ROZANNE LEVINE and CHAKRA TUNING
featuring
ROZANNE LEVINE - alto clarinet, clarinet, bamboo flute, compositions
MARK WHITECAGE - alto sax, clarinet
PERRY ROBINSON - clarinets
ROSI HERTLEIN - violin, voice
Only Moment CD celebration, plus new compositions!
MORE INFORMATION:
For more information on Rozanne and to hear sound samples, please visit http://www.erjn.it/mus/whitecage.htm
Yippie Museum Cafe
9 Bleecker St. between Bowery and Elizabeth St.
Web: http://www.yippiemuseum.org
Telephone: (212)677-5918
Speaking of clarinetist and composer Rozanne Levine's latest recording, Cadence music critic Phillip McNally acknowledges her as a mature artist making a powerful statement - an artist who has labored long and hard at [her] craft, found [her] individual voice. She focuses on guided improvisations and compositions that allow for creative input from her musicians, and cherishes intuitive organic communication in her music. Sonic conversations emerge and develop as Chakra Tuning explores textures, sonorities and space. The music weaves in and out of melodies, exploring rhythms, moods and inner space in a transforming, unfolding journey.
Ms. Levine draws inspiration for her compositions from various myths, cosmologies, spiritual traditions and current events, out of which she and her band mates weave a musical tapestry. Bird whistles, ocarinas, half horns, indian rattles, percussion and storytelling play a part in the group sound. Chakra Tuning released their highly-praised debut CD, Only Moment, in June 2009, on Ms. Levine and Mr. Whitecage's label, Acoustics.
All the members of Chakra Tuning are acclaimed composers and bandleaders. Rozanne Levine has worked with dancers, poets, actors, sound sculptors, in bands large and small, and with some of the most creative musicians on both coasts, including Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Jason Kao Hwang, The New Reed Quartet, Mark Whitecage and the Bi-Coastal Orchestra, and the Improvisors Collective Orchestra, among others. Mark Whitecage is internationally known as an innovative instrumentalist and composer in the fields of jazz and new music. He has performed internationally and recorded with some of the leading artists of our time, including Jeanne Lee, Anthony Braxton, Jacques Coursil, The Nu Band, Lane/Grassi/Whitecage, Gunter Hampel, Mario Pavone, Joe McPhee, William Parker, Marshall Allen and Steve Swell. Perry Robinson is a master of the clarinet in jazz, folk and avant-garde music who has worked with everyone from Dave Brubeck and Bill Dixon to Pete Seeger, George Clinton, Badal Roy and Anthony Braxton; and Rosi Hertlein is a breathtaking improviser on both violin and voice who has performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor, Pauline Oliveros, Joe McPhee, Joe Giardullo, Ivo Perelman, Wendy Osserman Dance Company, and Howard Johnson, to name a few. Ms. Hertlein is also an experienced educator currently teaching in the New York City area.
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For more information on Rozanne Levine and to hear music samples, please visit
http://www.erjn.it/mus/whitecage.htm
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Critical praise for Only Moment......
"Rozanne Levine has done remarkable work with Mark Whitecage in various musical settings, but 'Only Moment' is a treasure even by their lofty standards. Levine's rich sonorous alto clarinet is palpable on songs like the opening 'Blues Lullaby in F' and the moody, brooding 'Lost Freedoms' Free form interplay abounds When the horns blend together, the harmonies are rich and thick Winsome and winning, 'Only Moment' is another amazing gem from Whitecage and Levine." - George Harris, All About Jazz
"Rozanne Levine and her mates are pure musicians, using nature as a touchstone for their musical debate. The three reedists, Levine, Mark Whitecage and Perry Robinson, sound a spirited interplay of voices that, along with violinist/percussionist Rosi Hertlein's foggy mourn and branch-snapping alarms, pulls you deeper into the forest. The cacophony of life only grows in variety and wonder." - Matt Marshall, Jazz Inside Magazine
"Rozanne Levine's Chakra Tuning is a ritualistic exploration of space, timbre and communication this disc subsumes the clarinetist's delicate weavings of breath, line, voice and gesture into the group's fabric. Even when the foursome surge and pirouette, 'Only Moment' retains an extraordinarily meditative, almost therapeutic quality." - Clifford Allen, Signal to Noise
"It is spiritual music in its essence, but also an adventurous journey into musical form and dialogue, intense at times, then more relaxed and probing, now full of unexpected turns and interactions. All four musicians are excellent instrumentalists and their open dialogue is really worth hearing the real joy is in the intimate dialogue between the four musicians." - Stef Gijssels, freejazz-stef.blogspot.com
"I love the record, and it has been sitting in my 'heavy rotation' pile Congratulations on that." - Brian Morton, editor, The Penguin Guide to Jazz
"This is a remarkable CD and music making of the highest order. I have been playing it on my show and will certainly continue to do so." - John Hammel, host, "Mozart to Motorhead", HomeGrownRadioNJ.com
"The first piece, 'Blues Lullaby in F' is a lovely, somber piece for solo clarinet which I found to be completely sublime. 'Thunder Talks' begins with just subtle percussion, ocarina, voice and other exquisite earthy sounds. It has an organic elegance that I find to be ever so fine, like meditating on the sounds of the forest. On 'Lost Freedoms' we hear a few layers of clarinets that sound orchestral, with superb harmonies. There is a unique blend and sound here that is quite magical. Perhaps it is the subtle electronics that Mark Whitecage employs that makes this so special. Although each clarinet is distinct with its own sound, the combination of three strong players makes this a particularly wonderful tapestry." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Proprietor, Downtown Music Gallery
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