New York State Senate Adopts Resolution Honoring 35th Anniversary of the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival

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Chris Botti, Diana Krall, DL Media, Esperanza Spalding, Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival, Hiromi, Trombone Shorty

Jazz Greats Past and Present Highlight Festival History

Headliners for the 35th Anniversary Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, June 30 – July 1: (left to right) Diana Krall, Chris Botti, Esperanza Spalding, Trombone Shorty, and Hiromi

A resolution commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the legendary Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival and proclaiming June as “Jazz Month” was adopted by the New York State Senate today. Senator Roy McDonald (43rd S.D.), who represents Saratoga County, was the lead sponsor of the measure. Present for the occasion were Marcia White, SPAC’s President & Executive Director, SPAC Board Member Don McCormack, festival producer Danny Melnick, President of Absolutely Live Entertainment, and William Smith, Director of Sales for Freihofer’s, the title sponsor of the festival.

Flux Jazz Essentials for 2011?

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African American, Ambrose Akinmusire, Bass, Ben Williams, Christian Scott, David Binney, David Sanchez, Drums, Eric Harland, Fabian Almazan, Female Vocalist, Flux Jazz Essentials 2011, Flux Music Essentials, Gerald Clayton, Gretchen Parlato, Hiromi, Itai Kriss, Joshua Redman, Miguel Zenón, Miles Español, Piano, Rez Abbasi, Saxophone, Sean Jones, Stefon Harris, Terri Lyne Carrington, Trumpet, Yellowjackets

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to my fellow jazz enthusiasts, as always it’s great to be with you. Although, it’s been an extremely stressful year economically and politically for so many globally I’m thankful regardless for those of us who are still here despite the mayhem that’s currently causing all this strife and pain. With that said, as a optimist times like this has a tendency to draw us closer to our love ones, make new friends and on the entertainment side of the spectrum expand our music collection to give us a positive outlet to delve into. In this case, as music goes so far this has been an exceptional year jazz wise. Therefore, this among many reasons led me to return and share with you a few of my favorite jazz albums that I stumbled into this year. If you haven’t, I hope that you find time to listen some of these titles (their well worth your effort). If not, please share with us some of your favorite recordings you’ve embraced this year. Thanks in advance, I’ll be delighted to hear from you!

The following selections in no particular order are some of my favorite Jazz albums for 2011!

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In my absence, I appreciate those of you who drop by and followed me on Twitter at your convince. One thing for sure, I plan to return in the near future to continue sharing with you some of the finest jazz, news, and reviews available.

Until then, take care and God bless.

Rob Young |The Urban Flux [… is jazz with abstract xpressions shaped by vibrant and unique voices!]

New JAZZ Releases for the Week of 6/6/2011

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Brandford Marsalis, Hiromi, Jazz, New Releases

Greeting’s jazz aficionados, as always I’m delighted to present the latest jazz releases this week. With each visit, you’ll discover a montage of new jazz recordings featured at Amazon.com that encompasses a generous diet of nuances which includes a wealth of complex and distinctive styles, textures, melodies, and rhythms exalted by a host of definitive and creative voices in the world of jazz.

For more details, please visit Amazon.com for a complete list of jazz releases for Tuesday (6/7/2011)!

..:: SOURCE: Amazon.com ::..

Hiromi -][- VOICE [Telarc]

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Hiromi, Jazz, Piano

Hiromi - VOICE

Hiromi -][- VOICE – [Telarc, 2011] VOICE IS COMING THIS JUNE

Pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara, whose passionate and incendiary keyboard work has been a shining light on the jazz landscape since her 2003 debut, believes that the voice that never speaks can sometimes be the most powerful of all.

Her newest release, a nine-song trio recording simply titled Voice, expresses a range of human emotions without the aid of a single lyric.

“When I play music, I realize that it really filters emotions,” says Hiromi. “I called this album Voice because I believe that people’s real voices are expressed in their emotions. It’s not something that you really say. It’s more something that you have in your heart. Maybe it’s something you haven’t said yet. Maybe you’re never going to say it. But it’s your true voice. Instrumental music is very similar. We don’t have any words or any lyrics to go with it. It’s the true voice that we don’t really put into words, but we feel it when it’s real.”

