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Crossover Media music promotion works a diverse linuep of well known and developing artists to terrestrial radio and online media.
Client list includes:  Sony, Verve/UMG, Warners, Concord, Disney, eOne


For more information contact Max Horowitz    maxcrossover@gmail.com

 

"Music is a science. Music is mathematical. Music is a foreign language. Music is History. Music is physical education. Music develops Insight and demands research. Music is all these things, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART. That is why we teach music. Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life...But so you will be human...So you will recognize beauty...So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world...So you will have something to cling to...So you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good- in short, more LIFE."   - Ludwig van Beethoven

Top 10 Albums For July 6, 2022

  • Steve Tibbetts

    Hellbound Train

    Steve Tibbetts: guitars, dobro, piano, kalimba, percussion; Marc Anderson: congas, percussion, gongs, steel drum, handpan; Michelle Kinney: cello, drones; Jim Anton, Eric Anderson, Bob Hughes: bass; Mike Olson: synthesizer; Marcus Wise: tabla; Tim Weinhold: vase, bongos; Claudia Schmidt, Rhea Valentine: voice (collective personnel)
    Recordings 1981-2017

    ECM 2656/57 2CD: 6024 4557480 3 Release: 1. Juli 2022

    A question for Steve Tibbetts

    Hellbound Train is a double album anthology drawn from your work on ECM. What was the criteria for inclusion? How did you select the pieces? Is this The Best Of Steve Tibbetts?

  • Lang Lang

    The Disney Book

    In celebration of 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, globally acclaimed piano virtuoso Lang Lang is set to transport listeners into the magical world of snow castles and flying carpets with his latest album, The Disney Book.

    This enchanting musical journey through iconic movie melodies, reimagined in new versions written especially for him by some of the world’s leading arrangers, invites fans of all ages to enjoy classical music through Lang Lang’s unique interpretations. The recording will be released on 16 September on Deutsche Grammophon, in collaboration with Disney Music Group.

    A truly international production, with recording sessions taking place in London, New York, Shanghai and Paris, The Disney Book traces the history of music in Disney films from the 1920s to the present day, whilst also reflecting Lang Lang’s own personal journey. Lang Lang explains: “Animation sparked my imagination and transported me to other worlds. The music was a big part of this experience – and led to my life-long love of classical music. There is such a variety of styles in Disney songs; truly, something to inspire everyone. I hope that people of all ages will enjoy this recording and experience the joy that we all felt the first time we saw a Disney film.”

    The album’s first single, released today, is “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins – which Walt Disney himself famously declared to be his favourite Disney melody. The film’s co-composers, brothers Richard and Robert Sherman, were regularly asked to join Walt in his office on a Friday afternoon to play it for him; they even continued this tradition after the legendary animator’s death in 1966. Lang Lang’s own version of “Feed the Birds” features an accompanying music video, shot as dawn broke over Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland Park in California, making him the first classical pianist ever to perform there.

  • Antonio Sanchez

    SHIFT - Bad Hombre Vol II

    SHIFT (Bad Hombre Vol. II) is the sequel to Antonio Sánchez’s 2017 Grammy-nominated Bad Hombre. On his premiere release for Warner Music, Sánchez approached a who’s-who of collaborators — some of his favorite singers and songwriters — for material he could deconstruct and reimagine. He then called upon his “Bad Hombre” alter-ego, where he plays virtually all the instruments while adding his compositional, production and percussion talents to “shift” the song to new realms while still leaving its essence intact.  

    The result is a beautiful circle that sees Dave Matthews & Pat Metheny, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lila Downs, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Kimbra, Ana Tijoux, Becca Stevens, Silvana Estrada, MARO, Thana Alexa & SONICA sitting in on their own tunes — or ideas cowritten by Sánchez — as a familiar yet original space regifted to the composers for joint musical exploration.

  • John Williams - Anne-Sophie Mutter

    Williams_ Violin Concerto No. 2 & Film Themes

    Following the huge success of John Williams – The Berlin Concert, which topped the German pop charts earlier this year, Deutsche Grammophon is now proud to present the world premiere recording of John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2. The work was written for and recorded by the venerated composer’s friend and frequent collaborator Anne-Sophie Mutter. Her impassioned performance was given with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Williams, who celebrated his 90th birthday on 8 February.

    The new album also includes three film themes newly arranged for the violinist by their composer – the Theme from The Long Goodbye, “Han Solo and the Princess” from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and “Marion’s Theme” from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Williams: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Selected Film Themes is out now on CD, Vinyl and digitally. Blu-ray and eVideo formats will be released on 19 August,  together with an exclusive 10-inch Vinyl available on the DG Store.

  • Rokia Kone - Jacknife Lee

    BAMANAN

    It’s a voice that soars – pure, clear and true — above bass and synths, traditional percussion and infectious Mande guitar grooves. A stop-you-in-your-tracks voice instantly familiar to anyone in Mali, West Africa: Rokia Koné, aka the Rose of Bamako.

    One of Mali’s most beloved and dynamic artists, Koné is a force to be reckoned with. Her captivating performances in the city’s local maquis clubs very often last for hours, as Koné runs the gamut of emotion from joy to despair, fury to tenderness, wielding that astounding voice with grace and power. For her debut album, Koné might have been content with showing off that soulful instrument on a traditional repertoire of songs.

    Instead she’s teamed with Irish-born, California-based rock producer Jacknife Lee — and reimagined the Malian sound in ways leftfield and ground breaking.

    Welcome, then, BAMANAN, a collaboration that connects the great ancient kingdoms of Mali and the bustling modern street life of its capital, Bamako to a remote recording studio nestled within California’s Topanga Canyon. That bridges deep tradition and forward-facing innovation.

