MusicCircle

Welcome to MUSIC CIRCLE Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt (January 23, 1910 - May 16, 1953), the legendary gypsy jazz guitarist, is one of the most innovational European musicians of the twentieth century, having contributed to the transformation of early straight jazz into "hot jazz" with his masterful improvisational skills and long, dancing arpeggios. A legendary Romani-French guitarist,Django Reinhardtwas the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe and the person most credited with developing the style known as gypsy jazz, jazz manouche, or hot club jazz.Reinhardtcame up with a unique way of propelling the acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming groundwork of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with cohortStephane Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for their time -- making a direct impression uponCharlie ChristianandLes Paul, among others -- and he was an energizing rhythm guitarist behindGrappelli, pushing their groups into a higher gear. Not only didReinhardtput his stamp upon jazz, his string band music also had an impact upon the parallel development of Western swing, which eventually fed into the wellspring of what is now called country music. Although he could not read music,Reinhardtcomposed several winsome, highly original tunes withGrappelliand on his own, like "Daphne," "Nuages," and "Manoir de Mes Reves," as well as mad swingers like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the 1930s, "Stomping at Decca." As the lateRalph Gleasonsaid aboutDjango's recordings, "They were European and they were French and they were still jazz." A violinist first and a guitarist later,Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardtgrew up near Paris in a family of Manouche Romani descent and absorbed the traditions that would become known as gypsy jazz into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourcefulReinhardtfigured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story, during his recovery period,Reinhardtwas introduced to American jazz when he found a 78 rpm disc ofLouis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at an Orleans flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian cafés until one day in 1934 whenHot Clubchief Pierre Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band toReinhardtandGrappelli. Thus was bornthe Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly became an international draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca, and HMV recordings. The outbreak of war in 1939 broke upthe Quintette, withGrappelliremaining in London, where the group was playing, andReinhardtreturning to France. During the war years, he led a big band, another quintet with clarinetistHubert Rostaingin place ofGrappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazzmen asMel Powell,Peanuts Hucko, andRay McKinley. In 1946,Reinhardttook up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with theDuke Ellingtonband, but his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in January 1946,ReinhardtandGrappelliheld several sporadic reunions where the bop influences are more subtly integrated into the old, still-fizzing swing format. In the 1950s,Reinhardtbecame more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording now and then until his death from a stroke in 1953. HisHot Clubrecordings from the '30s are his most irresistible legacy; their spirit and sound can be felt in current groups like Holland'sRosenberg Trio. ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: PLEASE SUBCRIBE, LIKE & COMMENT! - ♬usic Ci♪cle. ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: #MusicCircle, #TopMusic , Art Tatum, #DjangoReinhardt #CoryHenry #JacobCollier , Oscar Peterson, #Gospel , #HammondOrgan , #Bass , #Keyboard, #Guitar , #Drums , #ClassicalMusic , #Jazz, #Blues, #Funk , Stride, Reggae ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Welcome to MUSIC CIRCLE Victor Wooten redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a member of the Grammy-winning supergroup, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. But those gifts only begin to tell the tale of this Tennessee titan. Victor is the loving husband and devoted father of four; the youngest sibling of the amazing Wooten brothers (Regi, Roy, Rudy and Joseph), and the bassist in their famed family band; the student in the martial art of Wing Chun and the nature survival skill of Tracking; the teacher of dozens of Bass players at his acclaimed annual Bass & Nature camp; and the master magician. Victor Lemonte Wooten got to music early, growing up in a military family in which his older brothers all played and sang. By the time he was 3, Victor was being taught bass by his oldest brother Regi, and at age 5 he was performing professionally with the Wooten Brothers Band. He recalls, "My parents and brothers were the foundation. They prepared me for anything by teaching me to keep my mind open and learn to adapt.” Working their way east from Sacramento, the band played countless clubs and eventually opened concerts for Curtis Mayfield and War. Victor was influenced by bass mentors, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham and Bootsy Collins, while learning about the music business at a wildly accelerated pace. By the early '80s, with the family settled in Newport News, Virginia, the brothers became mainstays at Busch Gardens theme park in nearby Williamsburg, making numerous connections with musicians in Nashville and New York. In 1988 Victor moved to Nashville, where he worked with singer Jonell Mosser and met New Grass Revival banjo ace Bela Fleck. A