Michael Leonhart - The Painted Lady Suite - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

When we come to live with dogs we don't think, at first, about the proto-dogs some tens of thousands of years ago who first wandered into a group of humans and was taken in. We don't think, at first, about the subsequent years of shaping and molding and breeding and refining and tailoring that has resulted in the specimen of dog who appears before us today. And we definitely don't think, at first, about how profound it will be for each of us that this creature has wandered into human life - into our life. By the time we start thinking about these things, we are well on our way to the inevitable the end of the lives of this animal - this character - who has slipped into our lives, our minds, our hearts. To live with dogs is eminently familiar - even ordinary, at first glance. But glance more, look closely at that warm form in your room looking back at you, and you see how unordinary it is. This keen-nosed, preternaturally agile and responsive animal, whose ancestors lived in earthen dens, who coursed together to take down large prey, is in your home - and you have forged a bond with them. The bond exists beyond words, forged in touches and gestures and gaze. They've become the breath we expect in the room, the greeting we anticipate at the door, the responsiveness that we look for from the world. Then they are gone, one day. They exit your room with the same abruptness with which they entered. In their absence the room is chilly, the world is flat. The Normyn Suites is an elegy; to listen is to spend time in that space of loss, reckoning, questioning, and mourning. At the same time, though, with each note, each phrase, we are propelled back into life. To listen is to hear that heart beat again in your head; it is to fill that room with warmth and meaning. It is to remember their presence, the softness of their ears, the affection in a lick. You can feel their pools of

V.S.O.P. presents the of InchHoliday for LoversInch (originally Mode 122), featuring Johnny Holiday singing ballads arranged by Marty Paich. The 12 selections include many well known compositions, such as InchI Love YouInch, InchStar EyesInch, InchOn the Street of DreamsInch, InchNobody Else But MeInch, InchHow Long Has This Been Going OnInch, InchMy Foolish HeartInch, and InchSpring Will Be a Little Late This YearInch and others. Also included are some lesser known works InchBoys and Girls Like You and MeInch, InchFun to Be FooledInch, and InchBetween an Old Love and a New LoveInch. Holiday is backed by Marty Paich, Jack Sheldon, Herb Geller, Bob Enevoldsen, Ronnie Lang and others.

Hailed as Incha blazing hot mess of awesomeInch by The New York City Jazz Record, the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO) traverses a huge swath of musical terrain, guided by the highly developed ears, ceaselessly omnivorous tastes and playful yet meticulous artistry of it's leader, Michael Leonhart. Following their 2018 debut album The Painted Lady Suite, MLO will their second full length, Suite Extracts Vol. I on August 30, via Sunnyside Records. // The surprising collection documents an aspect of the MLO 's mission playing covers, but in the Leonhart way - with widely disparate material ranging from Fela Kuti to Spinal Tap to Howlin' Wolf to Ornette Coleman curated into song sequences, forming anarchic yet internally coherent thoughts on some of Leonhart's chief musical passions. The album features notable guests Chris Potter, Nels Cline, Donny McCaslin, John Ellis, Erik Friedlander and many others in the context of a vibrant and unclassifiable 20-piece ensemble. // The MLO has developed and refined the suites through the course of it's monthly residencies at Jazz Standard, one of New York's most prestigious jazz rooms. Leonhart continues to pursue his vision there, with unconventional instrumentation and a shapeshifting community of sought-after players from a variety of cutting-edge scenes and disciplines.