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Venezuela Tour, Grammy Voting & More: Nov ’14 newsletter

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DSC_9247November 2014

Dear friends of Street Beat, Project Hansori and my other musical surfacings:

Below are two announcements of things where although local attendance isn’t possible, something major is happening. But first, I’ll start with something that folks around NYC certainly can attend.

BIG BAND CONCERT:
A long-awaited Project Hansori performance happens this month at the Sounds of Arts Festival presented by Multicultural Sonic Evolution (MuSE). Project Hansori’s program “Land Bridge” –connecting East Asia and North America in a Jazz setting– kicks off the festival which encompasses eight performances over six days in Queens. This festival usually sells out so it’s wise to buy tickets now (link below).

Wednesday Nov 19 @8pm
The Secret Theatre (in the Big Theatre)
4402 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101
Tickets: General Admission $15 advance / $20 at the door, Seniors & Students with ID $12
Purchase tickets at http://musesoaf2014.brownpapertickets.com/
For more info about the festival visit http://musefriends.org/MuSE/Festival.html

GRAMMY VOTING:
My arrangement of John “Dizzy” Gillespie’s Manteca for Dave Chamberlain’s Band of Bones’ latest record Caravan has made an initial step in the Grammy awards process. NARAS members have until this Wednesday 11/5 to vote to include it on the ballot for potential Grammy nominations. Here’s the official listing:

Field: Composing/Arranging
Category: Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
MANTECA
Jeff Fairbanks, arranger (Dave Chamberlain’s Band Of Bones)

Parts of the album are also being considered in two other categories –  my friend Chris Rinaman’s arrangement of How Deep is the Ocean? (Best Arrangement Instruments and Vocals), and the album Caravan itself (Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album).

VENEZUELA TOUR:
What I hinted at last month is now official: Street Beat Brass will tour Venezuela this January, sponsored by the US State Department! Our tour runs Jan 14-21, and includes performances at the San Sebastian Cultural Festival and more, and teaching masterclasses for students including those of El Sistema (the iconic program that groomed LA Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel). I’m now working on setting up a NYC ‘send-off’ show (TBA) near the start of our tour. Links to our members:
Jason Wiseman www.facebook.com/jason.wiseman.9484?fref=ts
Mike Webster www.michaelwebstermusic.com
James Rogers www.facebook.com/james.rogers.79?fref=ts
Vin Scialla www.facebook.com/vin.scialla?fref=ts
Street Beat Brass Band www.streetbeatbrass.com

STREET BEAT OCTOBER RE-CAP:
It’s worth briefly re-capping Street Beat’s October schedule, which was jam-packed with a dozen gigs, including our third-in-a-row appearance the annual All Nite Soul festival. We also had not-so-private birthday parades around Manhattan streets, stormed offices, and entertained crowds at various Oktoberfest events. A slightly disturbing Halloween event we were potentially asked to do luckily fell through. The photo above, from Shawna Ryan at Big Personality Media, is from our gig at LIC Landing which provided a great backdrop of the NYC skyline.

Thank you for your interest in my music. See you on 11/19, or at our TBA pre-tour send-off show!

Jeff Fairbanks
Composer, Performer, Bandleader

Summer ’14 Newsletter

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SB @CU 2-12-14Thank you for your continued interest in my music. One has much to write about when their previous newsletter was six months prior. My immediate announcement below is a rare public Street Beat appearance, this Sunday night at a Lower East Side brewery. You’ll also enjoy watching and listening to a pair of Korean broadcasts I was involved in, one TV and one radio. HD videos from Project Hansori’s last concert are up. Sadly, in April we lost to cancer a truly individual artist with whom I was privileged to work, Fred Ho. Two articles about his passing are linked, including one from the NY Times.

STREET BEAT at PAULANER BRAUHAUS
Sunday July 13 at (tentatively) 8-10pm
Paulaner Brauhaus: 265 Bowery New York, NY 10002
212-780-0300 www.paulanernyc.com
Join Street Beat Brass Band at the Paulaner Brauhaus in the LES for a post-Germany-final World Cup after party. We hit after the close of Sunday’s match, between 7 and 8pm, and play tentatively until 10pm (depending on game ending time). We’ve done a lot of private gigs lately, but this is the first full-band public performance in some time. If you come early to watch the game there, it will play on two 8-foot screens. So what better world cup atmosphere than a funky brass band at a German biergarten and a room full of over-enthusiastic ex-pats?
https://www.facebook.com/events/490405481103483/

KOREAN TV BROADCAST ON MBC NEWS
The Korean TV network MBC interviewed me about my work exploring Gugak (that country’s indigenous performing arts), and interacting the same with American Jazz. The segment aired on this network’s nightly news show throughout South Korea on 2/10/14. Watch the video:
http://youtu.be/txAilvosDks

