Osmosis by Manzanita Quintet

Manzanita Quintet

Osmosis

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Origin Records
UPC: 0805558286728
Catnr: ORIGIN 82867
Release date: 02 June 2023
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Label
Origin Records

UPC
0805558286728

Catalogue number
ORIGIN 82867

Release date
02 June 2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Individually, the members of the Manzanita Quintet have created astounding music in their associations with artists such as Kneebody, Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi, Jerry Granelli, Art Lande, Beck, and so many more. These experiences inform their role as the inspired jazz faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno and in the music they create collectively. Along with Monk's "Bemsha Swing" and Charlie Haden's "Silence," trumpeter Josh D. Reed, saxophonist Peter Epstein, pianist Adam Benjamin, bassist Hans Halt and drummer Andrew Heglund have crafted a set of modern, original compositions that alternately stretch and groove, roar and whisper, revealing the inventive, creative vitality they've brought to this stretch of the Sierra foothills.

Die einzelnen Mitglieder des Manzanita Quintetts haben in ihrer Zusammenarbeit mit Künstlern wie Kneebody, Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi, Jerry Granelli, Art Lande, Beck und vielen anderen erstaunliche Musik geschaffen. Diese Erfahrungen fließen in ihre Rolle als inspirierte Jazz-Dozenten an der University of Nevada, Reno, und in die Musik, die sie gemeinsam schaffen, ein. Neben Monks "Bemsha Swing" und Charlie Hadens "Silence" haben der Trompeter Josh D. Reed, der Saxophonist Peter Epstein, der Pianist Adam Benjamin, der Bassist Hans Halt und der Schlagzeuger Andrew Heglund eine Reihe moderner Originalkompositionen geschaffen, die sich abwechselnd dehnen und grooven, brüllen und flüstern und die erfinderische, kreative Vitalität offenbaren, die sie in diesen Teil der Sierra-Ausläufer gebracht haben.

Artist(s)

Peter Epstein (alto saxophone)

Peter Epstein began his career in 1984 in Portland, Oregon. After several years apprenticing with many of the region's top jazz artists, he relocated to Los Angeles, California, to study jazz saxophone and various world music genres at California Institute of the Arts.
After receiving a bachelor of fine arts degree from CalArts in 1992, he moved to Brooklyn, New York and has since appeared on more than 50 recordings and toured in 20-plus countries with artists including Brad Shepik, Ralph Alessi, Bobby Previte, James Carney, Joao Paulo, Jim Black, Scott Colley, Ravi Coltrane, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Peter Erskine and many others. Epstein has recorded seven critically acclaimed albums as a leader: Staring At the Sun (MA), The Invisible (MA), Solus (MA), Old School (MA), Lingua Franca (Songlines), Abstract Realism (Origin) and his latest, Polarities (Songlines, 2014).
He is a founding member of the School for Improvisational Music in New York City and has taught numerous workshops at universities, conservatories and music festivals around the United States (Eastman School of Music, California Institute of the Arts, New England Conservatory) and the world (Nepal, India, Slovenia, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Colombia). He received his master of music degree in saxophone performance from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2004. Currently, Epstein is at the University of Nevada, Reno where he is the director of jazz and improvisational music and associate professor of jazz saxophone. He is a member of the jazz studies faculty ensemble, The Collective and has appeared with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, Reno Chamber Orchestra and Reno Jazz Orchestra.
Honors include the 2013 Nevada Regents' Award for Creative Activities and a 2014 Nevada Arts Council Artist Fellowship.

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Hans Halt (bass)

