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BOOKINGS AND LESSONS May 2012 Hello and thanks for visiting my site. A whole lot has been going on which I am very excited about. So let's get right to it. One of my favorite singers is coming to town and we will be doing a mini-tour of NYC with her. I had the pleasure to meet and play with her at the Blue Note last year. Actually, having worked with her, it got me in a whole new musical direction which culminated in the release of my "A Thousand Summers" album this past February. The album is doing great and broke the top 10 of a National Radio Chart. Thanks for your support. The singer I am talking about is Niki King. She's from Edinburgh, Scotland. She's quite well known in U.K. and is a former recipient of the prestigious "Jazz Vocalist of the Year, U.K." award. Love playing with her. Here are the dates: May 21, 2012 @ the Bar Next Door, 8:30pm and 10:30pm sets. www.lalanternacaffe.com with Niki King- vocals, Gene Ess-gtr, Thomson Kneeland-bass. May 23, 2012 @ Flute Gramercy, 8PM to 11PM www.flutebar.com with Niki King-vocals, Gene Ess-gtr, Thomson Kneeland-bass. May 26, 2012 @ Somethin' Jazz Club, 9PM www.somethinjazz.com/ny with Niki King-vocals, Gene Ess-gtr, Harvie S-bass, Bruce Cox-drums. And on May 28th, Niki will be a guest with my group which will include the great Dave Liebman! 9PM Set. @ ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn. www.shapeshifterlab.com with Gene Ess-gtr/compositions, Dave Liebman-saxophone, Adam Birnbaum-piano, Thomson Kneeland-bass, and Rodney Green-drums. Niki will also be singing on a couple of tunes! On June 10th, I will be back at the famed 55 Bar in NYC. www.55bar.com the Set starts at 9:30PM. Gene Ess- gtr, Adam Birnbaum-keys, Thomson Kneeland-bass, and Mark Ferber-drums. And a mystery guest! Starting the 1st Sunday of June, I will host the jam session at the great new venue ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn! 3-6pm. I will run an open and constructive jam session which welcomes ALL musicians and creative minds. Looking forward to this. Come support this new venue and the musicians that make it special. I also have a really nice concert on July 14th at the Falcon. www.liveatthefalcon.com/#Ess This concert will feature the wonderful musician/singer Nicki Parrott. She sang on my last album and I am very excited to have her on this gig. 7PM start! I will be back at ShapeShifter Lab every other Thursdays with my group in August (3 concerts) starting on Aug 2. Aug 2 is my son's birthday and mine being July 31, we will also celebrate it with a birthday bash! Hope to see you at my performances. Please join me at www.facebook.com/gene.ess where you can see a lot of updates in real time.
January 2012 Hello and a belated Happy New Year. I hope 2012 brings a joyful and healthy year to all of you. And especially to the world as a whole. We have so much angst in this world. Music really is a universal language and heals a lot of souls. I know music did that for me and gave me so much. I am very excited to let you know my new album "A Thousand Summers" is just about to be released. It will be released on Feb 1 so buy a couple or a bunch. The album is my first using a singer and features Nicki Parrott. There are some advance copies available only here on my website through Jazzcares.com, however, right now. You can go to my recordings page and check it out. A percentage of the sales will go to the Jazz Foundation of America and will go to helping jazz musicians in need of assistance. A very worthy cause, I think. So not only will you be enriching your soul with quality music but helping an artist who've worked hard bringing music to the world in his/her time of need. The album will be autographed by yours truly as well. So go to my recordings page and get a copy for yourself. Thanks for listening. I am also very excited about my upcoming CD release party at the Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC on February 12. I am very much looking forward to playing my music for you. The set times are 12:30pm and 2:30pm so it is very family friendly. I really love playing this time slot at the Blue Note. For more info: http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=9667 I hope to see you at the Blue Note concert!
