Photo: Bryan Murray

Tonight at 8:00 p.m., Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist/composer Josh Sinton will celebrate the release of his latest recording, Pine Barren (Engine), with a special solo performance at Barbès.

He’ll present the title book of original music heard on the record, which brings together three smaller suites, on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.

The same compositions can be heard on a complementary release featuring his quintet holus-bolus, with Jon Irabagon (tenor saxophone), Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Peter Bitenc (bass) and Mike Pride (drums), coming later this year on Prom Night Records.

Sinton will also perform this Sunday at The Local 269 in New York, where he will break out his newly acquired amplified contrabass clarinet for his first-ever set of improvised duets with drummer Satoshi Takeishi.

Learn more about Josh Sinton at http://joshsinton.com

On April 10th, AUM Fidelity will release the Eri Yamamoto Trio’s third title for the label, The Next Page (AUM071). This collection of all-new original music further demonstrates New York-based pianist/composer Eri Yamamoto‘s gift for melodious songcraft as well as the intuitive rapport of her longstanding trio featuring bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi. It features 11 pieces presented in two half-hour sets, divided by a short break, mirroring the format of the group’s live performances at its decade-long weekly engagement at the historic Arthur’s Tavern in Greenwich Village.

“I feel that our music keeps growing,” Ms. Yamamoto writes in the liner notes, “and that we are turning the page to a new chapter of our adventure together.” Her latest compositions draw their inspiration from the experience of subtle yet profound moments, including a beautiful vista in the mountains of Ireland, the first leaves of spring in Central Park, the sparkle of the winter sky through her window, the youthful enthusiasm of her eight year-old nephew and the nuances of light and shade while traversing the streets of New York on a dark night.

“Eri Yamamoto’s pianism is quietly dignified and her approach to music making exudes introspection and beauty,” writes The New York City Jazz Record‘s Marc Medwin. “Each note seems sculpted out of the silence surrounding it.” Others have described the trio’s music as “beautifully telepathic and conversational” (Will Layman, PopMatters.com), “fresh and intriguing” (Joe Bendel, The Epoch Times) and “simple, clear and to the point, thereby achieving an earthy eloquence” (Glen Hall, Exclaim!). The BBC’s Bill Tilland adds, “Yamamoto has a lovely touch and an active musical imagination. Consequently, each piece shines with its own interior light.”

“She can be a sonic painter,” explains the Hartford Courant‘s Owen McNally in his recent feature article, “as she demonstrates on her album, Redwoods, where her evocative playing makes you experience the sound of silence and godlike majesty of the giant redwood trees in the Muir Woods near San Francisco. She blends soft-hued harmonies, luminous melodies and lyrical expression with the introspective spirit of pianist Keith Jarrett and the poetic resonance of the great English romantic poet, William Wordsworth. Besides her knack for poetic introspection, she can also swing with free, vibrant energy…propelled by crackling interaction with her trio mates.”

Learn more about the Eri Yamamoto Trio at http://eriyamamoto.com

Thumbscrew, a new collective trio featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, will play its first two gigs at Cornelia Street Café in New York on March 11th and The Windup Space in Baltimore on March 14th. The group will perform all new music composed by each of its members.

The idea to work together followed a chance encounter last year in the rhythm section of one of Taylor Ho Bynum’s bands. “It was one of those situations where we instantly clicked,” Ms. Halvorson recalls, “and the three of us started talking about doing a project together right away. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens!”

She adds, “I have long admired bassist Michael’s playing, most notably in Tim Berne’s Bloodcount and on Am I Bothering You?, his ridiculously amazing solo bass record. In 2010, when I heard his release The Rub and Spare Change, I was blown away all over again. Tomas is one of my all time favorite drummers and a frequent collaborator. He is versatile, thoughtful, intense and extraordinarily deep in his approach.”

Learn more about the musicians on their Web sites at http://maryhalvorson.com, http://www.amibotheringyou.com and http://tomasfujiwara.com

On Saturday, February 25th at 9:00 and 10:30 p.m., pianist/composer Myra Melford will debut her new ensemble, Snowy Egret, at The Jazz Gallery in New York. The interdisciplinary sextet features musicians Ron Miles (trumpet), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Stomu Takeishi (electric bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) as well as dancer Oguri.

