Jun 21, 2022 11:37 AM
Meghan Stabile, Promoter, Dies at 39
Meghan Stabile, a promoter, presenter and producer, died on June 12 in Florida at age 39. The apparent cause was…
Damon Smith (left) and Ra-Kalam Bob Moses
(Photo: Craig Marshall)Why did you decide on Native Pulse as a recording location?
The studio is in Moses’ home, and he has an amazing expanded kit there. The primary reason was to work with the sounds he’s developed on that kit. It meant playing in very close quarters, but that’s something Henry has always loved anyway, and it actually gives good results in the interactions. Engineer David Sullivan runs Native Pulse, and got an incredible sound.
What’s the manifesto of your label, Balance Point Acoustics?
It started in 2001 with a duo bass recording I made with the great Peter Kowald. The focus is free improvisation and free jazz. The artwork for each album is very important to me, and I like having a place where I can make a release look and sound exactly how I want, which helps when I work with other labels. I can just go with the concepts they are working with, knowing I have an outlet for making releases exactly how I want. I have good luck getting labels to release my music, but BPA is really for releases I want to keep control of, and release when I want to.
One of the reasons this was able to come out so soon after recording is that we’d chosen the cover art before we even played. I saw an article on the pastel drawings of the important abstract filmmaker Jordan Belson. Henry knows the family and was able to get permission to use them; the CD release of Astral Plane Crash has a 12-page booklet with 10 of the drawings, instead of liner notes. DB
Meghan Stabile was the founder of Revive Music Group.
Jun 21, 2022 11:37 AM
Meghan Stabile, a promoter, presenter and producer, died on June 12 in Florida at age 39. The apparent cause was…
Jon Batiste, the critics’ choice for Jazz Artist and Beyond Artist of the Year as well as Beyond Album of the Year.
Jul 26, 2022 2:27 AM
The 70th Annual DownBeat International Critics Poll has made history with pianist Jon Batiste being the first artist to…
Jones sat down for a live interview last December in Chicago at the Midwest Clinic.
Jul 19, 2022 12:54 PM
Sean Jones is riding a career high right now. And he’s doing it in a very modern way. In today’s jazz world, those…
The vérité documentary Hargrove showcases the late trumpeter in various locations with different groups.
Jul 19, 2022 12:42 PM
There is a poignant moment, almost like a musical epitaph, toward the end of Hargrove, a documentary of the late…
Batiste performing his hit “Freedom” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
Jul 26, 2022 2:25 AM
On the surface of things, it seems counterintuitive that DownBeat critics would name the same musician both Jazz Artist…