Reminder: Mario Pavone Quartet Arc In NYC This Weekend

Photo by Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Bassist/composer Mario Pavone will unveil his latest ensemble, Quartet Arc, this weekend at back-to-back gigs in New York.

The first concert will be Saturday at The Stone followed by a Sunday night gig at Cornelia Street Cafe.

This new configuration of frequent Pavone collaborators will perform new material, as well as new arrangements of older music from Pavone’s vast catalog.

Quartet Arc features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, trumpeter Dave Ballou and drummers Tyshawn Sorey (Saturday only) and Tom Rainey (Sunday only).

Mario Pavone’s Quartet Arc In NYC Aug. 22-23

Photo by Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Eminent bassist/composer Mario Pavone will unveil his latest ensemble, Quartet Arc, at back-to-back gigs in New York later this month.

The band will perform on Saturday, August 22nd at The Stone and on Sunday, August 23rd at Cornelia Street Cafe (PLEASE NOTE: this is a rescheduling of the previously announced/postponed date at The Local 269).

Quartet Arc, a collection of frequent Pavone collaborators in a new configuration, features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, trumpeter Dave Ballou and drummers Tyshawn Sorey (August 22nd only) and Tom Rainey (August 23rd only).

More Best Of 2009 So Far Lists

Despite the fact that we’re already in the first week of August (the eighth month on the calendar for those of you scoring at home), the best-of lists for the first half of the year continue to trickle in.

This has been a pretty popular new trend this year, especially with bloggers, and late or no we’re not complaining, especially when our clients are still appearing on them.

And none of our clients has been found quite so list-worthy as Darcy James Argue, whose May debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam), continues to capture the hearts and minds of critics everywhere.

That includes both the Ottawa Citizen’s Peter Hum and Village Voice and DownBeat contributor Jim Macnie, who also chose John Hébert’s Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12), the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet’s Asphalt Flowers Forking Paths (hatOLOGY) and the Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet’s Ancestors (Playscape Recordings) among his favorites, though technically the last two actually came out in 2008.

As always, we thank all our media contacts for their ongoing support of independent creative improvised music.

Schedule Change For Mario Pavone’s Quartet Arc Dates In August

Photo by Juan-Carlos Hernandez

UPDATE: The August 23rd date has been rescheduled for Cornelia Street Cafe.

Earlier this month we announced forthcoming back-to-back NYC dates in August by eminent bassist/composer Mario Pavone’s new band, Quartet Arc.

The group features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, trumpeter Dave Ballou and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.

Unfortunately, we’ve just been informed that while the first date, one month from tonight at The Stone, will happen as planned, the August 23rd concert at The Local 269 has been indefinitely postponed.

The venue has decided to move the Freestyle Music Series to a different night of the week starting immediately.

Please adjust your calendar as appropriate.

Mario Pavone To Unveil New Band At New York Gigs In August

Photo by Juan Carlos Hernandez

Eminent bassist/composer Mario Pavone will perform in New York with his newest ensemble, Quartet Arc, at The Stone on Saturday, August 22nd and The Local 269 on Sunday, August 23rd. These concerts mark the first-ever performances by this configuration of frequent Pavone collaborators, which performs new material as well as new arrangements of older music from Pavone’s vast catalog. Quartet Arc features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, trumpeter Dave Ballou and drummers Tyshawn Sorey (August 22nd only) and Tom Rainey (August 23rd only).

“On his day,” declared veteran jazz reviewer Brian Morton in Point of Departure, “Mario Pavone is one of the very best—and when on his game, by far the best—small-group composer/leaders working on the East Coast.” Critics have called him “a smart composer” (Nate Chinen, New York Times) and “a protean bassist” (Paul Blair, Hot House) who “never fails to implant an effective hook” (Bill Shoemaker, DownBeat) and “continues to move the tradition forward with every record” (John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com). His music has been described as “exciting and stimulating” (Jay Collins, Cadence), “sensitive and probing” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant) and “full of smart angular swagger” (Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise).