Grammy Winning Stanley Clarke Band jams at Ronnie Scott’s

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Bass, Hiromi, Jazz, Piano, Stanley Clarke

Congratulations to one of my favorite musicians of all-time Stanley Clarke for winning a Grammy Award for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album”! Below, I’ve posted a video of The Stanley Band @ Ronnie Scott’s in London while on tour last summer (2010)! If you don’t have his Grammy winning effort, it’s well worth your time to check it out!

While you’re here, check out Stanley’s Blog for more engaging videos!

..:: SOURCE: StanleyClarke.com ::..

[Flux Music Essentials] … features Hiromi, Muhammad, Mehldau & Jones

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Brad Mehldau, Hiromi, Idris Muhammad, Jazz, Quincy Jones

Flux Music Essentials

Greeting’s jazz connoisseurs, I’m back with yet another intriguing palette of creative music from some of today’s most unique, adventurous and inspiring voices known and unknown artists alike in the world of jazz.

Hiromi - Brain (Telarc, 2004)

Hiromi -][- Brain – [Telarc, 2004]

She’s got prodigious piano technique, brains and beauty (as six full-page photos included with the CD make abundantly clear), incredible energy, and lots of “mo” (is there any young instrumentalist who is bigger at the present moment?). All of which may raise some suspicions among closer followers of the jazz scene, past and present.

Admittedly, I was impressed but not captivated after a first listen. The tracks with synthesizer, the all-original program of “descriptive,” “programmatic” titles, the packaging–it smacked of commercialism and new-age aesthetics. But I recall having a similar reaction to Ahmad Jamal the first time I heard him. He didn’t employ harmonies like Art Tatum, swing like Oscar, fill up the space with complex melodic lines like Bud Powell. But over time it became clear that Ahmad was the master colorist of them all, a painter of musical tone poems that could be infinitely suggestive if not mesmerizing. Hiromi, who was “discovered” and first produced by Ahmad, has the same affinities.

Listen to “Desert on the Moon.” It ‘s a bubbling piece, more suggestive of a mountain stream in its progress through a variety of moods, tempos, textures, and dynamic contrasts. Every moment is alive and purposeful, as Hiromi takes us on a journey from rippling, impressionist passages to sharply-defined pointillism (she has some musical karate chops!) to unabashed romantic lyricism (an unapologetic allusion to “My One and Only Love”), finally bringing the force of the whole to an explosive, climactic conclusion, then just as seamlessly providing a tranquil, restorative coda.

Her piano technique extends beyond mere virtuosity. She gets a bright, pure and round sound from the instrument that is absolutely consistent in all registers and at soft as well as loud volumes. Moreover, this recording is probably the best that I’ve ever heard a piano sound on CD. If you have any sort of half-way decent stereo system, Hiromi and her Yamaha Concert Grand will be bigger than life in your living room. Better make room because from the evidence on this disk, she’ll be around for a long time to come. —Samuel Chell | Amazon.com

2010 Toronto TD Jazz Festival – June 25 to July 4

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Angelique Kidjo, Chris Potter, Harry Connick Jr., Herbie Hancock, Hiromi, Jazz, Maceo Parker, Stanley Clarke

The city’s largest music festival takes over this summer!
TD Toronto Jazz Festival – June 25 – July 4, 2010

Toronto ~ Late June signals not only the start of summer, but also the arrival of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival as it takes over the city for 10 incredible days. Local clubs, restaurants, venues and even a church or two will be playing host, creating a Festival network that includes over 40 participating stages all over the city. Now, that is a lot of jazz!

Harry Connick Jr. – Sun 06/27 (Canon Theatre)
A true consummate entertainer, Harry Connick Jr. has successfully launched careers in both acting and music with the corresponding accolades to show for it – 25 million albums sold worldwide, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy award and a starring role in a Tony winning Broadway musical. Harry appeared in his first jazz recording at the tender age of ten, by 18 released his solo debut and at 30 appeared in movies such as Independence Day, Copycat and Memphis Belle. It has been over 20 years since Harry last performed at the Festival and his return is long overdue. Welcome back, Harry. The hub of the Festival is Nathan Phillips Square and it is here where some of the biggest names in jazz can be found. Each evening, the Mainstage tent is transformed into an intimate concert theater.

