Jazz Journalists Association Announces 2010 Jazz Awards Finalists

Jazz Journalists Association
Announces 2010 Jazz Awards Finalists

Emerging new jazz talents and acclaimed stars, recording debuts and albums of historical importance, events producers, liner note writers, photographers, broadcasters and lifetime achievers in jazz journalism -- all are nominees up for consideration in the 2010 Jazz Awards, an initiative of the Jazz Journalists Association.

The JJA, a non-profit international professional organization of more than 300 writers, photographers, broadcasters and new media producers, today posted finalists in 41 categories of excellence in music-making, presentation and documentation for 14th annual Jazz Awards at its website JJAJazzAwards.com. Winners of the Awards, determined by a poll of JJA professional members in good standing, will be announced and celebrated at a gala afternoon event on June 14, 2010 at City Winery, New York.

Darcy James Argue, a 35-year-old Canadian-born composer and bandleader living in Brooklyn, is a first-time competitor named in five categories (Up & Coming Artist of the Year, Composer, Arranger, Big Band for his Secret Society and Record of the Year released between March 1 2009 and February 28 2010, for Infernal Machines). Other nominees for multiple awards include pianist Vijay Iyer (Musician of the Year, Composer, Record for his trio's Historicity, Small Ensemble and Pianist), reeds specialist Henry Threadgill (Musician, Composer, Record for This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 and Small Ensemble for his band Zooid), alto saxophonist Steve Lehman (Composer, Record for Travail, Transformation and Flow, Alto Saxophonist) and Maria Schneider (Composer, Arranger, and Large Ensemble for her Maria Schneider Orchestra).

Five out of six finalists for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz (Muhal Richard Abrams, Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Wayne Shorter and Randy Weston) are already National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters, and one (drummer Paul Motian) has been a fixture on the New York scene since recording in pianist Bill Evans's trio at the Village Vanguard in 1961. Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's posthumously released Without A Song: Live in Europe 1969 is competing against The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935 - 1946) and Ella Fitzgerald's Twelve Nights in Hollywood and three other contenders.

"The finalists for 2010 Jazz Awards reflect the depth of talent and breadth of styles that jazz encompasses today," said Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, about the ballot. "Highly creative octagenarians such as Roy Haynes, Tony Bennett, Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz, Bill Holman, Frank Wess, Bucky Pizzarelli and producer George Wein -- are celebrated alongside new generation musicians like Argue, Iyer, Lehman, composer John Hollenbeck, saxophonist Miguel Zenón, bassists Esperanza Spalding and Linda Oh, singer Gretchen Parlato, banjoist Bela Fleck, flutists Jamie Baum and Nicole Mitchell, clarinetist Evan Christopher, violinist Jenny Scheinman and producer Brice Rosenbloom. This suggests undiminished strength in an art form that's still less than 100 years old."

The JJA Jazz Awards are the only honors bestowed by any organization in the United States of excellence in jazz journalism. This year for the first time JJA voters will select a Blog of the Year along with Website, Periodical, Book, Best Liner Notes, Feature and Review Writer, Photographer, Broadcaster and a recipient of Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism (won in 2009 by Mike Zwerin of Bloomberg News and formerly the International Herald Tribune, who died on April 2, 2010). Nominees this year for this prestigious Award are writers Stanley Crouch (New York), Paul deBarros (Seattle), Don Heckman (Los Angeles), Bill Milkowski (New York), and W. Royal Stokes (Elkins, W. Virginia, formerly of Silver Spring, MD).

Nominations for the JJA's Jazz Awards were filed by 60 JJA members over a month-long voting period; these nominees will be presented to the Association's entire membership, along with Photo of the Year entries (to be announced and posted atJJAJazzAwards.comon May 3) for a second voting round. The Jazz Awards themselves, engraved statuettes, have become objects of admiration since the Awards were launched in 1997.

The JJA's Jazz Awards gala, a fundraiser, will include introduction of a new coterie of "activists, advocates, aiders and abettors of jazz" who comprise the JJA's "A Team." The Awards event, to be MC'd by Terrance McKnight of WQXR-FM, will comprise both the Awards announcements and a reception featuring refreshments including Brother Thelonious Belgian Ale and wine produced on site at City Winery. Tickets will go on sale on May 3.

For further information go to www.JJAJazzAwards.com or contact Howard Mandel,President@JazzJournalists.org. A complete list of JJA Jazz Awards nominees follows.


2010 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards Nominations

1. Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
Muhal Richard Abrams
Jimmy Heath
James Moody
Paul Motian
Wayne Shorter
Randy Weston

2. Musician of the Year
Dave Douglas
Vijay Iyer
Joe Lovano
Sonny Rollins
Henry Threadgill

3. Composer of the Year
Darcy James Argue
John Hollenbeck
Vijay Iyer
Steve Lehman
Maria Schneider
Henry Threadgill

4. Up & Coming Artist of the Year
Darcy James Argue
Gerald Clayton
Darius Jones
Linda Oh
Esperanza Spalding

5. Events Producer of the Year
Todd Barkan, Dizzy's Club Coca-Colaat Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jack Kleinsinger, Highlights in Jazz
Andre Menard, Montreal Jazz Festival
Brice Rosenbloom, boomBOOM Presents: Winter Jazz Fest, Brooklyn Masonic Temple, (le) Poisson Rouge
George Wein, New Festival Productions LLC: CareFusion Jazz Festival New York, CareFusion Jazz Festival Newport, Newport Folk Festival

6. Record of the Year (CDs issued between March 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010)
Infernal Machines, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, New Amsterdam Records
Historicity, Vijay Iyer Trio, ACT Music
Travail, Transformation and Flow, Steve Lehman Octet, Pi Recordings
Folk Art, Joe Lovano, Blue Note Records
This Brings Us To, Vol. 1, Henry Threadgill Zooid, Pi Recordings
Esta Plena, Miguel Zenón, Marsalis Music

