On February 7th, Playscape Recordings will release Mettle (PSR#070111), veteran guitarist/composer Michael Musillami‘s sixth recording with his flagship trio featuring bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller.

The music, including Musillami’s first extended work, the eight-movement Summer Suite: Twenty Ten, is largely autobiographical, but the record itself celebrates the trio’s 10th anniversary as a working unit.

On Mettle, they form the core rhythm section of a new sextet, featuring special guests Russ Johnson (trumpet), Ned Rothenberg (alto saxophone and clarinet), Jeff Lederer (tenor saxophone and clarinet) and Matt Moran (vibraphone), created to fully realize Musillami’s latest compositions.

“Joe, George and I share a long-term commitment to moving the music forward without fear of failure,” writes Musillami in the liner notes. “The playing is the art and the results are open to interpretation. Honesty and truth are essential to our creativity. I have always been compelled to write music, and I’m fortunate to have Joe and George with me to play with, and against, to help point me where the music wants to go. I always tell the cats it has taken a lifetime of being a musician to be able to present this music. Mettle is the most defining document I’ve produced because it draws on the sum of my decades of experience as a player, writer, arranger, and bandleader.”

“Guitarist Michael Musillami, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller have long been one of the most tightly knit trios,” writes DownBeat‘s Lloyd Sachs in his four-star review of the trio’s previous release, 2010′s Old Tea (Playscape Recordings).

Critics called it “a moving, masterful suite” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant), “guitar-led trio jazz at its best” (Simon Adams, Jazz Journal), and “nothing short of extraordinary” (Nic Jones, AllAboutJazz.com).

The Rochester City Paper‘s Ron Netsky adds, “Drummer George Schuller and bassist Joe Fonda are so tuned in to Musillami’s wavelength that when the group really gets going, it functions as a single living organism.”

Musillami’s career spans more than 25 years and includes extensive work as a performer, bandleader/composer and educator. In addition to his trio, which has performed across Europe and North America and released five other recordings since 2002, he has earned international acclaim as the leader of groups ranging from duo to octet. His long list of prominent collaborators over the years includes Thomas Chapin, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Feldman, Mario Pavone and Matt Wilson among many others.

He’s also the longtime Director of Jazz Studies at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and manager of Playscape Recordings, the highly regarded independent label he founded in 1999.

Learn more at http://michaelmusillami.com and http://playscape-recordings.com

Photo by Napone Punyagupta

On Sunday, July 3rd at 7:30 p.m., Michael Musillami Trio + 4 will perform as part of The Hotchkiss School’s Summer Concert Series at the Esther Eastman Music Center’s Katherine M. Elfers Hall in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Led by veteran jazz guitarist Michael Musillami, the school’s longtime Director of Jazz Studies, the septet will premiere three all-new extended compositions from Natural Direction (Playscape Recordings), his forthcoming 17th release as a bandleader.

The Michael Musillami Trio + 4 augments Musillami’s longstanding flagship trio, featuring bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller, with Russ Johnson (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Ned Rothenberg (alto saxophone and clarinet) and Jeff Lederer (tenor saxophone and clarinet).

Critics called the Michael Musillami Trio’s most recent release, 2010′s Old Tea (Playscape Recordings), “a moving, masterful suite” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant), “guitar-led trio jazz at its best” (Simon Adams, Jazz Journal), and “nothing short of extraordinary” (Nic Jones, AllAboutJazz.com).

“Musillami is one of the most accessible thinking-man’s guitarists,” wrote DownBeat‘s Lloyd Sachs. “Whether he’s waxing lyrical with his richly resonant sound and sculpted lines or charging into the open field with springing and vaulting rhythmic patterns, there is a soulful immediacy to his playing.”

The Rochester City Paper‘s Ron Netsky adds, “Drummer George Schuller and bassist Joe Fonda are so tuned in to Musillami’s wavelength that when the group really gets going, it functions as a single living organism.”

Learn more about Michael Musillami at http://michaelmusillami.com

The results of Cadence‘s 2010 Record Poll are included in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue now reaching subscribers.

We’re proud to report the following client releases were recognized by the voters in the New Issues category (new releases reviewed in the magazine in 2010).

