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John Tchicai Trio April 16, 8:30-11:00pm Cornelia Street Cafe

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CORNELIA STREET CAFE 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York212-989-9319 www.corneliastreetcafe.com between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1,9 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th St.

Contact: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services, 845-986-1677, [email protected]

John Tchicai Trio John Tchicai, tenor sax, bass clarinet and voice Charlie Kohlhase, alto, tenor and baritone saxes Garrison Fewell, guitar, assorted musical objects and percussion

April 16, 8:30-11:00pm Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street New York City 10014 212 989 9319

The Trio will perform compositions from their new Double CD release on Boxholder Records titled, Good Night Songs. Especially for this occasion in honor of the Easter Holiday, and for all fans of improvised music, the Trio will perform an original version of the Easter Island Suite consisting of composed and improvised music reflecting a positive harmony between the spiritual and material realms.

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The John Tchicai Trio with Charlie Kohlhase and Garrison Fewell

The John Tchicai Trio with Charlie Kohlhase and Garrison Fewell brings together three veteran composer/improvisers, each with decades of experience and a legacy of high-quality creative music. Originally founded for a November 2003 New England tour, which was recorded live by Eremite Records founder Michael Ehlers, this drummer-less collective performs original compositions from all three musicians, as well as music that features spontaneous collective improvisation. Tchicai, the eldest by nearly 20 years, is the lynchpin of the trio, and it is his history of collaborations with both musicians that makes this group such a cohesive unit.

“Charlie, Garrison and myself, we can improvise freely and create a good piece of music just on the spot," said Tchicai in a 2003 Boston Globe feature about the trio. “We've been at it so long that we know what it takes to make a harmonious piece of music from scratch or just one idea. Whatever idea comes out first from one of the players can be developed."

Best known for his pioneering 1960's free jazz collaborations with musicians including Albert Ayler and John Coltrane, as well as his founding membership in the New York Art Quartet and his own ensembles, Afro-Danish reed player John Tchicai previously worked with seminal Boston saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase on recordings such as the Grammy-nominated Either/Orchestra's Across the Omniverse (Accurate, 1996) and the Tchicai/Kohlhase Quintet's Boston Music Award-winning Life Overflowing (Nada, 1999). The latter prompted to the All Music Guide to call the pair “two of the most lyrical saxophonists the avant-garde ever spawned." Boston-based guitarist Garrison Fewell has also led a quintet with Tchicai, as heard on 2005's Big Chief Dreaming (Soul Note), and toured with him as a duo, often including special guests, on the East Coast and around Europe over the last three years.

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John Tchicai :: saxophones and bass clarinet Afro-Danish-American John Tchicai has been continuously progressive throughout his life, approaching jazz from a wide scope. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1936, the son of a Danish mother and a Congolese father, John Martin Tchicai became a leading exponent of the jazz avant-garde in New York in the '60s and a father figure for the European avant-garde after that. Now based in Davis, California, and Claira, France, his single-mindedness of purpose and action still reflects his ability to innovate and inspire other people in a refreshing way, as recognized by The Danish Ministry of Culture's lifetime grant among other honors. To name but a few, he has worked with John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, John Lennon/Yoko Ono, Johnny Dyani, Roswell Rudd, Albert Ayler, Dollar Brand, Makaya Ntshoko, Carla and Paul Bley, Misha Mengelberg, Lee Konitz, and Cecil Taylor. He has recorded more than 20 albums as a leader, and many more as a sideman, also working with poets (Amiri Baraka, John Stewart, and David Gitin), painters, actors and dancers. He has also composed for film, theater and video projects. More information is available at http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~jomnamo/index.html

Charlie Kohlhase :: alto, tenor and baritone saxophones Charlie Kohlhase has been a mainstay of Boston's jazz scene for over 20 years. Whether leading his two newest bands, performing in a dozen others or writing over 50 compositions, his music spans a broad range of styles, with an emphasis on the contemporary and the improvised. Born and raised in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Kohlhase began playing saxophones at 18, and moved to Boston in 1980 after private studies with Stan Strickland and Roswell Rudd. In 1989, he formed the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet, an ongoing project that has performed both locally and nationally for a decade and a half. Their long-awaited live 2-CD set, Play Free Or Die, was released on the Boxholder label to critical acclaim. Kohlhase also leads the CK5, Explorer's Club and Saxophone Support Group. He was an artist-in- residence at Harvard in 2003 with Dave Douglas and Roswell Rudd. That same year, he recorded with Anthony Braxton's Genome Project and worked with violinist/composer Leroy Jenkins at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art. In addition to his playing career, Kohlhase teaches at Longy School of Music and is the longtime host of his own radio show, Research and Development, on WMBR-FM in Cambridge, MA. More information is available at http://www.charliekohlhase.com