7. Historical Recording, Boxed Set, or Single CD Reissue of the Year (Note: Condensed editions of previously issued boxed sets are ineligible)
The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946), Mosaic Records
Twelve Nights in Hollywood, Ella Fitzgerald, Verve Music Group
Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969, Freddie Hubbard, Blue Note Records
Pieces of Jade, Scott LaFaro, Resonance Records
Saga of the Outlaws, Charles Tyler, Nessa Records
The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions, Denny Zeitlin, Mosaic Records

8. DVD of the Year
21st Century Chase, Fred Anderson, Delmark Records
Extraordinary Life and Music of a Jazz Legend, Svend Asmussen Shanachie
Live in Berlin & Stockholm 1968, Count Basie & His Orchestra, Impro Jazz
Thelonious Monk: American Composer, Medici Arts
Anita O' Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, AOD Productions/Elan Entertainment
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, Medici Arts

9. Record Label of the Year
Blue Note Records
Clean Feed Records
ECM
Pi Recordings
Sunnyside Records

10. Female Singer of the Year
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Roberta Gambarini
Sheila Jordan
Gretchen Parlato
Cassandra Wilson

11. Male Singer of the Year
Tony Bennett
Andy Bey
Freddy Cole
Kurt Elling
Giacomo Gates
Bill Henderson

12. Player of Instruments Rare in Jazz
Edmar Castaneda, harp
Bela Fleck, banjo
Grégoire Maret, harmonica
Scott Robinson, unusual reeds and brass
Daniel Smith, bassoon

13. Large Ensemble of the Year
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Mingus Big Band
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra

14. Arranger of the Year
Darcy James Argue
Carla Bley
John Hollenbeck
Bill Holman
Maria Schneider

15. Small Ensemble of the Year (<10>
Henry Threadgill Zooid
Joe Lovano Us Five
Mostly Other People Do The Killing
Vijay Iyer Trio
Wayne Shorter Quartet

16. Trumpeter of the Year
Terence Blanchard
Dave Douglas
Tom Harrell
Wynton Marsalis
Wadada Leo Smith

17. Trombonist of the Year
Steve Davis
Robin Eubanks
Wycliffe Gordon
Roswell Rudd
Steve Turre

18. Tenor Saxophonist of the Year
Fred Anderson
Joe Lovano
Tony Malaby
Branford Marsalis
Chris Potter
Sonny Rollins

19. Alto Saxophonist of the Year
Ornette Coleman
Lee Konitz
Steve Lehman
Rudresh Mahanthappa
Miguel Zenón

20. Flutist of the Year
Jamie Baum
Holly Hoffman
Nicole Mitchell
Lew Tabackin
Frank Wess

21. Baritone Saxophonist of the Year
Hamiet Bluiett
James Carter
Ronnie Cuber
Claire Daly
Gary Smulyan

22. Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
Jane Bunnett
Dave Liebman
Branford Marsalis
Evan Parker
Wayne Shorter
Steve Wilson

23. Clarinetist of the Year
Don Byron
Evan Christopher
Anat Cohen
Eddie Daniels
Ken Peplowski

24. Guitarist of the Year
Bill Frisell
Jim Hall
Lionel Loueke
Pat Metheny
Bucky Pizzarelli

25. Pianist of the Year
Kenny Barron
Vijay Iyer
Keith Jarrett
Jason Moran
Matthew Shipp

26. Organist of the Year
Joey DeFrancesco
Larry Goldings
Dr. Lonnie Smith
Gary Versace
Sam Yahel

27. Violinist of the Year
Regina Carter
Mark Feldman
Jenny Scheinman
Billy Bang
Mark O'Connor

28. Bassist of the Year (includes Acoustic & Electric)
Ron Carter
Charlie Haden
Dave Holland
Christian McBride
John Patitucci

29. Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year
Jason Adasiewicz
Gary Burton
Stefon Harris
Joe Locke
Steve Nelson

30. Percussionist of the Year
Cyro Baptista
Hamid Drake
Zakir Hussain
Kahil El'Zabar
Bobby Sanabria
Daniel Sadownick

31. Drummer of the Year
Brian Blade
Jack DeJohnette
Roy Haynes
Paul Motian
Jeff "Tain" Watts
Matt Wilson

32. Periodical of the Year
AllAboutJazz-New York
Cadence
Down Beat
JazzTimes
Signal To Noise

33. Website of the Year
AllAboutJazz.com
Jazz.com
JazzCorner.com
JazzTimes.com
PointOfDeparture.org

34. Blog of the Year
The Gig, Nate Chinen -- http://thegig.typepad.com

A Blog Supreme, Patrick Jarenwattananon -- http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme

Do The Math blog and webzine, Ethan Iverson,http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath

JazzWax, Marc Myers, http://www.jazzwax.com

Rifftides, Doug Ramsey, http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides

35. Best Book about Jazz
Jazz, Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux, W.W. Norton

I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Heath and Joseph McLaren, Temple University Press

Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, Robin D.G. Kelley, Free Press

The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957 - 1965, Sam Stephenson

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, Terry Teachout, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

36. Best Liner Notes
The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946), by Dan Morgenstern
Classic Artie Shaw Bluebird and Victor Sessions, by John McDonough

37. Photo of the Year--Nominees for Photo of the Year will be announced and displayed after May 1 at www.JJAJazzAwards.com

38. The Helen Dance-Robert Palmer Award for Review and Feature Writing (Print and/or Online)
David Adler: Leterland (http://blog.adlermusic.com); JazzTimes; Philadelphia Weekly;The Philadelphia Inquirer; Time Out New York; AllAboutJazz-New York

Nate Chinen: The New York Times; JazzTimes

Gary Giddins: JazzTimes, Vintage magazine, The Independent(UK)

