Cornelia Street Cafe Announces December Lineup

The Cornelia Street Cafe announces their December lineup:

Wednesday, December 01
8:30PM Brad Shepik Quartet
(Brad Shepik, guitar; Tom Beckham, vibraphone; Jorge Roeder, bass; Mark Guiliana, drums)
Brad Shepik who has spent time in a host of groups led by luminaries (Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Dave Douglas, Joey Baron, Pachora) will perform with his new quartet music from their upcoming CD 'Across the Way' (Songlines).
"Downtown guitarist Brad Shepik goes far too long between albums; the best way to keep tabs on this compelling melodist, nimble improviser and thoughtful composer is to catch him on the bandstand." Time Out NY
The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.bradshepik.com

Thursday, December 02
8:30PM Scott Lee Group
(Scott Lee, bass, compositions; Billy Drewes, reeds; Gary Versace, piano; Jeff Hirshfield, drums)
Bassist/Composer Scott Lee has been leading a group of close musical friends to experiment in different forms and new ways of improvising. Scott will be performing music from his new cd 'Leaving' (Steeplechase Records).
" This is the heart and soul of Jazz and improvised music - Scott, with Billy Drewes, Gary Versace and Jeff Hirshfield, capture your attention and take you places....They are some of my favorite improvisers, Beautiful!" Joe Lovano

"Maybe the annual jazz awards need to add a new category for musicians like Scott Lee. It could be titled "master musicians deserving of wider recognition." Mark Corrotto, All About Jazz
The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.scottleemusic.com

Friday, December 03
9:00PM & 10:30PM Gerald Cleaver Group
(Jean Carla Rodea, vocals; Andrew Bishop, reeds; Dave Ballou, trumpet; Chris Lightcap, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums)
Gerald Cleaver, born in Detroit in 1963, began playing drums, trumpet, and violin at an early age. He earned a BA in music education from University of Michigan and, while there, was awarded a National Endowment For The Arts Jazz Study Fellowship to study with Victor Lewis. He worked as a band teacher in Detroit, Lecturer at Michigan State University and Assistant Professor at University of Michigan before relocating to New York. Over the years he has worked with Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Hank Jones, Joe Morris, Craig Taborn, William Parker, and Miroslav Vitous, to name only a few. In 2002, Cleaver's Veil of Names, featuring Mat Maneri, Ben Monder, Andrew Bishop, Craig Taborn, and Reid Anderson, received a Best Debut Recording nomination from the Jazz Journalists Association for their album Adjust. Cleaver also leads the bands Uncle June, Violet Hour, and Farmers By Nature. Cleaver has assembled some of the top musicians to work in this group.

Vocalist Jean Carla Rodea has worked with Joe Morris, William Parker, Joachim Badenhorst, Pascal Niggenkemper, Javier Moreno, Kyoko Kitamura, Devin Gray, Juan Pablo Carletti, and Brian Questa in her groups Jean Carla Rodea's Azares, the Jean Carla Rodea Group, and the Jean Carla Rodea Trio.

Composer and trumpeter Dave Ballou has performed and/or recorded with Kevin Norton, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Steely Dan, Drew Gress, Tom Rainey, Tony Malaby, John Hollenbeck, Mario Pavone, Karl Berger, Daniel Levin, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Spokane Symphony and many others.

Composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist Andrew Bishop has worked with Karl Berger, Drew Gress, Chris Lightcap, Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, John Zorn, The Either Orchestra, and many others.

Bassist and composer Chris Lightcap has collaborated with Marc Ribot, Regina Carter, Craig Taborn, Mark Turner, Joe Morris, Sheila Jordan, James Carter, Butch Morris, Ben Monder and Tom Harrell. Since 1998 he has also led his own groups and produced two critically acclaimed albums of original music for the Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent, 'Lay-Up', and 'Big Mouth'.
The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.myspace.com/geraldcleavermusic

Saturday, December 04 and Sunday, December 05
9:00PM & 10:30PM Joel Harrison Septet: Singularity
(Joel Harrison, guitar; Zach Brock, violin; Donny McCaslin, saxophones; Dana Leong, cello; Gary Versace, piano; Stephan Crump, bass; Clarence Penn, drums)
Guitarist, composer, and Guggenheim Fellow Joel Harrison debuts a new project this fall entitled Singularity, featuring a septet of top-notch New York jazz musicians, including Zach Brock (violin), Donny McCaslin (saxophone), Dana Leong (cello), Gary Versace (piano), Stephan Crump (bass), and Clarence Penn (drums). These new compositions were commissioned by Chamber Music America's "New Works" program.

