Motema founder, president and recording artist Jana Herzen and Motma recording artist Charnett Moffett will proudly celebrate the completion of their new CD, Here With You, with their debut performance at one of New York City's most acoustically perfect venues.
The Performance
At the Concertino performance, wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served up with 45 minutes of a sweet and dancing jazz/world/folk interplay of bass, guitar, and Herzen's entrancing vocals.
Date: Tuesday, June 9th
Set times: 6:30pm, 8pm
Seating is extremely limited to only 20 seats per set. Reservations required at an advance charge of $20. Email: [email protected] to make a reservation
Concertino, developed by Steve Haas of SH Acoustics, and conveniently located on 45th street between 9th & 10th avenues, is an extraordinary new venue that maximizes the musician's freedom while maintaining the quality of intimacy between artist and audience. A unique electronic system built into the walls provides total control over the room's acoustics, making traditional amplification unnecessary. The sound quality can be adjusted from that of a tiny club to that of Carnegie Hall with the flick of a finger. You have to hear it to believe it.
The Musicians
Virtuosic bassist Charnett Moffett, known for his work with McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman, Stanley Jordan and many other jazz greats, just released The Art of Improvisation, his 10th album as band leader, with Motema on May 12th. The Art of Improvisation CD and tour are receiving major media accolades. Details Magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and calls Moffett “a hypnotic performer."
Singer/guitarist/songwriter and record label impresario, Jana Herzen, has spent much of the past six years spearheading Motema's evolution into one of the preeminent independent jazz labels on today's music scene.
Herzen and Moffett's collaboration sprang organically out of Herzen's upcoming full-band project of original alt folk/rock/world music. During rehearsals for the full-band project, Moffett and Herzen discovered a great chemistry between them in a duo format. Moffett's highly creative talents on the upright bass provide imaginative rhythmic and melodic orchestration to Herzen's very personal vocals and solid jazz/world guitar stylings. “I am a huge fan of those very intimate Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald duo recordings of the sixties and seventies, and I also love the spare intimate quality of recordings by Tuck and Patti and Eva Cassidy. In our duo set, we play jazz standards and originals by myself and by Charnett that chart through those very intimate, personal sound territories that only soloists and duo acts seem to be able to create. As such, it seemed perfect for a performance for Motma's first collaboration with Concertino," says Herzen. “And besides, Charnett and I are dying to share this music we've just spent the last few months recording!" Release date for their new CD is yet to be determined.
Herzen has been called “melodically ethereal [and] rhythmically sensuous" by the late Tom Terrell of MusicDish. Moffett has been called “one of the best bassists of the 21st century" by All Music Guide. The imaginative collaboration between them is a true testament to the magic of musical conversation.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
