Ryan Mackstaller
Easy Tells & C. Gibbs occupy Joe’s Pub
Okay, so it’s an overused phrase but Brandau and I will be filling double duty on Tuesday, January 10th playing with both C. Gibbs & The Mothers and Easy Tells. This promises to be a great night of music and we’re collectively looking forward to occupying Joe’s Pub!
New single “Hard Enough” now available
The Majorleans wrapped up a busy 2010 by recording a new single, “Hard Enough,” at Brooklyn’s Grand Street Recordings. It is available as a free download and many thanks go out to our fans and the good people at Deli Magazine who helped make us October’s Artist of the Month. Find it here.
Little Worlds “Book One” EP now available
Rick, Tim and I are already working on our second EP, but before we get too ahead of ourselves, our debut EP, “Book One” is now available. And for those who still appreciate physical media, we have a limited run faux-vinyl CD-R’s featuring hand-drawn covers by NFD. Each cover is a unique portrait and as of today, 20 of the initial 25 are still available.
The world lost a great light
I was saddened to learn last week that my teacher, mentor and friend, Joyce Lucido, passed away. Joyce was my teacher from age 9 to 16 and I can truly say she taught me everything I use today on the guitar. I will always remember her enthusiasm, warmth and genuine passion for teaching. Her memory will live on my heart, and the hearts of all whose lives she touched.
Joyce Lucido
02/19/1934 – 04/30/2011
Obituary Notice
LUCIDO, JOYCE (nee McDaniel) Age 77 April 30, 2011. Loving mother of Linda & Chris(Caroline). Proud grandmother of Hollie, Stacie, Andrea, Brian, Jacob, Kevin, Caleb & Abigael. Former spouse of Peter Lucido. Joyce had a great love of teaching jazz & classical guitar. Her memory will be preserved in the numerous students she instructed throughout her life. Joyce was a member of the American Guild of Music, the Michigan Music Association & was a member of Mensa.
Little Worlds Debut Tonight
I am very excited to be joining Rick Parker (trombone/effects) and Tim Kuhl (drums) this evening to celebrate our new group at Spike Hill. The Little Worlds project formed somewhat on a whim, a casual musical get-together where I decided to bring the Bartok Mikrokosmos books for us to read through. Long story short, we hit something really nice with the material and have been spending the past few months preparing our debut EP. We’re going to rock it out live tonight at 9pm; the digital EP will be availalbe in the next week or so.
Gerald Cleaver’s Uncle June
I had the pleasure of working with Gerald Cleaver’s amazing band Uncle June on January 26 – 30th. Our run at Barbes, The Stone & Cornelia Street Cafe was in support of the band’s latest release, “Be It As I See It,” on which I play on two of the tracks. The band included most of my favorite musicians on the planet (Andrew Bishop, Tony Malaby, Craig Taborn, Mat Maneri) and it was also a pleasure making new acquaintances with saxophonist Stacey Dillard and bassist Javier Moreno. Plus surprise vocal performances by Jean Carla Rodea from the audience (well, not really but it could have been interpreted that way).
In my extremely unbiased opinion, this is the best jazz release of the year so far and you should buy it immediately. If I haven’t convinced you yet, maybe this video created by Bobby Roe & Tim Guetterman will…
The Music of Julie Kathryn
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of backing up the talented Julie Kathryn on both guitar and lap steel. Over the course of our shows throughout NYC (Caffe Vivaldi, Rockwood Music Hall, LIC Bar, Local 269) we’ve developed a nice sound that echoes such artists as Gillian Welch or Patty Griffin but filtered through Julie’s unique world-view and songwriting style. I definitely recommend checking out her music online and catching her live when you get a chance.
Speaking of which, we are performing tonight (August the 5th) at Caffe Vivaldi in Greenwich Village at 8pm.
The Music of Ward Williams
Ward Williams is a very gifted singer, songwriter, guitarist and cellist (some of us would be happy to be very gifted at just one of those) who I have had the honor of knowing and performing with. This Sunday, the 25th of July, you can find Ward at his monthly gig at Spike Hill in Williamsburg. The equally talented and amazing Christina Cone shares the stage with him on piano and backing vocals and I’ve somehow coaxed them to let me sit in on a couple songs with my lap steel. The music starts at 8pm.
Tim Kuhl Recording Session
This past weekend I participated in a great recording session at North 6th Media Labs headed by the great Tim Kuhl. I came in to the second half of the day to find a great group of musicians and creative vibe curated by engineer Christian (didn’t catch his last name) and company. After recording some great group improvisation, we paired down to a trio of the bassist Michael Formanek, TK and me. After about 20 minutes or so we stopped and I had one of those “what-just-happened?” moments which typically is a sign that we navigated some unexpected and exciting sonic territory. I look forward to hearing the playback from the session and keep an eye on Tim’s site for possible release information.
I will also be traveling with Tim and his group down to Baltimore on Saturday, March 6th to play at his alma mater’s jazz festival.
Median Trio debuts at Solo Kitchen Bar
Back in early 2005 when my move to New York was still in its early planning stages, I ventured out for a long weekend to make a demo recording with two of my favorite jazz musicians, the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Gerald Cleaver. In typical New York fashion, what began as a well orchestrated plan became a minor debacle (through no fault of our own). But somehow we documented three of my compositions as well as a super-fun romp through an Ornette Coleman classic. I returned to Michigan with the data on my hard drive and the ambition to make this trio a major part of my musical diet once I finally relocated six months later.
Well… that takes me to today. It’s the early weeks of 2010 and I can now say I finally am able to present this group and material. Life takes you on strange and funny detours (as we all know) and there’s something quite satisfying in the sense that the circle has ultimately completed its arc and in so, the Median Trio will take the stage this Sunday night.
