Friday, June 27, 2014

Jim Ryan @ 80: A celebration and concert with Bay Area sonic luminary, saxophonist, and poet

Legendary Bay Area artist Jim Ryan celebrates his eightieth year on planet earth with two performances this Sunday evening beginning with his “Mindless Thing”, a collaboration between drummer/composer Jordan Glenn and saxophonist/band leader/poet/artist/sage Ryan. “The music, composed and conducted by Glenn, takes malleable material and filters it through a unique ensemble of strings and percussion. The result is used to create a backdrop for Ryan’s surreal and haunting poetry…”


“Poet, writer, philosopher and musician, Jim Ryan is an original member of the exploratory family of artists of the 20th century. His powerful playing style and truly original voice permeates the San Francisco Bay Area with vibrant spirit.


Jim Ryan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and began listening to bebop at age 15. In 1958 after obtaining a degree in philosophy from the University of Minnesota, Jim was drafted into the army and sent to Europe. After serving for 21 months, Jim found himself attending the Sorbonne in Paris France. After a short time he discovered he was infected with the writing bug and became involved with the beat poet community that was blossoming in France and throughout the world, rubbing elbows with such poets as Boroughs, and Ginsberg. Nearing his mid-30′s it became more difficult to make a living writing and he found many of his former-writing friends were becoming involved in painting and other artistic endeavors. In 1968 Jim was given a wooden flute and shortly thereafter acquired a c-melody sax. At the same time many of the American new music musicians, Sonny Murray, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, and the AACM were given funding by the US Government and settled in Europe including France. Jim was in the right place at the right time and found himself jamming and performing with these rebels of creative music. As the migration of cutting edge American artists continued more straight ahead artists like Johnny Griffith and Steve Lacy began to arrive to take advantage of the European scene. In the early 70′s Jim participated in a yearlong workshop organized and led by Steve Lacy while continuing to develop his writing. In 1975 Jim formed the Free Music Formation, a group which performed in Paris and other European cities.


In 1975 he returned to the United States in search of a fresh start and settled in Washington, D.C. where he formed the Art Performance Group performing throughout the area. In 1987 he moved California and lived in Marin County until 1993 when he moved to Oakland and became part of the San Francisco Bay Area improv and jazz scene.


After a long hiatus, in 1997, he launched one of his current groups Forward Energy featuring stellar artists like trumpet player Eddie Gale and drummer Donald Robinson. Jim also performed with Marco Eneidi’s “American Jungle Orchestra,” and Eddie Gale’s “Orchestra for World Peace.” In 1998 he became the editor and publisher of Outside, an underground art and music zine in Oakland, which featured such artists as Positive Knowledge, Marco Emeidi, as well as many artists of Bay Area improv scene. For two years beginning in 1999 Jim was the booker for the Luggage Store Gallery Series in San Francisco. At that same time he was also booking for the Starry Plow new music series in Berkeley, 2310 Telegraph Gallery in Oakland, and he currently curates shows occasionally at 21Grand Gallery in Oakland.


In the spring of 2000, he founded the Electro/Acoustic Sextet of Oakland, which was a melding of free jazz and avant academic styles. You can hear this pivotal Bay Area saxophonist presently with his group Forward Energy which has recorded five albums for Edgetone Records since 2009, as well as his poetry work with Jordan Glenn’s Mindless Thing which began in 2012…”


The Static Illusion Methodical Madness (SIMM) Series

@ The Musicians Union Hall Local 6, 116 9th Street, San Francisco


Sunday June 29, 2014 – 7:30 PM

Jim Ryan @ 80: A celebration and concert with Bay Area sonic luminary, saxophonist, and poet…


7:30pm Jordan Glenn’s Mindless Thing

featuring poetry by Jim Ryan

Jordan Glenn- conductor, composer, percussion, Robert Lopez- vibes, percussion, Michael Coleman- piano, percussion, Damon Waitkus- dulcimer, percussion, Karl Evangelista- guitar, percussion


8:30pm Jim Ryan 4tet

Scott R. Looney piano, Jason Hoopes double bass, Jordan Glenn drums, Jim Ryan flute&sax – 21st Century New Cool and Free Style Jazz


$10 general $8 students/seniors, All ages welcome

Friday, June 20, 2014

Hiromi's "Alive"

Jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara’s latest album, entitled “Alive”, marks the return of her Trio Project, featuring contra-bass guitarist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips, last seen in San Francisco a few months ago at the SF Jazz Center. To Hiromi, the major characteristics of life include “birth, growth, movement, awareness, adaptation and death. And ever since she emerged on the scene in 2003, Hiromi has been one of the most profound and prolific living forces in 21st century music. Mentored by the legendary Ahmad Jamal, the Japanese pianist/composer has created music that grows with every performance, moves easily beyond stylistic genres, exhibits an awareness of the entire jazz tradition, and adapts to the contributions of her fellow bandmates.”