KOREAN RADIO BROADCAST and CONCERT
My wife Heun Choi and I joined Korean multi-instrumentalist Gamin and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi on stage 2/7/14 at Flushing Town Hall. The program included my composition Duduk. The concert was later broadcast on the Korean radio station Gugak FM, and can be heard at the below link. After clicking, you’ll  see a list of broadcasts with Korean titles.  Just click the third green button from the bottom. The entire concert will play on just one track.  Duduk starts after 1:02:00; and we’re also heard on an improvised piece after 49:00.
http://www.gugakfm.co.kr/aod_player.asp?Num=389&FileName=20140403-1930

“NEW SOUNDS OF EAST AND WEST” LIVE CONCERT VIDEOS
These were professionally filmed, and then edited by your truly. Due to the time-intensive work, I’ve been able to complete the two songs here. More will follow as I can complete them. Please enjoy and share them. To be notified as soon as I post new videos, just subscribe to my YouTube channel (via the links):
Cumberland Gap
http://youtu.be/CzTDzQriBPo
Kangwondo Arirang
http://youtu.be/hoYXVXMw9O0

ARRANGEMENT ON NEW ALBUM RELEASE
My arrangement of John “Dizzy” Gillespie’s Manteca appears on a new record just released by the Band of Bones, called Caravan. This band has eight trombones plus rhythm section. Trombonist Steve Turre and harmonica player Hendrick Meurkens appear elsewhere on the record. B.O.B. has been playing locally quite a bit, so there are plenty of chances to hear them play music from this new release.
http://bandofbones.com/

PROJECT HANSORI at SOUND OF ARTS FESTIVAL
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 8pm
Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd St Long Island City, Queens, NY 11101
Tickets TBA
Multicultural Sonic Evolution (MuSE) presents a concert of Project Hansori, as part of its 2014 Sound of Arts Festival. This festival will include more than 50 artists and will program the work of only living composers.  I’m happy to be invited as part by my friends at MuSE, a wonderful non-profit devoted to producing artistic events. This is the next concert on the horizon for Project Hansori since its last performance in January at the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan.
www.musefriends.org

PAST PERFORMANCES
Street Beat played quite a few private events through the winter and spring. We do it all, and couple gems were a proposal in Central Park (orchestrated from Brazil); a party for a German soccer fan club; an Upper East Side rooftop wedding; and an Upper West Side Bat Mitzvah (that unfortunately canceled).
We also gave some public performances including Columbia University in February and May; Sunnyside Gardens Park’s Memorial Day Fair; and a GrowNYC Green Market in June.

REMEMBERING FRED HO
Sadly, composer-activist-baritone saxophonist Fred Ho passed away 4/12/14. He was only 56 years old and had been battling cancer for years. Fred performed as a special guest with Project Hansori on several concerts and on the band’s recording Mulberry Street. Fred was a very unique and charismatic individual who spoke his mind, and who leaves behind a large legacy of his work, which deserves much attention. Below is a NY Times article announcing his death and celebrating him:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/arts/music/fred-ho-56-composer-and-radical-activist-dies.html?_r=1
This announcement by his former student Marie Incontrera is much more personal:
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/a-celebration-of-fred-ho/
His website is out of date but contains much info about his work:
http://www.bigredmediainc.com

Thanks for your interest,

Jeff Fairbanks
Composer, Performer, Band leader
www.fairbanksmusic.com

Five Fabulous Forthcoming ‘Formances; Film; Festival: Final Fall (December) ‘Fore Fourteen (’13) Fanfare (Newsletter)

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"Testimonial Gateway". Can you guess where it is?
“Testimonial Gateway”. Can you guess where it is?

Dear Friends:

I hope this holiday season finds you well.  There are a number of special upcoming performances I’m involved in that you’ll want to know about, detailed below.  Oddly enough, I’ll be performing on these much more with the piri than the trombone.  Also for those who missed it, I’ve linked below the just-released short film Temple of Memories which documents our exhilarating Jazz-Taiko collaboration at last year’s Locating the Sacred Festival.  Finally, see what in the world the image on the right is, at the end of this newsletter.


Saturday, December 7, 2013
 at 12pm Rami Seo’s World Music Ensemble Public School 3: 490 Hudson St Manhattan Admission TBA The core of the World Music Ensemble is leader Rami on kayageum (zither) backed up by bass, piano, and percussion.  I’ll join as a guest on piri (Korean oboe), as will a guest on haegeum (2-string fiddle), and Rami’s Korean percussion ensemble, Seven Heaven.  With a mix of Eastern and Western instruments, the group plays a mostly contemporary international pop-ish repertoire.