Garrison Fewell :: electric guitar For more than 30 years, Boston-based guitarist/composer Garrison Fewell has earned praise for his mature melodic sound and elegant style. Critics have called him “one of today's most personal guitar players" (Boston Phoenix), “an assured stylist with a strong sense of tradition" (The New Yorker), “a player of virtuosity and swinging intensity" (UPI), and “refined, passionate, and inspiring" (Guitar Player). A purveyor of styles ranging from modern mainstream to free jazz, Fewell has recently collaborated with musicians including Cecil Bridgewater, Cameron Brown, Billy Harper, Cecil McBee, Khan Jamal and, most notably, John Tchicai, with whom he has toured regularly and recorded 2005's Big Chief Dreaming (Soul Note). In addition to his annual European touring schedule, Fewell has recently performed and taught at the Sant'Anna Arresi free jazz festival in Sardinia with William Parker among others. An internationally respected jazz educator, Fewell has been a Professor of Guitar and Ear Training at Boston's Berklee College of Music since 1977, and given clinics internationally at more than 40 prestigious conservatories. More information is available at http://www.garrisonfewell.com

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John Tchicai/Charlie Kohlhase Quintet reviews:

“...one of the more astonishing records of the late postmodern jazz movement. Kohlhase's 'International Wingo Conspiracy' reflects the strident arpeggiated science he has labored to perfect over the past 20 years, with Tchicai splattering a gorgeous bouquet of color over the harmony and digging in to bring out the blues in the angular melody lines. With beautiful readings of Billy Strayhorn's 'Blood Count,' and more originals by the two frontmen--as well as one by Bryant--there's plenty here to satisfy even the most jaded jazz fan."-- Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

“The vibrant and beautiful music on this disc is an example of continuity, or of a living tradition, or maybe just of what can happen when a group of great musicians who are intent simply on playing honest music get together to play. When Tchicai and Kohlhase solo separately, the similarities and contrasts are fascinating. This is a disc that one can listen to over and over again and find something new: in the subtleties and power of the solos, in the depth and acuity of the accompaniment, in the delightful variance of the numbers, and in the sheer joy of this music...could be one of the best of the year."--Robert Spencer, AllAboutJazz.com

John Tchicai/Garrison Fewell Duo reviews:

“ [AAJ 1's&2's Festival at Cornelia Street] The Fewell-Tchicai duets were more restrained--often pianissimo, in fact--but no less inventive. Fewell steered closer to the minimalism of Jim Hall than the frenetic energy of Joe Morris or Dom Minasi, and showed a remarkable affinity for the angular bop language of Monk on Tchicai's 'Yogi In Disguise,' based on Monk's 'Friday the Thirteenth.' Tchicai's slow legato treatment of 'Auld Lang Syne' was another bass clarinet highlight"-- David Adler, AllAboutJazz-New York

“Tchicai posses an unfailing melodic instinct that turns his every improvisation into a miniature act of spontaneous composition...guitarist Garrison Fewell...brings out a more lyrical side in Tchicai. Fewell seems to drift along beneath his collaborators, providing a fluid bed over which they can serenely flow."--Shaun Brady, Philadelphia City Paper

John Tchicai/Garrison Fewell/Tino Tracanna Quintet reviews:

“...easily qualifies as one of the jewels in Soul Note's exquisite catalogue."--Larry Nai, Signal to Noise

“Like no other album to come across my desk this year, this one demands to be heard again and again. It unfolds over time and reveals no small charms. They also bring the scorched earth of free jazz back to life with a flower or two."--Dan Rose, One Final Note

“If this is any indication, future collaborations between Tchicai and Fewell will be well worth investigating."--John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com “A great CD from all points of view!"--Anne Ramade, Jazzman (France)



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