Live Encounter The New York Allstars

• 1 Encounter 08:48
• 2 Naima 09:17
• 3 Incazzato 10:13
• 4 Still 06:18
• 5 Second Impressions 09:15
• 6 Heartaches 09:05
• 7 Eddie Harris 13:20
• Total Runtime 01:06:16

Info for Live Encounter

A band of top line players and a set of tunes that let them loose to express themselves, all with the raw energy of live performance. That’s what you get with the New York All-Stars’ new release on Ubuntu Music, as Rob Adams found out:

Eric Alexander describes The New York All-Stars’ Live Encounter album as “pure joy”, a happy accident that brought the best possible result from a situation that began with disappointment.

The tenor saxophonist had been touring with his long-time collaborator, the great piano veteran Harold Mabern, and their gigs together – exuberant celebrations of the jazz tradition to which Mabern was a giant contributor through his work on classic albums with Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery and Stanley Turrentine, among others – had been perfectly captured on Live Encounter’s predecessor for Ubuntu Music, Burnin’ in London.

When Anderson and Ubuntu’s founding director, Martin Hummel, began planning a second recording last year, it became clear that Mabern, who subsequently died in September this year, wouldn’t be able to take part due to illness.

“We needed to come up with something special,” says Hummel, “And it turned out that Seamus Blake, another fantastic tenor saxophonist, who was living in Paris, was available, and the pianist Mike LeDonne was able to make the tour dates. So, we put Eric and Seamus together for a three-night run at Pizza Express with Mike on piano and Hammond organ, Swedish guitarist Erik Söderlind, Italian bassist Aldo Zunino and Austrian drummer Bernd Reiter – a killer line-up as Live Encounter confirms.”

Eric Alexander explains the background to the project: “This recording project was particularly special to me as it afforded the opportunity to share the bandstand with Seamus Blake, a saxophonist of the highest calibre for whom I have the utmost respect. Although we haven't had the chance to work together much in the past, this not only made it possible for us to hit together, but also documented the music and captured the joy we had competing with one another out of mutual admiration. In addition, the rest of the ensemble-Mike, Bernd, Aldo, and Erik--was absolutely top shelf! Martin Hummel and his label Ubuntu Music deserve tremendous credit for having the foresight to see this project through and for trusting the musicians to put together a program that is engaging and in the tradition of the great live jazz recordings that fans so adore. Mr. Hummel and Ubuntu are going to be a powerful force in the record business for years to come.”

Seamus Blake continues: “It was a great and pleasant surprise to be invited by Eric Alexander to play and record live with him at Pizza Express. I have been a fan of Eric for many years. It was also a pleasure to work with Martin at Ubuntu Music. He helped us make a great recording.”

Eric Alexander, saxophone
Seamus Blake, saxophone
Mike Ledonne, piano, organ
Erik Soderlind, guitar
Aldo Zunino, bass
Bernd Reiter, drums

Eric Alexander
Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. He started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. "The people I listened to in college are still the cats that are influencing me today," says Alexander. "Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson--the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language and that feel, that's the bread and butter of everything I do. George Coleman remains a big influence because of his very hip harmonic approach, and I'm still listening all the time to Coltrane because I feel that even in the wildest moments of his mid- to late-Sixties solos I can find these little kernels of melodic information and find ways to employ them in my own playing."

During the 1990s, after placing second behind Joshua Redman in the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, Alexander threw himself into the whirlwind life of a professional jazz musician. He played with organ trios on the South Side of Chicago, made his recording debut in 1991 with Charles Earland on Muse Records, and cut his first album as leader in 1992 (Straight Up for Delmark). More recordings followed for numerous labels, including Milestone and others, leading to 1997's Man with a Horn; the 1998 collaborative quartet session with George Mraz, John Hicks, and Idris Muhammad, Solid!; and, that same year, the first recording by One For All, Alexander's ongoing band with Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, Joe Farnsworth, Peter Washington, and Dave Hazeltine.

Eric has appeared in many capacities on record, including leader, sideman, producer as well as composing a number of the tunes he records. By now, Alexander has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; he guesses 80 or 90. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition.

In 2004, Eric signed an exclusive contract with the New York-based independent jazz label, HighNote Records where he has amassed a considerable discography of critically-acclaimed recordings. Most recent among them is “Chicago Fire” HCD 7262, “The Real Thing” with Pat Martino HCD 7278 and “Second Impression” HCD 7296. Eric’s most recent HighNote release, “Song of No Regrets,”(HCD 7311) was featured in Downbeat’s “Hot Box”. He is currently working on a new recording project which will see commercial release in mid-2019.

Eric continues to tour the world over to capacity audiences. Using NYC as his home base he can regularly be seen in the city’s most prestigious jazz clubs.

Seamus Blake
New York based saxophonist/composer SEAMUS BLAKE is recognized as one of the finest exponents of contemporary jazz. His music is known for its sophistication, bold improvisations and “sheer swagger". John Scofield, who hired Seamus for his “Quiet Band,” called him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist.” Throughout his 24 year career, Seamus has garnered critical praise for his masterful playing, his fine compositional skills and for his facility as a leader.

Since moving to Paris in February 2018 Seamus has been invited to perform the music of his recent CD, "Superconductor" with a number of European Jazz Bands. Beginning with the Latvian Radio Jazz Band early in 2018, Seamus has performed with the Trondheim Big Band and The Sibis Alumni Big Band (Sibelius Institute , Helsinki),in September. He is scheduled to perform his music with The Tuesday Big Band (Amsterdam) on November 6/7, and The Subway Jazz Orchestra on November 14.