November 2011 Greetings. I am very excited to let you know my new album is now recorded and is slated for a February 2012 release! The album is titled "A Thousand Summers" and features the lovely Nicki Parrott on vocals. I chose ten beautiful songs from the jazz canon and arranged them in such a way that will allow us to keep our musical integrity and really play. I think the music is a success and have received nice feedback from my musician peers. The songs were arranged by me and Thomson Kneeland. We will be performing a Thanksgiving concert on Nov. 22, 2011 at 7pm. The venue is a really nice club, Somethin' Jazz Club @ 212 E 52nd St, 3rd floor, NYC 10022. 2 sets - 7pm and 8:30pm. $15 cover. For more info, visit : www.somethinjazz.com/ny I'll have the whole recording cast for this album preview performance: Gene Ess - gtr, James Weidman - piano, Thomson Kneeland - bass, Gene Jackson - drums, and featuring Nicki Parrott on vocals. I hope you can be there to be part of the music. This will be our last gig together for the year until our CD release performance in early 2012. I am also updating the photo gallery with some new pictures. Thanks for listening!
October 2011 A much over due update... I will be recording my next album this month. The album will feature some beautiful songs that I've wanted to record for some time. I am going back to my roots a bit as I came up playing the jazz standards repertoire. The group is a quintet with Gene Jackson on drums, Thomson Kneeland on bass, James Weidman on piano, myself on guitar, and will feature Nicki Parrott on vocals. I arranged half of the repertoire and Thomson did the other half. I wanted to have another musical perspective along with mine in the album. Having the results in hand, I think this worked out well. My previous albums were always my own compositions and instrumental music so I am looking forward to this new experience. Having recently performed at Blue Note with a singer made me realize I've always wanted to explore this area of music. The album should be released around the holiday season. We already have a performance scheduled in NYC for Nov 22nd at 7PM. A pre-Thanksgiving Holiday performance and will give a preview of the album. Hope you can come and support the music. Here is the venue info: SOMETHIN' Jazz Club The group will be the recording band from above. Looking forward to the performance. I will keep all of you posted with the soon to be released album and more upcoming dates as they are announced. Hope your summer was a productive and happy one.
October 2010 Thanks for visiting my site. My group will perform at the Miles Café here in NYC on Oct 30th, 2010. We will do two sets starting at 7:30pm and finishing at 9:30pm. With me will be Harvie S on bass, James Weidman on piano, and Gene Jackson on drums. We will be playing music from my "Modes of Limited Transcendence" album. The details: Saturday, October 30th, 2010 -- 7:30-9:30pm Miles Café As an added bonus for you, if you RSVP and send me an email with your name and attend the gig, you will receive a free copy of the "Modes of Limited Transcendence" CD at the performance. This album features Tigran Hamasyan on piano, Harvie S on bass, Tyshawn Sorey on drums, and myself on composition and guitar. It received a SESAC Outstanding Jazz Performance Award earlier this year. Well, that is about it for now. Hope to see you at one of my gigs soon. Gene
November 2009 Greetings, A quick update to let you know I will be taking my trio to perform at La Lanterna/Bar Next Door on Nov. 21, 2009. This club is a great place to listen to live jazz music. It is very intimate and comfortable. The music sounds as it should and the vibe is great for musicians as well as the audience. It is in the heart of Greenwich Village right around the corner from Blue Note. The price is very reasonable as well. I will be presenting music in a trio format. The rhythm section will be Harvie S on bass and Gene Jackson on drums. Here are the details: When: Nov. 21, 2009 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM sets For more info: visit http://lalanternacaffe.com/ We will be performing my originals and interpretations of some jazz standards. My next album will be coming up in 2010. I am getting busy composing the new music. Look out for it! And lastly, have a very happy holiday season. It is upon us again so quickly. Gene
September 2009 Thanks for visiting. I just wanted to let you all know that I will be back at the Blue Note on Sept 13, 2009. I will be presenting music in a double guitar quartet format with Rodney Jones. The rhythm section will be Harvie S on bass and Joey Saylor on drums. Here are the details: September 13, 2009 - 12:30pm and 2:30pm sets For more info: visit www.bluenote.net We will be doing originals by members and interpretations of some jazz standards as well. Hope everyone had a productive and healthy summer. It flew by for me and looking forward to the fall! Gene
