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Talking Sticks Trailer is Here!
Vibes and marimba
are the focus of this extraordinary and compelling film
about creativity, culture and connection. Leading
percussionist Arthur Lipner is our journeyman. His
personal experiences and search for fulfillment bring us
to a small village in Ghana, Carnival in the streets of
Rio de Janeiro, a marimba factory in Mexico,
improvisation on an ice xylophone in Norway, and much
more. Talking Sticks includes
a brief history of vibes and marimba, footage of the
instruments being made by artisans in several countries,
and glimpses of the critical role of music in different
cultures. Grammy-winning vibes player Gary Burton, jazz
legend Mike Mainieri, ice musician Terje Isungset
(interviewed in an igloo!) and other top musicians
discuss percussion and music in their lives.
Talking Sticks brings performances,
education and extraordinary locations together to create
a unique and inspiring documentary for all ages. (59 mins).
www.talkingsticksfilm.com
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2014 Happenings
2014 has seen a lot of cool things happening, an
interesting year of recording sessions and travel. Gigs,
teaching and sessions in Iceland, London, Turkey,
Brazil. Let me explain..
In April, I started working on my new album to be
released Nov 1st. The goal of the album is to explore
the possibilities of vibes and marimba with the
folkloric/popular music of other cultures in ways which
has never been done before. Pretty lofty, I know, but
the music is exciting! And gorgeous! For this project
this year I went to Iceland, Turkey and Brazil to
record/perform. Mixing will start in the coming weeks.
No title yet selected for the album. Planning to include
tracks from Ghana as well, with a bonus cut from USA(!)
if there’s room..More info about that album in the next
update.
I’ve been to Iceland before, but my first time to
Turkey. Both amazing! I stayed in each place about a
week so had a chance to get to experience the cultures a
bit. Can hardly describe it all. And the opportunity to
play with local musicians and collaborate was really a
lifetime experience, affirming one of the main reasons
why I play music in the first place: to communicate with
others. The Turkish musicians I played with spoke no
English. The vocals from both places are in their native
tongue. Fascinating how the instruments blended SO well
together!
In other recording sessions, I played steel drums on the
new United Airlines in-flight Safety video (I’m at 3:20
if you’re watching). Played vibes on a track for
“Morning Joe” Scarborough’s new cd. And am part of a new
NYC-based jazz group, as yet unnamed, which recorded a
cd for Unseen Rain Records due for release before year’s
end. I contributed a couple of new compositions for
that.
Appearance of note..I’ll be joining Nanny Assis at NYC’s
world-famous Blue Note Jazz club Sunday August 24th.
Also with Nanny that day will be Janis Siegel (Manhattan
Transfer) and other great musicians. Hope you can make
this special gig. All my concert and appearances are
listed on this site at Dates.
Thanks for stopping by! I update much more regularly to
fb so if we aren’t friends please find me.
Musically yours, Arthur
Here's a clip from a recent Nanny Assis/Brasilian
Vibes gig at The Blue Note in NYC. Check it out!!
To all you APAP 2014 attendees, we will be presenting
three showcases with a special guest, the unbelievable
Brazilian dancer, Joao Gaucho. This will be John's USA
debut. Exciting!!
Here's a video of our band playing live in Sao Paulo on
Programma Do Jo, Brasil's version of David Letterman:
But before that, I'll be performing as guest with the
NYU Music Ed Jazz Ensemble Thurs Dec. 12 8p at the Loewe
Theatre in NYC. We'll be doing two of my compositions
arranged for Big Band by Bob Mintzer. |
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Talking Sticks Premiers!
Talking
Sticks had its world premiere at the New
Haven Int’l Film Festival in March and has screened
several other places since then! It has also at the
WIlmFilm Film Festival (DE), Hartfield (VT) Jazz
Festival, in Reyjkavik and Istanbul. On November 22, it
will screen at PASIC, the largest annual int’l gathering
of percussionists in the world, in Indianapolis. We want
to bring Talking Sticks your
neighborhood! If there is a festival, indy theater, or
university which you think would be a good prospect
please contact the film team via
www.talkingsticksfilm.com or the fb
page
www.facebook.com/TalkingSticks.For
up-to-date screening and other info, liking that page is
the best way. |
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Brasilian Vibes
My latest CD is
BRASILIAN VIBES, available on iTunes. Physical discs are
available at the link at
www.malletworks.com.
There are numerous vocal tracks on this record,
something a bit different for me. It includes jazz
trombonist Wycliffe Gordon (he scats on
"Four Brothers") and Brasilian guitarist Nelson
Faria.
Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, NYC and CT, I
went back to Rio for 10 days to mix it. On this
recording I reach to my keyboard roots, recording
piano/keys on 3 tracks - along with my Vibes, Marimba
and Steel Drums (1 track). Brasilian Vibes presents my
instruments (vibes and marimba) in a hybridisation of
Brasilian styles. This mixture of pop, jazz and
percussion energy reunites my instruments with their
African percussion roots, Brasilian-style, to present a
cross section of the vast energy in Brasilian music with
funky, grooving tracks including vocals and a few
originals of mine.
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We are in rehearsals now for an upcoming instrumental
jazz release from Unseen Rain Records. This will be a
gorgeous acoustic quintet album, and will feature my
latest compositions. The band includes old friend Jack
DeSalvo (guitars, alto guitar, mandola, cel) with whom I
recorded the duo CD Liquide Stones more than 20
years ago!
A special note: I will
personally sign all CDs of mine bought via the
Malletworks Web site.
- Arthur and team |
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