On November 9th, Playscape Recordings will release acclaimed bassist/composer Mario Pavone‘s 20th title as a leader, Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po (PSR#061010), the studio recording of his new five-part suite of the same name. Pavone composed this extended work for his latest group, Orange Double Tenor, after receiving a commission from Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Joining Pavone in this sextet are trumpeter Dave Ballou, saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jimmy Greene, pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Gerald Cleaver. This studio recording of the suite, which the band has been performing live since June, is being released the week of Pavone’s 70th birthday.

“As I am in my 70th year (and 45th year in music),” Pavone explained in his original proposal for the project, “I have reflected on the 1960′s—a time of incredible change and transformation—and as such I was THERE and experienced first-hand not just the musicality of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus, but the physical presence of these giants and the sociopolitical issues their work addressed. I look to re-envision and re-interpret in today’s idiom, and in my compositional systems, the feeling, ethos and energy of that time and those players.” Helping him bring this vision to life are special guest arrangers, and longtime collaborators, Steven Bernstein and Michael Musillami who, along with Pavone and Ballou, each arranged individual movements within the suite.

“Pavone, who earned his engineering degree from the University of Connecticut, thinks in imaginative, mathematical terms that are open-ended and poetic and never merely formulaic,” wrote the Hartford Courant‘s Owen McNally in his preview of Orange Double Tenor’s August 7th performance at the Litchfield Jazz Festival. “His conceptions seem inspired by a liberating form of musical calculus that is all about change and motion, range and emotion. At the same time, this master engineer of aesthetic balance allows structure to reign but never restrain his own or his collaborators’ surging spontaneous creativity.” In his review of the performance for the same paper, Chuck Obuchowski recalled, “Pavone and his Orange Double Tenor ensemble offered a bold presentation of the recently commissioned Arc Suite T/Pi T/Po. The 69-year-old Connecticut bassist/composer still sounded vital and utterly unique.”

For more than four decades, Pavone has consistently helped define jazz’s cutting edge, first as a sideman to such legendary figures as Paul Bley, Thomas Chapin and Bill Dixon, and most recently as a highly regarded bandleader in his own right. Known to critics 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), he has been called “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). When not leading or composing for his own groups, or collaborating with members of the latest generation of creative improvisers, such as saxophonist Pete Robbins and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Pavone is an avid photographer and President of Litchfield Performing Arts, presenter of the annual Litchfield Jazz Festival and Litchfield Jazz Camp. Learn more at http://www.mariopavone.com

Photo by Steven Sussman

This Saturday evening at 5:15 p.m., veteran bassist/composer Mario Pavone will perform at the Litchfield Jazz Festival with his newest ensemble, Orange Double Tenor.

The group, which features trumpeter Dave Ballou, tenor saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jimmy Greene, pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Gerald Cleaver, will play Pavone’s new extended work, ARC SUITE T/PI T/PO.

Hartford Courant jazz columnist Owen McNally writes about the piece, and Pavone’s all-star collaborators, in his festival preview in yesterday’s paper.

This is only the third live performance of the five-part suite (following two nights at New York’s Cornelia Street Café in early June), which was commissioned by Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The concert will be recorded for broadcast on NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Pavone and the band have already recorded a studio version of the suite, which will be released by Playscape Recordings in November to coincide with his 70th birthday.

Learn more at http://mariopavone.com

The Summer 2010 issue of Jazziz features reviews of David S. Ware’s Saturnian (solo saxophones vol. 1) on AUM Fidelity and the Peter Madsen Trio’s The Litchfield Suite on Playscape Recordings.

“As always,” writes reviewer Phil Freeman, “Ware travels outward from short, evocative melodic phrases into extravagant but never florid or undisciplined journeys, bringing each piece to a logical conclusion with the rigor that’s been his trademark as a player for decades…each performance on Saturnian is magisterial and profoundly moving.”

