9.7.12 Michael Feinberg CD Release with Walter Smith III + Larry Koonse + Ryan Dragonn + Dan Schnelle

Twenty five year old bassist/bandleader Michael Feinberg was particularly inspired by the core of Coltrane’s rhythm section: drummer Elvin Jones. While he perused his favorite drummer’s catalog, Feinberg found himself drawn to the interplay the legendary percussionist had with a multitude of bassists. Feinberg soon discovered that his favorite bassists had had a significant musical relationship with Jones. The study of these relationships became the root of Feinberg’s project and subsequent recording: The Elvin Jones Project.

Feinberg has been a part of the New York City jazz scene for only a short while but has begun to make a name for himself as a composer, bandleader and accompanist. The bassist was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and received his bachelor of music degree at the University of Miami followed by his master’s at New York University. Since then, Feinberg has worked alongside legends and progressives alike including Billy Hart, George Garzone, Jean-Michel Pilc, John Scofield, Jim Black, Peter Evans, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Lee Ritenour, with whom Feinberg recorded for his upcoming Concord release Rhythm Sessions along with bass greats John Pattitucci and Christian McBride.

Feinberg’s third recording as a leader, The Elvin Jones Project, was inspired by the relationships that Jones established with bassists Jimmy Garrison, Gene Perla, George Mraz, Richard Davis and Dave Holland. Feinberg decided to create an ensemble that would tackle compositions reflecting the link between these rhythmic pairings without emulation. As Feinberg was set to channel the vibe of these various bass players, he enlisted the great drummer Billy Hart to substitute for the deceased Jones.

Two years younger than Jones, Hart had a close, brotherly relationship with the drummer. The two had been good friends and Jones’s techniques had rubbed off onto the younger player. Feinberg chose Hart for this project because he felt that Hart played with a similar style as Jones, with an emphasis on the 1 while most drummers focused on the 4. Hart also possessed a certain “swagger” that Feinberg liked: “He can bang the shit out of a drum.” Upon their first meeting, Hart remarked to Feinberg: “Elvin would have liked playing with you!”

The other members of Feinberg’s ensemble include two of the most inspiring musicians of the past few decades and a young lion. Saxophonist George Garzone – who co-produced the record and who had once played with Elvin – and trumpeter Tim Hagans are featured as a well-seasoned frontline, while the up and coming Leo Genovese – a member of Esperanza Spalding’s ensemble – holds down the keys.

Feinberg’s favorite bassist Jimmy Garrison was the first bass player with whom Jones established a special rapport. Feinberg decided to arrange two tunes associated with the Coltrane Quartet to play off Garrison’s inspiration, Coltrane’s “Miles Mode” (Coltrane, Impulse! 1962) and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Nancy with the Laughing Face” (Ballads, Impulse! 1962).

The boisterous take on “Miles Mode” features an effervescent solo from Garzone echoing the early blues drenched tone of Coltrane. Genovese’s intense solo pushes the boundaries of jazz language into the avant-garde while Feinberg closes it out with a nice solo exploration. Feinberg’s intimately bowed bass introduces “Nancy with the Laughing Face,” a lovely ballad highlighting the tight rhythm trio.

After he left the Coltrane Quartet, Jones led a number of ensembles with a variety of bass players. He recruited Gene Perla because of the bassist’s virtuosic solo capability and his advanced harmonic approach. Perla was featured in a number of risk taking ensembles that pushed the limits of jazz and fusion. The tracks Feinberg orchestrated were outtakes from two 1970s sessions, Steve Grossman’s “Taurus People” (Live at the Lighthouse Vol. 1, Blue Note 1972) and Frank Foster’s “Unknighted Nations” (At the Point In Time, Blue Note 1972).

Feinberg begins “Taurus People” with a duet between his bass and Hart’s drums. The off kilter composition finds a balance between group interplay and solo expression, most notably that of Genovese and Garzone. “Unknighted Nations” is a slightly funky grooving number that provides expert solo spots for guest guitarist Alex Wintz and Mr. Hart.

George Mraz frequently took the reins as Jones’s bass player during the 1980s and 1990s. Similar to Perla, Mraz was a harmonically advanced player with a tremendous solo vocabulary. Feinberg took two Jones originals from the 1982 album Earth Jones (Palo Alto Jazz, 1982) to highlight this grouping, “Earth Jones” and “Three Card Molly.”

“Earth Jones” opens the album with a hazy, electric vibe, prodded by Genovese’s Rhodes and Feinberg’s insistent bass pulse, while the uptempo “Three Card Molly” is a spritely workout for the ensemble. Garzone’s mysterious tenor highlights the former, while Hagans’s dazzling trumpet sparks the finale.

Though there wasn’t a long term track record, Feinberg found the collaboration between Dave Holland and Jones on guitarist Bill Frisell’s Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001) particularly noteworthy. Feinberg’s original composition “It Is Written” inspired by the music presented there is a hazy, warm composition swaying at its own pace with the help of Wintz’s guitar and the nudge of Feinberg’s steady bass.

Feinberg began this project as a means to explore his favorite bassists and, in the process, discovered a love for the music and legacy of drummer Elvin Jones. As Feinberg continues to explore this catalogue we can expect many more great recordings to come. — Sunnyside Records

-Michael has performed or recorded with: Billy Hart, George Garzone, Lee Ritenour, Slide Hampton, Kenny Werner, Ralph Alessi,Russell Gunn, Dave Samuels, Nir Felder, Ian Froman, Dave Pietro, Joe Farnsworth, JD Allen, Ira Sullivan, Greg Gisbert, Ted Nash, Tim Hagans, Orrin Evans, Tony Moreno, Jonathan Kreisberg, Jim Black, Shane Endsley, Andrew D’angelo, Phillip Harper, Shelly Berg, Jonathan Batiste, Jim Rotondi, Peter Evans, Ralph Lalama, Dr. Alex Norris, Ambrose Akinmusire, Yotam Silberstein, Sam Barsh, Noah Preminger, Ralph Lalama, Bobby Broom, Brian Hogans, Logan Richardson, Dan Tepfer, Tommy Crane, Jason Palmer, Chris Sands, Dayna Stephens, Sam Harris, Leo Genovese, and DMC among others.

Michael Feinberg website

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From a young age, Walter began taking music very seriously. “My first gig was playing at a McDonalds in Houston with another saxophone player. I took a solo on “Blue Bossa.” It was terrible. People clapped, and I figured if I could get away with that and get applause, how could I fail?”

Walter Smith III began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 in his hometown of Houston, TX. At Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in 1998, Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Walter Graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in Music Education.

Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Smith has shared the stage and/or appeared on recordings with many jazz notables including Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Sample, Bob Hurst, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Terri Lynne-Carrington, and a host of others.  To date, Walter has appeared on over 75 recordings that are released worldwide.

Walter’s debut recording as a leader was released in March of 2006 on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and features many of the brightest young jazz talents. His sophomore release, titled “Live in France”, was released in October of 2009 to critical acclaim. His most recent album, “III”, was released in September of 2010 and was the #3 best seller on itunes in the U.S. for it’s first week. It features Ambrose Akinmusire, Jason Moran, Joe Sanders, and Eric Harland.

Over the past few years, besides leading a quintet, Walter is/has been a member of several amazing groups (recording and touring) including the Terence Blanchard group, Eric Harland’s quintet, Ambrose Akinmusire’s band, Christian Scott’s group, the Sean Jones sextet, Jason Moran’s Big Bandwagon (In My Mind:Monk at Town Hall), and the Christian McBride situation band.

Walter Smith III website

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Born into a musical family, Larry has been playing the guitar since he was seven years old. At the age of fifteen he recorded an album with his father, guitarist Dave Koonse, entitled “Dave and Larry Koonse; father and son jazz guitars.” In 1984, Larry was the first recipient of a BM in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California.

Immediately after graduating from USC Larry toured extensively for six years as a member of the John Dankworth quartet, traveling all across the globe and backing up Cleo Laine. He is currently a member of Billy Child’s landmark chamber sextet which just released a CD entitled “Lyric” featuring Brian Blade and received a grammy nomination for instrumental jazz album of the year. He has also toured and recorded with Mel Torme, Terry Gibbs, Bob Brookmeyer, Billy Childs, John Patitucci, David Friesen, Karrin Allyson, Warne Marsh and was a featured performer with the Percy Faith Orchestra on a tour of Japan. At the invitation of Nelson Mandela and UNICEF, Larry traveled to South Africa to perform for the first annual SAMIX festival with the Steve Houghton quintet. He also performed with Gary Willis in Sao Paulo for a government sponsored concert at SESC Ipiranga. In his travels, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music, Disney Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and has been a featured soloist with the L.A. Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and many other orchestras throughout the world. Larry has recorded with Cleo Laine, Al Hirt, Jimmy Rowles, Lee Konitz, Larry Goldings, Alan Broadbent, Ray Brown, Bill Perkins, Toots Thielemanns, Rod Stewart, Clay Jenkins, Linda Ronstadt, David Friesen, Bob Sheppard, Charlie Haden and many other jazz artists. His solo guitar work was featured throughout “Crazy”, a feature film chronicling the life of the great guitarist Hank Garland.

