Monday, July 2, 2012

Airplay update

Radio airplay is still going strong-- since our last update Little Played Little Bird has had play the following stations, among others:

WUOT 91.9 Knoxville, KDVS 90.3 Chicago, KMUW 89.1 Wichita, KSJS 90.5 San Jose, WCPN 90.3 Cleveland, KRFC 88.9 Ft. Collins, WNMC 90.7 Traverse City, TaintRadio.org, WTJU 91.1 Charlottesville, VA, WFCR New England Public Radio, Gallery41.com,

Thanks everyone!

Notice: LA Jazz Scene - Scotty Yanow

Here's a nice little review of Little Played Little Bird by jazz historian and author Scotty Yanow, for LA Jazz Scene. A brief pull:

 The lack of an alto and trumpet allows the quintet to get a bit of distance from Ornette Coleman’s recordings, as does the utilization of Iago’s Fender Rhodes. The music is explored on its own terms. Ranging from free bop romps to lyrical ballad statements, with the highpoints including spirited renditions of “Friends And Neighbors” and “Check Up,” these fresh and adventurous interpretations cast new light on Ornette Coleman’s songs. Little Played Little Bird is easily recommended and available from www.origin-records.com.

Review: Bird is the Worm - Dave Sumner

Here's a nice review from Dave Sumner's excellent Bird is the Worm jazz blog. Dave is an editor at Allaboutjazz.com and a writer for eMusic.com as well as MusicIsGood.org. It's a nice piece of writing, and I hate to excerpt from it, but here are some choice bits:

Taking ownership of a series of obscure Ornette Coleman songs, drummer Todd Bishop shines them through a facet of his own view of the music, while leaving the beating heart of the originals intact, not a scratch upon them.
Most strikingly, the album is an easy listen. Not in the sense that it’s straight-forward, but instead, Bishop doesn’t needlessly complicate matters. Due to his inventiveness, Coleman’s music already comes with its dangers and pitfalls, wrapped with a bow on top. Bishop doesn’t try to out-free Coleman, instead, just takes the music as it is, and then plays it his way. That’s a big reason why this album works. It’s an impressive music statement to sound both personal and referential, to create music that feels In The Now and simultaneously nostalgic.
[...]
Amazingly, Bishop has negated the requirement of actually needing to like Coleman’s music to enjoy Little Played Little Bird, without extinguishing the heart of the source music, and thus, making this an album accessible to Coleman enthusiasts, too.

 Go pay Dave a visit and read the complete piece.

UPDATE: Here Sumner has put us on his Best of 2012 So Far list...