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Now it is Sir Ron Carter
The great bassist, bandleader, composer and arranger, Ron Carter, is now Sir Ron Carter.
The new designation follows a ceremony at the Ministry of Culture and Communication office in Paris last January when Frederic Mitterand, the French Minister of Culture and Communication, awarded the title Commandeur dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres to Ron.
EDDIE PALMIERI INDUCTED INTO THE CELEBRITY GALLERIE OF THE MUSEUM OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
The Museum of Musical Instruments in Phoenix, Arizona, has inducted Eddie Palmieri into its Celebrity Gallery. In the Palmieri gallery can be found memorabilia, such as his first Grammy Award, which he won in 1975 for his outstanding album, The Sun of Latin Music, the Yamaha piano on which he composed Masterpiece/Obra Maestra, which he recorded with Tito Puente, and his Chubb Fellowship Award, an award usually reserved for international heads of state, which he received from Yale University in 2002 in recognition of his work in building communities through music.
Eddie Says he is most grateful for what he regards as ''a most tremendous honour'', which puts him in the company of Carlos Santana, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, George Benson, Dick Dale and Leonard Bernstein.
ECHO AWARDS FOR GKP ARTISTS
The GKP team offer their enthusiastic congratulations to three GKP artists who have won ECHO Awards and the Jazz Award this year. The Awards have been won by Paul Kuhn, Helen Schneider and Roy Hargrove.
The ECHO awards come in three categories - popular music, classical music and jazz:
The 82-year-old pianist, singer, composer, arranger and bandleader Paul Kuhn was presented with the ECHO Jazz Award for lifetime achievement at the Jahrhunderthalle in Berlin by the German Phono-Academy on May 5th.
Kuhn - Der Mann am Klavier - whose career in music spans more than six decades, said at the presentation ceremony: 'I am very proud to have received this award and that, for the first time, the ECHO gets its own platform for jazz. Even on my trips into pop music, my motto has always been: It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.'
Over the past 12 years, Paul Kuhn has recorded ten CDs and one DVD for the Freiburg-based In + Out label, the latest CD being Unforgettable Golden Jazz Classics (IOR CD 77050-2) featuring the Paul Kuhn Trio, with Martin Gjakonovski (bass) and Willy Ketzer (drums), plus special guest, vocalist Gaby Goldberg.
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove received his ECHO Jazz Award as brass instrumentalist of the year for his highly rated big band album, Emergence (Emarcy 0602527079240), which also features the acclaimed singer, Roberta Gambarini. Reviewing the album in The Guardian, John Fordham describes it as 'a classily crafted set' and notes: 'The arrangements fizz with ingenious variations and Hargrove's playing strokes every nuance.'
Helen Schneider received her Jazz Award for her Edel album, Dream A Little Dream, (Edel B0017YXZIM), which was produced by trumpeter Till Broenner and bassist Christian von Kaphengst. Helen Schneider is backed by a variety of small groups drawn from a pool which includes Till Broenner (trumpet), Christian von Kaphengst (bass), Tim Bolden (trombone), Lutz Haefner and Felix Wahnschaffe (saxophones), Gregoire Peters (flutes), Frank Chastenier and Christoph Adams (piano), Henry Hey (Hammond organ), Daniel Stelter, Torsten Goods and Jo Ambros (guitar), Rolo Rodriguez (percussion) and Peter Luebke (drums). The album features some classic jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. The American show business magazine Variety has described Helen Schneider as 'a major talent, with astonishing vocal range, a full palette of emotional colour and superior acting technique - a singer who deserves and will surely get a wider public.'
LYNNE ARRIALE'S NUANCE WINS FOUR GRAMMY NOMINATIONS
Pianist / composer Lynne Arriale has won four nominations in the first round of the 52nd annual Grammy Awards for her latest album, Nuance, which is released in Europe on the Freiburg-based IN+OUT label.
