Friday, March 18, 2016

Frank Sinatra, Jr. 1944 - 2016



By Althea Legaspi

Frank Sinatra Jr., the son of legendary singer Frank Sinatra and an artist himself, has died. He was 72.
The Sinatra family said in a statement that he died of cardiac arrest while on tour in Daytona, FL, and that they mourn the untimely passing of their son, brother, family, and uncle.
Though his father may have discouraged his son from going into the music business due to its challenges, Sinatra Jr. followed in the footsteps of his famous father as well as worked by his side. Gifted with a voice similar to his father's, Sinatra Jr. began performing at clubs as a teen. When he was 19, he was kidnapped and held for ransom, though he was released a few days later and the kidnappers were caught and convicted. He later became his dad's music director and at the age of 44 began serving as his father's conductor. His debut album, 1965's Young Love for Sale, was understandably influenced by his father and was also released on Reprise, which was also his father's longtime label home.
In an interview with Express in the UK last year, Sinatra Jr. opened up about his early aspirations. He originally wanted to be a pianist and composer, but singing became a necessity. "It was the only way I could get a job," he said. "I was hired as a novelty by the Tom Dorsey band and it was total exploitation but it gave me a job."
Sinatra Jr. was also candid about the state of his career, which had relied heavily in recent years on performing tributes of his father's work. Last year was the 100th anniversary of his dad's birth. "I haven't had a hit record or starred in a hit movie and since that's how the entertainment business measures success, I don't consider myself successful," he said.
Despite living in his father's shadow for much of his career and covering other songs from his father's era, he did write the original composition "Spice" on his most recent album, 2006's That Face!, which was his first album of new material in a decade. It was recorded live and released on Rhino. Last year, Sinatra Jr. sang The Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium and also delivered the National Anthem at Dodgers Stadium in September.
He was scheduled to perform at The Peabody Daytona Beach on Wednesday, which was billed as "Frank Sinatra Jr.: 'Sinatra Sings Sinatra' The Centennial Celebration," according to Ticketmaster.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Ernestine Anderson 1928 - 2016



By Associated Press
Ernestine Anderson, the internationally celebrated jazz vocalist who earned four Grammy nominations during a six-decade career, has died. She was 87.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Sunday that it received a report that Anderson died of natural causes Thursday at a nursing home in Shoreline.
The jazz and blues singer performed all over the world, from the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall to festivals in South America, Japan and Europe, The Seattle Times reported.
She toured widely and sang with bands led by Los Angeles R&B singer Johnny Otis and swing-band leader Lionel Hampton. She performed at the presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Childhood friend and producer Quincy Jones once described her voice as the sound of "honey at dusk."
Anderson, who was born in Houston to a construction worker and homemaker, began singing in church when she was 3 years old. She won a talent contest when she was 12 and sang at Houston's Eldorado Ballroom once a week for about four months.
Her family moved to Seattle in 1944 where she attended Garfield High School and began singing with the Bumps Blackwell Junior Band, featuring Jones, saxophonistBuddy Catlett and others. She left home at 18 to hit the road with Otis' band. She recorded her first single "K.C. Lover/Good Lovin' Babe" in 1948 and also married for the first time.
Over the decades, she moved between Los Angeles, New York and Europe but often returned to Seattle.
While in New York, Anderson recorded with Jones, Russell Jacquet, tenor saxophonist Clifford "King" Solomon and others, the newspaper reported.
Frustrated with her slow career growth in New York, Anderson joined Swedish bandleader Rolf Ericson to tour Europe. While there, she recorded an album, "Hot Cargo," that was later released by Mercury Records in 1958 to rave reviews.
Time Magazine at the time called her "the best-kept jazz secret in the land" and critics of the country's leading jazz magazine, Down Beat, celebrated her as a "new star" of the year, The Seattle Times reported.
Anderson released six albums on Mercury Records, including the much-praisedMoanin,' but her career subsided in the 1960s. In 1966, she returned to Seattle from London and quit singing.
She re-emerged, however, in the 1970s and signed with the Concord Jazz label. Anderson released Hello, Like Before in 1977. More than a dozen albums followed over the next 15 years.

