Kazzrie jaxen biography of donald
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Jaxen’s wonderfully sinuous reworking of Confirmation is absorbing.
Jaxen has the sound of a Tristano-school player, who hears every note and feels every beat. Heaven and Earth meet. He was 17, and had just started playing double bass. Bassist Andrew Cleyndert is co-producer with Mancio, and with drummer Dave Ohm is present on most tracks.
The bassist’s arrangements are masterly.
Having met him, I can say that Bromander is a modest young fellow – and his modesty is not justified. – Bob RuschContinue reading →
Oct·27
Sometimes virtuosic players merge into the thing they were clearly born for.
Kazzrie Jaxen
(Liz Gorrill)
KAZZRIE JAXEN has been playing music her whole life. Her performances and recordings merge the multiple streams of her experience. Her music is spontaneously improvised, but not stylistically restricted to a particular genre. She loves to play the piano and sing, loves the joy of being surprised in the moment, and loves the deep dive into the cosmic womb of creation. She is especially grateful for musical friendships and collaborations and to the many jazz listeners who, with their energy and enthusiasm, continue to co-create this amazing art form.
Kazzrie (formerly known as Liz Gorrill) grew up in Manhasset, NY, improvising original songs into her father's tape recorder at the age of four, studying classical piano at the age of six, and performing at Carnegie Recital Hall at the age of ten. School and friends provided a parallel dimension: she sang in choirs, danced to rock-'n'-roll, acted in musicals, participated in student government, was president of the modern dance performing group, played guitar, and performed folk music. She majored in Music and Drama at Denison University, worked as a cast member in "The Mod Donna" at The New York Public Theater, and apprenticed at Williamstown Summer Theater. She studied jazz improvisation briefly at Berklee School of Music in Boston, and then left to study privately with pianist Harvey Diamond. During this time she read "The Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda, began to meditate, and made a youthful declaration: music would be her spiritual path.
In 1973 Kazzrie returned to New York to study with pianist Lennie Tristano. His approach to improvising (which had been introduced to her by Harvey) inspired her to connect deeply with the feeling of every note. Meditating at the piano, Kazzrie realized that her spiritual declaration had led her here. She dropped her spiritual practices and plunged into jazz. A few years later Lennie began presenting her in concerts in his home, and then he produced two solo concerts for her at Carnegie Recital Hall. After Lennie's death in 1978, she continued to perform and record in NYC and in Europe, studying with a third great pianist and friend, Connie Crothers. During this time she made two recordings for the Jazz Records label ( www.jazzrecordsinc.com ): I Feel Like I'm Home (JR2LP),a solo concert; and True Fun, (JR7LP), a trio with saxophonist Lenny Popkin and bassist Eddie Gomez, which was voted "Best Record of the Year, Critics Choice Top Ten" by Victor Schonfield, Jazz Journal, England, and Lois Moody, Ottawa Citizen, Canada.
Kazzrie, who had begun teaching improvisation in association with Lennie, continued teaching privately at her studios in Queens and Manhattan. She immersed herself in the NYC jazz scene for many years, performing in New York and in Europe, sessioning with musicians and friends several nights a week, and producing CDs on the New Artists labe; with guitarist Andy Fite, (Phantasmagoria and Cosmic Comedy) and tenor saxophonist Charley Krachy, A Jazz Duet, as well as a solo concert, Dreamflight.
You’ve never heard of Kazzrie Jaxen? Well you have but may not know it. The album ends with an unexpected and beautiful orchestral version of the title track.
Mancio belongs to that comparatively rare breed of singer, the interpreter of the lyric. He also got to know pianist Sal Mosca, a Tristano-school master, which revolutionised his approach to music.
Kazzrie Jaxen studied with Tristano in the 70s, playing with Warne Marsh, Lenny Popkin and Eddie Gomez.
“Interpreting the words” means “interpreting them like an actor” – a film or radio actor, not a stage actor. In 2009, she formed a quartet with Messina, drummer Bill Chattin and tenor saxophonist Charley Krachy.
There are solos from Christer Bothén and saxophonist Martin Küchen. He calls it “a raga-inspired song where the harp acts as our swarmandal, establishing the tonality” – referring to the zither-like Indian instrument. But her virtuosity is not ostentatious like that of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, neither of whom is an interpreter of the lyric.
But the highlight for me is the wonderful ballad In The Afternoon. — Helena Clare PittmanContinue reading →
Oct·17
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Reddle by Automattic adapted for M.etropolis by RavanH. Compositions and arrangements are by Bromander, who draws on Indian dhrupad music, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and Keith Jarrett’s classic American quartet with Haden, Dewey Redman and Paul Motian.
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Pianist Alex Zethson introduces the plangent theme of Jorden Vi Ärvde, Den Skall Oss Också Ärvas, which is then explored by Bromander and legendary Swedish clarinettist Christer Bothén (on bass clarinet).
Kazzrie left New York City in 1994. Dealing with health challenges, she moved to a quiet town in upstate NY, wondering if her life as a musician was over. She spent several years in solitude and silence. Stripped of all she'd identified with, she was forced to explore her relationship to the world in a new way. She began walking by the Delaware River everyday. The River became her primary physician and master teacher, inspiring her to look and listen more deeply to what was all around her, to enter the silence of Nature's language. She fell in love with the water, sky, trees, stones, plants, and animals. Life became a new kind of adventure, and she began to heal. As a result of this experience, Kazzrie developed an interest in Intuitive Diagnosis and Energy Medicine, eventually learning from teachers Meredith Young-Sowers and Carolyn Myss, among others. Under Nature's tutelage, she created a vibrational modality which she now calls "Dreaming in Music." Private sessions begin at the River. Clients (Dreamers) tune into the patterns of the river, then come to Kazzrie's studio and lie underneath her grand piano as she tunes into their energy and plays into their bodies. These sessions are shamanic journeys which work at the vibrational level to deepen intuition and awaken primal awareness.
The delightful From Me To You is a mid/uptempo number in loose Latin rhythm. Jazz singers improvise a line, and create beautiful tone or distinctive sound. The interpreter is like an actor in a play, or a poetry reading – they give a dramatic performance. A few years later, he realised he needed to study with Tristano, and called him to take lessons.
With Mancio, as with Holiday, the improvisation serves the interpretation rather than distracting from it.