Garaj Mahal | More Mr. Nice Guy

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Fareed Haque, Garaj Mahal, Guitar, Jazz

Garaj Mahal - More Mr. Nice Guy

Garaj Mahal | More Mr. Nice Guy – [Owl Studios, 2010]

Garaj Mahal’s sixth CD has them continuing to explore contemporary jazz fusion with an Eastern undercurrent, a funky base, and fluid dynamics. Electric guitarist Fareed Haque loves his double-neck electric guitar, and the peerless electric bass guitarist Kai Eckhardt asserts his high-level talent in the manner he did while accompanying John McLaughlin many years prior. With Sean “The Rick” Rickman on drums and keyboardist Eric Levy, Garaj Mahal take many liberties into a dancing-in-your-head type of music with occasional forays into pop tunes. A track like “Witch Doctor” might lead one to a signature sound according to the band’s name, a snake charmer’s jazz to Indo-funk. Then there’s the heavy metal jam of “The Long Form” and the bass-driven “Chester the Pester” in 6/8 time, or the tick-tock funk of “Tachyonics” with light Canterbury-style, airy melodies.

In quieter pop singer/songwriter or even folkish tones, and even a piano ballad contributed by Levy, the quartet weaves through various strains of clearly identifiable commercial music while retaining its trailblazing spirit, making for a total listening experience appropriate for many different moods. —Michael G. Nastos /AllMusic.com

..:: Source: AllMusic.com | Amazon.com ::..

Five Brilliant Jazz Pianists to be Finalists

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American Pianists Association, Jazz

American Pianists Association

Dr. Joel Harrison, President/CEO and Artistic Director of the American Pianists Association announces the five Finalists who will compete for the $50,000 prize and the title of 2011 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz of the American Pianists Association. The five Finalists, in no particular order, are: Emmet Cohen, 20, Miami, Aaron Diehl, 24, New York City, Zach Lapidus, 23, Indianapolis, Jeremy Siskind, 23, New York City, and Glenn Zaleski, 22, New York City.

First Alternate: Christopher Ziemba – Alternates: Stuart Mindeman; Richard Sears

The preliminary round was held May 7 – 9, 2010 in Indianapolis by a group of 5 nationally-distinguished professionals, including: Frank Kimbrough, jazz pianist and teacher at the Juilliard School; jazz pianist Darrell Grant from Portland, OR; Dana Landry, head of the jazz studies program at Northern Colorado University in Greeley; John Salmon, jazz and classical pianist and 1983 Fellow of the American Pianists Association; and Brent Wallarab, founder and artistic director of the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra.

“As the Sun Goes Up” by artist Ann Tanksley

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African American, African American Art, Ann Tanksley

Greetings & welcome Art enthusiast to The Urban Flux. Today I’m enthralled to introduce you to a unique and exciting new artist named Ann Tanksley. Her body of work on canvas is undoubtedly impressive, stunning and unique yet it’s reflective of the imagery portrayed on the pages of our history books. Tanksley’s paintings are moving as she brilliantly entails the plight and poignant experience of blacks journey while living in America.

::-Biography-::
Ann Tanksley’s work tells a story. At times it is an autobiography of her inner spirit melded with her experiences and travels; at other times it is about social injustices and the universal plight of rural workers; yet others, she retells stories that have been told by others as she did in her visual interpretations of the prose of Zora Neal Hurston. She sees herself as a ”social commentator” who would like people to understand her through her work and to understand her point of view. This is perhaps why she has chosen to communicate through the figures of the painting rather though abstract expression, even though her method is not unlike that of the Abstract Expressionists. —aviscafineart.com

Go here, to read the complete biography of Ann Tanksley.

As the Sun Goes Up, 1992 by Ann Tanksley | more paintings …

..:: Source: AviscaFineArt.com ::..

Mindi Abair | In Hi-Fi Stereo

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Mindi Abair, Saxophone

Mindi Abair - In Hi-Fi Stereo

Mindi Abair | In Hi-Fi Stereo – [Telarc, 2010]

Any artist who takes his or her craft seriously will inevitably reach a point on the journey when history can no longer be overlooked. The direct line between the music of now and the music of then becomes too important to ignore, and the riches of generations past are suddenly rediscovered – and eventually reinterpreted for a new era.

Saxophonist Mindi Abair has reached that critical juncture. After more than a decade of performing, songwriting and recording, she has taken a step back from the more polished sensibilities of contemporary jazz and embraced the sounds of past decades – specifically the ‘60s and early ‘70s, a period widely regarded as the golden age of R&B, soul and funk. The result is In Hi-Fi Stereo.