Festival "JAZZ sous les pommiers" on May 8 to 15, 2010 in COUTANCES France

The Festival Team:

Jazz sous les pommiers is the fruit of a successful collaboration between the permanent team of the Coutances Municipal Theatre and a score of volunteers.

The steering committee works throughout the year and meets in plenary or in specialist commissions focusing on the different aspects of the festival, such as the line up, promotion, bar concerts, street theatre, etc. This unashamedly democratic method of working serves the festival very well. Indeed, it is a true collective which moulds the character of the festival.

Les artistes programmés

SAM 8 MAI / Frédéric Nardin trio / Roy Hargrove quintet / Naby / David Garcia trio / Eric Le Lann avec David Kikoski, Victor Lewis & Thomas Bramerie / Didier Squiban trio / Melody Gardot / Empirical / Rires & Rides

DIM 9 MAI / La Banda de Holguin / Blezeri / Surnatural Orchestra / Melody Gardot / Les Traîne-Savates / Angelo Debarre "Manoir de mes rêves" invite Rocky Gresset / Djangobim / Collectif Jazz Manouche / Coco Swing / Rires & Rides

LUN 10 MAI / Fanga

MAR 11 MAI / Ciné-concert "Malec Forgeron" de Buster Keaton / Mountain Men / Tommy Castro Band / Fabrizio Bosso / Antonello Salis duo / Renaud Garcia-Fons "Linea del Sur" / Monster Mike Welch

MER 12 MAI / Les Tambours du Burundi / Andre Ceccarelli "Le coq et la pendule" Hommage à Nougaro / Cie Dodeka et Andy Sheppard "Jack l'éventreur" / Tineke Postma quartet / Cheick Tidiane Seck invite Mamani Keita / Kouyaté-Neerman / TBK

JEU 13 MAI / Generation Singleton "Gospels & Spirituals" / Matthew Herbert Big Band / Dhafer Youssef quartet Abu Nawas Rhapsody / Christophe LeLoil sextet "E.C.H.O.E.S" / Emmanuel Bex trio "Open Gate" / Bonobo Live / Omar Sosa & Trilok Gurtu with Afreecanos / Murayama / Bataille / Renou + Quentin Ghomari / Mario Canonge trio / Arun Ghosh Indo Jazz sextet / Harmonie Espérance de St Coin / Cie Dodeka et Andy Sheppard "Jack l'éventreur" / Barco de Arena / La Foirce / Exilio

VEN 14 MAI / Eric Vloeimans "Gatecrash" / Gaël Horellou trio / Stéphane Guillaume Brass Project / John McLaughlin & the 4th dimension / Paolo Fresu / Uri Caine duo / Oreka Tx / Murayama / Bataille / Renou + Gabor Bolla et Antonin Tri-Hoang / Fanga / Danse, jazz & improvisation Fattoumi - Dehors "Rencontre" / Danse, jazz & improvisation Plisson / Aussanaire / Bolcato "Tips" / Barco de Arena / La Foirce / Exilio

SAM 15 MAI / Ibrahim Maalouf solo / Sebastien Llado Machination!solo / François Thuillier solo / Andy Sheppard "Glossolalia" / Denis Colin & la Société des Arpenteurs / Portico quartet / Push up! / Joshua Redman / Brad Mehldau duo / Vincent Segal et ses amis / Get the Blessing / James Morton's Porkchop / Exilio / Happy 4 Nothing / Homo Sapiens Burocraticus                

Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter - Little Walter Photos, Candye Kane, Bukka White, Lakeside Jazz Series, Passings