Snowy Egret is the evolution of one of her earlier ensembles, Happy Whistlings, which she created in 2008 to perform a book of original music inspired by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire Trilogy. In this latest incarnation, with all new personnel, the original pieces are further developed, rearranged and augmented with more recent compositions.

“Myra Melford lately seems to have entered a phase where she can do no wrong,” writes esteemed jazz journalist Francis Davis in his introduction to this year’s Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll. Recent media coverage has called her “one of the most exciting musicians working in any genre” (Ehren Gresehover, At Length), “an insightful and far-reaching pianist-composer” (Nate Chinen, New York Times) and “a visionary bandleader” (Andrew Gilbert, Berkeleyside), noting her “ever-growing track record of arresting music” (Mike Shanley, JazzTimes).

In addition to her own projects, including the acoustic sextet Be Bread heard on her latest recording, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records), she currently co-leads a duo with clarinetist Ben Goldberg and the all-star collective Trio M, which releases its second recording, The Guest House (Enja/Yellowbird), in February. She also serves on the faculty of the University of California Berkeley, where she develops and teaches courses about contemporary improvised music.

Learn more about Myra Melford at http://myramelford.com

Photo: Steven Laschever

On Friday, February 24th, veteran bassist/composer Mario Pavone will return to New York’s Cornelia Street Café for a two-set performance with his Mythos Sextet. The group, which features frequent collaborators Dave Ballou (trumpet), Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Philippe Crettien (tenor saxophone), Craig Taborn (piano) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), will debut brand new music as well as celebrate the 10th anniversary of his 2002 Playscape Recordings release, Mythos.

In its critic’s pick for his July performance at Cornelia Street, Time Out New York declared, “The work of Mario Pavone bridges the dissonant, structurally open world of the avant-garde and the pulsing, swinging accessibility of the jazz tradition.” His music has also been described as “invariably exhilarating” (Steve Futterman, Jazziz), “filled with passion and the sound of surprise” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant) and “at once intellectual and swinging, investigative and declarative” (Josef Woodard, DownBeat).

A 45-year veteran of the creative music scene, Pavone has earned his reputation as “a bassist-composer of experience and vision” (Nate Chinen, New York Times), first as a sideman to such legendary figures as Paul Bley, Thomas Chapin and Bill Dixon, and most recently under his own name as ”one of the very best—and when on his game, by far the best—small-group composer/leaders working on the East Coast” (Brian Morton, Point of Departure).

In 2010, he celebrated his 70th birthday by releasing Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po, his 20th recording as a leader/co-leader, featuring original music commissioned by Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program. His performance of that material at the 2010 Litchfield Jazz Festival was featured on NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater earlier this month. Learn more about Mario Pavone at http://mariopavone.com

Photo: Bryan Murray

Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist/composer Josh Sinton will perform two notable New York shows in early February.

On Wednesday the 8th at 8:00 p.m., Sinton will celebrate the release of his latest recording, Pine Barren (Engine), with a special solo performance at Barbès in Brooklyn. He’ll present the title book of original music heard on the record, which brings together three smaller suites, on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.

The same compositions can be heard on a complementary release featuring his quintet holus-bolus, with Jon Irabagon (tenor saxophone), Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Peter Bitenc (bass) and Mike Pride (drums), coming later this year on Prom Night Records.

On Sunday the 12th at 7:00 p.m., Sinton will bring his newly acquired amplified contrabass clarinet to The Local 269 for his first-ever set of improvised duets with drummer Satoshi Takeishi.

Both events have a $10 cover.

Learn more about Josh Sinton and his various musical projects at http://joshsinton.com

Photo: Gulnara Khamatova

Vocalist/composer Fay Victor will perform with two groups, Patricia Nicholson’s Last Call and Other Dimensions in Music, at tonight’s edition of the weekly Evolving Music series at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Education Center in New York.

This will be Ms. Victor’s first performance with Ms. Nicholson’s ensemble, while her ongoing Calypso-themed collaboration with the eminent free jazz collective Other Dimensions in Music continues to earn international attention.

Their 2011 recording, Kaiso Stories (Silkheart Records), was included on best-of-the-year lists published by Dusted, Free Jazz, The Jazz Journalists Association, The New York City Jazz Record and the Rhapsody Jazz Critics’ Poll, and inspired reviewers to call it “a wonderful combination” (Lawrence Joseph, Montreal Mirror), “gloriously potent” (Jerome Wilson, Cadence) and ”a roaring success” (Ed Hazell, Point of Departure).