Josef Woodard declares, “Pianist and composer Peter Madsen deserves greater attention on the broader jazz scene. Over the course of this hour-long set, recorded live at the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut, Madsen contrasts intensity with reflection; abstracted twists with moments of focused clarity; and harmonic adventurism with unserstated melodic lyricism. An integrated range of expressive terrain is artfully and assuredly traversed by the pianist and his allies, double-bassist Andy McKee and drummer Gerald Cleaver, each of whom intersperses the scored part of the suite with gleaming solo improvisational asides.”

Photo by Steven Sussman

One month from tonight, veteran bassist/composer Mario Pavone will perform at the Litchfield Jazz Festival with his newest ensemble, Orange Double Tenor.

The group, which features trumpeter Dave Ballou, tenor saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jimmy Greene, pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Gerald Cleaver, will play Pavone’s new extended work, ARC SUITE T/PI T/PO.

This is only the third live performance of the five-part suite, following two nights at New York’s Cornelia Street Café in early June, which was commissioned by Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Pavone and the band have already recorded the music, which will be released by Playscape Recordings in November to coincide with his 70th birthday.

Photo by Steven Sussman

Tonight at New York’s Cornelia Street Café, veteran bassist/composer Mario Pavone and his new sextet, Orange Double Tenor, will present the world premiere of ARC SUITE T/PI T/PO, a suite of original compositions commissioned by Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The group, featuring trumpeter Dave Ballou, saxophonists Tony Malaby and Jimmy Greene, pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Gerald Cleaver, will perform the same piece again tomorrow night before heading in to the studio on Wednesday to record the music for a November release on Playscape Recordings.

“As I am in my 70th year (and 45th year in music),” wrote Pavone in his original proposal for this project, “I have reflected on the 1960′s—a time of incredible change and transformation—and as such I was THERE and experienced first-hand not just the musicality of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus, but the physical presence of these giants and the sociopolitical issues their work addressed. I look to re-envision and re-interpret in today’s idiom, and in my compositional systems, the feeling, ethos and energy of that time and those players.”

Pavone and Orange Double Tenor will also perform at the Litchfield Jazz Festival on August 7th.

Photo by Beat Habermacher

Veteran pianist/composer Peter Madsen and his trio, featuring bassist Andy McKee and drummer Gerald Cleaver, will perform two sets tonight at New Haven’s Firehouse 12 as part of the venue’s 2010 Spring Jazz Series.

The group will be celebrating its new release, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings), which was recorded live at the nearby Litchfield Jazz Festival in 2008.

Each movement of Madsen’s titular six-part suite is inspired by a different aspect of his experience performing at the festival, and teaching at the Litchfield Jazz Camp, over the past decade.

You can also hear Madsen and Cleaver play with Mario Pavone’s Orange Double Tenor next week at New York’s Cornelia Street Café where the group will unveil Pavone’s new commissioned suite, ARC SUITE T/PI T/PO.

The June issue of AllAboutJazz-New York features reviews of Eric Hofbauer’s American Fear (Creative Nation Music) and the Peter Madsen Trio’s The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings), as well as a feature article about David S. Ware discussing his current health status and upcoming plans for performing and recording.

“Hofbauer uses damped harmonics, slides, whammied chords, radical dynamic contrasts and register leaps, tickle-scratches and two-handed tapping to color and shade his musical images,” explains Tom Greenland. “For all its variety, drawing on recognizable elements of jazz and other musical traditions, Hofbauer’s voice emerges here unique and distinct, blending the comedic with the tragic—and having some serious fun.”

“He’s a solid composer and arranger whose piano mastery is pure dynamite,” writes Terrell Holmes of Madsen. “He plays flawlessly and with rhythmic complexity, applying symphonic flourishes or lightning-fast melodic runs and hammering out passionate block chords. The man is virtually a band unto himself. The musical sophistication and telepathic interplay among this excellent trio makes The Litchfield Suite a triumph.”

