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FLY


In the era of individual “star” instrumentalists, the idea of a truly collective trio can be a difficult concept to fathom. Yet collectivity is what the FLY trio strives for; and collectivity is what they so unabashedly and unquestionably achieve. Ballard, Grenadier and Turner represent three rather distinct musical personalities — simultaneously complimentary and contrasting — who have created a cohesive unit that expresses each part while creating an uniquely realized whole. In other words, they celebrate the group, without sacrificing the individual. “FLY is progressively bringing together many musical elements, traditions, histories and mysteries,” says Turner. “ Multiplicity is presented under an unassuming hat. Meaning, we are working toward saying it all without saying it all, expressing complexity by simplicity. Musically speaking, we are creating songs that can be heard on a number of levels and from a variety of different viewpoints.” Although, drummer Jeff Ballard, bassist Larry Grenadier and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner have individually charted very distinct and highly successful musical careers — one, both or all have graced the performances and recordings of Chick Corea, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Pat Metheny, Charles Lloyd, to name just a few — the formation of the trio seems, in retrospect almost inevitable. FLY needed to happen. The trio can actually trace its origins back to Grenadier and Ballard’s teenage years in northern California. The two learned music together and often played gigs before they both migrated to the East coast in 1990. It was there the two met Turner and soon began to keep close company. They bonded, early on, both personally and professionally. However, it wasn’t until several years later that they “officially” came together as a trio. The occasion was a Chick Corea recording project called Originations, a collective record where each member of the Origins band contributed his own compositions. “I had been doing so many gigs with full ensembles, I wanted to do a trio date,” says Ballard. “So I asked Larry and Mark if they’d play one of the first songs I ever wrote, (Child’s Play)”. The chemistry was definitely there, so they decided to experiment further with the trio format, booking a few gigs here and there in New York City and then for a more extended tour in Italy. The three liked what they heard — their connection on and off stage was obvious — and as a result, FLY was born.

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Live Review

Fly Trio al Parco della Musica di Roma

Read "Fly Trio al Parco della Musica di Roma" reviewed by Mario Calvitti


Fly Parco della Musica Roma 22.01.2018 Originariamente nato nel 2000 come Jeff Ballard Trio e successivamente diventato Fly, il trio costituito da Mark Turner ai sassofoni, Jeff Ballard alla batteria e Larry Grenadier al contrabbasso ha realizzato solo tre album in tutti questi anni, a cominciare dall'omonimo Fly su Savoy nel 2004 per approdare in seguito alla ECM con la quale ha pubblicato Sky & Country nel 2009 e Year of the Snake nel ...

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In Pictures

Fly Trio At Blue Note In Milan

Read "Fly Trio At Blue Note In Milan" reviewed by Roberto Cifarelli


Photos of the Fly Trio concert held at the Blue Note in Milan in January 2018, featuring Mark Turner on saxophone, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Jeff Ballard on drums, with special guest Enrico Pieranunzi on piano. A meeting of the great American jazz with the Italian piano poet. ...

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Album Review

Fly: Year of the Snake

Read "Year of the Snake" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


While there are numerous jazz trios, few leave a lasting impression. This is not the case for Fly, consisting of younger but fully established jazz artists-- saxophonist extraordinaire Mark Turner and his equally talented cohorts, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. At just over ten minutes, the episodic “Kingston," from the trio's sophomore ECM release, Year of the Snake , encapsulates rousing composition and exhilarating improvisation. What begins tentatively, with inquisitive probing--elongated unison lines and gentle ...

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Extended Analysis

Year of the Snake

Read "Year of the Snake" reviewed by John Kelman


When a group of musicians works together more often in extracurricular configurations with other leaders, what do they do when they come together for their own project? In the case of saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard-- who, individually and collectively, have worked with everyone from pianist Brad Mehldau and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel to trumpeter Enrico Rava-- it's Fly, the trio that released its self-titled debut on Savoy Jazz in 2004, making the jump to ECM ...

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Album Review

Fly: Sky & Country

Read "Sky & Country" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson


The near-unanimous acclaim that has greeted Fly's sophomore effort (and ECM debut) tends to see the trio as a second coming of the legendary Bill Evans Trio that recorded the classic Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961). That's the way people are talking about the record, anyway.The record doesn't sound like the Evans trio, nor is there any good reason why it should sound like a record almost fifty years old. The similarity ...

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Album Review

Fly: Sky & Country

Read "Sky & Country" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier first played together in 2000 as the Jeff Ballard Trio. Since then they have performed in different groups. The long association has helped establish immediacy between them, a reading of the minds that translates into absorbing music.

All three have contributed compositions to Sky & Country, the second release by their collaborative group Fly. The music has impeccable character in its ability to evolve and break open into some majestic improvisation. ...

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Album Review

Fly: Sky & Country

Read "Sky & Country" reviewed by Jeff Stockton


15 years ago Mark Turner was among a trio of young tenors who were poised to have a lasting impact on jazz. However, having not had Joshua Redman's pedigree or James Carter's flair for self-promotion, Turner's major-label output came and went without generating the attention a musician of his caliber deserved. Today he is a member of Fly, a cooperative trio representing the best a sax-bass-drums lineup--featuring Brad Mehldau's rhythm section--has to offer. Bassist Larry Grenadier has ...

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Book / Magazine

Nightfly - Biography of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen Available Now on Chicago Review Press

Nightfly - Biography of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen Available Now on Chicago Review Press

Source: All About Jazz

September this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first record by Steely Dan, the band formed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in 1972 that went on to release nine albums over the 30 years that followed. Now Chicago Review Press is publishing Nightfly: the Life of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen by music journalist and author Peter Jones. The book is a warts-and-all account that not only relates the often-untold stories behind one of rock’s most iconic bands, but ...

