News
December 4 2012
JAMES ANNOUNCES JAN. 23 ALBUM RELEASE SHOW AT HIGHLINE BALLROOM IN NYC TO CELEBRATE HIS BLUE NOTE DEBUT NO BEGINNING NO END
José James is set to make his national TV debut on December 18 when the singer-songwriter will make an appearance on the TBS late-night show Conan. James will be performing “Trouble” from his forthcoming Blue Note Records debut, No Beginning No End, which will be released on January 22 and is currently available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon. WATCH HERE
While in Los Angeles, James will also be taping a live session for KCRW's Berkeley Street Sessions, an intimate concert series at Apogee's Berkeley Street Studio that has featured such artists as Ryan Adams, Death Cab for Cutie, Little Dragon, Janelle Monae, The Shins, Patti Smith, Regina Spektor, and St. Vincent. The session will air later on KCRW’s signature music show Morning Becomes Eclectic.
James has also announced an album release show at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on January 23, as well as March 12 show at The Del Monte Speakeasy in Los Angeles. James will be presenting songs from No Beginning No End, an album that influential UK DJ Gilles Peterson has called “a landmark” likening it to “Smokey Robinson for the new generation.”
“It’s not nearly enough to say that a musician mixes jazz, soul and funk, because so much has been built around that intersection since the 1970s,” wrote Ben Ratliff in The New York Times earlier this year. “The singer José James lives around that intersection too. He’s a romantic baritone with a deep-funk band, stretching out songs, evoking both the ’70s of Roberta Flack and Gil Scott-Heron and the ’90s and oughts of J Dilla.” Ratliff continued, “But Mr. James, who has revealed himself in stages over the years, is a very different kind of singer than D’Angelo. He’s a little more acoustic singer-songwriter, a little more delicate. He’s clearer, more disciplined and lower key; he can move you with silence and the pure strength of his vocal tone.”
November 29 2012
LOVANO SET TO RELEASE 23rd BLUE NOTE ALBUM CROSS CULTURE ON JAN. 8
FEATURING US FIVE PLUS SPECIAL GUEST LIONEL LOUEKE
On January 8, 2013, saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano will release Cross Culture, his 23rd Blue Note recording and the third consecutive release by his critically acclaimed quintet, Us Five. To celebrate the album’s release, Lovano will be taking Us Five out on an 11-city U.S. tour that launches January 19 and includes shows at The Mint in Los Angeles (January 22) and Yoshi’s in Oakland (January 24-26) before culminating with two nights at The Allen Room at Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York City (February 22-23).
Cross Culture is an 11-track tour de force that presents 10 of Lovano’s original compositions along with a stunning interpretation of the Billy Strayhorn ballad “Star Crossed Lovers.” Augmenting his core group (pianist James Weidman, bassists Esperanza Spalding or Peter Slavov, and drummers Otis Brown III and Francisco Mela) with the daring West African guitarist—and fellow Blue Note artist—Lionel Loueke, Lovano delivers his most fully realized representation of a career-long quest to explore the notion of universal musical language.
“Since I started to tour in the late ‘70s, I’ve collected instruments from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe, and North and South America,” says Lovano, who, in addition to his instantly recognizable tenor saxophone, improvises on G-mezzo soprano, tarogato, and aulochrome, and plays an array of percussion—bells and shakers, an Israeli paddle drum, and a Nigerian slit drum called an oborom. “I’ve spent a lifetime feeling the passion of experiencing the spirits in the sounds of the collective ancestors in these instruments, creating music but feeling like the earth. It’s coming through in my compositions and in the way we play together.”
Loueke, who himself combines exhaustive knowledge of harmony and folk forms, contributes seamlessly and egolessly to six pieces. “Lionel doesn’t just play the guitar,” Lovano says. “He freely integrates himself with the rhythm section and with me in the front line, and shares the space in a personal way.”
JOE LOVANO US FIVE – WINTER 2013 U.S. TOUR DATES
Jan. 19 Ballroom, Kennett Square, PA
Jan. 20 Swyer Theatre-The Egg, Albany, NY
Jan. 22 The Mint, Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 24-26 Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
Jan. 27 John Van Duzer Theatre, Arcata, CA
Jan. 28 Kuumbwa Jazz Cntr, Santa Cruz, CA
Jan. 30-31 Dazzle, Denver, CO
Feb. 1 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO
Feb. 2 MIM Music Theater, Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 22-23 Allen Room @ JALC, New York, NY
November 27 2012
The legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter will make his triumphant return to Blue Note Records after 43 years with the February 5, 2013 release of Without A Net, his searing new album with his long-running Quartet featuring pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. Shorter has revealed the album cover artwork for Without A Net, which features drawings by Shorter himself.
The Quartet has also announced 2013 U.S. tour dates including major concert events in New York City and Los Angeles. On February 1, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Quartet will perform four compositions by Shorter alongside works by Beethoven and Ives at Carnegie Hall. On February 9, the Quartet will be appearing at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles for the world premiere of Gaia, a newly commissioned work that Shorter composed for Esperanza Spalding and the LA Phil. The Quartet will also perform at Chicago’s Symphony Center (June 7) and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC (September 26). Read full article for list of confirmed tour dates.
November 15 2012
“AARON NEVILLE: MY TRUE STORY” SPECIAL CONCERT SET FOR PBS TAPING AT BROOKLYN BOWL ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH
Iconic Soul/R&B vocalist and multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Aaron Neville is set to perform a special concert on Wednesday, November 28 which will be taped by PBS for broadcast in March 2013. Neville will perform songs from his upcoming Doo-Wop inspired album produced by Keith Richards and Don Was, My True Story, which drops on January 22, 2013 via Blue Note Records. Fans can get a taste of Neville’s upcoming album by visiting his website, http://aaronneville.com/ for a free download of “Ting A Ling” which will be available for one month.