Marc Myers, JazzWax.com

Doug Ramsey, www.ArtsJournal.com/Rifftides

Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

39. The Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting
Josh Jackson, Host of "The Checkout," "Live at the Village Vanguard," WBGO.org, Newark

Bobby Jackson, Music Director, WCPN, Ideastream, Solace.fm Cleveland

Gary Walker, Music Director, Host of "Morning Jazz," WBGO.org, Newark

Jim Wilke, Host, "Jazz After Hours" (Hatchcover Productions, Seattle, distributed by Public Radio International)

Linda Yohn, Music Director, weekday morning host, WEMU, Ypsilanti

40. The Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award for Photography
Alan Nahigian
Mitchell Seidel
Herb Snitzer

41. Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism
Stanley Crouch: Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz; The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity; Kansas City Lighting: The Life and Times of Young Charlie Parker; Notes of a Hanging Judge: Essays and Reviews, 1979 - 1989; fiction; columnist, New York Daily News;JazzTimes, Village Voice</span>.

Paul deBarros: Seattle Times, Down Beat, co-founder Earshot Jazz, Jackson Street After Hours.

Don Heckman: The International Review of Music(http://iromwordpress.com), Notes from the Left Coast(http://notesfromtheleftcoast.blogspot.com); the Los Angeles Times,JazzTimes; 1960s-'70s: The New York Times, Village Voice, Down Beat, Metronome, the Jazz Review.

Bill Milkowski: JazzTimes, Modern Drummer, Guitar Player, Bass Player, Pulse Guitar Club(Italy), Jazzthing (Germany), Jazziz, Tower Pulse!, Down Beat, Fi magazine, Good Times(Long Island), Cityside (Milwaukee); Rockers, Jazzbos and Visionaries, Jaco: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Jaco Pastoruis, Swing It! An Annotated History of Jive, radio: overnight dj, WWOZ ("Milkman's Matinee").

W. Royal Stokes: Growing Up With Jazz; Living the Jazz Life; The Jazz Scene; Swing Era New York: The Jazz Photographs of Charles Peterson; former editor, JJA Jazz Notes and festival reviewer, Jazzhouse.org; Washington Post, JazzTimes, Down Beat; radio host, "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say. . . ", "Since Minton's".

For media information, please contact:

DL Media · 610-667-0501
Don Lucoff · don@jazzpublicity.com


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SONGSTRESS ROBIN MCKELLE TO RELEASE "MESS AROUND" ON E1 MUSIC

SONGSTRESS ROBIN MCKELLE
TO RELEASE MESS AROUND ON E1 MUSIC

ALBUM SHOWCASES A NUMBER OF GENRES
INCLUDING SOUL, BLUES, AND JAZZ

U.S. TOUR DATES IN SUPPORT
OF MAY 4TH RELEASE

"I've wanted to do this kind of album for a long time. It's a project that spans a number of genres: soul, blues and jazz - all musical styles I love and which define my personality. It's an organic, flesh-and-blood record, recorded with musicians close to me. It has quite a 60s flavor, inspired by the albums Ray Charles and Nina Simone were making at the time."

Robin McKelle's husky warm contralto more than measures up to these rhythm 'n' blues songs on her newest release, Mess Around (out on E1 Music on Tuesday, May 4th), which perfectly suits her natural expressiveness. As one jazz diva after another took to the airways, Robin (originally from Rochester, New York) needed to stand out from the competition in record shops. "On stage, people have an idea of who I am. I've always made room for this kind of repertoire in my concerts, but on record, it took me a while to express this character trait, this enthusiasm. I'm obviously not in the same category as Diana Krall or Norah Jones, so I might as well deal with it since that's the way it is (laughter)."

After two albums devoted to big-band jazz and swing - Introducing Robin McKelle (2006) and Modern Antique (2008) - Mess Around is a departure from a certain notion of classicism. Its themes are drawn from very different sources (The Bee Gees, Leonard Cohen, Doc Pomus, Willie Dixon and The Beatles), but the aesthetic choices lend a wealth of meaning and consistency to the session, ably led by the songstress.

"I was involved in this CD from start to finish. I wrote some of the songs, worked on the arrangements of certain covers and chose the right artists to add that soulful touch."

The legendary Fred Wesley (James Brown's former trombonist and musical director, who also played with the Count Basie Orchestra) arranged two of the tracks; tenor saxophonist Houston Person (a hard-bop icon with a dense, sensual sound) crafts two enchanting solos; and Marvin Sewell (Cassandra Wilson) is one of today's most subtle jazz-guitar soloists. Generally working with a quartet including organ and/or electric piano, bass and drums, and a matchless brass section, Robin McKelle has assembled all the right ingredients to fully express the unique texture of her timbre and the stripped-down, affectation-free verve of her performance as she returns to her first loves.

Influenced by her mother who sang in a church choir, at the age of fifteen, the talented young Robin McKelle paid her dues in small R&B groups. Learning piano and French horn, she went on to study jazz at Miami University (1994-1996) before entering the Berklee College Of Music in Boston and graduating (1999). Back on the West Coast, she regularly worked as a backing vocalist. "If I'd had to settle for singing jazz, I could never have made a living, so I did quite a lot of touring with artists who included Michael McDonald and Bebe Winans. Pop and rock gigs. I have absolutely no regrets. I learned my trade on the job."

Returning to the Berklee College Of Music as a teacher, Robin McKelle entered the Thelonious Monk competition in Washington and won a prize in 2004. Her career was now launched. In Europe particularly, the public embraced the generous artist. "Actually, I always liked great soul music. First Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Gladys Knight, then Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. For me, those women are part of the same history. They personify the same total sincerity, even if the styles are different."

Consequently, Mess Around focuses on the singing, rejecting today's over-aseptic production trends. The result should delight the eclectic audiences who have followed her on tour (especially in Europe) and win over new fans, who will be enchanted by the immediate impact of the record, which they will want to play again and again.

