Barbara Casini - Barato Total

Attendere un cd di Barbara è come attendere la primavera dopo un lungo inverno. Penso che sia questo il pensiero dei suoi numerosi fans che le riconoscono una classe e un'arte musicale fuori dal comune ma anche una personalita' attenta e sensibile. Barbara Casini è da anni una delle massime interpreti del jazz italiano nota tanto per le rivisitazioni della musica brasiliana quanto per quelle della canzone d’autore francese. Voce e chitarra fiorentina sin da ragazzina la fanno volare fino in Brasile che è diventato la sua seconda patria musicale. Barbara Casini è stata più volte definita la più importante interprete di musica brasiliana in Italia tanto da essere invitata piu' volte a esibirsi durante feste organizzate per promuovere la cultura di questo immenso e per la maggior parte ancora sconosciuto paese fatto si di divertimento ma anche di poverta' e tanta voglia di uscirne. La sua conoscenza della musica popolare brasiliana le hanno tra l'altro dato occasione di esibirsi piu' volte dal vivo con un altro grande musicista italiano che condivide con lei questo immenso amore per le melodie verdeoro ossia Stefano Bollani e i suoi Convidados di cui Barbara è per l'appunto la voce. Amore per il brasile che si è concretizzato in questo nuovo cd con cui Barbara vuole rendere omaggio a Gilberto Gil, "stupefacente compositore,chitarrista, cantante, poeta , cosi' profondo e cosi' giocoso". Godiamoci dunque questo nuovo lavoro di Barbara e lasciamoci pervadere dalla primavera in un inverno ancora cosi' lungo.

Barbara Casini - Canto Percussioni
Beppe Fornarelli - Chitarra 7 corde
Sandro Gibellini - Chitarra Elettrica
Special Guest
Stefano Cocco Cantini - Sax soprano e tenore
Massimiliano Rosati - Chitarra Classica Solo

Tracklist :
Pop Wou Wei - Drao - Ladeira da Preguica - Logunedé - Balafon - O Rouxinol - Flora - Expresso 2222 - Se Eu quiser Falar Com Deus - Um Carro De Boi Dourado - O Sonho Acabou - Nossa - Barato Total

Kevin Eubanks - Zen Food

Per ben 18 anni, 5 giorni alla settimana Kevin Eubanks ha accompagnato Jay Lano al "Tonight Show" non deve quindi meravigliare se in america è un vero e proprio mito popolare. Ma quello che gli stessi americani devono scoprire è che Kevin è anche uno dei chitarristi jazz più creativi e moderni con uno stile e una tecnica unica. La sua abilità, al pari della diversità, ne hanno fatto un punto di riferimento per i cultori dello strumento diventanto un punto di riferimento anche per gli altri musicisti. Kevin ha il dono di fondere il jazz con molti altri generi e, badate bene, non voglio usare la parola fusion per questo chitarrista. Infatti il suo è un sound attuale, in un certo senso “moderno”, in grado di suonare e miscelare bluesy, blues-soul, jazz in senso stretto, gospel mentre, al pari di uno chef, il suo piatto forte sono sicuramente le acustiche ballate acustiche . Che chiedere di più ad un chitarrista in grado di sublimare tutte le forme espressive tra jazz e blues?

- Kevin Eubanks – Zen Food Feat. Gerry Etkins, tatiere, Rene Camacho. Bill Pierce, basso, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, batteria.



For nearly two decades, the world at large knew precisely where to find the acclaimed guitarist Kevin Eubanks. For five nights a week, Eubanks was cranking up the band and issuing steamy solos as music director on NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” In spring of 2010, after 18 years on the job, Eubanks decided to move on, although retirement was the last thing on his mind. That much is clearly stated in potent musical terms on Zen Food, his first recording for the Mack Avenue label. The title of the album is more than a piece of wordplay for Eubanks. “I think it’s a wonderful thing to acknowledge music as being food for your soul. The whole idea of it being Zen is that it’s a state of ‘being,’ not an ambition to become something else. It’s realizing everyone’s fingerprint is unique and expressing that uniqueness with sound, with ideas, with music. It’s all the same thing. It’s just another source of nutrition.”