  • Julius Rodriguez

    Let Sound tell All

    Julius Rodriguez – multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and ‘rising jazz phenom’ (NPR) – releases a new single “Where Grace Abounds” accompanied by a stunning music video. The song is a gospel-infused, vibing meditation about self-acceptance and gratitude, and the music video stars Julius and dancer Joyce Edwards in a minimalist and moving metaphor exploring those themes. Watch the music video here. This is the third single from the debut album from Julius Rodriguez Let Sound Tell All set for release June 10 on the legendary Verve Records.

    Rodriguez also previously announced a new show date in NYC on June 15 at the Sultan Room to celebrate the release of the album.

    The vibing gospel meditation “Where Grace Abounds” shows Rodriguez’s profound spiritual side. The self-reflective composition is, according to Julius, “a song I wrote at a time where I felt like I wasn't being the best version of myself yet, and still a lot of great things were happening to me. So it’s me being grateful for being in the situation I'm in, even though I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”

    It begins as a duet between Rodriguez on piano and Hammond B-3 organ, speaking to himself through these two instruments and showing the profound compositional understanding and restraint. Eventually, Giveton Gelin’s trumpet and Hakim’s voice arrive as late -in-the-song punctuations, providing an ethereal and echoing chamber of reflection. Drew Ofthe Drew and Jon Castelli mix it into a ghostly, gospel-like wonder.

  • Matt Haimovitz

    PRIMAVERA III - the vessel

    PRIMAVERA II the vessel is the third of six albums in a momentous series encompassing 81 world premieres for solo cello. This digital album presents 9 new commissions by The Primavera Project for groundbreaking, multi-GRAMMY nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz. Composers from diverse backgrounds respond to both Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by world-renowned contemporary artist Charline von Heyl. The Primavera Project is currently featured in collaboration with von Heyl’s Primavera 2020 in the 59th Biennale Arte 2022.

    Referencing the time of Botticelli, PRIMAVERA III the vessel begins with Josquin des Prez’s Praeter Rerum Seriem, arranged for cello choir by Haimovitz and offering 500 years of perspective on the newly commissioned works. Stripped of the Latin text, Josquin’s repeating motives and ubiquitous canons are illuminated by the six celli (all recorded by Haimovitz at von Heyl’s artist studio in Marfa, Texas) in this contrapuntal tour-de-force.

    The album includes two new works by legendary composer Philip Glass: the lyrical Philip’s Song, as well as Haimovitz’s haunting rendition of Glass’ Samsara which begins with the simplest of musical elements, winding its way as the cello metamorphoses into a tambura – the instrumental drone of raga. The themes of death and rebirth, darkness and light, possession and liberation permeate through the new works. Layale Chaker’s heartfelt lament Before Bloom takes the form of a Middle Eastern taqsim, evoking the flowers and leaves bearing witness to suffering, yet blooming defiantly each Spring. Annabelle Chvostek’s (formerly of the Wailin’ Jennys) Your Shadow and Inflorescence invites the cello into a bluegrass realm as she grapples with internalizing the darkness of Zephyrus’ assault and regaining her own breath. Tamar-kali sparingly uses col legno, pizzicato, and arco timbres in Little Bear Awakens to capture a dance of Spring. Lewis Spratlan’s One for Two leads us on a tour of the two paintings, the symbols, and figures. Marcos Balter’s ironically operatic Millefleur celebrates and demolishes the beauty of Botticelli’s elaborate garden. The sprightly overtones and microtones of Osnat Netzer’s Diaphanous Diaphony depicts the buoyancy and transparency of the three dancing Graces. Finally, Phonodelica transforms Botticelli’s cathedral forest into the drowning meadow of von Heyl’s Primavera 2020.

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Ella At The Hollywood Bowl

    Will Friedwald writes…..On August 16, 1958, just a few months after Ella Fitzgerald recorded her now-classic album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook, The First Lady Of Song performed selections from that album live at the Hollywood Bowl to an adoring, sold-out crowd. Conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, who also arranged and conducted the studio sessions, this concert marked the only time that Ella performed these iconic arrangements live with a full orchestra.

    On June 24, Verve/UMe will proudly release the full, never-before-released 15-song performance, aptly titled, Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook, on CD, vinyl, limited edition yellow splatter vinyl, and digitally. This landmark record, discovered in the private collection of producer and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, marks the first time a live Songbook has been released from Ella. It is also significant in that it captures the only time Ella worked in concert with arranger-conductor Paul Weston. And, although she performed regularly at the Hollywood Bowl, this is the first full-length concert by Ella from this iconic venue to be released (notably, Ella was featured prominently on Verve’s Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl album, recorded and released in 1956, the year Granz formed the label). The live tracks were mixed from the original ¼” tapes by Grammy Award-winning producer and musician Gregg Field who played drums for Ella in her later years. The album is rounded out with insightful liner notes about the concert and Ella’s Songbook series by noted author and music critic.

    The majesty and magic of Ella Fitzgerald performing live is brought to vivid life in the new animated video for the incredible, one-of-a-kind performance of her beloved tune, “Cheek To Cheek,” recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl on August 16, 1958 with a full orchestra, conducted and arranged by Paul Weston. Directed and animated by London-based artist Sharon Liu, the whimsical, beautifully hand drawn and painted video pays homage to the world-famous venue which played such a pivotal part in Ella’s story and celebrates The First Lady of Song through a dazzling array of gorgeous, ever-changing gowns as she struts and twirls across colorful scenes while masterfully singing the timeless tune.

