[Members] Jeremy Kittel World CD Release Blowout this Sunday, Nov 8th - album featuring Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Natalie Haas, many more!

Thu Nov 5 09:20:51 UTC 2009

Dear MASTA members,

This Sunday, November 8th, you're invited to join the Jeremy Kittel  
World as they celebrate the release of their new album, "Chasing  
Sparks," at the Ark in Ann Arbor.  Featuring seven world-class  
musicians who, individually, have recently joined the Grammy-winning  
Turtle Island Quartet, arranged music for Yo-Yo Ma's latest Sony  
Classical album, won Germany's highest jazz award, toured with Natalie  
MacMaster, opened for Steve Martin at Disney Hall with Bela Fleck, and  
worked with local Ann Arbor sensation My Dear Disco.  And that's just  
the beginning...

As a member of MASTA, you're invited to download a free MP3 of one of  
the tracks off the new album; just go to http://jeremykittel.bandcamp.com 
.  This track will only be available for a week or so; after that  
it'll be for purchase only.

This Sunday, November 8th, 7:30 PM @ The Ark, 316 S. Main St., Ann  
Arbor, MI.

Visit http://theark.org/2166.html or call (734) 763-TKTS to purchase  
tickets.

Featuring:
Jeremy Kittel, fiddle
Bodek Janke, drums
Kyle Sanna, guitar
Tristan Clarridge, cello
Andrew Kratzat, bass
Tyler Duncan, bodhran
Nic Gareiss, foot percussion

You can also visit www.jeremykittel.com to hear sneaky previews of the  
all the tracks!

In addition to the concert at the Ark on Sunday, Kittel will be  
leading a workshop on Improvisation for Strings at Shar Music on this  
Saturday, November 7th (the day before the Ark concert) from 2-4 PM.   
Kittel regularly teaches at numerous programs such as Mark O'Connor's  
fiddle camps, The International Music Academy of Pilsen in the Czech  
Republic, and many more.  Don't miss this opportunity to open new  
doors into the world of improvisation.  For more info, visit:

http://www.sharmusic.com/itemdy00.asp?t1=jk2009

Read on below to find out about the album...

Jeremy Kittel says the centerpiece of his newest album, Chasing  
Sparks, grew with the 25 year-old fiddler/violinist/composer for years  
before finally gelling on the stage of Carnegie Hall.  Kittel had the  
‘aha’ moment while playing his song “Disconnect” with some of the most  
dominant players in acoustic music: MacArthur “Genius” bassist Edgar  
Meyer, along with guitarist Kyle Sanna, an arranger for Yo-Yo Ma.   
Kittel, who is rapidly earning a reputation as one of the nation’s  
most creative young musicians, had parts of the melodies in his mind  
for years before the song found its own way in that moment on stage.   
The track found further depth in the recording process with mandolin  
prodigy Chris Thile.

“Disconnect” exemplifies the diversity to Kittel’s approach on Chasing  
Sparks, recorded over the course of two years and four cities – New  
York, Nashville, San Francisco and his hometown of Ann Arbor.  Kittel,  
originally classically trained, has studied Irish, jazz, folk and  
traditional music -- winning a host of varied awards.  He’s won  
multiple US National Scottish Fiddle Championships, six Detroit Music  
Awards for Outstanding Folk Artist, Jazz Recording and Jazz Composer,  
a Masters of Jazz Violin from Manhattan School of Music, and a Stanley  
Medal from the University of Michigan School of Music to name just a  
few.  He has performed over 1,000 concerts as soloist or guest, and is  
now part of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet.

One might expect the music within to lurch from one style to the next  
in a kind of overt demonstration of his musical adventures.  But  
actually, there is an uplifting fluidity to the sound of the music on  
this disc thanks not in least to contributions by some of the most  
highly regarded acoustic musicians around.  In addition to the  
previous players mentioned, multi-instrumentalist wizard Mike Marshall  
(formerly of the David Grisman Quintet) also makes an appearance, as  
does the auspicious cello-fiddle duo of sisters Natalie and Brittany  
Haas (Alasdair Fraser's musical partner, and Crooked Still band  
member, respectively).

But the core musicians on Chasing Sparks are Kittel's own bandmates,  
who shine throughout.  In addition to guitarist Sanna, there is also  
cellist Tristan Clarridge, who is a member of bluegrass sensation  
Crooked Still and is actually a three-time National Fiddle Champion  
himself.  And cosmopolitan drummer Bodek Janke (he's fluent in five  
languages) lends deep, visceral grooves with echoes of Africa, India,  
and Eastern Europe.

Each track is woven with earthy, Celtic-inspired melodies; sometimes  
as a jumping-off point for intricate compositions; other times  
inducing heady improvisations; still other times maintaining a  
simpler, more traditional feel.  And always, bounding above the  
expansive textures that pervade the album, is the utterly searing  
optimism of Kittel's violin.

“I wrote most of these tunes with no intention of combining styles –  
rather, they were just embellishments of melodies and sounds that were  
floating around in my head,” says Kittel.  “One of the toughest  
challenges for me is to learn to trust my instincts, my own judgment;  
but sometimes I don’t even hear those instincts – I’m not paying  
attention.  I find that this is important when composing anything.   
You have to listen to your inner voice or you will miss it.”

  “Bear Island Reel” is all about following instinct and is another  
song that was found on stage, but this one, the only live track on the  
album, was recorded live at the Ark in Ann Arbor.

“We were all charged up by one of our best shows, and for the encore,  
Tristan and I started playing an Irish tune (via Darol Anger) called  
“Bear Island Reel,” just to see what would happen.  It begins  
innocently enough – the tune lilting along just like it should – but  
at some point, it veers off into improvised territory, and when it  
finally comes back to the melody, it sounds more like a tune you might  
hear pumping at your local dance club than it does traditional Irish  
fiddling.”

  A subtler but no less elastic song, “The Napkin Tune,” is based off  
of a beautiful melody written by famous contradance fiddler Rodney  
Miller.  “I fell in love with the tune and decided to arrange it for  
my band.  The instrumentation on the record is fiddle, guitar, cello,  
drums, bass, and… water heater.  We accidentally left it running while  
we were recording at the studio, and we left it in – you can hear it  
trickling in the slow middle.  John Cage would be proud.”

“Remember Blake,” a resonant homage for a guitarist friend who passed  
away at age 23, features a blush of piano and gorgeous phrasing from  
Mike Marshall’s mandolin.  And “The Chase” could be the song’s  
counterpoint.  “I write a lot of music alone at night, and as a  
result, much of what I compose has a pensive, restrained feeling –  
it’s always striving for beauty,” shares Kittel.  “So I tried to do  
something different with ‘The Chase.’  It starts with a bang in a  
speedy odd time signature, and it never lets up for seven minutes.”

  “There is a completely overwhelming amount of great art and music,  
and it’s so accessible that it is impossible for me to ignore,” says  
Kittel.  “I can be a bit quixotic for sure - I have plans to study  
Indian classical music, Western classical music, bluegrass, and blues/ 
rock language.  In fact, I've just been transcribing Stevie Ray  
Vaughan this last week.  It's tricky on violin.  Wish me luck.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://astamichigan.org/pipermail/members_astamichigan.org/attachments/20091105/9f658ef8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: chasingsparkscover300dpi-cmyk.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 29350 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://astamichigan.org/pipermail/members_astamichigan.org/attachments/20091105/9f658ef8/attachment.jpg>