NEWS
3/26/12
Lots of nice gigs are on the books for this spring and summer, including the Berks Jazz Festival with Greg Hatza, and the Marthas Vineyard Jazz Festival with Larry Brown. Many more local dates are being added, so please check my calendar page for updates.
I've now got a bunch performance videos up on my you tube channel, including some from a very recent gig at HR-57 here in DC, and an entire night's worth of clips from a Greg Hatza hit at the old New Haven Lounge in Baltimore. This is mostly warts-and-all stuff with no editing. I hope you enjoy it and feel inclined to subscribe to my channel!
Coming up in April is the 18th annual GW Jazz Fest which features the student jazz ensembles of the George Washington University where I've taught for the last 17 years. This year the groups will be performing at DC venues HR-57, Busboys and Poets, and Twins Jazz. There will be aditional events on campus and the Big Band will also partake in the annual Duke Ellington Birthday Concert in Ellington Park. More details to be posted here real soon.
Jazz writer and critic Scott Yanow has written a fine review of Organic Matter. You can read it here. Also, Robert Sutton has posted a couple of nice reviews at allaboutjazz.com and jazzcorner.com.
I've recently been back into the studio with Origem, the amazing brazilian jazz outfit led by brothers Leo and Alejandro Lucini. This recording also features two great pianists: Federico Pena (Marcus Miller band) and Alex Brown (Paquito D' Rivera).
The Pierce, Putter and Rumble CD is finally being prepared for release. These are live recordings of free-improvised music with my GWU colleagues Jim Levy on piano and Steve Hilmy on electronics. Please go to my video page to see a clip of "l'impusion outré" recorded at the Electric Possible concert series.
Now available for free exclusively on this site is Live In Lima, recorded in August '08 at the Jazz Zone club in Lima, Peru. I had the wonderful opportunity to play with the amazing musicians heard here, visit breathtaking (literally) Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and experience firsthand the incredible food (Ceviche! Lomo saltado! Cuy!) and people of a remarkable culture. To see a photo album of this trip on my facebook page, click here.
I'm pleased to announce that Organic Matter won the Washington Area Music Award (Wammie) for "best jazz recording" of 2009. This CD features some truly great playing by Greg Hatza, Mike Pavone and Marty Morrison on eight of my original tunes. I'm very proud of this project and hope you'll check it out. Click here for more info.
Thanks again for stopping by. Please check back often for updates on performances, recordings, teaching and other activities. I hope you will feel free to contact me with any comments, suggestions, or just to say hello.
Cheers,
PF
