Neddy Smith: A Widening Of Musical Gates

This Wednesday at The 9th Note Jazz Supper Club in Stamford, Neddy Smith and the East/West Trio will perform selections from Blue Monday, his more laid-back follow-up to 2013’s Mood Swing.

 A spirited delver into Jazz, Funk, Latin and other Western musical forms, with Blue, Neddy casts the net wider than ever for cosmopolitan inspiration. “The blending of various sonic expressions from the Orient, mixed with Middle Eastern influences… combined with my Jamaican/Caribbean roots and other (influences)… has prepared me for this album,” Neddy enthuses, a PoemAlley participant who operates NedGJean International Inc., his Norwalk-based recording studio, out of which he also maintains his own label. An instructor and coach, Neddy is a member of the Recording Academy and AFM Local 802.

Neddy has led TransWave, Neddy Smith and Friends and other ensembles over the years in his energetic forays into different genres. Below is a video of "Bursting Out" (2011), recorded live at Smash Studios in New York City:

 

 

Tracks like “The Eastern Gate” and “The Lotus Tree” (a live performance) bespeak the meditative approach Neddy sought for his new release, a departure from Mood Swing’s pronounced “rhythmic overdrive”. At the same time, the process of creating the CD, itself, communicated its divergent form, with the input of his friend and past collaborator, pianist Dr. Michiro Negishi and flutist Maddy Hertz: “the subtle melodic lines… defin(ing) the mood of (the) majority of the tracks… directed me more towards a Trio sound,” including Neddy's own signature bass contributions.

Click here to learn more about Neddy and his work; you can listen to album selections and order Blue Monday at CD Baby here.     

When:

8pm
February 3, 2016

Where:
The 9^th Note Jazz Supper Club
15 Bank Street
Stamford, CT 06901

Contact:

203-504-8828

In The Swing With Neddy Smith

Norwalk-based jazz bassist, composer, recording artist /producer and PoemAlley member Neddy Smith announces the release of Mood Swing, his latest CD.

As demonstrated through his prior recordings like “Give It Up” and “Liberated Woman” (1982) and the 2008 album, Turnaround, leading his own groups such as TransWave, his Jazz Duo or Trio and Neddy Smith and Friends, or producing jazz music/education festivals, Neddy is undeniably devoted to all aspects of music and the enthusiastic popularization of its varied forms.

The uplifting and subtle melodies of his latest offering, recorded at his own studio, NedGJean International Inc. in Norwalk, will be shared with viewers this Sunday when Neddy and his band perform as part of an interview on Our Lives on Optimum Cable’s News 12.

Neddy’s jazz and blues performances are derived intimately from the cultures of his native Jamaica, as well as from folk/world-music, Afro-Caribbean, Latin, Asian, European, and American classical sources. Mood Swing benefits from Neddy’s admiration for one of his favorite musicians, Thelonius Monk, specifically, “The Little House”, a simple poem he penned.

His band mates include Andrew DeNicola (flute, alto, soprano, and tenor sax), Marcel Blanchet (drum kit on “Mood Swing”), Thomas Ice (keyboard on “Pretty Little Flower” and “The Little House”), Michiro Negishi (multi-keyboard “Wildebeest”, “Mood Swing”). Guest musicians include Willy Dalton (multi-guitars on “Am in Love with You”) and Deborah Hawkins (keyboard on “Am in Love with You").

Click here for additional information and videos representative of Neddy's joyous performance style.

Air Times:

Sunday
January 26, 2014, Midnight and 4:30 PM

Monday
January 27, 2014, Midnight