So, I’m getting ready to depart on a tour of the west coast with Nino Moschella & The Little Big People. I will be leaving on Oct 31st and will be back in Fresno to perform for the last 2006 trio gig at Veni Vidi Vici on Nov. 10th. At that gig the trio will be testing out some new material that will be appearing on our upcoming CD release. We hope that you will join us in experiencing our live versions on that night.

The remainder of 2006 is going to be full of lots of activity. We will start recording on the new CD in mid-November, and we will be ending our November with an appearance of 88.1 KFCF’s Move on Up show w/ Devoyah Mayo as well as premiering with new ensemble and book of music on November 30th at the Fresno Art Museum. The ensemble is named Balance and features an incredible collection of musicians.

We will be ending 2006 with more gigs with Nino and the band as well as preparing for both the release of the new CD as well as preparing for our first annual F.O.R.M. I also will be in studio recording a few new sideman projects as well as a few new ensembles that I have been working on.. All of those releases will be released via Blacksmith Brother Music and available through our inexpensive paperback series. I have countless projects and commissions scheduled for 2007, but one I would like to specifically mention is our January 2007 Rhythms of Art concert in which all proceeds will be donated to the One organization (www.one.org).

Current listening pleasures: Taylor Ho Bynum, John Butcher, Jay-Z, Harry Partch, What We Live, The New Beck CD & Bill Dixon.

Labels: Artist Update

Last night, I had the great pleasure to check out a unit named Bug, in which our great trio drummer Brian Hamada is joined by Peter Epstein,Roger Shew, and Jeff & James Miley.Dr. James Miley is the primary composer for the group; however the compositions played included works by his brother Jeff, Thelonious Monk, Bill Frisell, and ABBA. Miley wrote an excellent piece with an equally excellent title...The Dude Abides. Why didn't I think of that?

The band was excellent. The compositions were brilliantly composed, a welcome change from typical head-solo-head constructions, and the group had a phenomenal group sound. An obvious testament to their sound was the fact that all the group members were listening intently and responding appropriately the entire time. A very ego-less group (another breath of fresh air) there was no obvious showboating.

A particular item of interest for me was that all of the band members are also active Jazz educators. I have often been critical of recent Jazz “education” that occurs throughout our country. Often Jazz programs are developed without the music’s tradition in mind, as well as no emphasis in small group playing or even more “open” and “free” forms. However, as long as our country has educators like the members of Bug, who are more than competent as players, composers and educators, we can look to a bright and promising future for our future generations.

Dr. Miley said that the band would be recording and releasing a CD soon. Don’t miss the CD, and if you are lucky enough…catch them live.

Below are the dates of their current tour:


Saturday October 28: Cuesta College, SLO
Monday October 30, 2:00PM: CalArts Jazz Forum
Monday October 30, 8:00PM: CSU Northridge Recital Hall



Thanks to those of you who have been sending emails regarding the listening recommendations, I'm glad you are diggin' them.

This weekend's focused listening: more on Myra Melford's new CD, some Butch Morris Conduction Cds, Mark Dresser's Tzadik CDs, Tom Waits' recent disc, and some Stabat Mater research...Part & Pergolesi.


3 days til the tour

Later

Labels: Concert Review

Below is the F.O.R.M. Press Release


In April 2007, pianist/composer Armen Nalbandian will be presenting the first annual F.O.R.M. (Festival of Resurrected Music). This event will take place at the Fresno Art Museum in Fresno, CA, where Nalbandian has held the position of Musical Director/Resident Artist for the past 3 years. The program will take place over three nights (April 12-14), and will feature six concerts with various bands leaders performing the compositions of musicians whose work is rarely performed.

In addition to the six concerts, the Armen Nalbandian Trio will be joined by living legend trombonist Grachan Moncur III on the final night in concert to feature the original compositions by Moncur.

The entire program appears below:


Thursday April 12th, 2007 7pm- Kevin Hill Menagerie
(The Music of Charles Mingus)

Thursday, April 12th, 2007 8pm-The Armen Nalbandian Trio
(The Music of Don Cherry)

Friday, April 13th, 2007 7pm-Tommy Delgado
(The Shakti Music of John McLaughlin)

Friday, April 13th, 2007 8pm-Andre Bush Ensemble
(The Music of Wayne Shorter)

Saturday, April 14th, 2007 6:30pm-Jimmy Emerzian Ensemble
(The Music of Harold Land)

Saturday, April 14th, 2007 7:30pm-
The Armen Nalbandian Trio w/ Grachan Moncur III


For more information on the F.O.R.M. please visit:

http://www.armennalbandian.com

http://www.myspace.com/formfestivalofresurrectedmusic

For more information on Grachan Moncur III please visit:

http://www.grachanmoncur.com

Please forward all direct inquiries & media requests to Armen Nalbandian
(armen@armennalbandian.com)

Labels: Artist Update

"The only limitation in Jazz is the name itself." -Duke Ellington


Listening to Myra Melford's new one.