Eubanks was born in Philadelphia into a highly musical family, between his respected pianist and pedagogue mother, Vera, who holds a Masters Degree; notable Jazz and Blues pianist uncle Ray Bryant; and Kevin’s accomplished brothers Robin—considered one of the greatest living trombonists—and the fine trumpeter Duane. Kevin was first drawn into music listening to the energetic sounds of fusion and progressive rock, then went on to study at Berklee. He has played with icons including McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland and Ron Carter. In his own distinctive early career, Eubanks released many recordings for Elektra, GRP and Blue Note before his current signing with Mack Avenue in 2010.

In his band, Eubanks has a powerful rhythm section ally in drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith, who, like Eubanks, was a commanding presence on the music scene before heading west to the “Tonight Show” bandstand. Completing the ranks of this bold unit, which deftly combines “fusion” in the best sense with other stylistic turns, are saxophonist Bill Pierce, who holds the Woodwind Chair at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, keyboardist Gerry Etkins and bassist Rene Camacho. Zen Food evokes a sense of diversity and also collective continuity, qualities long in the making, and now ready to “hit the road” in a global way.

As for his long stint as musical foil for Jay Leno, Eubanks asserts, “I enjoyed the job. I enjoyed learning all these new things and meeting new people, and just seeing another side of what I didn’t know. Where I cut my teeth, I was never privy to what happens in Hollywood, by and large. I heard about it and knew a few people here and there. So, to get a bird’s eye view of all that was fascinating, and it still is.”

As he is quick to clarify, with a laugh, “I can’t very well say, oh, I’ll just go back to what I did. I’m a product of both things now, and happily so. I embrace everything I've learned and continue to learn about the mysterious ways of Hollywood.”

This “new” chapter in Eubanks’ life is, as he says, “not so foreign, because that’s all I used to do. It’s just at a different level. Musically, I’m at a different level, as well as personally. Everything is in a progressive state, with more experience in a lot of areas. It should be an interesting adventure.”

Speaking of his new chapter, Eubanks reasons that, “as physical and emotional human beings, we go through different phases in our life. I just think it was time for a change, for all the right reasons. It was a natural process, and I respected that. I thought, ‘ok, then do it.’ At the time that I took the job, I'd been on the road for 15 years, and I was tired of saying goodbye to everyone that I met. I thought it would be nice to be in one place for a while. I never dreamed it would turn into 18 years. It’s kind of the same process.”

Joey DeFrancesco - Never Can Say Goodbye

Jazz has a long history of taking popular songs of the day and making them vehicles for improvisation. Joey DeFrancesco's current exploration of the music associated with Michael Jackson is merely the latest addition to the list. Though this music is linked with the undisputed "King of Pop," this is jazz at its finest — complex and virtuosic yet easily accessible, at times intense, at others fun-filled, and always with the feeling of the unknown that comes with truly spontaneous and inspired improvisation. Without sacrificing a whit of the popular groove of these tunes, Joey and his cohorts give them fresh color and new and different life. Jackson and his music have become part of the American landscape every bit as much as the singers that preceded him and the songs, as DeFrancesco's spirited readings bear witness to, give themselves smartly to an improvisatory approach.

Joey DeFrancesco, organ & trumpet
Paul Bollenback, guitar
Byron landham, drums
Pat Bianchi, keyboards
Carmen Intorre, percussion
Ann Fontinella, violin (on "She's Out of My Life")
Annie Sciola & Samantha Auriello, background vocals

TRACKLIST
Tracks: Thriller; Never Can Say Goodbye; Beat It; Human Nature; Rock With You; She's Out of My Life; The Way You Make Me Feel; Lady in My Life; Billie Jean