Click here to listen to an exclusive
streaming track from the album

Check out Robin McKelle's forthcoming performances:

Monday, May 10 - Blues Alley, Washington, DC
Thursday, May 13 - Nighttown, Cleveland Heights, OH
Friday, May 14 - Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, Grosse Pointe, MI
Saturday, May 15 - Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, Grosse Pointe, MI
Tuesday, May 18 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, New York, NY
Thursday, May 20 - Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA
Saturday, May 22 - Chris' Jazz Cafe, Philadelphia, PA
Monday, June 14 - Xerox Auditorium, Rochester, NY

For more dates, please visit http://www.RobinMcKelle.com

To request a copy of Mess Around for review purposes, please contact:

DL Media: (610) 667-0501
Steph Brown : steph@jazzpublicity.com

E1 MUSIC: (516)-484-1000 x 279
Giovanna Melchiorre : gmelchiorre@e1ent.com

Become a fan of E1 Music on

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Brazilian Vocalist Kenia Pays Homage To The Dorival Caymmi Songbook On Her New Mooka Records Release, "Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi"

Brazilian Vocalist Kenia
Pays Homage To The Dorival Caymmi Songbook
On Her New Mooka Records Release

Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi

Ever hungry for new challenges, the sultry-voiced Brazilian enchantress Kenia, who reemerged on the jazz scene two years ago with the critically-acclaimed album Simply Kenia, serves up one of the most demanding and satisfying projects of her three decade long career with Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi on Mooka Records.

Renowned for her ability to translate the complex rhythms of her homeland into jazzy creations that made her a star of the smooth jazz movement two decades ago, the singer digs even deeper into Brazil's cultural legacy on this compelling and artistically rich 15-track session. She tackles the supremely melodic and culturally telling legacy of the Brazilian composer and singer who spent over seven decades creating an aural portrait of Bahia, the stronghold of Brazil's vibrant African culture. The author of such fabled standards as "Samba da Minha Terra," "Doralice" and "Voce Ja Foi a Bahia," Caymmi has long been recognized as a singular figure in Brazilian popular culture, truly an artist without peers in a country noted for a profusion of legendary musicians.

"Dorival's music lies just between the two major movements in MPB (Música Popular Brasileira, or Brazilian Popular Music)," Kenia explains, "the Samba of the 1920's and 30's and the Bossa Nova of the late 1950s and '60s. Caymmi's music served as a kind of a smooth transition between these two styles. And, although he had two very distinct lines of composition, the link between these two movements is characterized by his firm foundation of Samba, sprinkled with some Bahian spices."

To ensure an impeccably authentic interpretation of this collection of Caymmi classics, Kenia employed a rhythm section of first-call Brazilian musicians. Fernando Merlino, who crafted some arrangements and plays piano, is joined by bassist Leo Traversa and percussionist Airto Moreira, perhaps the most recorded Brazilian instrumentalist of his generation. The band also features guitarists Eric Susoeff and Marty Ashby, the singer's son Lucas, who contributes his growing skills as a percussionist, and trombonist Jay Ashby, whose invaluable participation as arranger, musician, and co-producer shows on the song "Requebre Que Eu Dou Um Doce." The involvement of sound engineer Jay Dudt, a three time Grammy-winner, assured the sonic brilliance of Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi.

Although several of Caymmi's songs, including "Doralice" and "Samba da Minha Terra," were immortalized by singer João Gilberto, many of them are not overly familiar to contemporary audiences. "Digging into Caymmi's work has been an absolute joy," Kenia confides. "His songbook takes me back in time. For instance, I discovered that 'Roda Piao,' a tune that Carmen Miranda recorded, was written by Caymmi. I was delighted to learn that the song had a beautiful introduction and interlude. Growing up, we only knew and sang the bridge. And for years I sang 'Acalanto' to my children, again not having any idea of the composer's name. As challenging as it is to revisit some of these childhood memories, it was also very liberating."

The singer was born Kenia Acioly into a family of Italian origins in the city of Nova Iguaçu, a working class suburb of Rio de Janeiro. When she was six, Kenia's family moved to Copacabana, Rio's chic beach-fronting neighborhood. As with most Cariocas, as natives of Rio are known, growing up in the 1960s during the bossa nova era meant that she played guitar by ear for many years before realizing that singing was her true calling. It helped that at that time Brazilian television was loaded with programs that featured such trend-setting vocalists as Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Nara Leão and Caymmi's daughter Nana. "By the late '70s and early '80s," she recalls, "I was madly in love with the music of Djavan and Ivan Lins. At the same time, through my friend, the late Durval Ferreira, a great composer, I was introduced to the beautiful voices of Sarah Vaughn and Carmen McRae."

Arriving in the U.S. in 1980, Kenia quickly established herself as the new Brazilian singer on the scene and recorded her debut in the States with trumpeter Claudio Roditi on his album Red on Red. Several years later, she launched her solo recording career, producing four popular and critically-acclaimed albums for the MCA and Denon labels between 1987 and 1991. She also established herself as one of the most popular and successful U.S. based Brazilian musicians since the heyday of Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66. In 1997, Kenia launched her own label, Mooka Records, with a particularly ambitious effort; Project Ivan Lins, a tribute to the one of Brazil's most prolific and popular contemporary songwriters, featuring Lins himself as a special guest.

Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi represents a continuation of the effort she began on Simply Kenia to rediscover and explore in her own distinctive way hidden gems of 20th Century popular Brazilian music. "Dorival's compositions address two distinct themes," she comments. "There are the songs about the sea, where he so eloquently and romantically sang of the hardships, passion and faith of the fishermen of his beloved Bahia. These are known to Brazilians as canções praianas (Beach Songs). These songs have somewhat of an ECM-style jazz sound and yet a very folkloric feel."

