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NEWS
OUTSTANDING NEW ALBUM RELEASES BY DAFNIS PRIETO, RON MILES, AND EDWARD SIMON | OCTOBER 2020
DAFNIS PRIETO SEXTET | TRANSPARENCY
As the follow-up to his GRAMMY-winning big band album, Back to the Sunset, which Down Beat called “one of the best recordings of the year,” Cuban-born drummer, composer, educator, and 2011 MacArthur Genius Fellow Dafnis Prieto returns with his newest album, Transparency, from his Dafnis Prieto Sextet, out on October 2 on Prieto’s own music label, Dafnison Music. The Sextet features Román Filiú (alto sax), Alex Norris (trumpet), Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax), Alex Brown (piano), and Johannes Weidenmueller (bass).
Transparency is the sextet’s third release, following 2015’s Triangles and Circles and 2008’s Taking the Soul for a Walk. The album includes nine tracks, with all new compositions by Prieto and an arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s classic, “Con Alma.” The music embraces transparent ideas, communication, and relationships in music and life, valuing clarity of intention and celebrating moments fleeting and fragile, simple and beautiful.
"The eight originals and one standard… convey emphatic narratives and unrestrained expressiveness, fulfilling Prieto's wish for this project to be 'transparent.' In these confusing times, it's a welcome respite to hear music that's so passionately honest."
— DownBeat ★★★★ review
"In Cuban music, emotional grandeur and extravagant virtuosity is built on a foundation of inexhaustible rhythm. So, it's no surprise to find an abundance of juicy melodies and breathtaking drumming on Transparency from drummer and MacArthur ‘Genius' Fellow Dafnis Prieto. Yet for all the astonishing things he does behind the kit, what stands out on Transparency is the dazzling formal sophistication of Prieto's compositions.”
— All About Jazz
"Flexing his fructuous pen, Prieto uses this album to place his thoughts in plain light. Chattering cross-rhythms, layered lines, swift changes in direction, and episodes of pure grace inform the work… There’s absolutely no pussyfooting around in these dazzling performances; the Dafnis Prieto Sextet triumphs in its transparency."
— JazzTimes
"Dafnis Prieto actively seeks to knock down barriers of thought and expression"
— Modern Drummer
"Transparency captivates with a rhythmic vibrancy that surges forward with distinctive arrangements, dynamic harmonies, percussive mystery and playful soul. It powers a spiritual force formed by the synchronicity of rhythmic wonder."
— Dan Ouellette, jazz critic
Full Press Release
Behind ‘Transparency’ The Record
Listen to the first track: Amanecer Contigo
RON MILES | RAINBOW SIGN
Cornetist and composer Ron Miles makes his Blue Note Records debut on October 9 with Rainbow Sign, the deeply affecting follow-up to his widely acclaimed 2017 album I Am A Man, which reconvenes the same remarkable band featuring pianist Jason Moran, guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Brian Blade.
Featuring nine new original Miles compositions, Rainbow Sign is a riveting spiritual document equally inspired by colorful arches: author James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, and an old folk song from the 1920s, the Carter Family’s “God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign.”
“I hope listeners are able to find their truth in it,” Ron Miles says of Rainbow Sign. “That when they hear it, it’ll make them think of something, make them feel something that’s special and unique to them. Wherever you are in your journey, hopefully it’ll speak to you in some way.”
“The Denver-based, burnished-glow trumpeter and composer Ron Miles joins an all-star ensemble to crank out the craftiest blend of form and improvisation of the past few years. A basic blues, a dark waltz, a spiritual, a meditative muse, a riff on Ethiopian pop, but listen how the players shift from melody to harmony to counterpart to experimentation, so effortlessly, tunefully, often daringly.”
– Slate
“As a composer, Ron Miles has a pop musician's love of a good melodic hook. ‘The Rumor’ could almost be a lost John Lennon ballad.”
– Fresh Air/NPR
“Miles’ most inspired soloing ever, and compositions that spaciously evoke a deeply felt creative life. This is one that reveals something new every time you listen.”
– The Denver Post
“Ron Miles’ music is always both relaxed and cerebral, a rare combination of qualities that few can pull off so convincingly. But once again, he does, and with the ample help of some very special friends.”