  • Sheku Kanneh-Mason

    'Myfanwy' from Song

    Song, the new album from cellist Sheku-Kanneh Mason, features music from across the entire spectrum of classical, folk, jazz and pop – all personally curated by Sheku. The eclectic mix of styles are tied together by one thing – the unique singing voice of Sheku’s cello.

    Sheku Kanneh-Mason became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle. His performance was greeted with universal excitement and was seen by nearly two billion people globally. 

    Sheku initially garnered renown as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition, the first black musician to take the title. He has released two chart-topping albums on the Decca Classics label, Inspiration (2018) and Elgar (2020). The latter reached #8 in the overall UK official album chart, making Sheku the first cellist in history to reach the UK top 10.

    Sheku Kanneh-Mason has included some of his own arrangements including of Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ (written by Burt Bacharach) for solo pizzicato cello, Bach arrangements for multiple cellos, and the folk tune ‘Myfanwy’, his Welsh grandmother’s favourite song. Sheku said, “This is one of my absolute favourite melodies, and one that I’ve known for as long as I can remember. I spent a lot of my childhood in Wales with my family and particularly my Welsh Grandma, so this is for her.”

    As well as performing solo Sheku is also joined by family and friends for many of the pieces on his new album Song. He improvises with jazz pianist Harry Baker on ‘Cry Me A River’, collaborates with singer-songwriter Zak Abel on their original song, ‘Same Boat’ and joins the South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza on Massenet’s ‘Élégie’.

    The album also includes the world premiere on a new work (commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, where Sheku studied) from British composer, Edmund Finnis, who wrote the ‘Five Preludes’ especially for Sheku, and a movement from Messiaen’s moving ‘Quartet for the End of Time’.

    “I wanted to show who I am as a musician right now,” said Sheku Kanneh-Mason. “In doing so, I was able to showcase different styles and approaches to music.”

  • Shabaka

    Afrikan Culture

    Celebrated saxophonist, philosopher, bandleader, and musician Shabaka Hutchings, now professionally known as Shabaka across all solo musical efforts, debuts his first major label solo body of work, Afrikan Culture (impulse!).  Entirely written by Shabaka, the eight-track digital only EP showcases him on various wind instruments and focuses on the aural meditative space.

    Produced by Shabaka and frequent collaborator Dilip Harris, Afrikan Culture takes you on a sonically healing journey. Immersed in a sea of sound, diverse instruments that include the Shakuhachi (a Japanese end-blown flute), a Kora (a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa), a Mbira (a “thumb piano” from Africa), and a music box envelopes the listener in a soothing sound that lingers on well past the last played note.

Stories For July 6, 2022

  • Time for Three - Letters for the Future is the WFMT 'Featured New Release'
    Posted At : June 22, 2022 12:00 AM
    Innovative string trio Time For Three (TF3) – praised by Simon Rattle as “benevolent monsters, monsters of ability and technique surely. But also conveyors of an infectious joy that I find both touching and moving” – releaseD the new album Letters for the Future with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Xian Zhang on Deutsche Grammophon on June 10. The album comprises world premiere recordings of two technically demanding and musically virtuosic concerti for trio and orchestra by two Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, written fifteen years apart but both commissioned for the group: Jennifer Higdon’s 2007 Concerto 4-3 and Kevin Puts’s brand-new Contact, the first track of which is available May 20. A PBS Articulate episode about the project will be released to PBS affiliates nationwide on May 24. 
     
    Time For Three comprises two violinists, Nicolas “Nick” Kendall and Charles Yang, and bassist Ranaan Meyer; all three musicians are also vocalists, a defining feature of the group since Yang joined in 2015 that Puts makes good use of in Contact. Both Kendall and Meyer attended Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute and played early in their careers with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Yang graduated from Juilliard. Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., explains: “The Philadelphia Orchestra’s collaboration with Time For Three showcases works by two of the most innovative and exciting composers of our day, Jennifer Higdon and Kevin Puts, that we hope will inspire an expansion of the repertoire for string trio and orchestra for future generations.  This recording also represents a homecoming of sorts, as we welcome back the musicians of Time For Three, who have deep connections to Philadelphia. Among the many things that shine through in this project is the special bond that exists between Time For Three and the Philadelphia Orchestra.”
     
    Contact was commissioned for Time For Three by a group of orchestras* and PACs led by the San Francisco Symphony and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), the Philadelphia Orchestra’s summer home. San Francisco had been slated to play the work first in the summer of 2020, followed by the other commissioning orchestras, until the pandemic caused a change of plan. In the end, the Florida Orchestra gave a “sneak peek” premiere this past March, with San Francisco, SPAC and Sun Valley Music Festival performances to follow this summer in July and August. Puts’s idea for the work was to write something that was “of the unknown,” and he experimented with the ideas of unexplored frontiers and the greater beyond. TF3 elaborates: 
     
    “When the world was plunged into the fragility of the pandemic … we were really inspired by the incredible work and international cooperation that was happening on the International Space Station – how humans from all over the world were quite literally rising above us all, working together for a future that transcended the pandemic. The idea that there were people able to look at the world from a perspective we lacked instilled a sense of hope for the future in us, and that hope has been woven into the very fabric of this concerto.”
     
    Puts also highlights the influence of the pandemic on the title, which was originally just Triple Concerto: “The word ‘contact’ has gained new resonance during these years of isolation. It is my hope that this concerto might be heard as an expression of yearning for this fundamental human need. I am deeply grateful to Time For Three for their belief in my work and for the tireless collaborative spirit which allowed us to develop this showcase for their immense talents.”
     
    Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 was commissioned for Time For Three by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Wheeling Symphony. The concerto was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra and TF3 in 2008 under the baton of one of the group’s mentors, Christoph Eschenbach. They have performed it since with dozens of other orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by Marin Alsop, in Carnegie Hall. A video of TF3 recording Concerto 4-3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Xian Zhang can be found here. TF3 explains: “At the time that Higdon was commissioned for this project by a stellar orchestral consortium, we had been experimenting with various musical languages that were outside the realm of traditionally classical canonical narratives, including Americana folk traditions. As more and more of the elements of that language began seeping into our musical style, we looked to weave bluegrass into the fabric of a classical concerto. Higdon’s own upbringing in Tennessee and her understanding of the musical traditions of the region truly brought this idea to reality.”
     
    Higdon says: “I knew the Time For Three guys a few years before we had the chance to work together; we crossed paths in the hallways at Curtis, where I taught, and I often heard them jamming in Rittenhouse Square. … [Concerto 4-3] was written over a three-month period after a session with Time For Three where they showed me their unique musical voices. This provided immense inspiration in tailoring a concerto befitting them, one that would highlight their playing, make sure they had the chance to do some improvisatory solos, and musically sing and dance in a way that reflects the fun they elicit in their performances. For this composer, that was pure joy.”  
     
    Letters for the Future marks a summation of TF3’s evolution to date. As the group says: “This album is ‘us.’ It gives voice to our roots in the Western classical tradition; it embraces our innovation through various Americana musical languages; and it looks with us towards the future as we reach to the stars. It is our timeless time-capsule donation to the music world that we hope anyone can open and, in it, hear our voice as Time For Three.”
     
