Author: TKA

VIDEO PREMIERE: The Dustbowl Revival covers Supertramp classic

Wendy Geller for YAHOO! MUSIC – The Dustbowl Revival is a Venice, California-based collective that merges a variety of different vintage Americana genres — including bluegrass, gospel, pre-war blues, and swing — to create a sonic mixture all their own. Their new eponymous album finds the Los Angeles-based ensemble evolving and refining its music, which is well evidenced by their latest video: Yahoo Music is excited to debut the group’s cover of ’70s classic “Breakfast in America” by Supertramp.

Frontman/guitarist Zach Lupetin explains the band’s decision to cover the song. “As an eight piece band it’s often hard to agree on potential songs to cover — but Liz [Beebe, vocalist] came up with the Supertramp idea and it just clicked. It was like a ‘love at first jam’ with this tune in the rehearsal space.

“There is something otherworldly and odd about ‘Breakfast In America,’” he continues. “Like it’s from the POV of alien creatures dreaming about what it would be like to go to Texas and find a girl. As a songwriter I appreciate the oddity. We added the jam section because like a lot of classic rock radio the actual song is so succinct — we wanted to go beyond the radio edit and felt we could give the live interpretation more breath and spirit. How can we really rock out?”

Watch the video on Yahoo! Music

The Dustbowl Revival on TKA

TRACK: Ronnie Earl Premieres New Song, “Ain’t That Loving You”

Damian Fanelli for GUITAR WORLD – Today, GuitarWorld.com has teamed up with Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters to premiere a new song, “Ain’t That Loving You.” The track is from the band’s upcoming album, The Luckiest Man, which will be released November 17 via Stony Plain Records.

“Ain’t That Loving You,” which has been recorded by scores of artists, including Buddy Guy and Bobby “Blue” Bland, is credited to Peacock Records founder Don Robey, who also “wrote” Bland’s “I Pity the Fool” and “Farther Up the Road.”

The Broadcasters’ version, which is sung by Diane Blue, features some tasty and twangy Strat picking by Earl—which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Earl, a former member of Roomful of Blues, is a three-time Blues Music Award winner (Guitar Player of the Year), a DownBeat magazine winner (Blues Album of the Year) and an associate professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music.

In the words of the late B.B. King: “[Earl] is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud.”

Listen to the song on Guitar World

Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters on TKA

KUDOS: Wynton Marsalis elected into DownBeat Hall of Fame + Reader Poll Winners Announced

DOWNBEAT – DownBeat is proud to announce the results of its 82nd Annual Readers Poll. Wynton Marsalis topped the Trumpet category, and readers elected him into the DownBeat Hall of Fame.

“The results of this year’s Readers Poll are an indication of the incredible variety and depth of talent on the jazz scene today,” said DownBeat Editor Bobby Reed. “Wynton Marsalis’ induction into the DownBeat Hall of Fame is a reminder that he is not only a remarkable composer and bandleader, but also one of the most skillful musicians to ever pick up a trumpet. With his induction into the Hall of Fame, he joins timeless luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday.”

Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will embark on a Big Band Holidays tour, which begins on Nov. 30 in Richmond, Virginia, and later makes stops in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. The band will enjoy a residency at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater on Dec. 13–17. For more info, visit Marsalis’ website.

Several other TKA artists were Readers Poll winners as well, including:

Jazz Artist: Chick Corea

Organ: Joey DeFrancesco

Guitar: Pat Metheny 

Vibraphone: Gary Burton 

Miscellaneous Instrument: Béla Fleck (banjo)

Read the full article on DownBeat

Wynton Marsalis on TKA

Joey DeFrancesco on TKA

Pat Metheny on TKA

Gary Burton on TKA

Béla Fleck on TKA

NEW ALBUM: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, ‘Echo In The Valley’

It’s release day for Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn‘s album, Echo in the Valley! See what everyone is saying so far:

“Two of the world’s most accomplished and innovative banjo players happen to be a married couple: Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn. They both push far beyond the bluegrass expectations of their chosen instrument: toward Africa, Asia, jazz and math-rock. Echo in the Valley, their second duet album, is both constrained — only what the duo can play and sing live in real time — and audacious as it traverses a world of possibilities.” – Jon Pareles, The New York Times