– Something Else!
“…richly detailed and deeply integrated composition, stunning solos and perfectly choreographed group interactions… Rest assured, there’s plenty of gold at the end of this rainbow.”
– DownBeat ★★★★ ½ review
“Perhaps it goes without saying that Ron Miles is doing something extraordinary – he is channeling the voices of five distinctive players into a single new voice of this own. There is just so little shouting going on here that, well, I want to shout: don't sleep on this magical, flowing music, even if the music purposely courts a dreamy mood. Rainbow Sign is quietly fantastic.”
– Pop Matters
“Spiritually powerful… Rainbow Sign offers varicolored visions that explore the weight and beauty of relationships… Miles’ musical fraternity—guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Brian Blade—stands for honesty and integrity.”
– JazzTimes
Full Press Release
Video: First Look: Ron Miles in conversation with Blue Note President Don Was
EDWARD SIMON | 25 YEARS
With 25 Years, a Limited Edition 2-CD-Set on Ridgeway Records, Edward Simon celebrates his illustrious three-decade career in music. During this timespan, the Venezuela-born pianist and composer has led and co-led award-winning ensembles and collaborated with some of today’s most prominent jazz artists, including vocalists Luciana Souza and Gretchen Parlato; Afinidad, the long-running virtuoso quartet featuring David Binney, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade; the acclaimed chamber ensemble Imani Winds; and the all-star SFJAZZ Collective.
Produced and curated by Edward Simon, 25 Years represents his personal perspective on a distinguished, singular body of work with 17 selections culled from his albums over the last quarter-century. The idea of collating a memoir in notes and tones gestated when Simon turned 50 in 2019. “I started to listen back to my work and reflect on what I’ve done,” he explains. “I realized that a lot of great music went largely unnoticed because it was released on small, independent labels; I thought a compilation would be a nice way to let people know what I’ve been up to.”
“…Simon unveils the breadth of his vision. A suite tenders a mellifluous symphonic theme on ‘Uninvited Thoughts” and a ferocious harp solo recommends ‘Barinas,’ a lesson in how to pack 25 years of excellence into nine minutes.”
– DownBeat
“The past quarter century has seen a profusion of accomplished young jazz pianists, and many of the most impressive are of Latin-American and Caribbean origin. Edward Simon, a Venezuelan expatriate, cut his teeth in the bands of Terence Blanchard and others, but his new double-CD retrospective draws exclusively on his extensive solo career. A judicious and generous leader, Simon has continually shared the spotlight with sterling collaborators, such as the saxophonists David Binney and Mark Turner. Yet Simon’s Latin heritage is hardly kept under wraps, nor are his outstanding post-bop chops, and the cohesive Pan-American vision that he presents in such work as “Venezuela Unida” is firm evidence of his expansive ambitions.”
– The New Yorker
“The creative journey that unfolds in the expansive 25 Years reveals an ascending trajectory of a culture-bridging/genre melding artist. Simon’s music is highly original and expertly crafted, drawing on his Pan-American roots, classical music, and both improvisational and traditional jazz rooted in Blakey’s hard and post-bop. It’s beautifully satisfying, making for many repeat listens.”
– Making A Scene
“Creatively vivid music… 25 Years is an easy recommendation for jazz and classical music lovers, featuring selections that illustrate styles and cultures merging in unique and beautiful ways. This album is one that demands several repeats, and I’m speaking from experience.”
–Black Grooves
“The 17 tracks cover a lot of territory, and they clearly display one of Simon’s distinguishing characteristics: he bridges and blends Latin, classical, and jazz music without any apparent effort. On just about every track, you’ll hear influences from all three genres, maybe a folkloric rhythm of his native Venezuela married to a minimalist compositional approach and rounded off with an architecturally sturdy improvisational development. Another characteristic on ample display is Simon’s clarity of thought, which is demonstrated in both his compositions and his improvisations. That clarity of thought is married to a compassionate heart, and Simon’s supple technique enables a full and graceful expression.
– Musically Speaking
Full Press Release
25 Years Video Trailer
DAFNIS PRIETO BIG BAND debut recording BACK TO THE SUNSET wins 2019 GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album.