1 Sem 2016 - Part Four

Caterina Zapponi
Romantica



By Christopher Loudon/ JazzTimes
Though Caterina Zapponi was born in Rome and raised among Italy’s artistic cognoscenti (her mother is a singer of French origin, her screenwriter father crafted both Roma and Satyricon with Federico Fellini), it was a viewing of the Cole Porter musical High Society that ignited her desire to study jazz in America. She earned a scholarship to Berklee and subsequently finished fourth in the 1994 Monk vocal competition. But her biggest break came later in the ’90s, when she met pianist Monty Alexander, who, as her husband, manager and frequent accompanist, has facilitated her musical maturation.
Alexander was the cornerstone of her multilingual debut album, 2001’s Universal Love Songs, and is again for this long-overdue sophomore release. While the first album provided a lovely introduction, Zapponi’s ease and assuredness have since grown exponentially. Favoring a smoldering style that is equal parts Julie London and Françoise Hardy, she again opts for a cross-cultural playlist, venturing from a shimmering “Stardust” sung in Italian and sweltering “Estate” to a breathy “Que reste-t’il de nos amours” and lazily inviting “Non Dimenticar.” The mood is mellow and seductive (even when she salutes Count Basie in a clever French reworking of “L’il Darlin’”), much enhanced by all-star support that includes dual Pizzarellis (guitarist Bucky and bassist Martin), guitarist Frank Vignola, violinist Kristian Jorgensen and Etienne Charles on the lute-like cuatro.


