Stories » John Scofield plays 'Quiet' and 'Loud' on NPR - Jazz Night In America

Stories for February 21, 2020

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    Verve/New Deal/Impulse!/ECM artists make this week's PlayMPE 'jazz top 10 downloads and streams'
     
    Posted At : February 21, 2020 12:00 AM

    TOP 10 Downloads   
    Ted Poor - Push Pull – New Deal, Impulse!
    Oded Tzur - Here Be Dragons - ECM
    Shabaka And The Ancestors - Go My Heart, Go To Heaven – Impulse!
    Joey Alexander – Warna – Verve        TOP 10 Streams                     
    Ted Poor - Push Pull Newl Deal / impulse!   
    Oded Tzur - Here Be Dragons - ECM
    Shabaka And The Ancestors - Go My Heart, Go To Heaven – Impulse!
     

  • Gabriela Montero begins BSO:artist in residence tenure / DAILY ECHO
     
    Posted At : February 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    She is the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's artist in residence, the latest in a succession of supremely talented musicians to have held that post, including Sunwook Kim, Johannes Moser and Nemanja Radulovic. In a move that signals that she is different, Gabriela Montero began her tenure with an impromptu piano performance on Bournemouth Pier last October. The term ends on February 26 with a recital with the BSO principals at the Lighthouse. The other dimension to her being different is her unique improvisational gift. It has given her a devoted following around the world. She can take any melody and just run with it, as many audiences have discovered. Montero is a fascinating and intriguing interviewee even from three thousand miles away. Our conversation ranged from power and politics, to human rights, the state of her native Venezuela and music as a force for good. Picture:Shelley Mosman READ THE FULL DAILY ECHO ARTICLE

  • Jake Shimabukuro is unique among ukulele players / Elsewhere
     
    Posted At : February 20, 2020 12:00 AM

    It has been 12 years since I picked up the album Gently Weeps album by the Hawaiian ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, largely to see what he did with the George Harrison title track. You can make up your own mind on that here, but for me that was all the impetus I needed when this album (with bassist Nolan Verner and guitarist Dave Preston) turned up. Let's just say Shimabukuro is unlike any other ukulele player you will ever have heard. In fact you'd probably be surprised to learn that it is ukulele at all on most of these tracks where he brings out a lute-like quality (Lament with Pink Floyd-like atmospherics), something akin to an acoustic guitar (the more MOR Summer Rain) and on the furious hard rock opener When the Masks Come Down with Preston off the leash and the gritty, fist-tight tension of Twelve this is to ukulele what Rodrigo y Gabriela are to flamenco. READ THE FULL Elsewhere REVIEW

  • Pacific Symphony announces more guest artists and world premieres in 20-21 / SFCV
     
    Posted At : February 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    Pacific Symphony is keeping on with programming that works. Today, the orchestra announced its 2020–2021 classical series, underwritten by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation. On the schedule: lots of guest artists, plus a continued commitment to signature events. The biggest name coming to Orange County next season is Lang Lang, who plays Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto with the orchestra on Oct. 4. Longtime Music Director Carl St. Clair conducts the one-night-only concert. As of now, tickets to this performance are only available to season subscribers. Guest soloists for 2021 include Emanuel Ax, who plays Mozart, Jan. 14–16; James Ehnes, soloing in the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Feb. 25–27; and Rachel Barton Pine, who performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, May 6–8, her first appearance with Pacific Symphony. READ THE FULL SFCV ARTICLE

  • The Bad Plus confirm their 2020 spring tour / NYSMusic
     
    Posted At : February 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    The American jazz trio The Bad Plus confirmed their 2020 spring tour following the release of their second album, ACTIVATE INFINITY, which was released in October of 2019. The spring tour will include a multi-show residency at Village Vanguard in New York City for six consecutive days. The tour will begin on March 19th in  Kenosha, WI at the Bedford Concert Hall and will wrap up on April 12th in Washington, DC at the Blues Alley. The tour will include multi- show residencies not only in New York City but also in Oakland, CA and Washington, D.C. as well. The New York City residency is taking place at the Village Vanguard on March 24th through the 29th. The Oakland, CA residency will take place at Yoshi's on April 3rd and 4th. Washington's residency will take place at the Blues Alley on April 10th through the 12th.  The Bad Plus is made up of bassist Reid Anderson, drummer Dave King, and pianist Orrin Evans, hailing from Minneapolis, MN. Their newest album ACTIVATE INFINITY was produced by The Bad Plus themselves and engineered and mixed by Andy Taub at NYC's Brooklyn Recording back in May of 2019. SEE THE DATES via NYSMusic

  • Sheku Kanneh-Mason releases; the Elgar Cello Concerto / New Classical Tracks
     
    Posted At : February 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    He performed at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. Two years earlier, at the age of 17, he won the BBC's Young Musician Competition. And he's appeared on Britain's Got Talent with his six musical siblings. Yet, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who is just 20 years old and still studies at the Royal Academy of Music, is grounded in the music he loves. He's just released his second solo recording. It features Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor and other pieces that are close to his heart. "What I'm always searching for is the most convincing and expressive way to play the music that I'm playing. There are lots of pieces of music that I really, really want to learn. I think meaningful playing is what I practice for." READ & LISTEN TO MPR: New Classical Tracks: 

  • Take a look at Johann Johannsson's trailer for 'Last and First Men' and tell us you're not intrigued / Vanyaland
     
    Posted At : February 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    One of the greatest losses to both avant-garde music and cinema in the past decade was the tragic death of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Known best for his score for Mandy and his work with Denis Villeneuve on films like Sicario and Arrival, Jóhannsson's work became quickly beloved by cinema-heads the world over, which made his passing at 48 even more bitter; he had a lot of life yet to live and a lot more work to do. This included a burgeoning directorial career of his own - a year before his passing, the composer premiered his first film, an adaptation of Olaf Stapleton's sci-fi classic Last and First Men (which influenced the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, C.S. Lewis, and Arthur C. Clarke, and which you should really check out given that it's available for free online), in a work-in-progress exhibition at the Manchester International Film Festival, which he scored live alongside a narration done by Tilda Swinton. Well, a completed version of Last and First Men will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next week, and it already has a trailer ready to go. Take a look at this and tell us that you aren't intrigued. READ THE FULL Vanyaland ARTICLE

Top 10 for Feb

John Scofield plays 'Quiet' and 'Loud' on NPR - Jazz Night In America

Posted: July 29, 2017 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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NPR: Jazz Night In America

Almost exactly 30 years ago, guitarist John Scofield recorded an album he evocatively titled Loud Jazz. Not quite a decade later, he made one called Quiet. Both albums were statements of intent, widely embraced and justly acclaimed. And despite the obvious differences between the two, both were genuine expressions of Scofield's musical personality, which has always been more flexible than those extreme dynamic markings would seem to suggest. Scofield, of course, is one of the most prolific and admired jazz musicians of his generation, an ace with boppish phraseology as well as bluesy inflection. He's 65 now, and by some measures you could even say he's at the height of his career.

He won two Grammy awards this year for his most recent solo album, Country For Old Men. He also won one in 2016, for his previous release, Past Present. He's currently on the road with Hudson, an all-star collective whose other members - drummer Jack DeJohnette, keyboardist John Medeski and bassist Larry Grenadier - share his willingness to split the difference between lyrical grace and circuitous groove. (The group just released a self-titled debut, so don't be shocked if there's yet another nomination in the works.)

Jazz Night In America caught up with Scofield this past spring, just before he played a concert called "Quiet And Loud Jazz" in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room. One portion of the night featured a reunion of the Loud Jazz crew, with partners like bassist Gary Grainger and drummer Dennis Chambers. Another portion recreated the chamber arrangements from Quiet, with Scofield's longtime foil Joe Lovano standing in for Wayne Shorter on saxophones. The idea was to both acknowledge and bridge the distance between the two disparate albums, which might have been more difficult were it not for Scofield's sly consistency. "It's not like other famous jazz musicians, where their style changes, you know, decade to decade," says Jim Beard, the veteran keyboardist on hand for the Loud Jazz half of the concert. "He sounds very similar to what he sounded like, you know, 30 years ago. I don't think he sounds that different. And it's just such a strong personal style that that's amazing."