May 2008 Hello and thanks for reading. Some updates to what is going on here in NYC with my music. I’ve finally finished composing for the new album. Took a heck of a lot of work and effort but I am finished and that’s that. No more revisions, etc. I think it reflects where I am at honestly and I will be recording the music in June. I think the music has grown a bit since my last work "Sandbox and Sanctum." Joining me for this experience is Harvie S on bass, Tyshawn Sorey on drums, and Tigran Hamasyan on piano. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful group of musicians to work with and to document my music. Especially, considering there is not much of a commercial upside to my music. Perhaps that is why these men are at my side. I have absolutely no use for music made for some commercial product/entertainment. As I have grown older, my long lingering doubts of living one’s life to satisfy some imagined commercial need is even stronger. In my opinion, the customer is not always right. I create what I must create. I do what I can to get the music "out there" but other than that, I think the music takes a life of its own once it is released. The music will do what it was meant to do. I think, although it is a difficult time in this world now, a time of great opportunity exists for philosophers, artists, and all creative spirits. The world is in a dire need for us now. And because of the technological time that we live in, it has become much easier for us to share our works. To have contributed what you were meant to contribute to this world is something only the happiest man can say at the end of life. Harvie S and I go back a bunch of years now. Heís sort of a "brother in spirit" to me. Notice our last names are the same phonetically. Harvie, to me, is the perfect bass player. He makes the music sound better and has a tremendous amount of character in his playing. Great feel and musicality as well. Glad he’s on board. Tyshawn Sorey started playing with my group in 2007. He’s a young player but a wonderful artist. His musicianship far exceeds his age. He’s getting real busy now with the likes of Steve Coleman. His schedule worked out so it’ll be great to hear how he brings his musical vision to the music at hand. Tyshawn has the ability to play what the music needs at any given moment. To play for the music instead of the ego. A rare character in most virtuoso musicians. And last but not least, Tigran Hamasyan will join us on the recording. I have never worked with Tigran. But when I heard his music, I knew right away that he would be perfect for this music. I was quite surprised when I found out he’s only in his very early twenties! He’s based in Paris and LA, I think. Certainly, I would have killed to be able to play as well as he does at 21 years of age. I believe he’s also the winner of the Monk Piano Competition couple of years ago. Although I find Competition and Art to be 180 degrees apart, alas, it is still a great achievement for such a young man. Reminds me of something a very wise man told me once: "I find the notion of having Miss Universe competitions to be insulting and demeaning. But the women are beautiful." I have some performance dates in June in conjunction with the Recording Dates. June 12 at Cachaca, June 17 at Drom, June 21 at Open Road Park, and June 9 at Spike Hill. Please check the Jazzcorner Gig page to see the details. I’ll post the info there. Ciao for now. See you at one of my gigs! Gene
February 2008 Thanks for visiting my site. It's been a year since I updated the Projects page. Time just flew by and doesn't seem that long at all. Note to self: need to do a better job updating website. A lot has happened since the last update and after many gigs and composing and tweaking my new compositions, I'll be recording my next album in the next few months. The scheduling is tough as everyone is busy and I have to try to find a time when everyone is in town for the sessions. I hope the music will reflect the growth in my musical expression since my last album. For me, it doesn't make too much sense to put out a bunch of the same stuff over and over again. I agree with Bill Evans that you should let the music dictate when to put out another album. Bill Evans the pianist, that is. My group will be performing at the Blue Note for the 7th time on February 17th, 2008. It's a Sunday and the performance starts at 12:30PM. The second set is at 2:30PM. My group is still a quartet but I am now using a piano instead of a saxophone. A whole new color and density to my music comes out by having a good pianist in the band. The group will be Harvie S on bass, Gene Jackson on drums, Toru Dodo on piano, and myself on guitar. The brunch is very family friendly and a lot of fun. My son who is now 4 years old will be attending so I will have to play my best! I hope you can come and enjoy the music and be part of the creative experience. The music can be so much better with a great audience to inspire the process. I've been doing quite a bit of sideman gigs lately. It is kind of fun to just show up and play without worrying about all the things the leader has to deal with in the course of any gig. Check out my www.myspace.com/jazzgenemusic site to see my schedule of performances. I also list my own gigs here at the Jazzcorner gig calendar so keep an eye on that. There might be some videos coming from upcoming gigs so if they are presentable, I will upload some clips to checkout. Keep checking my site for updates. Well, let's see. That is about it off the top of my head. I am going to upload some more current pictures for the gallery and some updates to Divertimento so come back soon! Ciao,
