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All About Jazz-New York Presents "1s & 2s" Featuring John Tchicai And Garrison Fewell (4/7) Cornelia St. Cafe

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April 6, 2005

To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected]



THURSDAY APRIL 7th, 2005 AllAboutJazz-New York Presents “1s & 2s: Music For Solo & Duo"

FEATURING:

John Tchicai (reeds, winds) & Garrison Fewell (guitar)

at Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street Greenwich Village, NY 10014 Tel: 212-989-9319 Fax: 212-243-4207 Web: corneliastreetcafe.com

*8:30 and 10pm sets - $12/ (student discount $8)





JOHN TCHICAI

Approaching jazz from a wide scope, the Afro-Danish American John Tchicai is a composer/saxophonist and flute player whose music is internationally known for its compelling sense of rhythm, drama and humor, its freedom, spirituality, healing qualities and ultimate freshness. He recorded with both John Coltrane (Ascension) and John Lennon (Life with Lions), founded ensembles like the New York Art Quartet (with Roswell Rudd and Milford Graves), has composed for jazz & classical ensembles and he records, tours and teaches continuously. Tchicai is also the first recipient of a lifetime grant for Jazz performance from the State of Denmark. By approaching jazz from a wide scope, he has been continuously progressive throughout his life.

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark (in 1936), of a Danish mother and a Congolese father and growing up in healthy surroundings, Tchicai became a leading exponent of the jazz in New York in the '60s and a father-figure for European jazz after that. During the late '60s and early '70s, he began to play bamboo flutes, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone and some percussion, and when he discovered the tenor saxophone in the early '80s, he put the alto aside in favor of this, which has become his main instrument since. By the '80s, he had picked up touring and recording internationally again, traveling through Europe, to India, Japan and Africa, performing as a sideman as well as leading his own groups. And in ’91, he decided to move to California, though after 9-11 moved back to Europe with his family to live. Tchicai's compositional activity has always had a high priority in his work, as he strives to reach a balance between composition and improvisation. The music of other cultures (African, Oriental, etc.) has been a continuous inspiration, and John's work has a highly rhythmic and poetic melodic-lyrical quality. In addition to Coltrane and Lennon, his musical associates have included Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Johnny Dyani, Albert Ayler, Dollar Brand, Carla and Paul Bley, Misha Mengelberg, Lee Konitz, Pierre Dorge, Cecil Taylor, Rudd, and more recently with the young bassist Adam Lane. Not only has he recorded over 20 albums as a leader and many more as a sideman, but he also has taken part in collaborations with artists of disciplines other than music (with poets Amiri Baraka, John Stewart, David Gitin, as well as with painters, actors and dancers). He's also composed for film, theater plays and video-projects.

“John Tchicai is a legend on two continents. His work solely in Europe with a vast number of vital players would have solidified his reputation. Add to that his founding role in the New York Art Quartet (with Roswell Rudd, Milford Graves and Lewis Worrell) and work with Don Cherry, Albert Ayler and other cornerstones of American avant garde and you have a monumental figure in improvised music." - AllAboutJazz-New York

“The saxophonist's roots are firmly embedded in the so-called avant-garde, but he typically comes from a more lyrical and melodic side than many others performing in the genre. Tchicai rarely “screams" on his horn, instead satisfying himself with wondrous flights of fancy." - AllMusicGuide

For more information, visit www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~jomnamo/

GARRISON FEWELL Renowned for his mature, melodic sound and elegant, lyrical style of writing and playing, guitarist Garrison Fewell has established himself as a distinctive voice throughout his 30-year career. His diverse discography, beginning with Boston Music Award-winning A Blue Deeper Than the Blue (Accurate,1993), counts multiple titles ranked on best of the year lists in publications like Coda, Guitar Player, Musica Jazz, and his hometown Philadelphia Inquirer. The long list of prominent Fewell sidemen on record includes pianists Fred Hersch, Jim McNeely and George Cables; bassists Cecil McBee and Steve LaSpina; and drummer Matt Wilson to name just a few.

As a leader, Fewell has performed at NYC's Blue Note and Birdland Jazz Clubs; toured in the US, South America, Africa, Caribbean, Canada and Europe; played major jazz festivals such as Montreux, North Sea, and Umbria; and performed with renowned artists such as guitarists Tal Farlow and Larry Coryell, saxophonists Benny Golson and Billy Harper, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassists Buster Williams and Miroslav Vitous, trumpeters Kenny Wheeler and Jimmy Owens, vocalist Jay Clayton, trombonist Slide Hampton, and with John Tchicai.

