NEWS
July '10
OK, so much for updating the website more consistently…
I guess if I knew people were actually looking at it… if you are, drop me a line, won't you?
So- another year of teaching at Berklee. I got a promotion, I'll be a full Professor in the fall.
Lindsey's recording (see below) is out, and it sounds GREAT.
Another trip in April to Berlin with the String Trio of New York- had a great time playing a week of gigs in and around the city. Actually had time to do some sight seeing!
Another great recording from last year was recently released… Annette Aguilar's 'Time Waits for Nobody'. It's a Latin/Brazilian band featuring some of the best players in those styles in NYC. I was very happy to be part of this project, and I think I sound pretty good on it.
The Acoustic String Festival happened again at Berklee (I think we're reverting to calling it the String Fling next year). The young musicians (and old) showing up at these camps continue to amaze me.
June '09
I'm looking forward to rehearsing and recording late in the month with the wonderful bassist/bass clarinetist/composer Lindsey Horner and his new group, 'Undiscovered Country'. Coming up... Berklee's annual 'String Fling' morphs this year into the "Acoustic String Festival". Although slightly scaled down, it will still be a great event, featuring a stellar faculty! I'll be clinic-ing and running a jam session/ensemble, July 8-11.
May '09...
Well, a year passes like nothing. There's been no shortage of activity... a flurry of work with the String Trio, the release of the new recording, "The River of Orion: 30 Years Running", which has been well received. We played in Berlin last month. Earlier this month, I played the Women In Jazz festival in DC at the Kennedy center with Annette Aguilar's Stringbeans. Look for a new release, "Time Waits for Nobody", by that group in June.
Once again, I'll be at the Creative Strings Workshop (see last year's plug below - this year's dates are
June 29th - July 5th). This time I'll be working with cellists in addition to violinists! I've been working hard on cello for the last several months, and I'm starting to feel pretty good about my jazz playing on that instrument. Classical playing- that's another story, but I'm working on that, too.
*By the way, I hope to update this website more consistentlyin the future.*
May '08...
I'll be teaching again at Chris Howes' Creative Strings Workshop in Columbus, OH this July. We had a great time last year, and I'm really looking forward to this year's camp. The dates are 6/30-7/6. I highly recommend this experience to all my students, and all aspiring string improvisers! Click here for info.
March '08...
It appears that I did not survive the latest purge of the Mahavishnu Project (MP news here). With mixed feelings, I join the lengthy list of luminaries who comprise the former membership of this excellent ensemble.
November '07...
I recently returned from a trip to Italy with The String Trio of New York. Among other things, we recorded a new CD in Milan for the Black Saint label. Look for it in May or June of next year. It's quite good, I think!
April '07...
I guested (along with Randy Brecker) on a Florida tour with Chuck Owen's Jazz Surge big band, after which we made a studio recording in Tampa. The project was a tribute to the late Michael Brecker and featured new arrangements by Chuck and others of his music. The CD should be released sometime next year. Mike was/is a huge influence on me, and I was deeply honored to be included in this undertaking.
February '07...
The Mahavishnu Project has released a new live recording, "Return to the Emerald Beyond". Recorded in Sept. '06, this double disc revisits the music on The Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Visions of the Emerald Beyond", along with some bonus material. The original "Visions" featured McLaughlin's revamped 1975 M.O. lineup, which included the great Jean Luc Ponty, as well as one of my other violin heroes, Steven Kindler (who later did some incredible work with Jan Hammer).
Anyway, you can check out the new disc here, and read a couple of reviews here, and here.