São Paulo Underground celebrates 10 years of dauntless sonic exploration with a rare US tour in September 2015

Brazilian/American trio 

São Paulo Underground

celebrates 10 years

of  dauntless sonic exploration 

 with a rare US tour 

 in September 2015

[L-R: Guilherme Granado, Rob Mazurek, Mauricio Takara | Art Work: Damon Locks | Photo: Jason Marck]

Described by The New York Times as “a visionary jazz-rock trio” and Rolling Stone as “limitless in its possibilities,” São Paulo Underground celebrates ten years of creating cutting edge modern music with rare US performances in September 2015.

Founded in 2005, during Chicago composer and cornetist Rob Mazurek’s eight-year Brazilian sojourn, São Paulo Underground is a power trio that links Chicago’s volatile creative music scene with São Paulo, Brazil’s leading experimental musicians.

São Paulo Underground features Chicago composer Rob Mazurek on cornet and electronics and two Brazilian musicians: Mauricio Takara on percussion, cavaquinho and electronics, and Guilherme Granado on keyboards, synths, sampler and vocals.

The ensemble’s music embodies a fascinating mixture of Sun Ra-esque cosmic noise with rhythms and phrasing from samba, maracatu, rock and free jazz traditions. The result is electronica-laced Tropicália characterized by glistening sonic textures, unabashedly beautiful melodies, an expansive improvisational palette and fiercely gleeful interplay.

The trio will perform new compositions and material from its widely acclaimed Cuneiform releases, Beija Flors Velho E Sujo (2013) and Tres Cabeças Loucuras (2011).

Listen to a sample of Beija Flors Velho E Sujo:
https://soundcloud.com/cuneiformrecords/sao-paulo-underground-the-love-i-feel

 “A modern approach to Brazil's Tropicália, that takes into account advances in sound manipulation and engineering. It is street music from the Brazilian subterranean avant-garde.”
- All About Jazz

“This high-energy romp takes the sting out of the term fusion in the best possible way.”
- DownBeat

"Tropicalia never sounded this modern and alive."
- Sound Colour Vibration

___________

Learn more about São Paulo Underground, download high resolution photos, and hear more sound samples at: São Paulo Underground's Artist Page on Cuneiform's Website



[L-R: Guilherme Granado, Rob Mazurek, Mauricio Takara | Photo: Jason Marck]


SÃO PAULO UNDERGROUND
SEPTEMBER 2015 US TOUR DATES

CHICAGO, IL - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
Sets at 8:30PM & 9:50PM
Constellation
3111 North Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
www.constellation-chicago.com
$15 Advance/$20 Door 18+
Event Details - Purchase Tickets - Facebook Event Link

DEARBORN, MI - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
Free Workshop at 6PM & 8PM Performance
Arab American National Museum
13624 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, MI 48126
www.arabamericanmuseum.org
313.582.2266
Free Workshop Open to the Public
$10 Admission to Performance/All Ages
Global Fridays Concert Series
Event Details - Purchase Tickets - Facebook Event Link

CINCINNATI, OH - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015
Sets at 8PM & 9:30PM
Loft Society
119 Calhoun Street
Cincinnati, OH 45219
Call Al after 8:30pm with questions: 513.559.9220
$20 at Door/BYOB/All Ages
Facebook Event Link

LOUISVILLE, KY - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
Set at 8PM
Dreamland
810 East Market Street
Louisville, KY 40206
www.dreamlandislouisville.org
$20 Admission
Event Details - Facebook Event Link

CLEVELAND, OH - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
Sets at 8PM & 9:30PM
Bop Stop at The Music Settlement
2920 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
www.themusicsettlement.org
216.771.6551
$15 Admission
Event Details - Purchase Tickets - Facebook Event

BUFFALO, NY - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
Set at 8PM
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
341 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14202
www.hallwalls.org
716.854.1694
$15 Admission/$12 Students & Seniors/$10 Members
Event Details - Facebook Event

PORTSMOUTH, NH - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
Set at 8PM
3S Artspace
319 Vaughan Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801
www.3sarts.org
603.766.3330
info@3sarts.org
$14 for Members/$16 for Non-Members/All Ages
Event Details - Purchase Tickets - Facebook Event Link

TOUR UPDATES AT
www.robmazurek.com | www.cuneiformrecords.com/tours.html

[WATCH: São Paulo Underground perform on Instrumental SESC Brasil]

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São Paulo Underground
Beija Flors Velho E Sujo
[2013, Rune 359]

AMAZON - ITUNES - BANDCAMP - WAYSIDE

Listen to a sample of Beija Flors Velho E Sujo:
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/beija-flors-velho-e-sujo





São Paulo Underground
Tres Cabeças Loucuras
[2011, Rune 325]

AMAZON - ITUNES - BANDCAMP - WAYSIDE

Listen to a sample of Três Cabeças Loucuras:
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tres-cabecas-loucuras