    For June 22, 2022, Time for Three: Letters for the Future is the WFMT: Chicago ‘Featured New Release.' WFMT writes….Innovative string trio Time For Three (violinists Nicolas Kendall and Charles Yang and bassist Ranaan Meyer) release the new album Letters for the Future with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Xian Zhang on Deutsche Grammophon. The album comprises world-premiere recordings of technically demanding and musically virtuosic concertos for trio and orchestra by two Pulitzer Prize-winning composers commissioned for the group: Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 and Kevin Puts’s brand-new Contact.      SEE THE WFMT PAGE
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  • Each of the pieces on Peter Boyers new recording, displays vivid soundscapes and tuneful American sensibilities / WFMT
    Posted At : July 4, 2022 12:00 AM
    On July 8, 2022, Naxos releases American composer/conductor Peter Boyer’s newest recording, with the London Symphony Orchestra under his direction. The album includes eight of Boyer’s works, with six world premiere recordings. The centerpiece of the album is Balance of Power, a three-movement, 19-minute work commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in honor of the 95th birthday of Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State. The National Symphony Orchestra premiered Balance of Power at the Kennedy Center in September 2021. The recording also features Fanfare for Tomorrow, commissioned and premiered by the U.S. Marine Band at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden, in a new orchestral version.The album includes two works originally commissioned and recorded by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the Cincinnati Pops: Rolling River (Sketches on “Shenandoah”), a setting of the American folk tune, and In the Cause of the Free, on the theme of Veterans Day. Additional works include Curtain Raiser, an exuberant opener; Elegy for English horn, harp and strings; Fanfare, Hymn and Finale, originally commissioned for the 220th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Band; and Radiance, a string orchestra work composed especially for this recording.“It was truly a thrill to record this new album of my music with the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s greatest orchestras,” said Boyer. “Speaking as both a composer and conductor, one could not ask for a finer or more versatile ensemble. The glorious sound of the LSO has been part of my life since I was young, both through their work on iconic film scores including Star Wars and so many others, and through their incredible legacy of recordings.”This is Boyer’s third album in the Naxos American Classics Series, following his GRAMMY-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and his Symphony No. 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Boyer stated: “I’m delighted to have my work included again in a series which features many of the greatest American composers—from Copland, Gershwin, Barber, Bernstein, Ellington, and Ives to contemporary giants such as Adams and Corigliano. It’s certainly meaningful to be in such musical company.”Recorded at London’s Henry Wood Hall with more than 90 musicians, the album was produced by Simon Rhodes, Senior Engineer at Abbey Road Studios and four-time GRAMMY winner, whose credits include some 200 film scores for composers including John Williams, James Horner, and Thomas Newman.Boyer’s debut recording as composer/conductor was with the LSO at Abbey Road Studios in 2001, for The Music of Peter Boyer, originally released by Koch International Classics. After more than twenty years, tracks from that recording continue to be broadcast widely on American classical radio.For July 4, 2022, Peter Boyer: Orchestral Works with the London Symphony Orchestra has been selected as the WFMT: Chicago ‘Featured New Release.’ WFMT writes…..This album presents eight of the most recent works by Peter Boyer, one of the leading American orchestral composers of his generation. Balance of Power was commissioned for the 95th birthday of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, while Fanfare for Tomorrow was composed for the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021. Each of these pieces displays Boyer’s vivid soundscapes and tuneful American sensibilities, from the cinematic sweep of Rolling River to Radiance, composed especially for this album.SEE THE WFMT PAGE
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  • With a wide range of left-field styles, none of the tunes on Steve Tibbetts - Hellbound Train settle into a single genre / JAZZ VIEWS
    Posted At : June 28, 2022 12:00 AM
    A compilation of tunes from Northern Song, Safe Journey, Exploded View, Big Map Idea, The Fall Of Us All, A Man About A Horse, Natural Causes and Life Of.JAZZ VIEWS - Chris Baber writes….Over the past four decades, Tibbetts has been creating a musical genre that is uniquely his own.  While it nods towards a wide range of left-field musical styles, none of the tunes settle into a single genre.  It is the continuous slipping between genres that characterises his playing as much as the bent, wobbly notes and fuzzy chords with which he punctuates the drawn-out tones wrung from the effects pedals to which he connects his guitars.  Tibbetts’ guitar sound, in part, seeks to capture the bent sounds of the Indian sarangi, and his travels in, and collaborations with musicians from, Nepal, Bali, Java, Tibet, Norway.Across many of the tunes, he is joined by Anderson who drums polyrhythms into elliptical patterns to drive the music in ever changing directions.  The list of other musicians suggests a somewhat limited accompaniment, and their role is often to add further spices to the heady brew that Tibbetts and Anderson concoct.  The title track, track 8 on CD1, opens with pummelling drum patterns that rise and fall in intensity and howling guitar sounds before Tibbetts’ acoustic guitar emerges and becomes soaked in a distortion which ebbs and flows like the drumming, and then a switch to fuzzy guitar around halfway drives the music to its conclusion at a break-neck speed.   Running at a little of 7 minutes, this is one of the tracks which I feel best illustrates the ways in the Tibbetts and Anderson build their tunes from disparate blends of influence.  Other examples include the opening 9 minutes or so of ‘Full Moon Dogs’ (CD1, track 1) and  ‘Black Temple’ (CD1 track 4),  8 minutes of ‘The Big Wind’ (CD2 track 12), and 7 minutes of ‘Night Again’ (CD2, track 14).  The other tracks run from a little under a minute (‘Ishvarana’, CD2, track 8) to between 2 and 5 minutes.  In these somewhat shorter pieces, there is enough time to present the idea but one always feels that it could have settled into a groove to develop in more detail.  Despite his travels, Tibbetts phrasing and melodies feel rooted in Western folk music, with tunes that carry hints of Irish and Scandinavian folk tunes and the blends of music which fall under the banner of ‘Americana’. The hint of folk music also runs through CD2, track 3 ‘Black Mountain Side’ in which a pacey version of the Jimmy Page tune is played almost as a reel, buoyed along on a wave of tabla rhythms which, while hinting at Indian music never quite loses the Irish ceilidh.    It is often a surprise that Tibbetts’ music is not more widely known or celebrated and this retrospective gives the listener an opportunity to experience 38 tunes that he has picked from his ECM catalogue (11 on CD1 and 17 on CD2).  He calls his sound "post-modern neo-primitivism” (an amusing word salad that is completely accurate - more than a nod here to another difficult to categorise guitar genius, John Fahey, who called his music ‘American primitivism’… perhaps Tibbetts would think the ‘American’ as too provincial but is too modest to use call it ‘World’).  If you are unfamiliar with Tibbetts’ work this is a great place to start, but you would also do well to revisit his back catalogue and hear the wealth of tunes in their original settings to appreciate how he has maintained a strong commitment to creating his own sound.Personell:
    Steve Tibbetts: Guitars, Dobro, Kalimba, Piano, Percussion; Marc Anderson: Congas, Percussion, Steeldrum, Gongs, Handpan; Jim Anton: Bass; Eric Anderson: Bass; Bob Hughes; Bass; Mike Olson: Synthesizer; Marcus Wise: Tabla, kalimba, pianolin; Claudia Schmidt: Voice; Rhea Valentine: Voice; Michelle Kinney: Cello, Drones; Tim Weinhold: Vase, Bongos.SEE THE JAZZ VIEWS PAGE
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  • 'Hellbound Train' tells the story of Steve Tibbetts artistic vision, and encourages new fans to dig deeper / The BIG TAKE OVER
    Posted At : July 1, 2022 12:00 AM
    The BIG TAKE OVER's Michael Toland writes….It sounds like hype, but it’s the truth: there’s no one like Steve Tibbetts. The Minnesota guitarist and composer has created a near-five decade body of work that straddles several genres (jazz, folk, rock, ambient, various types of world musics) without sitting comfortably in any of them. From delicate 12-string acoustic drones to raging electric firestorms to unidentifiable sonic explorations, Tibbetts follows his muse wherever it leads without ever sounding like anyone but himself. Despite his long career and the longtime patronage of ECM Records, Tibbetts remains an enigma in the music world – well-respected by critics and arts organizations, but rarely, if ever, cited by other musicians as a peer or influence, which seems astonishingly weird.After thirteen albums, with another under construction, Tibbetts apparently felt it was time to sum up his career to date with Hellbound Train, a two-disk, artist-curated collection that attempts to tell the artiste’s story. As with any other memoir, history can be selective, and such is the case here. With a mind toward creating an album for listening, rather than studying, Tibbetts elected to go through his songs and pick the ones that most sound like they go together, rather than the ones that mark signposts in his career. Thus the record isn’t as comprehensive as it might have been; while skipping the two albums he made with singer Choyling Droma and the one he did with hardanger fiddler Knut Hamre makes sense, ignoring everything before his third album Northern Song (1982), and pulling the majority of its tracks from three LPs: 1989’s Big Map Idea, 1994’s The Fall of Us All, and 2002’s A Man About a Horse makes for a quirkier proposition.The first disk opens with “Full Moon Dogs” from The Fall of Us All, a tune that begins with ambient guitar drones, wordless ethereal vocals and Eastern and African-influenced polyrhythms from his longtime percussionist Marc Anderson – a key collaborator for forty years. Just as we’ve settled into this mysterious other world to which Tibbetts has taken us, the tempo speeds up, the drones become deeper and the guitarist kicks on the distortion pedal, searing the surface of the composition with swathes of loud Indian modalities. Indeed, the bulk of this disk comes from Fall and its follow-up A Man About a Horse, both mostly (but not solely) electric masterpieces in which Eastern melodies, plush synth washes and uncommon percussion meet brooding grunge, gnarled abrasion and clouds of feedback for abstract sound paintings that involve rather than divert. From the rumbling stomp of “Your Cat” (sadly the only cut from his landmark 1986 LP Exploded View) and the earthy shimmer of “Chandoha” to the dynamic weave of “Roam and Spy” and the looming menace of the title track, Disk 1 is a masterclass on how to blend the American folk and rock guitar tradition with rhythms and tonalities that come from anywhere but here.After all the amplified stormclouds populating the first half, the second half of Hellbound Train puts the spotlight on Tibbetts’ acoustic side. This disk spreads the love a bit more across his catalog, taking fairly evenhanded chunks from 1989’s eclectic Big Map Idea, 2010’s all-acoustic Natural Causes and 2018’s similarly electricity-challenged Life Is, while sprinkling in cuts from 1982’s Northern Song and 1984’s Safe Journey. As on the songs from the first disk, many of these tunes mix textures and genres. Steel drums, synths, electric swells and all manner of exotic percussion abound, but never obscure the beauty of Tibbetts’ acoustic fingerpicking. Listen to the way the rhythm and electronic ambience support, rather than wash over, the swirling “Wish,” or the tabla percolation that gives movement to the guitarpeggios of “Aerial View.” Michelle Kinney’s cello provides a foundation for the guitarist on the lovely “Life of Emily,” while the sound of the room itself wraps around Tibbetts’ guitar, kalimba and piano during “The Big Wind.” The ghosts on “Night Again” send the guitar lines out to the ether, while Tibbetts’ version of Jimmy Page’s “Black Mountain Side” (itself a rewrite of the Bert Jansch arrangement of the Irish folk tune “Blackwaterside”) fleshes out the tune and puts it in another dimension entirely. Never satisfied with noodling wallpaper, Tibbetts instead creates environments that puts his acoustica elsewhere than coffee shop Muzak or new age specialty programs.Frankly, it’s a shame Tibbetts didn’t dig further back. The tune “Ur,” an acoustic/electric prog-folk epic from his 1980 breakthrough second album Yr, makes a dandy introduction to his musical worldview, but was left off along with anything else from that album. But from a listener’s standpoint the sequence makes sense, with a sense of flow most compilation records don’t have due to time jumps and a need to cover all the bases. Regardless, Hellbound Train succeeds in its aim: it effectively tells the story of Tibbetts’ artistic vision, and encourages new fans to dig deeper.SEE The BIG TAKE OVER PAGE
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  • Time for Three with composer Kevin Puts perform and discuss 'Letters for the Future' with FM91: Toledo
    Posted At : July 5, 2022 12:00 AM
    Innovative string trio Time For Three (TF3) – praised by Simon Rattle as “benevolent monsters, monsters of ability and technique surely. But also conveyors of an infectious joy that I find both touching and moving” – released the new album Letters for the Future with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Xian Zhang on Deutsche Grammophon on June 10. The album comprises world premiere recordings of two technically demanding and musically virtuosic concerti for trio and orchestra by two Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, written fifteen years apart but both commissioned for the group: Jennifer Higdon’s 2007 Concerto 4-3 and Kevin Puts’s brand-new Contact, the first track of which is available May 20. A PBS Articulate episode about the project will be released to PBS affiliates nationwide on May 24. 
     
