RVANews

Compass Rose Orchestra

Aaron Williams — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:28:44 +0000

The Richmond jazz scene is all about bands. While the Compass Rose Orchestra has been around for a few years, they are gaining momentum and are quickly becoming one of the premier original music groups in Richmond. On Friday February 17th, Compass Rose Orchestra releases their first album. A self titled CD, Compass Rose Orchestra features seven tunes tunes that include three Fritz originals, a Berhanu original, a Munoz original and as well as "Crimes" by The Blood Brothers, and "Strange Brew" by Eric Clapton.

Compass Rose Orchestra is definitely worth purchasing and Compass Rose Orchestra is definitely worth seeing live. You can do both on Friday night at the Camel.

Compass Rose Orchestra and The Congress perform tomorrow night at the Camel:

The Camel, 1621 W. Broad Street

8:30 - Compass Rose Orchestra plays the entire album
9:45 - Compass Roes Orchestra plays some surprising covers...
10:30 - The Congress Free Before 8PM Admission
$10 (Under 21-$12)

Listen:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/01-Purple-UP.mp3|titles=Purple UP!|artists=Compass Rose Orchestra]

Compass Rose Orchestra is:
Lucas Fritz - Trumpet, Arrangements
Suzi Fishcer - Alto Saxophone
Jonathan Gibson - Tenor Saxophone
Alex Powers - Trombone
Paul Willson - Guitar
Devonne Harris - Wurlitzer, Piano
Andrew Randazzo - Bass
Abinnet Berhanu - Drums
Armando Munoz - Vocals

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Old Soul – sounds before the silence

Aaron Williams — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:45:34 +0000

Old Soul
Sounds Before the Silence
(self released, 2011)

Paul Willson graduated from the VCU jazz program last spring and he hasn't wasted a minute since then. Sounds Before the Silence is Old Soul's first release and while it isn't under Willson's name, his vision is clear.

Mixing the ubiquitous sound of Kurt Rosenwinkle, the more rugged sound of Bill Frisell and a taste of Richmond, Paul Willson is developing a unique sound as both a guitarist and a composer. For all of his skills as a player, his compositions are his greatest strength. His interesting harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary add depth to his angular melodies. With eight of the ten tunes on the record coming from Willson's pen, Sounds Before the Silence offers an excellent opportunity to explore the compositional range of his work.

"Changes in Perception" enables some of the members of Old Soul to stretch out over an interesting groove. A majority of the tune utilizes the odd time signature of seven-four. Unlike most seven-four, which divides into a group of four beats followed by a group three beats and feels like a beat is missing, the seven-four is divided into a group of three beats followed by a group of four beats and it feels like a beat is being added to a waltz. The unsung heroes of the tune are Willson and keyboardist Devonne Harris. While drummer Matt Coyle and bassist Evan Sarver repeat the groove under the soloists, the guitar and Fender Rhodes beautifully walk the tight rope of holding the groove together while creating interesting moments of accompaniment.

Listen to "Changes in Perception":
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/04 Changes In Perception.mp3|titles=Changes in Perception|artists=Old Soul]

"Ghoul's Tune" starts with tenor saxophonist Marcus Tenney and alto saxophonist David hood playing counterpoint unaccompanied. Before long the haunting vocals of Willson backed by female vocalist Lydia Ooghe and the rest of the band enter. Texturally, the saxophonists and vocalist capture the spirit of a tune that was written around Halloween 2010. Hood's saxophone solo truly explores the limits of what has been heard on alto saxophone, and then he takes it a little further delivering a truly unique performance.

Just when the song is about to end, keyboardist Devonne Harris plays a minute long solo tag that only adds to the mystery of the tune that was just performed.

Listen to "Ghouls Tune":
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/05-Ghouls-Tune.mp3|titles=Ghoul's Tune|artists=Old Soul]

At only 23, Old Soul's new album clearly shows that Willson is onto something special and it will be exciting to watch him pursue it. Buy Sounds Before the Silence, you won't regret it.