Gene
I have a new collective trio project with Tomas Fujiwara on drums and Chris Higgins on bass. We will be doing our first public performance at ABC no Rio on February 18th. The 1 set performance starts at 8PM. ABC no Rio is one of the only art/community centers left in New York City. It is located at 156 Rivington Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I am excited about the musical possibilities of this trio. Please come and support the music as well as the art center. On March 11th, I will bring my group to the Blue Note for the sixth time. The performance starts in the afternoon at 12:30PM. Being a brunch performance, it is family friendly. My 3 year old son will be attending as he seems to really like music. The quartet will be Harvie S on bass, Eric Person on sax, Pete Zimmer on drums, and myself on guitar. We will be performing some of the new material to be recorded later this year for my follow up album to Sandbox and Sanctum. I have few more pieces to finish composing and I will be off to the studio to record the next album. I plan for a release later this fall. It will have a different theme than my last album but carry over the spiritual nature of the music. I want to mention that I have begun endorsing couple of musical instruments. I now play a CP Thornton guitar and Leonardo Speaker cabinets. I am in the process of adding a gear page to my site but wanted to mention these 2 great tools now. Luthier CP Thornton built a guitar for me that is seamless for me to express my music. The Leonardo speaker cabinets are focused and emits great tone. It works great in a jazz context. Check them out on the web if you have interest in guitar gear. I'll give the details along with pictures as my gear page develops. During the last fall, my family moved to a new home here in New York. We are very happy as the place is more than double the space of my previous digs. My studio is now in business and can take on most post recording session projects. Mixing and mastering for CD release is its strength. Contact me for more info at gene@jazzgenemusic.com if you have a project in mind. Also, I have a few slots open for serious advanced students.
Well, that seems like all for now. See you at one of my gigs.
First, I'd like to mention my concert at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium on March 28th, 2006. The quartet will feature Dave Liebman, Harvie S, Take Toriyama, and myself. Dave played with my group at the Blue Note last November and he sounded wonderful on the music. The concert is at 8PM and 9:30PM. 53 E11th St, NY, NY 10003. In order to make this concert a success, I need you to please attend and show your support for the music. Thanks. Thanks to all of you who have emailed me about my latest cd. I appreciate all your feedback. The album has received great reviews (you can see some of them on the divertimento page) and is now playing on a lot of jazz radio stations. If you can call your radio station to request my CD, that would be very helpful. As an independent artist, I have to rely on grassroots promotion to survive. And I mean that literally. A friend of mine who is a well known musician recommended signing up at myspace.com. I thought he was joking because I had heard some negative things about that site. However, upon further investigation, I realized that the music aspect of the site is not bad at all. Also, some very prominent musicians have sites there as well. So, for all of you who are members of myspace.com, here is my url: www.myspace.com/jazzgenemusic. You can check out tunes of mine and see my upcoming performances and read my blogs. As well as becoming my cyber "friend". By the way, my album "Sandbox and Sanctum" was voted one of the top 10 albums of 2005 by AllAboutJazz. The composition "Free 2 Fast" placed in the semi-finals of the ISC Composition Contest and Discmaker's Independent Music World Series. Well, bye for now. Come by one of my gigs and say hello.
Gene
I am presenting my music in trio format on November 2 at Water Street Lounge in Brooklyn. Harvie S will play bass and Beaver Bausch on drums. It starts at 9PM. On November 4th, I am trying something different and will do a quartet without a saxophone. Daniel Kelley will play the keyboards. This will be at Freddy's Backroom in Brooklyn and starts at 10:30PM. Harvie S and Gene Jackson makes up the rhythm section. On November 13th, I will be back at Blue Note with a very special guest. Dave Liebman will be joining my group for the performance. The performance will start at 12:30PM and the second set is at 2:30PM. Harvie S will play bass and Ted Poor on drums. I am quite excited about having Lieb on the gig. I have been listening to his music for over 20 years and, like a lot of other musicians, really like his work. So for me, it will be a musical performance which will put a mark regarding where I am at musically. You can check out all of this stuff on my itinerary page as well. By the way, shoot me an email (Gene Ess) if you want to share your opinions or have any questions regarding my music. I have an upcoming project in December playing my laptop and guitar in a "non-jazz" context. I'll post more info on it later as I am out of time now.
See you out there!
