"PRESERVATION" Preview #9: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. PETE SEEGER & MR. TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

PETE SEEGER
by Zac Johnson for Allmusic.com
Perhaps no single person in the 20th century has done more to preserve, broadcast, and re-distribute folk music than Pete Seeger, whose passion for politics, the environment, and humanity have earned him both ardent fans and vocal enemies since he first began performing in the late '30s. His never-ending battle against injustice led to his being blacklisted during the McCarthy era, celebrated during the turbulent '60s, and welcomed at union rallies throughout his life. His tireless efforts regarding global concerns such as environmentalism, population growth, and racial equality have earned him the respect and friendship of such political heroes as Martin Luther King, Jr., Woody Guthrie, and Cesar Chavez, and the generations of children who first learned to sing and clap to Seeger's Folkways recordings must number in the millions. Rising above all of Seeger's political ideals and his passion for authentic folk music is his clear voice and chiming banjo which both sing out with a clarity that rings true...

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TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER
From Wikipedia.org
Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (b. Poughkeepsie, New York, 1972) is an American contemporary folk musician. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica, and sings in Spanish and in English. He is known as a founder of The Mammals and is the grandson of legendary folk musician Pete Seeger. Tao spent nine years of his childhood in Nicaragua. Tao's father, Emilio Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican filmmaker, was invited by the Sandinistas to document the nation's civil war. Tao's mother is Mika Seeger. When he was fourteen, in 1986, Rodríguez-Seeger started performing with his grandfather Pete Seeger. In 1999 he was a member of the band RIG, with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. In 2001 he was a founding member of the Mammals with Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar. In 2006 he recorded an album, Que Vaya Bien, with Puerto Rican folk singers Roy Brown, and Tito Auger of the Puerto Rican rock band Fiel A La Vega and he formed the Anarchist Orchestra (now known as the Tao Rodriguez-Seeger band) with Jacob Silver, also of the Mammals, Laura Cortese and Robin McMillan.

On Sunday, May 3rd, 2009, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band had the great honor of joining an all-star roster at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the life and legacy of Pete Seeger at a benefit for the Clearwater Foundation thrown in honor of this amazing man's 90th birthday. You can find links to coverage of this amazing event HERE.

SESSION PHOTOS BY SHANNON BRINKMAN
THE SONG:
"Blue Skies"
Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger with
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Irving Berlin) Irving Berlin Music Company

Pete Seeger - vocals, banjo
Tao Rodriguez-Seeger - vocals
Michael Merenda, Ruth Ungar - backing vocals
Jacob Silver - string bass
Leon "Kid Chocolate" Brown - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Daniel "Weenie" Farrow - tenor sax
Maynard Chatters - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Ernie Elly - drums

Check out this footage from the recording session!

PETE SEEGER APPRECIATION PAGE
TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
HUDSON RIVER SLOOP CLEARWATER
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And they're off!

That's right.

The Del McCoury Band.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Together at B.B. King's, NYC.
Take a look at these great pictures by Dino Perrucci!





It's gonna be a fun year, folks.
Don't miss these American Legacies, together on tour-
More dates soon to be announced.
PHJB TOUR DATES HERE
DINO PERRUCCI PHOTOGRAPHY

"PRESERVATION" Preview #8: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. CORY CHISEL

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

CORY CHISEL
Like many artists before him, Cory Chisel first connected with the power of song – and the spellbinding possibilities of live performance – through the music he heard in church. The gospel’s rich vernacular of loss and redemption also informed his innate poetic sense and lyrical range. “For most of my life,” he says, “my dad was a Baptist minister, so I learned a lot about being a showman, and I learned a lot about music. Many of the hymns from church still are the most beautiful songs I know. I'm thankful for growing up where stories and the pursuit of happiness were on everybody's mind. I think I’m still trying to achieve the same euphoria I felt at a very young age, when I would be completely t aken over by these rhythms and these sounds and these stories.”

