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Himes on Warren Wolf and Christian McBride

Geoffrey Himes attended the latest Warren Wolf Quartet performance at An Die Musik and reviewed it for the Baltimore City Paper. He writes, “When a visiting jazz star says nice things about the local musicians he’s playing with, that doesn’t mean much; he’s just being polite. But when that star breaks into a spontaneous grin during the locals’ solos, that does tell you something. That happened again and again when poll-topping bassist Christian McBride played with Baltimore’s Warren Wolf (pictured), Alex Brown, Billy Williams and Akua Allrich at An Die Musik Live Sunday night.”

Read the full review here: “Live Review: Warren Wolf and Christian McBride”

MGP News

Dan Willis Satie Project II Review

Dan Willis’ Satie Project II: Best Album of the Year?

From Lucid Culture: Dan Willis and Velvet Gentlemen’s second Satie Project album is arguably the best jazz album of 2013. That is, if you buy the idea that there could be such a thing as a single top album among this year’s best releases, or that twisted covers of proto-minimalist late Romantic/early Modernist music should be allowed to count alongside original compositions. Willis’ new arrangements of Satie pieces might as well be originals, considering how gleefully and evilly he reimagines them.  Most of Erik Satie’s repertoire was actually much more upbeat than the macabre pieces Willis has selected for inclusion here, but it’s the macabre that has stood the test of time far better than the clever and often droll ragtime hits Satie wrote to pay the bills. Willis plays pretty much every reed instrument ever invented here, including but not limited to oboe, alto, tenor and baritone saxes, clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet. Ron Oswanski gets many of the choicest moments here, on B3 organ, Wurlitzer and accordion, alongside Pete McCann on guitar, Kermit Driscoll on bass and the Claudia Quintet’s John Hollenbeck on drums.

The full review is available here: http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/danwillis/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog

MGP News

Warren Wolf in the New York Times

Warren Wolf & WOLFPACK to play at Jazz Standard on September 19-22. Check out the listing in The New York Times!

Warren Wolf and Wolfpack (Thursday through Sept. 22) A driving, expressive young vibraphonist from Baltimore and influenced by Milt Jackson, Mr. Wolf took a step forward recently with his second record, “Wolfgang.” He’s also on the way to finding a strong group sound with his quartet, Wolfpack. Now is the time to listen closely. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., with 11:30 sets on Sept. 20 and 21, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232, jazzstandard.net; $25 and $30. (Ratliff)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/arts/music/jazz-listings-for-sept-13-19.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&