An internationally respected jazz educator, Fewell has been a Professor of Guitar and Ear Training at Boston’s Berklee College of Music for nearly 30 years and has given clinics at more than 40 prestigious conservatories in Europe alone, and authored a textbook called Jazz Improvisation.

“His beautiful tone and effortless, fluid lines draw the listener in as only a select few have done...a fine guitarist who appeals on the sublime, emotional level of a Bill Evans or a Jim Hall.” - Wired

“His active imagination is restless; his musical intelligence is acute; his standards are high.” - DownBeat

“Pat Martino’s adventurous melodies, Kenny Burrell’s unhurried swing, and Jim Hall’s pensive harmonies echo within Fewell’s laid-back playing. He’s got a mature, lived-in sound that’s simultaneously cerebral and blue.” - Guitar Player

“Guitarist Garrison Fewell is a find…one of the music’s best kept secrets. A fine composer and a sure stylist with a hearty mahogany tone…” - Jazziz

“An assured stylist with a strong sense of tradition" - The New Yorker

For more information, visit www.garrisonfewell.com

Next “1s and 2s": (5/5) JOE GIARDULLO/JOHN HEWARD “Tribute to Steve Lacy" (6/2) TED CURSON/HENRY GRIMES (Curson's 70th Birthday celebration!) (7/2) KATIE BULL/JOE FONDA (Cup of Joe, No Bull: The Bull-Fonda Duo CD Release!)

This unique series - dedicated to unaccompanied and duo jazz performances - has already featured the following highly acclaimed performances: Ray Anderson/Bob Stewart's Heavy Metal duo; Scott Robinson/Jules Thayer; Warren Smith/Kevin Norton; Karl Berger/John Lindberg; Michael Marcus/Edgar Bateman; Ken Peplowski/Greg Cohen...

*You can visit us on the web at www.allaboutjazz.com/newyork/index.html for updates.

*Curated by AAJ-NY Managing Editor, Laurence Donohue-Greene, “AllAboutJazz-New York Presents 1s&2s: Music for Solo & Duo" showcases some of the most distinct jazz voices on their respective instruments in a very intimate setting. Says Donohue-Greene, “Only a select group of instrumentalists and vocalists can carry off such a challenge of performing a set of unaccompanied music and duo performance. With the number of performance spaces dwindling for these musicians to showcase their unique talents stripped down without the backing of a group in front of an audience - this series will hopefully become a tradition unto itself for us to witness some of the most amazing improvisers amongst us."

(For more information contact Laurence Donohue-Greene direclty at [email protected] or call 212-568-9628)



AND FOR MORE RARE STATESIDE JOHN TCHICAI SIGHTINGS and HEARINGS in NYC...

on WEDNESDAY APRIL 6th, 2005 at 7pm

John Tchicai (reeds, winds) & Adam Lane (bass)

perform at Hudson View Gardens 116 Pinehurst Ave. (at corner of 183rd St.)

For reservations, call: 212-568-9628 Suggested Donation: $12

ADAM LANE combines influences of Duke Ellington, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Melt Banana, stretching the terms “jazz" and “chamber Music" beyond convention. His blend of music and performance art takes listeners on a meticulously orchestrated joyride, with horns, strings, electronics, and spoken word. As a composer he has been recognized by critics world wide as “innovative" (Signal to Noise) and “forward thinking," (Jazziz) and as a player he has contributed to important new recordings by artist such as John Tchicai and Tom Waits.

Lane has a BA in music from Wesleyan University where he studied with Anthony Braxton, and an MFA from CalArts where he studied with Wadada Leo Smith and Daniel Rothman. In 1996 he was awarded a Paternings scholarship for study at the Darmstadt School for New Music. At Darmstadt he attended master classes in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Klaus Huber, Mathias Spahlinger, and studied double bass with Italian virtuoso Stefano Scodanibbio. He is recipient of numerous awards and grants for composition and performance including the 2002 New Langton Arts Bay Area Creative Artist award and the 2000 Julius Hemphill Award for outstanding large ensemble composition. He has an extensive musical association with John Tchicai which will be on full display in this glorious and very special duo.

“...pushing beyond predictability...Lane's confidence and confrontational prowess as well as his abiding sense of lyricism and heavy-groove power place him in the lineage of forward-jazz adventurism." - Jazziz

“Those who listen...will hear an ambitious composer who clearly has the goods, one who can command a large ensemble with daring eloquence or just as quickly blow the roof off the joint with unleashed cacophony." - Signal To Noise

For more information, visit www.adamlane.org



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