Archive for the ‘Greenleaf Music News’ Category
First, thanks to all who took part in our survey and sent us emails regarding CDs vs Digital vs Vinyl. We appreciate you taking the time to tell us your thoughts. Keep them coming.
For those who are reading that are not a member of our email list, we announced yesterday that we are now offering streaming of our entire front-line catalogue at our store. We feel like it’s a big step in recognizing that recorded music is readily accessible in our post-Napster world. And instead of hearing our artists’ tracks elsewhere, we hope you’ll enjoy the music in the friendly confines of our digital space and continue to support what we do. So click over to the store and check out the records that you haven’t heard yet — like Michael Bates’ new Paperback release, Live in New York.
Our community here at Greenleaf has always and continues to shape what we do. Our store, FLAC files, our subscriber system were all developed with support and feedback from you. In the past, we’ve received emails. If you’d like to drop us a line, don’t hesitate. We always love hearing from you.
Below is a link to a very short (4 question) survey we’ve developed in hopes of understanding more how you listen to music. Specifically, we’re gauging interest in vinyl production. With enough requests, we might just press a few from our catalog.
Please take a second to answer the 4 questions. And feel free to pass on comments. Results to follow.
UPDATE :: Poll Results as of March 20th available in link below
Greenleaf is pleased to announce the release of Volume 4 of our Paperback Series. Michael Bates’ Outside Sources recorded one of their record release shows at Cornelia Street Café this past September. Lucky for us — the set was killing! And now that show, truncated a bit to fit onto a CD, is available for Preorder at our store.
To celebrate this release, we are currently offering a special bundle product with Clockwise and Live in New York so you can save up to 20%. Nice, huh?
So click over to the album page where you can stream the full album.
Claire Anne McCaslin
born March 10, 2009.
Much love and Joy to Mom, Dad, and Claire.
In case you’re interested, the good folks here at Greenleaf Music just made the sheet music for my cd “Clockwise” charts available over at the store. While we cleaned them up a bit, for the most part they are exactly what we were using when the recording was made.
As a composer, I feel it’s important that everyone in the band is able to reference the same information, especially when it comes to improvising on this music. With that in mind, I often write in “piano grand staff” and that way, everyone is on the same page..literally (bad pun-sorry about that…). Incidentally, this is something I learned from Dave D back when when I was a student at the Banff Centre.
I thought I’d offer up a sample of what one of my charts looks like. This piece, “Machinery”, goes through several time zones and meters but really was just built off of a couple of contrasting themes. A big inspiration while writing this piece was the desire to compose music that blurred what was composed and improvised. On top of that, I wanted to create a piece that allowed the guys in the band to really shape the outcome while maintaining the character of the composition. You can listen to a sample of Machinery here and just click on “Machinery PDF” below to download the chart as well…(FYI, the written material starts about 53 seconds into the track). This post is open for comments so let me know what you think. Thanks.
For those not on our email list, yesterday Dave announced his latest recording with his new band Brass Ecstasy. Spirit Moves, with the great brass players Luis Bonilla (trombone), Vincent Chancey (French Horn), and Marcus Rojas (Tuba), and the great drummer Nasheet Waits, will be released in a few months. The record will feature Douglas compositions and some covers that you might not expect.
Being that this is Dave’s first “studio” album in almost 3 years, you can assume that we are excited–mixes are on repeat at the office. Can’t wait to pass it all on.
Expect updates on this title very soon.
A few months back, when our friends at Cryptogramophone were blogging in DD’s absence, we posted a preview of the two new Cline brothers albums. This afternoon, we added the first of these new releases — Nels Cline’s, Coward — to our webstore. The album is available in MP3 and FLAC formats.
I’ve been listening to Coward all afternoon today, and I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying it. The “surprising acoustic sensibility” Crypto mentions in the Press Release is right on. But there are certainly enough electric elements throughout. Each piece is sonically meticulous as I thought it would be, and of course the playing is top-notch. I’m reminded a lot of later John Fahey albums (check out Sea Changes & Coelacanths if you’re unfamiliar). Fahey, like Nels, happens to be one of my favorite guitar players of all time. This title gets my highest recommendation. And I’m sure Alex’s new record, Continuation, will be no different. Updates to follow on the morrow.
Check out samples of Coward by clicking HERE.
Going through old correspondence this weekend I found this email from Mike Friedman that I received on September 1, 2004:
so i’m talking with one of my former employees, a hip young guy, and i tell
him about Greenleaf Music and he says, “oh. is it reefer music?” did not
know that greenleaf … did you? makes sense though. and now we’ve got a
whole new sales base. maybe we should include a mini can of pringles with
each CD.
Mike
AllAboutJazz just recently published an article on listening to the Live at the Jazz Standard Full Books. Mark Corroto details his experience going through the 7 GB, 22 hours of music in 20 sets spanning 10 days. Likening each set to a chapter in a book, Corroto gives interesting illuminations on the consumption of music, the changing marketplace, and the sizable but fruitful task of the listening to the Douglas Full Books.
We appreciate the kind words, Mark. We’re glad you enjoyed the experience.
Dave Douglas’ Fetish Busting Greenleaf Digital Music Experience
by Mark Corrato
The assignment was simple enough. I was to listen online to trumpet and cornet player Dave Douglas’ recordings Quintet: Live at the Jazz Standard and Keystone Live at the Jazz Standard at GreenleafMusic.com, and write about them. So why hadn’t I touched the play button nearly three weeks after receiving the music?
Sure, sometimes a jazz writer gets a new disc, say Joe The Plumber Sings Sinatra, and he/she might put it on the top of a stack of things entitled “things I have to get to if John McCain decides to run again.” But these are recordings by the brilliant Dave Douglas. His quintet is, perhaps, the 21st century equivalent to trumpeter Miles Davis’ bands. I dig these bands, and Douglas perennially gets my vote for best jazz musician.
Why wasn’t I listening to it?
The why may be tied to the what it is that awaits me. 7 GB of music was my task. Let me put that in perspective: 7 GB is 22 hours of music, as two different bands played 20 sets spanning 10 days at New York’s Jazz Standard. That’s 20 CDs or, let me get a calculator… something like 38 LP sides. Certainly my iPod can handle it, but the human factor worried me.
