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Love Spook 04:06 ▒▓ ▓▒ 02. My Favorite Things 06:13 ▒▓ ▓▒ 03. Strange 04:59 ▒▓ ▓▒ 04. On A Clear Day 03:09 ▒▓ ▓▒ 05. Deer Run 04:50 ▒▓ ▓▒ 06. Leftover Blues 07:48 ▒▓ ▓▒ 07. I Only Have Eyes 04:19 ▒▓ ▓▒ 08. I'll Be Seen You 04:36 ▒▓ ▓▒ 09. Watch What Happens 05:00 ▒▓ ▓▒ 10. Connection Rag 03:15 ▒▓ ▓▒ 11. Surrey With The Fringe On Top 06:30 ▒▓ ▓▒ 12. Ashokan Road 06:29 ▒▓ ▓▒ 13. Bonus Track 03:08 ▒▓ █▄ ▄█ ██ ██▄ ██▄▄ ▄▄███ ▄▄▄████▀ ▀ ▄ ▄ ▄▄ ░ ▀████▄▄ ▀██▀███ ▄█▓ ▓█▄ ▄█ ▄██▀▀▀ ▀▓ ░▄▄▄▀▄▄ ▄███▀██ ███▓█▀▀ ░▀█▄░ ██ █▄█▓ ▄███▓█ ░ ██▀ ▓▄ ▀▀▀█▓██▀ ░▀▀█▄█▄▄▄ ░▀█▓ █▀ ██▀░ ▓█▀ ░ ▓▀██ ▄█▓░ ▄▄██▄▀▀░ ░▀██▀▀ ░ ▀ ░ ▀░ ░ ▀░ ▀▀██▀░ █▓ Corn Hill Indie (USA) presents: ▓█ █▓ Katie Bull - Love Spook ▓█ █▓ (Street Date March 1, 2005) ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ CD Review - January 20, 2005 ▓█ █▓ "Jazz vocalist Katie Bull just never lets you down ▓█ █▓ with her insightful CD projects. She & the groups she ▓█ █▓ puts together seem supreme in their ability to effect ▓█ █▓ change in our feelings which range from positive ▓█ █▓ tension, relaxation, expectancy, & fulfillment. These ▓█ █▓ all well up & subside as we listen to the fine ▓█ █▓ treatment & vocalise Katie & group offers our ▓█ █▓ sensibilities with such eternal covers as "On A Clear ▓█ █▓ Day," & "Watch What Happens, etc." This only happens ▓█ █▓ when the intimate interaction of folks & forces are ▓█ █▓ not in opposition to each other. This group in toto ▓█ █▓ is capable of supplying those energies that translate ▓█ █▓ these forces into a pleasurable musical journey for ▓█ █▓ us, the listener." ▓█ █▓ George W. Carroll/The Musicians' Ombudsman Jan. 05 ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ CD - REVIEW - February 11, 2005 ▓█ █▓ "(Katie Bull) is a mainstream interpreter of the ▓█ █▓ Great American Songbook and a downtown New York City ▓█ █▓ cutting-edge vocalist exploring the more abstract ▓█ █▓ styles of Jay Clayton or Sheila Jordan... (She)..is a ▓█ █▓ tuneful and lyrical singer with the ability to convey ▓█ █▓ the lyrics and melody of familiar songs quite well. ▓█ █▓ She also enjoys the freedom jazz provides in ▓█ █▓ reworking melody and time in an improvisational ▓█ █▓ sense... Those seeking some adventure in their jazz ▓█ █▓ vocal listening would do well to pay heed..." ▓█ █▓ Michael P. Gladstone, AllAboutJazz-NY Feb.05 ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ JAZZ WEEK PICKS and REVIEWS ▓█ █▓ Katie Bull ▓█ █▓ Love Spook (Corn Hill Indie) ▓█ █▓ MANY MUSICIANS CAN claim a New York City pedigree, ▓█ █▓ but few can say they grew up in the Village as Katie ▓█ █▓ Bull can (at least until she moved upstate). Here on ▓█ █▓ Bull's second album you hear a singer wholly engaged ▓█ █▓ in the process of sing cinct singing. She doesn't ▓█ █▓ recite the words along to a melody; she wraps her ▓█ █▓ voice around them, breaking the sounds down, ▓█ █▓ stretching syllables out, pushing words up ▓█ █▓ and down the scale. This is particularly apparent ▓█ █▓ when she puts her stamp on such evergreens as "On A ▓█ █▓ Clear Day" and "My Favorite Things," but runs through ▓█ █▓ her handful of originals as well. The supporting ▓█ █▓ players - she uses two trios, including such players ▓█ █▓ as pianist Frank Kimbrough, drummer Matt Wilson, ▓█ █▓ bassist Joe Fonda - are laid back as the singer ▓█ █▓ works, letting her shine but never