    Time For Three comprises two violinists, Nicolas “Nick” Kendall and Charles Yang, and bassist Ranaan Meyer; all three musicians are also vocalists, a defining feature of the group since Yang joined in 2015 that Puts makes good use of in Contact. Both Kendall and Meyer attended Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute and played early in their careers with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Yang graduated from Juilliard. Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc., explains:
     
    “The Philadelphia Orchestra’s collaboration with Time For Three showcases works by two of the most innovative and exciting composers of our day, Jennifer Higdon and Kevin Puts, that we hope will inspire an expansion of the repertoire for string trio and orchestra for future generations.  This recording also represents a homecoming of sorts, as we welcome back the musicians of Time For Three, who have deep connections to Philadelphia. Among the many things that shine through in this project is the special bond that exists between Time For Three and the Philadelphia Orchestra.”
     
    Contact was commissioned for Time For Three by a group of orchestras* and PACs led by the San Francisco Symphony and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), the Philadelphia Orchestra’s summer home. San Francisco had been slated to play the work first in the summer of 2020, followed by the other commissioning orchestras, until the pandemic caused a change of plan. In the end, the Florida Orchestra gave a “sneak peek” premiere this past March, with San Francisco, SPAC and Sun Valley Music Festival performances to follow this summer in July and August. Puts’s idea for the work was to write something that was “of the unknown,” and he experimented with the ideas of unexplored frontiers and the greater beyond. TF3 elaborates: 
     
    “When the world was plunged into the fragility of the pandemic … we were really inspired by the incredible work and international cooperation that was happening on the International Space Station – how humans from all over the world were quite literally rising above us all, working together for a future that transcended the pandemic. The idea that there were people able to look at the world from a perspective we lacked instilled a sense of hope for the future in us, and that hope has been woven into the very fabric of this concerto.”
     
    Puts also highlights the influence of the pandemic on the title, which was originally just Triple Concerto: “The word ‘contact’ has gained new resonance during these years of isolation. It is my hope that this concerto might be heard as an expression of yearning for this fundamental human need. I am deeply grateful to Time For Three for their belief in my work and for the tireless collaborative spirit which allowed us to develop this showcase for their immense talents.”
     
    Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 was commissioned for Time For Three by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Wheeling Symphony. The concerto was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra and TF3 in 2008 under the baton of one of the group’s mentors, Christoph Eschenbach. They have performed it since with dozens of other orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by Marin Alsop, in Carnegie Hall. A video of TF3 recording Concerto 4-3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Xian Zhang can be found here. TF3 explains:
     “At the time that Higdon was commissioned for this project by a stellar orchestral consortium, we had been experimenting with various musical languages that were outside the realm of traditionally classical canonical narratives, including Americana folk traditions. As more and more of the elements of that language began seeping into our musical style, we looked to weave bluegrass into the fabric of a classical concerto. Higdon’s own upbringing in Tennessee and her understanding of the musical traditions of the region truly brought this idea to reality.”
     
    Higdon says: “I knew the Time For Three guys a few years before we had the chance to work together; we crossed paths in the hallways at Curtis, where I taught, and I often heard them jamming in Rittenhouse Square. … [Concerto 4-3] was written over a three-month period after a session with Time For Three where they showed me their unique musical voices. This provided immense inspiration in tailoring a concerto befitting them, one that would highlight their playing, make sure they had the chance to do some improvisatory solos, and musically sing and dance in a way that reflects the fun they elicit in their performances. For this composer, that was pure joy.”  
     
    Letters for the Future marks a summation of TF3’s evolution to date. As the group says: “This album is ‘us.’ It gives voice to our roots in the Western classical tradition; it embraces our innovation through various Americana musical languages; and it looks with us towards the future as we reach to the stars. It is our timeless time-capsule donation to the music world that we hope anyone can open and, in it, hear our voice as Time For Three.”Live From FM 91 - Toledo, Music Director Brad Cresswell interviews Time For Three And Composer/Pianist Kevin Puts. The star string trio Time for Three performs for us (with composer Kevin Puts on the piano). In this session, we talk about their new album Letters for the Future, which contains concertos written for them by Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon.     SEE THE FM91 PAGE & listen to the segment
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  • RSNO, Schiff, Eisenberg - William Grant Still - Music for Violin & Orchestra featured on Classical California: KDFC/KUSC
    Posted At : July 5, 2022 12:00 AM
    Play On, California! is our noontime spotlight on the great musicians from our Golden State. From San Diego to Sacramento and from the LA Phil to the San Francisco Symphony, we have a goldmine of local musical talent across our state. So, each weekday at noon, join Dianne Nicolini for homegrown favorites. We’re also updating this blog daily, highlighting in detail some of the incredible efforts taken on by our arts communities to share music on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, their own websites and more! If you have any favorites to add, let us know in the comments.From an early work he wrote while still a student to a piece written almost 50 years later in memory of Jean Sibelius, a new CD of music by William Grant Still has a dozen or so works that have never been recorded before. The album, part of the American Classics series on Naxos, has Avlana Eisenberg conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and her mother, violinist Zina Schiff is soloist on many of the tracks. Many years ago, Schiff was researching repertoire for an all-American recording and fell in love with several pieces by Still. And it turned out that there were many pieces that had never been recorded in their orchestral versions.“The American Suite was actually his opus one for orchestra,” Eisenberg says. “So that was his very first piece, written for pretty small forces, but it displays even at a very young age (I believe he was 23 years old) his emotional range. I think of as a microcosm, these three short movements that already give us a sense what he can do with orchestral color, and his use of melody.” His Violin Suite from 1943 is better known in its piano accompanied version, as is Pastorela (1946). Celeste Headlee, Still’s granddaughter, says he treated the orchestra like his instrument. “Most composers write for piano first, and they expand it. He never did that… He wanted to capture the beauty, and the glow and the bloom of every individual instrument.” She’s glad that he’s been getting programmed more frequently, as more musicians and audiences are discovering his works. “It’s an odd position that I’m in, because I realize I’m biased… He was my favorite person in the world, and his music very much sounds like him. And so, to my mind, his is the best music in the whole world, right? But also as a music student, I kept coming up against the fact that this was extremely well-written and well-crafted music.” She says that there are many more pieces (in cabinets at her mother’s house) waiting to be heard.Conductor Avlana Eisenberg says working with her mother on this project has been especially rewarding: “Given that she provided my introduction to William Grant Still and his music, I feel like I developed an appreciation of this music through her. And then to get to not only discover the orchestrations of these pieces that I had fallen in love with in their violin/piano version, but also bring additional works to the table to round out these selections was such a gift.”SEE THE KDFC - San Francisco PAGESEE THE KUSC - Los Angeles PAGE
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  • You won't easily find saxophonists with a better voice than Oded Tzur / COMMENTARY BOX SPORTS
    Posted At : July 4, 2022 12:00 AM
    On his follow-up to Here Be Dragons New York-based saxophonist Oded Tzur and his collaborators apply their subtle dialect in a more intense space, exploring the nuances and colours of the saxophonist’s self-fashioned raga in a suite-like sequence of quiet meditations and powerful exclamations. Throughout Isabela a heightened sense of urgency prevails, as Oded returns with his unaltered quartet to weave one underlying musical idea through a series of elaborate and impassioned designs. Since their debut appearance for ECM, the group’s interplay has grown more intimate on the road and the deep trust between the leader and his accompanists is a driving and binding force behind the music’s conceptual scope.Oded has carved out a particularly idiosyncratic approach to composing on his musical path, blending raga and jazz in a way where the saxophonist is neither borrowing nor imitating musical idioms from elsewhere, but rather applying a comprehensive music-philosophical concept on a universal level. As Oded figures, a raga goes beyond a set of parameters bound to time signatures or notes: „One way to define a raga is to see it as an abstract personality that’s made of sound. Some musician would even refer to it as a presence that you have to make come alive. That’s where it’s not a scale anymore, but something so much more than a sequence of notes. In that sense, the blues is exactly like a raga. It has a scale, but it’s not simply a scale. It’s an abstract personality that is so distinct that you can hear one phrase of it and already go: ‘that’s blues’ – Like a person you recognise from afar.” Once again joining Oded on his musical journey are pianist Nitai Hershkovits, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Johnathan Blake, who infuse the leader’s inventions with effortless musicianship and vivid imagination. Each a pillar in the contemporary jazz scene and with links reaching beyond the genre’s traditional format, the saxophonist’s collaborators are given “freedom to develop the music any way they want”, within the structures and possibilities the compositions offer. The group is constantly discovering new ways to communicate with each other and expand their musical vocabulary in the process: “It’s like we’re on a river with trees around the banks, so we can’t really make out where we’re headed, but we can be sure that it will lead us someplace good”. That place is marked by Nitai’s delicate brush strokes on piano, Johnathan’s fierce and confident percussion work and Petros’ more than reliable foundation in the deep end.Downbeat has described Oded’s playing as “quietly fantastical and full of narrative feints” while outlining his tone as “light and sweet, with a whispered airiness”, and the saxophonist’s note-bending, microtonal technique, inspired by Indian classical instruments and touching the “barely audible”, is again at the heart of his voice and the melodies that protrude on Isabela.The raga that pervades the album from start to finish is introduced in the opening act “Invocation”, which works like a Chalan in Indian classical music – the skeleton of a Raga that outlines the raga’s structure in the briefest possible way, much as a synopsis does a play. Oded and his quartet develop the concentrated musical matter of “Invocation” and transform it into new shapes and forms in expansive studies of temperament, shifting from pensive introspection in one moment to outgoing and free-wheeling improvisation in the next. “It took me a while to develop the courage to also explore the other extreme, see what happens when you follow the explosion at the other end of the dynamic spectrum. For this album I finally felt comfortable to explore the totality of the dynamic range, the silence but also the eruptions, the bright colours.”Neither the silence nor the bright colours that immerse the album in manifold shades could emerge without the distinctive contributions from Oded’s fellow travellers and the group’s performance is highlighted by the crystalline acoustics of the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano, where the album was recorded in September 2021. COMMENTARY BOX SPORTS - Estelle Allen writes….It’s hard to find saxophonists with a better voice than Oded Tzur’s, if they ever existed. Make him reach his new record Tsuru His five-track ensemble is deep and impressive with its degree of sophistication as well as its pervasive emotionality.SEE THE COMMENTARY BOX SPORTS PAGE
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Max Horowitz