Labels: Quote

Breathtaking

Enjoy

Labels: Video Clip

The following is excerpt from an interview with Gerry Hemmingway by Fred Jung. There are some points made that I hope are understood. Read it until you get it.


GERRY HEMINGWAY: We always have this contingent that somehow has a popular edge one way or another that have lots of buzz words to go with this New York traditionalists' point of view, which is that if it doesn't have a blues base or it doesn't have a swing, it doesn't really qualify as the real deal. This is of course a pathetic interpretation of what the possibilities of jazz music are. Jazz music is not, from my understanding of it over the years, is one of inclusiveness. It includes everything. It's like my listening taste. It's kind of omnivorous. It absorbs influences from just about everything. That bears out if you watch the history progress from the New Orleans, to Chicago, to New York, as the urban traditions developed. Each one in their own way, each geographical hotspot input its own separate influence from whence it came. The Spanish influence in the New Orleans tradition. You can speak of all kinds of different things that were cooking down there. And all different manner of things were creeping into the other styles as well. That's the tradition, ultimately. This is how it began and it progressed and it continues to progress and if it doesn't progress than what's the point? I think its lovely to have people who can interpret in the strict and wonderful traditions that have existed in the past and do it in a very authentic and lively kind of way. But I mean, Fred, that's all it's going to be.

Listening & enjoying Lila Downs, Sheila Chandra, Anthony Braxton & Billie Holiday.

Labels: Quote

Information Coming Soon!




Listening to Conlon Nancarrow! Wow!

Labels: Artist Update

Below is a thoughtful response to my earlier post, Where is the Music? This comes via email from an old friend from Northern California.

Music has been marketed as something to consume, not appreciate. Just a product, like toilet paper and lawn fertilizer. The biz could care less about the artist. In the pop and C/W world they dictate the music to the artist, Tim McGraw had to use studio musicians instead of his real band until recently for example. I think that the music biz is for teens now, so they really don't want to invest in jazz. Ponder how much great art we would have if our society would allow it, when the masters like Da Vinci worked they didn't have to worry about the 9-5 or health benefits. -Nick Johnson

Thanks Nick


Listening to John Adams' Hoodoo Zephyr

Later

Labels: Reader Response

Beck’s new album, “The Information,” has been disqualified from being
included in the U.K. album charts due to its “unfair” packaging. The CD
has stickers in it that allow the consumer to create their own design for
the CD. This music business craziness got me thinking and wanting to
write.

When will music be once again judged on merit alone instead of album
artwork, or the artist’s image, or one of the many factors that have
NOTHING to do with music. When I attempt to read any news on music or
most every interview with a musician, NONE of the content has to do with
music, instead the articles are crammed full of useless tabloid type
information.

At this point in the music industry, image governs the majority of record
sales at the expense of actual music. The complaints of there not being
any good new music are invalid, for there are tons of it available and
tons of it are being produced everyday. I wonder how many records a great
artist like Steve Coleman or Roswell Rudd would sell if they had a music
video produced by Hype Williams or even if a label was printed on the CD
that claimed it was produced by the Neptunes or Timbaland. Ridiculous.

The music business is the only business that rewards the inexperienced
work of its younger less experienced contributors as opposed to the more
competent established ones. Can you imagine a law student making 20
million dollars a year and on the other side a lawyer who has been
successfully practicing for 50 years just trying to make ends meet. More
power to those that can earn the kind of money, but we live in a world in
which prepubescent rock bands are millionaires and Billy Higgins dies
pennilesss.




Beck new album is GREAT! Buy it because of the music.

Labels: Artist Thoughts

It seems as though I’ve been losing a lot of things that I love lately. Today Tower Records announced that it was be sold to the highest bidder Great American Group for $134.3 million dollars. The reason why that is heartbreaking is that Great American Group is a liquidator and will do what the make money doing…closing up shop.

Here are the statistics:

30…hrs (length of bidding auction)

134.3…million (dollars Tower was sold for)

89…total Tower Records stores closing

Over 3,0000…Tower Records employees with jobs eliminated

46…years Tower Records has been open

500,000…dollars difference in winning bid

Yeah, I’m bummed but I think its important to think of what this symbolizes in the global scheme of the music industry. Internet music sales and especially music downloads constitute an enormous percentage of sales. With I-Tunes being the industry leader in downloads, the buying of an actual physical product has become obsolete.

Record stores are so important to me. Some of the greatest conversations I have ever had about music occurred in a record store with some stranger who happened to be in the isle I was in. In fact I met a great friend at Tower records once, Mr. Leonard from KFSR’s Jazz programming…that was over 10 years ago!

Ultimately, the reason businesses close down is simple. The demand for supply decreases to such a level that it no longer remains profitable to stay open. Unfortunately, as businesses close in the 21st century, much of that has to do with technology as a replacement. I wonder if we’ll ever miss the human touch of it all…


I'm gonna go a listen to some Ted Curson.

Peace

Labels: Rememberance

Sonny Rollins and Don Cherry

Need I say more?

Labels: Video Clip