UTV.chamber: The First Letter

Aaron Williams — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:00:45 +0000

With 11 tracks and some of the coolest CD packaging ever seen, UTV.chamber’s freshman release, The First Letter, is an exciting new way to experience the band. The record contains fresh sounds even to the spoiled listeners of Richmond, Virginia, its music equally as progressive and original as its industrial cardboard case.

The band stands apart before it plays a note with unique instrumentation; Marcus Tenney (tenor saxophone), David Hood (alto saxophone) and Mary Lawrence Hicks (flugelhorn) stand on the front line with Reginald Chapman (bass trombone) and Paul Willson (guitar) adding to the drums of Devonne Harris and percussion of Stuart Jackson. Chelsea Temple adds vocals on eight of the tracks, but listen carefully as sometimes her voice is only used to add to the already complex textures of unison lines.

Leader Reginald Chapman calls himself a “collage artist.” His passive vision enables the eight unique voices of the band to combine into an even more unique collective voice. While Chapman is the creative leader behind many of the compositions, he says they really come from working together, free improvisations, and just spending time together playing music.

The personnel in UTV.chamber came together through friendship as opposed to some intricate plan. The band boasts jazz, classical, and rock musicians and all of those experiences have led to a diverse album with every track bringing something entirely new to the table. Self labeled as avant-pop, the album blends instrumental pop hooks that will stick in your head, with sections of freer improvisation that enable voices as different as Tenney and Willson to explore their ideas.

Listen to "Penultimate Knob":
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/04%20Penultimate%20Knob.mp3|titles=Penultimate Knob|artists=UTV.Chamber]

“Follow Your Bliss” is ready for mainstream radio play complete with a catchy chorus, incredible Marcus Tenney solo, and simple chord progression.

“Lessons in Unrequited Love” gives off a much more classical chamber ensemble vibe. John Cage comes to mind as the bass trombone loosely ties together prepared piano, a drum set ostinato and Willson playing percussive guitar. Not a second later, Tenney begins repeating a smooth theme. The drums cue in a through-composed fanfare with a loose canon feel.

The joy abruptly ends as the bass trombone covered in a heavy effect lays down a thumping bass line. Bouncing back and forth between the fanfare and the far more aggressive section, the journey finally descends into a loose chaos. Every percussion instrument imaginable plays off of Chapman and Willson until an abbreviated fanfare finally leaves the listener comfortable.

"Black Belly Dove" is a throw back to the band's origins. Chapman leaves character and plays more like a horn player; the lack of a bass voice leaves extra freedom for exploration and Harris’ drumming pushes all of the horn players to new creative heights.

The First Letter does a great job of capturing the band. Recorded almost entirely in complete takes over two days at Lance Koehler’s relaxed and homey Minimum Wage Recording, every member of the band sounds at ease. It has a live feeling but with the clarity of professional recording and mixing.

It is an entirely different listening experience than the band’s regular home at the Black Hand Coffee Company. Koehler masterfully captures the subtle complexities of the horn players that are often missed in the venues of Richmond. Additionally, mutli-tracked vocals, vocal effects and other techniques used on the horns add an entirely new dimension to the sound of the band.

While this album only scratches the surface of all the things that UTV.chamber has and will explore, it offers a fresh way to hear them play. With their potential as individuals and as a unit it will be exciting to see what the future holds for them.

Track Listing: Calculation Theme; Zoe; Black Belly Dove; Penultimate Knob; Lamplighter; Follow Your Bliss; The First Letter; Lessons in Unrequited Love; Homegrin; Earth; Old Man Theme

Personnel: Reginald Chapman, bass trombone; Chelsea Temple, vocals; David Hood, alto saxophone; Marcus Tenney, tenor saxophone; Mary Lawrence Hicks, flugelhorn; Paul Willson, guitar; Devonne Harris, drums; Stuart Jackson, percussion.

