Subject: Fri May 27 - CRUZAO GRUPO MONSTRUOSO @ Distillery Jazz Festival Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 13:23:45 -0400 From: The BROWNMAN Organization: Brownman Music Inc. -- http://www.brownman.com To: Brownman's Big Ass Mailing List Hey gang, A big welcome to all who are new to the big ass mailing list... I'm about to get on a plane for a short tour of South America with some Cubans I met while playing the Havana Jazz Fest this past Dec and will spend a little extended time in Argentina doing some gigs under my own name (one with Astor Piazzola's son on drums... exciting!) thanks to the beautiful Noelia Grey who has been booking me down there like a mad woman. BUUUT - before I go - here's a fast reminder that my 15-man latin-jazz-urban orchestra CRUZAO GRUPO MONSTRUOSO will play the Distillery Jazz Fest on Fri May 27 (2 shows - 8 and 10pm). That group is the culmination of a LOT of large ensemble composing for me and features some of the finest jazz, latin and urban musicians sharing a stage... if you see nothing else of mine this year - this is the one to catch. Also - the National Post will be running a story on the Monster (by Mike Doherty) in the days before the performance. ====================================================== Fri May 27 (8 & 10pm) The return of "The Monster" Brownman's 15-man latin-jazz-urban orchestra CRUZAO GRUPO MONSTRUOSO returns to Distillery Jazz Fest. Not to be missed! ====================================================== 6 jazz horns 3 latin percussionsists 2 latin vocalists 2 freestyle rappers 2 bassists!! Ticket's are on sale now at http://DistilleryJazz.com This Monster gig is gonna to be insane... I spent weeks writing large ensemble orchestrations of CRUZAO (my 5-man latin-jazz outfit) material for this 15-man permutation of the band. Both Paco Luviano and Marc Rogers - essentially our country's top latin bassist and top electric bassist will go head to head amidst a sea of multi-award winning horn players... AND both Enlight and Phatt Al will face-off that night (2 of Canada's most conscious freestyle rappers)... AND there will be a few mystery special guests that will blow your mind... yep... gonna be a crazy night - if you do nothing else in May - come check this out. These links have all the performance particulars: PRESS RELEASE: http://brownman.com/PressReleases/CRUZAO-GrupoMonstruoso-2005.html WEBSITE: http://monster.brownman.com PERFORMANCE POSTER: http://www.brownman.com/Images/CruzaoGrupoMonstruoso2005.jpg May 27 - see you then!!! ====================================================== Below is the official press release (thanks to Seb Green for it's creation). ====================================================== NICK "BROWNMAN" ALI" & GRUPO CRUZAO MONSTRUOSO: ONE-OF-A-KIND LATIN-JAZZ-URBAN ORCHESTRA AT TORONTO'S MOST UNIQUE MUSIC VENUE ====================================================== On Friday, May 27, award-winning trumpet player, jazz visionary and Canadian musical ambassador NICK "BROWNMAN" ALI and his 15-man latin-jazz-urban orchestra, GRUPO CRUZAO MONSTRUOSO, will be returning to the Distillery Jazz Festival; for a special 8 & 10 PM doubleheader that promises to be one of the highlights of this acclaimed event. The band will be playing large-ensemble orchestrations specially crafted for this show by the 2002 Canadian National Composer of Year from the music of CRUZAO, Ali's multi-award-winning 5-piece Latin-jazz-urban outfit. A 6-piece horn section, 2 bass players, 2 stellar Latin vocalists, and 3 percussionists will be laying the foundation over which the luminous Phatt Al (from God Made Me Funky) and Enlight (of Gruvasylum fame) will treat the crowd to some of Canada's finest freestyle rapping. Also featured in this "monstrous" ensemble are Richard Underhill (2003 Juno winner), lead trumpeter extraordinaire Jason Logue (of NOJO), heavy hitter and National Jazz Award nominee Daniel Barnes, percussionist of the year Luisito Orbegoso and 2 of Canada's finest electric bassists facing off in Marc Rogers and Paco Luviano. From the group's opening notes it will be clear that this is an ensemble of epic proportions. "The idea was to thematically explore and expand on the initial latin-jazz-urban concept of CRUZAO, to delve deeper into those sonic qualities and inflate the ideology from 5 to 15 men", says Brownman. "Having these top-shelf latin musicians, jazz artists and hip-hop brothers all stand as one, and play together with grand unified motion, is a staggering and pride-filling experience to witness both as composer and bandleader." Last year's show was considered by many to be the best of the year at this distinguished venue; this year's event could establish it as a tradition not to be missed by