We are very pleased to add two very special projects featuring brilliant and original music to our artist roster, Yosvany Terry’s Yedégbé ensemble, and Trio M. Read on for more information about our artists’ activities, watch video clips of their performances, or listen to excerpts of their recordings by clicking on the web links.
Yedégbé means “with the approval of the spirits” in the Fon language of the former Dahomey, now known as Benin, and is the name of this special project by Cuban-born saxophonist and composer Yosvany Terry. Featuring his jazz quintet plus three hand drummers (on original Arara drums), a dancer, and collective vocal work, the Yedégbé Ensemble brings the Arara culture of West Africa and Cuba to life in passionate and exhilarating performances. See an interview with Yosvany Terry here.
“Afro-Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry Cabrera is one of the hottest alto players in the game, partly because of congenital talent (his father Eladio "Don Pancho" Cabrera is a violinist and consummate Chekeré player in Cuba; his brother Yunior plays bass and composes), and partly due to the breadth of his knowledge. He combines modern influences with folkloric source material, to wonderful effect.” -San Francisco Bay Guardian
Featuring pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson, Trio M brings together three visionary jazz artists deeply steeped in innovative, thought provoking music. Their chemistry and interplay are extraordinary and, unbound by conventions, their music erases distinctions between frontline and accompanist, composition and improvisation, and jazz and 21st century chamber music. Trio M is simultaneously profound and accessible, daring and delightful, and a spellbinding concert experience.
"Melford has returned to her roots with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson to form what is easily the best piano trio I’ve ever seen live. With all new compositions that mix structured melodic material with free improvisation and a stunning amount of blues, this was hands down the best concert of the festival. I came away from this performance in a daze of amazement, as did much of the audience under a spell that lingered well after the last note had faded away into the ether." - Devin Hurd, Guelph Festival Review, Canada
Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet has been touring extensively this spring, captivating audiences in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden, at New York’s Jazz Standard, and at the Bridgestone Music Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Don also found time to perform with his Ivey-Divey Trio in Portugal. He is now looking forward to his upcoming concerts with New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint at the Burlington (June 5) and Montreal (July 5) Jazz Festivals, continuing a fruitful collaboration that began with the recording session of Toussaint’s masterful “Bright Mississippi” album. In between all this activity, Byron resumed his one-year artist residency at the American Academy in Rome which will end in July. After his return from Italy, he will perform with his Ivey-Divey Trio (with Jason Moran and Billy Hart) at the MoMA in New York (August 1) and as featured artist in various settings at the Markham Jazz Festival near Toronto (August 20-22). He is also looking forward to touring the Western US in September as a member of pianist Geri Allen’s quartet alongside drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts.
The enchanting Czech singer and violinist, a New York state resident since 2007, still travels frequently overseas where she has an established reputation as a charismatic performer and film actress. Her most recent solo tour took her to France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, her native Czech Republic, as well as to Egypt and Lebanon. She returns to New York for a special concert with the Bang On A Can All-Stars on June 2nd at Le Poisson Rouge, celebrating John Schaefer, the longtime host of WNYC’s wonderful “New Sounds” radio show. She looks forward to performing more often in the US, as a soloist as well as in collaborations with bassist George Mraz, her son Antonin Fajt, a highly talented pianist, and the Calder Quartet. See videos of her performances at Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival, both solo and with the Calder (scroll to bottom of page).
Trumpeter Ron Miles has formed a dream trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade that dazzled audiences at Denver’s Dazzle Jazz Club in its debut performances just a few weeks ago. More concerts are planned for the winter – stay tuned and check in for updates. In May, Ron toured with the Charlie Hunter Trio, followed by several dates with singer Madeleine Peroux.
Dafnis Prieto, the explosive and innovative Cuban-born drummer, continues to break new ground as a composer and bandleader. On May 1st, the New York City Opera’s VOX Series presented a workshop version of Revolution of Forms, an opera in progress with music co-composed by Anthony Davis and Dafnis Prieto, and a libretto by Alma Guillermoprieto and Charles Koppelman.
In mid-May, Prieto’s Si o Si Quartet returned to the Jazz Standard where the band’s recent live release was recorded. The four night run also featured the club debut of his Proverb Trio with vocalist/poet Kokayi and Jason Lindner on keyboards. Upcoming performances include a Si o Si Quartet date at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in California on June 13th and a Sextet concert at Lafayette College in Easton, PA on September 10th.
Rob for Rob: San Francisco-based accordionist Rob Reich will join Tin Hat for several Bay Area dates in early July and a European Tour in the fall, re-introducing the instrument that was an integral part of the original Tin Hat Trio sound before founding member Rob Burger left the group in 2005. Clarinetist Ben Goldberg, who replaced Burger, recently started his own label, BAG Productions Records. Its first two releases are the new TIN HAT live album, Foreign Legion, and Goldberg’s eponymously titled GO HOME quartet with Charlie Hunter, Ron Miles, and Scott Amendola. Both albums have garnered great reviews, excerpts of which follow here:
“Brimming with the glorious immediacy of a concert setting, ‘Foreign Legion’ ends up doing double duty as a greatest hits album. If you have yet to discover the intriguing musical world of Tin Hat, now is the time and this is the place.” -The Saratogian
“... a blues-imbued set of tunes heavy on rhythm and elegant simplicity... While Goldberg's remarkable control and compositional logic have always shaped even his most extreme playing, the music on Go Home reperesents some of his most accessible and joyful work, but like everything he undertakes there's an unabashed undercurrent of deep consideration.” -4 stars, Down Beat Magazine
Featuring pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson,