Andy McWain: News/Blog

Gigging in Rhode Island (mostly Newport) and on the Cape (mostly Hyannis, Dennis, or Wellfleet) or Scituate (south shore Boston area).... The magic of c h o r d s....

So Ok, the use of the word "new" for a project that's been recorded, mixed, and mastered for a while and sitting on the proverbial SHELF is perhaps not entirely accurate. (But if you never heard it - it's new to you... like that TV re-run concept...)

Maybe since it's digital download-only, I can use some corner of this site to post DE FACTO liner notes.... The whole thing is an experiment for me. My closet is PROOF that I like physical discs, but my friend Kareem always says that they are already obsolete (not just the ones in my closet!!). So here is my attempt to release a new project ITUNES-only - CDBABY-mp3-ONLY that may not get reviewed, may not get traditional airplay, but with a UPC code and FSM catalog number, cover image, and an album project-concept, should be released as a set and not as individual tracks... And because the musicians who played on it ask if it WILL EVER BE RELEASED... my answer is YES...now it has. (Reviewers can contact info@fullerstreetmusic.com and can GET mp3's for review!!!)


------------------------------------

Andy McWain Ensemble

Resemblance
© 2007 Fuller Street Music (634479731464)


New creative jazz ensemble music featuring pianist Andy McWain with Sofia Koutsovitis, Assif Tsahar, Rick Britto, Chris Poudrier, Jeremy Udden, David Landoni, and Albey Balgochian in various combinations from solo piano, duos, and trios to sextet.


-----------------------------------
Andy McWain Ensemble: RESEMBLANCE


TRACKS:

1. Uptown/Downtown (McWain) 7:51
2. Ritual (McWain/Tsahar) 3:19
3. Metal Dog/Earth Monkey (McWain) 6:59
4. Ideology (McWain/Tsahar/Balgochian/Poudrier) 4:22
5. Interlude I (McWain/Koutsovitis/Poudrier) 0:40
6. Resemblance (McWain) 11:17
7. Resemblance [solo pno] (McWain) 7:17
8. Twice (McWain) 7:08
9. Wild Duck (McWain) 4:04
10. Interlude II (McWain/Koutsovitis/Poudrier) 0:27
11. Dream Dance (McWain) 10:07
12. Union (McWain) 6:08

Publishing:
McWain/Fuller Street Music (ASCAP); Tsahar/Tohuvavohu (ASCAP);

MUSICIANS:

Andy McWain acoustic piano (1,2,4,7,8,12); electric piano (3,5,6,9-11)
Assif Tsahar tenor saxophone (1,2,4,8,12)
Rick Britto tenor saxophone (3,6,9,11)
Jeremy Udden alto saxophone (3); soprano saxophone (6)
Sofia Koutsovitis voice (3,5,6,9-11)
Albey Balgochian electric upright bass (1,4,8,12)
David Landoni acoustic bass (3,6,9,11)
Chris Poudrier drums/percussion (1,3-6,8-12)



---------------------------------

---------------------------------
Produced by Andy McWain
Associate Producer: Chris Poudrier
Tracks 3,5,6,9-11 recorded by Mike Caglianone at 7A West, Charlestown, MA, 22 August 2004
Tracks 1,2,4,7,8,12 recorded by Mark Tanzer [assisted by Brent Liotta] at Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA, 2 October 2004
Mixed by Andy McWain & Mike Caglianone, 7A West, Charlestown, MA, 2005
Mastered by Rick Britto at Saurus Studio, New Bedford, MA, 2006
Cover image by AJM3; detail from “kangdinglu”, digital photograph

Also on Fuller Street Music:
McWain/Balgochian/Cook: VIGIL
Andy McWain Quartet: STARFISH

Thanks to Chris, Sofia, Assif, Rick, David, Albey, and Jeremy for sharing their musical gifts, and for their support. Thanks to Mike at 7A West, Rick at Saurus, Mark & Brent at Wellspring Sound for the sonics. Special thanks to my friends and family [real and imagined] for all their love, support, and encouragement.

EXCERPT: "Despite it's abstract nature, the quartet's musical approach is interesting. Without clear compositions, it brings nervous and agitated music, intense and busy. It often reminded me of Jackson Pollock's approach to painting : the whole canvas is full with streaks and splatters of paint. There are no clear reference points or figurative possibilities, yet the overall effect is coherent, balanced and even symmetrical. There is structure, but not in a melodic, rhythmic or temporal sense. The four musicians play together, almost all the time simultaneously, with short bursts of notes and phrases, almost unconnected within the playing of the individual instrument, yet very much connected to the whole, built around a tonal center. The third track "Logic Synthesis" brings a little bit of a breathing pause in the album, leaving more space and openness in the music. The longest track "Combinatorial Mathematics", is also quite open too, and probably emotionally the most expressive, if that notion is applicable to this kind of music."
STEF at freejazz

New review at: <http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2008/03/kevin-frenette-four-connections-fuller.html>

a LIVE clip of my composition "TWICE"

From a recent concert at Berklee with Dino Govoni (that he posted!)....

"A short clip from a recent concert at Berklee College of Music featuring Dino Govoni-tenor saxophone, Jeff Galindo-trombone, Andy McWain-piano, Paul Delnero-bass and Chris Poudrier-drums."



<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKhvsNUqzRA>

Kevin Frenette's disc, "Connections", that we recorded last summer with Todd Keating and Tatsuya Nakatani, just got a review at jazzreview.com: <http://www.jazzreview.com/cd/review-18906.html>

So (gtrist) Kevin Frenette and I drove up to Rhinebeck, NY last week for a recording session with an ensemble led by the great saxophonist Joe Giardullo. The project was his G2 large ensemble session with about 15 musicians including some great cats. Challenging, but rewarding music and concepts... and I can't wait to hear the final project. I played the studio's ("The Clubhouse") wurlie electric piano and Joe also had me play some stuff on xylo (a first!!). Stay tuned for more info on this project...

So I've been swamped at UMass-Dartmouth, which is a great place to teach for many reasons... Good faculty, good students, upbeat vibe... and Audible Think is still running strong. The new disc from Kevin Frenette is starting to making the rounds (that was a fun session!!), and we'll both be participating in an upcoming Joe Giardullo project (can't wait!) in late May. There's a cool "Music Workshop" gig in late May also with Kevin Frenette, Forbes Graham, and others that should be fun. Also check out the May 2007 review from Cadence Magazine of VIGIL posted here.

So I had a chance to record last saturday with my buddy Jeff Morris (laptop/live electronics) in a studio at Texas A&M Univ. in College Station, TX. (I was in Houston on a thanksiving family visit...). They had a Yamaha Disclavier piano, a wurlie elec piano, and Jeff had this toy piano. Next, I'll be going to the First Conference of the Intl Society of Improvised Music (Ann Arbor, MI) to check out three days of music and presentations, and jam sessions, etc. (Lots of interesting music at ISIM: Steve Coleman, Joe Giardullo, Thompson sound-painting, etc.). And I'll be performing on Sunday with Jeff Morris during his set.

So it's been a busy fall.... I have a gig at the Downtown Music Gallery (NYC) next weekend with Reuben Radding in the in-store concert series... Looking forward to that... (Bruce @ DMG reviewed Vigil... [see press page]) Otherwise... playing, teaching, etc. (So many projects in various states of completion... Soon)

So August has been pretty busy with mixing/mastering sessions (at 7A West, Charlestown, MA; Saurus Studios, New Bedford, MA; Apical Studios, New Bedford, MA; and Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT) related to some recent (and not so recent) recordings... (projects like: Resemblance, Live @ Audible Think, Interpreter w/Daniel Levin, and more). It feels good to move these projects FORWARD!! And this past weekend I recorded (playing acoustic piano) with guitarist Kevin Frenette and bassist Todd Keating on a new quartet recording featuring the amazing Tatsuya Nakatani on drums/percussion. Busy summer... Resemblance is in the "design" stage, and look for an Andy McWain duo performance at Downtown Music Gallery (NYC) in November.