The second thematic track is equally satisfying. "Dorival had a special charm when composing sambas, samba-cancoes and soft ballads. His lyrics are subtly sensual when expressing love, passion and admiration for women. This theme is the focus of the project," the singer continues.

Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi provides a unique and exhilarating way for international audiences to fall under the trance of the late composer's incomparable artistry while enjoying the heartfelt vocals of the supremely talented Kenia and the joyous instrumental interpretations of her all-star band.

"Interpreting Dorival's songs is a wonderful consequence of my quest to reconnect with the music of my country," Kenia acknowledges. "His music is so rich, his repertoire so vast and intriguing that I'm already thinking about what's to follow: A sequel to Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi."

Listen to an exclusive streaming track "VOCÊ JÁ FOI À BAHIA?"

KENIA CELEBRATES DORIVAL CAYMMI
Mooka Records / Release Date: April 27, 2010


To request a copy of Kenia Celebrates Dorival Caymmi
for review purposes, please contact:

DL Media· Don Lucoff · don@jazzpublicity.com· (610) 667-0501

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SAXOPHONIST TIA FULLER CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF "DECISIVE STEPS" AT DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA, 5/10

SAXOPHONIST TIA FULLER CELEBRATES

HER NEW MACK AVENUE CD

DECISIVE STEPS

ON MAY 10 AT DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA

On Monday, May 10, Mack Avenue Records alto/soprano saxophonist Tia Fuller will celebrate the release of her new CD, Decisive Steps, with shows at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in Jazz At Lincoln Center. Fuller will be joined by her working quartet: Fuller's sister Shamie Royston (piano); Miriam Sullivan (bass); and Rudy Royston (drums). Set times are at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm.

About Decisive Steps, Fuller states: "It's a continuation of Healing Space (her 2007 debut for the label), evolving from a stationary place of healing to steps of action. I've been in the mindset of really moving forward to the next level in my life, constantly being in the mindset of greatness, relentless in my pursuit and progressing with purpose by embracing my talents, recognizing my strengths and improving upon my weaknesses...but also in not being afraid of change; stepping forward in faith and not in fear."

Indeed, the ten tracks on Decisive Steps aurally illustrate Fuller's artistic fearlessness fulfilled by her agile, buoyant and elegant full-bodied sax lines effortlessly improvising a number of moods and grooves, as evidenced by the take-no-prisoners tempo of the title track. "The first track, 'Decisive Steps,' was one of the last songs that I wrote for the album," Fuller says. "This particular song is very intricate - it has a lot of hits and time changes, so compositionally, I wanted to portray a sonic representation of momentum; in moving forward, and really feature everybody in the quartet."

Tia Fuller's jazz-rooted, genre-crossing artistry is the result of an arts-filled childhood. She was born in Aurora, Colorado to musician parents, bassist Fred and singer Elthopia, who both taught in the Denver Public School District. She grew up listening to Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan and Charlie Parker. She started playing classical piano at the age of three, inspired by her older sister, Shamie, and studied the instrument for ten years. She started playing the flute at the age of nine and began playing the saxophone, deepening her interest in middle school. In 1998, she graduated Magna Cum Laude at Spelman College in Atlanta (where she studied with the great saxophonist/educator Joe Jennings) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music; graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Master of Music degree, Jazz Pedagogy and Performance in 2000.

Fuller made the eventual move to New York, relocating to nearby Jersey City, arriving two days before September 11, 2001. Undaunted by the terrible times of that period, she forged ahead and played and recorded with some of jazz's brightest stars, including the Duke Ellington Big Band, Nancy Wilson, T.S. Monk, Don Byron, Brad Leali, Wycliffe Gordon, Mickey Roker, Ralph Petersen, Jon Faddis, Rufus Reid, Jimmy Heath, Gerald Wilson, Sean Jones, Charlie Persip, and Don Braden. Then, on June 17, 2006 she was hired by Beyoncé and performs regularly in her all-female band, Suga Mama.

Her teaching credentials are equally expansive and impressive. She has conducted numerous clinics and master classes at the middle, high school, and college levels, including: Jazz Institute of New Jersey, Aurora Public Schools, Mile High Jazz Camp, University of Colorado at Boulder, Miami-Dade Community College, Jazz Institute of New Jersey, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Drexel University, Montclair State University, Bloomfield College, and New Mexico State University.

Click here to watch Tia Fuller discuss the making of Decisive Steps

For press information, please contact:

DL Media · 610-667-0501

Steph Brown · steph@jazzpublicity.com

www.tiafuller.com

Become a fan of Tia Fuller on

MACK AVENUE · the road to great music · www.mackavenue.com

19900 Harper Avenue, Harper Woods, MI 48225 · 313-640-8414 · 313-640-8415 fax

Pianist Jimmy Amadie features three saxophone giants, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Lew Tabackin, on "Kindred Spirits"

ON MAY 11, PIANIST JIMMY AMADIE WILL RELEASE
HIS 7TH CD, KINDRED SPIRITS ON TP RECORDINGS,
FEATURING SAXOPHONISTS LEE KONITZ,
JOE LOVANO AND LEW TABACKIN

Veteran pianist Jimmy Amadie adds another chapter to his remarkable life story with Kindred Spirits, featuring an all-star lineup on a tailor-made selection of blazing swing and tender ballads. Each track features a collaboration with one of three saxophone giants: Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Lew Tabackin. As always, Amadie calls on his crack rhythm team of drummer Bill Goodwin and bassists Steve Gilmore and Tony Marino, who adapt to each guest star with stunning dexterity.

As the title suggests, Kindred Spirits locates the common ground linking all of these fiercely individualistic musicians. Amadie's seventh CD, it follows in the footsteps of his last effort, The Philadelphia Story, which teamed the leader with greats Benny Golson, Randy Brecker, and, once again, Lew Tabackin.

"I've been fortunate enough to record with some of the greatest players who've ever lived," Amadie says. "It's such an unbelievable experience because you get a chance to learn from them."

