Gerald Cleaver

Gerald Cleaver – 22 / 23 (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · July 3, 2023 · Comments off

Gerald Cleaver’s newest album, 22/23, journeys through genre, exploring the future and recalling history, in his most place-based album yet. Born and raised in Detroit, Cleaver is a product of the Motor City’s rich musical history. Long the manufacturing capital of America, Detroit citizens have never been afraid of imagination: technological innovation, a strong labor movement, techno-utopianism or afrofuturism. This spirit of innovation is felt on Cleaver’s newest album, particularly on songs like ‘31 Julys’ which builds on dynamic house beats, or ‘Cake’ which employs saxophone to compose a careening jazz track. This marks Cleaver’s third record with 577 Records (and its sub-label Positive Elevation, dedicated to electronic experimentation and avant soul), following 2020’s ‘Signs,’ and his second album, ‘Griots.’ Here, Cleaver deftly combines his talent for electronic composition with a curious ear for the unpredictable, occasionally accompanied by singer Jean Carla Rodea. Cleaver has performed and recorded as a jazz drummer with a wide variety of artists, including Tommy Flanagan, Daniel Carter, Bill Frisell and more, contributing as a musician for nearly 20 years before exploring his own electronic-forward projects. His new album, 22/23, will be available on LP/CD/Digital in May 2023.

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Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver – Welcome Adventure! Vol. 2 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 13, 2023 · Comments off

How do you welcome adventure? Longtime comrades, legendary Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver investigated this in their first album, Welcome Adventure, Vol. 1, resulting in 577 Records’ best-selling release in the 20 years we’ve been operating. Now, the group is trying the question again with their second astonishing volume, taken from the same historical recording session. Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Clarinet) has been collaborating with William Parker (Bass) since the early 70s and with Matthew Shipp (Piano) beginning in the mid 80s. This trio had previously played together on other occasions but sought to add a percussive element to their sound, adding stellar Gerald Cleaver (Drums) to their mix. From the warm opening song, “Sunverified” to the richly layered closer, “Da Rest Is Story,” the all-star, 5-track project is an exploratory delight. Welcome Adventure, Vol. 2 will be available in digital, CD and vinyl editions (black LPs and limited edition color vinyl) on June 3, 2022.

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Giovanni Guidi, Gianluca Petrella, Louis Sclavis, Gerald Cleaver – Ida Lupino (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · February 18, 2023 · Comments off

Ida Lupino is a fresh and creative album, distinguished by deep listening and focused interaction. At its centre is the remarkable improvisational rapport of two Italian musicians – pianist Giovanni Guidi and trombonist Gianluca Petrella. Their musical understanding – already apparent to listeners who heard them in Enrico Rava’s band – has been further refined in a widely-travelled duo which seeks encounters with fellow improvisers. “Our duo work is really defined by our collaboration with other artists,” Guidi says. The present album both builds on established relationships and the stimulus of new encounters as they are joined by – in Petrella’s words – “two masters of contemporary jazz who are really on our wavelength”.

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Gerald Cleaver – Live At Firehouse 12 (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · February 15, 2023 · Comments off

This new outing from sought-after drummer/composer Gerald Cleaver is a bottomless well of energy and robustness. Five rhythmically-charged self-penned tunes (four of them retrieved from his 2007 album Detroit, which featured exactly the same group as here) were performed live at Firehouse 12. The spirited performance brainstormed a blend of novelty and familiarity that sparkles with gut-punch improvised moments. Moreover, this is a swinging record where his razor-sharp drumming skills solidifies a rhythm section that also includes pianist Ben Waltzer and bassist Chris Lightcap. They use their rhythm knowledge and charismatic accompaniment to support the melodic journeys of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and saxophonists J.D. Allen and Andrew Bishop, a powerful frontline.

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Angelika Niescier, Christopher Tordini, Gerald Cleaver, Jonathan Finlayson – New York Trio (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 21, 2022 · Comments off

Angelika Niescier, Christopher Tordini, Gerald Cleaver, Jonathan Finlayson - New York Trio (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download

During the current decade Cologne-based saxophonist Angelika Niescier has made her connection to New York’s elite improvisational jazz community readily clear. Her trio CD The Berlin Concert, was voted one of the most important releases of 2018 by Downbeat.
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