The founder of the Player’s School, the renown bassist Jeff Berlin, contacted Larry in 1995 to write a guitar curriculum which is currently used for their program. He was co-leader of the L.A. Jazz Quartet which released their fourth CD, “Conversation Piece” (NAXOS Records) in September, 2000. The quartet’s first three CD’s, “Astarte” (GOWI), “Look To The East” (NAXOS), and “Family Song” (NTR), have received critical acclaim for their originality and musical depth. Larry’s most recent recording, “Storybook” is now available through Jazz Compass (www.jazzcompass.com). He has two other releases on the Jazz Compass label: Americana ( a recording featuring Scott Colley on the bass) and Dialogues of the Heart (featuring his father Dave Koonse in a guitar duo setting). Larry has been a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts since 1990.

Larry Koonse website

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Ryan Dragonn website

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“Some drummers bang their drums, but Schnelle held to the background, making himself known but not overwhelming the rest of the group, playing with a sensitivity that supported the others while keeping impeccable time.” – Bill Leikam, All About Jazz

 ”Schnelle is an up-an-comer himself, a serious player no matter the setting – and a lot of fun to watch too.” - Brick Wahl, LA Weekly

Dan Schnelle is one of the most talented, in-demand drummers in the Los Angeles area. Known for an intuitive ability to do precisely what is necessary for each performance, Schnelle understands how to make other musicians comfortable, while bringing enough of the unexpected to his playing to keep it consistently exciting. Unsatisfied with the idea that the drum set is merely a time-keeping device, Schnelle is thoughtful about how this unique instrument, with its nearly limitless variety of sounds, can be tastefully and effectively deployed in a wide variety of musical situations. Years spent collaborating with some of the best musicians in Los Angeles (and beyond) have earned him a reputation as a hard-working, professional, and creative team player; one who is, above all, committed to musical excellence.

Schnelle began learning to play the drums in his hometown of Merrick, New York, at the age of ten. He progressed quickly, and by high school, was studying with two important and widely respected teachers, Al Miller and Dom Famularo. Together these men opened Schnelle’s ears to the music of Buddy Rich, Max Roach, and Steve Gadd. Later, he would attend USC’s Thornton School of Music, where he was exposed to a much broader perspective on jazz (and music as a whole), thanks in part to close interaction with such masters as Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Erskine, Ndugu Chancler, Aaron Serfaty, John Clayton, Alan Pasqua, and many others. In his final years at USC, Schnelle was named a Louie Bellson Scholar, an honor bestowed on only one drummer each year. And after earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies, Schnelle was selected to attend the Henry Mancini Institute, where he performed and studied with Vince Mendoza, Billy Childs, Dave Leibman, Harold Jones, and Doc Severinsen.

Even as a student in Los Angeles, Schnelle was already working regularly around town. He has since toured throughout the US and abroad, in all kinds of performance situations, including major jazz festivals. Notable collaborators have included Josh Nelson, Dayna Stephens, Walter Smith III, Perry Smith, Nick Mancini, Mahesh Balasooriya, Tom Luer, Matt Zebley, Gary Fukushima, Andy Langham, Anthony Wilson, Ben Wendel, Larry Koonse, the Industrial Jazz Group, and many others.

Nowadays Schnelle maintains a busy playing schedule while simultaneously working as a dedicated music educator; he understands that effective pedagogy is a way of not only giving back to the art form but also continuing to expand his own playing. As such, he has been an instructor at the Henry Mancini Institute, the South Pasadena Music Center and Conservatory, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (where, in addition to drum instruction, he has led student big bands and combos). Schnelle also has an extensive roster of private students.

Dan Schnelle website