Pavone has spent the past four decades defining the cutting edge of jazz, both as a sideman to legendary innovators and the leader of groups featuring some of today’s most respected young improvisers. As busy as ever at nearly 70 years old, he released two notable records in 2008: Trio Arc, featuring Paul Bley and Matt Wilson, and Ancestors, featuring his Double Tenor Quintet with Malaby and Jimmy Greene. So far this year he’s also performed with groups such as the Connecticut Improvising Composers Project and his intergenerational trio with Sorey and saxophonist Pete Robbins, which will perform at The Stone on August 21st. He was also awarded a 2009 New Jazz Works Grant from Chamber Music America.

Learn more at http://www.mariopavone.com

Cadence Reviews

After an extended layover on the floor of the Gouverneur, NY post office, the Apr/May/Jun 2009 issue of Cadence arrived to subscribers this past week, and with it a number of enthusiastic reviews of our clients’ recent recordings.

Here are a few highlights:

David Kane calls the Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet’s Ancestors (Playscape Recordings) “a satisfying farrago of compositional and performance delights” and “a challenging set of captivating original tunes.” He adds, “This is aggro music with enough fire and drive to fuel the energy needs of a small African nation…forward looking, intelligently conceived aggressive jazz.”

In his review of the Mary Halvorson Trio’s debut, Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12 Records), Philip McNally writes, “In her notes to this recording she mentions, surprisingly, that this is the first time she has written for the standard guitar trio. I find it hard to believe, as Dragon’s Head is so accomplished a recording. This is post-Bill Frisell guitar, a new voice on the instrument, and for that alone you should hear it.”

“It’s an adventurous, unexpected tribute,” declares David Dupont in his review of the Yoon Sun Choi/Jacob Sacks Duo’s Imagination: The Music of Joe Raposo (Yeah Yeah Records). “Choi impresses equally, whether clowning around and summoning inner animations or singing heartfelt lyrics. All this sets the lyrics in striking relief, wrenching them from their familiar context.”

“Petit Oiseau is an album that simultaneously celebrates jazz tradition and looks beyond it,” proclaims Michael Coyle in his review of the William Parker Quartet’s latest release. “This quartet has been playing together since the turn of the milennium and has that kind of rapport where they complete on another’s thoughts and finish one another’s sentences. Each member contributes sensitively and powerfully to the ensemble sound.”

Pete Robbins On WHUS 91.7 FM Tonight At 6:00 PM (EST)

Photo by Scott Friedlander

Saxophonist Pete Robbins will talk about this Friday’s concert at Firehouse 12 with bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Tyshawn Sorey tonight at 6:00 p.m. on WHUS 91.7 FM in Storrs, Connecticut.

Firehouse 12 To Present Pete Robbins/Mario Pavone/Tyshawn Sorey April 3rd

Photo by Scott Friedlander

On Friday, April 3rd, Firehouse 12 will present the collective trio of saxophonist Pete Robbins, bassist  Mario Pavone and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.  Brought together by Robbins, a former labelmate of Pavone’s and frequent collaborator of Sorey’s in the band sILENT Z, the year-old intergenerational group, and its completely improvised music, is a rare departure from its well-known members’ other current projects.  This two-set performance is a warm-up for the band’s debut recording session the following day.

Critics credit Robbins with “coolness as well as confidence” (Nate Chinen, New York Times), “vision in his writing and improvising” (Jason Bivins, Cadence) and “a keen imagination and a rousing command of his horn” (David Adler, AllAboutJazz-New York).  Based in Brooklyn since 2002, following studies at both New England Conservatory and Tufts University in Boston, he leads the groups Centric and sILENT Z.  His most recent release is 2008’s Do The Hate Laugh Shimmy (Fresh Sound New Talent).