Hans Halt holds his bachelor and master degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno and is a full-time instructor of bass and jazz studies at the University. He is an integral part of the jazz and improvisational music program, teaching all levels of jazz improvisation, jazz arranging, jazz composition and jazz keyboard techniques.
Halt began playing bass professionally in Buffalo, New York. In 1980, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area gaining experience playing with top Bay Area musicians, including Mark Levine and Pete Escovedo. Since moving to the Reno-Tahoe area in 1985, Halt has been an active performer and composer with a variety of creative groups, including the Afro-Cuban jazz group No Comprende, The Ed Corey Trio (CD-Modal Citizen) and the University of Nevada, Reno's jazz faculty, The Collective, (CD's- North, Boats, Balance, Once and Again). He also performs regularly with the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Jazz Orchestra.
Halt has performed with numerous top jazz artists participating in the Reno Jazz Festival, including Peter Erskine, Bobby Hutcherson, Geri Allen, Fred Hersch, Lee Konitz, Ravi Coltrane, Avishai Cohen and Joe Lovano. In June 2016, Halt organized a five-day tour with acclaimed pianist Art Lande and saxophonist Paul McCandless. In July 2016, he was a recipient of an artist fellowship grant from the Nevada Arts Council.
He is also an experienced clinician, having presented master classes and performances for the Reno Jazz Festival, Music Teachers National Association, The International Society of Basses and Brigham Young University.

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Josh D. Reed (trumpet)

Josh D. Reed, DMA, is a trumpeter and educator who holds degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder, the Eastman School of Music and James Madison University.
As a performer, Reed has shared the stage with artists such as Dave Douglas, Brad Goode, Anat Cohen, Art Lande, Tommy Igoe, Greg Gisbert, Paquito D'Rivera, Rufus Reid and Darlene Love. He currently leads his own trio, quartet and quintet.
As an educator, he has taught private lessons, ensembles and courses at Lagond Music School in New York, Metropolitan State University in Colorado, University of Colorado and communities throughout the United States. Reed directed the jazz program at the University of Missouri in the spring of 2017 before directing the jazz program at Santa Clara University. He joined the faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno in fall 2019 as an assistant professor of jazz trumpet.
Reed recently released his first recording as a leader: "Leaping Forward" featuring Art Lande. He is also featured on Art Deco's "Free Range," Emily Takahashi's "Not Spoken," Omar Thomas's "I Am," Matt Smiley's "Quartet Art" and releases from Dillon Vado's "Never Weather" and The Tim Wendel Septet.

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Adam Benjamin (piano)

Adam Benjamin is a Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed pianist, keyboardist, composer and writer based in New Orleans. Recognized as a 'Rising Star in Jazz' in DownBeat magazine's critic's and reader's polls for six years running, his unmistakable sound crosses stylistic boundaries and challenges traditional notions of jazz. Benjamin maintains a humble and humorous approach that connects him with his audiences worldwide. He is a founding member of Kneebody, an electric quintet widely recognized as one of the most unique ensembles in jazz today. Kneebody's debut recording as Concord Records recording artists, titled 'The Line,' was released in September 2013. Kneebody's 2009 Grammy-nominated release, '12 Songs of Charles Ives,' is a radical reinvention of the songs of Charles Ives in collaboration with...

Adam Benjamin is a Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed pianist, keyboardist, composer and writer based in New Orleans. Recognized as a "Rising Star in Jazz" in DownBeat magazine's critic's and reader's polls for six years running, his unmistakable sound crosses stylistic boundaries and challenges traditional notions of jazz. Benjamin maintains a humble and humorous approach that connects him with his audiences worldwide.
He is a founding member of Kneebody, an electric quintet widely recognized as one of the most unique ensembles in jazz today. Kneebody's debut recording as Concord Records recording artists, titled "The Line," was released in September 2013. Kneebody's 2009 Grammy-nominated release, "12 Songs of Charles Ives," is a radical reinvention of the songs of Charles Ives in collaboration with singer Theo Bleckmann (Winter and Winter, 2009). "You Can Have Your Moment" (Winter and Winter, 2010) is the fourth full-length album from the "spontaneous and exciting" (DownBeat) "freakishly talented quintet" (All About Jazz).
Benjamin's latest solo piano album, "Alphabets and Consequences" (f.Boo Records, 2010) is a unique series of improvised miniatures that transform familiar jazz and folk melodies into quirky impressionists etudes bursting with both humor and gravity. This follows "Long Gone" (Kind of Blue, 2008) and his notorious 2007 self-released "It's a Standard, Standard, Standard, Standard World," which captures 37 jazz standards through the lens of Garageband 1.0 technology. Dave Douglas noted this unprecedented work as a "majestic tour de force" and Ralph Alessi called it "the perfect blend of enjoyable music and side-splitting laughter." He has toured and recorded extensively with Dave Douglas' electric band, Keystone, including 2010 world tours debuting Spark of Being, a collaborative work with filmmaker Bill Morrison. Benjamin's contribution is central to the Keystone albums Live in Sweden (Greenleaf, 2006) and Moonshine (Greenleaf, 2008). In 2011, he saw the debut release from his introspective Americana project "Red Oak Duo" (f.boo Music, 2011). Another new project, Go Shlomo! (F.boo Music, 2013) combines monastic and hippodromic influences in a avant-Sephardic jazz noir escapade.
Benjamin has also performed, collaborated and toured with artists as varied as Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, So Percussion, Joshua Redman and Beck, and has contributed to many film scores, including co-writing the score to John Krasinski's 2009 adaptation of David Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men." He has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and North Sea Jazz Festival and has been a guest lecturer and faculty at Stanford University, the Banff International Jazz Workshop, CalArts, University of Southern California and the School for Improvisational Music. In 2013, Adam was appointed as professor of the practice of jazz studies at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Andrew Heglund (drums)

Andrew Heglund is Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno where he teaches percussion, directs the UNR Percussion Ensemble, and teaches jazz small groups. Heglund holds a Doctor of Arts Degree in Music from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master’s of Music Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Minnesota.
Heglund performs with the UNR faculty jazz quintet The Collective and has played on four compact disc recordings with the group (North, Boats, Balance, and Once and Again). He has also performed with this group at the Reno Jazz Festival alongside guest artists such as Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, and Bobby Hutcherson.
Recent recordings include a compact disc with the Reno Jazz Orchestra titled Jazz Alive, an Earth Wind and Fire tribute recording with the RJO soon to be released, and a recording featuring Heglund’s original compositions titled Blue Trapezoid. Dr. Heglund has also recorded a percussion/bassoon duo CD with Ithaca College bassoon professor Christine Schillinger titled Bassoon Surrounded which showcases music for bassoon and percussion.
Additional performing ensembles include the Ed Corey Trio, the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Reno Chamber Orchestra and the RPO’s Discover Music Percussion Ensemble. Heglund has also performed with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players on a George Crumb world premiere titled Xylophony and a performance of Ionization conducted by Steven Schick. Dr. Heglund is a composer and has had several solo percussion works choreographed and performed with the Sierra Nevada Ballet. He is also an active guest soloist and has performed at colleges and universities throughout the U.S.
Dr. Heglund is a clinician/adjudicator in Northern Nevada and Northern California and organizes the annual Northern Nevada Day of Percussion and the Reno Jazz Orchestra/UNR Jazz in the Schools Clinic.

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Composer(s)

Charlie Haden

“No other instrument in jazz is more essential than the bass, both backbone and heartbeat, and Haden is its master.” – Francis Davis, The Atlantic Monthly Time Magazine has hailed jazz legend Charlie Haden as “one of the most restless, gifted, and intrepid players in all of jazz.” Haden’s career which has spanned more than fifty years has encompassed such genres as free jazz, Portuguese fado and vintage country such as his recent cd Rambling Boy (Decca) not to mention a consistently revolving roster of sidemen and bandleaders that reads like a list from some imaginary jazz hall of fame. As an original member of the ground-breaking Ornette Coleman Quartet that turned the jazz world on its head the late 1950’s, Haden revolutionized...

“No other instrument in jazz is more essential than the bass, both backbone and heartbeat, and Haden is its master.” – Francis Davis, The Atlantic Monthly

Time Magazine has hailed jazz legend Charlie Haden as “one of the most restless, gifted, and intrepid players in all of jazz.” Haden’s career which has spanned more than fifty years has encompassed such genres as free jazz, Portuguese fado and vintage country such as his recent cd Rambling Boy (Decca) not to mention a consistently revolving roster of sidemen and bandleaders that reads like a list from some imaginary jazz hall of fame.