My new album "Sandbox and Sanctum - Song Cycle for Quartet" has been released from SIMP Records and is doing very well. The album was one of the top 10 requested and played albums during August and September on WNUR. The reviews have been very positive and I have received encouraging words from some veteran musicians as well. Some of these musicians, I have listened to since my teen age years and have been sort of my musical role model so it is very meaningful to me. One of them is Dave Liebman. He will be joining my group at the Blue Note on November 13th for a performance I am sure I will remember for sometime. Dave has been very positive and supportive of my musical efforts and I am very excited to have him play with my group. The rhythm section is excellent as well with Harvie S on bass and Ted Poor on drums. As a future project, I hope to do an album with Dave so stay tuned! Some other going ons:
On October 9th, I will be performing my music at the Europa Club with Harvie S and Gene Jackson. The performance starts at 8PM.
Where: Europa Club located at: 98-104 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
And on October 21, my quartet will be at Kavehaz Jazz CafÈ. The group will be with Donny McCaslin on sax, Harvie S on bass, and filling in for Gene Jackson, Take Toriyama on drums. The performance starts at 9:30PM.
What: Highlighting material from "Sandbox and Sanctum, Song Cycle for Quartet.
Reviews of "Sandbox and Sanctum"
The album is available from: www.jazzgenemusic.com, www.cdbaby.com, www.amazon.com, and itunes as well. Thanks for listening and please support real music before we are all swallowed up by "corporate music"Ö peace, Gene.
Just want to give a big thank you to all of you that came to my Blue Note gig on May 29th. It was a full house again and the band really enjoyed playing the music for you. I hope you enjoyed the music as well. My new album is titled 'Sandbox & Sanctum - Song Cycle for Quartet' and will be released from SIMP Records next month. It is in replication at this moment so I am quite excited about it. I will put it up on the Recordings page as soon as I can. You will be able to hear some track clips and buy the album through that page. I am already planning for my next album and am thinking about doing some collaborative work with Daniel Kelly. Daniel and I have discussed it a little bit and hopefully, it will lead to good music. If you don't know Daniel, he's a great pianist/musician and regularly plays in Harvie S Group. Let's see, some gig info: On June 18th, I will be back at Kavehaz with John O'Gallagher on sax, Harvie S on bass, and Gene Jackson on drums. It all starts at 10PM. For more info: www.kavehaz.com On June 30th, I will do a trio gig at this new spot called Swanky's Speakeasy. It is located at 513 Columbus Avenue between 84th and 85th Street in Manhattan. The hit starts at 9PM. For more info: 212-579-2900. On July 7th, my group will be at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It will be the full group with Donny McCaslin on sax, Harvie S on bass, and Gene Jackson on drums. My album should be out by then so I hope to have some fresh copies there for sale. Come down and hang! For more info: call 718-789-2762. The gig starts at 9PM.
On July 16th, I will be at Kavehaz again with my old friend Greg Tardy on sax, Gene Jackson on drums, and Harvie S on bass. Music starts at 10PM.
My new album has been recorded and is being mixed and mastered as we speak. I am quite excited about the music on it and feel it was worth the wait and hard work to get the music just right. I'll have it up on my recordings page as soon as it is released. The album is made up of 8 quartet pieces which all tie in together. Sort of like 8 movements in a suite. I composed them over the past 12 months or so. Harvie S, Donny McCaslin, and Gene Jackson played great on it and I am very pleased with the way it came out. The music is quite challenging and was recorded after just one short rehearsal and has a "live" vibe to the whole album. On May 7th, I'll play some of my new music at Kavehaz with Harvie S on bass, John O'Gallagher on alto saxophone, and Beaver Bausch. Kavehaz is located at 37 West 26th Street in Manhattan. For more info, check out www.kavehaz.com. The gig starts at 10PM. On May 29th, I will be back at the Blue Note with my quartet. Gene Jackson will be in Japan so Beaver Bausch will fill in on the drums. Beaver plays regularly in Harvie S Group and is a great drummer. Harvie S and Donny McCaslin will be on hand to contribute their music as well. We will be playing music from the upcoming album as a preview to the release.
The info: Blue Note, 131 W3rd Street, New York, NY. Tel: 212-475-8592. The 1st set is at 12:30PM and the 2nd at 2:30PM. It should be a great gig so come on down and enjoy some good music. The cover, I think is like $20.00 and that includes brunch and a drink so it is a great deal.
