Gerald Clayton | Two-Shade

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African American, Gerald Clayton, Jazz, Piano

Gerald Clayton | Listen: Two-Shade – [Decca UK, 2009]

Gerald Clayton, Two-Shade

Gerald Clayton was born on May 11, 1984 in Utrecht, The Netherlands and moved to the United States at a young age. Gerald grew up in a musical family (his father is bassist/composer John Clayton and his uncle saxophonist Jeff Clayton) and was exposed to a variety of musical styles from a very young age. He studied classical piano with Mrs. Linda Buck and jazz piano and composition with Shelly Berg, Kenny Barron and Billy Childs.

Gerald has received numerous awards over the past years: He was the winner of the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 2001. In 2002 Gerald was presented with the “level 1” award by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA), was named Presidential Scholar in the Arts and received a scholarship award from the Music for Youth Foundation. He also received the Shelley Manne Award for emerging young artists from the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In September of 2006, Gerald received Second Place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Piano Competition.

Courtney Pine | Destiny’s Song + The Imagine of Pursuance

Tags

African American, Bebop, British, Courtney Pine, European Jazz, Saxophone

TVOne has a quarterly award winning series called “Unsung,” which airs on Sunday evenings during that period. Furthermore, when I hear the innovative, visionary and planetary sounds of true renaissance players like saxophonist Courtney Pine from Great Britain monstrous tonality and Trane influence echoes perfectly within the restrains of under appreciated artists. Perhaps, it’s the media’s fault or is it that we really haven’t heard jazz until you’ve listen to masterful voice of Courtney Pine?? ~ The Urban Flux

Courtney Pine | Destiny’s Song + The Imagine of Pursuance – [Island/Antilles New Direction, 1988]

Courtney Pine, Destiny's Song

Courtney Pine’s second album stays very much within the Marsalis-imposed boundaries of post-Miles post-bop; indeed, a Marsalis brother, Delfeayo, is the producer, and the album’s subtitle uses the patented kind of wordplay that the New Orleans dynasty indulges in. As before, Pine’s guiding star is John Coltrane, of whom he had become a fervent and skillful acolyte, tossing off endless streams of heated playing on tenor and soprano inside and outside. Pine also uses alternating expert teams of English acoustic jazz specialists — Julian Joseph or Joe Bashorun on piano, Paul Hunt or Gary Crosby on bass, and Mark Mondesir on drums — as backup.

There are some really good Pine compositions here; “Sacrifice” sounds as if it could have made it as a standard in mainstream and/or electric jazz. Although the novelty of a young black Englishman playing Afro-American acoustic jazz has long since worn off, much of this CD repays repeated latter-day listening. —Richard S. Ginell

Source: AllMusic.com

Rena Jones | Indra’s Web

Tags

Cello, Electronic Music, Rena Jones, Violin

“Multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer Rena Jones is a force to be reckoned with. At age 30, she boasts more than 30 collaborative albums, 3 full length solo albums, 20 years of classical violin study, and 12 years of cello—and she is considered one of the leading women in audio engineering today.” —Strings Magazine

Rena Jones | Indra’s Web – [Cartesian Binary Recordings, 2009]

Rena Jones, Indra's Web

After the success of her 3rd solo album “Driftwood”, multi-talented musician, composer, producer, and sound engineer Rena Jones has spent the last 18 months refining and mastering her unique classical take on electronic music in her new full length album: “Indra’s Web”.

In Buddhism and Hinduism, Indra’s Web is a profound metaphor for the structure of reality, representing the interconnectedness and interdependency of all things, describing a rich and diverse universe where infinitely repeated mutual relations exist between all its elements and entities.

Through her composition, Rena creates a musical metaphor of this philosophy exploring a concept of repeated modalities similar to that of Stevie Wonder’s “the Secret life of Plants”, while skillfully taking full advantage of the capabilities of modern digital sequencing software to create complex and playful glitched out grooves and transcending some of its limitations by using the warmth and depth of analogue sound.

In this concept, she presents different, yet interconnected themes that repeat themselves throughout the album, making it flow as one unique piece of modern classical electronic music.

As a classically trained violinist, cellist and composer, with extensive experience in sound engineering and digital sound design, Rena sets herself among the leading musicians / producers who are breaking the boundaries between live and electronic music. —RenaMusic

** Original Release Date: July 17, 2009 **

..:: Source: Amazon.com also please visit, renamusic.com for unique experience in electronic music ::..

Brian Blade Fellowship

Tags

African American, Brian Blade, Drums, Jazz

Brian Blade Fellowship | Brian Blade Fellowship – [Blue Note Records, 2008]

Brian Blade Fellowship

Brian Blade has put together a recording that communicates at a spiritual level. For me, the highlight of the recording is Dave Easley’s pedal steel guitar solo on ‘Mohave’. It’s astonishing, and one of the best solos I’ve ever heard. His passionate guitar is literally crying for joy. John Cowherd’s piano is thoughtful, melodic, and swinging when necessary.

Although there are many textures in this music, it all fits together beautifully. And the musicians all seem to be on the same page. It’s one of those sessions that you can listen to a hundred times, and find something new every time. In other words, this is music that won’t get stale!

Brian Blade’s playing is sensitive, complex, and fiery, as are the compositions. Blade is one of the very best drummers to come along in quite a while.

This is music that hit me on a very deep level. It took 3 or 4 listen’s before I could even understand it, but it was worth it. It’s music that spoke to some very deep feelings within me, and every time I listen to it, I feel inspired. This CD is beautiful, complex, and very interesting. —Kenneth James

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..