Listening Back: Lucas Fritz Quintet and Old Soul

Dean Christesen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 11:00:45 +0000

In Listening Back, we chronicle the happenings at The Camel’s free weekly jazz series on Tuesday nights. Be there if you can. But if you can’t, stop by here every Saturday for a recap in sights and sounds. This week, Lucas Fritz Quintet and Old Soul continued the series.

photos by Lauren Serpa

Presenting the next generation. They find a balance between blues shuffles and back beats, jazz standards and indie rock ballads, respecting where jazz came from and experimenting with where it can go. Trumpeter and band leader Lucas Fritz is that kind of student. With a slightly more straight-ahead angle than his larger Compass Rose Orchestra, his quintet still mixes in the funk- and hip-hop-influenced tunes, like Chris Potter's "Ultrahang" and Tigran Hamasyan's "Falling." Otherwise, it's originals from the almost-VCU-grad whose springtime senior recital approaches.

Listen to the Lucas Fritz Quintet:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Lucas%20Fritz%20Quintet%20at%20The%20Camel%20012511.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 25 2011|artists=Lucas Fritz Quintet]

Tenor saxophonist Jonathan Gibson, drummer Abbinet Berhanu, bassist Andrew Randazzo, guitarist Paul Willson, and Fritz
Gibson and Fritz
Randazzo

Guitarist Paul Willson's Old Soul is the next step in his musical progression after his previous group, the ECM-like Yellow Grass. With Marcus Tenney and David Hood on tenor and alto saxes, Devonne Harris on Rhodes, drummer Matt Coyle, bassist Evan Sarver, and singer Lydia Ooghe, the energy is more pumped up with Old Soul, but still in a meditative way (one piece abstractly deals with the concept of dreaming and the abrupt transition to consciousness). The singer-songwriter Ooghe lends her beautiful voice, Tenney shreds, and Hood sounds more Hodges-meets-Braxton than ever. There's gold in the details, but the best part is the big picture.

Listen to Old Soul:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Old%20Soul%20at%20The%20Camel%20012511.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 25 2011|artists=Old Soul]

Old Soul
Marcus Tenney and David Hood
Devonne Harris

On Tuesday, Devonne Harris's Reeverb Trio continue the free series. The Camel is located at 1621 W. Broad St. in Richmond, VA. More information is available at thecamel.org.

Listen back to other gigs in Richmond

UTV comes full circle (for me)

Dean Christesen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:00:19 +0000

UseTheVastness (or "UTV") has played in a whole lot of different venues, some ordinary, some funky: recital hall, backyard, basement, club, workshop in an art gallery. This afternoon, they return to the place where I first saw them, back in May 2009: the tiny confines of Black Hand Coffee.

That wasn't the first time I ever heard music in that spot. Visiting trombonist Ed Neumeister and a then-young Ombak in April 2007 hold that distinction for me. But among the differences between that very first time seeing music at the coffee shop and my first experience with UTV in May two years later, the late afternoon sun shining through the front windows is by far the most extreme. There's something about this kind of band playing on a Friday afternoon that just hits the spot. Right in between my midday high and Friday night second wind, it's a subdued time of day for me, even though I'll be surrounded by caffeinated beverages.

Last May, I recall being very relaxed, yet very engaged. UTV's music had a meditative quality to it, and people came and went as they pleased, perhaps even brushing up against an active trombone slide or microphone stand as they did so. The layout of the shop doesn't exactly lend itself to hosting bands that contain more than two musicians, but part of the fun is seeing a band that (at the time) contained a drummer, percussionist, trombonist, two saxophonists, trumpeter, and vocalist, make it work.

Fresh off their gig Wednesday night at The Camel, guitarist Paul Willson's group Yellow Grass will also be playing, just like they did nearly a year ago. I regrettably had to miss them on that afternoon in order to drive downtown to where Matana Roberts would be playing with Glows in the Dark later in the evening. This time, maybe I'll beat the sun at who can stay longer.

View event details

Photo: Marcus Tenney, Mary Lawrence Hicks, and Reggie Chapman of UTV at Black Hand Coffee, May 22, 2009

Jazz at Rev It Up!

Dean Christesen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:48:28 +0000

Rev It Up!, a new coffee shop in the Uptown neighborhood on West Main Street, will be hosting weekly jazz in January starting this Friday. Rev It Up! took over the spot that Main Street Java (and before that, Common Cup) vacated when it closed in August.

