Jack DeJohnette Continues 70Th Birthday & NEA Jazz Master Celebration with Ambitious International Performance Schedule

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Chick Corea, Dave "Fuze" Fiuczynski, Drums, George Colligan, Jack DeJohnette, Jerome Harris, Stanley Clarke

Debut Trio Performances with Chick Corea & Stanley Clarke, Headlining Newport Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival, Participation in Pat Metheny Summer Music Workshop, “The Gateway Trio” Reunion, Among Other Appearances

Jack DeJohnette (Credit. Chris Griffith)

Recently Released Critically Acclaimed Album, Sound Travels

Jack DeJohnette Interviews:
Here & Now with Robin Young
The Checkout with Josh Jackson
All About Jazz with John Kelman
The Jazz Session with Jason Crane

Following the launch of his latest critically acclaimed album, Sound Travels (released January 17 on Golden Beams/eOne), as well as being named a 2012 NEA Jazz Master in January, drummer/pianist Jack DeJohnette will continue to celebrate his landmark 70th birthday year with high profile performances, festival appearances, among other activities.

Jazz Journalists Association Announces Nominees for 16th Annual JJA Jazz Awards

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2012 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, African American, Ambrose Akinmusire, Craig Taborn, Eric Harland, Esperanza Spalding, Gary Burton, J.D. Allen, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Keith Jarrett, Lee Konitz, Mary Halvorson, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Sonny Rollins, Warren Wolf

Finalist nominees for the 16th annual Jazz Awards presented by the Jazz Journalists Association have been announced at www.JJAJazzAwards.org. The nominations demonstrate the rich diversity of music that may have been overlooked by mainstream media and other music industry-generated Awards programs.

Iconic veteran instrumentalists including Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Phil Woods Lee Konitz, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny and John Scofield are among the nominees who will vie for votes with newly emerged talents such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist Craig Taborn, tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Esperanza Spalding, vibist Warren Wolf and drummer Eric Harland in some of the 40 categories celebrating excellence in jazz and jazz journalism. Winners of the Jazz Awards will be selected from the nearly 200 nominees through voting by the JJA’s international membership of writers, photographers, broadcasters and new media producers professionally involved with jazz. Awards are for accomplishments and productions from calendar year 2011, except in two categories for Lifetime Achievement.

Guitar Maverick DAVID “FUZE” FIUCZYNSKI Explores The Non-Tempered World On Planet Microjam – Available May 15 On RARENOISERECORDS

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Composer, David "Fuze" Fiuczynski, Guitarist, Jack DeJohnette, Kenwood Dennard

ALBUM FEATURES SPECIAL GUESTS JACK DEJOHNETTE AND KENWOOD DENNARD

David 'Fuze' Fiuczynski, PLANET MICROJAM

“Cutting edge sounds that define today’s musical landscape.” – Billboard

“…Fiuczynski’s prodigious technique [uses] a myriad of processed tones. He percolates, warbles, wails and generates, in
the end, some jaw-dropping moments.” – JazzTimes

LISTEN TO EXCLUSIVE STREAMING TRACKS FROM PLANET MICROJAM

Combining his ongoing interests in microtonality, jazz harmony, ethnic folk melodies and groove, guitar visionary and Berklee College of Music educator David “Fuze” Fiuczynski has arrived at the global crossroads on Planet MicroJam, his audacious and mesmerizing debut on RareNoiseRecords. Drawing on the influence of classical composers and microtonal pioneers like Julian Carrillo, Alois Haba and Ivan Wyschnagradsky, Fuze adds in his own unique flavors, inherent sense of groove and improvisational daring on fretless electric guitar on this cutting edge release that takes his Planet MicroJam® concept to the next frontier.

Luis Perdomo -][- Universal Mind – [Now Forward Music, 2012] –

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Drew Gress, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz, Luis Perdomo, Piano

Luis Perdomo, Universal Mind

Luis Perdomo -][- Universal Mind –MP3– [Now Forward Music, 2012] –

Luis Perdomo grew up in a home filled with music. Born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1971, Luis was exposed to just about every style of music by his father, an avid music fan and collector. Alongside salsa, Latin, R & B, and classical, the young Perdomo heard jazz greats like Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, two of his earliest and most important musical influences. Drawn to jazz and to the piano at an early age, Luis was making regular professional appearances on Venezuelan TV and radio by the time he was twelve. It was about this same time that Luis started to think more and more about the possibility of pursuing a life in music. The more he began to listen and to read about jazz—his tastes had expanded to include players like Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane—the more he became aware of one undeniable truth. All his favorite artists lived and/or recorded in New York City. Thus, it was only a matter of time before he too would make that move.

Various Artists -[|]- Miles Espanol [Entertainment One Music, 2011 | Review]

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Alex Acuna, Antonio Sanchez, Bob Belden, Carles Benavent, Chick Corea, Edsel Gomez, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz, Jerry Gonzalez, John Scofield, Ron Carter, Sammy Figueroa

Greetings jazz enthusiasts, the weekend has finally arrived for some of us we’re entangled in the chill of this winters bliss. As always, thanks a bunch for hanging out with us at The Urban Flux!