those who wish to experience live some of this country's most unique music. Giving it even more potential is the fact that Ali will have just returned full of inspirations from a prestigious tour of South America with members of the legendary IRAKERE and some of the continent's leading jazz players. The double bill starts at 8:00 PM, with the second set beginning at 10:00 PM. Single-show tickets are $15; Festival passes are $25 in advance & $30 at the gate. Visit http://DistilleryJazz.com for more ticket information. Visit http://monster.brownman.com for more group information All media requests to Sebastian Green - seb@brownman.com ========================================================= UPCOMING (http://www.brownman.com/GigSchedule.htm) ========================================================= ---- Mon May 09 ---- SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR ---- Sat May 21 ---- Sat May 21 - fly back to Toronto (same day) - recording session with STEVE COLE (same day) - STELLAR REGIONS PERFORMANCE @ Trane Studio, T.O. *Fri May 27 - CRUZAO GRUPO MONSTRUOSO @ Distillery Jazz Fest, T.O. Fri Jun 03 - MARRON MATIZADO @ private function Sat Jun 04 - NICK ALI QUARTET @ Orangeville Jazz Fest (same day) - LULA LOUNGE's ANNIVERSARY PARTY, Toronto Sun Jun 05 - MARRON MATIZADO @ SAV party (invitation only), Toronto Fri Jun 10 - CHIVA & PLAN-C Double-bill! @ Pepperjacks, Hamilton Sat Jun 11 - MARRON MATIZADO @ Lula Lounge, Toronto Thr Jun 16 - CHIVA @ Trane Studio, Toronto Sat Jun 18 - ALI BROS @ private function Tue Jun 21 - D'BI YOUNG @ (t.b.a), Hamilton Fri Jun 24 - D'BI YOUNG @ Toronto CD Release Party ========================================================= JUNE 2005 TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL DATES: http://www.brownman.com/GigSchedule.htm ========================================================= Sat June 25 - 12:00pm - NICK ALI TRIO @ Danforth Stage (all-original jazz trio) same day - 07:00pm - TALKBACK w/ Ralph Benmurgui @ Nathan Philips (discussion on Arturo Sandoval's show) same day - 09:30pm - Tribute to ALBERTA HUNTER @ Trane Studio (tribute concert to a 1930's jazz great) Sun June 26 - 09:30pm - NICK ALI QUARTET feat. Adrean Farrugia @ Trane Studio Thr June 30 - 09:00pm - NICK ALI QUARTET feat. Adrean Farrugia @ Trane Studio (private concert at Angus Glen Country Club) Fri July 01 - 04:00pm - Jason Wilson & TABARRUK @ Nathan Philips same day - 10:00pm - ALI BROS feat. Enlight & Phatt Al @ Lula Lounge * ("Symphony of Vibe" - The Ali Bros team up * with 2 Canadian freestyle icons Enlight * from Gruvasylum & Phatt Al from God Make * Me Funky and go head to head with special * guest turntablist T.B.A.) Sat July 02 - 10:00pm - Nick Ali & MARRON MATIZADO @ Lula Lounge (10-man Salsa powerhouse) Sun July 03 - 09:00pm - Nick Ali & CRUZAO @ Esplanade Bier Market (close the festival off with a latin-jazz bang w/ this award-winning latin-jazz unit) ========================================================= BIG BROWN NEWS: ========================================================= Last Dec 2004 CRUZAO represented Canada at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba. Last week we were asked to return again this coming Dec 2005! Fund-raising will begin again soon. I look forward to returning to that soil and making more noise with those gracious and generous souls. -- I now have the great honour of being D'bi Young's trumpet player... in my opinion - one of the great visionaries in spoken word artistry in this country. Please check her out - http://DbiYoung.net Toronto CD Release - Fri June 24. -- Recent interview with View Magazine (in depth) http://Brownman.com/Interviews/ViewMag-Mar2005/VIEW-Gruv-Mar24to30-2005.htm This interviewer was excellent at capturing the ideology behind that band - a rare thing in interviews. Check this one out. -- Slightly older interview with Ralph Benmergui on JAZZ FM (shortly after returning from Havava last Dec). We had some fun on air together. http://brownman.com/Interviews/JazzFM-Jan18-2005.mp3 (5.5meg | 12min:07sec) -- Please come on down to the Lula Lounge (http://Lula.ca) on Canada Day (July 1st!) and watch as the ALI BROS (http://alibros.brownman.com) play host to 2 of the most conscious free-style jazz rappers go head to head - old school meets new as Enlight (of Gruvasylum) and Phatt Al (of God Make Me Funky) face off for "Symphony of Vibe"... oh it's gonna be funky... ========================================================= A'ight... I'm out. Peace. - Brown ---- If there's a heaven, they must have one hell of a big band... ---- brownman@brownman.com 416-738-9449 (24 hr number - leave message and I'll be paged) The BrownZone : http://www.brownman.com Gig Schedule : http://www.brownman.com/GigSchedule.htm