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records)
Bill Dixon, Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records)
John Hébert, Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12 Records)
KLANG, Tea Music (Allos Documents)
Peter Madsen Trio, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings)
Myra Melford’s Be Bread, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records)
Joe Morris Quartet, Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
The Fully Celebrated, Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)
Fay Victor Ensemble, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)

Photo by Napone Punyagupta

Tonight at 11:00 p.m., veteran guitarist/composer Michael Musillami and his longstanding trio, featuring bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller, will headline the first night of the Company of Heaven Jazz Festival at New York’s Cornelia Street Café.

Five days later, on Wednesday, January 12th at 9:00 p.m., the group will make its debut at University of the Streets as part of the ongoing Curators Series.

Both shows will feature selections from the its two most recent recordings, From Seeds (Playscape Recordings, 2009) and Old Tea (Playscape Recordings, 2010), as well as brand new compositions destined for its forthcoming sixth release in 2011.

“Guitarist Michael Musillami, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller have long been one of the most tightly knit trios,” explains DownBeat‘s Lloyd Sachs.

“This trio is supremely empathetic,” adds AllAboutJazz.com’s Nic Jones. “In thinking as one, all three players retain their musical identities in a fashion that’s nothing short of extraordinary.”

Learn more about Michael Musillami at http://www.michaelmusillami.com

AllAboutJazz-New York‘s January issue, featuring its annual Best of 2010 picks, is now available in print around New York and as a free PDF download.

Our clients are recognized in the following year-end categories:

Best New Release of 2010
Eric Hofbauer, American Fear (Creative Nation Music)
David S. Ware, Onecept (AUM Fidelity)

Best New Release of 2010: Honorable Mention
Mary Halvorson Quintet, Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 Records)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor, Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po (Playscape Recordings)

Best Vocal Release of 2010
The ExPosed Blues Duo, BARE (Greene Avenue Music)

Concerts of the Year 2010
Crispell/Dresser/Hemingway with Anthony Braxton (LPR, 6/18/10)
Other Dimensions in Music with Fay Victor (The Local 269, 9/6/10)

Thanks again to the writers and staff at AAJ-NY for their longstanding support and congratulations to all the authors, labels, musicians and venues they singled out this year.

The results of the prestigious Village Voice Jazz Critics’ Poll were posted last night and we’re incredibly proud to report our clients are well represented, with 16 releases we promoted this year ending up on at least one voter’s ballot.

Of course, the focus is on the Top 50, and three of our clients’ records made that cut, with the Mary Halvorson Quintet’s Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 Records) coming in at an amazing #3.

In his summation of the results, poll organizer Francis Davis wrote, “it’s the hurtling intelligence of Halvorson’s writing on the tracks with horns that marks her transition from the cutting edge’s favorite sidewoman to one of today’s most formidable bandleaders.”

Myra Melford’s The Whole Tree Gone, also on Firehouse 12 Records, followed at #14, and William Parker’s I Plan To Stay A Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield (AUM Fidelity) finished at #41.

The ExPosed Blues Duo’s BARE (Greene Avenue Music) came in 10th in the Vocal category.

Voters also included the following releases on their individual lists of the Top 10 New Releases of the Year:

James Falzone’s Allos Musica, Lamentations (Allos Documents)
Garrison Fewell, Sound Particle 47 (Creative Nation Music)
Tomas Fujiwara & Taylor Ho Bynum, Stepwise (NotTwo)
Eric Hofbauer, American Fear (Creative Nation Music)
Little Women, Throat (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor, Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po (Playscape Recordings)
Mike Pride’s From Bacteria To Boys, Betweenwhile (AUM Fidelity)
Vox Arcana, Aerial Age (Allos Documents)
David S. Ware, Onecept (AUM Fidelity)
David S. Ware, Saturnian (AUM Fidelity)
Eri Yamamoto Trio, In Each Day, Something Good (AUM Fidelity)

Congratulations to all the musicians and labels recognized in this year’s poll and thanks again to all the critics who have supported our clients and their music in 2010.

Photo by Jonathan Doster

Veteran guitarist/composer and Playscape Recordings founder Michael Musillami is Jason Crane’s guest on the latest episode of The Jazz Session.

The 35-minute interview focuses on Musillami’s latest release, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings), but also touches on numerous other topics, including his composing and bandleading styles, the history of his longstanding trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller, his 20+ year teaching career, why he created his own label and much more.