Arthur Lipner : Official Site

It's been a long time since I played lots of funk and I miss it, so I started a new project called SQUiLL. We recently did our first gig! This group is going to be the funk band I always wanted but never had. Vibes and Marimba groove in a different way! We're doing all kinds of music, from my originals to Turkish and Celtic melodies. More about all things SQUiLL as they develop. Lots planned for this group as it moves from the development phase into action. Check out this video:

2015 saw fantastic performances with a new trio. Brazilian Music Soul - Vanessa Falabella (vocals) & Carlos Dias (vocals, guitar, berimbau) - played every Sunday during the Summer at BBKing's in Times Square NYC. I joined them a number of times then we decided to form a trio. It's a natural next step for Vanessa and me. We start playing together in 1998 (!) at Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village with Carlos Darcy and Brazooca. Since then we've done many gigs together, and recorded in Sao Paulo for my Brasilian Vibes CD. The repertoire of this group includes music which is not frequently heard in Brazilian repertoire. Very cool rhythms and harmonies from the Minas Gerais area of Brazil, known for many important Brazilian artists. In the past few months, our trio "Brazilian Music Soul (feat. Arthur Lipner)" did shows at Vincennes Univ (IN) and Slyfest '10 (Buffalo, NY). Here's a video:

This Web site now has a "Projects" tab, a great place to look around and listen to my various groups. For presenters/booking agents, it is a one-stop location of promotion and press materials.

I know it has been awhile since I posted anything about the documentary Talking Sticks. We've added a segment about Iceland which changes the film so much we've changed the release date to 2016. 2016 will be the first real year for the film! Also, we're working on a new (2nd) trailer in the next few weeks, offering a glimpse into the film from a different point of view. And, a few educator colleagues and I are developing supplementary materials to show how Talking Sticks can be used in the classroom setting, fitting into a variety of Arts curricula.

For those of you at HS and college Percussion Departments, please keep an eye out for a few new Percussion Ensemble arrangements of mine. It's been a long time since I released any, and I'm looking forward to writing them! This will also mean more music I can play when I'm a guest artist.

I post all of my work-related activities at my FB page - Arthur Lipner Musician/Band. This is really the place to follow, with videos, photos, etc. I promise, promise, promise to tweet more in '16. Please follow at www.twitter.com/arthurlipner.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2016. Let's keep on keeping on!

- Arthur

Music and Instructional Products - Get 'em Here!

Arthur Lipner offers a variety of great music and instructional products, and many are available directly from Arthur.

Click here to check to learn more and to purchase!

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. I also played steel drums on the United Airelines in-flight safety video.

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

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

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.

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.

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.