LISTEN TO THE NPR: Jazz Night In America SEGMENT

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Crossover Media Projects with John Scofield

  • John Scofield

    Combo 66

    Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist, band leader and composer, John Scofield is set to release his new album, Combo 66, marking his 66th birthday, on September 28 via Verve Records. The album, which features long-time drummer Bill Stewart, bassist Vincente Archer and pianist/organist Gerald Clayton, combines jazz with genre-defying elements, allowing Scofield to find new modes of expression.

  • John Scofield

    Country For Old Men

    Coming off a Grammy win earlier this year for his last album, Past Present, John Scofield has been largely in the spotlight over the last year, sitting in the with The Roots on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, gracing the cover of Downbeat and garnering the attention of NPR.   His impressive 40-plus-year career has seen Scofield masterfully tackle multiple genres as well as several eclectic collaborations with everyone from Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, to Government Mule and Medeski, Martin & Wood, not to mention his own groups.

    6 NEW  221 TOTAL
    SYND:     Voice of America, Jazz After Hours, Jazz Happening Now, WFMTNet, Radio DeLuxe, Modern Jazz Today
    Direct: SiriusXM
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Denver, Miami, Portland, Cleveland, Houston, Baltimore, Detroit, Denver, St. Louis, New Orleans, Austin, Minneapolis, San Diego, Austin, Berkeley CA, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Madison WI, Tampa, Santa Fe, Knoxville, San Antonio, Wichita, Omaha, Chattanooga, Bridgeport CT, Bozeman, Honolulu, Toronto, Vancouver
    INTER: Canada, UK, Italy
    Online: Jambands.com, GreenArrow, MOJA, Soulandjazz.com, JazzTimes, billboard, JazzTrail, JazzWeekly, Jazz From Gallery 41, Radio Valencia, Radio CUH, Paste, The Eclectic Chair

    55 JazzWeek ADD's

  • John Scofield

    Past Present

    John Scofield updates his early-'90s quartet with drummer Bill Stewart and saxophonist Joe Lovano by recruiting bassist Larry Grenadier for his fetching, appropriately titled impulse! debut, Past Present. Between 1990 and 1992, the celebrated guitarist released three well-received discs – Meant to Be, Time on My Hands and What We Do – for the Blue Note label as the John Scofield Quartet. On those records, either Marc Johnson or Dennis Irwin played bass. Nevertheless, Grenadier also has history playing with Scofielld; he toured with Scofield in support of the 1996 disc, Quiet.

    The nine exciting tunes Scofield penned on Past Present also reflects his philosophy on playing jazz music. He stresses the importance of being knowledgeable of the music's deep, complex roots while simultaneously being spontaneous and in the moment while performing it. For an artist with such a multifaceted discography as Scofield's, getting to the root of jazz means channeling the blues, as demonstrated on the disc's closing, titled-track. 

    11 NEW  257 Total
    SYND: NPR/Songs We Love, PRI/Jazz After Hours, Voice Of America
    Direct: SiriusXM/Real Jazz, MOOD
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Baltimore, Denver, Portland, St. Louis, San Diego, Detroit, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Orlando, Berkeley CA, Tampa, Honolulu, Montreal, Vancouver
    Online: MOJA, Something Else, Taintradio, Jazz From Gallery 41, Party 934, KUHS, Green Arrow, Jazz Weekly, Jambase, PopMatters, Kaleidophonic Jazz, relix, Dirty Dog, animajazz
    INTER: Canada, Australia, Ireland, Italy

    65 Jazzweek ADD's

  • John Scofield

    uberjam deux

    Guitarist John Scofield is comfortable in any setting – whether it be jazz, blues or rock – as he demonstrates on his latest recording, Überjam Deux, on Decca/Emarcy. Überjam Deux has been a decade in the works, following 2002's Grammy-nominated Überjam; not that Scofield has been inactive in the interim, far from it.  There have been seven John Scofield albums in the intervening years, as well as five others on which he is a co-leader on the project. His last Decca/Emarcy release was A Moment's Peace (2011), a luxurious album of ballads – the polar opposite of Überjam Deux.  His uncanny ability to drift between various styles of music with fluency, virtuosity and sincerity is rare. 

    9 New 'ON' this week: 
    SYND:     CBC, Global Village, NPR: Living On Earth(transitions)
    Markets include: Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Wichita
    Online: Taintradio, David Bruce