Date:                February 21, 2007

To:                    Listings/Critics/Features

From:                JAZZJAUNTS

Contact:            GOLDA SOLOMON:  877-529-9528 or gs@goldajazz.com

 

CD RELEASE PARTY: WORD RIFFS and MERGE

Poetry and Jazz: Partners in Perfect Harmony

Downstairs at The Cornelia Street Café

29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, 212-989-9319, www.corneliastreetcafe.com

SUNDAY, MARCH 25th, 2007, 8:30 - 11 PM  (sets at 8:30 and 9:45)

$15 ($10 students/seniors); one drink minimum per set

WORD RIFFS

GOLDA SOLOMON   words

with Center Search Quest

CHRISTOPHER DEAN SULLIVAN   bass artisan

MICHAEL T. A. THOMPSON   soundrhythium

and

ERI YAMAMOTO   piano

special guest   SACO YASUMA   saxophone

 

MERGE

CASSANDRA CLEGHORN   poetry, voice

ERIK LAWRENCE   saxophones, flutes

ALLISON MILLER   drums

RENE HART   acoustic bass, gadgets

”An insightful observer of the scene and narrator of a thousand hipper yesterdays, Golda Solomon lays it all out with streetwise authority on Word Riffs.” — Bill Milkowski, journalist, Jazz Times; Jazziz

“Merge is another step forward in celebrating the marriage of poetry and music”   — David Amram

“This recording is a keeper” — Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

The Cornelia Street Café

29 Cornelia Street

Greenwich Village, NY 10014

"a culinary as well as a cultural landmark"   -- Mayoral Proclamation, City of New York 1987

Tel: 212-989-9319  /  Fax: 212-243-4207  /  Web: www.corneliastreetcafe.com

between West 4th and Bleecker Streets, Greenwich Village

by subway: 1 or 9 to Christopher Street - Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F & V to West 4th St.

CD RELEASE PARTY: WORD RIFFS & MERGE

Sunday, March 25th, 2007 at The Cornelia Street Café

About the Artists

Merge is a quartet comprised of poet Cassandra Cleghorn, reedman Erik Lawrence, drummer Allison Miller and bassist Rene Hart. In the eighteen tracks on their new CD ("Merge"), the band creates a union of word, rhythm and melody that recalls the origins of poetry in voice and song.  David Amram, called by the Boston Globe "the Renaissance man of American music," calls Merge "an exciting and highly creative new collaboration."  Amram recognizes the affinities between Merge and his own work with Beat poets:  "In an era when Spoken Word has finally come to fruition, the spirit of collaboration, ensemble and spontaneity that Jack Kerouac and I pioneered in NYC's first-ever jazz poetry reading in 1957 are now reaching new plateaus.  Merge is another step forward in celebrating the marriage of poetry and music."

 

Cassandra Cleghorn (poetry/voice) has taught English and American Studies at Williams College since 1990. She earned her BA in Greek from University of California, Santa Cruz and her PhD in American Studies from Yale University. She was a finalist for the 2000 Massachusetts Cultural Council award in poetry. Her writing has appeared in journals including The Paris Review, Yale Review, Prairie Schooner, Southwest Review, Western Humanities Review and Tin House magazine. www.myspace.com/mergepoetrymusic

 

Rene Hart (acoustic bass) spends much of his time lately touring with English blues/pop sensation James Hunter, with whom he has recently played the Conan O'Brian and Jay Leno shows, and opened for Aretha Franklin and Van Morrison. Rene has recorded and/or performed with artists including Julian Priester, Charles Davis, Steven Bernstein, Clark Terry, Sean Lennon and Billy Hart. His current commitments include Hipmotism and Yonadav Halevy's Sienna Quartet.  www.myspace.com/renehart

 

Erik Lawrence (saxophones/flutes) is currently featured playing with legendary Levon Helm, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra and Erik's other band Hipmotism (featuring Rene Hart, Allison Miller and Steven Bernstein). He has also played and recorded with Chico Hamilton, Sonny Sharrock, The Band with Bob Dylan, Buddy Miles, John Medeski, David Amram, Barry Wallenstein, Frank Messina, Jane LeCroy, Trey Anastasio, Spin Doctors, Joan Osborne, his father Arnie Lawrence and many others. Erik’s music has always been inspired by poetry, literature, visual arts, dance and nature. He has been a college educator since he was 18 years old and currently teaches jazz saxophone and flute at Williams College and the Putney School. For Erik, Merge is a dream come true.  www.myspace.com/hipmotism and www.levonhelm.com/erik_lawrence.htm

