Upcoming Performance: Saturday May 25th: Three Solo Performances in One Night: Sam Newsome, Billy Mintz, Roberta Piket

This will be a great show! Three solo sets by three different improvisors in one night!

 

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Three Sets Starting at 8pm:

Sam Newsome: Solo Soprano Saxophone

Roberta Piket: Solo Piano

Billy Mintz: Solo Drumset

Ibeam 168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY www.ibeambrooklyn.com

$10 requested donation for the whole night, all ages admitted

Press release follows:

Saturday May 25th will be a special evening in Brooklyn as three musicians explore the challenging and rewarding art of playing solo.

Since deciding to become a soprano saxophone specialist in 1996, Sam Newsome has established himself as one of the leading voices on his instrument.  Nate Chinen, in his New York Times review of one of Newsome’s solo saxophone concerts, described him as having an “outsized command of the horn.”  He has developed his own brand of solo saxophone that successfully intertwines modern jazz vocabularies, extended techniques, and West African and East Asian sensibilities. Writer Michael Jackson, who gave Newsome’s Blue Soliloquy the coveted five star (masterpiece) rating in Downbeat, lauded him for his “succinct survey of the world outside, as well as the world within.” In addition to placing every year in the Downbeat Critics Polls in the “Soprano Saxophone” category, the Jazz Journalist Association (JJA) has named him as a nominee for “Soprano Saxophonist of the Year” in 2011 and 2013. http://www.samnewsome.com/

Roberta Piket has played professionally as a sidewoman with David Liebman, Rufus Reid, Michael Formanek, Lionel Hampton and the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, and has three times been a featured guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, on National Public Radio. Her 2012 release, entitled simply Solo, has garnered rave reviews and was on the “ten-best list” of two jazz writers. For video visit: www.tinyurl.com/robertayoutube “[Solo] displays a mastery that is frequently striking and always engaging. It’s hard to believe this is Roberta Piket’s maiden voyage on solo piano…. Her playing reflects various influences but it’s her own stunning and singular voice that makes this album so memorable.”–  New York City Jazz Record

In an extraordinary career spanning nearly 40 years, Billy Mintz has played with Lee Konitz, Eddie Daniels, Harold Danko, Mose Allison, Mark Murphy, Bobby Shew, Charles Lloyd, Vinny Golia, Mark Feldman, Ellery Eskelin and the Alan Broadbent Trio. In recent years, Mr. Mintz has taken on new roles as a bandleader and a composer, performing his own compositions with various ensembles. He has been performing solo drumset concerts for over a decade. “[Mintz’s solo performances are] a form of holy worship for many musicians and drummers. Forget what you know about the drums and solo drums. This is no boom-chakka-lakka affair. Mintz is painterly and understated in his singular approach to music.” Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon 

Nice review of “Op der Schmelz Live” on Italian Web Site

Here’s a nice review of the brand new, somewhat adventurous CD, by the Roby Glod Quartet. Each member of the band is from a different country, so we don’t get to play as often as we’d like. But I’m certainly looking forward to our upcoming dates in May. Below the review is a link to hear some excerpts from the new CD.

Glod/Piket/Tokar/Kugel – Op der Schmelz Live » musicZoom.

Hear excerpts from Op der Schmeltz Live

Teaching as the New Door Gig

Something disturbing happened recently. I am planning a west coast tour for next fall, and I was offered a door gig. That in itself is not surprising. What is surprising is that the door gig was not a performance, it was a clinic. Hello? Teaching is what a lot of musicians do to make a living so they can support their musical endeavors. Now teaching is considered a door gig? Adding insult to injury, I was asked to “submit a proposal”. Who is saying yes to being treated this way? Someone must be consenting or it couldn’t be happening. Needless to say I (politely) turned it down.

Roberta Piket Announces Year-Long New York Artist Residency

PRESS RELEASE – DATELINE APRIL 1st

Pianist/Composer Roberta Piket today announced that she will immediately begin a year-long artist residency in the New York area, appearing nightly in her living room in Teaneck, NJ.

At a press conference today, she commented, “the pay isn’t great, but the food’s pretty good and I can dress however I want.”

She added, “I’m also thrilled that I will be joined by some of the best cats on the scene”, referring to Claude and Also, her orange tabbies. “We go back a long way and I’m looking forward to seeing them on the bandstand, er, I mean, under the piano keeping my feet warm.”

Roberta believes this special residency will give her career the boost she’s been hoping for. Says Piket, “I hope we can keep it going. If it works out, I’d love to continue to appear in my living room for as long as management will allow it.”