leaving her ▓█ █▓ hanging. This dynamic works particularly well on ▓█ █▓ "Deer Run," though other cuts worth checking out ▓█ █▓ include the simmering "Leftover Blues" and a hard ▓█ █▓ grooving version of "I Only Have Eyes You." ▓█ █▓ - Tad Hendrickson ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ Review Courtesy JazzReview.com - March 8, 2005 ▓█ █▓ Review: Katie Bull has already released one CD, last ▓█ █▓ year's Conversations With The Jokers.However, her ▓█ █▓ rules-breaking attitude toward much of the material ▓█ █▓ on Love Spook creates the impression that this is a ▓█ █▓ debut album. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ Katie Bull isn't one to repeat herself. Instead, she ▓█ █▓ considers each song without preconceptions and with a ▓█ █▓ sense of whimsy and wonder. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ The same type of whimsy and wonder, childlike in ▓█ █▓ innocence and refreshing in creativity, can be found ▓█ █▓ on all of Matt Wilson's CD's as well. When you ▓█ █▓ compound all of that fun-making by including Bull and ▓█ █▓ Wilson on the same CD, anything can happen. ▓█ █▓ Interestingly, Wilson is described on the cover of ▓█ █▓ the CD as playing "percussion," which, even though ▓█ █▓ less restrictive than the title of "drummer," doesn't ▓█ █▓ begin to cover the range of sounds that Wilson ▓█ █▓ applies to the occasion. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ On "Connection Rag," which describes sonic and ▓█ █▓ emotional disconnect through fractured meter and ▓█ █▓ discordant piano chopping, we find Bull singing ▓█ █▓ "Another day of no connection to youà/Whoops gotta ▓█ █▓ run./Ships passing in the nightà/I still love you, ▓█ █▓ where did you go?" And we hear Wilson's quacking duck ▓█ █▓ calls and his ringing bicycle bells and his twirling ▓█ █▓ New Year's Eve noisemakers, and he pretty much lets ▓█ █▓ the initially predictable rhythm lapse into ▓█ █▓ unpredictability. A Bull original, "Connection Rag" ▓█ █▓ is consistent with the sentiment that Bull intends to ▓█ █▓ convey, despite the misleading irony of its title. ▓█ █▓ But it doesn't typify the songs of Love Spook any ▓█ █▓ more than does the standard "I Only Have Eyes." ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ On track after track, Bull adopts an attitude toward ▓█ █▓ each song after considering its lyrics and their ▓█ █▓ meaning, and she allows its spirit guide her ▓█ █▓ interpretation. In fact, as the CD progresses, it ▓█ █▓ becomes evident that Bull's range is much wider than ▓█ █▓ at first it seems. She broadens her vocal intervals ▓█ █▓ wildly and surprisingly on "Deer Run" when it occurs ▓█ █▓ to her to suggest swooping climbs and vertiginous ▓█ █▓ descents even though she sings in a fairly narrow ▓█ █▓ range until then. Cookie-cutter approaches are for ▓█ █▓ less imaginative singers. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ The idea for recording Love Spook originated in a New ▓█ █▓ York City loft gig with Wilson, pianist Frank ▓█ █▓ Kimbrough and bassist Martin Wind. The results were ▓█ █▓ so successful, the empathy so gratifying, that Wilson ▓█ █▓ suggested they record some of Bull's music from that ▓█ █▓ night. Now they haveàand more. Bull has intermingled ▓█ █▓ standards with songs stemming from her own wacky ▓█ █▓ perspective. Even the standards don't remain ▓█ █▓ sacrosanct, though. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ The closest Bull comes to a straightforward ▓█ █▓ performance of standards is her beautiful exposition ▓█ █▓ of "On A Clear Day," which she sings without ▓█ █▓ adornment or humor or improvisation, marveling ▓█ █▓ instead in the song's intervals and visual lyrics. ▓█ █▓ Still, Bull not only sustains the notes, but she ▓█ █▓ burnishes them with a purity of tone attaining ▓█ █▓ variations of volume and timbre even as the pitch ▓█ █▓ remains fixed. But then there's "My Favorite Things," ▓█ █▓ the title of which Bull takes literally as she ▓█ █▓ briefly catalogs some of her favorite things in a ▓█ █▓ modally based introduction before she settles down ▓█ █▓ into naming the favorite things that Rodgers and ▓█ █▓ Hammerstein imagined for the von Trapp family. ▓█ █▓ Beginning with full awareness of the jazz references ▓█ █▓ that the song conjures, especially McCoy Tyner's work ▓█ █▓ with John Coltrane, Kimbrough asserts his own ▓█ █▓ personality into his solo in the song's midst, ▓█ █▓ brighter and harmonically altered for fulfillment of ▓█ █▓ the singer's updated adaptation. Note how Bull leans ▓█ █▓ forcefully into the notes, though, the respectful ▓█ █▓ accompaniment highlighting her attack on words like ▓█ █▓ "DAooooorbells" or her toying with the word "bad" as ▓█ █▓ she at least eight ways to present it during the ▓█ █▓ four-bar repeat. Bull switches back-up musicians for ▓█ █▓ her version of another Rodgers and Hammerstein song, ▓█ █▓ "Surrey With The Fringe On Top," and she daringly ▓█ █▓ slows the surrey down to a virtual crawl for fully ▓█ █▓ rounded attention to each note, each syllable. ▓█ █▓ Eventually, it becomes clear (oddly, for a song ▓█ █▓ humorously describing sunny optimism and pride in ▓█ █▓ industrial progress) that Bull considers the song as ▓█ █▓ blues material when she wraps it up with slippery ▓█ █▓ intermediate tones between the conventional pitches ▓█ █▓ we expect to hear. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ But Bull's own compositions were the justification ▓█ █▓ for producing Love Spook. They provide the most ▓█ █▓ revealing glimpses into her sense of fun and her ▓█ █▓ acuity of observation as she connects even the most ▓█ █▓ mundane items with universal themes. "Leftover Blues" ▓█ █▓ is indeed a modified blues that describes the ▓█ █▓ leftovers in Bull's refrigerator, either real or ▓█ █▓ imagined. Nonetheless, as enlivened by the light ▓█ █▓ swing of Bull's trio, the song moves beyond the ▓█ █▓ mundane into a statement about emotional abandonment ▓█ █▓ and about getting up and starting all over again. Or ▓█ █▓ on "Love Spook," Bull climbs ascending minor ninth ▓█ █▓ intervals with fearless openness, restraining none of ▓█ █▓ her involvement in the music at hand, not until the ▓█ █▓ song's last notes wordlessly express leavened ▓█ █▓ emotion. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ Bull's singing often is compared to Sheila Jordan's ▓█ █▓ or Jay Clayton'sùand she herself is flattered by the ▓█ █▓ comparisons and by those singers' praise. However, ▓█ █▓ Bull is like them primarily due to the fact that she ▓█ █▓ is unlike any other singer. With deep reserves of ▓█ █▓ talent, a wide range, incessant surprises when she ▓█ █▓ sings, a vibrant imagination, a natural feel for ▓█ █▓ rhythm, lyrical perceptiveness, unconventional ▓█ █▓ formation of notes and an ever-present sense of fun, ▓█ █▓ Katie Bull immerses herself fully in the songs she ▓█ █▓ sings. She represents a true discovery for anyone who ▓█ █▓ hasn't heard her yet. ▓█ █▓ Reviewed by: Don Williamson ▓█ █▓ Copyright⌐ 2005 JazzReview.com«. All Rights Reserved. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ "Katie Bull is one of the few of the new crop of jazz ▓█ █▓ singers ▓█ █▓ who matter." ▓█ █▓ Robert Ianapollo, AAJ-NY, from a feature on bass ▓█ █▓ player Joe Fonda. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ CD Review: Improvijazzation Nation - March 8, 2005 ▓█ █▓ Media Alert: Katie Bull /"Love Spook"/Corn Hill Indie ▓█ █▓ (Street Date March 1, 2005) ▓█ █▓ Following review will be in issue # 70, due up æround ▓█ █▓ end-March to mid-April; please check me for typos or ▓█ █▓ address corrections: ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ Katie Bull - LOVE SPOOK: We love female vocalists, ▓█ █▓ but the jazz & bluesy approach on Ms. Bull's album ▓█ █▓ was something we dug more than any other jazz ▓█ █▓ vocalist we've listened to this year (& many other ▓█ █▓ years, as well). That may be due (in great part) to ▓█ █▓ the fantastic cast of characters she has around her ▓█ █▓ (Joe Fonda on bass, Frank Kimbrough's piano, Michael ▓█ █▓ Jefry Stevens' keyboards, Matt Wilson's percussion & ▓█ █▓ Martin Wind's bass), but after the third listen, ▓█ █▓ you'll begin to realize the high talent and, well, ▓█ █▓ "spooky" qualities that Katie is able to milk out of ▓█ █▓ a song. My favorite cut is one called "Strange", ▓█ █▓ which opens with truly "different" percussion and a ▓█ █▓ slow scat that seems (to me, anyway) to really define ▓█ █▓ her vocal uniqueness and skill. The best word I can ▓█ █▓ think of to describe her style here on this song is ▓█ █▓ "captivating". The title track is a fine piece, too, ▓█ █▓ slow & slinky, with a real "down-home" feel. It IS ▓█ █▓ jazz, though, make no mistake... there is none of the ▓█ █▓ slick musical spam that's so prevalent on many vocal ▓█ █▓ albums... original through & through! If yer' lookin' ▓█ █▓ to dip into th' blues side o' th' thang, be sure & ▓█ █▓ check out "Leftover Blues", too. Don't expect ▓█ █▓ "casual" jazz on this CD, you'll need to reserve an ▓█ █▓ hour to sit down & really absorb"Love Spook". Total ▓█ █▓ cool that gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from us! To ▓█ █▓ find out more about this album, visit her site, at ▓█ █▓ www.katiebull.com ▓█ █▓ Rotcod Zzaj ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ O's Place Jazz Newsletter ▓█ █▓ KATIE BULL - Love Spook 4/5 ▓█ █▓ O's Notes: Katie is a true jazz singer, scatting and ▓█ █▓ bending the notes hither and yon while maintaining ▓█ █▓ tonality. Her phrasing is fresh and unique. Listen to ▓█ █▓ her arrangement of "My Favorite Things" and you'll ▓█ █▓ appreciate her personalization of the tune. She has ▓█ █▓ chosen two trios for Love Spook and both are ▓█ █▓ excellent. Drummer Matt Wilson and Bull are common ▓█ █▓ elements. The other musicians are Frank Kimbrough ▓█ █▓ (p), Martin Wind (b), Michael Jefry Stevens (p) and ▓█ █▓ Joe Fonda (b). We found this to be an enjoyable ▓█ █▓ listening experience. ▓█ █▓ -- ▓█ █▓ D. Oscar Groomes ▓█ █▓ O's Place Jazz Newsletter ▓█ █▓ P.O. Box 2437 ▓█ █▓ Naperville, IL 60567-2437 ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ "Bull chooses musicians