JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Mike Miller(USA)- Album: Trust (Blue Canoe Records)

Mike-Miller-Trust

Mike Miller(USA)-Mr. Moreira
Album: Trust
Label: Blue Canoe Records
Rock and Jazz Guitarist Mike Miller releases a beautiful ten song album titled Trust. Mike is best know for his work with Chick Corea, Boz Scaggs, Bette Midler, Yellowjackets, Quincy Jones and so many more. Mike brings all of his year of experience into this incredible body of work. “Trust” features guest appearances from Jimmy Haslip, Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Earl, Scott Kinsey, Brandon Fields, Gary Novak, Marilyn Scott, Jeff Babko, Chad Wackerman, Airto Moriera and so many more talented artists. “Trust” is a must have for fans of Mike Miller which features rich original compositions, stellar improvisations and prowess interplay and technique. This is a gorgeous, inspiring album and a must have for music fans everywhere!
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USA: Rest in Peace Dennis Gonzalez 1954-2022

Texas and the world are marking the passing of Dallas musician, teacher, radio DJ and visual artist Dennis Gonzalez who died March 15 2022.

On Tuesday, his son Stefan announced the news of González’s passing on social media:

“I’m so sorry to inform you all, family, friends, fans of the music, fellow creatives that our Father, Grandfather, husband, force of love and light, educator, musician, artist, and beloved Shaman, Dennis Gonzalez has left this plane of existence,” Stefan posted on Twitter. “He didn’t do it without a fight and was channeling positivity until the very end.”

The jazz trumpeter, who toured, recorded and produced music internationally was also a public school educator in Dallas, encouraging creative movement within the music he taught and performed. In addition, Mr Gonzalez also kept a decades long jazz radio program going on radio station KERA called MILES OUT and forged an Oak Cliff based nonprofit, La Rondalla, to provide students access to musical instruments.

He instilled similar values in his sons, Aaron (who plays double bass) and Stefan (who plays drums and percussion) spending a lifetime playing jazz and experimental music with them and many other while making contributions to the community through education and youth programs as a family.

Dennis Gonzalez is survived by his wife, Carol, sons Aaron and Stefan, granddaughter Issy and friends worldwide.

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Tony Adamo(USA)-Better Than Picasso At MidNite

Tony Adamo-Better Than Picasso At MidNite

ony Adamo(USA)-Better Than Picasso At MidNite

Well, the blue jeaned, floppy hat wearing singing street preacher Tony Adamo is back with a new upcoming album. Here’s the first single from it, “Better Than Picasso At Midnight”, which is essentially polishing, refurbishing, new engine adding remake of the classic “Better Than Anything” and machine shopped, chopped and hopped by Tony Adamo. The original lyrics are weaved into new stream of consciousness ones which include references and rhymes ranging from George Benson to Superfly. The music itself is a mix of CTI soul with a dash of disco, tasty Breezin’ guitar licks with a mix of wacka wooka by Chris Pimentel, Turrentine toned tenor treats from saxist Rob Sudduth and Crusading keys and beats from programmer Barry Schiffman. No one delivers street corner synchronized sermons like Tony A. Start passing the plate! by George W. Harris/Jazz Weekly
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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022

World Music Mix: Hakim Jamal(UK)-Album: LA Night(2022)

Hakim Jamal(UK)-Neon Sign
Album: LA Night
Composer: Paul Ashley Wheatcroft
Label: TakingHead TV Recordings (2022)

Hakim Jamal-Neon Sign


The new album from Hakim Jamal is inspired by the work of the great and sadly underrated Japanese Jazz-Funk musicians of the 1970s and 80s. It’s Hakim’s most uptempo album today, comprised of mostly instrumental dance/disco music with some stunning individual solos.
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World Music Mix

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Dan Costa(UK)-Iremia

Critically-acclaimed pianist and Jazz music producer Dan Costa, is set to release ‘Iremia’ featuring legendary trumpet player Randy Brecker (The Brecker Brothers). Costa, has an impressive backlog of critically acclaimed albums, and successfully presents a high level of professionalism within his craft.

Iremia takes inspiration from the picturesque island of Paros, and meaning ‘peacefulness’ in Greek, which is perfectly encapsulated with the single’s soothing and calming nature.