It took quite a while to finish writing all the music for it but I finally feel the music is now right to do an album. I'll have the album up on my Recordings page when it is finally released. I have an upcoming project/gig with John O'Gallagher in May but I'll write more about it later. I am planning to do some new music for that one in a different direction.
Anyhow, I am spending most of my waking hours these days preparing for the recording and hopefully all the work I've put into it will be meaningful.
My group will be performing at the Kavehaz Jazz CafÈ on January 29, 2005. The gig starts at 10PM and goes until 1AM. It'll be a nice group with Harvie S on bass, Donny McCaslin on sax, Mark Ferber on drums, and yours truly on guitar. Kavehaz is located at 37 W26th Street in Manhattan. Call 212.343.0612 for more info. My next recording will be in March with Harvie S, Donny McCaslin, and Gene Jackson. I hope to have it released by June of this year. This will be more of an "acoustic" sound recording and the music will be all original. You'll be able to check it out here on my recordings page first, so come back and visit. I've also added more multi-media music at Productiontrax.com so if you are interested in such genre, check it out there.
I am finally going to update my Divertimento page in the next couple of weeks. I am kind of shocked that it has been that long since I last added to it.
Hope to see you at one of my gigs!
Gene Ess
A big thank you to all of you that made it to my last Blue Note gig. It was a lot of fun and it is always a bonus to play to a full house. I thought Harvie S sounded fantastic considering we didn't get to rehearse much at all. It is always a challenge to play your original material with such busy musicians as rehearsals are very difficult to schedule. Obviously, the economics of "music as art" just doesn't allow for a full time working ensemble in this day and age for almost all of us. We all have to juggle bunch of different projects which makes it tough to keep a steady band. AnyhowÖ I am ecstatic to be able to record this group next February if I can manage everyone's schedules. Harvie S is on board already and I am looking forward to it. I'll keep you posted regarding this recording. Also, a project with Gene Jackson, David Berkman, Mike Pope, and myself is still alive. We are recording later this month and hopefully, we will be able to present our original music at different venues around the world. Lastly, I have another electronic album on the back burner. My last album track called "Sanpan" was picked for the title/credit track for an upcoming movie in U.K. You can hear some samples of my music for multimedia at www.productiontrax.com.
Well, 2004 is almost over. This year has been a great year for me and my family. We overcame some adversities and came out even better off. My son, Ryo is 16 months old and is the greatest pleasure in my life. I've met new friends and musicians this year and I thank all of you who have been part of our lives. Even the Boston Redsox won the World Series! I've been a suffering Redsox fanatic since 1985 and this past season was a magical year. September 2004 Some updates and news: My group will be playing at the Kavehaz Jazz Café on September 3 and 4, 2004. The sets start at 10PM. I will be playing some of my own music with Andy McKee on bass, Mika Pohjola on piano, and Gene Jackson on drums. Kavehaz is at 37 W26th Street near 6th Avenue in Manhattan. For more info, go to www.kavehaz.com. On September 26, I will be playing at the Blue Note. Harvie S will be playing bass, Donny McCaslin on sax, and Gene Jackson on drums. Blue Note set times are 12:30PM and 2:30PM. This should be a fun gig. Iíve always enjoyed listening to Harvie S and playing with him on this gig should be a lot of fun. I've received quite a bit of email questions regarding digital music hardware/software. I will be putting up some of what I think about such gear on my Divertimento page soon. Kind of like my own review column. I think I will start with the new Max/MSP 4.5 for PC and Ableton's Live 4.0.1. Check it out. Hope the summer has been productive for all of you. Thanks for visiting my site. July 2004 Hello and thanks for visiting my site. Things have been quite busy. My son is turning 1 year old this August 2nd so I am quite a proud papa these days. He seems to enjoy Jaki Byard music very much but doesn't care for John Coltrane, yetÖ HmmmÖ Anyway, here are some things that are coming up:
Gene