Harrison's compositional influences span the globe. It's only appropriate then, that for the Singularity jazz project, he's made use of techniques employed by classical composers like John Adams, Charles Ives, and Olivier Messiaen. Singularity merges Harrison's wealth of experience in jazz and world styles with his longstanding interest in contemporary composition to create a sound that's often described as "chamber jazz".

Singularity has been made possible with support from Chamber Music America's 2009 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The cover charge is $10. Fore more information on the group, visit http://www.joelharrison.com

Monday, December 06
8:30PM Amram & Co
(David Amram, piano, french horn, flutes, composition & surprises; Kevin Twigg, drums, glockenspiel; John de Witt, bass; Adam Amram, percussion)
This series explores in his highly personable, generous and informal style the astonishing variety of David Amram's interests and accomplishments--renowned composer of symphonic classical music, jazz compositions, improvisation, spoken word, scat, he sits at the piano, schmoozes about music, about the greats, the beats, the obscure, the legendary; plays the French horn, pulls out all kinds of instruments (flutes, drums, horns) gathered from his many circumnavigations of the globe, pulls in guests drawn from just about every artistic walk of life.
The cover charge is $10. Fore more information on the gorup, visit http://www.davidamram.com

Tuesday, December 07
8:30PM Theo Bleckman & Ben Moder Duo
(Theo Bleckmann, voice, live electronics; Ben Monder, guitar)
For over 15 years, the Theo Bleckmann & Ben Monder duo has frequently toured the U.S., Europe and Asia creating a unique approach to what might be called "jazz art song", blurring the boundaries between jazz, classical, ambient and rock. Bleckmann's vocal style is based on a thorough understanding of the jazz vocal tradition as well as "extended vocal techniques" (he has been a principal in Meredith Monk's Vocal Ensemble since 1994) and also uses electronic looping and processing in order to create choral and textural soundscapes. Film fans will note that Bleckmann created the alien language used in the film Men In Black. Bleckmann was recently interviewed by Terry Gross for Fresh Air on NPR and received a GRAMMY^TM nomination in 2010 for his CD of Ives songs with Kneebody. Monder, a regular with the Maria Schneider Orchestra and Paul Motian's band, has developed a compositional style to exploit the full textural potential of the guitar; his playing is influenced as much by classical technique as jazz. The duo's continued collaborations on both Bleckmann's "Origami" and Monder's 'Excavation' and 'Oceana' have garnered great critical acclaim world-wide.

"...so virtuosic and inventive a pair...the two share a subtle discipline that results in a focused, cohesive whole...Rarely have such individual musicians sounded so single-minded." Shaun Brady, Downbeat USA

Julie Hardy will host. The cover charge is $15. For more information on the group, visit http://www.TheoBleckmann.com

Wednesday, December 08
8:30PM Post Folk: BB Gun
(Ben Davis, supro electric guitar, vocals; Bridget Kearney, bass,vocals)

BB Gun is the duo of songwriter/singers Ben Davis and Bridget Kearney. The two have been collaborators for the last 4 years in their 10-piece indie-rock orchestra, Cuddle Magic. The duo is more than a paired down version of the large ensemble, though there is definitely a connection, and one of the main attractions will be watching the two multi-task, covering drum parts with their feet and trumpet parts on their guitars and string parts with their mouths. More than anything, the duo will be a showcase for both songwriters. Davis has a preternatural sense of melody and draws musical inspiration from his background in folk music, his conservatory education and his travels in Africa. Kearney's realm is pop music, and she writes with what the Los Angeles Daily News called "wry existential intelligence." She is a two time winner of The John Lennon Songwriting Contest and writes material for her bands, Lake Street Dive and Joy Kills Sorrow, as well as Cuddle Magic, and of course, BB Gun.

