Chris Ward -][- BRIDGING THE GAP [CDBY]

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Chris Ward, Jazz, Saxophone

Chris Ward - BRIDGING THE GAP

Chris Ward -][- BRIDGING THE GAP – [CDBY, 2008] -MUSIC REVIEW –

As we know, during these times the music industry (or any business) for jazz musicians is a very difficult barrier to penetrate. On the other hand, regardless of these complexities there are lots young, gifted, talented and restless jazz musicians that are hungry and eagerly willing to make their imprint on the music scene. Visionaries like composer and tenor saxophonist Chris Ward is undoubtedly one who is paying his dues in order to be a player in this infinite pool of recording artists.

Inspired by the masters of tenor horn Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker it’s no wonder Ward’s debut “BRIDGING THE GAP,” emulates the tonality of these legendary influences through his insight, ability and maturity in the body of seven unyielding original compositions. Out of the box, Ward’s resilience, writing, leadership, arranging and playing skills radiates with the fervor of a seasoned artist.

Peter Erskine featuring Bob Mintzer, Darek Oles and Alan Pasqua -][- STANDARDS 2 (Movie Music) – [Fuzzy Music]

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Alan Pasqua, Bass, Bob Mintzer, Darek Oles, Drums, Jazz, Peter Erskine, Piano, Saxophone

Peter Erskine - Standards 2 (Movie Music)

Peter Erskine featuring Bob Mintzer, Darek Oles and Alan Pasqua -][- STANDARDS 2 (Movie Music) – [Fuzzy Music, 2010]

Music is often spoken of as forming the soundtrack of our lives. Movie score music compounds the effect, marrying melody with image, the exponential power of 24 frames per second combined with soaring tunes and magical counterpoint to provide all of us who love the movies a powerful emotional and cultural reference point, time and again. And who doesn’t love a good movie or song?

These songs are standards in both the jazz and cinematic sense.

Compiling any sort of list, however, risks sinning by omission. Nowhere does this seem more evident than in a collection of music from movies. Please forgive these sins. Each musician was invited to bring in a tune or two for the project. We played the music in concert the evening before the recording, and were encouraged by the audience’s delight in reliving these timeless melodies as told by the jazz quartet. We’re already looking forward to the next volume.

Composer-trumpeter Sarah Wilson’s awarded a prestigious Composers Collaborative

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Composers Collaborative, Jazz, Sarah Wilson, Trumpet

COMPOSER-TRUMPETER SARAH WILSON WINS GERBODE COMPOSER’S GRANT FOR MUSIC PRODUCTION WITH AERIAL DANCE AT SF’S DE YOUNG MUSEUM

Sarah Wilson - TRAPEZE PROJECT

Wilson’s recent CD “Trapeze Project” Earns Critical Acclaim Composer/trumpeter Sarah Wilson is one of 6 California composers awarded a prestigious Composers Collaborative grant from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The grants of $75,000 each will fund the creation and world premiere of new works by gifted California composers, created in collaboration with another California artist of their choice.

Wilson will compose new music, Off the Walls, for a world premiere music production combined with aerial dance at San Francisco’s de Young Museum in 2013. Inspired by the Museum’s distinguished architecture, landscape, and visual arts collection, the music with dance will be performed at varied locations outside, inside, and on the sides of the museum. This evening-length, site-specific work will feature composer Sarah Wilson, aerial dance company Catch Me Bird, and an ensemble of twelve to eighteen Bay Area musicians and dancers.

Wilson has emerged as “one of the most intriguing and promising composers and trumpeters on the contemporary music scene” (Derk Richardson, San Francisco Chronicle). Her original work has earned numerous commissions including the highly acclaimed 2010 Center for Cultural Innovation Artistic Innovation award. Her music has premiered nationally and internationally and she earned wide acclaim for her 2010 Brass Tonic Records release, Trapeze Project. This CD features herself on trumpet and vocals with clarinetist Ben Goldberg, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Jerome Harris, and drummer Scott Amendola and showcases her danceable, visually evocative, and melodic music that is both sophisticated and accessible. Trapeze Project garnered multiple Best of 2010 picks; music critics speak highly of her work:

“A very individual voiceŠShe makes music her own way.” – Frank Alkyer, DownBeat Magazine

World Saxophone Quartet -][- YES WE CAN [Jazzwerkstatt]

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African American, Jazz, Saxophone, World Saxophone Quartet

World Saxophone Quartet - YES WE CAN

World Saxophone Quartet -][- YES WE CAN – [Jazzwerkstatt, 2011]

Featuring: Hamiet Bluiett, Kido Jordan, James Carter and David Murray!

Probably the first of several saxophone-only ensembles who proliferated in jazz after 1975, the WSQ is unquestionably the most commercially (and, arguably, the most creatively) successful. Of course, commercial success is a relative thing in jazz, especially when one is speaking of an avant-garde group. But unlike most free jazz artists, the WSQ managed to attract an audience of significant size; large enough to have garnered a major-label record deal in the ’80s, an almost unheard-of occurrence in that retro-jazz decade. The band did it on merit, too, with only a hint of compromise (manifested mainly by albums of R&B and Duke Ellington covers).

By the time their first record on Elektra/Musician came out in 1986, the band had evolved from their fire-breathing, free-improvising, ad-hoc beginnings into a smooth-playing, compositionally minded, well-rehearsed band. At their creative peak, the group melded jazz-based, harmonically adventurous improvisation with sophisticated composition. All of the group’s original members (Julius Hemphill, alto; Oliver Lake, alto; David Murray, tenor; and Hamiet Bluiett, baritone) were estimable composers as well as improvisers. Each complimented the whole, making them even greater than the considerable sum of their parts. As a composer, Hemphill drew on European techniques (though his tunes were not without an unalloyed jazz component), while Bluiett was steeped in blues and funk. Lake and Murray fell somewhere in between. As soloists and writers, the early WSQ covered all the bases. —Chris Kelsey | AllMusic.com

..:: SOURCE: AllMusic.com ::..