As much as he may have learned from these experiences, Jimmy Amadie has plenty to teach. Not just musically, though he is renowned as an educator, both by his own students and by the many others who've worked through his two influential instructional books, Harmonic Foundation for Jazz and Popular Music and Jazz Improv: How To Play It and Teach It. He has even more to offer in the way of simple human inspiration.

Those who've followed his career since its resurgence in the mid-90s know well Amadie's struggles with the extreme tendonitis in his hands which waylaid his musical life for decades. Following early successes in the 1950s and '60s which led to stints with legends like Red Rodney, Woody Herman, and Mel Torme, the physical condition accelerated to the point where he could no longer play.

Thirty years and several surgeries (not to mention plenty of gritted teeth and superhuman tenacity), Amadie made his belated recording debut in 1995, first with a series of solo CDs recorded in a long, slow process. His first trio CD was created by the same means, after which Goodwin and Gilmore painstakingly recorded their rhythm parts to match Amadie's prerecorded tracks. Since then he's entered the studio with his band for each date, recording and then taking months off to heal.

But over the past couple of years Amadie has suffered a further setback. After the recording of The Philadelphia Story, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and entered a year-long treatment of chemotherapy and radiation.

"I can't tell you how devastated I was," Amadie says. "After all these years to feel so good about playing, I just couldn't believe that I could wind up with something else. And I went crazy. I didn't know what to do."

What he did was to spend even his hardest hours, he says, "healing and thinking about a new album." The result is the CD you hold in your hands, a joyful celebration of a music that has never come easily, even when it sounds its most relaxed.

"There isn't anything negative about the playing I did," Amadie insists. "I did not play under bad circumstances."

Minus the backstory, in fact, the circumstances of Kindred Spirits were downright ideal. Playing with three of jazz's current greats in the bucolic setting of Red Rock Studio in the Pocono mountains, Amadie arrived to each of the three sessions with a book of tunes hand-picked for the musicians involved.

"Writing for these players gives you another way of looking at things," Amadie says. "They all play differently; even though each of them could play anything, you have to write for their style of playing. It was wonderful that the players had enough confidence in me to let me write for them."

Amadie's originals include a sensuous bossa nova/swing hybrid tailor-made for the legendary Lee Konitz, who Amadie first admired as a teenager; "Blues For DV," a laid-back stroll for Lew Tabackin's lovely flute, and "What Now," in which Tabackin switches to tenor for a mid-tempo modal workout; and finally, two numbers for Lovano: the simmering "Samba For You" and the breathtakingly delicate ballad "Life Is Worth Living."

In addition to his own pieces, Amadie came armed with a number of standards in mind. To take advantage of Konitz's swinging credentials, Amadie engages the saxophonist in a buoyant jaunt through Vincent Youmans' and Irving Caesar's "I Want To Be Happy." And with Lovano, the leader rethinks two timeworn tunes in dramatically altered forms. The album-opening "Just Friends" gets streamlined into a breakneck sprint from its usually more introspective form (witness Amadie's own tender rendition on his solo disc, Savoring Every Note). And the familiar theme of Thelonious Monk's classic "Well, You Needn't" is expressed by Lovano in a husky whisper.

Although Amadie's physical condition necessitates a spontaneous, first-take method in the studio, there are no compromises evident on this or any of his albums. That comes, he says, from the sheer love of playing shared by each instrumentalist.

"The band fell in love with playing together," he says. "You have to remember, there were no rehearsals. We just all hit a groove and it was perfect."

Amadie sought to capture that mood when he christened the CD Kindred Spirits. "I think that the players I used all have love and respect for one another," he explains. "The thing they have in common is that they're all great players and warm, good human beings. That comes out in their playing."

Click Here To Listen To "Just Friends" Featuring Joe Lovano.

JIMMY AMADIE - KINDRED SPIRITS
TP Recordings / May 11, 2010

Please visit www.jimmyamadie.com

To request a copy of Kindred Spirits for review purposes,
please contact:

DL Media · 610-667-0501
Don Lucoff · don@jazzpublicity.com

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AVAILABLE TODAY -- "INNER DANCE," GUITARIST-COMPOSER FABRIZIO SOTTI'S NEW RELEASE ON E1 MUSIC

AVAILABLE TODAY -- INNER DANCE
GUITARIST-COMPOSER FABRIZIO SOTTI'S
NEW RELEASE ON E1 MUSIC

SOTTI'S DEBUT ON THE LABEL PAYS HOMAGE
TO WES MONTGOMERY AND JIMMY SMITH

Driven by the dynamic interplay between Fabrizio Sotti's colorful electric and acoustic guitar and Sam Barsh's bluesy Hammond B-3 organ, the Italian born artist/composer's highly anticipated E1 Music debut Inner Dance beautifully recalls the spirit of the mid-60s albums by his guitar hero Wes Montgomery and organ great Jimmy Smith. As inspired as the recording sounds, it may surprise longtime Sotti fans--and jazz guitar enthusiasts new to his multi-faceted vibe--that he originally conceived his first solo album since 2004's Through My Eyesas a more traditional trio project. In a true sign of these technologically advanced times that Montgomery could never have fathomed, it was a computer hard drive failure-and the complete loss of the album's original sessions-that gave rise to one of the most compelling jazz recordings of the year.

The fascinating story of how the ultimate version of Inner Dance came to be led Sotti for a time to use the working title "Against All Odds." He began recording the nine track collection in February 2009 with veteran bassist James Genus and renowned drummer/percussionist Mino Cinelu. Sotti had worked with Genus various times over the years and Genus appeared on the guitarist's 1999 recording This World Upside Down, his first major release in the U.S. that also featured John Patitucci, Randy and Michael Brecker, Al Foster and Victor Jones. After recording the basic trio tracks for Inner Dance, and others featuring Swiss harmonica great Gregoire Maret and Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuña, Sotti's hard drive crashed and he lost all the recordings.

