tones For, to be released on November 20th Colson’s own Silver Sphinx label, pays tribute to three icons of the battle against slavery: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. The release of the album, Colson’s first since his acclaimed 2010 CD The Untarnished Dream, coincides with two significant anniversaries: 2015 marks 150 years since the end of the Civil ...

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Recording

Dave Douglas Quintet Returns With "Brazen Heart"

Source: Fully Altered Media
September 1, 2015

Trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas, one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians of our time, has created “a body of work [that] reflects an inveterate engagement with the world, taking inspiration from literature, politics, dance and film, as well as jazz and new-music traditions,” writes Nate Chinen of The New York Times. But Douglas also draws from deep personal experience to inform his art. In 2012 he honored his late mother, Emily, with the album Be Still, debuting ...

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Recording

Saxophonist Scott Jeppesen Takes Inspiration From Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World On Second Album, "Wonders" On Oct 23rd

Source: Fully Altered Media
September 1, 2015

Album Features top Los Angeles players Larry Koonse (guitar), Josh Nelson (piano/keyboard), Dave Robaire (bass), Dan Schnelle (drums) Straight-ahead jazz’s fixation on the past can often lead to stagnation. But on his dazzling new album, Wonders, Los Angeles-based tenor saxophonist Scott Jeppesen attacks the problem in an unlikely way: he reaches way further back. So far back, in fact, that there’s no room for imitation. The album draws its inspiration from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World—and without photos ...

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Recording

Chicago Drummer/Composer/Impresario Mike Reed Releases "A New Kind Of Dance" (482 Music) – The 6th Album By His Acclaimed Quartet People, Places, And Things - Out Sept 25th

Source: Fully Altered Media
August 30, 2015

A New Kind of Dance Features Reed's Original Compositons, Alongside Covers of Ellington/Strayhorn, Mos Def & A Traditional Bulgarian Folk Dance Also Features Luminary Matthew Shipp & Thelonious Monk Competition Winner Marquis Hill When drummer, composer and bandleader Mike Reed isn’t playing music he spends much of his time watching others making it. But he also observes audiences. As a concert and festival organizer he’s informally noted the interaction between performer and audience for years, and while his rapidly expanding ...

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Event

Chicago Jazz Fest Full Lineup For September 3-6, 2015 Program

Source: Fully Altered Media
August 29, 2015

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is pleased to announce the 37th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. The festival will take place in Millennium Park and at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington Street), September 3-6, showcasing the very best of jazz music from noon to 9:30pm daily. Additionally, the festival is partnering once again with Pianoforte Foundation for a three-concert series to kick off Festival Week. The five–concert Neighborhood Nights series line-up will be announced ...

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