Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Deerhoof vocalist and bassist Satomi Matsuzaki with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith
(Photo: Courtesy Of Artist)Avant-garde trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is teaming up with out-rock ensemble Deerhoof on a release to benefit Black Lives Matter.
To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough (Joyful Noise) is set for a July 3 release and will be available only on Bandcamp. The album’s title comes from the Walt Whitman poem “I Sing The Body Electric,” which also gave Weather Report’s 1972 studio album its name.
The Deerhoof-Smith collaboration was recorded during the 2018 Winter Jazzfest in New York at Le Poisson Rouge, with Smith appearing on the album’s last five songs and contributing trumpet flights to some of the band’s heavy riffing.
“Black Lives Matter has been doing fantastic work in keeping the rights and the liberty issues up-front in the minds of the Americans and international peoples,” Smith said in a press release. “I think that [the] BLM organization is an excellent place to give support to and to help bring democratic practices into the American society.”
Deerhoof’s drummer Greg Saunier’s ties to the jazzworld extend beyond this latest recording: In 2017, he teamed with guitarist Mary Halvorson and trumpeter/cornetist Ron Miles for the trio album New American Songbooks, Volume 1. The drummer also appears on a live set of Anthony Braxton compositions in the company of multi-instrumentalist Taylor Ho Bynum and guitarist Nels Cline on Quartet (New Haven) 2014, which was released in 2019. DB
To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough tracklisting:
Believe E.S.P.
Chandelier Searchlight
I Will Spite Survive
Mountain Moves
Polly Bee
Bad Kids To The Front
Snoopy Waves (with Wadada Leo Smith)
Breakup Songs (with Wadada Leo Smith)
Flower (with Wadada Leo Smith)
Last Fad (with Wadada Leo Smith)
Mirror Monster (with Wadada Leo Smith)
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