"The tech company that tried to salvage my data told me that this kind of complete erasure only happens once in every 10,000 times a computer crashes," Sotti says. "I was frustrated but quickly decided to press on and start scheduling new sessions. But when you're working with busy musicians, it's hard to find time in their schedules to rebook them. Since James was not available for the new sessions that started in April, I brought in Sam, who created the bass sound on the B-3. Inner Dance developed into a whole new and very exciting project featuring my guitar and the organ that sounded like those classic organ trio albums I grew up with. The organ has a fuller sound and can create bass and harmony at the same time, so I think the tracks are more accessible to listeners, whether they are big jazz fans or not. And we were fortunate to keep Claudia, who adds a wonderful Spanish vocal to 'Amancer,' and Gregoire, who adds his lovely harmonica to the title track."

Inner Dance, whose title reflects Sotti's spiritual and emotional journey back to making a jazz album after several years, begins with the hypnotic and moody, sparsely arranged "Blue Whisper," a track that showcases his electric guitar prowess over a swinging organ trio groove. Shifting gears, Sotti displays a Spanish styled acoustic grace on the seductive "Kindness In Your Eyes" before switching back to the electric for the synth and harmonica laced title track-which rolls like an easy swaying waltz with bluesy touches thanks to the B-3. Sotti kicks up a notch on the percussive and swinging "I Thought So," which includes a hard hitting drum/organ jam behind the soaring, spirited guitar melody.

Claudia Acuna's soulful Spanish vocals add lushness and depth to the sweetly ambient "Amancer," while the thoughtful meditation "Brief Talk" is a loving tribute to Michael Brecker inspired by Sotti's last encounter with the sax legend before his untimely death in 2007. "Last Chance" is a high energy blast with Sotti's crisp bluesy guitar swinging mightily over Barsh's bubbly organ harmony and a jazz-funk percussion explosion. True to its title, the coolly swaggering "Mr. T.M" and its sensual guitar lines were inspired by another of Sotti's influences, Thelonious Monk. Inner Dance wraps with the gentle acoustic guitar coda "We Are What We Are."

Had the hard drive crash not necessitated a refashioning of the project, the story that newcomers to Sotti's music would have heard first is the unique duality of his career. Born in Padova, Italy in 1975, he was taking classical piano lessons by age five and switched to guitar at nine when his guiding musical lights switched from Bach and Chopin to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix. He originally moved to the U.S. shortly after releasing his debut album Looking For in his mid-teens, then came back to New York permanently to launch his jazz career after a brief stint in the mid-90s in the Italian Air Force.

Since the late 90s, Sotti's career has forged a fascinating dichotomy between working with some of today's top jazz musicians and writing and producing for superstar hip-hop and pop artists. On the jazz side, he continued his solo recording career with Standards and More and performed on and produced two albums for Grammy winning vocalist Cassandra Wilson,Glamoured (2003) and Closer To You: The Pop Side (2009). He has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and worked over the years with an impressive group of A-listers: Al Foster, Roy Hargrove, George Coleman, George Garzone, Steve La Spina, Sammy Figueroa, Mick Goodrick, Mark Egan, Mino Cinelu, Victor Jones, Rachel Z, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Cameron Brown, Andy LaVerne, Harvie Swartz, Brian Lynch, Mick Goodrick, Lincoln Goines, Rick Margitza, Clarence Penn and many more.

Expanding his musical palette into the lucrative and creatively fulfilling realm of hip-hop and R&B, Sotti has played with written and produced tracks for everyone from Dead Prez, Q-Tip, Tupac (a posthumous piece called "If I Fail"), Ghostface Killah, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Killah Priest, Styles P, Hell Razah, Foxy Brown, Half Pint and The DEY. In 2006, he produced the album Confidential for an artist named M1 and released it on his own label Sotti Records to great commercial success.

"I agree with Duke Ellington in his assessment that there are only two kinds of music, good and bad, and I choose not to discriminate by genre," says Sotti. "I am truly a jazz musician by training and nature but I think what sets me apart from the typical jazz guy is that I also love writing and producing in other realms and do both in a professional way, giving my all and being true to both myself and the artists I work with. I had always been interested in the sound of hip hop and the way the artists and producers use so many different layers of sounds. Compared to pop and rock, producing hip-hop is much more creative and, as with jazz, I love having the freedom to choose different instruments and combine them in clever, exciting ways. Both styles even give me the space to choose awkward instrumentation if that's what I feel it will take to make the track sound great."

The word "freedom" comes up often when Sotti is discussing his unique and eclectic career and the joyful feeling he has about returning to the jazz world-with a 2009 European tour and the recording of Inner Dance-after a several year layoff. "The thing I love about my life now is really being free to dive into so many different projects and feel like I'm part of them in an authentic way," he says. I bring great passion and knowledge to my hip-hop work, but it's cool the way my jazz roots always come out. For someone like me who is a composer, guitarist and producer, it's nice to have the freedom to explore and live different lifestyles. The legend who set the trend in mixing styles like this is Miles Davis, who loved playing with pop artists in addition to the greatest jazz musicians in the world. He was way ahead of his time. In my own small way, I am simply trying to continue what he started. My roots are jazz but it's always nice to be open minded and embrace new opportunities as they arise."

