Midtones Returns! Plus Shin Kawasaki CD Release! July 7th!

The Midtones makes a mighty return!

From Shin Kawasaki:

well folks, here it is; after much experimentation, pursuit of perfection (and procrastination) - I am releasing my 1st solo effort. honestly, yet there’s still much room to improve, I believe that I managed to enclose a lot of different aspects of my musical interests in these tracks; some borrowed, some twisted and some improvised. it also showcases the amazing talents that I had the privilege of knowing over the course of 10 years that I lived, loved and grew old in this city of Los Angeles. it’s a kind of thank you note to the community that I was lucky enough to be a part of.

on July 7th, MidTones will make a comeback to its good ol’ 1st / 3rd Wednesdays routine. and I wanna invite you people to come out on a school night (I’M SORRY) to hang with me and the gang at Grand Star. in true MidTones spirit, I’m gonna invite the regulars and beyond to “jam” on some of the tunes included on the album. I am curious to see how these “constructed-inside-a-MacBook” grooves would be interpreted with a live ensemble…the night will also feature a special performance from ever-lovely MidTones Madeleines. the limited-run physical CDs will be available for you to purchase, which features an amazing drawing by Phloe!

2nd part of the night will be MidTones as we know it…we’ll open up and have people jam, dance and laugh (you can cry too) like we have legalized marijuana. you are welcome to bring friends who like jamming with new people, dancing to the music that ranges from Paranoid to My Funny Valentine. or Akon. maybe NOT Akon. don’t know. that’s a tough one.

FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT ATTEND due to geographical reason;
the album will be available for digital download AFTER the party,
I will let you know when it is!

Start Time:	Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:	Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 1:00am
Location:	GrandStar Jazz Club
Street:	943 N.Broadway (Sun Mun Way)
City/Town:	Los Angeles, CA

CD Release: Scott Heustis Group at Spincycle/The Trip March 4th 9:30PM

Come to the CD release of the Scott Heustis Group

These fantastic musicians play "Dangerous music. Improvised right before your eyes and ears, and without a net!!"

Scott Heustis guitar
Robert Leng sax
Jeff Schwartz bass
Breeze Smith drums

Only $5

Scott Heustis Group at Spincycle/The Trip

Thursday, March 4, 2010
9:30pm - 10:30pm
2101 Lincoln Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90405

Two New Releases From The Empty Cage Quartet

Looks like the Empty Cage Quartet, Saxophonist Jason Mears, trumpeter Kris Tiner, bassist Ivan Johnson and percussionist Paul Kikuchi, (The Wire magazine has called “one of the best things in jazz to emerge in the new millennium.” ) has been extremely busy and they have two new releases out. The first, is a collaboration with the French duo of Aurélien Besnard (clarinets) and Patrice Soletti (guitar) called Take Care of Floating, recently released in Europe on the Rude Awakening label. This was sponosored in part from a Chamber Music America French-American Cultural Exchange grant. Interestingly, the CD has two mixes, one a standard mix and the other optimized for MP3. Take Care of Floating is available now on the Rude Awakening website, and you can listen to an exclusive preview at Last.fm. The album is scheduled for US release shortly.

Next up is Gravity No. 1: Section 4 on Lisbon-based Clean Feed Records. This recording features Kris Tiners first series of Gravity compositions and was recorded in two days at Park West Studio in Brooklyn. The music is comprised of two extended compositions that incorporate improvisational systems based on harmonic palindromes and melodic sequences derived from the cycles of the Mayan calendar.

Both CD's are worth checking out and feature great playing by the quartet.

Frank Macchia CD Release Party at Vitello's Jazz Club

Multi-Grammy nominated musician/composer Frank Macchia has a special one-time event, concert planned for his new CD release "Folk Songs for Jazzers"on Monday, January 11, 2010 from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm

The large ensemble includes a stellar line-up of LA musicians:
Wayne Bergeron, Peter Erskine, Ray Frisby, Grant Geissman, Trey Henry, Alex Iles, Sal Lozano, Valarie King, Jay Mason, Kevin Porter, Tom Ranier, Bill Reichenbach, and Bob Seppard

This is not to be missed!