In 2017 Seamus assembled a new quartet, The French Connection. The band ( Seamus, Tony Tixier piano, Florent Nisse, bass, and Gautier Garrigue, drums) recorded their first CD in Paris in November, 2017 and have toured in France and Spain. The CD will be released on the Whirlwind label. Three promo videos will be available on Youtube in January. Seamus has a busy schedule in Europe in 2018. Check the Performance page for details.

Superconductor is Seamus’ most ambitious project to date and was released in December 2015. The talent includes Nate Smith, Matt Garrison, Scott Kinsey, a 7 piece orchestral ensemble as well as special guest appearances by John Scofield and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The album marks the debut of Seamus on EWI (electronic wind instrument). Seamus plays on the 2015 Grammy nominated Camino by pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Seamus Blake was born December 1970 in England and raised in Vancouver, Canada. At age 21, while still a student at Boston's prestigious Berklee College, he was asked to record with legendary drummer Victor Lewis. After graduation, he moved to New York, where he rapidly established himself on the New York jazz scene. In February 2002, Seamus took first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in Washington D. C. As the winner, he performed with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.

As a leader/co-leader , Seamus has released 16 albums. He is featured as a sideman on over 70 CDs.

Seamus has played on six of of the Grammy nominated Mingus bands’ albums He continues to play and record with Bill Stewart, Kevin Hays, David Kikoski and Alex Sipiagin. Seamus is frequently featured as a guest artist. In 2010 he was guest of honor at the International Saxophone Symposium in Washington hosted by the US Navy Band. Seamus was a member of John Scofield’s Quiet Band and toured and recorded with Dave Douglas. Some of the many other artists he has worked with include Eric Reed, Ethan Iverson, Chris Cheek, and Matt Penman.

Mike Ledonne
started playing piano at the age of 5 and was raised in his parent’s music store. By the age of 10 his father, a jazz guitarist, began booking him on gigs. He is now an internationally renowned pianist and organist with the unique experience of having played with a wide spectrum of jazz masters from Benny Goodman to Milt Jackson and Sonny Rollins. He has won praise not only from critics but from master musicians: Oscar Peterson picked him as one of his favorite pianists of today.

At age 21, Mike graduated from New England Conservatory in 1979 and moved to New York City with the Widespread Jazz Orchestra. In 1981, he left Widespread to travel to the UK with Panama Francis and the Savoy Sultans. On returning, he began a two-year stint as the house pianist at Jimmy Ryan’s, then one of New York’ s oldest jazz clubs. It was there that he came under the influence of and played with many old masters such as Roy Eldridge, Papa Jo Jones and Vic Dickenson. He spent 1982-1983 with the Benny Goodman sextet and went on to play with Buddy Tate, Al Grey, Ruby Braff and many others. Later he worked 1 year with the Art Farmer-Clifford Jordan Quintet, went to Paris with Grady Tate, and played with more modern masters like James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, Charles McPherson, Sonny Rollins and Bobby Hutcherson. He also spent time as accompanist to singers Ernestine Anderson, Annie Ross and Etta Jones.

In 1988 he started playing with the Milt Jackson Quartet (along with Mickey Roker and Bob Cranshaw). Mr. Jackson recorded Mike’s compositions and arrangements. Mike also became the band’s musical director. In the fall of 1992, Mike was chosen to be part of a group of top young musicians for the Phillip Morris Superband World Tour. Mike served as musical director for that group, which featured Ryan Kisor on trumpet, Joshua Redman on tenor saxophone, Jesse Davis on alto saxophone, Christian McBride on bass and Lewis Nash at the drums. Around this time, Mike toured with the Newport All-Stars in lineups that featured Harry “Sweets” Edison and Clark Terry. Mike has been playing and recording with Benny Golson since 1997. He has also been leading trios that have included greats like Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Hart, Pete LaRoca and Louis Hayes.

Mike is on over 100 CD’s as a sideman and starting in 1988 recorded his first of 16 CD’s as a leader. Five on Criss Cross Jazz, three on Double Time Records, seven on Savant and one on Cellar Live. Many of hem award winning and include the greatest musicians around today including Tom Harrell, Gary Smulyan, Dennis Irwin, Kenny Washington, Steve Nelson, Ryan Kisor, Jim Rotondi, Joshua Redman, Lewis Nash, Peter Washington, Peter Bernstein, Eric Alexander, Jeremy Pelt, Joe Farnsworth, John Webber, Bob Cranshaw, Mickey Roker and Ron Carter.

In 2003 Mike recorded his first CD as a leader on the Hammond Organ, an instrument he’s been playing since he was 10. It documented the music of his organ band The Groover Quartet with Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein and Joe Farnsworth. The CD went to #1 and together they’ve held down a now legendary gig on Tuesday nights at Smoke in NYC. He has since released 3 more CD’s of this band, on the Savant label, which he calls The Groover Quartet. They’ve toured in Europe and Japan as well as the States. Mike also caught the ears of George Coleman, Lou Donaldson and David Fathead Newman who all hired him to play organ in their bands. The Jazz Journalists Association nominated Mike for Best Keyboards 2012 for his “Keep The Faith” CD. Also in 2012, Mike won the Downbeat Rising Star Award for Organ.

Mike is the co-author of Jim Snidero’s Jazz Conception for Piano and Piano Comping books, on Advance Music. In Sept. In 2002 he joined the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music and spent 4 years there. He is also one of the founders of the Jazz For Teens program at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, N.J.

This album contains no booklet.