As an original member of the ground-breaking Ornette Coleman Quartet that turned the jazz world on its head the late 1950’s, Haden revolutionized the harmonic concept of bass playing in jazz. “His ability to create serendipitous harmonies by improvising melodic responses to Coleman’s fee-form solos (rather than sticking to predetermined harmonies) was both radical and mesmerizing. His virtuosity lies…in an incredible ability to make the double bass ‘sound out’. Haden cultivates the instrument’s gravity as no one else in jazz. He is a master of simplicity which is one of the most difficult things to achieve.” (Author Joachim Berendt in The Jazz Book) Haden played a vital role in this revolutionary new approach, evolving a way of playing that sometimes complemented the soloist and sometimes moved independently. In this respect, as did bassists Jimmy Blanton and Charles Mingus, Haden helped liberate the bassist from a strictly accompanying role to becoming a more direct participant in group improvisation.

In addition to his hugely influential work with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, Ed Blackwell and Dewey Redman, throughout the ‘60s, and 70’s Haden subsequently collaborated with a number of adventurous jazz giants, including John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Chet Baker and Joe Henderson.

From 1967-1976, Haden became a member of Keith Jarrett’s stellar trio, quartet and quintet which included drummer Paul Motian, percussionist Guilherme Franco and tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman. In 1976, he formed the band Old and New Dreams with fellow Ornette Coleman alumni Don Cherry, Dewey Redman and Ed Blackwell to perpetuate Coleman’s music as well as their own with musicians who knew and could perform Coleman’s improvisational concept.

In 1969, under the banner of Liberation Music Orchestra (MCA/Impulse), Charlie commissioned Carla Bley to arrange for a large cast of illustrious improvisers including Don Cherry and Gato Barbieri and Roswell Rudd and made a record that has become a milestone in recorded jazz. In 1970, it won among many awards, France’s Grand Prix Charles Cros as well as Japan’s Gold Disc Award from Swing Journal.

The group’s self-titled debut is a true milestone of modern music, blending experimental big band jazz with the folk songs of the Spanish Civil War to create a powerfully original work of musical/political activism.

A few years later he met Pat Metheny who was to become a life-long friend and collaborator and played alongside Dewey Redman, Michael Brecker and Jack DeJohnette in Pat Metheny’s 80/81 band.

In 1982, Haden established the jazz studies program at California Institute of the Arts The program he developed is unique in that it emphasizes smaller groups and the spiritual connection to the creative process and helps students discover their individual sound, melodies and harmonies. For his educational work he was recently honored by the Los Angeles Jazz Society as “Jazz Educator of the Year”.

In 1986 he formed his acclaimed straight ahead band Quartet West with saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent and drummer Larance Marable who because of illness was replaced by Rodney Green. Haden’s vision for Quartet West recognizes the beginning of modernism in jazz. (Francis Davis, The Atlantic Monthly)Along with lush forties pop ballads and lilting originals by Haden or Alan Broadbent, the group’s pianist, the Quartet’s elegant “noir” infused bop-oriented style and stellar instrumentalists perfectly evoke a sense of place like no other band. Beautiful melodies are given lush, lyrical interpretations that captivate with their sublime beauty and passionate delivery. The Quartet has celebrated over twenty years together and it is one of the rare groups in jazz that has continued to perform as an ensemble over a long stretch of time.

Through the ‘90s and early 2000’s, Haden continued playing with Quartet West and the Liberation Music Orchestra while also producing and recording or performing with Pat Metheny, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, John Scofield, Tom Harrell, Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, Shirley Horn, Ginger Baker, Bill Frisell, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Abbey Lincoln, Stan Getz, Alice Coltrane and his former student Ravi Coltrane among many others.

In 1997, the classical composer Gavyn Bryars wrote an extended adagio for Charlie Haden By the Vaar accompanied by strings, bass clarinet and percussion. Recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra on the album Farewell to Philosophy (Philips) ,the piece hauntingly echoes Charlie’s bass sound with its gut strings and resonant pizzicato notes in a wonderful synthethis of jazz and classical chamber music

Over the years Charlie Haden has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and several NEA grants for composition as well as three Grammy awards and more than fifteen Grammy nominations and countless international awards. In 1997 he was awarded a Grammy for his duet recording with Pat Metheny Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve) which Haden dubbed “contemporary impressionistic Americana”. The chord voicings and harmonic sense the two musicians display is uncanny as they bend and flex the melody and solo lines to create expressive and contemplative musical statements.

in 2001 Haden received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz CD Nocturne (Verve) featuring luscious boleros from Cuba and Mexico. Following that triumph he was again awarded a Latin Grammy for his follow-up cd Land of the Sun (Verve) which explores the compositions of the great Mexican composer Jose Sabre Marroquin “It’s an homage to Marroquin, to the beauty of Mexican music. It’s the ‘day’ to Nocturne’s ‘night’ ”, says Haden. With arrangements by Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Haden weaves a gorgeous tapestry of sound reflecting the beauty of Mexico.

