Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Vicente was born in Woodstock, NY, and here he embraced the rich cultural arts of this historical town by listening to local great jazz artists Dave Holland, Jimmy Cobb, Jack DeJohnette, among many others. He began his musical career on guitar at age sixteen primarily self-taught, learning from his parents Wes Montgomery and George Benson records. During those years he began making a name for himself playing in the Hudson Valley region with variety of ensembles from Albany to New York City. Upon graduation from high school, Vicente was accepted to The New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, MA, where he majored in Jazz Studies. Some of his instructors included guitarist Gene Bertoncini, saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, and Latin/Jazz marvel pianist Danilo Perez. After his first year at NEC, Vicente transferred to Boston’s Northeastern University where he switched from guitar to acoustic bass.

Within one year of switching to the bass, the powerful alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, a long-time champion and discoverer of young talent, asked Vicente to join his group. Donald thought so highly of Vicente skills that he used him on his Impulse! release, Free to Be. While still in college, Vicente also began performing in the Eric Reed Trio. After earning a business degree in Management Information Systems and Business Management in June 2000, Vicente moved to New York City where he soon began performing and touring with the likes of Kenny Garrett, Terence Blanchard, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Marlena Shaw, Deborah Cox, Louis Hayes, Curtis Fuller, Mark Whitfield, Roy Haynes, Geri Allen, Stanley Jordan, Karrin Allyson, Wycliffe Gordon, Stefon Harris, Janis Siegel, Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra w/ Wynton Marsalis, among many others.

Vicente Archer has emerged as one of today’s profound new voices on the bass. He presently divides his duties playing with Robert Glasper and Nicholas Payton.

Bien, dicho esto os dejamos un magnifico CD en el que Archer participa. Se trata de Marcus Strickland Quartets – Twi-Life (2006)

Personal:
Marcus Strickland (Soprano and Tenor Saxophone)
Robert Glasper (Piano) cd 1
Vicente Archer (Bass) cd 1
Lage Lund (Guitar) cd 2
Brad Jones (Bass) cd 2
E.J. Strickland (Drums)

Y que podeis descarga, si quereis, aquí

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Os dejo un CD de Vin Gordon, en concreto Way Over Yonder

song: Lovable You

Podeis ver muchas más fotos sobre artistas de Jazz en cá nuestra amiga Esther

Un saludo.

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Vincent Courtois parvient à vous faire voyager dans des univers étonnamment diversifiés pour capter “des bouts de reggae, de musique africaine, de fanfares tziganes, du funk ou du rock passé par Hendrix, des mélodies qui n’ont pas peur d’être des romances, du jazz qui vire free sans se perdre, des structures cadrées qui n’empêchent pas la liberté”.

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Vince Ector Biography

Born: July 5, 1965    Instrument: Drums

Vincent Ector incent Ector hails from the musical city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended the University of Pennsylvania. Trained in Music beginning at age nine through GAMP, a music magnet school in Philadelphia that also enabled him to study at Temple University while still a junior high school student. He then began studying privately with drummers such as, Mickey Roker, Ralph Peterson Jr., and Armand Santarelli, as well as performing for six years as a percussionist with the United States Army Band.

As a performer, he has worked with jazz luminaries that include: Freddie Hubbard, Gloria Lynne, Charles Earland, Bobby Watson, Grover Washington Jr. Ted Curson, Dr Lonnie Smith, George Cables, Ralph Peterson Jr., Melvin Sparks, Johnny Coles and Shirley Scott.

Most recently, Vincent produced his second CD as a leader entitled “Renewal of the Spirit” for Mambo Maniacs Records. This recording features Bobby Watson on Saxophones and four of Vincent’s original compositions. He is featured performing on drum set, djembe and sangba African drums. His first CD, “Rhythm Master” features the great Eddie Henderson on trumpet. Vincent also produced a tribute recording for the late Charles Earland on the High Note record label. This recording features Joey DeFrancesco, Pat Martino and Eric Alexander. Vincent can also be heard on recordings by: Jimmy Bruno, Onaje Allan Gumbs and Charles Earland, as well as appearing as a musician on ABC television’s “One Life to Live” daytime soap opera, which features Vincent’s recorded drum performance. He performs regularly in New York City with several ensembles such as, The Charles Mingus Orchestra, The Mike LeDonne Organ Quartet and his own band in venues such as; Smoke, The Iridium, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola and The Jazz Standard among others.

