WBGO Blog

  • FFEAR with Ole Mathisen and Chris Washburne on JazzSet

    November 25, 2011. Posted by Becca Pulliam.

    Add new comment | Filed under: chris washburne, FFEAR, Jazz Alive, JazzSet, Ole Mathisen, Tony Moreno

    Things are not what they seem to be .. a four-piece group sounds like a larger ensemble, playing music that is a convincing illusion.

    Tune in Sunday, November 27, at 6pm and/or Wednesday, November 30 at 6:30 for FFEAR on JazzSet. It's not scary, it's seductive as reed man Ole Mathisen carries us away from the familiar with microtonal harmony and layered rhythms, then brings us home, changed.

    FFEAR Photo by Lena Adasheva
    FFEAR Photo by Lena Adasheva

    Chris Washburne plays trombone and Tony Moreno, drums, with Ole's brother Per Mathisen from Norway on bass at Miller Theater, Columbia University, New York. Recording and Surround Sound mix by Duke Markos.

    Ole practices alternate fingerings to produce tones that are neither natural, flat nor sharp but somewhere in between. Three-quarter tones. But, as Chris says, these in-between pitches already live in jazz; for one example, blues singers use them liberally to tell stories and express  emotion.

    Ole's composition "Mirage" was commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works, funded generously by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

    Listen on demand any time during the week, here.

    © 2011 WBGO

  • The Return of Salsa Meets Jazz

    November 3, 2008. Posted by Vincent Bochis.

    Add new comment | Filed under: awilda, baritone saxophonist, bleecker, bobby sanabria, camero, chris washburne, folktales, greenwich village, guest artist, impresario, Jazz Alive, jazz classics, jazz returns, larry harlow, latin jazz, le poisson rouge, Notes, ronnie cuber, section members, tin tin deo, trombonist, virtuosity

    Bobby Sanabria
    Last month, Salsa Meets Jazz returned to Greenwich Village. The show was held at Le Poisson Rouge, located at the site of the old Village Gate, at Bleecker and Thompson, where Salsa Meets Jazz originated in the 1980's.Bobby Sanabria's nineteen piece juggernaut roared through two sets. The first set included new power arrangements of Latin jazz classics "Manteca" and "Tin Tin Deo." Selections from the band's latest album Big Band Urban Folktales included trombonist Chris Washburne's composition "Pink," which Sanabria described as a song that captures the sights in the city every summer. Trumpet great John Faddis' muscular virtuosity in "Tin Tin Deo" set the bar for the ozone-piercing trumpet work of the four regular section members. The defining rhythms of legendary guest artist, conguero Candido Camero, demonstrated that he continues, at the age of 87, to be a grand master who delights in connecting with the audience. Original Village Gate impresario Art D'Lugoff, who serves as a consultant to Salsa Meets Jazz and other productions, was on hand. WBGO's Awilda Rivera was the host for the evening.

    On December 1, Salsa Meets Jazz returns to Le Poisson Rouge. Latin Jazz icon Larry Harlow and his orchestra will be joined by guest artist, the renowned baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber.

    © 2008 WBGO