year later, Fleck enlisted Vic, his brother Roy (a.k.a. Future Man) and harmonica-playing keyboardist Howard Levy to perform with him, and the Flecktones were born. After three highly successful albums, Levy departed in 1993, and the band's new trio format enabled Victor to develop and display a staggering array of fingerboard skills that turned him into a bass hero of Pastorian-proportions and helped earn the band a Grammy. Wooten won two Nashville Music Awards for Bassist Of The Year and is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine's Bass Player Of The Year. With the honors came sideman calls, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov't Mule, Susan Tedeschi, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band, and the soundtrack of the Disney film Country Bears, not to mention the stellar work with guitarist Greg Howe and Dennis Chambers with the group Howe Wooten and Chambers. Fresh off sold-out tours with the Flecktones and Bass Extremes (with Bailey, Watson and Oteil Burbridge) in 2004, Victor is re-focusing on his solo side in 2005 thanks to a remarkable new CD, his Vanguard Records debut, Soul Circus. A three-ring affair, the disc boasts such guests as the Wooten brothers, Bootsy Collins, Arrested Development rapper/vocalist Speech, Howard Levy, Dennis Chambers, Saundra Williams, J.D. Blair, Derico Watson, Flecktone Jeff Coffin, and a who's-who of bassists, including Bailey, Burbridge, Will Lee, Rhonda Smith, Christian McBride, T.M. Stevens, Bill Dickens and Gary Grainger. Victor Wooten has the rare ability to continuously raise the bar, always growing as an artist, and he's excited to have joined the Vanguard roster with the release of Soul Circus. ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: PLEASE SUBCRIBE, LIKE & COMMENT! - ♬usic Ci♪cle. ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: #MusicCircle, #TopMusic , Art Tatum, #VictorWooten #CoryHenry #JacobCollier , Oscar Peterson, #Gospel , #HammondOrgan , #Bass , #Keyboard, #Guitar , #Drums , #ClassicalMusic , #Jazz, #Blues, #Funk , Stride, Reggae ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Welcome to MUSIC CIRCLE Cory Henry pieced together The Funk Apostles’ lineup out of players he met on the road over the years, and each member of the band is an all-star in their own right. Guitarist Adam Agati, who co-wrote the album’s lyrics with Henry, has worked with everyone from Booker T. Jones to Ludacris, while bassist Sharay Reed has performed with Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Chakha Khan, and more. Henry met drummer TaRon Lockett while he was playing with Snarky Puppy, but he’s performed with some of the biggest names in R&B including Erykah Badu and Montell Jordan, and keyboardist Nick Semrad’s credits include Miss Lauryn Hill, Bilal, and Gabriel Garzon-Montano. Recorded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, ‘Art Of Love’ was tracked live to tape in an effort both to capture the inimitable energy of the band’s live shows and to channel the warm analog vibes of the 1970’s. While Henry may be renowned for his gifts as an improviser, the album serves as a showcase for his skills as a songwriter and producer, rich with intricate arrangements and memorable hooks. That’s not to say it’s without spontaneity, though. The band worked with minimal rehearsal (Henry estimates they’ve had three in the two years since the band started playing together), and several tracks are actually first-take recordings. The driving, funky “In The Water,” combines a relentlessly pulse-pounding rhythm section groove with swirling synthesizer underneath Henry’s insistent, charismatic vocals. Like much of the album, the song is an examination of love: what it means, what it takes, what makes it last. On lead single “Trade It All,” he offers up a vulnerable, honest account of the sacrifices he’d make for a lover, while the sensual and smooth “Just A Word” sets a sultry mood for romance, and the fluid, elegant “Our Affairs” finds him asking, “Babe tell me why / You put me through Hell when Heaven’s where true love resides?” As a writer, Henry is clearly interested in love beyond just the romantic sense of the word, though, often zooming out to take a big picture look at a world that seems to be sorely lacking in it. “Find A Way” is an anthem to making life better through compassion and empathy, frequent show-closer “Give Me A Sign” is a blues and gospel-tinged love letter to music itself, and the punchy “Takes All Time” is Henry’s true-life account of his journey to manhood, his “testimony to love and not rushing to find it.” The album ends on a more political note with “Free,” a gritty tune inspired by current events that features Henry’s most impassioned vocal performance yet as he promises, “we gonna fight / live or die for our rights / everywhere.” “I want to make music that really means something,” he explains. “I think of the 60’s and 70’s as this golden era of music, and if you look at some of the top artists then like Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder, they were singing about what was happening around them in this creative way that made people want to act. They used music as a tool to reach the world and bring about change to help make it a better place. I want to do that, too.” PLEASE SUBCRIBE, LIKE & COMMENT! - ♬usic Ci♪cle. ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: #MusicCircle, #TopMusic , Art Tatum, #TheFunkApostles #CoryHenry #JacobCollier , Oscar Peterson, #Gospel , #HammondOrgan , #Bass , #Keyboard, #Guitar , #Drums , #ClassicalMusic , #Jazz, #Blues, #Funk , Stride, Reggae ♫︹︹︹︹︹₢: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.