April 8, 2010

• A Night with Little Walter, Cambridge, 1964! Rare Little Walter Photos! Thanks to Dave Luxton & Al Thompson for sharing some rare photos of Little Walter taken in 1964 at the Alley Club in Cambridge, England. Some of these images first appeared in the booklet of the grammy winning Little Walter / The Complete Chess Masters (1950 - 1967) on Hip-O Select, but some are previously unseen. To see these photos, and to hear the full story click here.
• RIP Herb Ellis, August 4, 1921 - March 28, 2010. Jazz guitarist Herb Ellis always had a blues sensibility to his fine playing. In the words of the New York Times "Herb Ellis, a jazz guitarist whose polished, blues-inflected playing earned him critical acclaim as an outstanding soloist and worldwide recognition as a member of the pianist Oscar Peterson’s trio, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88." Ellis recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Stuff Smith, Stan Getz, and of course Oscar Peterson. Ellis' co-wrote the jazz classic "Detour Ahead" which was most notably covered by Billie Holiday. To read the full New York Times obit, click here.
• RIP Ray Hoff, December 29, 1942 - March 19, 2010. Gil Onyett reports on the passing of Australian blues/roots rock musician Ray Hoff. In Gil's own words; "Australia lost another rock 'n' roll/rhythm 'n' blues legend with the passing of Ray Hough, who recorded as Ray Hoff. He made some recordings in the '60s as Ray Hoff & The Offbeats. Hoff's only subsequent recording, "Loud, Dirty, 'n' Rockin', appeared in 2000, and was produced by Australian rockabilly star Red Rivers".  To read more about Ray Hoff, click here.
• Bob Corritore & Friends included in the Lakeside Jazz Series at Tempe Center for the Arts! Bob Corritore will bring a showcase of his blues associates to the beautiful Tempe Center for the Arts on Saturday, November 27th at 8pm, as part of the Lakeshore Jazz Series. This spectacular performance center is a joy for both artist and audience alike. The series features top names in the business including Mose Allison, Benny Green Trio, Brian Bromberg and others. To find out more about the Lakeshore Jazz Series and to purchase tickets click here.
• Candye Kane appears at the Rhythm Room this Friday! Delta Groove recording artist Candye Kane brings her fun loving show to the Rhythm Room on Friday, April 9th with an opening set by Skip Heller. The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Doors open at 8pm, cover charge is $12. Rack Shack Barbeque will be available at this event. This night will be a patio smoking only event; no indoor smoking will be permitted.
• Bukka White on YouTube! Please enjoy this great film clip of Bukka White singing and playing "Got Sick And Tired". Bukka's tough voice, insistently percussive guitar style, and passionate delivery make him one of the greatest champions of country blues. Note that Howlin' Wolf and Son House are in the background of this film. Click here to see the clip.

Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, BMA's, Books, Howlin' Wolf, RIP Bobby Alexis,