“Her ninth CD as a leader, Alive, is also her third album (following 2011′s “Voice” and 2013′s “Move”), featuring Jackson; (Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Michel Camilo, The O’Jay’s, and Chick Corea) and Phillips; (Toto, The Who, Judas Priest, David Gilmour, and Jack Bruce). This terrific triad, which DownBeat magazine proclaimed as “one of the most exciting groups working in any genre today,” first formed in 2011, recorded their first CD, Voice that year, followed by Move in 2013. On Alive, Phillips’ powerful, yet poetic percussion, and Jackson’s flowing, glow-in-the-dark basslines, beautifully buoy and support Hiromi’s ingenious and impassioned improvisations. Her evocative and expansive compositions evoke the myriad moods and mysteries of life, and reveal the soulful, syncopated simpatico of her thrilling threesome.


“Alive has a double meaning for me,” Hiromi says. “I wanted to write songs that deal with things and emotions that we encounter in life. But the word Alive can also mean ‘played live.’ I’ve been performing with Simon and Anthony for four years. We’ve made three records together, and we’ve done so many live shows as a trio. We have a great time being adventurous, and I felt that we can make the record sound like a live recording in front of the audience.


That’s the great thing about having a working trio: We understand how to make each other shine. Anthony is an amazing improviser. He composes incredible counter-lines when I solo, and he always plays something to make [the music] shine even more. And Simon has an amazing tone and a beautiful sound on the drums, he’s like an orchestra. They can play anything, and they understand so many different genres of music. They have no boundaries. It’s been a great journey with this group.”


And the journey continues on Alive, featuring nine selections, all composed by Hiromi, beginning with the leadoff title track, which features a shimmering McCoy Tyner/Coltrane-like introduction that morphs into a torrid up-tempo pace. “I wanted the first track to sound like the beginning of life,” Hiromi says, “with every complicated and detailed combination of life’s creation.”


“Wanderer” features some no-nonsense, 4/4 swing, seasoned by Phillips’ zesty solo drumming, contrasted by the Latin-tinged “Dreamer,” and the bouncy, nursery rhyme melody of “Seeker.” Hiromi injects a sly, Thelonious Monk “Well You Needn’t” motif in the intro of “Player,” with a fluid and formidable solo by Jackson. “It can be taken as musicians making music,” she says, “and at the same time, just playing or having fun.”


“Warrior” begins with a ballad introduction that morphs into a brisk, staccato melody that serves as an anthem for people to fight for the things they want in life. “Firefly” is a solo ballad composition; a kaleidoscope of aural colors akin to Erik Satie’s Gallic impressionism. “Spirit” – dedicated to those who have passed on – is a sparkling, gospel-grooved selection that reveals the true colors of Hiromi’s soul, with Phillip’s signifying solo. “[The song] is a prayer,” Hiromi says. “People lose loved ones and friends, but when you close your eyes, you can be with their spirit.” The album closes with the optimistic, ebullient backbeats of “Life Goes On.”


“I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated so many different kinds of music,” Hiromi says, “classical, rock, jazz and pop and so on. And that’s why my compositions are so varied.”


As evidenced by this impressive and important recording, Hiromi’s astonishing artistry is very much Alive: it breathes, grows, adapts and, more importantly, it evolves. Hiromi’s evolution has been fueled by her ever-evolving gifts as a pianist, improviser, composer, bandleader and – most importantly – as a listener…”


“My listening skills have improved,” she says. “Over the years, I’ve learned how to listen more carefully, and respond musically to what is happening in the moment. That’s what makes my trio shine as a team.”


“Hiromi has discovered her own genre, and continues to pursue it with great sensitivity, energy, and dazzling virtuosity. Enjoy her latest with Anthony Jackson & Simon Phillips. What great chemistry!” – Ahmad Jamal


To view a video clip from her new album, follow this link:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR8HinFaQhk