At the very end of August, Grammy award-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch announced the impromptu release of his latest creation, The Omni-American Book Club, a big band album inspired by over 18 works of literature, including volumes by W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, Isabel Wilkerson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, David Levering Lewis, Eric Hobsbawm, Nell Irvin Painter, and Amiri Baraka, and … [Read more...]
Dafnis Prieto Big Band – “Out of the Bone” (Video)
The Dafnis Prieto Big Band's new album, Back to the Sunset, is quite the grand accomplishment. Prieto's largest ensemble yet is filled with movement after movement of his signature rhythms and vibes sure to please. The album dropped just last month but there's still so much more to uncover, like in the new video for "Out of the Bone" featuring the group putting this all … [Read more...]
Dafnis Prieto Big Band – “Danzonish Potpourri” (Video Premiere)
Drummer, composer, and 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Dafnis Prieto recently released what may just be his most ambitious project to date, Back to the Sunset, the debut album of the Dafnis Prieto Big Band. In Prieto’s own words, “The undercurrent of this album is to pay tribute to some significant mentors/musicians that have influenced and inspired me one way or another, directl … [Read more...]
Threadgill, Iyer, and Prieto Conjure Up a Storm at The Jazz Gallery
The most powerful storm I've ever seen was at the Big Bend National Park in the isolated elbow of Texas. A tremendous set of clouds marched toward our site in the valley between desert mountains, catching on a ridge and letting loose in safe viewing distance. Unable to look away from such a gorgeous thing, there was a deference to the power, too — a fear of what it might be c … [Read more...]