Release The Day

ABOUT BARNEY MCALL Hi there and welcome. This is my Recent Projects/Bio and a few reivews of my CD Release the Day RECENT HAPPENINGS: I went to Cuba early this year and recorded a CD which I've called "Mother of dreams and secrets". It was recorded at Egrem Studios Havana, and is a musical dedication to the Orisha (saint) Yemaya. I composed music based on the ceremonial Bata rhythms of Yemeya and this CD has an hypnotic momentum and forward motion that I'm am very pleased about. It will be out in July so I hope you will pick one up! 'Baby Winter' ( a new work in progress) is like an ambient sound mattress of gentle noise. This is collaboration with Genji Siraisi. I performed in and wrote a sort of overture for Danius Kesminas' Slave Piano Opera: 'Two lives in Flux and Vice Versa' which was performed in Vilnius, Lithuania late 2004.The Opera featured Piano, Slave Piano, Two Harmoniums, Two Choirs, type writer, two soloists and a 7 piece jazz ensemble... It was also voted cultural event of the year! I had the chance to improvise with a Lithuanian folk choir and to witness the Lithuanian President place a brick on the sustain pedal and play a loud resounding F as the finale. We have finally finished the BBR trio CD. This is the trio of Rufus Cappadocia (5 string Cello), Badal Roy(Tablas)and I play Piano and Rhodes. This CD also features Fred Wesley (Trombone, James Brown) ,Jojo Kuo (Drums Fela Kuti)and the very underrated Judy Bady on vocals. This CD will be out later in 2005. MY EXTENDED BIO: I AM CURRENTLY WORKING WITH: Dreams and Secrets Sextet (My own working band) Gary Bartz Quartet,Quintet and NTU Troop Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heart-Core Band Josh Roseman Unit and Constellations (Don Drummond tribute ensemble) Fred Wesley and The JB's (occasionally....call me up Fred!) Groove Collective BBR trio FOR THE RECORD I HAVE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO HAVE RECORDED OR PERFORMED WITH: Matt Wilson, Bernie Worrell, Billy Kilson, Charlie Hunter, Billy Harper, Kenny Garrett, Ed Howard, Vernel Fornier, Terry Clarke, Mike Clarke, Tim Ries, Marvin Stamm, Badal Roy, Stefon Harris, Wallace Roney, Seamus Blake,Mark Turner, Peter Apfelbaum, Gary Bartz,Andy Bey, David Binney, Jim Black, Jeff Ballard, Dewey Redman,Louis Hayes,Gerry Gonzales, Mark Turner, Fred Wesley,N'dea Davenport, Bobby Sanabria, Steve Turre , Josh Roseman, Ben Monder, The Groove Collective, Rodney Holmes, Jimmy Cobb, Andy Bey, Vincent Herring, Dave Gilmore, Chris Speed, Reggie Washington, Ben Perowsky, Scott Colly, Adam Rogers, Bernie Worrell, Ron Mclure,David Gilmore, Brad Jones,Eddie Henderson, Badal Roy, Wallace Roney, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Roy Ayers, Liberty Elman, Jeremy Pelt, Tom Harrell PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: The Lithuanian world music festival september 2004 The Santa Clara Jazz Festival ,Cuba Barney McAll Quartet European Tour 2002 (featuring Billy Harper) The Barney McAll Octet -featured as part of the ABC TV Jazz documentary The Pulse Melbourne international Jazz fest, The Perth Jazz Festival and Akaroa Jazz Festival,New Zealand with Barney McAll unit Musical Director for "Gospel Extravaganza", Sydney Town Hall 1999 Other tours include; Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada Australia and the USA MANY THANKS GO OUT TO MY TEACHERS: Mulgrew Miller, Aydin Essen, Charlie Banacos, Walter Bishop Jr, The Hon.Barry Harris, Larry Goldings, Jim Beard, Bruce Barth, Dave Kikoski and Mike Nock. TEACHERS IN CUBA :Chucho Valdez, Ramon Valle,Adres Alen, Olavo Alen, Peruchin jnr. COMPOSING AND ARRANGING: Slave piano Opera 'two lives in flux and vice versa' ARRANGING: Vocalist Pamela Loss as part of performance at Weil Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall featuring Vince Herring, Steve Seamus Blake, Greg Hutchison and Tom Harrell Vocalist Renee Geyer and Octet,for Melbourne International festival 2000 Vincent Herrings CD Save The World featuring Roy Hargrove, Carl Allen, Richie Goods and Joey Calderazzo 1997 - Arranging and composing FILM AND THEATRE: Hide and Seek -20th Century Fox - Contributed music for score 2005 Sacco and Vanzetti documentary by Peter Miller/Ken Burns Florentine films -Contributed music for score 2005 Liberia: An Uncivil War - feature film by Jonathan Stack for Discovery Chanel- New York Times Winner IDA courage under fire award Winner Special Jury Prize, International Documentary Film festival Amsterdam -Composed score 2004 Brother to Brother feature film by Rodney Evans Winner IFP Grodon Parks Screen writing Winner outfest Film festival Grand Jury Prize Audience Award and best Actor Roger Robinson Winner New York Showtime Vanguard award Winner Sundance film festival special Jury Prize -Composed music for score 2004 Freaks Like Me -short film by David Holbrooke- Composed score 2004 Solstice -A musical featuring Kate Cebrano -Adelaide International festival- Composed score 1996 Homecoming -a documentary by Edwina Throsby-Composed score Necessidades 1995- black comedy- Composed score Mullaway 1991 -feature film - performed original score (w/ Vince Jones Band) HONORS AND AWARDS: Received Project Fellowship from Australian Arts Council to further studies and compose music in Cuba Jazz CD of the year _"Village Voice Pazz and Jop Awards" NYC 2002 Best Newcomer CD: Los Angeles Times music critic Don Heckman 2002 Top ten CDs of 2001 CD now.com music critic Drew Wheeler Australia Council Grant to tour Europe 2001 w/ Billy Harper Traveled to Cuba attended 'Music Bridge' Composers Forum 1998 Best Jazz Composition 1998 award from NSW Jazz Action Society Musical Director Ultra Nate, Dance Diva for Bilboard Awards, S.O.B.s NYC Best Jazz Composition 1995 award from NSW Jazz Action Society APRA award for best Jazz Composition 1993 Hindered On His Way To Heaven. Australia Council Grant 1991 for Study In New York City Wangaratta Australian National Jazz piano competition 1990 1st place Australian Arts Grant to further studies in New York 1991 Graduated with Bachelor of Music from Victorian College of the Arts 1986 RELEASE THE DAY CD INFO AND REVIEWS: Barney McAll - keyboards Peter Apfelbaum - tenor sax Gary Bartz - alto sax Fabrio Morgera - trumpet Joey Baron - drums Clark Gayton - trombone Kurt Rosenwinkel - guitar Tony Scherr - bass Eddie Bobe - percussion The only thing that matches the joy of discovering a new artist like Australian jazzman Barney McAll is the excitement of hearing his U.S. recording debut as a leader. The 15-minute-plus opening number, "Thirty-Three,'' alone would make the CD worthwhile . PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE Bob Protzman Born within the jazz idiom where anything goes, rarely do musicians begin their albums with a lengthy tune. Perhaps even the bravest worry that their most extended improvisations may be to prolix for snaring a listeners attention. But Australian pianist/keyboardist Barney McAll stretches his "Release the Day" opener, "thirty three" , to 15:53, and, frankly , its such a compelling piece with its loping pulse and meandering instrumental beauty that he could have taken it for a ride with his band for twice as long. Its a promising start to an album that proves to be a revelation- a straight ahead outing that cuts deeper than the norm. Particularly impressive are two reflective numbers, including the end song, "Daria", where McAll coaxes his piano to sigh. Highly recommended.- SCHWANN INSIDE Dan Ouellette The spirituality of McAll's music is evident immediately even on the first track, which McAll dedicates to the Orisha "Elegua," who "opens all doors." Release The Day instead establishes an inspiring ambience on all of the tracks.... "Obatala" is just as concerned with Santerían respect and worship, as McAll dedicates this tune to yet another Orisha. Its African texture, with its irregular metrical patterns and yet its cyclic nature, is reminiscent of some of Randy Weston's work., McAll delivers the final track, "Daria," as a halting, solo performance that one expects to beckon the sounds of nature, like bird calls and the shore-line crashing of ocean waves. Meditative in nature, "Daria" concludes the album with upper-register ringing and metrical abandonment for a solitary consideration of the universality of the music and the human soul's connection to it. ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM Don Williamson REVIEW JULY 2001 Call this Australian-born pianist's New York answering machine and you'll hear Radiohead's "Knives Out," a forlorn song that slips and slides like a wicked ocean undertow. This is a clue to the open-ended music of Release the Day, which hints at the dark melodies of Radiohead, the happy strut of Dollar Brand, the exotic allure of Randy Weston, and the funky counter-rhythms of Cubano bop. The opening track, "Thirty Three," is a simple motif repeated for 15-plus minutes, casting an engrossing spell while Joey Baron, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Bobe, and Gary Bartz tease its gossamer melody. It's a simmering introduction to a beautiful record. The album inches along from the Afro-Cuban rumination of "Obatala" to the spectral chant of "Chaos Lento" to the bluesy, beautiful saunter of the "Release the Day," which recalls a Becker-Fagen brass melody from Aja or Two Against Nature. Using space and simplicity, Barney McAll conjures mighty music AMAZON.COM Ken Micallef Barney McAll, an Australian pianist-composer now residing in New York, brings his diverse performance and composing skills into the spotlight on Release the Day, an eclectically influenced outing that features such progressive-jazz notables as Gary Bartz, Peter Apfelbaum, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Joey Baron. McAll opens with the album's opus, the 15-minute-long "Thirty Three," which pulses with an "A Love Supreme"-styled vamp, layered with elongated horn chords and McAll's chordal splashes -- with Bartz adding a canny, lyrical solo (that tosses in a clever quote from "My One and Only Love"). The afro-modal theme "Obatala" features Bartz blowing like a wordless preacher; Rosenwinkel taking a bewitchingly tangled solo; Baron hammering out a truncated break; and McAll making bright, spare, piano revelations that recall early Keith Jarrett. ....and with "Daria," a revelatory, closing solo piano piece, McAll achieves an austere beauty and drama reminiscent of Erik Satie or Paul Bley. That's proof enough that while many people seek inspiration from the phrase "seize the day," the title of Barney McAll's new album may indicate just how far ahead he is from the rest of the pack. CDNOW Senior Editor, Jazz, Drew Wheeler This is an immensely stylish work, a hybrid in which you hear the distant pulse of Africa, lyrical and brightly ringing solo piano offset elsewhere by percussion and faux naif synthesiser effects, and smooth, Philadelphia R&B from the 70s. McAll's writing is very clean - the melodic statements are strong and simple, featuring lovely horn harmonies and crisp, sparse guitar. Try Thirty-Three and you1ll be hooked. FINANCIAL REVIEW Shane Nichols Australian-born pianist McAll has played with Dewey Redman, Gary Bartz, Vincent Herring, Billy Harper and the Groove Collective, among others. There's much to hear in this collection, all of it worthy of repeat listening. McAll, who manages to intelligently integrate pop elements into his music, deserves much wider attention. LOS ANGELES TIMES Don Heckman "Lots of CDs arrive in my mailbox. More than I have time for. Occasionally, thankfully, a gem finds its way to my listen pile, usually in the midst of a molehill of mediocrity. Unexpectedly, I put it on and within thirty seconds, I'm hooked. There's something in the music that catches my attention. It's usually a groove, a feeling that reaches out to me. That's exactly what happened when I put on Barney McAll's new CD 'Release The Day,' on Herbie Hancock's Transparent Music. I recalled that McAll was on first call for a number of sax players I respected in New York, including Gary Bartz, an old friend whose playing only gets better. If the man played with Bartz, that was a recommendation to listen. McAll's magic began immediately, on the first track, the way it's supposed to, but these days, rarely does. Since my introduction to McAll, I've put on this CD countless times and can report that the man from Down Under creates an ambient, meditative sound on eight originals that feature Cuban, Jamaican, and jazz elements. The unique synthesis of supportive but idiosyncratic elements is due to the exceptional improvisations of his collaborators, his striking musical ideas, and imaginative implementation of highly atmospheric Santerian rhythms that surround the ambience of this excellent program. The opener, a McAll original, 'Thirty Three,' is a musical meditation featuring Obatala rhythms. It grabs from note one and doesn't let go. Featuring some very creative horn work as well as mesmerizing percussion, not to mention stunning piano playing, it's fifteen-plus minutes of hypnotic spirit. But don't worry, every track is a keeper. Eight varied originals here introduce a major talent, a keyboardist with a distinctive voice from Australia. Barney McAll is a musical conjurer of the highest order. For proof, download or listen to the title track, which features Gary Bartz's emotionally supple alto, Peter Apfelbaum's redolent tenor, and McAll's funky electric piano and organ. GMJ WEBSITE REVIEW