"thoughtful, unpretentious lyrics, with a kind of casual force" -Sing Out 

"it's kind of like Cuddle Magic without all the bullshit" -Alec Spiegelman (clarinetist for Cuddle Magic)

The event will be curated by Becca Stevens. The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.bridgetkearney.com

Wednesday, December 08
10:00PM Post Folk: The Fundies
(Rachael Price, vocals; Margaret Glaspy, guitar, vocals; Brittany Haas, fiddle; Bridget Kearney, bass)
An indie old time band that is the first of its kind. Margaret Glaspy, Brittany Haas, Bridget Kearney, and Rachael Price join forces to blow your mind with their sweet harmonies and catchy originals. Their talent paired with their good looks is said to be "overwhelming". A brand new set up, they have already begun to take New York by storm and will surely continue to do so.

The event will be curated by Becca Stevens. The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.myspace.com/margaretglaspy

Thursday, December 09
8:30PM The Michael Attias Sextet
(Michaël Attias, alto saxophone; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Mark Taylor, french horn; Matt Moran, vibraphone; Sean Conly, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums)
Michaël Attias' 2010 Clean Feed release, Twines of Colesion, was called "one of the year's standout jazz albums, an alternately gritty and romantic set, perched on the border between postbop and the avant-garde." - Time Out NY. This concert will feature new and revisited music for a special edition of his long dormant sextet.

The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.michaelattias.com

Friday, December 10
9:00PM & 10:30PM Malaby/Motian/Sanchez/Monder
(Tony Malaby, tenor, soprano saxophone; Paul Motian, drums; Angelica Sanchez, piano; Ben Monder, guitar)
Tony Malaby leads a stellar quartet featuring drum legend Paul Motian in a rare New York performance.

Reservations are highly recommended. The cover charge is $15. For more information on the group, visit http://www.tonymalaby.com

Saturday, December 11
9:00PM & 10:30PM Orange Double Tenor's CD Release and 70th Birthday Celebration
(Mario Pavone, bass,compositions; Tony Malaby, saxophones; Marty Ehrlich, saxophones; Dave Ballou, trumpet; Peter Madsen, piano; Gerald Cleaver, drums)
The bassist and composer will celebrate his 70th birthday , 45 years in music , and a propulsive new cd - 'Arc Sweet' with his Orange Double Tenor Sextet.
" ... pavone's music has the rhythmic and harmonic grids of be-bop and all that descends from it,and the cathartic tracing-in-air of free jazz" Ben Ratliff, New York Times
The cover charge is $10. For more information ont he group, visit http://www.mariopavone.com

Sunday, December 12
8:30PM James Shipp's Nos Novo
(James Shipp, vibraphone, percussion; Jo Lawry, vocals, violin, misc. reed instruments; Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Rogério Boccato, drums, percussion; Special Guest:Doug Wamble, guitar, vocals)
Nós Novo is Shipp's laboratory for exploring The Commonalities and clashes between jazz-based improvisation, traditional folk musics from the UK and Ireland, and grooves from the drum cultures of Brazil, the middle east, and India. The group's repertoire runs the gamut from 300-year-old Irish songs to Thelonius Monk tunes to Björk and José Gonzalez. Their music can be lush and whispering, explosive and uninhibited, thoughtful and challenging, and rollicking and danceable. What holds it all together is a belief in telling stories, artfully and honestly. Nós Novo has been delighting audiences since 2008, and has made notable appearances at New York's Irish Arts Center, the 2010 Melbourne (AUS) Jazz Festival, and the women's gymnasium on Rikers Island. The group released its debut CD, Strange Sweethearts in America, in October of 2009.
"Nós Novo offers a worldly mix of sea shanties, Celtic reels and airs, Brazilian soul and jazz spirit, played via a mix of strings and percussion instruments and the soaring voice of singer Jo Lawry. More amazing than the boldness of the mix is the seamlessness with which it all comes together on the band's lovely new debut album..." - Time Out New York
The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.jamesshipp.com

Monday, December 13
8:30PM Inside/Out

(Tim Ferguson, bass; Rob Henke, trumpet; Diane Moser, piano)Inside/Out is a trio with a unique sound and open mindedness about music and improvisation that weaves in and out of musical lines through the tapestry of ensemble playing.

The cover charge is $10 or $5 with student ID.