“As musicians and as songwriters, Fleck and Washburn are predisposed to embrace the entire world — its sounds and its occupants alike. Echo in the Valley ties the many threads of their interests into a work that dazzles without sacrificing a shred of approachability.” – Stephen Thompson, NPR Music

“They are powerful individually and even more powerful together.” – Tavis Smiley

“If I could talk to a younger me, I’d tell me to go slow,” she sings, as the banjo plucks furiously in an instrumental duet. “This time on earth, it moves so fast, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.” These aren’t complicated lyrics cased in metaphor, but a rather simple reminder to take a moment — as Ferris would say — to stop and look around once in a while. And it never hurts, especially if you’re Washburn and Fleck, to do this in a way that makes that time on earth sound just a little bit more beautiful. “ – Marissa Moss, The Bluegrass Situation

“[Béla and Abigail are] showcasing just how much fun can be had on the edge.” – Amanda Wicks, The Bluegrass Situation

“The haunting duet [“Don’t Let It Bring You Down”] finds Fleck and Washburn weaving spun-silver banjo lines into an ominous tapestry that mirrors the political discord in the months following Donald Trump’s election. Washburn’s repetition of the title line adds to the track’s eerie vibe, while reinforcing a message of hope and resilience.” – Brittney McKenna, Rolling Stone

Purchase Echo in the Valley here

Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn on TKA

LIVE REVIEW: Harold López-Nussa Trio at Jazz at the Bistro in St. Louis

Craig Kaminer for SOPHISTICATED LIVING – Before last night, I don’t think I could name one contemporary Cuban jazz band. I love the music, the soul, the rhythm, the people, but for whatever reason, I don’t have one recording in my collection and as a result, I am always at a loss when I am asked about Cuban jazz.

I had never heard of Harold López-Nussa before I saw him at Jazz St. Louis. In fact, I didn’t even Google him before the performance like I usually do before seeing a new artist. So I went without any expectations. I went to the show as if I were new to jazz, with no prejudices, no sense of what I was going to hear, and no preview via YouTube.

With little introduction from the stage, the Harold Lopez-Nussa Trio jumped right in, just like you would expect as if you turned the corner in Old Havana and found them playing on the street or in a small cafe.  They weren’t old like you would expect from Cuban posters or picture books, but quite young, modern and sophisticated.  After apologizing for his “Spanglish,” Harold introduced his band which included his younger brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa on drums and friend Gaston Joya Perellada on bass.

Their songs moved from slow and romantic to fast and energizing, but all made me want to move, and even dance, much to my wife’s surprise.  Harold is a virtuoso on piano and you can tell he is as comfortable playing classical music as he is jamming in a cigar filled club.  His brother is fast and precise on drums, and his short, loud bursts on cymbals followed by soft riffs on bongos stole the show at times.  The brotherly love was palpable as they shot each other smiles and even played the piano side-by-side as they did as boys growing up.  Their “brother-by-another-mother” Gaston was not to be outdone, and he played a mean double bass while he danced with it like a high school sweetheart.

Read the full review on Sophisticated Living

Harold López-Nussa on TKA

FIRST LISTEN: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, ‘Echo In The Valley’

Stephen Thompson for NPR – Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn are two of the least complacent musicians around. With skill that can border on otherworldly, both push boundaries, stretching their sound beyond bluegrass, across continents and into everything from prog-rock to Eastern instrumentation. They’re also a married couple, which only enhances the seamlessness of their interplay: Echo in the Valley, their new album together, often sounds like the work of considerably more than two people.

According to the pair’s self-imposed rules for the project, it actually can’t be. Those rules include a banjos-only policy for instrumentation, with no guest players and nothing on record that the two can’t duplicate in a live setting. Echo in the Valley is Fleck and Washburn’s second album as a duo — the first, a self-titled set from 2014, won a Grammy — and it quickly jells into a comforting but inventive swirl of traditional tunes and sweeping originals.

Read the full review and stream the album on NPR

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn on TKA

KUDOS: The Dustbowl Revival named Featured Hotstar by Pollstar

Tina Amendola for POLLSTAR – The story of The Dustbowl Revival’s formation begins with Zach Lupetin relocating from the Midwest to Los Angeles in 2007. He wanted to start a band that played brass and string band styles, so what does he do? He posted an ad on Craigslist.