This GRAMMY AWARD is an affirmation of how strongly Dafnis Prieto’s Big Band music has resonated with listeners in America and around the world. The album received rave reviews, and Big Band concerts in 2018/19 included sold-out shows at New York’s Jazz Standard and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Auditorium, at Duke University, Savannah Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Newport Jazz Festival. Dafnis also performed his Big Band music with two of the best European large ensembles — with Aarhus Jazz Orchestra at the 2019 Copenhagen and and Northsea Jazz Festivals, and two concerts in Germany with the Cologne-based WDR Bigband.
ARTIST ROSTER 2019/20
DAFNIS PRIETO BIG BAND, SEXTET, SI O SI QUARTET, PROVERB TRIO
“Cuban drumming phenom scores big band gold with ‘Back to the Sunset’… he has taken his music a step further, writing and arranging a suite of big band charts that both pays homage to those who have inspired him while also blazing a trail forward into explosive new ground.” —The Huffington Post
YOSVANY TERRY QUINTET
“Yosvany Terry has helped reframe the sound of Afro-Cuban jazz in New York, reaching for a flexibly cerebral, harmonically advanced and culturally resonant kind of fusion.” —The New York Times
MYRA MELFORD’S SNOWY EGRET
“Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret Is Jazz’s most dynamic quintet. Impeccably accomplished and deeply satisfying, powerful and compelling.” –The Nation
EDWARD SIMON & AFINIDAD with GRETCHEN PARLATO and/or IMANI WINDS
“Simon achieves a rare feat, creating music of extraordinary depth that’s easy to listen to. Meditative, grooving, and above all joyful, Sorrows and Triumphs soars into the jazz stratosphere.” —Monarch Magazine
All artists are available for master classes, workshops, and other outreach and educational activities.
ARTIST NEWS
DAFNIS PRIETO
2018/19 is shaping up to be an extraordinary season for the Cuban-born drummer, composer, bandleader, and 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Dafnis Prieto. He recently earned a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Back to the Sunset, the debut recording by the Dafnis Prieto Big Band (DPBB). Prieto’s label, Dafnison Music, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2018, released the 17-piece orchestra’s album in April 2018.
One of the leading musical voices of his generation, Prieto composed and arranged nine works for the album — called “one of the best recordings of the year” by Down Beat— showcasing his talents as a trailblazing composer while honoring his musical heroes and mentors.
Prieto is currently in China (Oct 11-20) conducting drum clinics and workshops in Shanghai, Ganzhou, and other cities, and promoting the Chinese edition of his book A World of Rhythmic Possibilities. The DPBB next performs in the United States at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Saturday, November 10.
In January 2019 Prieto makes an historic return to his native Cuba to perform his own music on the island for the first time since settling in the United States 20 years ago. The Cuba International Jazz Plaza Festival of Havana is presenting Prieto in two headlining performances, one with his Sextet and one with his Big Band (featuring his Sextet augmented by 11 Cuban musicians from the island), playing all of his music from Back to the Sunset.
Born in Santa Clara, Cuba and educated at the National School of Art (La ENA) in Havana, Prieto is also launching a Jazz Amistad (Jazz Friendship) program in partnership with the New York-based nonprofit organization Horns to Havana, which is dedicated to instrument donation and repair, as well as cultural exchanges in Cuba and the United States. As part of Jazz Amistad, Prieto and the Sextet will teach and offer educational workshops for students from three music conservatories in Havana, including Amadeo Roldán, Guillermo Tomás, and his alma mater, La ENA. This trip will be documented in a short film.
In March 2019 the DPBB plays Duke Performances at Duke University in Durham, NC on Friday, March 29, and at the Savannah Music Festival in Savannah, GA on Saturday, March 30. From July 17-20, Prieto will be the featured guest of the Aarhus Jazz Orchestrain Aarhus, Denmark, where the ensemble will play Prieto’s big band compositions.
A gifted educator, Prieto was recently promoted to Assistant Professor of Practice at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, where he has served on the faculty since 2015. At Frost, Prieto teaches drums and composition, and he leads both the Dafnis Prieto Artist Ensemble and the Frost Latin Jazz Orchestra, consisting of elite student musicians at the conservatory. In 2016 Prieto published the critically acclaimed drumming instructional book, A World of Rhythmic Possibilities: Drumming Lessons and Reflections on Rhythms.