Monday, December 13
10:00PM 'Words and Music' The New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music
(Mika Harry, vocals; Tristan Cooley, flute; Faiz Lamouri, tenor sax; Diederik Rijpstra, trumpet; Daniel Galvano, piano; Rachel Housle, percussion; Kiril Orenstein, percussion; Diane Moser, director)
Breaking it down letter by letter-telling a story-rhythmic codes-poetic ebb and flow- exploring the use of "words" as a compositional/improvisational tool. Featuring: Mika Harry-vocals, Tristan Cooley-flute, Faiz Lamouri-tenor sax, Diederik Rijpstra-trumpet, Daniel Galvano-piano, Rachel Housle and Kiril Orenstein-percussion, Diane Moser-director, photo by Yasu Sorimach

The cover charge is $10, or $5 with a student ID. For more information, visit http://www.newschool.edu/jazz/subpage.aspx?id=10114

Tuesay, December 14
8:30PM Jazz and Love Songs... Michael Lydon and Friends
(Ellen Mandel, piano, vocals; Curtis Fowlkes, trombone; Dave Hofstra, bass; Rudy Lawless, drums; Gennaro Kravitz, vocals; Amy Fitts, vocals; Michael Lydon, guitar, vocals)
Michael Lydon a songwriter well-known in the East Village, sings and whistles standards and his own easy-going pop-jazz tunes with a swinging horn-and-rhythm combo. A founding editor of Rolling Stone was back in 1967, Lydon also wrote the definitive biography of Ray Charles, has films on YouTube, and is "The Handsomest Man in the World!!
"Funny and musical" Daily News "Knows and cares about the music" LA Times "Charming" San Francisco Chronicle
The cover charge is $10. For more information on the group, visit http://www.michaellydon.com

Wednesday, December 15
8:30PM Ideal Bread
(Josh Sinton, baritone saxophone; Kirk Knuffke, cornet; Sean Conly, bass; Tomas Fujiwara, drums)
Ideal Bread is the brainchild of Brooklyn-based creative musician Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone). Using the idiosyncratic and underplayed compositions of Steve Lacy as a starting point, he has created a group that has blossomed into a dynamic and charismatic band. Kirk Knuffke's cornet adds subtlety and nuance while Tomas Fujiwara's energetic churning on the drums provides ballast. Joining them on bass will be Sean Conly. Ideal Bread's 2nd CD Transmit: Vol. 2 of the Music of Steve Lacy was just released in June of 2010 on Cuneiform Records. It retains the energy and verve of their first CD (The Ideal Bread available from KMB-Jazz) but also reveals a keen sense of vision and purpose. This is a show that will be both familiar and strange at the same time promising familiar jazz tropes next to modern-day abstractions.
"Ideal Bread embraces the fierce originality and rigor of Lacy's original music and remake it in an utterly distinctive way. Four and a half stars." Peter Margasak
The cover charge is $10. For more information, visit http://www.myspace.com/idealbread

Friday, December 17 and Saturday, December 18
9:00PM & 10:30PM Rez Abbasi's Invocation
(Vijay Iyer, piano; Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto saxophone; Johannes Weidenmueller, bass; Dan Weiss, drums)
Guitarist Rez Abbasi returns to the Cornelia St. Cafe to premiere the culmination of his Chamber Music America commission, Motherland Suite.
His quintet, Invocation, features a stellar not to be missed lineup of Vijay Iyer on Piano, Rudresh Mahanthappa on sax, Johannes Weidenmueller on bass and Dan Weiss on drums. The group will hit the studio the following week to record their sophomore album. With the musical results and subsequent accolades from their 2009 debut album, Things To Come, the music of Motherland Suite, promises to be at least as contagious and vibrant.

Motherland Suite draws upon the devotional qawwali music of Abbasi's Pakistani heritage. Qawwali is most commonly known in America through the body of work of the late great singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. For Invocation's vibrant musical hybrid, Abbasi will attempt to tap into the essence of qawwali's driving euphoric sound via instrumental jazz ensemble.

"'Things To Come' is a group realization of a very ambitious batch of compositional notions. Abbasi is extremely successful in this pursuit. " 4 1/2 Stars, Downbeat

"Things To Come signals a new chapter in the evolution of a masterful musician and thinker. The music, though challenging, is steeped in emotion and imagination... captivating, fascinating and riveting." - All About Jazz
The cover charge is $15. Fore more information, visit http://www.reztone.com

Sunday, December 19
8:30PM Joni & Johannes
(Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf, cello; Simon Mulligan, piano; Jessica Molaskey, vocals; Mary Beth Peil, vocals; Randy Landau, bass)
Join cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf and pianist Simon Mulligan for a unique evening featuring the music of Johannes Brahms and Joni Mitchell, with guest stars Jessica Molaskey and Mary Beth Peil, and arrangements by Jason Robert Brown and Jonathan Tunick.
The cover charge is $15

Thursday, December 23
8:30PM Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O
(Jeff Lederer, saxophones; Paul Sikivie, bass; Matt Wilson, drums)
The Christmas Tree-O will definitely brighten your holiday season with their sonic good cheer and spirited revelry. Their new Palmetto CD is destined to become a classic. Expect guest New York music luminaries to contribute to the merriment of the occasion. A Christmas Eve Eve you will never forget!