Vitello's
4349 Tujunga Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604

Stephen Lockwood's 'New Orleans Lowdown' Performance/CD release party

On November 30th, composer Stephen Lockwood has a performance and CD release party of his new jazz suite entitled "New Orleans Lowdown". The piece is a 40 minute jazz suite for 8 piece band and includes top-flight musicians such as: Kim Richmond, Nick Rosen, Harry Scorzo, Ken Rosser, Chris Wabich, Michael Merritt and more. The ensemble will also play new material, and other material from Steve's previous 2 CD's.

November 30th-No Cover - Casual dress/atmosphere
Two Shows: 8PM & 9:30PM
Typhoon
3221 Donald Douglas Loop South • 2nd Floor
Santa Monica, CA - 90405
Tel: 310.390.6565

More info on Steve Lockwood:

• Website
• Myspace

New Orleans Lowdown
A Brief Summary
by
Steve Lockwood

New Orleans Lowdown is a six part dance suite intended as a
jazz homage to New Orleans as an American culutral icon. This piece is a
fervent wish that New Orleans find the strength to maintain it’s status as
an international city reflecting the multi-cultural diaspora that is America
and in turn maintain its heritage as a center for all the arts including that
most American of all art forms: jazz. There is another aspect though: the
piece is a study of disaster and the human drama that accompanies it. In
recent years we have seen them; 9/11, the Indonesian tsunami of
December 2004, the Madrid train bombings, and the list goes on. What
happens to us? How do we react? By creating this piece I hope to bring
disaster to the audience on a very human level. I wish to express its terror,
but also, the need for us to respond together to overcome whatever
obstacles lie in our path to our well-being and prosperity as a nation and a
civilization. This includes governments that are for whatever reason unable
to take care of their people. I believe that jazz has the power to convey this
message, especially to these people in New Orleans.

Jazz music best expresses the nature of these people (their “soul”) as
well as their “drama” as survivors and victims of a terrible hurricane. The
songs of the suite open us to the drama itself which centers on the
individual lives and problems of its 3 main characters, their friends, and
their relationship to the city they love. Then something happens that
totally transforms their lives and they discover what is really far more
important then their own problems. The transformation that occurs is
something in all of us; an all consuming desire to survive that is part of the
human story itself. In that way, this piece makes it’s statement for anyone
who has ever suffered any tragedy of this magnitude. That is it’s relevance
and it’s necessity.

I have not written a traditional New Orleans score. Because this
drama takes place during the week of Hurricane Katrina it is
contemporary, and I felt that it should reflect a more contemporary
approach to jazz music. So, the listener/viewer will hear my personal
approach to jazz that will express my love of the music, the city, and the
situation that it’s people face now.

Alan Cook and the Crepuscule Trio CD release/performance in San Diego

Crepuscule Trio, just released "Unveil", their first major release on the Circumvention Music label.

The Crepuscule Trio is:
Alan Cook (drums/percussion), Ken Kawamura (saxophone), Anthony Shadduck (contrabass)

From the circumvention site:

Unveil is the result of a three year collaboration by the members of the Crepuscule Trio, saxophonist Ken Kawamura, contrabassist Anthony Shadduck, and drummer/percussionist Alan Cook. This recording marks the group's first full-length recording, as well as their debut on Circumvention Music. Inspired by a wide range of music including, but not limited to, jazz, avantgarde, modern classical music, experimental rock, indigenous world music, and creative spontaneous improvisation, Crepuscule Trio presents ten original pieces with compositional elements as varied as their influences. Each composition features both group and individual improvisational approaches which the trio has developed over their long association. Music made in the moment, but informed by years of study and experience, lies at the heart of the Crepuscule Trio’s first major release.

They will also be playing at the Kava Lounge in San Diego on Sunday, Nov. 8th, show starts at 7pm and the trio takes the stage around 8pm.

Kava Lounge
2812 Kettner Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101-1223
(619) 543-0933