news (updated 1/7/10)

Congratulations to Mike Stern on the Grammy nomination for his stellar new CD 'Big Neighborhood' on Head's Up Records - his 6th nomination!

New Clients (updated 1/7/10)

The Janet Williamson Music Agency warmly welcomes the following new clients:

Grammy-nominated Ignacio Berroa.

Mr. Berroa has been recognized by many as one of the greatest drummers of our time. His numerous contributions to the American music scene have earned him a place among a very selective group of artists known to have set new musical trends for the 20th century. Jazz Legend Dizzy Gillespie best defined Ignacio as..."The only Latin drummer in the world, in the history of American music that intimately knows both worlds; his native Afro-Cuban music as well as Jazz..."

Avishai Cohen ‘Aurora’

Superb bassist and composer extraordinaire, Avishai Cohen, performs evocative music from his latest and debut release on the EMI label, ‘Aurora,’ music that speaks of life, love, youth and freedom. His quintet of virtuosi, Shai Maestro/piano, Karen Malka/voice, Amos Hoffman/oud, Itmar Doari/percussion and Avishai Cohen on acoustic and electric basses and vocals synthesizes extraordinary musicianship with emotive singing in Hebrew, English, Spanish, and Ladino and reaches beyond jazz to include musical modes from many cultures of the world.
‘This new album imposes a grace beyond jazz, this grace has something to do with antique eastern musics, flamenco, folk and pop music, a bright blend distilled with mastery.” Le Journal du Dimanche
"....a transcendent example of the capacity of music...to reach beyond geographical and political boundaries" - Don Heckman, The Los Angeles Times
"...one of the best double-bassists in the world.” - Kerstan Mackness, Time Out London

Steve Smith, George Brooks, Prasanna: Raga Bop Trio
Raga Bop Trio is guitarist Prasanna Ramaswamy, saxophonist George Brooks and drummer Steve Smith, three remarkable musical talents expressing a distinctly twenty-first century perspective on global music collaboration. The Raga Bop Trio is grounded in jazz, with its focus on groove, atmosphere and harmonic adventure, yet deeply rooted in the rhythmic and melodic traditions of Indian classical music.

Steve Smith's Vital Legacy
Playing the music of Vital Information and Jazz Legacy,
featuring:

Steve Smith (Steps Ahead/Journey) - drums
Andy Fusco (Buddy Rich/Mel Lewis) - alto sax
Mark Soskin (Sonny Rollins/Herbie Mann) - keyboards
Vinny Valentino (Jimmy McGriff/Bill Evans) - guitar
Baron Browne (Jean-Luc Ponty/Billy Cobham) – bass

In a musical world where keeping a working band has proven difficult for many bandleaders, drummer-bandleader Steve Smith has managed to keep two bands working for the past decade. Smith’s jazz-rock band Vital Information, has been working and recording for 27 years, while his straight-ahead group Jazz Legacy (which began as a Buddy Rich alumni group called Buddy’s Buddies) has been touring and recording since 1999. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for this prolific bandleader, who has made a career out of amalgamating the many twists of his musical calling, to create a new band, Vital Legacy, which Smith refers to as, “The best of both worlds!”

The Janet Williamson Music Agency welcomes back…

Storms Nocturnes

Tim Garland/Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer are STORMS/NOCTURNES

MOJO November 2001 CD of the Month "Delicious meeting of superior jazz minds:"

"From the folk-jazz fusion of Lammas to the post-bop of Chick Corea's Origin to his own substantial projects, reedsman Tim Garland's sparkling, refined musical imagination always enhances any situation. Pianist Geoffrey Keezer and vibesman Joe Locke too are favorite sidemen, formidable leaders and the epitome of neo hard-boppers with chops and wit beyond the call of duty. This amazing music features the three musicians operating as equals, weaving and bubbling... There's plenty of muscle here but little muscle-flexing, the ensemble textures are carefully designed and astoundingly varied and the solos apt and inspired. It hardly gets better than this. " - Chris Ingham

Storms/Nocturnes Garland- saxes, bs clarinet/Keezer- pno/Locke- vbs. This transatlantic "chamber" trio features Garland's music for piano,mallets and woodwind. An exuberant and riveting trio of virtuosi, Geoffrey Keezer (USA) first made a name for himself with Art Blakey and since worked with many jazz legends and continues to work in partnership with world class musicians from all genres.
Joe Locke is regarded by many to be the most gifted vibraphonist of his generation. In addition to his strengths as an instrumentalist, recent recordings and live performances by The Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group, The Joe Locke Quartet, Rev.elation - The Music of Milt Jackson and his group "4 Walls of Freedom", offer evidence of his ever-growing stature as a band leader, composer and conceptualist.