Bruce Huebner & Jonathan Katz - Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Influences
Fats Waller, Bud Powell, Erroll Garner, Horace Silver, Red Garland, Bobby Timmons, Sonny Clark, Wynton Kelly, Dave McKenna, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Richie Beirach, etc. etc. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Stravinsky, etc. etc. etc. Julius Watkins, John Clark, Tom Varner, etc. The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Led Zepellin, Gumby Theater, Inity, Brailehouse, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Rufus T. Firefly, Ralph Kramden, Oscar Madison, Felix Unger, Basil Fawlty, Benny Hill, Monty Python, etc. etc.
JONATHAN KATZ - Pianist, composer, arranger, music educator -
New York native Jonathan studied French horn with Paul Ingraham at Yale University and jazz piano and composition with Bill Dobbins at the Eastman School of Music. After studying Japanese language at Sophia University on a fellowship from Yale, he moved to Tokyo in 1991. Since then, Jonathan has documented his lyrical and effervescently swinging piano sound, deeply personal arrangements and original compositions on three critically acclaimed CDs as a trio leader, and worked as pianist in the bands of Ray Brown, Lew Tabackin, Joe Lee Wilson and Eddie Henderson. He is also musical director of the jazz world music group CANDELA (www.candelatokyo.com). Jonathan's duo with CANDELA's leader, shakuhachi innovator Bruce Huebner has also toured Japan and Europe, and CANDELA has toured North America twice, making its international debut at the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival and Joe's Pub in New York in June 2003, and visiting New York again in 2004 to play at the Blue Note and record their 2nd CD RISE ABOVE. In 2003, Jonathan began a cross-Pacific collaboration with alto saxophonist Dave Pietro (Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra) and top Japanese musicians Daiki Yasukagawa (bass) and Yoshihito Eto (drums), called the New York-Tokyo Connection (NYTC) that has toured the U.S. and Japan. Jonathan has also performed with several of Japan’s top symphony orchestras, often under the baton of maestro Bob Sakuma, including the NHK Symphony (with Itsuki Hiroshi), the Tokyo Philharmonic (BS2 TV’s “Fuyu no Sonata Classic Concert”), the New Japan Philharmonic (TV Asahi’s “Daimei no Nai Ongakukai”), and the Tokyo Metropolitan Philharmonic (Special Pops Concert at Orchard Hall). Jonathan has recently turned his attention to big band arranging, and currently leads his own 19-piece group, the Tokyo Big Band, which features top jazz musicians on the Tokyo scene. His latest CD is HAPPY TALK, a duo with vocalist Andrea Hopkins. E-mail: jonathan@jkatz.net Website: http//www.jkatz.net
Dear Friends, After years of working on the East-West thing, I am really happy to announce the release of my new CD recording project, Silk Road Blues, on a great label, Flowfish Records. This music explores the possibilities of Afghan rebab with piano and jazz. Three pieces are up on my profile right now. I'd be grateful to hear some feedback from you. Best wishes, Larry
Hello, thanks for your friendship and support. I uploaded a new piece for piano " Linked " played by Pianist Veronique Vanhoucke - Best to you and thanks to listen - Pat
Konnichiwa... My brand new CD is being released in Japan on November 21st 2009 [which is my birthday!!! Hooray!!]
The CD is called "Funky DL - The Ultimate Collection"
The Album features 2 CD's with 35 Classic jazz hip-hop tracks and brand new and live show songs and also a storybook, including the story of how I met "NUJABES"
And also the story of my experience touring Japan in Fukuoka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Utsunomiya, Tokyo, Osaka, Mito, Gifu, Kyoto, Wackayama, Hamamatsu, Okayama,
If you want to remember all the Funky DL classics, please get the CD.
I hope you enjoy my CD and let em know what you thought..
こんにちは ありがとう very much for the Link Up & Sharing the music Nice to meet you through cyberlink! Keep up da Great Work! Wishes you All the Best in 2009! Enjoy your Week!
Thanks Jonathan for remembering my b'day, that's so sweet! Hadn't been on myspace for a while so am happy to find this now (was in Germany for 1 month). See you soon! Looking forward to the next big band gig! Stef
Thanks so much for the Add–and your friendship. We enjoyed your music very much. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. It's a pleasure having you among our friends!
We've just added two new blogs about Umano, plus four more new compositions, making ten on our space. We hope you and your friends visit us and enjoy our music, too.
We wake up every morning and play the music of the new MySpace friends who have arrived at our site during the night. It occurred to us that these friends (you are among them) are almost universally positive, whether they be novices or legends, and without regard to their station in life or the country they occupy.
Although it's not an original thought, it also occurred to us that we couldn’t hold a verbal conversation with most of these friends, but we have bridged that gap by expressing our art honestly with each other.
We all have been filling the world with our music and art, in the hope that our messages of love and human understanding will have an impact on the world at large.
What a gift and what an opportunity we have received from this technology!