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Recording

Tony Adamo's 'U Gotta B Fly' Featured On All About Jazz

Tony Adamo's 'U Gotta B Fly' Featured On  All About Jazz

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

The Shelf Life Of A Song On All About Jazz | Top Tracks 2021 The song, “U Gotta B Fly" was a cut from Tony Adamo And The New York Crew CD released March 12, 2015. Man, that's like over six years ago. Jazz radio and beyond gave “U Gotta B Fly" many spins and continues to spin other songs from that same CD. Adamo posted “U Gotta B Fly" at All About Jazz on April 25, 2021. To date, ...

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Recording

Janis Mann & Kenny Werner - Dreams Of Flying

Janis Mann & Kenny Werner - Dreams Of Flying

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

DownBeat Editors' Pick: January 2021 Renowned jazz vocalist Janis Mann teams up once again with world-class pianist Kenny Werner for Dreams of Flying. For this, her eighth album, Janice chose a mesmerizing collection of modern standards from the New American Songbook. Songs by Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Webb, Stephen Sondheim, Johnny Mandel, Blossom Dearie and others get the rich interpretations they deserve in this unforgettable recording. Janis Mann: vocals Kenny Werner: piano Drew ...

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Music Industry

All Ticketfly Events Move To Eventbrite

All Ticketfly Events Move To Eventbrite

Source: HypeBot

Ticketfly, the independent ticket company that Eventbrite acquired for $200 million from Pandora in 2017, has now been absorbed within the Eventbrite platform. The main Ticketfly.com URL now redirects to Eventbrite.com. “You can still purchase tickets to all of the best upcoming shows at your favorite venues on Eventbrite.com or via the Eventbrite App, just like you did on Ticketfly.com or via the Ticketfly App," according to an Eventbrite blog post. “Expect to keep receiving concert updates and info via ...

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Video / DVD

Emily Remler: Firefly/Take Two

Emily Remler: Firefly/Take Two

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Sometime in 1984, WKCR-FM's Bird Flight host Phil Schaap introduced me to guitarist Emily Remler. I was an early fan, and she was playing at the West End Bar near Columbia University where I had just completed grad school. As I recall, the place was half full and I was sitting in a booth when Phil graciously brought her over between sets. What I remember most were her eyes. They seemed vulnerable, like a doe's. Looking at her, it was ...

Music Industry

Class Action Filed Against Eventbrite Over Ticketfly Hack

Class Action Filed Against Eventbrite Over Ticketfly Hack

Source: HypeBot

Eventbrite is facing a class-action lawsuit in the wake of a highly publicized hack of the company’s Ticketfly subsidiary that crippled dozens of major concert promoters and venues for days and compromised the data of 27 million users. In a class action lawsuit brought against Eventbrite in Chicago, attorneys for plaintiff Shanice Kloss accused the company failing to properly protect user’s personal information, breach of contract, and negligence. Kloss alleged that Ticketfly failed to “implement reasonable data privacy and cybersecurity ...

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Recording

Vocalist And Composer Johnaye Kendrick Releases Flying On Johnygirl Records

Vocalist And Composer Johnaye Kendrick Releases Flying On Johnygirl Records

Source: Mouthpiece Music

Attending the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in the late 2000s, vocalist and composer Johnaye Kendrick had the opportunity to learn from and work with legendary jazz masters Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Brian Blade. While studying with Blanchard, her class was often encouraged to write original music for their assignments. “I was relatively shy about performing my music while in the program, because it was so personal,” says the San Diego born and ...

Music Industry

Ticketfly, Major Venues Offline 40+ Hours After Hack, Ransom Demand [UPDATED]

Ticketfly, Major Venues Offline 40+ Hours After Hack, Ransom Demand [UPDATED]

Source: HypeBot

More than 40 hours after it first went dark, Ticketfly and the sites of many of the major venues and promoters it services are still offline. Ticketfly, which is owned by Eventbrite, discovered that it had been hacked just before 6 AM ET Thursday and went offline with the tweet: “To protect our clients and fans, and to secure the website and related data, we have temporarily taken all Ticketfly systems offline." Eventbrite clients appeared unaffected by the hack. As ...

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Music Industry

Ticketfly, Major Venues Offline 12 Hrs After Hack, Ransom Demand [UPDATE 3]

Ticketfly, Major Venues Offline 12 Hrs After Hack, Ransom Demand [UPDATE 3]

Source: HypeBot

Ticketfly and the sites of many of the major venues and promoters it services are offline as the ticketing company struggles with a major “cyber incident."  Still offline as of 5PM ET Thursday, the site, which is owned by Eventbrite, went dark before 6AM ET Thursday with the tweet: “To protect our clients and fans, and to secure the website and related data, we have temporarily taken all Ticketfly systems offline." In addition to ticketing, Ticketfly provides web site services ...

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Website

Support All About Jazz Through Amazon, Ticketfly, HDTracks, TicketWeb and more!

Support All About Jazz Through Amazon, Ticketfly, HDTracks, TicketWeb and more!

Source: All About Jazz

A simple way to support All About Jazz and Jazz Near You If you shop at Amazon, Ticketfly, HDTracks, iTunes, CD Universe, HiFiMan, Brown Paper Tickets, JazzPosters, TicketWeb, Ticketmaster, World Wide Stereo or Sheet Music Plus please initiate your purchase from All About Jazz. When you do, All About Jazz will receive a sales commission. Commission sales are one way All About Jazz can generate revenue to continue to expand what we do to support jazz music, promote jazz musicians, ...

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