maxcrossover@gmail.com

A graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music(Queens College NYC), Max Horowitz is the principle of Crossover Media music promotion. Founded in 1994, CM client list incl; Sony, Verve/UMG, Warners, BMG, Concord, Disney, eOne. Prior to Crossover Media, Max worked as Producer for SiriusXM, Music Choice, Classical-104WNCN - New York, DayNET Talk Network, and is the recipient of various radio awards including; The Peabody, 'International Festival of New York, and 'New York State Broadcaster Awards. He has produced long form radio shows for artist projects involving; Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, The Bad Plus, Vladimir Horowitz, Marcus Roberts, Red Hot org and others, and is a contributer to the Simon & Schuster published textbook 'Understanding The Music Business.'

Amanda Bloom

amandacrossover@gmail.com

Amanda Bloom is the publicity and communications manager at Crossover Media. A Brooklyn resident, Amanda is also an active NYC jazz vocalist who draws musical inspiration from a wide range of influences. Crossover Media's projects which encompass multiple genres has been a great fit for her both personally and professionally. Amanda earned a BM in jazz vocal performance from the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University under the guidance of Jay Clayton & Gary Thomas.

Zachary Swanson

zacharycrossover@gmail.com

Zachary Swanson began studying the double bass at the age of 6 in his home state of Massachusetts. Using gut strings and a personalized technique, Zachary has developed a conception of the double bass that heightens the integrity of various musical environments. He can be found playing around New York City and beyond in a variety of styles, ranging from adventurous improvised music to backing singer-songwriters. Zachary is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY where he has made his home since 2012. 

Eeppi Ursin



Eeppi Ursin is a platinum-selling, award-winning singer-songwriter, jazz vocalist and pianist originally from Finland. Ursin is known for her angelic-strong voice and exceptional skill set ranging from top-class performance to writing music for various groups. Her stage presence combines warmth, style, humor and virtuosity. Her recordings and performances as a singer vary from pop, jazz, dance, a cappella and children's music.

Throughout her career she has captivated audiences all around the world performing at prestigious venues with acclaimed artists such as trumpeter Leroy Jones and Spirit of New Orleans, Vocal Ensemble Club For Five, and UMO Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. Eeppi Ursin also collaborates with renowned theatres and modern opera ensembles as a composer and arranger.

Eeppi Ursin has released three solo albums where she stands out as an artist with a strong and unique yet catching pop sound. Her albums with praising reviews are: Violet (Buckshotmusic 2005), Yellow Page Girl (Buckshotmusic 2009) and Jäljet (Luomusic 2017) followed by numerous radio hit-singles. In addition to her solo albums Eeppi appears on over 40 recordings of which five are platinum- or gold-selling albums.

In 2014 she was chosen to perform as the soloist at the President's Independence Day Reception in her home country Finland. In 2001 she won the 1st prize in the Lady Summertime international jazz vocal competition. Eeppi Ursin works and lives in New York City.