March 30, 2010

• New Pinetop Perkins / Willie "Big Eyes" Smith CD forthcoming! Producer Michael Freeman of Coachouse Music reports "I've just finished producing a long awaited album for Pinetop Perkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith for Telarc, titled Joined At the Hip, and due for a May/June release." We look forward to this very natural pairing of alumni of the Muddy Waters band, which BTW, also includes the great John Primer on guitar (another Muddy alum). Pinetop is now 96 years young, and is still playing at the top of his game. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith has emerged a frontman / harmonica player in the last few years, and this CD will surely help advance his already solid reputation. Thanks Michael for this great news!
• RIP Bobby Alexis, birth-date unknown - March 4, 2010. Dorothy Hill reports that keyboardist Bobby Alexis died in Houston on March 4th of a heart attack. Alexis worked for many years in the Albert Collins band, and also had played with Guitar Shorty, and Bo Diddley. Sadly, very little biographical information is available about Bobby Alexis, though he was very well known in musician circles.
• Get well cards for Fontella Bass. Deitra Farr reports on an ailing Fontella Bass, the St. Louis based soul singer, best known for the hit "Rescue Me". Deitra states "Fontella Bass has been very ill from a series of strokes. I would love for her fans and fellow musicians to show her some love and support." Get well cards and letters may be sent to: Fontella Bass, c/o Rosewood Care Center of St. Louis, Room 415, 11278 Schuetz Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63146.
• Chicago Blues Festival honors Howlin' Wolf! Lineup announced! The Chicago Blues Festival takes place on June 11th, 12th, and 13th, at Grant Park. This year the Fest celebrates the centennial of Howlin' Wolf's birthday with performances and panels by his former band members and associates. Among those associates performing will be Eddie Shaw, Henry Gray, Hubert Sumlin, Sam Lay, James Cotton, and Abb Locke! For more information and to see a full lineup for the Chicago Blues Festival, click here. To see a recently published photo page honoring the great Howlin' Wolf, click here.
• 2009 BMA photo page posted! The Blues Music Awards is the greatest annual gathering of the blues world. The BMAs are a simply wonderful party, where some wonderful and unique blues people meet and greet. Please enjoy this photo display from last year's Awards show. Included are photos of Koko Taylor, Bobby Rush, Steve Guyger, The Mannish Boys, Lil' Ed, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Chris James, Patrick Rynn, Big Pete Pearson, Bill Wax, Bob and Linda Porter, Fionna Boyes, Hubert Sumlin, Steven Seagal, Irma Thomas, Bobby Bland, and more! This year's BMAs will take place in Memphis on Thursday, May 6th. To see the 2009 BMA photo page click here.  For more information on this year's BMAs click here.
• Some great new blues books! Three wonderful, newly published books have come to our attention. The first is Blues Before Sunrise, The Radio Interviews, which features a sampling of amazing interviews that Chicago author/radio show host Steve Cushing conducted with blues artists and producers such as Yank Rachell, Gray Ghost, Jody Williams, Little Hudson, Ralph Bass, John and Grace Brim, Johnny Williams, Cadillac Baby, Alberta Hunter, and more! Steve's uncanny historical knowledge is apparent throughout this fascinating set of life stories that Steve ably coaxes from each interview subject. We should also mention that Steve is a great blues drummer and producer, who made records with Magic Slim and Big Smokey Smothers. For more information on Blues Before Sunrise, The Radio Interviews, click here. To enjoy a filmed interview with Steve Cushing on WGN click here. Also from, and about the windy city comes The Chicago Music Scene, 1960's and 1970s by Dean Milano. This is a thought provoking photo essay of a time and place filled with musical zest and activity. Approximately a fifth of this book is devoted to the blues, and does so in fine form, with great era photos of the most prevalent blues artists of that period. The cover photo alone is worth the price of admission with a great shot of Lonnie Brooks performing at Chicago Fest at Navy Pier in the late 1970s. To see the cover and read more about this book click here. The third book that has come to our attention is Blues, Booze, and BBQ by Michael Loyd Young which is a spellbinding photographic journal of the modern day Mississippi blues experience. With stunningly colorful and vivid images in high quality reproduction, Young takes us on a journey through Highway 61. This is the Delta of today, complete with both the timeless deep south quality of the blues, and the juxtaposed tourist based blues modernization that is now part of the landscape. To read more about Blues, Booze, and BBQ and see a slide show of some of the book's images click here, then Essays, and Blues, Booze, and BBQ. All three of these books are spectacular in that they aptly accomplish their mission statement and bring a wonderful focus to the blues!
• Athology CD of vintage Phoenix blues get first reviews! Earlier this year the Southwest Musical Arts Foundation released a complilation of vintage Phoenix Blues titled Flyin' High, A Collection Of  Phoenix Blues, Rhythm, and Spirit from the 1950's and 60's. The CD's 27 tracks include Big Pete Pearson's first recordings, Reverend Louis Overstreet, J.C. Arline, The Lone Wolf, Duke Draper, Maxine Johnson, John "Oklahoma Zeke" Lewis, Dumas King, Roosevelt Nettles, Budd Spudd & The Sprouts, Jimmy Knight, Baby Jean, the Curtis Gray Combo, and more. It has received its first two reviews, courtesy of Blues Source and Blues & Rhythm Magazine. You can read these reviews online by clicking here. To see the cover art for Flyin' High, click here, and to read the extensive liner notes by John Dixon, click here. This CD is currently available through Bluebeat Music and can be purchased by clicking here. Proceeds from the sales of this CD will go to the Southwest Musical Arts Foundation who are planning more historically important blues releases.
• Posthumus Gary Primich CD released! This news just in from Harri Haka: "A newly released CD collection of Gary Primich live performances in Finland, called Gary Indiana, has been released by the Finnish Blues Society on the Blue Star record label." Harmonica ace Gary Primich,  passed away on Sept 23rd, 2007, at the early age of 49, so this continuance of his legacy is most welcome. For more information on the new, release click here.
• Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson on YouTube! Please enjoy this amazing colaboration of Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, two of the definitive innovators of boogie woogie piano, who perform together on this vintage film clip of "Boogie Woogie Dream" (click here to see)

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Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter Passings 3/26/2010

March 26, 2010

RIP Clayton Love November 15, 1927 - Feb. 28, 2010. Clayton Love  will best be remembered as the vocalist and pianist in Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm. He passed away at a hospice in St Louis from complications of a stroke and heart problems, He was 82. He was born in Mattson, Mississippi in 1927. During 40s and 50s Love was a popular musician around the Vicksburg area, fronting and organzing sophisticated swing bands. This sound was reflected in his first recordings done for the Trumpet label in 1951. His association with Ike Turner soon followed and eventually led to his mid 1950's relocation to St. Louis, where he would front Ike's band, The Kings of Rhythm, and record such great songs as "Do You Mean It", "She Made My Blood Run Cold", and "The Big Question". Clayton Love would make St. Louis his lifelong home, and he was one of that town's proud blues statesmen until the day he died. His long career saw releases with Trumpet, Modern, Aladdin, Federal, Groove, Bobbin, Monad, Modern Blues, Ace, Charley, Collectibles, and Alligator. His great R&B vocals and spectacular recordings will live forever in blues history. To see a Clayton Love interview with with STL Blues click here.

