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2015 Happenings
Last year was an exciting year for my work. The World
Premiere of Talking Sticks and screening at
several film/jazz festivals. Tours in Iceland, Turkey,
UK and Brazil. The release of a quintet album by The
Crossing. Gigs at NYC’s The Blue Note and Iridium. The
publication of several new arrangements of mine,
including a solo vibes version of Ave Maria.
This year started off with a couple of especially
exciting gigs already. Jan 23rd I played at the Pompano
Beach Jazz Festival with Nanny Assis & Group. Sandwiched
between sets by Phil Woods and Tierney Sutton/Hubert
Laws in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater, we gave one of
the best concerts of our lives. A few weeks later, my
steel band played live on ABC’s The View, a total blast!
Just last week I joined with a major licensing/publisher
which I will elaborate on in the coming weeks. Looking
ahead to May I’ll be in Chicago and Las Vegas, please
check my Dates for more info. My Spring gig plans in
Russia have, unfortunately, crashed along with the
ruble.
It’s been 25 years since my first solo project “In Any
Language” was released. Since then I’ve done a ton more
recording! I’ve decided to release a compilation of some
of the best tracks over the first 25 years. So excited!
Will plan to have this ready for a June release. On the
publishing side, my book The Vibes Real Book was
released 20 years ago. This has become the standard
method for learning Jazz Vibes at school around the
world. MalletWorks Music is offering a free cd with any
direct orders at their woefully pitiful ancient site
malletworks.com so please head over there. There's a
link to the right of this which will shortcut you to the
shopping cart of this special offer. For overseas orders
you'll need to go to malletworks.com and click the
catalog for your shipping zone.
This year my second child graduates High School and
moves on to college. I have always walked the delicate
line of being home for fatherhood and being out at night
or on the road performing. That means…starting in
September I will be available to travel anytime
anywhere! Coinciding with this, I'm putting together a
new band and concept. So psyched! We have exciting
possibilities to play regularly in a NYC venue and
record. I'll share more of this as it develops. Also, my
manager/agent Marilyn Gilbert is booking Talking Sticks
Screening/Concert packages for '15-16 and beyond so
please have your local venue contact her if you’d like
me to come to your area (Contact at this site). Talking
Sticks is now available for sale to educational
libraries. Please visit www.talkingsticksfilm.info for
further info. Living Arts is working on online ordering
through that site, but until that’s done you can send an
email there for the order form.
I've been using Facebook more and more for contact,
writing far less frequently at this site. Please be sure
to like Arthur Lipner Music so we can be connected.
Click
here and then click to the like the
page!
Thanks for stopping by and all best wishes!
- Arthur & Team |
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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. (63 mins).
www.talkingsticksfilm.com
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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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Unseen Rain Records has released a gorgeous acoustic
quintet album on which I played vibes and marimba on. It
contains two of my latest compositions, “SambaDharma”
and “This Is What The Silence Sounds Like”. The latter
is perhaps the most beautiful instrument music I have
ever written/recorded. The Crossing includes old friend
Jack DeSalvo (guitars) with whom I recorded the duo CD
Liquide Stones more than 20 years ago!
Here's
a link to get the recording on
iTunes!
A special note: I will
personally sign all CDs of mine bought via the
Malletworks Web site. |
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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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Network with
Arthur Lipner online! |
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FREE STUFF!
Click
here to download Ave Maria
sheet music (PDF)!
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