An accomplished musician with no confinements, Mr. Ector has been featured as a

Clinician at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Lincoln University and is currently the President and Executive Director of Arts For Kids Inc., a non-profit arts-in-education company providing workshops performances and professional development for schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. (www.artsforkids.net). He is also a sought after Artist-in- Residence for The Manhattan New Music Project and Arts Horizons Inc. of Englewood, New Jersey. These residencies place him in the New York City public school system, primarily in districts for children with special needs.

Mr. Ector was a featured teaching artist in the 2001 Harcourt/Brace Media Literacy Video Series, which is distributed nationally, as well as internationally.

Vincent is currently in demand as a recording musician and as a performer at jazz festivals throughout the world with numerous international artists such as, Bobby Watson & Horizon, Gloria Lynne, The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All Stars, Gene Ludwig and Slide Hampton.

**********

Daniel Smith-Basson Goes Latin Jazz (2011)

Temas:
01.Mr. Kenyatta
02.Watermelon Man
03.So danco samba
04.Listen Here
05.Black Orpheus
06.Yardbird Suite
07.Manteca
08.Korg In
09.Peace
10.Chicken
11.Come Candela
12.Mambo From the Dance At the Gym

Musicos:
Daniel Smith: bassoon
Daniel Kelly: piano
Sandro Albert: guitar
Michael O’Brien: bass
Vincent Ector: drums
Neil Clarke: Latin percussion
Roswell Rudd: trombone

song : Watermelon man

Vladimir Tarasov was part of The Ganelin Trio was one of the first and most well known to the west free-jazz soviet (with lithuanian origins) bands. Paused activities in 1987 when Ganelin moved in Israel. Initial line-up: Vyacheslav Ganelin (piano, keyboards, perc.), Vladimir Tarasov (drums, percussion), Vladimir Chekasin (saxes, clarinet…). Many years later Ganelin revived the trio with new line-ups.

Os dejo un Avant Jazz ruso  (15 pistas, 71 min) del queVladimir forma parte.

CD

Ultimamente fue visto en el 21 Festival d’Altitude, Jazz à Luz, Luz-St-Sauveur, Francia, 9 de julio de 2011. Teatro Carpa Chapiteau.

Ocasión aprovechada por Esther Cidoncha para,como es habitual en ella, tomar una magnificas y envolventes photos en las que podemos ver y reconocer a Didier Lasserre – Edward Perraud – Mathias Pontévia  y, lógicamente, el mismo Vladimir Tarasov .

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

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Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Biography

A consistently adventurous trumpeter who has stuck to playing avant-garde jazz throughout his career, Leo Smith‘s dry, introverted style (which makes extensive use of space) is a strong contrast to the more jubilant flights of Lester Bowie. Smith originally played drums, mellophone, and French horn before settling on trumpet. He gained early experience performing in R&B groups and played in an Army band while serving in the military. By 1967, Leo Smith was a member of Chicago’s AACM. He soon helped to found the Creative Construction Company, an innovative trio with violinist Leroy Jenkins and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton that toured Europe in the late ’60s. Smith, who was involved in making the documentary film See the Music in 1970, formed the New Dalta Ahkri in New Haven, CT, an influential if under-documented band that at times included Henry Threadgill, Anthony Davis, and Oliver Lake. Smith studied ethnomusicology in the mid-’70s at Wesleyan, played with Braxton in 1976, and recorded with Derek Bailey’s Company. He has also freelanced with his own diverse groups during the past several decades. After becoming a Rastafarian in the 1980s, he changed his name to Wadada Leo Smith. He began teaching at Cal Arts in 1993. Leo Smith, who founded the Kabell label in 1971, has also recorded for Freedom, Moers, ECM, Nesssa, FMP, Black Saint, Nessa, and Sackville in settings ranging from unaccompanied solos to a big band.

Os dejo, para download, la segunda parte del directo de Milan de 2011, espero sea de vuestro agrado.