Thursday December 19, 2013 at 7pm
“New Sounds of East and West”: Project Hansori with guest Satoshi Takeishi All Saints Church 43-12 46th St Queens, NY.  FREE admission; donation suggested Project Hansori will perform a grant-funded program of new original music, “New Sounds of East and West”.  Centered on East Asian-infused Jazz, including a mind-warping take on an ancient royal ancestral shrine ritual piece.  Beautifully set in a quaint, Gothic style church.  Also featuring the in-demand Satoshi Takeishi on his unique array and style of Eastern percussion.  Link: www.facebook.com/events/277163692408571/
Funded in part by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Greater New York Arts Development Fund,  administered by Queens Council on the Arts.

Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 12-2:15pm
Project Hansori at the Asian American Arts Festival Children’s Museum of the Arts: 103 Charlton St Manhattan Admission TBA I’m thrilled to be invited to this festival aimed at sharing both traditional and especially contemporary manifestations of various Asian arts to new audiences, both children and adults.  Project Hansori’s mission and repertoire make it a perfect vehicle for this.  We’ll perform two sets, split by a workshop I’ll give about how I approach East Asian traditions from a Western Jazz context. Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/222776964559853/

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at 6-8pm
Asian American Arts Alliance Town Hall meeting Alwan for the Arts: 16 Beaver St 4FL Manhattan Admission free (potluck food offering suggested) I’ll make a brief appearance as a duo with myself on piri and Karen Kriegel on dance.  Town Hall meetings are monthly gatherings of members of “A4″, and are also open to the public.  They include short performances, discussions of member artists’ current projects, and an informal potluck.  Link: http://www.reverbnation.com/show/12085376

Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 12-2:15pm
East Wind at the Asian American Arts Festival Asian American Arts Festival at Children’s Museum of the Arts: 103 Charlton St Manhattan Admission TBA I’m putting together a small group of Eastern instruments for my second-week appearance at the Asian American Arts Festival.  The program “East Wind” aims to demystify Korean and various Eastern music and arts, and disseminate them to the audience.  I will play piri and trombone, in a mix of traditional and my original songs.  Also features Rami Seo on kayageum, Satoshi Takeishi on percussion, and Karen Kriegel on dance/choreography.  Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1403774713193969/

New Documentary Film Released about Fairbanks, Project Hansori:
The Temple of Memories In case you haven’t seen it yet, please check out The Temple of Memories, the new documentary short film by Rene Sing and OwlSpring Media, about my experiences performing at the Asian American Arts Alliance’s 2012 Locating the Sacred Festival.  Entertaining and informative, it takes viewers behind the scenes of an epic and unlikely musical collaboration between Japanese Taiko and Big Band Jazz, set in NYC’s oldest Buddhist temple.  We get up close to the Taiko group Soh Daiko and my Jazz band, Project Hansori, interwoven with my close, candid interviews. Watch: https://vimeo.com/67056594.

Other News…
…Jin Yunkyong, of the National Gugak Center’s Traditional Orchestra, gave a performance of my composition Duduk for solo piri during her November 24 recital at Seoul Culture Station 284.  …I can’t share it with you, but I did get to review the rough mix of the Band of Bones recording of my arrangement of Manteca.  It’s infectiously funky, and the congas and flute really compliment the rhythm and eight screaming trombones.  Looking forward very much to its eventual release on what will be the band’s second album.  …Frequent ‘Hansorian’ Paul Nedzela embarks on an extensive US tour with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra… …And Linda Oh releases new album on Dave Douglas’ label Greenleaf…

Enough already— the image…? I’m running a little contest.  The arch pictured is part of what is called the Testimonial Gateway, which my family recently visited.  It was built for a specific meaning, but its striking symbolism can evoke a different doorway imagery for any individual gazing through it.  I’d love to hear what path it makes you think of taking.  –Ah yes, the contest…  If you can name the town it’s in, there’s a free download card of my music, courtesy of the IMA Awards, waiting for you at any of the above performances.  (Limited to first four winners, so email me here first).  Hint: the town rhymes with Blue Waltz.

Feel free to reply here on comment on Vimeo with any feedback you have about the film — I’m curious to hear it.  Also I hope to see many of you and say Hi at one or more of my upcoming shows.  They’re all very different!  Have a happy, safe Christmas or Holidays, hopefully surrounded by friends and family.  Or… Hopefully have happy, healthy, hilarious, high-quality, whole-hearted, home-cooked, hunger-hindering holidays (harmonious households, holding hands, hobbies held high wholly heighten history’s hallowed hiatus).

