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THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER TONY BENNETT CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF TONY BENNETT LIVE AT THE SAHARA: LAS VEGAS 1964 & COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORD ALBUM CATALOG ON iTUNES | Musique Non Stop

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Friday, October 4, 2013

THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER TONY BENNETT CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF TONY BENNETT LIVE AT THE SAHARA: LAS VEGAS 1964 & COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORD ALBUM CATALOG ON iTUNES


THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER TONY BENNETT CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF TONY BENNETT LIVE AT THE SAHARA: LAS VEGAS 1964 & COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORD ALBUM CATALOG ON iTUNES

Link to THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER

  1. TONY BENNETT CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF TONY BENNETT LIVE AT THE SAHARA: LAS VEGAS 1964 & COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORD ALBUM CATALOG ON iTUNES
  2. HAITI DIRECT: BIG BAND, MINI JAZZ & TWOUBADOU SOUNDS, 1960-1978
  3. THE JOSHUA SHNEIDER LOVE SPEAKS ORCHESTRA FEATURING LUCY WOODWARD AND DAVE STRYKER
Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:33 PM PDT
Tony Bennett invites his fans to join him online for an all-day series of interactive events celebrating the long-awaited release of Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 on Tuesday, October 8.

With his entire Columbia Records catalog--including Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964--available digitally for the first time, Tony will video chat with fans in real-time on HuffPost Live, participate in an open forum Q&A on Twitter, answer Facebook questions and more during an epic day in the online world.

The kick off begins at 11:45am ET with a live interview on The Huffington Post's live-streaming network, HuffPost Live (www.HuffPostLive.com), where fans from around the world can engage with Tony in real-time via Google+Hangout or Skype, or leave text or video comments on the HuffPost Live platform that will be incorporated into the live conversation. Follow the event of the day and live stream of comments and questions on Digital.TonyBennett.com.

The 17-time Grammy winner is asking fans to submit their questions now through Facebook and Twitter using hashtag #AskTony and #TonyDigitalDay.

Tony Bennett's online celebration coincides with the long-awaited first-time stand-alone release of Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964, an era-defining concert recording, on Tuesday, October 8, 2013. Tony will also be performing on The Today Show and Rachael Ray in support of the album and iTunes catalog launch.

Tony Bennett's fabled Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 performance was originally recorded on April 8, 1964, by Tony's longtime recording engineer Frank Laico, for a Columbia Records concert album.  Shelved for decades, Bennett's epochal '64 Vegas concert recording first materialized as part of the monumental Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection released in celebration of the artist's 85th birthday in 2011 and has never been available on its own.   The New York Times recently commented on Bennett's illustrious career stating, "We aren't likely to see a recording career like this again."

Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 puts the listener ringside for an extraordinary concert at the Sahara's legendary Congo Room in Vegas during the swinging 1960s, where a master performer is laying down an epic set for both the room and the ages.  "Tony was in a dark suit and black bow tie, standing before a shimmering gold curtain with backing by his forever pianist and arranger, Ralph Sharon; Ralph's bassist Hal Gaylord; Ralph's drummer Billy Exiner; and the Louis Basil orchestra," wrote Bob Sullivan in new liner notes for Tony Bennett Live At The Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964. "If you were anywhere else in Las Vegas that night, you were missing it."

The Sahara marquee promised "The Moment of Truth" and Bennett bookended his concert with performances of a song by that name, but it's the show itself that delivers electrifying non-stop entertainment across the album's 24 tracks, which include the classics "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)," "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)," "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Lullaby Of Broadway," "From This Moment On," "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big" and, an emotional interpretation of Tony's signature "I Left My Heart In San Francisco."

Tony Bennett returns to Radio City Music Hall on Friday, October 11 for his first concert at the fabled New York venue since 2007.                                            

Tony Bennett - Live at the Sahara - Las Vegas 1964
1.Overture: The Moment of Truth
2.This Could Be The Start of Something Big
3.It's a Sin to Tell a Lie
4.Ain't Misbehavin'
5.Parody: Rags to Riches
6.Keep Smiling At Trouble (Trouble's A Bubble)
7.Time After Time
8.Sing You Sinners
9.One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
10.The Rules of the Road
11.One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (reprise)
12.Mam'selle
13. From This Moment On
14.Interlude
15.I'm Way Ahead of the Game
16.Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)
17.Firefly
18.Once Upon a Time
19.Lullaby of Broadway
20.Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
21.I Left My Heart In San Francisco
22.I Wanna Be Around
23.I Left My Heart In San Francisco (reprise)
24.Finale: The Moment Of Truth (reprise)


Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:21 PM PDT
Strut Records is in the process of putting together a new project due in 2014, which is an essential guide to Haitian music of the 1960s and '70s, compiled by Hugo Mendez of Sofrito. Hugo has previously included Haitian nuggets on Sofrito's International Soundclash and Tropical Discotheque collections - on Haiti Direct , he documents original Compas, Mini Jazz and Twoubadou styles on a definitive compilation for the first time. The package features detailed historical information on the selections, artist interviews and plenty of rare photos and album covers.