YOSVANY TERRY
The past year has been very productive and special for alto saxophone virtuoso, chekeré master, composer and bandleader Yosvany Terry’s personal growth as a musician. While working extensively with his own ensembles, he’s cherished opportunities to perform and collaborate with some of his favorite musicians, including Angelique Kidjo, Baptiste Trotignon, Rufus Reid, Vijay Iyer, and Gerald Clayton, among others.
In May, Yosvany was musical director for the Opening Gala of the Artes De Cuba Festival at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, where he also performed with his Afro-Cuban Sextet and collaborated with the renowned Cuban visual artist Manuel Mendive.
Featuring trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, pianist Osmany Paredes, bassist Yunior Terry, drummer Obed Calvaire and percussionist Mauricio Herrera, Terry’s Afro-Cuban Sextet was awarded Chamber Music America’s Consortium Grant for Jazz Presenters, enabling the ensemble to perform this summer at the Stanford Jazz Festival and the Painted Bride in Philadelphia. The same grant supports the band’s October 25 concert at Rutgers University.
As part of the “Learning From Performers” residency at Harvard University, Yosvany will be collaborating with jazz master Bill Pierce and the Harvard Jazz Band on November 12, before traveling to Haiti with his chamber group Bohemian Trio featuring pianist Orlando Alonso and cellist Yves Dharanraj to perform at the Festival International De Piano D’Haiti with support from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF).
In January 2019, Yosvany returns to Cuba to conduct workshops at three of the most prestigious academic institutions in Havana: Amadeo Roldan Conservatory, Guillermo Thomas Conservatory and the National School for the Arts. He will also be appearing at Havana’s 34th annual Jazz Plaza Festival.
In addition to his professorship at Harvard University and performance schedule, Yosvany will be lecturing at New York University and Boston University’s College of Arts and Science throughout 2019.
RON MILES
“Ron Miles is just a beautiful musician; he’s someone with this tone that’s like liquid gold.” -Nate Chinen, WBGO/NPR
Over the past few years, Denver-based cornetist Ron Miles has expanded his reputation as one of the most revered musicians on the jazz scene via his work in several unique and acclaimed ensembles.
He’s toured and recorded with Joshua Redman’s Still Dreaming with drummer Brian Blade and bassist Scott Colley. The quartet followed the release of an eponymous debut album on Nonesuch in May with a series of dates around the country. And Myra Melford’sall-star quintet Snowy Egret is touring in the United States and Europe in the weeks following the November 2 release of the band’s second album The Other Side of Air on Firehouse 12 Records (see below). Miles has also performed and recorded with pianist Jason Moran’s trio with guitarist Mary Halverson and with drummer Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts.
Dating back more than two decades, no creative relationship has played a more important role in Ron’s career than his connection with guitarist Bill Frisell. Working in each other’s ensembles, they team up again with on a West Coast tour with Ron’s Circuit Rider Trio, also featuring Brian Blade (October 24: San Diego, 25: Santa Monica, 26: Berkeley, 27: Portland, 28: Seattle).
Frisell, Blade, Moran, and bassist Thomas Morgan joined Ron on his latest album, the sumptuously lyrical I Am A Man, released by Yellowbird Records in November 2017. Hailed by Down Beat as “a recording of thought-provoking beauty in overdrive,” the album was named by numerous critics as one of the year’s best. The I Am A Man ensemble (with Scott Colley for Morgan) will perform at Duke Performances on February 1 and the Kennedy Center on February 2.
MYRA MELFORD
Pianist, composer, and bandleader Myra Melford celebrates Firehouse 12 Records’ release of The Other Side of Air, the second album by her critically-hailed quintet Snowy Egret, with performances in November at the SFJAZZ Center (2-3), Seattle’s Earshot Jazz (4), and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (7-8) featuring cornetist Ron Miles, guitarist Liberty Ellman, Stomu Takeishi on acoustic bass guitar and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Snowy Egret also performs in Goettingen (17) and Hamburg, Germany (20) and the London Jazz Festival in England (22) with Gerald Cleaver taking over the drum chair.