May 2004 My group will be playing at the Kavehaz Jazz CafÈ on May 14th and May 15th. The performance starts at 10PM both nights. Kavehaz is located at 37 W26th Street in New York City. Here is a number to call if you need more info: 212.343.0612. I am featuring 2 different saxophone players for this gig. On the 14th, John O'Gallagher will be featured and on the 15th, it will be Donny McCaslin. I've known both Donny and John for almost 20 years! I am quite happy to have them on this gig, since we don't get to hook up too often. They both are sounding beautiful these days. Last but not least, Gene Jackson will be on drums as usual. Herbie Hancock just called him again for a gig and there is a reason for that. Gene is a great drummer and we always hook up musically. Thomas Morgan will be playing bass. After a few gigs with Thomas, I think he will really do great here in NY. Thomas is a very musical player and there is something very succinct in his playing. Thanks to all of you who made it down to the CBGB Lounge gig I did with Al Foster. It was a lot of fun and great hooking up with Al. He's a very down to earth guy and his sense of playing jazz music is amazing. Ciao for now! Come down to Kavehaz if you can and say hello. It is a very nice hang and the price is right! (No cover) Gene
April 2004 My upcoming gig at CBGB Lounge on April 18th will feature Al Foster on the drums. It should be a lot of fun! Greg Tardy will be on sax and Thomas Morgan on bass. I'll be on guitar as always. Greg Tardy and I have worked together in the past with Rashied Ali on some other projects. It'll be great to play with him again. Thomas Morgan is a young bass player but already is making a name for himself. Al Foster doesn't need any introduction to jazz fans. Suffice to say he was one of Miles' favorite drummers. It will be a great band so come down and enjoy the music. The set starts at 9 PM! If you need more info, send me an email at gene@jazzgenemusic.com. On the 23rd of April, I'll be presenting my group at this club called The Jazz in Brooklyn. It is kind of new, so if you need to get more info on where it is, call 718-453-7825. It'll be the same quartet with Gene Jackson on drums instead of Al Foster. Lately, I have done a few mastering projects in my studio. I use Wavelab 4.0 by Steinberg and can master your recording projects. I mastered my Sunrise Falling album so you can check that out if you would like to hear a sample. Lastly, I have just started correspondence lessons, so if you are interested in taking lessons but do not live in New York City, you can email me and I can give you the details. Until next update, ciao!
February 2004
Kavehaz is located at: It'll be a nice hang so come on by. Let's seeÖ Trying to get my album done and it is taking longer than I thought. I guess you just can't force creativity when composing is concerned. In the meantime, I have some gigs coming up which I will post shortly when I have more definite info on the musicians involved. That is about it for now. This winter is as cold as I remember NY being. It is good incentive to stay in and practice all day and night! Stay warm. Gene
Here are some reviews of my Sunrise Falling album released earlier this year:
"In this album, Gene Ess draws the traits that identify his style with firm brush strokes. On the one hand, we have his jazz streak, and on the other hand, his exquisite sensitivity with the guitar, and as a final complement, his taste for sophisticated rhythms. His skill as a musician is sufficiently illustrated with his work in this CD, as well as the quality of the artists he has played with throughout his career, such as Carlos Santana. Sunrise Falling is a good sample of powerful Jazz-Rock with touches of Synth-Pop.
"Even if you knew who Gene Shimosato was, you're still going to be surprised when you hear Gene Ess! Fans of electronic music and fusion will be most pleasantly surprised with Sunrise Falling. Ess lays it on thick with the aural fruits from expert tinkering with his self-built, PC-based studio and tweaked-out tones produced from a diverse arsenal of axes. An absolutely world-class core rhythm tandem of Matt Garrison and Jojo Mayer provides support, along with guest shots from past associates Rashied Ali (yes, of John Coltrane renown) and groove-merchant Fima Ephron. What makes Ess, Garrison and Mayer so mind-blowing as a unit is not only their familiarity with each other from past and present associations, but also their combined stylistic expertise at just about everything else, from provincial to progressive."
"Sunrise Falling by Gene Ess takes a different approach to the guitar power trio, filling in every pixel of sound with electronic noise, samples, squelches and effects. The bassist for the majority of tracks is Matt Garrison (son of Coltrane bassist Jimmy) who was very impressive on Herbie Hancock's Future2Future tour. Ess occasionally turns off the synths for a bit of tasteful "poodle-poodle" style jazz, but he likes his analogue synths and sound trickery, including a weird phasing effect on the title track that gets right inside the cavities of your skull - a kind of mental floss. Other titles reflect Ess's Japanese heritage, grappling with the challenging tuning and pitch-following system of the traditional Roland guitar synth on Variant and playing tasteful, Koto-like acoustic guitar on Triptych and Katana."
John L. Walters, The Guardian, U.K. |
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