Dan initially studied classical piano for six years at the Académie de Musique Rainier III in the south of France, as well as jazz, and wrote his first composition at the age of twelve. In 2010, he was awarded a diploma with merit at Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in the UK. Dan’s strong interest in his Latin roots coupled with his passion for jazz led him to study at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo in Portugal, where he graduated in jazz piano with a Rotary Club award for outstanding achievement in 2015.

During his course, he was also awarded a merit grant to study Brazilian music at UNICAMP –Universidade Estadual de Campinas (São Paulo, Brazil). He pursued further studies at Berklee College of Music with a scholarship for outstanding achievement.

Costa has attended workshops and classes given by musical artists such as Gary Burton, Kevin Hays, Scott Colley, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jorge Rossy, Chick Corea and César Camargo Mariano. Additionally, Dan has co-directed musicals, performed with orchestras and big bands, and starred as both a pianist and composer in projects in countries such as the UK, France, Finland, Germany, Spain, Greece and the USA.

In January 2016, he recorded his debut album Suíte Três Rios in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with musicians such as Jaques Morelenbaum, Ricardo Silveira, Teco Cardoso, Rafael Barata, Marcos Suzano and Leila Pinheiro. It peaked at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Chart and Top 10 across all genres in Portugal, prior to hitting the #1slot on the CMJ Top Adds Chart in the USA and being top 10 for several weeks on Roots Music Report.

In May 2018 he recorded his second album Skyness at Arte Suono in Italy, featuring Roberto Menescal, Jorge Helder, Teco Cardoso, Custódio Castelo, Romero Lubambo, Nelson Faria and Seamus Blake, launched at Blue Note Rio in November.

In recent years from 2018 to present day, Dan’s music has received rave reviews from the likes of JAZZIZ, Rolling Stone India, Jazz FM, All About JAZZ, Down Beat Magazine, The Jazz Word and so forth.


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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: TriTone Asylum(USA) – The Hideaway Sessions(Blue Canoe Records)

TriTone Asylum is based in Southern California. Spear-headed by Peter Sepsis (bass) and Philip Topping (EVI). Through their unique instrumentation, they have masterfully developed an electro acoustic sound that melds Jazz, funk, and music from around the world. TriTone Asylum’s music reflects the varied musical landscape of the sounds and street rhythms of Los Angeles. Their original songs are influenced by a variety of artists including Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Pat Metheny, as well as artists from the ECM Label.

TriTone Asylum- Grasshopper

EVI: Philip Topping
Saxophone: Ian Vo, Allen Mascari, Gary Herbig
Guitar: Andy Waddell
Keyboards: Mitch Forman, Henri Wilkinson
Bass: Peter Sepsis
Drums: Dave Johnstone
Percussion: Baba Sisso
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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022

World Music Mix: Jacopo Ferrazza Quintet(Italy) Album: Fantàsia

After his solo experience in ‘Wood Tales’ (published on Feb. 2021) Jacopo Ferrazza comes back as a band leader, guiding a quintet with two very special guests, Fabrizio Bosso (trumpet) and Marcello Allulli (sax).
A dreamlike world emerges from Ferrazza’s compositions and is outlined by the right balance between modern jazz, chamber music and electronic music.

Jacopo Ferrazza Quintet – Fantasia

The nine tracks of ‘Fantàsia’ follow a narrative that resembles a sequence of disjoined dreams appearing in an unorderly fashion nonetheless composing a greater holistic story.
As the music unfolds, introspective lyrics written by Ferrazza himself describe the thoughts of a WWII soldier, briefly before his death during the Normandy landings (La Course), as well as Siddharta’s concept of the cyclicality of time (River Theatre) and again the surreal tail of a time-travel vortex (Blue Glow).
Interstellar voyages, synesthetic worlds and the theme of afterlife are also part of ‘Fantàsia’, the latter being a topic very dear to Jacopo Ferrazza, especially after his record ‘Rebirth’ (Cam Jazz 2017).

