Archive for the ‘Michael Bates (Updates)’ Category
A quick note on this holiday weekend. Michael Bates and crew are playing in Brooklyn Sunday night. Details below…
Sunday, November 29 @ 9pm:
Solo Kitchen Bar: 1502 Cortelyou Road Brooklyn, NY 11226 *Q Train to Cortelyou Road
Michael Bates’ Outside Sources w/
Ron Horton-trumpet
Quinsin Nachoff-saxophone/clarinet
Jeff Davis-drums
Michael Bates-bass
Happy friday, everyone. If you read our site regularly, you probably received an email blast this morning. If not, we announced our Holiday Bundles earlier today. There are some pretty sweet deals on every album in our catalog over at the store. Also, a pretty killer Subscriber package for new people wanting to overload their hard drive with tunage and support what we do.
More specials coming next week. Happy post-Turkey day.
With so much happening here, where do I begin. The beginning, I guess…
First and foremost, the SPIRIT MOVES Preorder ends at 11:59pm EST tomorrow. That means that you have until then to get in on those special offers we’ve been talking about — the free live set from the upcoming Brass Ecstasy Jazz Standard shows this week, the signed copies (almost sold out), etc. And remember, Subscribers get a 2nd live set free. Click here to get to the Preorder page.
Second, as mentioned, Brass Ecstasy is kicking off the Spirit Moves Tour this Thursday at Jazz Standard. Then on to DC, Ottawa, and Chicago, followed by the European leg of the tour. Click here for all those dates (and there are a lot of them!).
Another show to hit up this week in NYC — Michael Bates’ Outside Sources (with Chris Speed) at The Stone, Tuesday the 16th. Downbeat is at 10PM. More info here.
Lastly, our Mixtape Contest is rocking. Thanks to all who have submitted so far. We’ll announce the first of 3 winners later this week.
Published this morning at AllAboutJazz…
Michael Bates’ Outside Sources
Live In New York (GRE-P-04)
“The initial snap of the snare on the opening “Bloodletting,” bolstered by the low resonance of the bass, is immediately engaging. Nachoff’s searing buzz that follows quickly transforms into tight melody with a definite resolution. This introduction establishes the aesthetic for the rest of the album: strong writing with particular emphasis on harmonic unisons between the frontline instruments.”
Click here to read the full review.
And on our sidebar music player, check our “Lucifer,” the bonus studio track included with this live set. Of course, you can stream every tune at our store, too.
As someone whose talent falls very clearly into the category of only mere-mortal, I was heartened by David Brooks recent article in the New York Times where he writes about what separates genius from the very accomplished:
“The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.”
Another fascinating quote from the same article:
“….The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.”
There may be hope yet….
Michael Bates has been a busy dude these past couple months. From the release of Clockwise last fall to the release of his latest title, Live in New York [GRE-P-04] as part of our Paperback Series, he and his band have been spreading the word around the US, Canada, and Europe.
As a celebration of the most recent Paperback entry, those in NYC can catch this band in their element at Cornelia Street Cafe — where the live album was captured.
Saturday, April 25 at the Cornelia Street Cafe
Michael Bates’ Outside Sources with
Russ Johnson-trumpet
Quinsin Nachoff-saxophone and clarinet
Jeff Davis-drums
Michael Bates-bass
29 Cornelia Street
NYC, NY // 8:30pm
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.
A few months back I did an interview for Dr. Michael Hittman’s show “In The Pocket” on WLIU-FM 88.3 and it airs tonight (March 2) at 7pm EST. Click here if you’d like to listen on-line…
Cheers to Peter Margasak for the kind words on Michael’s record.
Michael Bates, Clockwise
It’s fitting that the title of the third album by bassist Michael Bates, a Canadian now based in New York, refers to motion since the music created by his quartet, Outside Sources, never stops moving, often in several simultaneous directions. The leader’s compositions are spiky and rigorous, packed with jagged melodic counterpoint, brash tempo shifts and deep, craggy grooves.
It’s not only the instrumentation that borrows from the classic Ornette Coleman QUartet, with the loosey-goosey interaction, yet the tunes themselves are miles away. By packing in so many quick-changing ideas, Bates risks composing pieces that arrive as schematic exercises–a flashy display of prog daring-do with no hear. Luckily, his excellent band not only brings the pieces to life, but also makes them sound natural and touched with unlikely grace.
…
Read more at downbeat.com in the March issue.
One of our favorite blogs just posted a feature on Donny McCaslin and Michael Bates. Check it out HERE.
Thanks for the kind words Darcy.