There are some new mp3's posted online of recording that we did in Florida at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. These mp3's feature: Mark Zanter (midi guitar); Jeff Morris (laptop/live electronics); and Andy McWain (prepared piano): <http://www.ourmedia.org/node/249883>
<http://www.ourmedia.org/node/249884>
<http://www.ourmedia.org/node/249885>

Just finished two days in Peter Kontrimas' studio (outside Boston) with cellist Daniel Levin for our duo project called INTERPRETER. We've been playing duo for a couple years with New England gigs at Audible Think, the OpenSound Series, and at the Zeitgeist Gallery's PianoFest last year. [Daniel has a new CD with his quartet on hatology called "Some Trees" - I strongly recommend it...]... We'll let these tracks sit for a bit and then probably mix this fall...

Back from Florida, (where I was an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with composer/conductor Butch Morris).... We did a final ensemble performance there on Friday, July 7, 2006. It was a great experience overall... a lot of rehearsals, crazy discussions, recording sessions at night (with the other 7 musicians and a very persistent cricket), listening sessions, interdisciplinary collaborations, World Cup, swimming in the ocean... etc. Refreshing, challenging, thought-provoking, mind-expanding... Now I'm doing gigs back here, gearing up for what's next (??) and starting to plan the (restart of) the Audible Think Improvised Music Series.

Yeah, so I'm still in Florida.... daily routine of rehearsals learning the symbols and gestures (and possibilities !) of conduction with Butch Morris. The eight-piece ensemble: John Bruschini: guitar; Mark Zanter guitar/MIDI, Erik km Clark: violin; Jeffrey Levenberg: viola; Andy McWain: piano; Travis Johns: prepared bass/electronics, Carla Cisno: bassoon, and Jeff Morris: laptop/electronics. In addition, there are filmmakers and visuals artists here so there are many interesting interdisciplinary presentations/conversations. Thursday we did our first (open to the public) ensemble performance as part of a Butch Morris lecture/demonstration in the Black Box theater at ACA in New Smyrna Beach, FL. While I'm here, I'm also working on my own stuff... some recording, editing, writing, etc. More later... Here's a newspaper article about me in the New Smyrna Beach (FL) Observer: <http://www.nsb-observer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=333&Itemid=1>

So the Audible Think Improvised Music Series will be on hiatus in May, June, and July... while we make long term performance plans.... Stay tuned and look for performances in August 2006. (Or possible one-time special AUDIBLE THINK CONCERTS....) [In case you were wondering... we did play one trio concert there in May before we stopped....] The FORMER WEBSITE for the series crashed but here's the lowdown.... The series is held twice monthly on the first and third Wednesday's of the month downstairs in the Douglass Gallery of Gallery X in New Bedford, MA. The gallery, an artist cooperative is located in the Upper William Street arts district of downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA - home of the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. We have had about TWO YEARS of performances of AUDIBLE THINK (!!) and have featured such artists as Karl Berger, Santi Debriano, Daniel Levin, Ben Monder, Elliott Sharp, Charlie Kohlhase, Donny McCaslin, Jim Robitaille, ONDA, the Combustible Orchestra, Sofia Koutsovitis, the Zen Bastards, Hilary Noble Quartet featuring Albey Balgochian, and many, many more.... SO LOOK FOR US AGAIN SOON... We are also interested in arranging EXCHANGE performances with any other Music Series... (TO SEE THE FORMER AUDIBLE THINK WEBSITE visit.... ....... <http://home.comcast.net/~amcwain/audible.htm>

Alright so I'm back from Shanghai, China where I had a very inspiring three-month stay playing with all sorts of wonderful cats!! [More on that later... but I mostly played at "Number Five" and the JZ Club with trumpeter JQ Whitcomb's band "Five Below".. with Alec Haavik (sax); Andy McWain (pno); Michael Hicks (bass); and a rotating cast of drummers Phillippe Bernhardt (Germany); Janus Templeton (Denmark); Chris Trczinski (Cleveland, USA); Ronnie Williams (NYC); and Brian Melvin (Estonia) ] as well as Lawrence Ku (guitar), James Dandefer (sax and clarinet), singers Coco (China), Sinne Eeg (from Copenhagen), and Jasmine Chen (China), and others...and now I'm back, and I'm glad to be playing around the region again... I've also recently been invited to participate in a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts [New Smyrna Beach, FL] with conductor/composer Butch Morris (check out http://www.conduction.us). I'll be at ACA in mid-June. It's basically an artist colony, but with a master artist and a performance component. Should be a blast...