Starting from his approach to the acoustic sound of the double bass, the Italian musician develops an accurate overall aesthetic to his compositions through electronics and pianist Enrico Zanisi contributes greatly to this intent thanks to his extensive use of synths, becoming a fundamental element to creating a precise setting in each track.
The album becomes an intentional screenplay where each element has its specific role, for example Valerio Vantaggio’s drums hold the music’s emotional pulse. Alessandra Diodati, here in her first recording experience, guides listeners through the different layers of the chronicle with her voice. And again Livia de Romanis’ cello represents the fire, a primordial force we find behind the most vivid nocturnal visions. The trumpet played Fabrizio Bosso incarnates an irruptive element which deconstructs all the rules of a well designed world, and last but not least, the Shorter-like tone of Marcello Allulli’s sax has a cathartic and celebrative role in the ending of the record.

The element that leads the musical narrative is Jacopo Ferrazza’s double bass, that always joins his music partners enhancing each role, underlining the different personality of the band’s members and pulling the whole architecture’s strings together.

‘Fantàsia’ is an album that witnesses the vital creativity of Ferrazza, which manifests itself also in his attitude to explore, especially those little shadows of our daily life, where we can find, if we look closely, a magical world waiting to be experienced.

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World Music Mix

JazzWorldQuest 2022: Dimitris Angelakis(Greece)-Long Way Home

Vibraphonist, composer, educator and Fulbright Alumnus Dimitris Angelakis, a Greek native who came of age as a jazz player in Philadelphia and New York, is proud to announce the arrival of his debut recording Long Way Home, releasing on acclaimed bassist Petros Klampanis’ label ΠKmusic. Long Way Home finds Angelakis in virtuosic form, playing original compositions and inventive arrangements in a burning quartet that foregrounds the magical blend of vibraphone and Fender Rhodes electric piano, played with consummate skill by George Kontrafouris. Bassist Kimon Karoutzos and drummer Jason Wastor complete the lineup in the formidable rhythm section.

Dimitris Angelakis-Ulysses Journey

The title Long Way Home is inspired by Greek poet Konstantinos Kavafis, in particular the poem “Ithaca.” We become who we are, Angelakis suggests, through the voyages we take, and this is in fact the voyage’s ultimate goal. Wise words from a musician who has undertaken extensive journeys of his own: professional experience in Europe as a leader and sideman and Europe with Petros Klampanis, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez (George Fakanas Group), Milcho Leviev and Paris Strother (Prince); graduate work in Philadelphia with Tony Miceli (2013) and with Christos Rafalides in New York; recording sessions and live appearances on the East Coast, not to mention a yearlong sojourn in China.

All these experiences inform the beautiful Long Way Home. The five original pieces each tell a story, most of them gleaned from inspirations particular to Greece, even as the music reflects Angelakis’ immersion in the sound and culture of American jazz. There are three songs from the jazz canon, including Bill Evans’ harmonically challenging “Very Early” and the enduring ballad “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” (on solo vibraphone). “Coral Keys,” by the late pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., prompts the quartet to stretch on music from the heart of the post-bop tradition that remains a touchstone for all involved. Harking back to the “Ithaca” theme, “Ulysses’ Journey” is inspired by the Homeric epic and the poem Ithaka from the moden Greek Poet Konstantinos Kavafis.
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JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022: Iñaki Arakistain- The Sun Shines Again

As a result of all this enormous trajectory Iñaki Arakistain presents us his 5th studio
ALBUM, entitled “THE SUN SHINES AGAIN” (preceded by: “Tiempos de búsqueda” 2008,
“Plan B” 2010, “Saxual “2014 and “Another Road” 2018), a new musical approach, always
accompanied by excellent musicians from the national and international scene, loaded
with good Jazz, Groove and Latin Jazz that mixes exotic sounds and roots as deep as
Flamenco fusion and Afro-American music such as Jazz Funk.

Elegantly constructed harmonizations and new sounds that travel towards a new musical direction from the most
disturbing heart of this experienced and experimental saxophonist.

Author’s Note:
Despite the fact that we are still immersed in crisis and uncertainties in the pandemic horizon, these compositions have emerged during this period. I have tried to reflect past experiences (in terms of my musical influences) and experiences lived through music, filtering them with this complicated period. I have tried to make my compositions fundamentally reflect hope and a new post-pandemic era.
Iñaki Arakistain

JazzWorldQuest Showcase 2022