The CMP Group -- Marcus Tenney on tenor sax, Paul Willson on guitar, Kevin Johnson on drums, and Chris Harrison on bass -- will be holding down the gig and jam session weekly on Fridays in January and every other week come February. With the exception of Tenney, all members are VCU students, and one of the group's last gigs was at the VCU Jazz @ The Camel night in December.

This gig will fill multiple voids, like (without going too far into whether each of these voids actually should or need to be filled, but you can in the comments) the lack of jazz on that side of campus, Friday evening shows that start and end while the night is still young, and coffee-shop jazz.

View event details

Rumble on Vine Street

Dean Christesen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:13:00 +0000

by Tom Beekman
RVAjazz contributor

Beekman, in his first RVAjazz contribution since the website's anonymous days, reviews last Saturday's "Vine St. Rumble," a backyard barbecue-styled all-day affair at which several up-and-coming groups performed.

I need provisions. Getting me out of the house has been quite the task these last couple of weeks. For this quest, I will require: beer and cigarettes. I’m getting ahead of myself.

I wouldn’t consider myself a 'jazz guy.' I do not play jazz. I, at one point, owned every Dream Theater CD, and, at another point, every release from the Dave Matthews Band. I like TV. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used the word 'killin', and it's usually to describe a Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. I don’t think that musical merit is completely based on technical ability or overt weirdness. Now, you might say "Tom, there isn't a protocol to liking or disliking jazz" and I would say I agree. But, for the purposes of this article and the blog it will be published on, I will NOT pretend to know everything about Ken Vandermark or pretend that Miles Davis single-handedly quelled the Vietnam War. Call me crazy, but this made me the ideal candidate to write about this concert.

It's hot. The first day of the year that it was really, really hot. On the bike, I immediately pass a quartet of girls in their summer clothes, which makes me think of that Springsteen song "Girls in their summer clothes" but I need to shake these Boss thoughts out of my head, I have a jazz-b-cue to attend.

If you asked me after a few minutes of biking in this weather what the most refreshing thing I could think of was, I would say standing in the beer cave at the Trolley Market, which is precisely what I did. I elect to bring six Rolling Rocks because they are cold and green bottles make me feel like a hipster for some reason.

Tenney, Hicks, Chapman, & Hood of Use the Vastness

Rolling up to the Rumble, I am immediately greeted by a horn band called Use the Vastness. David Hood, Marcus Tenney, Chelsea Temple, Brett Ripley, Mary Lawrence Hicks, Reggie Chapman and a drummer I don’t immediately recognize (Stuart Jackson) are jamming away on a kind of busy New Orleans shuffle tune. To a lay person, they might sound unrehearsed, but the cacophonous, thick textures and dynamic changes they lay down could never go unnoticed. This is Stravinsky jazz: a little weird but always retaining a sense of groove and freshness. I make a grave error of sitting in the sun for the duration of this group.

Ripley & Jackson of Use the Vastness

People mill around me and I'm slowly getting drunker. A friend of mine once told me that when you drink in the sun, the sun wins every time. After just one beer I am feeling it, so I elect to hit the water pretty hard instead--gotta keep my brain up so I can do my journalistic duties.

I chat up the bassist of the next group, who claims his band sounds like folk and folk-rocker Sufjan Stevens. I debate him on this claim, due to the obvious lack of a wind quintet, and we agree to pick up where we left off after the band finishes. He also reminds me that they were in the 2008 RVA Mag "Bands to watch out for" section.

Wow. A group that actually has their shit together. Jungle Beat is a quartet of acoustic instruments, guitar, violin, upright bass, and drum kit. While the songwriting may be Sufjan, the lead singer's voice hearkens something different, a little earthy and yearning. I decide that I love this band immediately and so does the jazz crowd bobbing their heads around me. A violin playfully banters with the male vocal, and three part harmonies come and go. I decide that three of the four band members are in love with each other, and make up all sorts of funny Fleetwood Mac scenarios in my head. My girlfriend will later tell me that only two of them are in love with each other, IRL.