"If we were to form a jazz combo, our model would most definitely be The Christmas Tree-O !" The Three Wisemen

"If I would have had the Christmas Tree-O cd growing up I would have been a kinder and more caring human being like George Bailey" Mr. Potter ( from "It's a Wonderful Life")

The cover charge is $15. For more information, visit http://www.mattwilsonjazz.com

Thursday, December 30
8:30PM Tom Rainey Trio
(Mary Halvorson, guitar; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Tom Rainey, drums)
Originally from Germany, Ingrid Laubrock has been living in the UK since 1989 and has recently moved to Brooklyn. She performed and recorded with: Kenny Wheeler, Tim Berne, Mark Helias, Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Evan Parker, Steve Beresford, John Edwards, Norma Winstone, VeRyan Weston, Luc Ex,Django Bates' Human Chain, Evan Parker, The Continuum Ensemble and others. As part of the F-ire Collective, she won the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation in 2004,was nominated for the BBC Jazz Award for ‘Rising Star' in 2005 and won a Fellowship in Jazz Composition by the Arts Foundation in 2006. She won the 2009 SWR German Radio Jazz Prize the and was one of the final nominees for the 2009 Westfalen Jazz Preis. Her current groups are Anti-House, Sleepthief with Tom Rainey and Liam Noble (Sleepthief,Intakt CD146) ,her two-piano nonet Nein and Ingrid Laubrock Quintet and a co-led trio with pianist Kris Davis and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.

Mary Halvorson is a guitarist, composer and improviser living in Brooklyn. Since 2000 she has been performing regularly in New York with numerous groups and has toured Europe and the U.S. with Anthony Braxton and Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant. Additionally, Halvorson has performed alongside and interpreted the music of Joe Morris, Nels Cline, John Tchicai, Taylor Ho Bynum, Matana Roberts, Tony Malaby, Elliott Sharp, Myra Melford, Andrea Parkins, Tyshawn Sorey, Marc Ribot and Jason Moran. Current projects which Mary composes for and performs with include The Mary Halvorson Trio with John Hebert and Ches Smith (Dragon's Head, Firehouse 12 Records, 2008); a chamber-music duo with violist Jessica Pavone (On and Off, Skirl Records, 2007); and the avant-rock band People (Misbegotten Man, I & Ear Records, 2007).

Tom Rainey was born in Pasadena, California in 1957. Since moving to New York in 1979 he has performed and or recorded with the following artists: John Abercrombie, Mose Allison, Julian Arguelles, Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Jane Ira Bloom, Nels Cline, Ted Curson, Mark Ducret, Mark Feldman, Michael Formanek, Drew Gress, Mark Helias, Fred Hersch, Andy Laster, Ingrid Laubrock, Joe Lovano, Tony Malaby, Albert Mangelsdorff, Carmen McRae, Mike Nock, Simon Nabatov, New and Used, Anita O'Day, Andrea Parkins, Herb Robertson, Angelica Sanchez, Louis Sclavis, Brad Shepik, Tom Varner, Ken Werner, Denny Zeitlin. Current activities include performing and recording music with Ingrid Laubrock and Mary Halvorson as well as playing with many of the aforementioned artists.

"there is some magic happening here - a beautiful contrast between Zen-like calm and alarming bombast that makes Pool School a must hear" Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

"Halvorson's sound is immediately distinctive, viscerally powerful and, yes, intriguingly ‘anti-guitar'". Brian Morton, Jazz Review

"Tom Rainey is a player who swerves between avant-garde notions and a mainstream sensibility, and when he plays, the smell of invention is in the air." Josef Woodard, L.A. Times.
The cover charge is $10

The Cornelia Street Cafe is located at 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, New York between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village. For more information on the venue, call 212-989-9319 or visit http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com. To get there, take the 1 Subway to Sheridan Square or the A, C, E, B, D, V, F to West 4th St.