This is the third CD of the KJB band.  Bert has played with John Lockwood almost every weekend for the past 6 years in Boston and Bert has gone to Japan to tour for two weeks of concerts and club dates with Kazumi every year for the past eleven years.   Before that Kazumi and Bert played together in the USA for three years.  Bert and John Lockwood have played together in Boston on and off for 25 years. All three musicians share a similar feeling for groove and dynamics and their time together shows in their intuitive musical rapport.

 Please click the thumbnail for more information on this wonderful new CD.

Greg Abate Performs At NightTown with the Mark Kleinhaut Trio

Sunday February 15, 2009

7:00PM

NightTown Reservations and Info: (216) 795-0550

12387 Cedar Road (top of Cedar Hill)
Cleveland Heights, OH

 www.nighttowncleveland.com

Greg Abate, Saxes / Mark Kleinhaut, Guitar / Kip Reed, Bass/ Matt Perko, Drums

Greg Abate returns to Cleveland and the NightTown stage to collaborate with his friend guitarist Mark Kleinhaut.  Abate and Kleinhaut have performed on numerous occasions. On Abate’s last trip to Cleveland with Bobby Watson, Kleinhaut, sat in on their smoking session at Nighttown. These guys use jazz standards from the “Great American Song Book” as their common language turning these tunes inside out.  Each musician pushes his creative energies to new limits, and the results are magical spontaneous and explosive. This gathering of friends is sure to offer music that is fresh and exciting, on the edge yet steeped in the jazz traditions of melody, and swing.  Joining Kleinhaut and Abate will be Kip Reed on bass and Matt Perko on drums.

Greg Abate jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer continues as an International Jazz/Recording Artist with 150 days a year touring the globe. In the mid 70’s after finishing a four year program at Berklee College of Music, Greg played lead alto for the Ray Charles Orchestra for 2 years.

In 1978 Greg formed his group Channel One which was a favorite in the New England area and from there had the opportunity to play tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986 to ’87. Following this experience Greg ventured out as post hard bop soloist playing Jazz Festivals, Jazz Societies and Jazz Clubs throughout the U.S. Canada and abroad, including most of Europe, UK, and Moscow and Georgia Russia.

Greg recorded his first CD Live At Birdland NYC in 1991 on the Candid Jazz Label with the trio of James Williams, Rufus Reid and Kenny Washington.  To this date Greg has recorded over 12 other recordings and was nominated for a Grammy for his 2004 recording EVOLUTION in four categories . James Williams, Harvie S and Billy Hart comprised the trio.  Greg is also an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and is also a very active jazz clinician with co. sponsorship from the Conn -Selmer Instrument Co., conducting workshops and master classes through the U.S and abroad.

Mark Kleinhaut has been playing jazz guitar for over thirty years, during which time he has achieved one of the most prized and elusive goals in jazz - a highly personal sound and recognizable voice on his instrument. His clean guitar tones may first recall one to the great tradition of mainstream jazz guitarists like Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, but listeners soon detect something else in Kleinhaut’s highly evolved vocabulary. His playing avoids the clichés and trappings of the too-familiar jazz jargon in favor of melodic phrases that twist and leap passionately with the immediacy of the moment, yet follow his relentless pursuit of logic, balance and beauty. Mark Kleinhaut is also a prolific jazz composer and has five CDs of his original jazz compositions, including “Chasing Tales” with trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and “A Balance of Light”, with Bobby Watson on alto sax. Kleinhaut’s newest release, “Holding the Center” (January 2006), represents further artistic evolution of his style with use of sampled sounds, electronic guitar effects and rhythms borrowed from latin, funk, rock and reggae music.  Since moving to Cleveland in 2007, Kleinhaut has performed with Cleveland’s top jazz musicians and in the summer of 2008 performed at the Blossom Summer Music Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Currently splitting his time between New York and Cleveland, electric bassist Kip Reed has performed and recorded with numerous major artists in his 25 years as a sideman in venues that include Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London and L’ Olympia in Paris. In Cleveland, Kip is co-leader of the popular Grupo Brasil.  Reed is a first call bassist in NYC and Cleveland.

Matt Perko is a sensitive and creative drummer whos sonic palette is informed by his work as a professional photographer and graphic artist.  His photography has brought his passion to visual form through stunning nature and landscape photograpy, striking urban street scenes, powerful and dynamic portraits, and thought provoking still lifes.  Matt spent his formative years drumming with Cleveland’s best jazz musicians, and has since performed throughout the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria.  At the age of 21, he underwent a heart transplant operation at the Cleveland Clinic.  This life-changing experience made him realize life’s rhythms needed to be captured in every way possible.

Mark Kleinhaut Performs At BopStop

SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2008 8:30PM
Cleveland Bop Stop
2920 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
216.771.6551

Mark Kleinhaut, Guitar/ Kip Reed, Elec. Bass/ Carmen Castaldi, Drums

Mark Kleinhaut brings his trio to the Cleveland BopStop, June 21. Join Mark as he performs some of his favorite standards and his own beautiful compositions. Kleinhaut has earned his reputation not only as a great performer, but as a composer. The inspiration for Kleinhaut’s compositions comes from the places he visits, like the colorful villages of Southern Cuba or the wild places on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and coastal Maine. Designed around beautiful melodies, Kleinhaut uses his compositions to paint vivid pictures of his travels, and the dynamic musical chemistry of his ensemble becomes the vehicle that transports the listener to these destinations.

Currently splitting his time between New York and Cleveland, electric bassist Kip Reed has performed and recorded with numerous major artists in his 25 years as a sideman in venues that include Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London and L’ Olympia in Paris. In Cleveland, Kip is co-leader of the popular Grupo Brasil.

Carmen Castaldi, like many other Cleveland jazz musicians was strongly influenced by guitarist Bill DeArango and saxophonist Tony “Big T” Lovano. He was also a student of legendary drum teacher Bob McKee. As house drummer Four Queens Jazz Club in Las Vegas Castaldi backed notables like, Joe Henderson, Ernie Watts, Barney Kessel, Cedar Walton, and he is now a regular sideman for Blue Note recording artist Joe Lovano.
 

Bert Seager has an upcoming CD release concert at The Regatta Bar in Boston on June 4, 2008.
Click here for more info and to purchase tickets.

New Release from Scott Oakley

The release of Canción Para Mi Amor by Scott Oakley Y Sus Incomparables is a major musical event.  Featuring a new band playing an exciting brand of Cuban jazz, the group interprets 13 new compositions by its leader-pianist Scott Oakley that are full of fire, exciting Cuban rhythms and heated jazz improvisations.