who are as FREE-SPIRITED as ▓█ █▓ she is..." (CADENCE MAGAZINE) ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ JOE FONDA is a composer, bassist, recording artist, ▓█ █▓ interdisciplinary performer, and producer. An ▓█ █▓ accomplished international Jazz artist, Fonda has ▓█ █▓ performed with his own ensembles throughout the ▓█ █▓ United States and Europe, and as a side man with ▓█ █▓ Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and ▓█ █▓ Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave ▓█ █▓ Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Mark Whitecage, Marion Brown, ▓█ █▓ and Bill Dixon. Fonda was the bassist with the ▓█ █▓ renowned Anthony Braxton sextet, octet, and tentet, ▓█ █▓ from 1984 through 1999. Other organizations or ▓█ █▓ musicians Joe has been involved with include the ▓█ █▓ Tri-Centric Foundation; The Tri-Centric Orchestra ▓█ █▓ under the direction of AnthonyBraxton; The Creative ▓█ █▓ Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith; ▓█ █▓ The American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, ▓█ █▓ directed by world renowned tap dancer Brenda ▓█ █▓ Bufalino; Fred Ho's Jazz and Peking Opera; Sonomama ▓█ █▓ Dance Company; Kaleidoscope Arts; and numerous CDs ▓█ █▓ and tours with The Fonda-Stevens Group; From the ▓█ █▓ Source (Bufalino and healing artist Vicki Dodd); & ▓█ █▓ Conference Call (a quartet, featuring drummers, Han ▓█ █▓ Benik and Matt Wilson, with pianist Michael Jefry ▓█ █▓ Stevens). Conference Call has released two CDs, one ▓█ █▓ on Soul Note, Final Answer and one on Leo Records ▓█ █▓ Variations on a Master Plan. The FAB Trio, (featuring ▓█ █▓ Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul, and Billy Bang), has just ▓█ █▓ released its first CD, Transforming the Space, on ▓█ █▓ CIMP Records. Joe is the bassist on Katie Bull's ▓█ █▓ premiere CD, Conversations with the Jokers, and is ▓█ █▓ the "Joe" on the soon to be released album, The ▓█ █▓ Bull-Fonda Duo: Cup of Joe, No Bull on Corn Hill ▓█ █▓ Indie. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ FRANK KIMBROUGH has been active on the New York scene ▓█ █▓ for more than twenty years and has been a ▓█ █▓ composer-in-residence of the Jazz Composers ▓█ █▓ Collective since its inception in 1992. He has made ▓█ █▓ 12 recordings as a leader for the Palmetto, OmniTone, ▓█ █▓ Soul Note, and Mapleshade labels. As a sideman, his ▓█ █▓ work includes recordings and tours with the Maria ▓█ █▓ Schneider Orchestra, Ben Allison's Medicine Wheel, ▓█ █▓ Ted Nash and Still Evolved, Michael Blake's Elevated ▓█ █▓ Quartet, and groups led by Ron Horton, Rich Perry, ▓█ █▓ Joe Locke and Kendra Shank among others. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ MICHAEL JEFRY STEVENS is a pianist and composer who ▓█ █▓ performs extensively in Europe and North America. He ▓█ █▓ was the "Margaret Lee Crofts Fellow for 2000-2001" at ▓█ █▓ the MacDowell Artist Colony and recently received 2nd ▓█ █▓ prize in the prestigious Monaco International Jazz ▓█ █▓ Composition Contest. Michael currently co-leads ▓█ █▓ several working musical ensembles including The ▓█ █▓ Fonda/Stevens Group, the Conference Call Quartet, the ▓█ █▓ Stevens/Siegel/Ferguson Trio, and the Memphis Jazz ▓█ █▓ Composer's Workshop Big Band. He has released over 40 ▓█ █▓ CDs which feature his original music including most ▓█ █▓ recently Spirals: The Berlin Concert on 482 