Flux Music Essentials … [Childs, Coltrane, Hiromi, e.s.t. & Ritenour]

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Billy Childs, e.s.t., Hiromi, Jazz, Lee Ritenour, Ravi Coltrane

Flux Music Essentials

Whass up jazzy people, it’s great to be back in the groove with a few more titles from the shelves of Flux Music Essentials … on today, I’ve got one of my favorite pianist Billy Childs and his Grammy Winning masterpiece titled “Lyric.” As you know, fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane stirs up the pot with the infallible “In Flux” his 2005 project. A fascinating pianist/keyboardist from Japan named Hiromi rips the eighty-eights like nobodies business on her mind numbing release “Time Control.” Europeans jazz enthusiast sorely misses one of the finest innovative pianist in the world named Esbjörn Svensson and his Trio release “Viaticum.” Finally, a gentleman who’s synonymous when it comes to modern guitar Lee Ritenour and his 1993 tribute – “We Bound” on GRP Records to the most influential guitarist in the world Wes Montgomery.

Billy Childs Ensemble - Lyric

Billy Childs Ensemble | Lyric (Jazz Chamber Music Vol-1) – [Lunacy Music/ArtistShare, 2002]

After about two decades of releases as a leader, Billy Childs continues to produce cutting edge performances of his compositions and arrangements at the highest level of musicianship. This latest recording is his most solid work as a leader. It is worth a listen for anyone who is interested in serious music with lyric qualities.

For the past several years, Billy has not released any CDs with himself as a leader that primarily feature his own compositions, but “In Carson’s Eyes” gets things off to a hypnotically beautiful start by telling a musical story that is full of brilliant intricacies. “Goodbye, Friend” and “Prelude in Bb Major” both demonstrate his uncanny ability to move effortlessly between classical music and jazz while at times seeming to give a nod of acknowledgement to Pat Metheny. “Into the Light” is a Grammy Award winning composition that demonstrates a torrent of virtuosity and unpredictable intensity that would be worthy of an artist whose skill reminds the listener of Chick Corea without sounding like Chick Corea in any way.

The 33rd Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival

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African American, Christian Scott, Hiromi, Jazz, Marcus Miller, Spyro Gyra

Whether it’s out-of-this-world improvisation or boogie-woogie notes of Big Band music that moves you, the 33rd Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival embodies the spirit of Jazz and will unite the City of Atlanta for 31 days of amazing music during the ‘31 Days of Jazz‘ this May. The month-long celebration culminates in Piedmont Park on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30, with music from local and nationally-renowned artists including Marcus Miller ‘Tutu Revisited the music of Miles Davis‘ featuring Christian Scott, Spyro Gyra, MF Production’s Celebration of Lionel Hampton featuring Diane Schuur & Jason Marsalis, Stanley Clarke Band featuring Hiromi and more of all that jazz!

New Music Releases for 1/26/2010

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African American, David Sanborn, Hiromi, Jazz, Maysa, New Releases, Pat Metheny, Saltman Knowles

Greeting’s fellow jazz aficionados, it looks like and exciting week musically from a cast of various voices in today’s jazz.

Featured Album of the Week

Saltman Knowles -|- Yesterday’s Man – [Pacific Coast Jazz, 2010]

Saltman Knowles - Yesterday's Man

Saltman Knowles, called “a fine example of all that is good in contemporary jazz,” once again stays true to melody and original composition in their latest release on the Pacific Coast Jazz label, Yesterday’s Man.

Lori Williams-Chisholm

On the heels of their critically acclaimed fifth CD, Return of the Composer, bassist Mark Saltman and pianist William Knowles have produced a sophisticated yet rhythmically driven statement with a fresh point of view that illustrates the importance of combining intricate song craft with introspective emotion. Lori Williams-Chisholm returns to provide what JazzTimes calls “her exquisite wordless vocals” encased in a sultry, smooth sound. – PACIFIC COAST JAZZ