Rockie Charles November 14, 1942 - March 12, 2010. New Orleans soul singer and guitarist Rockie Charles passed away in his home town on Friday March 12th, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 67. Born Charles Merrick in Boothville, Louisiana, he would learn guitar at an early age from his father, and at age 13 moved to New Orleans where he would formally study music. As a young man in the 1960s he hit the road backing O.V. Wright, Percy Sledge, Otis Redding, and others. He would record a handful of singles and albums, of which the best known is his CD, Born For You, on the Orleans label, which finds this wonderful vocalist and songwriter at the top of his game. He had become a popular attraction at the annual retro roots festival called Ponderosa Stomp. To read the NOLA.com article about Rockie Charles' life and times, and to see a nice video clip, click here.

RIP Marva Wright March 20. 1948 - March 23, 2010. New Orleans blues and gospel singer Marva Wright passed away from complications from a 2009 stroke. She was 62. She came into prominence in the 1980s and became known as the "Blues Queen of New Orleans". She recorded and toured frequently, and won over audiences in the US and Europe with her powerful voice and stage presence, and her kind and sincere personality. For more information on Marva and to enjoy her beautiful website click here. To see a film clip of Marva performing "Heartbreakin' Woman" click here, and performing "Bluesiana Mama" click here. Thanks Marva, for giving us your heart with each performance.

RIP Rod 'Beachhead' Jeffery February 26, 2010. This sad news in from Colin Briscoe of Sydney, Australia, who reports "Rod “Beachhead” Jeffrey, one of the pioneering Australian bluesman, and vocalist with the band Beachhead, passed away on Friday, February 26th, after a long and arduous fight with cancer."Rod's bio indicates that his major activities took place in the 1980s and his influence and blues contribution, in his community was great. To see Ron "Beachhead" Jeffery's website, filled with photos and information, click here.

RIP Barbara Brown, birth-date unknown - February 3, 2010.  Ace Records Reports that Memphis soul singer Barbara Brown, passed away on February 3rd. She was in her 70s. Brown was best known for her hit "Big Party", on the Stax label, with Barbara & the Browns (featuring her and her 3 sisters). She would also record classic soul sides for XL, Cadet, Tower, Atco, Sounds of Memphis. Her short lived career ended in 1972 when she left music for good. But a resurgence of interest happened in 2007, when Kent reissued her classic sides on the album Can't Find Happiness, and again a year later when the highly acclaimed soul collection Take Me To The River (also on Kent Records), featured one of her brilliant recordings. It is wonderful that she was able to see this appreciation during her her lifetime. To see the article on Ace Records website, click here.

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Beautiful Site talking about BLUES Music!

http://www.bluestormmusic.com/

EUROPA JAZZ FESTIVAL in LE MANS (France)

More than just a festival, Europajazz today comes on all year! Europajazz after the season ends in early March after the remaining three of the four seasons of the festival: the Europajazz Regional Round of 2 to 19 March, the Europajazz High School March 22 April 2 and Europajazz Final April 3 to May 9 Here are more than 80 concerts (and many cultural activities in parallel) in 22 cities and 6 aeras including the course content remains true to our online art history: many creations (Sébastien Texier, Alban Darche, Michel Portal, Andy Emler, Michel Edelin), invitations to groups unpublished in France (Kris Defoort, Taylor Ho Bynum), the presence of marked young French musicians (Striking 10, Jean Louis, Dave Golitin, Burno, Trio d'En Bas) and a new wave of European youth talent (Francesco Bearzatti, Lotte Anker, Kris Defoort, Mikko Innanen), not forgetting the iconic figures of jazz history (Liz McComb, Miroslav Vitous, Arild Andersen) and some musicians which marked the festival's history which we can not do without (Andy Emler, Daunik Lazro, Tony Malaby, Barre Phillips, Barry Guy, Lubat Bernard, Michel Portal, Sylvain Luc ...)!

02 au 19 mars Daniel Humair Baby Boom Régional Tour 10 concerts en Pays de La Loire et en Basse Normandie : Trelaze (02) Haute-Goulaine (03) Mamers (05) Bagnoles de l’Orne (06) La Ferté-Bernard (10) Cholet (11) Le Lude (12) Saint-Berthevin (13) Saint-Symphorien (18) La Roche sur Yon (19).