Marked by slyly creeping rhythms and drifts of attenuated sound, this highly interactive ensemble revolves around Melford’s protean improvisational aesthetic. Numinous and earthy, her rollicking piano work and open-ended compositions invite her bandmates to stretch in unexpected directions.
EDWARD SIMON
Pianist Edward Simon tours with the SFJAZZ Collective in the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019, playing newly commissioned original compositions and new arrangements of classic tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, including a four-night run at the SFJAZZ Center (October 18-21.) A member of the eight-piece ensemble since 2010, the award-winning Simon is one of the leading musicians of his generation.
The Venezuelan-born pianist and composer’s latest album Sorrows & Triumphs was released in April by Sunnyside, earning rapturous reviews. The project features his all-star quartet Afinidad with Brian Blade, Scott Colley and saxophonist David Binney and the acclaimed chamber quintet Imani Winds. His 15th recording as a band leader, Sorrows & Triumphs brings together the distinct and often exclusive worlds of jazz and classical music in challenging chamber musicians to stretch their improvising and interpretive skills while inviting jazz musicians into the formal structures of classical music.
All artists and their ensembles will be available for performances in 2019 and the 2019/20 concert season.
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DAFNIS PRIETO
Big Band
Sextet
Si o Si Quartet
EDWARD SIMON
Trio: Latin American Songbook
Ensemble Venezuela
MYRA MELFORD
Snowy Egret
Language of Dreams (multi-media)
RON MILES
Circuit Rider w/Bill Frisell & Brian Blade
YOSVANY TERRY
Quintet
Afro-Cuban Sextet
Ancestral Memories Quartet w/Baptiste Trotignon
Afro-Cuban Roots “Ye-Dé-Gbé”
2017/18 ARTIST TOURING ROSTER
DAFNIS PRIETO
Big Band
Sextet
Si o Si Quartet
EDWARD SIMON
Trio: Latin American Songbook
Ensemble Venezuela
MYRA MELFORD
Snowy Egret
Language of Dreams (multi-media)
RON MILES
Circuit Rider w/Bill Frisell & Brian Blade
YOSVANY TERRY
Quintet
Ancestral Memories Quartet w/Baptiste Trotignon
Afro-Cuban Roots “Ye-Dé-Gbé”
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
The great jazz drummer Paul Motian (1931-2011) composed and recorded music that is uniquely suited to improvisation and exploration. For the first time, his written music has become available in a book, featuring 64 of his compositions in his own handwriting. The Compositions of Paul Motian, Vol. 1 (1973-1989) makes a beautiful gift for any musician, professional and hobbyist alike, and is available by mail order at www.paulmotianarchive.com.
Dafnis Prieto’s recently published A World of Rhythmic Possibilities has been mentioned here before, but I want to recommend it again because it also makes a great holiday gift. Accompanied by over 300 audio and 33 video clips, available as downloads with the book purchase, Prieto explains in great detail a multitude of rhythmic concepts and patterns, many of them reflecting the rich Afro-Cuban drumming traditions of his native country, and demonstrates their integration into a modern jazz language and other musical styles.
JUNE NEWS: SPOTLIGHT ON GUITARISTS
I’m very pleased to announce two exiting new additions to our touring roster: Liberty Ellman and Rotem Sivan, two young New York-based guitarists that are already turning heads and garnering notice both in the US and internationally. Both offer up impeccable technique, distinct sound concepts and compositional styles, and play with great fluidity and melodic and rhythmic focus.
For a number of years, I’ve been admiring Liberty Ellman in the groups of Henry Threadgill and Myra Melford (see also below), among others. His most recent and third release as a bandleader, Radiate, has won unanimous praise from critics in both the US and Europe, and his growing reputation is reflected by the Jazz Times Expanded Critics Poll, which lists him along John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Julian Lage as best guitarist of 2015. Also a gifted composer, Ellman is overdue to perform more widely with his own bands, including the sextet featured on Radiate and comprising some of New York’s top musicians such as saxophonist Steve Lehman, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, tubist/trombonist Jose Davila, bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Damion Reid. Whether working alongside Joe Lovano or playing the music of John Zorn, Ellman has been recognized as a strikingly original guitarist who is pushing the sound of jazz forward.