Various Artists, Miles Espanol

Various Artists -[|]- Miles Espanol -(MP3)- [Entertainment One Music, 2011 | Review]

Even though we’re midway into the first month of the year, I’m honored to reflect on some recordings I have spent time on numerous occasions last year. For instance, being that I love adore new music I was blessed to immerse myself in this riveting, fresh yet approachable Latin influenced project that paid tribute to the legendary Miles Davis.

Although marginally restructured the compositions on this rendition of “Sketches of Spain” are persevered to retain its original content yet they are challenged to explore uncharted territory. Interestingly enough, you’ll find a welcome twist of multifaceted nuances underscored in the fabric of these gems will keep you returning for more. Appropriately titled “Miles Espanol,” this project is evenly shaped and divided from a Latin Jazz perspective was conceived, mended and produced by the incomparable Bob Beldon.

Jack DeJohnette -][- Sound Travels [eOne Music, 2012]

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African American, Drums, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz

Jack Dejohnette, SOUND TRAVELS

Jack DeJohnette -][- Sound Travels -(MP3)- [eOne Music, 2012]

At his best, Jack DeJohnette is one of the most consistently inventive jazz percussionists extant. DeJohnette’s style is wide-ranging, yet while capable of playing convincingly in any modern idiom, he always maintains a well-defined voice. DeJohnette has a remarkably fluid relationship to pulse. His time is excellent; even as he pushes, pulls, and generally obscures the beat beyond recognition, a powerful sense of swing is ever-present. His tonal palette is huge as well; no drummer pays closer attention to the sounds that come out of his kit than DeJohnette. He possesses a comprehensive musicality rare among jazz drummers.

National Endowment for the Arts Announces the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters

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Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz, National Endowment for the Arts, Sheila Jordan, Von Freeman

30th anniversary of nation’s highest honor in jazz

Washington, DC – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today announced the recipients of the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award-the nation’s highest honor in jazz. The five recipients will receive a one-time award of $25,000 and be publicly honored at the annual awards ceremony and concert, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center at its home, Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.

With this class, the NEA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the NEA Jazz Masters Awards, which recognizes outstanding musicians for their lifetime achievements and significant contributions to the development and performance of jazz.

Steve Khan | Got My Mental

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Guitar, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz, John Patitucci, Steve Khan

Steve Khan | Got My Metal – [Evidence, 1997]

Steve Khan, Got My Mental

The problem with assessing the quality of cd’s is that artists often have different phases in their career, or different kinds of output for their talent. Khan, for example, had a “fusion” phase (early Khan material and the band Eyewitness), has a Latin jazz side, is a superlative sideman and session player (look at, e.g., Steely Dan’s Gaucho album), and has real bonafides as a “straight ahead” jazz player.

My favorite format in jazz is the trio, particularly the jazz guitar trio. Khan has done several albums in this vein and Got My Mental is my favorite (it’s more or less a trio). The songs are perfect examples of trio playing where the interactivity is so complete that one almost forgets there are separate players. Khan’s melodies are sing-able (a forgotten art in so much guitar jazz) and his solos speak with phrases both lovely and enigmatic. (Is Khan the Wallace Stevens of the guitar solo? Not a bad analogy.) Here, too, John Patitucci really shines; one of the first albums where he leaves the “hot shot fusion bass player” thing behind and lets Khan’s melodism guide him beyond his technical habits. And Jack DeJohnette–what can be said? He is a drummer’s drummer, the perfect third point in this triangle.

Without a doubt, this is a “Desert Island Disc.” Check it out and you’ll be singing it for the rest of the month. —David Hildebrand

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Jack DeJohnette | Music We Are

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African American, Drums, Jack DeJohnette, Piano

Jack DeJohnette | Music We Are – [Golden Beams / Kindred Rhythm, 2009]

Jack DeJohnette, Music We Are

Jack Dejohnette’s new album, Music We Are on Golden Beams Productions, proves, for me once again, that Jack Dejohnette is truly both one of our great creative forces, and an explorer supreme. When I got the album I had certain expectations, having heard Jack Dejohnette play with piano greats such as Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and of course, Keith Jarret. I have even heard him leading a trio playing the piano with somebody else on drums. Listening to this album, therefore, was a complete surprise, because it is nothing like any of the music made with any of the fore mentioned collaborations.

This music transcends musical genres and boundaries. It is extraordinary in its scope and expression, and left me with same excitement I have only experienced at a live performance. With pianist Danilo Perez and bassist John Patitucci, the trio exudes an incredible sense of both ensemble and individual musical expression and power. The interchange between the individuals is exciting, and recognizes no musical clichés. They explore the genre they have come from and push hard into the regions of the modern classical without ever seeming contrived or pretentious. These are great musicians who don’t believe in playing it safe. They truly have the courage of their musical and professional convictions, and have created, for me, a thing of great delight.

Jack Dejohnette has always been a master of time and space, and for everybody he has ever accompanied, he seems to create the space for them to fully explore their own musical ideas and clears a path for them and pushes them along it. In this album, he not only does this, but has co-created with them the very music they are taking down that path. The result is astonishing.

It would be very easy to imagine parts of this album being conceived as orchestral pieces, and perhaps, one day, have we might have the prospect of it being presented as such. —R. Herman

Source: Amazon.com