NAKED TRUTH ACHIEVES CREATIVE SYNERGY ON NEW ALBUM SHIZARU – AVAILABLE JULY 12 ON RARENOISERECORDS

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Cuong Vu, LORENZO FELICIATI, PAT MASTELOTTO, Roy Powell

LORENZO FELICIATI’S NEW QUARTET INCLUDES ACCLAIMED TRUMPETER CUONG VU, KING CRIMSON DRUMMER PAT MASTELOTTO AND PIANO WIZARD ROY POWELL

NAKED TRUTH - SHIZARU

LISTEN TO EXCLUSIVE STREAMING TRACKS FROM SHIZARU

Picture a post-apocalyptic world where isolated parties from remote parts the globe communicate with each other in empathy and harmony as they share common tales of struggle, survival and hope amid a bleak wasteland. Now imagine the soundtrack of this scenario and you’ve got a grasp on the gritty, groundbreaking music of Naked Truth. Conceived by Italian bassist Lorenzo Feliciati, Naked Truth also features American trumpeter Cuong Vu, British keyboardist Roy Powell and American drummer Pat Mastelotto. The quartet’s riveting eight-track debut, Shizaru [on RareNoiseRecords], draws from such outpost sources as Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew, Bill Laswell, King Crimson, avant-jazz, free-jazz, prog-rock, art-rock and ambient. What makes it wholly unique, however, is the unit’s creativity and chemistry, and what Feliciati calls a “horizontal” approach to the music. He offers, “My intention was to have a ‘band’ project in which everyone has equal input, with me coordinating the music that the members send in from different corners of the world. Instead of a vertical approach, in which one instrument plays the melody or solos while the others provide support in the background, each voice is equal and contributes to the musical conversation as it moves along horizontally.” He continues, “Typically, a song would start with a bass riff or keyboard texture or percussion idea, and then each member would add whatever they felt was needed as the track came around to them; so it was the four of us playing and them improvising on each other’s playing-an eight-hands-on process!”

Terri Lyne Carrington [|] MOSAIC PROJECT [Concord Records]

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African American, Jazz Drums, Terri Lyne Carrington

Terri Lyne Carrington - MOSAIC PROJECT

Terri Lyne Carrington [|] MOSAIC PROJECT – [Concord Records, 2011]

For more than two decades, drummer, producer and vocalist Terri Lyne Carrington has crafted an eclectic brand of jazz that incorporates elements of bebop, soul, funk and much more. Since her debut in 1989, the GRAMMY®-nominated artist has established a reputation for assembling artists of varying styles and perspectives to create music that adheres to the traditions of jazz yet speaks to a much broader and more diverse audience. Carrington brings this same diverse sensibility to her new recording The Mosaic Project, an album that once again gathers a myriad of voices and crystallizes them into a multi-faceted whole that far outweighs the sum of its parts.
“Everything about this recording is about making a larger picture out of many various elements,” says Carrington, who produced the 14-song set. “I assembled several friends – most of whom I’ve performed with in the past, and all of whom bring their own individual story – to help me create the big picture. For as talented as each of them are as individuals, when I put them all together, I have a much greater musical story – one that can be told in an interesting and compelling way.”

PDX Jazz @ Tony Starlight’s Presents Vocalist Sachal Vasandani’s Portland Debut on June 18

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Jazz, Male Vocals, Sachal Vasandani

Performance In Support Of Forthcoming Album, Hi-Fly

Sachal Vasandani's Portland Debut

“What makes a jazz singer has more to do with a set of tools and instincts, and by that measure Sachal qualifies as one of the stronger new arrivals in the field…The flexibility of Mr. Vasandani’s phrasing would mark him as a jazz singer whether or not he ventured any scat choruses…he’s a jazz singer with good ideas, including some about what a jazz singer can be.” – New York Times

Listen to exclusive streaming tracks from Hi-Fly

Vocalist Sachal Vasandani is set to make his Portland debut at Tony Starlight’s Supper Club-Lounge on June 18 at 8pm. The performance will feature his longstanding New York-based working ensemble, consisting of pianist Jeb Patton, bassist David Wong and drummer Kendrick Scott.

With two albums on Mack Avenue Records, Vasandani – a 2010 DownBeat “Rising Star” poll winner – established himself as one of the most promising voices in modern jazz, with a distinctive blend of jazz and pop.