Click here and listen to an exclusive

streaming track from the album

Fabrizio Sotti · Inner Dance

E1 Music / E1E-CD-2080 / Release Date: April 6, 2010

For media information, please contact:

Jordy Freed at DL MEDIA

(p) 610.667.0501 (e) jordy@jazzpublicity.com

Giovanna Melchiorre at E1 MUSIC

(p) 516-484-1000x279 (e) gmelchiorre@e1ent.com

Become a fan of E1 Music on

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Guitarist Tom Lagana Stakes His Claim on Second CD; Sax legend George Garzone Guests on Schematic

Guitarist Tom Lagana Stakes His Claim on Second CD;
Sax legend George Garzone Guests on Schematic



Scheduled for May release on Harvest Time Records

For the past decade, guitarist Tom Lagana has been quietly carving out a niche on the D.C.-Baltimore-Annapolis jazz scene, with occasional forays into Richmond, Virginia and Philadelphia. On Schematic, the 40-year-old protégé of guitarist Charlie Byrd makes a strikingly original statement with a potent rhythm tandem of drummer Todd Harrison and bassist Tom Baldwin along with special guests George Garzone on tenor sax and trumpeterDave Ballou. "This is the blueprint for what I want the band to sound like," says Lagana of his impressive sophomore outing and debut for the Harvest Time label.

As a follow-up to 2002's Patuxent, Lagana's latest has him stretching out more authoritatively and finding his own voice. "In that first record, I was getting my feet wet," he says. "If you listen to it and then listen to this new record, I think you'd believe there were two different players. I was trying to be Pat Metheny on that first record. And though he was a huge influence on me, I feel like I've got more of my own thing going on Schematic."

From his rhythmically inventive take on the jazz standard "All Or Nothing At All" to a letter-perfect reading of the challenging Thelonious Monk number "Evidence" (featuring a powerhouse drums-tenor sax breakdown between Harrison and Garzone) to a sublime rendition of Bill Evans' gorgeous "Re: Person I Knew," Lagana and company show their deep understanding and reverence for the tradition while putting a fresh spin on those jazz staples. In the guitarist's original material, he stakes out more personal territory. The urgent title track is a prime example of the Lagana in unbridled free bop mode. The gentle nylon string acoustic offering "Lauren's Song" showcases a wholly different aspect of his musicality while "W.W.H.D." is pure boppish burn based on the changes to "I Got Rhythm" and featuring a potent tenor solo from Garzone. The restful "There Are Three" is a poignant piece written for his wife Jennifer and daughters Marina and Annabelle, The funky "Dents" is an infectious blowing vehicle constructed over a go-go beat while the ECM-esque closer "Hidden 5th" has him gliding elegantly over the changes in waltz-time fashion.

Jazz critic James Scott calls Lagana "a fresh and revitalizing voice in the world of contemporary jazz guitar,"and predicts this release will capture both critical and commercial acclaim.

After graduating in 1992 from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was influenced by guitarists Jon Damian and Al Defino. Lagana began his professional career as a musician in the Walt Disney Jazz Band. Upon Lagana's return to Maryland in 1994, jazz legend Charlie Byrd took an interest in him and invited him to sit in on his regular gig at the Maryland Inn. Later that same year, The Tom Lagana Group became the house band at Byrd's venue of choice, The King of France Tavern in Annapolis. The group played there three nights a week for over a year. In early 2002, Lagana released his first recording as a leader. Patuxent, peaked at No. 17 in the US jazz charts.

Throughout his career Lagana has played numerous festivals including the Chestertown Jazz Festival, Oregon Ridge, Annapolis Jazz Festival, The Mid Atlantic Wine Festival, Federal Hill Festival, and the Kaufmann Music Series. He has shared the bill with international jazz icon Herbie Hancock and has worked with such noteworthy musicians as Red Rodney, Craig Handy, Bob Mintzer, and Marvin Stamm. His guitar work can also be heard on the Fox Network show America's Most Wanted.

As a classical guitarist, Lagana (pictured below; L to R bassist Tom Baldwin, drummer Todd Harrison, guitarist Tom Lagana, saxophonist George Garzone) was a guest artist at the First World Guitar Congress in June 2004 at Towson University. He played bandurria with the Rondalla de Hunt Valley and participated in master classes with Ralph Towner, Dusan Bogdanovic, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. In 2005, he was invited to the Long Island Guitar Festival to perform for classical guitarist/composer Carlo Domeniconi. That same year, he earned a master of music in performance degree from Towson University. While at Towson, Lagana was awarded second prize in the prestigious Sidney Lieberman Competition. Normally won by pianists, Lagana was the first guitarist to be recognized in the history of the competition. Later in 2005 Lagana became an instructor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In 2007 he joined the faculty at Towson University.

As an author, Lagana's in-depth analysis of the music of Pat Metheny was published in two parts (August 2005 and November 2005) issues of Just Jazz Guitar magazine and was endorsed by Metheny himself. In 2008 Lagana was featured with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA. Composer David Del Tredici lauded Lagana's performance on the tenor banjo in Del Tredici's work Final Alice, a 72-minute piece based on the composer's affinity for Alice In Wonderland. Lagana recently performed with the York Symphony, Richmond Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra.

Judging from the quality of Schematic, versatile guitarist/composer Tom Lagana will be on the radar for some time. An inspired outing with absolutely no filler from start to finish, Schematicis the Tom Lagana album to make guitar aficionados and the jazz world in general sit up and take notice of talent deserving of wider recognition.

Click here to listen to an exclusive
streaming track from the album

Check out the Tom Lagana Group's forthcoming performances:

Sunday, May 16 - Wine in the Woods at Noon, Symphony Woods, Columbia, Maryland

Friday, May 21 - Chris's Jazz Cafe, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (with George Garzone)
Saturday, May 22 - An die Musik, Baltimore, Maryland (with George Garzone)
Monday, May 24 - 49 West Cafe, Annapolis, Maryland
Monday, June 28 - 49 West Cafe, Annapolis, Maryland
Saturday, August 21 - Fiore Winery Wine, Art and Jazz Festival, Harford County, Maryland

For more dates, please visit http://www.TomLagana.net

To request a copy of Schematic for review purposes, please contact:

DL Media · Don Lucoff · don@jazzpublicity.com · (610) 667-0501
Paula Phillips · canada.arts@gmail.com · (443) 702-7016

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