Martin Wind Newsletter

After it was all said and done, Pat himself described this weekend as "a dream or a movie…" – it really was nothing short of that! Initiated by Matt, who went to school at Wichita State University, Pat got to perform in the city where he met Gary Burton and Lyle Mays for the first time in more than 35 years! 

We opened up the trio set with some of Pat’s hits such as "Bright Size Life", "Always and Forever" and "Question and Answer"; after the intermission we were joined by the WSU String Orchestra for several more of Pat's tunes arranged masterfully by Alan Broadbent: "Last Train Home", "Farmer's Trust" and "Song for Bilbao". Both Matt and I were invited to contribute compositions to this second set, which led to an amazing version of Matt's hymn "Bubbles" and the world premier of my tune "While I'm Still Here". All of this happened at the beautiful Orpheum Theater in Downtown Wichita, Kansas!

On the heels of this amazing weekend, another highlight followed: the recording of my first studio album as a leader with exclusively my material since the 2009 "Get it?" session. My technician/studio of choice was Matt Balitsaris and his "Maggie's Farm" studio, about 15 minutes from the charming village of Frenchtown, NJ, right on the Delaware River.

We got to record eleven tunes of mine; most of them I had written over the past couple of years, but we also came up with new versions of some of my "classics", such as  "10 Minute Song" (front line of bass sax, clarinet, and trumpet), "Cruise Blues" (3/2 Samba feel), and one of my oldest songs, "A Sad Story" from my very first album as leader,  "Gone With the Wind" (1993). Look out for a release in early 2018!

Thanks to my dear friend and long-time pianist, Bill Cunliffe, my quartet with him, Scott Robinson and Joe La Barbera will be making its first appearance in L.A. 
We’ll be performing with the quartet only at the "Blue Whale", and for the Jazz Vespers series at the "All Saints Church", and will be joined by the Fullerton Jazz Orchestra for our concert there. Here are the details:

Martin Wind Quartet featuring Scott Robinson (tenor sax), Bill Cunliffe (piano) and Joe La Barbera (drums) 

Thursday, May 4, 9 pm – 12 am: Blue Whale Jazz Club http://www.bluewhalemusic.com/event/?view=calendar&month=May-2017

Friday, May 5, 8 pm: Clayes PAC, Meng Concert Hall, 800 N. State College Ave, Fullerton CA 
http://calendar.fullerton.edu

Sunday, May 7, 5 – 6:30 pm: All Saints Church, Jazz Vesper, 132 N Euclid Ave, Pasadena, CA 
http://www.allsaints-pas.org/worship/jazz-vespers/

Two Gigs in New York City
The following weekend I’ll be at two of my favorite NYC clubs with some of my favorite musicians:
 
Nancy Marano Quartet featuring Nancy Marano (vocals) John Di Martino (piano), Harry Allen (tenor sax)
 
Saturday, May 13 sets at 8 pm & 10 pm
Jazz at Kitano, 66 Park Ave @ 38^th Street, NYC
For reservations: 212-885-7119 or jazz@kitano.com
 
Bill Cunliffe Trio featuring Bill Cunliffe (piano) and Tim Horner (drums)
 
Sunday, May 14, 8 pm – 12 am
Mezzrow Jazz Club, 163 West 10^th Street, NYC 
https://www.mezzrow.com
 
 

Germany with Ulf Meyer...

 
Duo Concerts in Germany with Ulf Meyer, Elbjazz Festival in Hamburg
We are both from Flensburg, Germany and are slowly, but surely approaching our
30^th anniversary of playing music together!

We are playing several LP Release Concerts (dig that!) in support of our latest effort "Fuglsang" on the "Edition Longplay" label; in the middle of our short tour, we’ll be going into a studio in Berlin…and the dates are:
 
Ulf Meyer & Martin Wind Duo
 
Friday, May 19, 8 pm: Jazzclub "Englischer Bahnhof", Poggenburgstr. 10a, Husum
 
Saturday, May 20, 8 pm: Altes Gymnasium, Selckstrasse 1, Flensburg
 
Wednesday, May 24, 8 pm: KulturForum, Andreas-Gayk-Str. 31, Kiel http://www.kiel.de/kultur/kulturforum/index.php?id=152517-528211

 

From May 30 until June 3 I will be in one my favorite city on this planet: Hamburg! 

I’ll be doing three different projects in cooperation with the Musikhochschule (Conservatory) there:

1. First, I will be coaching a group of international students in a series called the "European Jazz Lab" – the results of that workshop will be presented in a performance at the Elbjazz Festival on Friday, June 2^nd at 5:30 pm right in front of the breathtaking new Elbphilharmonie!
    
2. On that same stage immediately following the student group at 7 pm I will be a featured guest with the conservatory's big band featuring some new arrangements I’ve written; my co-guests will be my dear friend Scott Robinson on tenor saxophone and trumpet, as well as legendary vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter.
    
3. And on Saturday, June 3 I will be joining the quintet of German saxophonist Konstantin Herleinsberger for a concert at Hamburg’s famed "Birdland Jazzclub"; with us will be (again) Scott Robinson and one of my oldest friends, Holger Nell on drums.

 

I'm realizing that this might be my longest newsletter, so far – I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to be involved in so many wonderful musical adventures! 
I sure hope to see you at some of these upcoming events!

Finally, there will be an interview with me in the May issue of the German bass magazine "Bass Quarterly" – I’ll be picking up my copy at the airport in Hamburg in a couple of weeks…