His love of world music has also seen him teaming with a variety of diverse international players for many years, including Brazilian guitarist Egberto Gismonti, Argentinean bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi and Portuguese guitarist Carlos Paredes and even players outside the jazz genre such as Rickie Lee Jones, Beck, the Minute Men, James Cotton and Ringo Starr.

Along with a few rare concert reunions with Ornette Coleman- most recently in the summer of 2009 during the Southbank Festival’s Meltdown in London – Haden has made a specialty of performing and producing intimate duet recordings with such jazz greats as Hank Jones on the album Steal Away (Verve) , Kenny Barron Night and the City (Verve) which are a perfect showcase for his rich elegant tone.

As he continues to perform with his piers such as Lee Konitz as well as younger musicians such as Brad Mehldau and Ethan Iverson, “There may be no greater ambassador for jazz these days than L.A.’s adopted son Charlie Haden.” Chris Barton AAJ, 2009

In 2008 Haden brought his personal history full circle to record Rambling Boy (Decca) connecting the music from his earliest childhood beginning at the age of two as a member of the Haden Family, a legendary Midwest music institution in the 1930s and 1940s which toured and sang on the radio, to the new generation of the Haden Family now reborn in the 21st century. Rambling Boy includes songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Hank Williams alongside fabled traditional tunes and some striking original compositions. The performing cast includes Haden, his wife and co-producer

Ruth Cameron, all four of his children (the triplets Petra, Rachel and Tanya Haden, their brother Josh Haden), and his son-in-law Jack Black– each of whom has his or her own career in music. In addition, Rambling Boy features guest appearances by some of the most illustrious names in contemporary Americana and popular music: Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Vince Gill, Bruce Hornsby, Pat Metheny, Ricky Skaggs & the Whites, and Dan Tyminski and also includes such illustrious musicians as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton and more.

To complement this Grammy nominated recording, Swiss film director Reto Caduff released a documentary film about the Haden’s life also named Rambling Boy in 2009. It’s making the film festival circuit both internationally and in the U.S. and Canada including the 2009 Telluride and Vancouver International Film Festivals.

In 2010 Charlie recorded several albums which have just been recently released in 2010 & 2011 and are all currently among the top one hundred bestsellers on the jazz chart:

“Jasmine” on ECM Records, a duet album with former long-time collaborator Keith Jarrett. This was the result of a reunion of the two musicians when Keith was interviewed for the Swiss documentary film about Charlie called “Charlie Haden Rambling Boy”.

“Sophisticated Ladies” on Emarcy/Decca Records with Quartet West and strings arranged by Alan Broadbent featuring the vocalists Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones, Renee Fleming, Ruth Cameron. As a follow-up to “Art of the Song” with Shirley Horne and Bill Henderson and Quartet West, Haden wanted to further explore little known gems of the American Songbook with Quartet West and contemporary vocalists.

“Live at Birdland” on ECM Records with Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau and Paul Motian which is a live recording from a date at Birdland in 2011 with four masters of improvisation.

Haden has been honored with the 2012 NEA JAZZ MASTER AWARD, the nation’s highest honor in jazz which will be given to him and four other honorees at a ceremony in Lincoln Center, NYC.

Charlie Haden truly is beyond category!

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Thelonious Monk

The most important jazz musicians are the ones who are successful in creating their own original world of music with its own rules, logic, and surprises. Thelonious Monk, who was criticized by observers who failed to listen to his music on its own terms, suffered through a decade of neglect before he was suddenly acclaimed as a genius; his music had not changed one bit in the interim. In fact, one of the more remarkable aspects of Monk's music was that it was fully formed by 1947 and he saw no need to alter his playing or compositional style in the slightest during the next 25 years.

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