In a press release, Strut explain that Haiti Direct celebrates the overlooked musical legacy of Haiti, going beyond Ra-ra and voodoo stereotypes to trace the development of a unique sound that echoed across the Caribbean. The exploratory package also includes in-depth liner notes and interviews with some of the musicians of the era, with part of the release's profits donated to the Partners In Health charity.

For fans of Caribbean music, it's an absolute must. Here is the complete tracklisting

CD1
1. Ibo Combo – Ti Garçon
2. Les Vikings – Choc Vikings
3. Les Animateurs – Ti Machine
4. Les Loups Noirs – Pile Ou Face
5. Rodrigue Milien Et Son Groupe Combite Creole – 6ème Leçon
6. Zotobre Feat. Webert Sicot – Lagen
7. Les Fantaisistes De Carrefour – Panno Caye Nan Bwa D'chenn
8. Bossa Combo – Line
9. Les Pachas Du Canapé Vert – Désordre Musical
10. Ti Paris Et Sa Guitare – Cochon St. Antoine
11. Groupe Les Chleu-chleu – Compas X
12. Ra Ra De Léogane – Gade Moune Yo
13. Tabou Combo – Ce Pas
14. Les Difficiles De Pétion-ville – An Septième
15. Les Frères Dejean – Packard
16. Trio Select – Ensemble Select En Action

CD2
1. Raoul Guillaume – Mal Élevé
2. Super Jazz Des Jeunes – Cote Moune Yo
3. Pierre Blain Et Orchestre Murat Pierre – Jouc Li Jou
4. Ensemble Meridional Des Cayes – Calma Pèlerin
5. Ensemble Etoile Du Soir – Messe Quatre Heures
6. Nemours Jean-baptiste – Ti Carole
7. Orchestre Septentrional – Baptême Ratt
8. Les Ambassadeurs – Homenaje A Los Ambajadores
9. Caribbean Sextet – Suspan'n
10. Djet-x – Jive Turkey
11. Les Shleu Shleu – Crapaud
12. Scorpio Universel – Ti Lu Lu Pe
13. Orchestre Tropicana D'haiti – Pran Pasyans

Haiti Direct will be available on 2XCD, 2XLP and digital formats.


Posted: 03 Oct 2013 07:39 AM PDT
Music has always been the main attraction in Shneider's life. Born in Stamford, CT in 1954, raised in the greater Boston area, and residing in New York since 1974, Shneider is the product of a childhood spent falling in love with his parent's records (sides by Al Hibbler, Cozy Cole, Count Basie, and a record his dad played everyday, A Jazz Salute to Freedom, which featured Bird, Dizzy, Miles, Stan Getz, Ellington, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn and many others), and AM radio, where he heard an incredible variety of music. Shneider elaborated, "Just on 'Hit' radio you could hear Louis Armstrong, Sly Stone, Hugh Masekela, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Motown, John Coltrane, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Cannonball Adderley, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery and more; just on one station in the space of a couple of hours - it seems crazy now. The music grabbed me and shaped me before I had a reason to think about it; before I even knew about style or influence."

Shneider went on to enjoy a career that has included writing for and playing with some of the most inspiring artists of our time. His compositions and arrangements have been performed and/or recorded by the likes of Donald Brown, James Williams, Bill Pierce, John Abercrombie, George Bohanon, Howard Johnson, John McNeil, Mark Feldman, Christian Howes, Lucy Woodward, The Bill Mobley Jazz Orchestra, The BMI Jazz Orchestra and many others. He has also collaborated on music for the theater with playwrights Eve Ensler and Rosemary Moore, and is a founding member of Pulse, a chamber ensemble of composers and performers dedicated to presenting contemporary music without boundaries. As a saxophonist Shneider has enjoyed associations with a variety of artists from across the musical spectrum, such as Felix Cavaliere, John Sebastian, Geoff Muldaur, Tom Rush, Robbie Dupree, John Hall, Matt Guitar Murphy and The Mighty Sparrow among others. He has also been featured with an array of theater and film artists, which include director Lee Breuer and composer Bob Telson (The Gospel at Colonus, The Warrior Ant, and the recording "Calling You"), and filmmaker Percy Adlon ("Bagdad Cafe", "Hawaiian Gardens"). He has been quoted extensively in the book "Thinking in Jazz-The Infinite Art of Improvisation", by Paul F. Berliner (pub. 1994, Univ. of Chicago Press).

Shneider's extensive experience, which includes early studies with George Coleman, and the influence of his esteemed friend and neighbor, the late, legendary jazz pianist, James Williams ("I was already familiar with James' playing, but hearing him practice through the floor was a whole other story-thrilling and disconcerting as well. Being exposed to that level of musicianship every day inspired me to go back to school and get my writing together), has led him to the release of his first recording under his own name, The Joshua Shneider Love Speaks Orchestra. The artist explains, "I have been working in an acoustic, large ensemble setting for the pieces that I have been writing for quite a few years now. This setting is based on a combination of the traditional big band and studio orchestra instrumentations. Rather than 'bigger and louder', I am drawn to the rich harmonic possibilities as well as the available tonal colors of this ensemble. I also prize the 'chance' and 'human elements' of the ensemble; from the improvised solo to the interactions of the various personalities that shape the music and combine to create a unique hybrid of it's parts.