22 mars au 02 avril : Europajazz au Lycée 11 concerts du trio Jean Louis ou du duo Hélène Labarrière/Roland Brival en Pays de La Loire et en Basse-Normandie : Lycée de Rouillon (22/03) Lycée Agricole de Laval (23/03) Lycée Touchard Le Mans (23/03) Lycée Navarre Alençon (25/03) Lycée Yourcenar le Mans (25/03) Lycée E de Constant La Flèche (25/03) Lycée Plessis Mornay Saumur (29/03) Lycée Navarre Alençon (30/03) Lycée Roussel Le Mans (30/03) Lycée Bergson Angers (01/04) Mjc Ronceray (2) (02/04).


03 avril : 6ème Nuit de la Salsa Alexander Abreu Y Havana d’Primera Le Mans


12 au 17 avril : Europajazz Têtes Blanches Tour Alexis Lambert /Karine Jarry duo 6 concerts dans les Maisons de retraite de la Sarthe.


24 avril : 12 ème Europajazz en Balade « 500 musiciens prennent la République » 16 concerts en centre ville Le Mans : Old Jazz Corporation, Bernic Jazz Band, Vinouze Jazz band, Jazz Potes, Gilbert Leroux Washboard Group, Cotton Belly’s, Dr Bones &The Blue Roots,Philippe Menard One Man band, Sandra Duclau quartet, Guitar Junior Band, 6 Harmonies Sarthoises….


25 avril au 02 mai : Europajazz final (1ère semaine) : Sylvain Luc solo (La Flèche-27/04), Classes de Jazz Régional Meeting (Le Mans-27/04), Europajazz au Collège avec Costel Nitescu, Mister Joss Blues Band, Elmore D group (Collège Berthelot Le Mans, Collège de Mayet, Collège de Mamers), Dave Golitin/Stéphane Galland (Le Mans-28/04), Balake Sissoko/Vincent Segal duo – Marc Morvan/Ben Jarry duo (Allonnes-28/04), Costel Nitescu quartet (Beaumont Pd B-29/04), 4èmeNuit de l’Euroblues avec Nina Attal, Elmore D group, Mister Joss Blues Band (Coulaines-29/04), Liz Mc Comb « Soul Peace & love » (Le Mans- 30/04), Ze Blue Note création Opéra-Théatre pour Chœur d’Enfant avec Michel Edelin Quintet et les élèves de l’Ecole de musique de Sargé (Sargé–02 /05).


04 au 09 mai : Europajazz final (2ème semaine) : L’Orphéon Celesta spectacle jeune public (Coulaines-04 et 05 /05), Le Gros Cube « Queen Bishop » création (Le Mans-04/05), Daunik Lazro solo, Burno, l’Amusicien d’Uz de Bernard Lubat (Le Mans-05/05), Tony Malaby solo, Trio d’En Bas, Andy Emler & Big Band universitaire du Maine, Andy Emler/Marc Ducret duo création, Andy Emler Megaoctet invite Marc Ducret (Le Mans-06/05), Barre Phillips/David Philipps « Basfidel », Radiation 10, Arild Andersen Belleville trio, Sébatien Texier trio play Paul Motian création, Miroslav Vitous group « Remembering Weather Report » (Le Mans-07/05), Barry Guy/Maya Homburger, Délirium, Kris Defoort trio, Lotte Anker trio, Francesco Bearzatti Tinissima quartet (Le Mans-08/05), Agusti Fernandez Aurora Trio, Taylor Ho Bynum Positive Catastrophe, Michel Portal New Project création (Le Mans-09/05).

The Europajazz has 31 years, of course! But energy is still there! The will challenge too! The desire to escape the comfort habits and certainties programming is constant. So We offer new venues of distribution, we think of further meetings with all audiences and create new departmental networks, regional, national or European. Everything Simply, we offer every jazz by adapting to each Used the ideal project, bringing the musician and his audience! The Lycée Europajazz created in 2007, the College Europajazz created in 2009, the class jazz Regional Meeting established 2009, new projects with the School of Music or the Sarge Big Band University of Maine as the new Passport Card tarifs hyper Supersaver "and the creation of Club Partners "Clubbin'jazz" are all new projects coming show our continuing ability to renew! While this 31st edition - this Europajazz Final after a great season concert, looks terrific! But now the word is musicians. It is they who, from March 2, you will live exceptional moments. To better find them, ask the program! 