Rotem Sivan, born in Jerusalem and a New York resident since 2009, is a more recent discovery who is making his mark on the music scene, reflected by his ever-growing YouTube presence, currently featuring ca. 100 live video clips. His excellent trio is featured on three outstanding albums, including last year’s acclaimed A New Dance, and a fourth release, with bassist Haggai Cohen Milo, drummer Colin Stranahan, and guest vocalist Gracie Terzian, is planned for the fall. Already performing regularly in Europe and Central America, Rotem is a star in the making, reminiscent of the young Pat Metheny. While certainly influenced by the iconic guitarist and others, he has found his own beautiful voice – distinguished by a glowing tone, quicksilver phrasing, the sensitive use of effects, and exceptional rhythmic and dynamic inventiveness. His gift for melody and harmonic sophistication make his songwriting equally impressive and memorable, and his interpretations of standards sound fresh and personal. All of these qualities are informed by his multicultural background and intellectual curiosity.
Speaking of guitarists, please make sure to check out Berkeley’s John Schott and his Actual Trio with bassist Dan Seamans and drummer John Hanes. Released last fall on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, the trio’s debut album deserves greater attention, and while I’m biased as the record’s producer, I feel compelled to point out that it’s among the most satisfying and delightful recordings that I have been involved in. John’s writing is catchy yet sophisticated and suspenseful, and the trio swings and grooves with abandon. From the first to the last note, it is a wonderful record by an exquisite trio.
Drummer, composer, bandleader and MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto has also been known as a highly respected educator who taught at New York University for years before his move to Florida in 2015 to join the faculty at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He has just published A World of Rhythmic Possibilities, a book that is bound to become an indispensable resource for drummers, percussionists, and all lovers of rhythm. Accompanied by over 300 audio and 33 video clips, available as downloads with the book purchase, Prieto explains in great detail a multitude of rhythmic concepts and patterns, many of them reflecting the rich Afro-Cuban drumming traditions of his native country, and demonstrates their integration into a modern jazz language and other musical styles. For more information, please visit dafnisonmusic.com and make also sure to check out the videos of performances by his powerful, jubilant sounding Sextet that is featured on last year’s acclaimed Triangles and Circles, and the Si o Si Quartet that is the sextet’s core.
Myra Melford, the Bay Area based pianist, composer and UC Berkeley professor, continues to receive accolades for her most recent recording Snowy Egret (which I had the pleasure to produce) and the all-acoustic quintet it is named after, featuring Liberty Ellman, Ron Miles on cornet, Stomu Takeishi on bass guitar, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. Snowy Egret was just voted Midsize Ensemble of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, receiving a 2016 JJA Jazz Award. The quintet is the driving musical force of Melford’s stunning multimedia project Language of Dreams, with films, dance, and texts by Eduardo Galeano. Having premiered in San Francisco in 2013, Language of Dreams will be staged again on November 19, 2016 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, on the heels of Snowy Egret’s next European tour and performances at the Frankfurt, Berlin, and London Jazz Festivals.
Edward Simon’s profile has risen in the past few years through his touring with the acclaimed SFJAZZ Collective, but the Venezuelan-born pianist deserves attention as an important bandleader and composer in his own right. From June 8-13, he will tour Mexico with this Trio with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Adam Cruz, playing music from his upcoming Latin American Songbook release (Sunnyside Records). On September 9, at the Brubeck Institute in California, Simon will premiere a large new work commissioned by Chamber Music America, House of Numbers, performed by his all-star quartet Afinidad and the acclaimed chamber ensemble Imani Winds. The project will travel to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on September 11, and the Walton Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 18, 2017.
Lastly, the Yosvany Terry Quintet and The Westerlies will perform on July 31 at the Newport Jazz Festival. The brilliant young brass quartet, described by NPR as “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous,” will play music from their upcoming sophomore release on Songlines Records. Saxophonist Terry introduced his powerhouse quintet on the acclaimed 2012 album Today’s Opinion, selected by The New York Times as one of the year’s Top Ten albums, and marked by fiery Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and exquisite post-bop angles.