An equally potent influence on Chisel’s worldview and wellspring ofmusical storytelling is the American heartland from which he hails. Based in Appleton, WI, where he’s lived for almost twenty years. His family’s roots, on both sides, reach about 500 miles north and west to Babbitt, Minnesota and neighboring Ely, beside the pristine Boundary Waters, the largest wilderness preserve east of the Rockies. The vast, open spaces and clear, deep lakes of the wild north are ingrained in Chisel’s songs, which sound as if they come to him as naturally as breathing.
In an upbringing where he was largely sheltered from pop music, Chisel’s fluency with music comes in great measure from always having played it with his family, for as long as he can remember. One of his grandfathers had nine brothers and, he notes, “they’re all great guitar players, and half of them play harmonica too.” He also cites his Uncle Roger, a blues musician – whose epic record collection exposed him to Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Robert Johnson, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and countless others – as a chief source of inspiration. “He was a musical force,” says Cory. “I always felt like I possessed something similar, that I understood the exorcism I saw him receiving through music.”

PHOTOS OF CORY CHISEL @ PRESERVATION HALL BY ERIKA GOLDRING

THE SONG:
"Some Cold Rainy Day"
(Traditional)

Cory Chisel - lead vocals
Adriel Harris - backing vocals
Mark Braud - trumpet
Rickie Monie - piano
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Clint Maedgen - slapstick / tambourine

Cory Chisel appears courtesy of Black Seal

As Performed by The Georgia Cotton Pickers in 1930:

"Born Again," by Cory Chisel:

CORY CHISEL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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"PRESERVATION" Preview #7: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. PAOLO NUTINI

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

PAOLO NUTINI
by Stewart Mason
for Allmusic.com

In much the same way that José González hails from Sweden and not Spain, Paolo Nutini is not a smooth Italian pop star, but rather a soul-influenced adult alternative songwriter from Paisley, Scotland. Raised in a music-loving family, he grew up listening to a range of folk, opera, jazz, and his father's R&B favorites. Shortly after discovering homegrown folkies like John Martyn, the teenaged Nutini left school to focus on his own musical development, eventually moving from Paisley to London at age 16 and garnering attention via local gigs. He inked a deal with the British arm of Atlantic Records two years later, just several weeks after his 18th birthday.

Working with Coldplay and Badly Drawn Boy producer Ken Nelson, Nutini generated an impressive amount of buzz before his first single, "Last Request," was released in the early summer of 2006. He appeared at special Atlantic Records showcases at Carnegie Hall and the Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as showcase sets opening for the Rolling Stones and Paul Weller. Nutini's debut album, These Streets, was ultimately released in July 2006 alongside his second single, "Jenny Don't Be Hasty." The album fared quite well in the U.K., where it climbed to double-platinum status and sent four singles into the Top 40. Accordingly, an American release followed in January 2007.

For Paolo Nutini's second album, the songwriter took a more active role in the production, partnering with Ethan Johns but helming much of the material himself. The resulting record, Sunny Side Up, appeared in June 2009, featuring increased contributions from Nutini's backing band and a bright, sprightly disposition.

PHOTOS OF PAOLO NUTINI @ PRESERVATION HALL
BY MARY ASHLEY JOHNSON

THE SONG:
"Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea"
Paolo Nutini with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) S.A. Music, Bughouse Music

Paolo Nutini - vocals
Mark Braud - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Lucien Barbarin - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Rickie Monie - piano
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Walter Payton - string bass
Lil' Joe Lastie - drums
Paolo Nutini appears courtesy of Atlantic Records

AS PERFORMED BY LEE WILEY IN 1940:

OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR "PENCIL FULL OF LEAD" BY PAOLO NUTINI (CHEEKY!)

PAOLO NUTINI - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION" THE ALBUM

Ben Jaffe & Andrew Bird "Shake It & Break It" Live. In Paris!

"PRESERVATION" Preview #6: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MS. ANGELIQUE KIDJO & MR. TERENCE BLANCHARD

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefitting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

ANGELIQUE KIDJO

Born in Benin (West Africa), Angelique Kidjo is a Grammy award-winning music recording artist deemed "Africa's premier diva" by Time Magazine. Kidjo's internationally acclaimed repertoire includes collaborations with various recording artists such as Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Branford Marsalis, Joss Stone, and many more. Known for her dynamic and uplifting music, she has translated her distinctive work in the arts to that of philanthropy; by promoting education for girls in Africa through her foundation, Batonga and as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador Kidjo travels the world to inspire and empower.

