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Solos - The Jazz Sessions - Cyro Baptista
Format: Music Concert
Distributed By: Planet Blue Pictures US
Available Now:

About:
Cyro Baptista is a Brazilian musician, teacher, and recording artist specializing in percussion in the genres of jazz and world music. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1980, Cyro Baptista has emerged as one of the premier percussionists in the country. Coinciding with the rise of the public’s interest in world music, Cyro has recorded and toured with some of music’s most popular names. His mastery of Brazilian percussion and the many instruments he creates himself, have catapulted him into world renown. In this special set of solo performances, Cyro pulls out all the stops and creates a soundscape like no other heard before or since. A unique and brilliant musician alone on stage with only the beats he hears in his heart and shares with the world. Using an array of delay pedals and instruments bought, made and found, Cyro shows why rhythm just might be the ultimate pulse of the universe.

Solos - The Jazz Sessions - Gonzalo Rubalcab
Format: Music Concert
Distributed By: Planet Blue Pictures US
Available Now:

About:
The Jazz Sessions series spotlights unaccompanied performances by some of the legends and bright young stars of the jazz world. Designed and recorded specifically for television, this Solos DVD offers viewers front row seats for an intimate and unique jazz experience. Each program features complete musical pieces, insightful interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. Shot in stunning HDTV with multiple moving cameras and a medley of elegant cinematic lighting, it showcases an exciting and dynamic variety of jazz styles – from the blues and boogie-woogie to bebop and the experimental. In this unique program, Gonzalo Rubalcaba displays his remarkable sensitivity toward the musical traditions from which he emerged and later embraced. As one of the most important figures to emerge from Afro-Cuban jazz in the '90s, Rubalcaba is an extraordinarily versatile pianist able to blend disparate strands of Cuban and American jazz traditions into a fresh, modern whole. Born into a musical family in Havana, Rubalcaba began studying classical piano in 1971 at age eight, honing his technique for the next 12 years while playing around Havana by night. By the time he arrived on the international jazz stage in the late '80s, he was widely considered one of the great virtuosos of the music. Songs performed include: Prologo to el Manicero Supernova • Improvisation #1 • Besamé Mucho • Yolanda Anastasia. 50 minutes.

Solos - The Jazz Sessions - Greg Osby
Format: Music Concert
Distributed By: Planet Blue Pictures US
Available Now:

About:
The Jazz Sessions series spotlights unaccompanied performances by some of the legends and bright young stars of the jazz world. Designed and recorded specifically for television, this Solos DVD offers viewers front row seats for an intimate and unique jazz experience. Each program features complete musical pieces, insightful interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. Shot in stunning HDTV with multiple moving cameras and a medley of elegant cinematic lighting, it showcases an exciting and dynamic variety of jazz styles – from the blues and boogie-woogie to bebop and the experimental. Saxophonist, composer, producer and educator Greg Osby has made an indelible mark on contemporary jazz as a leader of his own ensembles and as a guest artist with other acclaimed jazz groups for the past 20 years. Highly regarded for his insightful and innovative approach to composition and performance, Osby has earned numerous awards and critical acclaim. In this special set of solo performances, Osby explores a range of emotional and musical states, always seeking to tie his ideas together; his long alto-lines linger in the air as he weaves new ideas beneath and over-top. A true innovator, these solos showcase an artist unadorned, free to pursue his musical alchemy. Songs include: Mentor's Praise • Minstrale • Cyrille in Motion • Equalatogram • Visitation • Six of One. 50 minutes.

Solos - The Jazz Sessions - James Blood Ulmer
Format: Music Concert
Distributed By: Planet Blue Pictures US
Available Now:

About:
The Jazz Sessions series spotlights unaccompanied performances by some of the legends and bright young stars of the jazz world. Designed and recorded specifically for television, this Solos DVD offers viewers front row seats for an intimate and unique jazz experience. Each program features complete musical pieces, insightful interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. Shot in stunning HDTV with multiple moving cameras and a medley of elegant cinematic lighting, it showcases an exciting and dynamic variety of jazz styles – from the blues and boogie-woogie to bebop and the experimental. James “Blood” Ulmer is one of the few guitarists to have forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman's vaguely defined Harmelodic theory and plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his jagged lines speak with the authority of a free jazz improviser and the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. His solo guitar work is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid. But Ulmer isn't limited in his musical scope. In these sessions, he reveals himself to be an instant inventor of repute on the flute and a memorable songwriter and blues singer. Songs performed include: Are You Glad to Be in America? • Black Sheep • In the Name • Street Bride • Satisfy (Story of My Life) • Secret • Where Did All the Girls Come From? 50 minutes.

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