Pavone, an active jazz performer since the late 1960’s, has enjoyed a highly acclaimed career as a bandleader following long-term collaborations with legendary figures such as Thomas Chapin, Anthony Braxton and Bill Dixon.  As busy as ever at nearly 70 years old, he released two notable records on the Playscape Recordings label in 2008: Trio Arc, featuring Paul Bley and Matt Wilson, and Ancestors, featuring his all-star Double Tenor Quintet with saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jimmy Greene.

Thanks to his enigmatic work as a leader, and membership in such high profile ensembles as Steve Coleman & Five Elements, Dave Douglas’ NOMAD and Fieldwork, Sorey is widely regarded as one of the busiest and most versatile young musicians in New York today.  His innovative 2007 debut, That/Not (Firehouse 12 Records), was named to best-of-the-year lists in a variety of publications, including AllAboutJazz.com, the Hartford Courant, Paste, The New Republic, Time Out New York and the Village Voice.

2009 Spring Jazz Series schedule:

03/20: Julian Lage Group
03/27: Jimmy Greene Quartet
04/03: Pete Robbins/Mario Pavone/Tyshawn Sorey
04/10: George Colligan Trio
04/17: Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic Resonance
04/24: Noah Preminger Quartet
05/01: Michaël Attias Quintet
05/08: Peter Brötzmann/Nasheet Waits
05/15: James Carney Group
05/22: Michael Musillami Trio + 3
05/29: Ben Allison & Man Size Safe
06/05: Carl Maguire’s Floriculture
06/12: Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher

Tickets and more information available at:
http://firehouse12.com/performance_space_calendar.asp

Hartford Courant Previews Firehouse 12’s Spring Jazz Series

In this week’s edition of his column, Riffs, the Hartford Courant’s Owen McNally previews Firehouse 12’s 2009 Spring Jazz Series, which he calls “an ambitious program of 13 consecutive Friday night shows featuring some of the best musicians in improvised music.”

Firehouse 12’s 2009 Spring Jazz Series Begins March 20th

New Haven’s Firehouse 12 is proud to announce the schedule for its fourth annual Spring Jazz Series, a 13-week program of performances by some of the most active, innovative and respected musicians in creative improvised music today. 

The series, which begins on Friday, March 20th with two performances by the Julian Lage Group, will feature 8:30 and 10:00 p.m. sets every Friday night through the June 12th season finale featuring Dutch jazz heavyweights, Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher.

Tickets for all events are $15 for the opening set and $10 for the second set.  Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at (203) 785-0468, or at the box office beginning at 7 p.m. the night of the show (subject to availability).  A season pass for both sets of every show will be available for $150 through March 20th.

2009 Spring Jazz Series schedule:

03/20: Julian Lage Group
03/27: Jimmy Greene Quartet
04/03: Pete Robbins/Mario Pavone/Tyshawn Sorey
04/10: George Colligan Trio
04/17: Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic Resonance
04/24: Noah Preminger Quartet
05/01: Michaël Attias Quintet
05/08: Peter Brötzmann/Nasheet Waits
05/15: James Carney Group
05/22: Michael Musillami Trio + 3
05/29: Ben Allison & Man Size Safe
06/05: Carl Maguire’s Floriculture
06/12: Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher

Firehouse 12 is an award-winning bar, state-of-the-art recording studio and unusually intimate music venue located at 45 Crown Street in New Haven’s historic Ninth Square District.  For its semi-annual jazz concert series, the striking, acoustically engineered studio space transforms into an incomparable 80-seat venue critics have hailed as “New England’s premier improvised music venue” (Bill Carbone, New Haven Advocate) and “New Haven’s acclaimed avant-garde bastion of the bold and experimental” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant).

Since early 2007, the organization has also released a series of acclaimed recordings through its label arm, Firehouse 12 Records.  Known for its “fast-developing reputation for left field offerings recorded in luminous sound that handsomely repay in-depth listening” (John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com), the label’s distinctive output includes releases by Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Peter Evans, Mary Halvorson, Nicole Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey.  Six new releases are tentatively scheduled for 2009.