PEAR FOLLOWS SAGE ADVICE FROM MILES DAVIS ON AUSPICIOUS DEBUT; NICK PIERONE AND RICK MILNE PRESENT A STRIKING PASTICHE ON extemp’ore

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Miles Davis, NICK PIERONE, RICK MILNE

Pear - Extempore

MAY 24 RELEASE INCLUDES CARL VERHEYAN, JIMMY JOHNSON, JENNIFER LEITHAM, PRINCE DIABATE, CINDY WONDERFUL

LISTEN TO EXCLUSIVE STREAMING TRACKS FROM extemp’ore

On the opening strains of “Dewey Miles,” the mysterious lead-off track from Pear’s extemp’ore, the voice of Miles Davis intones (in that oft-imitated gruff demeanor): “Don’t play what you know, play what you hear.” Later in that groove-heavy piece, Miles declares: “I don’t want to be labeled anything. I’m a musician.” Those two mantras serve as sage-like guidance for the duo of pianist Nick Pierone and percussionist Rick Milne (the core of Pear) on their auspicious debut. Given license to paint vivid colors on a blank canvas, this could be a soundtrack to a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting. Pear dives headlong into a pool of provocative sound where the freedom principle prevails and the results are wide-ranging and genre-defying. Drawing on a wealth of musical influences, the audacious duo has concocted a striking pastiche where Miles and Cecil Taylor sit comfortably beside Brian Eno, Digable Planets, Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Bad Plus and Jaco Pastorius, with touches of minimalism, lyricism and spoken word experimentalism thrown into the subversive mix.

James Carter’s “Caribbean Rhapsody” Due from Emarcy Records May 17

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African American, James Carter, Jazz, Roberto Sierra, Saxophone

The new CD contains the first recording of Roberto Sierra’s “Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra,” as well as the world premiere of the title track, a Sierra composition for saxophone (James Carter), violin (Regina Carter), and string quintet.

James Carter - Caribbean Rhapsody

Richmond, CA (PRWEB) April 1, 201: The extraordinary decade-long collaboration of jazz virtuoso James Carter and classical composer Roberto Sierra comes to a thrilling culmination with the release on May 17 of their first recording, “Caribbean Rhapsody.” Sierra’s “Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra,” composed for Carter and premiered in Detroit in 2002, is the centerpiece of the new Emarcy CD; a new Sierra composition, “Caribbean Rhapsody,” which features Carter, his musical cousin Regina Carter on violin, and string quintet, is a gorgeous companion piece. Two solo interludes on tenor and soprano saxophones respectively were composed by Carter in response to themes and elements in both of Sierra’s works.

“What immediately struck me was that he played with total command and mastery of the instrument,” says Sierra, a professor of composition at Cornell University. “James is the Paganini of the saxophone. He and the instrument are one. To me that was amazing, right from the start.”

The concerto was recorded in Warsaw with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero (music director of the Nashville Symphony). Carter was joined by violinist Regina Carter along with cellist Akua Dixon’s string quintet for the recording of “Caribbean Rhapsody” in New York. Michael Cuscuna produced the new album; Wulf Müller and Cynthia B. Herbst served as executive producers.