The nominations are for:
- Best Instrumental Jazz Album
- Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- Best Instrumental Composition: Crawfish & Gumbo
- Best Instrumental Arrangement: Wrapped Around Your Finger
Lynne Arriale, for whom GKP has exclusive representation in Europe, has received a host of rave reviews for Nuance, a two-CD set with a bonus DVD, which she recorded at the Bennett Studio with Randy Brecker (trumpet/flugelhorn), George Mraz (bass) and Anthony Pinciotti (drums)
DOWNBEAT, which awarded the album four stars, wrote: ''Over the last 15 years, Lynne Arriale has made a case for herself as a top-rank jazz pianist through her recordings. If any doubt existed that she can run with the big boys, this release dispels it. She stands toe-to-toe with trumpeter Randy Brecker in a stunning and affirmative collaboration.''
The New York Times:''Lynne Arriale's brilliant musicianship and bandstand instincts place her among the top jazz pianists of the day.''
The Sunday Times:''Lynne Arriale is putting the heart back into jazz.''
Jazz Improv: ''Nuance - what an album! Her playing is intense and urgent, important and captivating...Lynne Arriale is a monster of a piano player. She writes beautiful melodies that are memorable...with mind-boggling harmonic richness...Nuance is a beautiful album...''
Jazz Police: ''I'm aware of no artist working today who brings a broader spectrum of musical ideas to the connection of mind and heart.''
Bob Blumenthal (Grammy Award-winning journalist): ''The real lesson of this eloquent recording, Nuance, is that Arriale has strength of both conception and feeling that transcends instrumental configuration.''
All About Jazz: ''All her music dazzles without ever being showy - the passion of the playing and the joy of invention is a story shared with the audience.''
The Jazz Breakfast: ''Pianist Lynne Arriale brings a wider audience to jazz because she values the heart over the head. The CD has been recorded with attention to quality and detail.''
THE SUN RA SAGA CONTINUES
The legendary Sun Ra Arkestra was first assembled in 1954 by the piano genius, master composer, arranger and mystic visionary Sun Ra. Today, more than half a century later, the Arkestra continues to play to hugely enthusiastic audiences around the world.
In September last year, the ensemble entertained an audience of more than 3,000 people at the ZXZW Festival in Tilburg, Holland. As 'Artists in Residence', the 14-piece Arkestra performed on five evenings at the Paradox Music Club and were accorded an immensely exuberant reception. Happily, the last of these performances was recorded and the CD, Live At The Paradox, has now been released by In + Out Records (IOR CD77098-2).
After the death of Sun Ra on May 30th, 1993, the leadership of the Arkestra was taken over by tenor saxophonist John Gilmore. Following Gilmore's death on August 20, 1995, the baton was passed to alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, who is celebrating his 85th birthday this year.
In this celebratory year, Marshall Allen will be bringing the band to Europe in July and November for tours organized by GKP, which has exclusive European representation of the Arkestra.
The Arkestra's music touches on the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing, from bebop to free jazz, from Fletcher Henderson to Slim Gaillard, from Dixieland to space music - or, in the words of Sibylle Zerr, who wrote the booklet notes for the new album, 'from the roots of jazz to the apex of avant-garde.'
ODEAN POPE to tour Europe with his Saxophone Choir
Odean Pope, who has been described as Philadelphia's Founding Father of jazz saxophone, will be on tour in Europe in November this year with his unique and highly-acclaimed 12-piece group, the Saxophone Choir.
First formed in 1977, the Choir made its recording in 1985 with a Soul Note album titled, The Saxophone Shop featuring a group boasting three alto saxophonists, four tenor saxophonists and a baritone saxophonist, plus rhythm section.
The Choir's latest album, Locked And Loaded, was recorded live at the Blue Note in 2006, with special guests James Carter, Joe Lovano and Michael Brecker and was extremely well received.
Odean Pope's latest album, Odean's List, was recorded last October in New York at "Jazz At The Lincoln Center" and features Odean (tenor saxophone), James Carter (tenor and baritone saxophones), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Terell Stafford (trumpet), David Weiss (trumpet), George Burton (piano), Lee Smith (bass) and Jeff 'Tain' Watts (drums).
Odean Pope will be on tour in Europe with The Saxophone Choir in October / November 09 and March 2010. For more information click on Artists, then Odean Pope.
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