Photo by Beat Habermacher

On Friday, June 4th, Firehouse 12‘s fifth annual Spring Jazz Series will present the penultimate event of the season, a two-set performance veteran pianist/composer Peter Madsen and his working trio. The group, featuring longtime Madsen collaborators Andy McKee (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), will be celebrating its new release, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings), which documents the world premiere performance of Madsen’s seven-part titular work at the 2008 Litchfield Jazz Festival. Each movement is inspired by a different aspect of his experience performing at the festival, and teaching at the Litchfield Jazz Camp, over of the past decade.

“If you’re familiar with Madsen’s work,” writes Step Tempest‘s Richard Kamins, “you know he’s a powerful player, often displaying the sonic force of Cecil Taylor or Don Pullen and the melodic tendencies of McCoy Tyner and Myra Melford…The Litchfield Suite is a truly satisfying experience with fine written material, forceful playing and impressive interactions. This is easily one of the best recordings of 2010.” In his recent feature article about Madsen and the project, the Hartford Courant‘s Owen McNally adds, “Typical of Madsen’s music, whether in his acclaimed solo piano albums or in his more than 400 compositions, the artist’s uniquely personal voice shines through the piece’s diversity, vitality and boundary-stretching action and force.”

A well-kept secret among critics, musicians and jazz aficionados alike, Madsen is a highly valued 30 year veteran of the creative music scene who earned his first big break touring with Stan Getz in 1987. He has since worked with poets, choirs, dancers and dozens of the world’s premier improvisers ranging from Benny Golson and Stanley Turrentine to Joe Lovano and Kenny Garrett to Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker. Overall, his discography features nearly 100 recordings, including 15 releases on the Playscape Recordings label as a solo performer and the pianist of choice for frequent collaborators Michael Musillami and Mario Pavone. Originally from Wisconsin, Madsen currently splits his time between New York and Vorarlberg, Austria.  Learn more at http://www.petermadsen.us

2010 Spring Jazz Series Schedule:

03/26 :: Caliente! Circle Around the Sun
04/02 :: Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures Sextet
04/09 :: Myra Melford’s Happy Whistlings
04/16 :: Playdate
04/23 :: Armen Donelian Quintet
04/30 :: Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up
05/07 :: Dan Weiss Trio
05/14 :: Marcus Strickland Trio
05/21 :: Jean-Michel Pilc Trio
05/28 :: Fay Victor Ensemble
06/04 :: Peter Madsen Trio
06/11 :: Myron Walden Momentum

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

Fred Ho by Rainer Fehringer

Firehouse 12 launches its fifth annual Spring Jazz Series tonight with a two-set performance by Caliente! Circle Around The Sun, a duo featuring Puerto Rican performance poet Magdalena Gómez and Chinese-American saxophonist/composer Fred Ho.

This multicultural ensemble, which also included revolutionary poet raúlrsalinas prior to his death in 2008, describes itself as “a symbol for the power of Third World unity to create new paradigms and to build new relationships” that is “inspired by the fire and heat of anti-imperialist struggle from around the planet.”

Learn more in these preview articles in the New Haven Advocate and the Hartford Courant.

The 2010 Spring Jazz Series will continue to present concerts every Friday night though June 11th in Firehouse 12′s intimate, acoustically engineered recording studio, which the New York Times‘ Nate Chinen called “the pre-eminent spot for improvised music in the region.”

2010 Spring Jazz Series Schedule:

03/26 :: Caliente! Circle Around the Sun
04/02 :: Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures Sextet
04/09 :: Myra Melford’s Happy Whistlings
04/16 :: Playdate
04/23 :: Armen Donelian Quintet
04/30 :: Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up
05/07 :: Dan Weiss Trio
05/14 :: Marcus Strickland Trio
05/21 :: Jean-Michel Pilc Trio
05/28 :: Fay Victor Ensemble
06/04 :: Peter Madsen Trio
06/11 :: Myron Walden Momentum

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