Jean-Marie Rivier, President
Armand Meignan Director

All the concerts

JazzCorner's newsletter

JazzCorner.com has been the home of the ECM forums: to discuss and learn 'everything ECM' for close to three years, and so we take with great pleasure and pride to inform you about three current releases from ECM

Paul Motian, Chris Potter and Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream - released March 9th

In February 2009, Paul Motian convened this trio for a special project at New York’s Village Vanguard. From a week of concert recordings, Motian and producer Manfred Eicher subsequently selected the material presented on Lost In A Dream. The album puts an emphasis on balladry, using ballads as vehicles for profound soloing and group playing. In these touching performances of Paul’s songs, increasingly open to improvisational intervention, we get to learn more of the specific capacities of the featured musicians - and of the potential of this combination of players.

Amongst the very first artists to appear on ECM, with Paul Bley’s trio and then with Keith Jarrett’s "American Quartet", Paul Motian’s career as a leader was begun at the label. Conception Vessel was soon followed by other important musical statements including Tribute, Dance, Le Voyage, Psalm and It Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago. His 21st century output for ECM includes two albums with his trio with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, as well as Garden of Eden with the Paul Motian Band. He can also be heard on Enrico Rava’s Tati and New York Days and discs with Marilyn Crispell and Anat Fort.

The Paul Motian Trio with Greg Osby (replacing Chris Potter) appearing at New York's Village Vanguard THIS WEEK - March 16-21.

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Ralph Towner and Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro – released: March 16th

American master guitarist Ralph Towner may collaborate rarely, but his choices in partners have always been beyond astute. For this exciting new duo, of unusual, yet highly attractive instrumentation, he introduces a new partner in the form of Italian trumpet star Paolo Fresu whose remarkably pure and elegant tone is reminiscent of early Miles Davis. Towner’s compositions offer continually changing landscapes for Fresu’s horn to grace, in poetic and lyrical pieces which feature gradations of light and shade, of sound and shadows. Chiaroscuro introduces a new duo and a rare instrumental combination - trumpet and acoustic guitar. The repertoire: a program of old and new Ralph Towner compositions and duo improvisations, plus an old Miles Davis favorite, its presence a key to the musical priorities at work here.

The album was recorded in October 2008 in Udine, but the story of the Towner/Fresu alliance really begins further South, at a festival in Sardinia, 15 years ago. Towner had been commissioned to write music for a local ensemble. Fresu was its trumpeter. "I didn’t know him at all then," Ralph recalls, "but from the very first phrase that he played, I thought: 'This guy really understands melodies!' And I thought there and then that we should do some more work together."

The composition played that night, "Punta Giara", resurfaces here in rearranged form, along with pieces shaped especially for this album, including the title track, a study in strong contrasts. The atmospheric "Sacred Place", heard in two versions, and "Doubled Up" bring Towner’s new baritone guitar to the fore. Tuned a fifth below his classical concert guitar it allows him new flexibility in the low range, and the freedom to be, effectively, his own bassist on the clever “Doubled Up”, the most overtly jazz-like of the new tunes. "'Doubled up' has many meanings, of course, including doubled up with laughter. Here the theme is sequenced, so to speak, the events happen twice, each theme 'doubled'’ by the two players."

Ralph Towner and Paolo Fresu will be performing:
March 23rd at the Regatta Bar (Boston, MA)
March 24th at the Italian Academy at Columbia University (New York, NY) March 27th at YBCA Forum (San Francisco, CA)
March 28th at The Triple Door (Seattle, WA)

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Tord Gustavsen Ensemble: Restored, Returned – released: February 9th

After three wonderful trio albums Gustavsen branches off in new directions adding two players familiar to ECM listeners – bassist Mats Eilertsen and saxophonist Tore Brunborg – and introducing the blues-inflected voice of Kristin Asbjørnsen on Tord's gorgeous settings of the poetry of W.H. Auden.

On JazzCorner.com's ECM Forum, Restored, Returned, has become an active discussion.

Tord Gustavsen Ensemble will be performing: March 28th at YBCA Forum (San Francisco, CA) and March 31st at Merkin Concert Hall, (New York, NY)

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SPECIAL BONUS for U.S. readers of JazzCorner's newsletter: A free poster of any of the titles mentioned above. ECM will mail them directly to you. Just email JazzCorner with subject line as ECM Poster and include your snail mail address.

Peace and light
Lois Gilbert
Managing Director
Jazzcorner®.com