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www.cuneiformrecords.com
www.twitter.com/cuneiformrecord
www.facebook.com/cuneiformrecords
www.soundcloud.com/cuneiformrecords
www.youtube.com/CuneiformRecords

Cuneiform Records Launches The Music Outpost - a Sister Company Devoted to Licensing Music on the Sonic Frontier

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2015
Contact:
Joyce@cuneiformrecords.com
info@themusicoutpost.com
(301) 589-8894

– Re-Imagining Music in the 21st Century –

Announcing
The Music Outpost:
On August 17, 2015,
Cuneiform Records Launches a Sister Company
Devoted to Licensing Music on the Sonic Frontier

An Existential QUESTION:
How does a 31-year old record label that specializes in avant garde, non-mainstream music and has released over 400 albums of high-quality music to date, survive and thrive in the 21^st century digital age, an era in which all music – whether popular or avant-garde – has been devalued, and in which record stores have disappeared?  How does it enable the impressive music in its back catalogue to not only live anew but also contribute to the future survival of both itself and the international composers/musicians who create that music?  And how does it make the cutting-edge music it releases be financially sustainable as the century progresses, without compromising the stylistic integrity or “edginess” of that music?

A Visionary ANSWER:
It re-imagines a radically new context, a parallel purpose, a fresh existence for the innovative music it also releases on albums.

Cuneiform Records is proud to announce the creation of a new, sister company, called The Music Outpost, devoted to licensing cutting-edge music to various media including film/movies, dance, theatre, advertising, fashion, technology, and more.  The new company launches on August 17, 2015, when the website themusicoutpost.com goes live. Numerous licensing companies already exist, but all focus on mainstream music; licensing avant-garde music is not a priority for them. In contrast, The Music Outpost – “licensing music on the Sonic Frontier” – focuses on ‘outside’ music and aims to ultimately be THE go-to place for creative media professionals to find music as adventurous as their projects.  Its continually-expanding archive of music-available-for-licensing will not only feature music released by Cuneiform, but also music by other experimental, boundary-defying artists.

A selection from The Music Outpost’s music archive is currently displayed on its website, www.themusicoutpost.com. The music can be explored through listening samples or various search methods (moods, music genres, film genres, instruments, etc). Search instructions are posted on the website, and users are encouraged to email themselves a list of their “Favorites”.  While only a modest sampling from Cuneiform’s catalogue is currently on display, you can inquire about licensing other music on Cuneiform while new music that can be “readily licensed” is being added to the site. The Music Outpost will continually be updated, with new albums and new artists being posted regularly, so frequent visitation is encouraged. The website includes a means to contact the Outpost for queries about licensing for a specific project; licensing fees vary for size, type and nature of project. Projects of all size – from student films to blockbuster studio projects and everything in-between – are welcome to contact The Music Outpost.

Cuneiform has long been internationally acclaimed for releasing genre-defying music, music that transforms and transcends traditional forms.  Now, this innovative label has defied yet another boundary, to release music from its boundaries on turntables and iPods, and release it on dance and theatre stages, runways, and movie and other screens.

Based in greater Washington DC (Silver Spring, MD), Cuneiform Records was founded by Steve Feigenbaum in 1984 as a record label devoted to releasing innovative music from some of the best musicians in the international avant-garde.  It is the sister company of Wayside Music, a webstore and distributor originally founded in 1980 as a mail-order company devoted to internationally selling and distributing music released on small labels from around the world. The Music Outpost is the newest addition to this musically-progressive family.

For more information, please contact: Joyce@CuneiformRecords.com and info@TheMusicOutpost.com (301) 589-8894 www.themusicoutpost.com

Michael Gibbs' album with Bill Frisell & NDR Bigband on NPR

NPR recently featured Michael Gibbs and Bill Frisell's new big band release during the Fresh Air segment. The piece included a great review by Kevin Whitehead and plenty of soundbyte previews of the Bill Frisell curated tracklist.

Listen to NPR's Review Here

"Some Frisell fans grumble that with all his rootsy Americana projects, he doesn't record much jazzy jazz these days. For them, there's the new CD "Michael Gibbs & The NDR Bigband Play A Bill Frisell Setlist." 

There is certainly no shortage of "Jazzy Jazz" on the record; from straight-ahead Frisell tunes to a classic Monk composition, the NDR Bigband blasts its way along, with jazz composer, arranger and educator Michael Gibbs at the helm. Once you finish the last track, you can keep the Bigband going with Gibbs' simultaneous release, "In My View," a brilliant outlet for a choice selection of his numerous compositions that span nearly half a century. Once you have parsed through both works, pleasant similarities between the two begin to strike. Anything Gibbs touches seems to gain a layer of luscious textures that veil the asymmetrical motifs he sneaks in.

Michael Gibbs grew up in South Africa before relocating to England, where he still spends most of his time. However, Gibbs was teaching at Berklee College of Music for part of the 70's, and received Frisell as a student. The connection was sparked long ago, but the musical relationship is still burning bright.