Luiz Pié
Memória Afetiva



By Cleo Oshiro
Luiz Pié: Cantor grava “Memória Afetiva”, seu primeiro CD. Pouco depois de se mudar para o Rio, em 2012, aos 24 anos, para continuar os estudos musicais, Luiz Pié foi a um show de Marcos Valle e Roberto Menescal e, pela primeira vez, fez contato ao vivo com a Bossa Nova. Encantado com a qualidade musical da dupla, Pié não se fez de rogado: ao final da apresentação se aproximou de Menescal e pediu para que o mestre produzisse uma gravação sua.
Dono de uma voz grave, de timbre aveludado, que entra macio nos ouvidos, Luiz Pié é cantor de formação jazzística, gênero pelo qual se apaixonou quando ainda era um adolescente. Dedicado, ganhou uma bolsa para freqüentar a Groove, escola de jazz em São Paulo por onde passaram nomes como Mariana Aydar, Criolo e Marina Lima, entre outros. Pedido feito, Menescal conheceu a voz do cantor e, claro, aceitou. Foram pro estúdio e de lá saíram com “Sabe Você” (Carlos Lyra e Vinicius de Moraes).
Vamos retroceder para alguns anos antes na história do cantor. A música já era íntima de Pié, que a conhecia na voz de Caetano, seu primeiro ídolo, e o responsável por à MPB aos seus ouvidos quando fazia suas pesquisas musicais numa lan house do centro de São Paulo. Eram tempos difíceis em que o artista, logo após sair de um orfanato na cidade de Poá/ na Grande São Paulo, onde foi entregue com apenas 3 anos de idade e teve de sair ao completar 18 anos, trabalhava como lanterninha num dos cinemas da cidade e vivia com uma renda diária de apenas R$20 reais. Com esse dinheiro, Piê conseguia pagar a modesta pensão onde dormia e usava o resto para se alimentar e usar a internet.
Sem nunca abandonar a música, sua meta era usar o tempo disponível na lan hose para conhecer a vida e a obra de um artista por dia. Do site de Caetano, foi para o de Dorival Caymmi, dali para o de Nana, deste para o de Emílio Santiago, Lenine, Gilberto Gil, e assim por diante, incluindo Milton Nascimento, que logo depois veio a conhecer pessoalmente através de um amigo, o ator Diego Tresca, afilhado do consagrado cantor. Milton logo se interessou pelo talento daquele rapaz de voz doce e potente e o convidou para participar de ensaios e reuniões musicais. “Ele me ajudou muito a escolher o que eu queria ser. Foi nesses encontros musicais que confirmei minha vocação e decidi que seguiria a carreira de intérprete”, revela o artista sobre o duro período em que vivia de bicos, chegando até a morar na rua, fato que tentava esconder de todos na época. “Quase ninguém sabia, mas eu freqüentava a escola de jazz, as rodas de música, e quando acabava a fantasia eu voltava pra rua… isso durou uns três anos…”, relembra.
Ao retomar o contato com a família norte-americana que lhe presenteou com o primeiro violão, aos 12 anos, ainda no orfanato, Pié se mudou para o Rio, onde fixou residência e felizmente encontrou condições para se dedicar integralmente à música.
Com o resultado da gravação de “Sabe Você”, que agradou muito a ambos, e isso deu coragem a Pié para pedir que Menescal produzisse uma nova ida ao estúdio… depois uma outra… e então, outra… mais outra… e mais outra vez, assim por diante… O produtor foi aceitando e trabalhando o perfil de intérprete do cantor, de quem se tornou padrinho musical levando-o, inclusive, para uma turnê no Japão. Ao final de quase três anos de idas e vindas ao estúdio, eles perceberam que tinham nada menos que 10 músicas prontas, material suficiente para juntar num disco, que nasce agora. A música que empresta título ao CD, “Memória Afetiva”, inédita de Menescal com Paulinho Mendonça, foi gravada no final deste processo.
E para fechar seu primeiro trabalho com chave de ouro Pié convidou o amigo Milton para gravar “Pai Grande”, composta pelo próprio, coroando uma amizade que nasceu vários anos atrás, e que aponta para um futuro onde ‘nada será como antes, amanhã’.
Memória Afetiva (selo Fina Flor) é, portanto, o resultado de uma história de força, perseverança, superação pessoal, e de um profundo amor à música. Com 12 canções sob arranjos e regência do próprio Menescal, o CD de estréia de Luiz Pié passeia por clássicos da Bossa Nova que atravessam gerações e que estão, justamente, na memória afetiva de muita gente. Além das citadas acima, “O Bem e o Mal” (Danilo Caymmi / Dudu Falcão), “Fim de Caso” (Dolores Duran), “Último Desejo” (Noel Rosa), “Ciúmes” (Carlos Lyra), “Tristeza” (Niltinho / Haroldo Lobo), “A Volta” (Menescal /Bôscoli), “Dorme Profundo” (Marcos Valle / Pigarrilho), “Abajur Lilás” (Rosa Passos / Ivan Lins / Fernando de Oliveira), e “Manhã de Carnaval” (Luiz Bonfá / Antonio Maria) completam o repertório de um trabalho que representa uma entrega total e irrestrita a um sonho, apesar de quaisquer dificuldades.


Bianca Gismonti Trio
Primeiro Céu



By Mauro Ferreira
Embora assinado pelo trio de Bianca Gismonti, formado pela pianista carioca com o baixista mato-grossense Antonio Porto e com o baterista e percussionista gaúcho Julio Falavigna, o álbum Primeiro céu - lançado em edição da gravadora Fina Flor neste mês de outubro de 2015 - pode ser ouvido como o segundo disco solo desta artista que também é cantora, compositora e atriz. Aberto por Olhos fechados, tema composto por Bianca para celebrar o baixista do trio e gravado no álbum em tons introspectivos, Primeiro céu sucede Sonhos de nascimento (Biscoito Fino, 2013), primeiro CD solo da pianista, metade do Duo Gisbranco, com o qual debutou no mercado fonográfico há sete anos com a edição do álbum Duo Gisbranco (Delira Música, 2008). Em Primeiro céu, o Bianca Gismonti Trio transita entre a vivacidade solar de Para Inês acordar sorrindo, a alegria jazzy de Folia e o lirismo de Cristal, tema composto pela artista em Garobapa, no litoral de Santa Catarina. Nascido como tema instrumental, o ijexá Dança, Mandela - composto sob o impacto da notícia da morte do líder africano Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013) - ganhou posteriormente versos de Paulo César Pinheiro, tendo sido gravado em Primeiro céu com a letra do compositor e poeta carioca. Ainda dentro do terreno autoral, o disco apresenta Glaucia do samba - samba composto por Bianca para sua amiga Glaucia Nasser, cantora mineira radicada em São Paulo - e A luz sem o véu, tema gravado no disco com a adesão vocal de Jane Duboc. De lavra alheia, Primeiro céu apresenta apenas a releitura do afro-samba Água de beber (Antonio Carlos Jobim e Vinicius de Moraes, 1961).