Best moment of this band: An older gentleman saunters up to the edge of the backyard smoking a nice cigar and drinking a Miller Light from the bottle, listens to 4 songs, then abruptly leaves.

Yellow Grass follows. At this point, an overall malaise has drifted across the backyard. I've been in the sun for more hours than since the summer of 2008. Slow jams are in the cards however, making me more pre-occupied with breaking the line of ants that are crawling around my cargo shorts, they get so discombobulated. BUT! You cannot write this group off as being boring, oh no.

Randazzo, Wilson, Gibson, & Heemstra of Yellow Grass

Paul Wilson's compositions float through the summer air and the group is tighter than I expected. I am informed that this is the band's maiden voyage, and they did not play Maiden Voyage--so much for jazz jokes. Wilson utilizes the upper-mid range of the guitar much better than I had originally expected. Solos smooth like Metheny, drip with overdrive and sing with reverb--sonorities tensioned and slackened while Andrew Randazzo (bass) and Sam Sherman (drums) groove away. Jonathan Gibson (tenor) and Ben Heemstra (flugelhorn) add subtle touches to the texture, and give some great solos in their own right. I decide this is epic-guitar jazz, because Wilson makes the guitar not only an accompaniment instrument but a soaring, majestic hawk flying over Richmond on this warm evening. I decide this transfiguration is scary, so I duck inside to grab another beer.

Between groups I finally grab a chair and chat with a few folks. By this point, there are at least 30 people in the backyard, most of which I am well acquainted with, and some of which I've never met. Lucas Fritz is a fine host, dancing around the party in his sideways hat and his Bulls home-red Jordan Jersey. He grills, he mingles, he greets the new people that have come into his yard. Now it is his turn to play.

The Fritztet Offensive sets up and I am immediately expecting some interesting things. Devonne Harris sits in front of a pretty Wurlitzer electric piano, Ben White in front of an analog synth. Sam Sherman takes a seat on his drum throne and Chris Harrison, from the aforementioned Jungle Beat, takes a spot in the middle with a bass. The frontline: Wilson (guitar), Suzi Fischer (alto), and Fritz (trumpet). Lucas informs the gathering crowd that they are the Fritztet Offensive and I laugh--I'm always game for a good 'Nam joke.

They play arrangements of some of Fritz's favorite songs. Cream, Bjork, Rufus Wainwright. Not straight-up arrangements, but some interesting re-imaginations of the tunes

. The front line are all accomplished soloists and they show it during their spots. Fischer, with her oh-so-silky tone, commands respect from the rest of the band to just shut up a little and listen. Fritz, who holds a trumpet to his face like he's drinking through the coolest, silveriest, most trumpet shaped straw ever, takes me on a journey through different mutes, sounds, and ideas while he improvises over the Bjork song.

White, kicks it old school at one point, mimicking those 'what are they?' sounds you asked in 1992 when The Chronic first came out. Harris, a spectacular keyboard player in his own right, dresses the music up nicely with his often-sparse, clustered, playing. I was afraid him and Wilson would get into a battle for the middle-range, but they stay out of each other's way pretty well.

Riding home, I couldn't help being surprised by what I had heard. Lucas Fritz not only put together a top-notch beer-b-cue, but he also highlighted some new, good groups that are often overlooked. With all due respect to these groups and their members: it was nice to go to a jazz concert and not see Big Bull or Ombak. It gives me hope that the jazz idiom in Richmond is thriving beneath the radar.

Tom Beekman is a monster. At 6'5" he dominates the basketball court and the kitchen. A music education major, he hopes one day to dominate the classroom with ferocity. Maybe not. In his free time he likes to work on his jump shot, grow beards, and occasionally practice classical guitar. Among his favorite people in Richmond are Eric Maynor, Lindsey Prather, Dean Christesen, and Pete. Cous Cous makes him smile, so does Commercial Taphouse. His favorite movie is Annie Hall, and his favorite month is March, the reasons should seem obvious.