Jazz Veterans Team Up for New Album THE 'NATI 6

Pianist and composer Dan Karlsberg reaches into the past to create something fresh and original, with his new jazz album "The 'Nati 6."

Not just the album's title, The 'Nati 6 is also the name of the group of living jazz legends in Karlsberg's hometown of Cincinnati, who are known nationally. They include bassist Jim Anderson, drummer Art Gore, saxophonist Brent Gallaher, trombonist Marc Fields pianist and trumpeter Kim Pensyl, who was twice named one of Billboard's Top-20 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Year and has had four Top-10 albums on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart. Members of The 'Nati 6 have individually toured and/or recorded with stars like Ray Charles, Art Blakey, Ernestine Anderson, Herbie Hancock, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and the list goes on.

"Cincinnati has a huge jazz tradition which seems to be getting lost on the younger generation," Karlsberg said. "I wanted to draw attention to the city's jazz history. The members of this band are established leaders in the jazz world and they have been my mentors."

With 10 tracks, "The 'Nati 6" is distinctly jazz, but also has elements of classical, folk and pop music. It is a style Karlsberg loosely describes as "Vince Guaraldi and Cecil Taylor meet Mozart." Cincinnati CityBeat called "The 'Nati 6" "spectacular" and "hypnotically adventurous."

"It definitely has some avant garde aspects, but the album's focus is mainly on beautiful melodies," Karlsberg said.

(See The 'Nati 6 perform Miles Davis' "Freddie Freeloader": https://youtu.be/BPaqE30GDbs)

The songs on "The 'Nati 6" pay homage deceased friends, family members and composers who inspired Karlsberg: Tchaikovsky, Miles Davis, Maurice Ravel, Stephen Foster, Karlsberg's grandparents, an old friend, and even a young woman who worked at a corner store in his neighborhood near the University of Cincinnati.

Karlsberg, who has become a mainstay in Cincinnati's jazz community during the past decade, has worked as a sideman with Tim Warfield, Donald Harrison, Ted Nash, JD Allen, and many others. He teaches at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the acclaimed Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. "The 'Nati 6" is Karlsberg's third album, and though it is stylistically similar to the first two, has less emphasis on his piano while focusing more on the ensemble as a whole.

"My presence is felt through the whole album, but this project is more about my composing than my playing," he said. "I wanted it to be about the group as a whole. It was an honor to work with such amazing artists."

Dan Karlsberg and The 'Nati 6 will perform at the Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, as part of the It's Commonly Jazz series on Thursday, August 6, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Admission is free.

The music of Dan Karlsberg is available at:

CD Baby

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dankarlsberg2

iTunes

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dan-karlsberg/id288583237

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Karlsberg/e/B001LI7R6U/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr?_encoding=UTF8&sn=d

More information is available at www.DanKarlsberg.com.

"The 'Nati 6" track list

1. Ballade No. 2

2. Freddie Freeloader

3. Ballade No. 1

4. Prelude

5. Oh! Susanna

6. Tchaikovsky 1

7. Pavane of Sleeping Beauty

8. Mr. Shands Jr.

9. Tchaikovsky 2

10. Modest Minor Melody

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