Wadada Leo Smith & Organic – Live in Milan

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Best-known as the leader of the short-lived MJT + 3 during 1959-62, Walter Perkins was a longtime fixture in the Chicago jazz scene. He gained some recognition for playing with Ahmad Jamal’s Trio during 1956-57 (right before Jamal really caught on). A 1957 set for Argo led by Perkins (and also featuring trumpeter Paul Serrano, tenor-saxophonist Nicky Hill, the young pianist Richard Abrams and bassist Bob Cranshaw) used the name of MJT Plus 3. The better-known version of the band (with trumpeter Willie Thomas, altoist Frank Strozier, pianist Harold Mabern and bassist Cranshaw) recorded three albums for Vee-Jay during 1959-60 and was popular for a time locally before breaking up in 1962.

Perkins then worked with Sonny Rollins (1962), as an accompanist to Carmen McRae (1962-63), gigged with Art Farmer and Teddy Wilson in 1964 and remained based in Chicago for decades. Walter Perkins has recorded with a who’s who of jazz including Ahmad Jamal [Count 'em: 88, Poinciana], George Shearing [George Shearing And The Montgomery Brothers], Gene Ammons, Carmen McRae, Charles Mingus [Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus], Billy Taylor [Impromptu], Booker Ervin, Art Farmer, Jaki Byard, Lucky Thompson [Happy Days, Happy Days Are Here Again and Lucky Meets Tommy & Friends], Pat Martino [Strings!], Harold Mabern [A Few Miles From Memphis] and Charles Earland [Mama Roots and Smokin'] (1977) among many others [including Donald Byrd's Groovin' For Nat and Johnny Cole's Little Johnny C].

Drummer Walter Perkins, whose long career included work with Ahmad Jamal, Art Farmer, Carmen McRae and Charles Mingus, died of lung cancer on February 14, 2004 at age 72.
A Chicago native, Perkins was one of beloved Captain Walter Dyett’s music students at DuSable High School in the late 1940s. In the mid-50s he gigged with Ahmal Jamal, and in 1957 Perkins formed his MJT+3 (Modern Jazz Two Plus 3), which included trumpeter Willie Thomas, altoist Frank Strozier, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and young pianist Muhal Richard Abrams (later replaced by Harold Mabern). Perkins appeared at the 1959 Playboy Jazz Festival in support of Coleman Hawkins, and recorded with Sonny Criss that same year [Sonny Criss At The Crossroads]. The MJT+3 moved en masse to New York around 1960 and recorded a self-titled album for Vee-Jay (reissued on CD in 1994), but broke up in ’62.

In the 1960s Perkins’ profile increased dramatically. He performed and/or recorded with the Art Farmer Quartet (Live at the Half Note, 1963, Atlantic) [also Interaction], Dave Pike (Pike’s Peak, 1961, Epic/Portrait) [also Dave Pike Plays The Jazz Version of "Oliver"], Gigi Gryce [Reminiscin'], Carmen McRae (Sings Lover Man, 1961, Columbia), Gene Ammons (Twistin’ the Jug, 1961, Prestige) [also Soul Summit Vol. 2 and Late Hour Special] , Sonny Rollins, Jaki Byard (Out Front!, 1961, Prestige), Booker Ervin (Exultation!, 1963, Prestige), Teddy Wilson, Roland Kirk (I Talk With the Spirits, 1964, Verve), Billy Taylor, Clark Terry [Happy Horns of Clark Terry], George Shearing, Ray Bryant [Soul], and Charles Mingus.

In the 1970s Perkins slowed down a bit, drumming for Erroll Garner, then became an educator in the 1980s. In 1985 he helped found the Music for Young Adolescents program in New York City. An enthusiast of drum corps, he instructed programs at Girls and Boys High School in Brooklyn and started a drum corps program at his church in Jamaica, N.Y. He gigged occasionally at clubs around New York, and made a welcome return to recording on Bob’s Pink Cadillac (Eremite), a 2002 free-jazz trio date with bassist/leader William Parker and clarinetist Perry Robinson.

Walter Perkins is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters Rochelle Mask of Baldwin, N.Y., Denise Perkins of Brooklyn, and Marilyn Turns of Queens; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Aside from the MJT+3 material, his only other release as leader (“co-” or otherwise), was in 2002. He played a pair of sessions in duo with German avant-garde sax/clarinet player Peter Brötzmann that were released the following year by Brötzmann’s own BRÖ label under the title The Ink Is Gone. It’s distributed by Eremite records, the same imprint responsible for releasing the William Parker Clarinet Trio’s Bob’s Pink Cadillac.