EXPERIENCE HER STORY HERE

TERENCE BLANCHARD
By Michael G. Nastos
for Allmusic.com
In the post-Wynton Marsalis era, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard has become a most prominent brass player, bandleader, recording artist, orchestrator of film scores, and leader in the mainstream post-bop community. Born on March 13, 1962, in New Orleans, LA, Terence Oliver Blanchard was an only child to parents Wilhelmina and Joseph Oliver Blanchard. He began playing piano by the age of five, switched to trumpet three years later, and played alongside childhood friend Marsalis in summer band camps. While in high school, he took extracurricular classes at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Roger Dickerson and Ellis Marsalis. From 1980 to 1982, Blanchard studied under Paul Jeffrey and Bill Fielder at Rutgers University in New Jersey while touring with Lionel Hampton's orchestra. In 1982 Blanchard replaced Wynton Marsalis under his recommendation in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, working in that band up to 1986 as lead soloist and musical director. He then co-led a prominent quintet with saxophonist Donald Harrison, recording seven albums for the Concord, Columbia, and Evidence record labels in five years, including a stirring in-concert tribute to the Eric Dolphy/Booker Little ensemble...

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The Song:
"La Vie en Rose"
Angelique Kidjo & Terence Blanchard
with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Edith Guglieme, Luis Gugielmo, Giovanna Gasson)
WB Music Corp. obo Editions, Paul Beuscher SA

Angelique Kidjo - vocals
Terence Blanchard - lead trumpet
Mark Braud - trumpet
Clint Maedgen - clarinet
Daniel "Weenie" Farrow - tenor sax
Lucien Barbarin - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Rickie Monie - piano
Walter Payton - string bass
Joe Lastie - drums

Angelique Kidjo appears courtesy of Razor & Tie
Terence Blanchard appears courtesy of Concord Records

EDITH PIAF PERFORMS "LA VIE EN ROSE"

ANGELIQUE KIDJO - WOMBO LOMBO

TERENCE BLANCHARD - CHOICES (Webisode 5)

ANGELIQUE KIDJO - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
TERRENCE BLANCHARD - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
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Preservation Hall in the New York Times

Check out this fine article on Preservation Hall in the New York Times:
New Orleans Jazz Band Gets in Step With the Times
Published December 31, 2009
Phil Lutz, NY Times

THE Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which in its 48 years has built a global reputation for presenting the traditional New Orleans sound, is taking a more contemporary approach these days — recruiting younger players, expanding its repertoire and allowing surrealist elements to creep into its performances.

But even as it modernizes its approach, the band, which comes to the Tarrytown Music Hall on Thursday, is keeping the old-time faith — hiring musicians whose strong links to the pioneers of jazz assure the music’s authenticity.

The combination makes for a multigenerational mix with appeal to a range of musical constituencies, not just aficionados of traditional jazz.

“Preservation Hall is not a museum piece,” said Benjamin Jaffe, 38, the band’s director and the son of its founder, Allan Jaffe. “We’re not recreating something that existed a hundred years ago.”

Most of the musicians that Allan Jaffe recruited in the 1960s and ’70s were part of the pioneering generation. But he died in 1987, and by the time his son took over the directorship, in 1993, younger players were filling the band’s ranks. The last founding member retired nearly a decade ago, and today’s players bring different kinds of experiences to the job.

Some of current crop — like Benjamin Jaffe, who plays tuba in the band and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music — have formal training that informs their thinking. Others — like the saxophonist and singer Clint Maedgen, 40, who honed his art in a variety show that has been likened to experimental theater — reveal a postmodern sensibility.

At the same time, players like the clarinetist and saxophonist Charlie Gabriel, 77, have experience in other idioms as well as traditional jazz. Mr. Gabriel, who at the improbable age of 11 started playing beside the early jazz greats along Bourbon Street, has also performed extensively with singers like Aretha Franklin and modern jazz artists like the pianist Barry Harris.

But what unites Preservation Hall’s members, present and past, is a powerful association with the cultural heritage of New Orleans, Mr. Jaffe said. Most of the musicians were born in the city and, wherever they may have traveled since, have strong roots there...

READ MORE BY CLICKING HERE