Justin Kauflin
Dedication



By Byandyjoon
Justin Kauflin is a splended performer, having great musicianship, creativity and composing skills. Owning this CD is a wonderful complement to owning the DVD of the film he's featured in, "Keep on Keepin' On" about him and his relationshiip with the extraordinary Clark Terry.


Fabio Giachino
Balancing Dreams




By CDBaby
“Balancing Dreams” is a piano solo album by the young and talented pianist from Turin. After the successful albums in trio
with Ruben Bellavia and Davide Liberti, he shows all his skill as a piano soloist, in a project full of outstanding musical
ideas: new compositions, some standards and a collaboration with the renowned rapper ENSI , mixing jazz and hip hop.
Balancing his desires and his dreams, Giachino sets his expressiveness free and leads us into an enthralling space through
an uninterrupted, intimate dialogue. where his love for jazz, and music in general , reaches its highest aesthetic value.
Class of 1986, Fabio Giachino is considered one of the most promising talents to appear on the Italian music scene in the past few years.
Born in Alba, but taking Turin as his home town, he was awarded important Italian and European prizes, gaining recognitions both nationally and internationally. As a soloist he won the “Premio Internazionale Massimo Urbani 2011”, the “Premio Nazionale Chicco Bettinardi 2011”, and the “Revelation of the year 2011”JazzUp Channel Red Award. With his trio he was awarded Special Prize as “Best Band” at the “Bucharest International Competition 2014”, the “Fara Music Jazz Live 2012” prize (as best soloist and best band), the “Barga Jazz Contest 2012” prize and the “Premio Carrarese Padova Porsche Festival 2011”. In 2013, 2012 and 2011 he was among the best 10 Italian pianists according to the “JazzIT Awards” referendum, organized by the magazine JAZZIT. In 2013 his trio was also among the best 10 Italian bands.
His debut album “Introducing Myself”, recorded with his trio and featuring the sax player Rosario Giuliani, was included in the 2012 “100 Greatest Jazz Album” selection, compiled by the magazine JAZZIT. In parallel with his accademic classical studies, which led to a Music Diploma in Organ in 2006 and a second level Music Degree in 2009, he also sudied jazz, through private lessons and workshops with the following musicians: A.Faraò, D.Moroni, R.Zegna, D.Rea; F.D’Andrea, S.Battaglia,G.Trovesi, P.Tonolo, F.Di Castri (Siena Jazz 2007, where he was awarded a scholarship for 2008); B.Harris (Felt Club Roma), J.Calderazzo, K.Rosenwinkel, S.Colley, J.T.Watts, S.Bonafede (Saint Louis College Rome).
In 2012 he got a Master of Jazz Music Degree at the “G.Verdi” Conservatory of Turin, with F.Di Castri e D.Moroni . In 2011 he flew to Detroit with Emanuele Cisi on a study exchange trip between the Jazz Department of the Conservatory of Turin and the Wayne State University of Michigan, where he performed with the University’s big band and their professors.
In 2012 and 2009 he took private lessons from Fred Hersh e Hal Crook. He has performed in festivals and clubs in France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, the Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Rumania, U.S.A. and in innumerable places in Italy.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Naná Vasconcelos 1944 - 2016


By ChicagoTribune

Acclaimed Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos has died at age 71.
The eight-time Grammy Award-winner worked over the decades with well-known musicians such as Milton Nascimento.
Vasconcelos died of lung cancer on Wednesday in the northeastern city of Recife where he was born.
He was a master of the single-string percussion instrument known in Portuguese as the berimbau.
The American jazz magazine DownBeat named Vasconcelos percussionist of the year every year from 1983 to 1991.
He started learning music with his musician father and by the time he was 12 he was playing a drum kit, performing at bars with local groups.
Nana rose to national prominence after he moved to Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s and started playing with Nascimento.