So(jeje), loads of good vibing from master Vibist Dave Pike accompanied by Bill Evans on Piano, Herbie Lewis on Bass and Walter Perkins on Drums.Don’t miss it!!!.

download CD

The rich airy transparent sound is what identifies rising modern tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III. His music explores the many different avenues in jazz and introduces a new melodic perspective. When he plays, his creativity is made apparent through his ability to incorporate new musical ideas and  uncover a unique relationship between harmonic and rhythmic composition. The development of his ideas can only be described as a journey that never ceases to lose momentum.

Growing up, Walter Smith III started playing the saxophone when he was 7 years old and has become one of the most recognizable musicians in this generation. His influences include John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Sam Rivers and Ornette Coleman along with Joe Lovano and Myron Walden. Receiving various scholarships and prestigious jazz awards like the Presidential Scholar in the Arts, Walter Smith has traveled around the world playing at various festivals and jazz venues. As a band leader and group member, Walter has played with many notable artists such as Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Christian Scott, and Ambrose Akinmusire.

His first debut album, Casually Introducing Walter Smith III, incorporates a variety of original compositions as well as unique arrangements of traditional songs like “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love”. No matter what piece Smith plays on, his deep understanding of swing and hard-bop creates remarkable energetic musical moments. In his most recent albums, Walter Smith-Live in Paris and III, Walter Smith III adapts a more sophisticated sound. It is evident that he has grown as a musician and broadened his musical perspective. The tunes that really stand out harmonically and melodically are “Moranish”, “Byus”, and “Capitol Wasteland”. In “Moranish”, the piano starts off with a cadenza in which develops into a song where Walter Smith III plays over a reoccurring rhythmic piano line. As for “Byus”, the song highlights a different rhythmic understanding with an intricate drum feel and playful melody. Lastly, “Capitol Wasteland” exposes Smith’s warm yet powerful saxophone tone that creates a musical phenomenon.

Whether it is playing the blues or tackling a complicated deep modern song, Walter Smith III has redefined jazz. His tender sound and mature understanding of composition identifies him as a forefront and leading tenor saxophone player of this generation.

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

        Walter Smith III & Mark Small – Bronze

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Pocos músicos conocen el jazz de Nueva Orleans en todas sus variantes como este trompetista nacido en la capital del Delta y que con tan sólo 14 años ya recorría las calles de la ciudad con la Olympia Brass Band. Seguidor de la escuela que arranca en el gran Louis Armstrong y recorre buena parte de la historia del jazz de la mano de Clark Terry, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan o Freddie Hubbard, ha colaborado también con compañeros y amigos de Nueva Orleans como Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard o Harry Connick Jr., así como con la orquesta de Lionel Hampton.

(sigue)

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Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Originario de Londres, el saxofonista y compositor Vinson se trasladó a Nueva York en 1999, y allí se quedó.  Desde su llegada, ha grabado con Mike Stern, Ingrid Jensen, Chris Potter, Keezer Geoff, Lage Lund, Ari Hoenig, John Benítez, Seamus Blake, Vicente Herrera, Alan Ferber, Victor Lewis, Ron Affif, Aaron Parks , Dafnis Prieto, y muchos otros.

Compuso y lanzó dos CD’s. especialmente It’s For You (Jazz Sirocco, 2004)  descrito como “de una  originalidad reflexiva y a la vez muy enérgico.

Y no hace mucho el CD Promises (NineteenEight Records), calificado de “impresionante” y de una  “frialdad contenida” por Nate Chinen del New York Times.

2010 vio el lanzamiento de los dos CD: The World (Through My Shoes), una grabación en vivo que se describió como “maravillosa” por Downbeat y “estimulante, en cascada … excepcional” por Jazz Times. Stockholm Syndrome (Criss Cross Records)salió en septiembre de 2010.

Se ha presentado con su propio grupo en los EE.UU., Canadá, el Reino Unido, Francia, Alemania, Noruega, Suecia, Dinamarca, Italia, España, Irlanda, Portugal, Países Bajos, Bélgica, Austria, Suiza, Australia y Japón .