The Joshua Shneider Love Speaks Orchestra, Shneider's working band for the past five years, features an array of some of the New York scene's finest musicians, including Dave Stryker, John O'Gallagher, David Smith, Alex Norris, Dan Pratt, Lucy Woodward and others. "I am continually grateful for the caliber of the players that choose to play my music; it is not easy to play and I am proud and more than satisfied with the recorded result! This project represents the culmination of years of work written specifically for the individual members of the ensemble", said Shneider.

The album tracks:
"Big Whup" - Shneider wrote this composition after listening to the soundtrack of the film, "Black Orpheus". He explains, "There is a wonderful tune by Jobim called 'Frevo' performed by a marching band, which was the inspiration. I tried to invoke the Samba School vibe and get my own thing in there as well. Dig the way John O'Gallagher dialogues with the band before he boldly sets out for parts unknown."
"Dark Energy" - Shneider envisioned for this tune a kind of stretched out, floating melody juxtaposed on top of a background that would feel like it was sinking. Seems like some Herbie Hancock and Al Jackson snuck in there somehow, as well.

"When Love Speaks" - This tune was inspired by the title. Shneider explains, "I had gone to hear the incredible Jeveeta Steele sing one night in NYC-I had worked with her and The J.D. Steele Singers doing "The Gospel at Colonus". We were chatting after the show and Jeveeta's sister said something along the lines of, "that's love talkin' to ya". A light went off in my head and that stuck with me. I wrote the tune and handed it off to Finian McKean who wove his own evocative narrative through it. In fact, I liked his lyric so much I named the band after it. I was hearing Lucy's voice in my head as I wrote the melody.

"Blue To You" - "I think of this as a blues in sheep's clothing, as it were. The high point for me is Dan Pratt's intrepid tenor solo, he has an amazing sound, and it helps that he also plays all the right notes!"

"Lover's Leap" - "This is one of the only tunes I've written over the chord changes of a standard, namely 'Lover' (get it?) by Rogers and Hart. I wore out Sonny Rollins' beyond-breakneck version of it, titled 'B Swift'. I set the melody in an Afro-Cuban groove as a feature for David Smith on trumpet and Frank Basile on baritone saxophone."
"Lost In The Stars" - David Berger, the bandleader and Ellington scholar, and a teacher of Shneider's suggested he write a small group version of this tune when he was in school. Alex Norris spins out a beautiful personal solo.

"Twinsville" - "This tune made itself known to me as a melody first. The counter lines I was hearing dictated the harmonic direction of the piece. That's a real Wurlitzer that Bennett Paster is so ably playing. The title refers to the town I live in; if only in my mind."

"The Hurting Kind" - An unabashed homage to Shneider's favorite pop divas of the 1960s, particularly Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield, as well as great songwriters like Burt Bacharach and Hal David. "I wrote this after one of my frequent periods of listening to 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' about 20 times in a row."
"One Flight Down" - The title refers to pianist James Williams who lived in the apartment below Shneider and his family for many years and, in particular, "his laugh, which was formidable", said Shneider. "When James was home he spent a lot of time on the phone keeping in touch with his legions of friends, and every so often a laugh would erupt through the floorboards that would shake the house. When I put the piece together I was thinking of the groove that Elvin Jones plays on Gil Evans' 'Time of the Barracudas'. I love the way John O'Gallagher builds his solo, from his wry comments at the beginning to the blazing fireworks at the end".

"Cute Little Nightmare" - "The origin of the title to this tune was an off-the-cuff quip my wife made a while back. Someone had remarked that one of our kids was 'so cute', to which she replied, 'yeah, a cute little nightmare. Must have been the sleep deprivation talking . . . When I started putting together this recording I knew I had to include guitarist Dave Stryker. Dave was one of the first musicians I met and played with when I came to NYC, and I immediately knew he was a very special player.

"Friction" - "The genesis of this tune was an idea I had to write an ostinato bass figure and then vary the harmonic structure above it. I also wanted to keep the feeling of the tune a bit unsettled, so I wrote the melody in a different tonality from the bass line. The way Stryker develops his solo reminds me of a hang glider stepping off into the void and catching an updraft into the clouds. We also hear from Justin Mullens on trumpet, a wonderful soloist with a very individual sound and conception; he takes the road less traveled."

"Completing this project has been a milestone and an incredible experience for me. Although I have been a working musician for many years, this is the first recording I'll have out under my own name. I feel that I've been able to draw on my various experiences as a sideman, writer and arranger, and fly on the wall to present a musical snapshot of where I've been and an inkling of where I hope to continue to go. For the future, I hope to expand on the areas that I feel are bearing fruit for me now and to explore new directions and concepts that are important to me as an artist", Joshua Shneider.




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