Music and ▓█ █▓ Play on Drimala Records. Artists he has performed ▓█ █▓ and/or recorded with include Dave Douglas, Mark ▓█ █▓ Feldman, Han Bennink, CharlesMoffett, Cecil ▓█ █▓ Bridgewater, Valery Ponomarev, Gerry Hemingway, Miles ▓█ █▓ Griffith, Leo Smith, Thomas Chapin, Gebhard Ullmann, ▓█ █▓ Herb Robertson, Matt Wilson, Dominic Duval and Dave ▓█ █▓ Liebman. Michael is the pianist on Katie Bull's ▓█ █▓ premiere CD, Conversations with the Jokers on Corn ▓█ █▓ Hill Indie ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ MATT WILSON loves to play music. Matt is very ▓█ █▓ fortunate to play music with great musicians all over ▓█ █▓ the world. Matt loves to play on recordings and make ▓█ █▓ his own recordings for Palmetto records. Matt loves ▓█ █▓ to play in bands and loves leading his own bands. ▓█ █▓ Matt loves being a father and husband. Matt was ▓█ █▓ thrilled to be a part of Katie Bull's compact disc ▓█ █▓ adventure with folks he adores. Matt loves to laugh. ▓█ █▓ Matt loves to cook and drink wine. Matt loves New ▓█ █▓ York. Matt has a fun-filled website he thinks you ▓█ █▓ will enjoy, www.mattwilsonjazz.com. Matt hopes you ▓█ █▓ all have a nice day. ▓█ █▓ Matt Wilson appears courtesy of Palmetto Records. ▓█ █▓ Matt Wilson plays Zildjian cymbals and sticks, Pearl ▓█ █▓ drums and Remo drumheads. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ MARTIN WIND is a bassist and composer who works as ▓█ █▓ both a jazz and classical musician. He is currently ▓█ █▓ an adjunct faculty member of the Jazz Department at ▓█ █▓ New York University and has served as a bass ▓█ █▓ instructor/rhythm section trainer for the National ▓█ █▓ Youth Jazz Orchestra, Germany. Martin has worked with ▓█ █▓ the following artists/orchestras: Radiobigbands ▓█ █▓ Cologne, Frankfurt & Berlin; Mstislav Rostropowitsch ▓█ █▓ and Valerie Gergejiev with the German Soviet Young ▓█ █▓ Philharmonie; Gidon Kremer; Clark Terry, Slide ▓█ █▓ Hampton, Pat Metheny, Curtis Fuller, Jiggs Whigham, ▓█ █▓ Ken Peplowsky, Jeff Hamilton, John Taylor, Bucky ▓█ █▓ Pizzarelli, Lalo Schifrin, Monty Alexander, Toots ▓█ █▓ Thielemans, Mark Murphy, Marvin Stamm, Phil Woods, ▓█ █▓ Carol Sloane, Eddie Daniels, Johnny Griffin, Claudio ▓█ █▓ Roditi, Bill Charlap, Vic Juris, Grady Tate, Mike ▓█ █▓ Stern, Jim McNeely and the Village Vanguard Orchestra ▓█ █▓ among others. Martin is currently working in the ▓█ █▓ trios of pianists Bill Mays, Dena DeRose, and Don ▓█ █▓ Friedman and is a bandleader in his own right. In ▓█ █▓ 1995, Martin won Third Prize at the International ▓█ █▓ Thelonious Monk Bass Competition in Washington, D.C., ▓█ █▓ and in 2001, he was awarded the Cultural Prize of his ▓█ █▓ home state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, as the ▓█ █▓ first Jazz musician to receive this award. ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ More Information: ▓█ █▓ http://www.katiebull.com ▓█ █▓ http://www.jazzreview.com/cdreview.cfm?ID=9037 ▓█ █▓ http://cdbaby.com/cd/katiebull2 ▓█ █▓ ▓█ █▓ Respect the artists. ▓█ █▓ If you like this CD, buy it. ▓█ ▄█▀█▓ ▓█▀█▄ ▄█▀██▓ -=-=-=-= GROUP INFORMATION =-=-=-=- ▓██▀█▄ ▄▄███▀▀▀ A new name, but no newbies. AES is a group of ▀▀███▄▄ ███▓█ ▄▄ experienced scene members who have joined together in ▄▄█▓██▄ ░▄█████▀ an effort to create a release group with a family ▀█████▄ ▀▀░▀█▀██▄ atmosphere. 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