The Dustbowl Revival composed of Lupetin on guitar and vocals, Liz Beebe on vocals and ukulele, Joshlyn Heffernan on drums, James Klopfleisch on double bass, Ulf Björlin on trombone, Matt Rubin on trumpet, Daniel Mark on mandolin and Connor Vance on fiddle has since been making a name for itself playing its own mix of Americana, soul, funk, roots-rock and jazz.

Jeff DeLia of 72 Music Management said a client brought he and The Dustbowl Revival together.

“It’s kind of interesting how we connected. I also manage A.J. Croce and A.J. and Dustbowl were playing a festival called Tønder Festival in Denmark a little over a year ago. The drummer for Dustbowl became friends with the guitarist for A.J.’s band and they hung out a lot.” DeLia told Pollstar. “Dustbowl was looking for management and asked Michael [Bizar] if he knew anyone and Michael suggested me. I looked them up and I thought they looked incredible.”

Read the full article on Pollstar

The Dustbowl Revival on TKA

VIDEO: Watch The Soul Rebels Cover A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It”

Matthew Oshinsky for PASTE Magazine – It’s possible that no band in the world has a more impressive resume than The Soul Rebels. The eight-piece brass ensemble out of New Orleans plays upward of 250 shows a year in every conceivable setting from jazz to hip-hop to funk and rock, and their list of collaborators is too voluminous to do it any justice here—but we can try: Nas, Metallica, Rakim, Arcade Fire, Maceo Parker, Marilyn Manson, Slick Rick, Green Day, Talib Kweli, The Roots…

Back in March, they played a three-night stint at Brooklyn Bowl, with each night devoted to different New York hip-hop legends—Rakim, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, et al. All this to say: The Rebels know their way around a cover song. So when they visited Paste Studio for a three-song set this week, we were giddy with anticipation. Sure enough, the octet—that’s six horns, two drums—broke out a jazzed-up Tribe Called Quest signature, “Can I Kick It,” from Tribe’s 1990 debut, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

Watch the video on Paste Magazine

The Soul Rebels on TKA

PREVIEW: Cécile McLorin-Salvant Soars at the Village Vanguard

Michael J. Agovino for THE VILLAGE VOICE – Last September, as Cécile McLorin Salvant prepared to take the stage of the Village Vanguard with her trio for the last night in a vaunted Tuesday-through-Sunday run at the jazz mecca, her drummer, Lawrence Leathers, gave a pep talk. By Salvant’s own admission, the first five nights were merely OK. Now, as Salvant huddled in the club’s claustrophobic kitchen-turned-dressing room with Lawrence, pianist Aaron Diehl, and bassist Paul Sikivie, it was time to step up.

“He was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to do this, I don’t know what’s wrong with everyone!’ ” she says, over a glass of Chardonnay on the Lower East Side. “I’m making it the clean version, but some words were said.”

Suitably amped up, the group then went out and worked their way through a set of standards that make up the bulk of Salvant’s rollicking new double album, Dreams and Daggers (out September 29). “It was fine,” she said of those first five nights. “Do you know when you’re like, ‘It’s fine’? You don’t want that. I’d rather it be a train wreck and it has a thing than, ‘It’s fine.’ ”

Whatever Salvant found on that final night, it was more than fine, and this week, beginning Tuesday, September 26, she’s back at the Vanguard with a weeklong headlining slot. “The Vanguard is a character in this story,” the 28-year-old Salvant says of the album. “It’s part of the sound. And the people there — we should have written their names down.

Read the full article on The Village Voice

Cécile McLorin-Salvant on TKA

VIDEO PREMIERE: The Dustbowl Revival’s “If You Could See Me Now”

RELIX – The Dustbowl Revival‘s new self-titled effort debuted in June and the band is today unveiling the official video for the album standout “If You Could See Me Now,” one of the album’s opening tracks along with “Call My Name.”

“When we began brainstorming ideas for the video we wanted to turn the lyric on it’s head a bit – making it less about overcoming a failed past relationship and more about how powerful and grateful you are to have gotten to where you are in life right now,” Zachary Lupetin told Relix.

Lupetin’s bandmate Liz Beebe expanded on the tune, noting that this was the first song she’s written for Dustbowl “that didn’t pour out all at once fully formed.” She continued, “I try to operate, perform and write from a very vulnerable and personal space and I don’t have a very thick skin. So, this song was difficult to workshop. I re-worked the lyrics many times. I felt like I had to explain what it was about and defend what it wasn’t about.”

Watch the video on Relix

The Dustbowl Revival on TKA