“Roots tributes seldom get as fascinating or as cultishly seductive as Kaiso Stories,” adds JazzTimes contributor Lloyd Sachs. “Having emerged as a vocal artist with a real vision, Victor rises to a higher level of inspiration here.”

Learn more about Fay Victor at http://www.fayvictor.com

Photo: Amani Willett

Tonight at 8:30 p.m., guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson will perform with her new quartet, Reverse Blue, at Cornelia Street Café in New York.

The group, which began its life back in February as a fully improvised one-off collaboration at Search And Restore’s Spontaneous Construction series at The Blue Note, features Chris Speed (saxophone and clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

“We had so much fun improvising,” she explains, “I thought I’d put together a band and actually write some music for it, just to try out something different.”

Ms. Halvorson, whose latest recording with violist Jessica Pavone, Departure Of Reason (Thirsty Ear), hit the streets in November, won the Rising Star Guitar category in the latest DownBeat Critics Poll and was recently named New York’s Best Guitarist 2011 by the Village Voice.

Critics have called her “the most future-seeking guitarist working right now” (Lars Gotrich, NPR.org), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal) and “a bandleader whose composition skills rival her brilliantly unorthodox instrumental technique” (Time Out New York).

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com

Photo: Amani Willett

Tonight, Mary Halvorson kicks off a busy December with the first of three European tour dates with the Ingrid Laubrock Octet.

The group, which also features Tom Arthurs (trumpet), Ted Reichman (accordion), Liam Noble (piano), Ben Davis (cello), Drew Gress (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums), will perform at Club w71 (Niederstetten, Germany) tonight, Tollhaus (Karlsruhe, Germany) tomorrow night, and Rote Fabrik (Zurich, Switzerland) on Saturday.

Sunday night, Ms. Halvorson will be back in New York to perform at The Stone with Matt Mitchell‘s Central Chain.

The rest of the month, which also includes the official debut of her new quartet, Reverse Blue, featuring Chris Speed (saxophone and clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), is as follows.

12/14 :: Ingrid Laubrock’s Anti-House @ Barbès (Brooklyn, NY)
12/15 :: Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up @ Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
12/17 :: Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet @ Jazz Gallery (New York, NY)
12/20 :: Mary Halvorson’s Reverse Blue @ Cornelia Street Café (New York, NY)
12/23 :: Jim Hobbs’ Aych + Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet @ Outpost 186 (Cambridge, MA)
12/30 :: Tom Rainey Trio @ Cornelia Street Café (New York, NY)

Learn more about Mary Halvorson at http://maryhalvorson.com

Photo: James Daniel

On Friday, January 6th and Saturday, January 7th, Darcy James Argue and his 18-piece big band Secret Society will perform at Jazz Gallery in New York.

This two-night stand, coinciding with the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference, will feature sets at 9:00 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for Jazz Gallery members and can be purchased online in advance or at the door (subject to availability). Free tickets are available to conference badge-holders who make reservations in advance at info@jazzgallery.org

Secret Society’s first club dates since May, these concerts directly follow its widely acclaimed November performances of the multimedia extravaganza Brooklyn Babylon in collaboration with graphic artist Danijel Zezelj at Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the 2011 Next Wave Festival. Learn more in this video preview.

Reviewers called the innovative project “a true audio-visual treat” (Mia Drane-Maury, Beyond Race) and “a fully staged, fully integrated sight-and-sound performance” (Peter Matthews, Feast Of Music), and noted its “visual splendor and musical majesty of the type not often experienced” (Ralph A. Miriello, Huffington Post) and “originality, power, and beauty that left an audience slack-jawed” (David Krasnow, WNYC’s Studio 360).

“Expanding his sonic palette as never before,” added The Wall Street Journal‘s Tad Hendrickson in his preview feature, “Mr. Argue consciously integrated music from different cultures of Brooklyn for the multimedia piece by adding elements of Balkan brass, French café music and even marching-band music.”

At Jazz Gallery, Secret Society will perform selections from the Brooklyn Babylon score as well as other as-yet-unrecorded pieces in addition to selections from its GRAMMY® nominated debut, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records).

Learn more about Darcy James Argue and Secret Society at http://www.secretsocietymusic.org