 

Allison Miller (drums) was voted in September 2006 as Rising Star drummer in Downbeat's Critics Poll, the second year in a row she has received this honor. As bandleader and/or collaborator, she currently performs and records with TILT, Agrazing Maze, and Boom Tic Boom, all of which have recent, critically acclaimed outings on the Foxhaven label. She also appears regularly with Hipmotism, Marty Ehrlich's Sextet, The Natalie Merchant Band, Doctor Lonnie Smith, Kitty Margolis and Erin McKeown.  www.allisonmiller.com

 

Golda Solomon (poet), “the medicine woman of jazz,” is a professor of communications, speech, and theater arts; a poet, performer, producer, and docent; a supporter of women musicians as well as young musicians, poets, and performers.  She was project director of Po’Jazz at The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center for four years before bringing the series to The Cornelia Street Café in 2003.  Golda has pioneered several unique businesses including JazzJaunts, a personalized jazz service, and, with Barbara Sfraga, ICAAN (Interactive Communication and Arts Network), which provides innovative, on-site, organization-specific arts programming to workplaces, schools, and other organizations.  She and poet/writer/musician/teacher Monique Avakian are currently conducting “From Page to Performance” workshops for emerging poets and “ready to come out of the closet” writers.  Golda has a collection of poetry, Flatbush Cowgirl, published in 1999, for which she co-produced a companion CD, First Set, and a second CD of her poetry, Word Riffs.  Her latest collection is Never More Than a Borough Away, Brooklyn Bops (Clique Calm Books).  She also co-produced the CD Po’Jazz: Takin’ It To The Hollow.   She is an active member and presenter for IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) and a founding member of IWJ (International Women In Jazz). As an IWJ awardee, she was part of the week-long 40th anniversary celebration of All Nite Soul at St. Peter’s, the “Jazz Church” in midtown Manhattan.  Several of her poems are currently featured on the poetry page of www.jerryjazzmusician.com, and her poem “This Ocean” appears in the current issue of Vernacular, the new online literary magazine of Women’s Studio Center, www.womenstudiocenter.org.  Her book and CDs are available on www.amazon.com, www.cdbaby.com and www.jazzjaunts.com.

"Poet Solomon...Think of it as Jack Kerouac revisiting the Mile High City and grabbing a sandwich at the New York Deli while in town."  — Norman Provizer, Rocky Mountain News

 

Center Search Quest

“…Center Search Quest’s Chris Sullivan and Michael Thompson are masters of feel, maestros of the deep earthen groove…”  — Signal To Noise magazine

 

 

Christopher Dean Sullivan (CSQ bass artisan) is a versatile bassist of many musical languages. He has performed with a myriad of artists such as Charli Persip, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Mcphee, Horace Parlan, Stanley Jordan, Sonny Simmons, Roy Campbell, Archie Shepp, Pete Seeger, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Roy Campbell Jr., Yusef Lateef, Grant Green, Horace Parlin, and Cecil Payne. Chris can be heard on various recordings, including, Live in New York (Black Saint / Soul Note) with reedist Michael Marcus and drummer Codaryl Cody Moffett, Language of Swans (Drimala) with reedist Joe Giardullo, Under the Moon (A440 musicgroup) with Barbara Sfraga, Paul Wertico, John McLean, and Kevin Patrick, Stepping with the Giant (C.I.M.P. / Cadence) with Carl Grubbs, Odean Pope and Newman Taylor Baker, and poet Golda Solomon’s Word Riffs, as well as his own project, co-led with soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson -- Center Search Quest, on Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest's Timelessness Frozen in Time (SyncTimiCity), and he is currently in production with his upcoming CSQ Project. Chris also performs with the Cotton Club Allstar Orchestra and has appeared in commercials and magazines such as Vanity Fair with Grammy Award recipient Janet Jackson. His approach is heartfelt and is accessed first of all by intensive listening -- to himself, to the elemental structure of a tune, to the soul of his fellow musicians, and to his own quest for the purest, more direct expression of sound and feeling. Chris has hosted his own Warner Communication award winning television show The Tree of Arts Alive, and is a prime advocate for bringing entertainment back into jazz.