Thank you,

Jeff Fairbanks Composer, Performer, Bandleader

New Film and Concert of Project Hansori, and Other Announcements

Announcements, Newsletters, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Temple of Memories JF still shot

Dear Friends,

In the five months since my last newsletter I’ve racked up quite a few noteworthy announcements. I hope to re-connect with many of you when my big band, Project Hansori, saddles up for an entire evening of my brand new music in a beautiful setting in my own neighborhood (details below). But first, enjoy this newly-released video featuring yours truly, embedded above and linked here.

FEATURED IN FILM: I’m thrilled to announce the release of The Temple of Memories, a new documentary short film by Rene Sing and OwlSpring Media, about my experiences performing at the 2012 Locating the Sacred Festival. Entertaining and informative, it takes viewers behind the scenes of an epic and unlikely musical collaboration between Japanese Taiko and Big Band Jazz, set in NYC’s oldest Buddhist temple. We get up close to the Taiko group Soh Daiko and my Jazz band, Project Hansori, interwoven with my close, candid interviews. Link: https://vimeo.com/67056594.

Project Hansori and Soh Daiko performing at the Locating the Sacred Festival.
Project Hansori and Soh Daiko performing at the Locating the Sacred Festival.

UPCOMING SHOW: Thursday, December 19th at 7pm
Project Hansori performs “New Sounds of East and West All Saints Church 43-12 46th St Sunnyside, Queens NY 11104 Ph: 718-784-8031 Admission free (donation suggested).
Project Hansori will perform my brand new music in a grant-awarded program called “New Sounds of East and West”. It’s centered on new East Asian-infused Jazz, including our mind- warping take on an ancient ritual shrine ceremony piece — or as I like to call it, Americanized, Koreanized, Chinese music. The concert will feature Satoshi Takeishi on his unique array and style of Eastern percussion. It’s happening right in my neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens, in the handsome setting of a Gothic style Episcopal church. I’m proud to say “New Sounds of East and West” is funded in part by a competitive grant from the Queens Council on the Arts. Link: www.facebook.com/events/277163692408571/

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday November 4th at 7:00 PM
Hora Decima Brass Ensemble performs a program including my composition Three Dances Christ & St. Stephen’s Church 120 West 69th Street, Manhattan, NY (bet. Bway & Columbus) Admission by Contribution ($20 requested)

Sunday November 24th at 7:00PM
“Now, Here”: a solo recital including my composition Duduk for solo piri (Korean double-reed instrument) Seoul Culture Station 284 in Seoul, South Korea Jin Yunkyong, soloist

ASCAP AWARD: I was just awarded a 2013 ASCAP Plus Award, for my artistic achievements during this year. This makes two years in a row of receiving this honor. Thanks, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers)!

ALBUM APPEARANCE: David Chamberlain’s Band of Bones recorded my arrangement of Manteca last month as part of a session for their next album. It has fully eight trombones, flute, and rhythm section with Latin percussion, set in a funky salsa groove. I got plenty of great comments from band members and I can’t wait to hear it myself. I’ll pass on any announcements about the album’s release.

SINCE LAST TIME: It’s been awhile since my last newsletter, written just before I left for my traditional music workshop in Korea over the Summer. There I was saturated in the world of Gugak (Korean traditional performing arts) for two weeks, learning from incredible world-class artists, meeting sixteen extremely motivated (and fun-loving) fellow participants from ten countries, and taking in the streets of Seoul as well as a side trip to the mystical, muse-full Jindo Island. –An amazing time that surely planted artistic seeds for years to come. …The day after returning to NYC I jumped, fully jet-lagged, right into an intense conference of the International Society for Improvised Music. The three-day event just happened to center on cross-cultural improvisation, with two Korean guest artists (go figure!). There I worked with globe-trotting piri soloist Gamin, and Shin Hyunsik, founder of Ensemble Sinawi; as well as Elliot Sharp, Jin Hi Kim, and other icons of this progressively broad improv scene …My world brass band Street Beat returned to the famous All Nite Soul 43rd annual(!) Jazz festival at St Peter’s Church in Manhattan. This band also did a string of off-the-wall private gigs over the Summer and Fall, such as leading a wedding procession march through Central Park and halfway down the length of the C train; and parading three-year-olds around a hedge fund manager’s estate on an island inaccessible by car (we attract these things). …I’m still laboring away at my commission for the USAF Airmen of Note, acquired by my winning the Sammy Nestico Composition Prize last year.

READ MY REVIEW: In a turn of the tables, I played the role of music critic, in authoring a review of Human Alien, the debut album of Ryan Pate released just last month. Read the review here, and check out Pate’s new album here.  …Incidentally, you’ll have a good chance to see him play live, too, as he’ll join us on Project Hansori’s upcoming concert.

Thank you for your continued interest. Please come say Hi and hear our new program on December 19th!

Thank you,

Jeff Fairbanks
Composer, Performer, Bandleader