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James Farm

James Farm is a collaborative band featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland. The band infuses traditional acoustic jazz quartet instrumentation with a progressive attitude and modern sound, creating music that is rhythmically and technically complex and at the same time harmonically rich, melodically satisfying, and emotionally compelling. Redman, Parks, Penman, and Harland exhibit a total commitment to group improvisation combined with a song-based approach to jazz that incorporates the members’ myriad of influences: rock, soul, folk, classical, and electronica, among many others. James Farm brings sincerity and sophistication, fluidity and focus, organic music with a sense of purpose. After debuting at the 2009 Montreal Jazz Festival to a packed house and rave reviews, James Farm is looking forward to riding their collective momentum into tour dates beginning in late 2009. Please visit www.jamesfarmband.com for the full tour schedule.

"James Farm is where we pool our collective knowledge, let run the best of our ideas arising from our varied musical influences, while acknowledging substantial common ground - a love of jazz, a fascination with song and structure, an obsession with groove, a receptivity to contemporary influences. A band where we can be creative composers and improvisers, in step with the rhythm of the times, constantly evolving....." - Matt Penman

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264
Live Review

James Farm at the Jazz Standard

Read "James Farm at the Jazz Standard" reviewed by Warren Allen


James FarmJazz StandardNew York, NYJune 17, 2011 Pianist Aaron Parks snapped the cover photo for the debut album of James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011) on his iPhone, in a moment when the image of a barn reflected in water struck him a certain way. The image is a lovely, spontaneous recorded instant of digital information, yet it's indistinguishable from paint and canvas. That mix of spontaneity, speed and art is a fine metaphor for the ...

206
Album Review

James Farm: James Farm

Read "James Farm" reviewed by John Kelman


A byproduct of special event programming at jazz festivals is that sometimes lead to greater things. When guitarist Pat Metheny reunited with vibraphonist Gary Burton's mid-'70s quartet as part of his By Invitation series at the 2005 Montreal Jazz Festival, there were no plans to tour the world in subsequent years and release Quartet Live (Concord, 2009). When Joshua Redman pulled together a group of friends for his Montreal series in 2009, its future was unclear. But when the saxophonist ...

380
Live Review

James Farm at Salle Pleyel in Paris

Read "James Farm at Salle Pleyel in Paris" reviewed by David Miller


James FarmSalle PleyelParis, FranceJanuary 16, 2010 The musicians in James Farm walked out onto the stage purposefully--four hip cats. The dim lighting at Salle Pleyel accentuated their mysteriousness, casting shadows over their faces as they took up their instruments. Eric Harland stood out as the coolest of the bunch in his light jean jacket and shades, and his getup belied his playing. Regardless of the type of piece being played, Harland this evening was on ...

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104

Festival

James Farm Kicks Off Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival in Boston on September 23

James Farm Kicks Off Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival in Boston on September 23

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

James FarmJames Farm, a powerhouse jazz ensemble featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland, kicks off this year's Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival with a concert at the Berklee Performance Center on Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to the concert are $30-$42 and can be purchased online through World Music. The 11th annual festival runs September 23-25, with an all-day, free outdoor festival schedule for Saturday, September 24, featuring an international ...

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Contest

Announcing the Winners of the James Farm Giveaway

Announcing the Winners of the James Farm Giveaway

Source: All About Jazz


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Contest

Enter the James Farm Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Enter the James Farm Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz


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Interview

James Farm Takes Seed as New All-Star Jazz Band

James Farm Takes Seed as New All-Star Jazz Band

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner

Yes, many will call James Farm an all-star band. Featuring drummer Eric Harland, bassist Matt Penman, pianist Aaron Parks and saxophonist Joshua Redman, the band certainly has some of the leading lights of today's jazz scene. But to hear Harland and Parks speak about the band's origins, James Farm seems something organically grown rather than a self-conscious assembly of heavy hitters. “We're just a bunch of guys who like making music together," Parks points out to ...

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Recording

James Farm - James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011)

James Farm - James Farm (Nonesuch, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

James Farm is a modern jazz collective consisting of Joshua Redman on saxophones, Aaron Parks on piano, Matt Penman on bass and Eric Harland on drums. They play a nicely atmospheric brand of modern jazz that is influenced by many different genres and experiences. It's a true cooperative, with egos pushed to the side and everyone concentrating on the music. The music tends to build slowly and develop and morph as the improvising begins in full. The opening track “Coax" ...

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Recording

Nonesuch Releases Jazz Quartet James Farm’s Self-Titled Debut Album on April 26

Nonesuch Releases Jazz Quartet James Farm’s Self-Titled Debut Album on April 26

Source: Nonesuch Publicity

New band features Joshua Redman (saxophone), Aaron Parks (piano), Matt Penman (bass), and Eric Harland (drums), all of whom composed pieces for the record “James Farm could be one of those rare breakthrough bands—Miles and Brubeck did it long ago—that appeals to a significant audience beyond the jazz audience." —San Jose Mercury News James Farm is a collaborative band featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland. On its self-titled debut album—due April 26, ...

244

Interview

Jazz Pianist Aaron Parks is Back on the Farm -- The James Farm

Jazz Pianist Aaron Parks is Back on the Farm -- The James Farm

Source: Michael Ricci

When exactly the jazz pianist Aaron Parks became a prodigy is unclear, although he fit the description by the time he enrolled, at age 14, in the University of Washington to study music. Now 26, what Parks remembers more clearly is the day, about four years later, that it seemed his time was up, when someone much younger than he sat in front of him and played the piano.

James Farm: Matt Penman, Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Eric Harland

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

James Farm

Nonesuch Records
2011

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