We had a wonderful gig at the Tea Lounge August 30. We performed two of my new Bukowski pieces in preparation for our recording at the end of September as well as a new piece by Frank Carlberg with a text by Kenneth Rexroth.
Some inquires have been made here at the offices of nicholasurie.com by people looking for scores from Excerpts From an Online Dating Service so I thought I would put the penultimate piece up on this here website in PDF. cougar-seeks-prey-score
We are reaching the final stages of planning for our next recording! On September 30th and October 1st we will be going into the studio (the great Systems Two in Brooklyn) to record My Garden, a fifty-five minute song cycle made up of the strange, epic, laconic, and deeply personal poetry of one Charles Bukowski.
This cycle is a kind of reflection on the authors adopted home and my birthplace, Los Angeles. Bukowski’s writing captures the urban sprawl and self-consciously casual feeling that permeates the culture of Southern California. Growing up in California, Bukowski had a cult like following amongst my friends and I and his short stories were though of as no less than the word of some newfangled God-like prophet. Later, after moving to the east for school I revisited Bukowski through his poetry. Bukowski is able to elucidate larger truths in a kind, open and often deeply funny way. He was a master of the pointed, razor sharp observation.
The record will feature Christine Correa, Jeremy Udden, Douglass Yates, Kenny Pexton, Brian Landrus, Albert Leusink, Ben Holmes, John Carlson, Alan Ferber, Max Siegel, Frank Carlberg, John Hebert, and Michael Sarin.
Good Girl Hank, a new release by the Los Angeles based free-rock-jazz-jam musical polyglot ensemble is out now. I wrote an arrangement for the record that you can hear here.
“The debut album from The Makers visits many different worlds, combining their typically improvised motifs with the power of the recording studio. Add in some extremely talented guest vocalists and an arsenal of local talent, and you have a roller coaster of an album the leaves no stones unturned. Good Girl Hank explores everything from driving rock to hip hop, from ambient soundscapes to the avant-garde, from passionate jazz solos to lush arrangements fit for a chamber orchestra”.
CD release show:
Friday, June 18, 2010 at 10:00pm
The Crocker Club
There is much to be reported from this past weekend’s activities. Saturday was the second installment of the Carlberg/Urie City Band and Sunday was the maiden voyage of the John McNeil Concert Jazz Orchestra (which I will report on more when I get the recordings back).
The C/U City Band played the Gowanus Jazz Fest, opening for Chris Speed’s Yeah No, which featured an illustrious cast of characters including Shane Endsley, Skuli Sverrisson, and Jim Black. The show was well attended and the City Band was in top form. Below are some excerpts of pieces we performed at the festival, recorded by Scott Freidlander. Hear the band do what it is the band does.
This debrief might also be called A Far Cry From The Norm: A classical ensemble willing to take a risk every now and again. I work with a good number of ensembles that are trying to integrate jazz into their classical repertoire or add a kind of orchestral element into their jazz or pop language. Often I am asked to water down one element as a concession to the other, the belief being that people will be put off by an equitable fusion of esthetics and traditions. The worry is understandable when practical concerns such as ticket sales, ensemble identity and branding are concerned. People want their chosen paradigm be it jazz, classical, or pop to be what it is and more often than not ensembles treat the inclusion of a different kind of music on a program as an exoticism, which borders the novel. Mozartian a la turk for the 21st century.
The maiden voyage of the Carlberg/Urie City Band went great! We had a lovely time playing the Tea Lounge and had a receptive crowd to play for. I’d like to thank all of the musicians for their contributions to a wonderful night. We got a lot of music together with very little rehearsal time and we couldn’t have done it without their dedication and fine musicianship.
Below is one track from the gig. A La Orilla is an arrangement I did of a John McNeil tune and is a part of a project I am working on with John for an upcoming gig in May. I am arranging a few things of his for this concert and I figured I would take the opportunity to test drive the piece at the Tea Lounge. The piece features Ben Holmes on trumpet and Mr. Douglass Yates on clarinet.
Come see the maiden voyage of the Carlberg/Urie City Band at the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn, NY. The band is made up of highly stylized individuals playing music that leaves you feeling as though you have been dipped into a baptismal font comprised of equal parts hallucinogens and love. Have a coffee, tea, or alcoholic libation while tipping the band generously and reclining on one of the many plush surfaces that adorn this Park Slope institution. The band Is playing two sets starting at 9:00pm with a mystery gift giveaway sometime during the show compliments of the fine people at Red Piano Records. A gift you say? Is it a cursed monkey paw? A visit from the ghost of Miles Davis? A platinum demitasse spoon? A vigorous tickling from disgraced former congressman Eric Massa? Come to the show and find out. Don’t miss it.
Winds: Jeremy Udden, Douglas Yates, Kenny Pexton, Brian Landrus Tpts: Albert Leusink, Ben Holmes, John Carlson Bones: Alan Ferber, Max Siegal Rhythm: Frank Carlberg, Jorge Roeder, Ziv Ravitz Conducting: Nicholas Urie
CITY BAND
March 22 @ 9PM
Tea Lounge
837 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215-1308
(718) 789-2762
www.tealoungeny.com
By all reports from the Danish authorities the concert with Donny McCaslin and the Klüvers Big Band was a success. I was pleased to hear the recording from the concert at the Copenhagen Jazzhouse - which is posted in the MUSIC section of this here website. The Klüvers Big Band and Donny McCaslin played the arrangement beautifully and I couldn’t be more excited about having made some new friends in Denmark!