..."Chris Sullivan, a bassist whose authoritative and bluesy bendings of the notes honor his affection for legends such as Slam Stewart as well as Ray Brown"...  —Steve Monroe, Jazz Journalists Association

 

Michael T. A. Thompson (CSQ soundrhythium) is an anomaly. That's why you'll find him in the company of such a wide variety of musical artists including Joe McPhee, John Stubblefield, Daniel Carter, Alex Foster, Roy Campbell Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Matthew Shipp, Uri Caine, Henry Grimes, John Patitucci, William Parker, Barbara Sfraga, Mala Waldron; legendary Calypsonians The Mighty Sparrow, The Shadow, Becket’ reggae artist Owen Gray, as well as artists from classical to rap and beyond. Allowing all these influences to flow through him, Michael Thompson's palate encompasses an abundance of sound colors. He hears everything, and plays with it in a way that's ever-inventive and perceptively responsive. Thompson plays as he breathes. You'll always find him in the moment, inspired as well as inspiring.  T.A. served as producer on Mala Waldron's Always There, as well as poet Golda Solomon’s Word Riffs and Sfraga & CSQ's  Timelessness Frozen in Time. He is also an instructor of non-conventional rudiments that bring the student into a rhythm of self-identity.

..."Thompson is impressive too, both in his rhythmic affinity with Parker and in his sensitivity to texture and tone"... 
—Nate Chinen, JazzTimes

 

Eri Yamamoto is one of New York City’s most creative and original pianists and composers.  She performs regularly with her own trio at the historic jazz club, Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village, and often appears with some of jazz’s most celebrated artists.  She has also established herself as a major artist in Japan, with frequent tours to major clubs and concert halls.  She has recorded three critically acclaimed CDs as a leader, most recently Colors on the Jane Street label.  Eri was born in Osaka, Japan, and began playing classical piano at age three.  She started writing music when only eight years old, and studied voice, viola, and composition through her high school and college years.  On her first trip to New York, in 1995, she heard Tommy Flanagan’s jazz piano trio perform and decided on the spot to move to New York and dedicate herself to that music.  Later that year, Eri entered the New School University’s prestigious jazz program, where she studied with Junior Mance, LeeAnn Ledgerwood, and Reggie Workman. While still in school, she played many gigs around New York.  In 1999 she started playing regularly at the Avenue B Social Club, a popular spot among jazz musicians in the East Village.  There she developed musical friendships with fellow pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker.  Eri has performed with William Parker, and recently played on his trio CD, Luc’s Lantern, for which she has been favorably singled out in many reviews.  She has also worked with such musical luminaries as Daniel Carter, Ron McClure, Andy McKee, Ikuo Takeuchi, Christopher Dean Sullivan and Michael T. A. Thompson.

“My hat’s off to her… already she’s found her own voice.”  —Legendary musician Herbie Hancock

 

Saco Yasuma is a passionate saxophonist and gifted composer.  Born in Furukawa, Japan, she began studying classical piano at the age of six.  She originally performed in funk, rock, and reggae bands in major clubs and concert halls in Tokyo and wrote some of their repertoire.  Ms. Yasuma arrived in the US in 1989 and studied saxophone in New York City.  She participated in diverse music groups, such as Jazz, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-beat, and organized a variety of ensembles, performing her own work in clubs, galleries, universities, festivals, and private situations.  She has also collaborated with other artists in film, dance, and poetry.  In 2003, 2004, and 2005, she was the music director and the featured saxophonist for the Billy Parker’s Fourth World Legacy Concert at SUNY Rockland.  This concert series presented her original compositions and guest musicians included Roy Campbell Jr. and Billy Bang.  Currently, she leads her group Saco Yasuma & YO’IN, Synergy:sight & sound, a collaboration with the visual artist Amir Bey, and other ensembles.

"Ms. Yasuma's hallmark is taking the audience on a journey that is stimulated by surprising touches that keep the listener perked and alert for what is coming up next."  — The New Times Holler!