Will Vinson

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

William Parker es un maestro de la música, improvisador y compositor. Él toca el bajo, shakuhachi, ngoni y Gembri. Nació en 1952 en el Bronx, Nueva York y estudió bajo con Richard Davis, Davis Arte, Milt Hinton, Ware Wilber, y Jimmy Garrison. Entró en la escena musical en 1971 tocando en el estudio Nosotros, Estudio Rivbea, Hilly en el Bowery y El Baby Grand, donde tocó con muchos músicos en el scean de vanguardia: Bill Dixon, Sunny Murray, Billy Higgins, Ali Rashid, Donald Ayler , Don Taylor Cherry, Cecil. Parker formó parte del grupo de Cecil Taylor entre 1980 y 1991. También ha impartido talleres de música en todo el mundo, incluyendo París, Berlín y Tokio y el Lower East Side. Parker es también un teórico y autor de varios libros incluyendo el Diario de sonido, Humanum documento, la música y la gente Sombra y El alcalde de Punkville.

Ampliamente reconocido como uno de los músicos más importantes de la escena del jazz experimental en Nueva York. Un maestro de la improvisación que ha colaborado con músicos como Alan Silva, Rashid Ali, Cecil Taylor, Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey y Hamid Drake, interpretado en muchas configuraciones, encabezó una serie de conjuntos y compuso música para la ópera, la danza y el cine . El cine es uno de los pilares de su visión musical – que cuenta entre sus fuentes de inspiración vanguardista cineastas también de vanguardia como Bruce Baillie, Stan Brakhage y Jonas Mekas.

Download

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Nació en Los Ángeles, California el 8 de junio de 1968, surge a la música de la mano de su padre , Willie Jones II, un notable pianista de jazz  que orienta e inspira a su talentoso hijo. Dedicado al desarrollo de sus habilidades, el joven Jones pasó los próximos años trabajando diligentemente la batería apoyado por buenos músicos.

Completó su formación académica después de recibir una beca completa para acudir al Instituto de Artes de California, donde estudió bajo la tutela del legendario Albert “Tootie” Heath.

Llega  al primer puesto del Concurso John Coltrane  para Artistas Jóvenes en 1991.

Antes de ser semifinalista, en 1992, en el concurso de tambor 1992 denominado Thelonious Monk Jazz, Jones, co-fundador de la banda de jazz Black Note.
En 1994, la banda había viajado por Europa y en todo los EE.UU. y estuvo en el acto de apertura de Wynton Marsalis.

A finales de 1994, se ganó el privilegio de acompañar al famoso vibrafonista Milt Jackson, con quien Jones . Mientras tanto, continuó su carrera musical. De 1995 a 1998, fue miembro de la banda de Arturo Sandoval . Posteriormente, Jones grabó con Horace Silver.

Desde 1998-2005, Jones fue miembro del quinteto de Roy Hargrove .
Jones ha trabajado con Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, el Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, Houston Person, Childs Billy, Eric Reed, Kisor Ryan, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock y Hank Jones. En 2000, Jones lanzó su CD debut, Vol. 1 … Straight Swingin en su propio sello. Se sigue observando  su habilidad como compositor y como productor en su siguiente discografía y hasta el día de hoy.
Discografía

Straight Swingin’  – 1999
Don’t Knock the Swing’ -  2001
Volumen 3 – 2006
Next Phase  -  2009

¡ Escucha algo de su música !

Photo © Esther Cidoncha

Las imágenes que habeís visto son del trío  español, gallegos y vallisoletano para más señas,Sumrrá, uno de los tríos de jazz más prometedores, sin duda, del panorama jazzístico nacional.

Sumrrá, es un trío formado por el enorme pianista Manuel Gutiérrez, el contrabajista Xacobe Martínez Antelo y el batería, L.A.R. Legido,. Como ejemplo os ponemos unos de los cortes del disco que sacaron en 2009 titulado 4.0.

Trabajo interesantísimo y que es un peldaño más en la progresión y el crecimiento de este magnífico trío, como os decimos, uno de los más interesantes del panorama jazzístico español.

Os dejamos el corte titulado 4.6 y con facilidad podéis ir a verlos en directo, no perdáis la ocasión ya que merece mucho la pena.

Bueno, si os gustan y queréis saber más de ellos os diré que la Web es infinita. Un saludo.