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Paul Carlon

The Paul Carlon Octet brings together musicians of various backgrounds and music of various origins in a combination that is both blisteringly Afro-Cuban and elegantly Jazz- inflected, both searchingly innovative and nostalgically evocative of the American experience. Featuring African mbira (also known as the kalimba), a collection of brass and woodwinds, and a traditional jazz rhythm section that speaks of New York City Jazz, Cuban, Brazilian and Columbian influences, this ensemble brings Paul’s unique compositional voice to life.

The group was formed in the spring of 2002 as part of a multimedia performance project with visual artist Joan Carlon (Paul’s mother) called Where is Home? Paul’s octet recorded the Where is Home? suite in May of that year. The theme of this project is the way immigration disrupts, reshapes and redirects the lives of people who come to the United States from all over the world. The Octet, with the addition of Afro-Cuban/tap dance pioneer Max Pollak, has performed an extended version of the Where Is Home? suite at the jazz club Small’s in the West Village, NYC, at El Taller Latinoamericano on New York’s upper West Side, and at the Delavan Center in Syracuse, NY. The group has also performed on its own in NYC concert and club settings, such as at the Soul Café, El Taller Latinoamericano, Fat Cat, Satalla, Makor Cafe, Hunter College, and at 24 Fifth Avenue, a historic ballroom in the heart of Greenwich Village. In 2005 the group performed several shows at the world music club Satalla, with the addition of vocalist Ileana Santamar�ia. Daughter of the legendary Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamar�ia, Ileana brings a fiery and dynamic stage presence and folkloric slant to the group’s performances. The Octet released its debut CD, Other Tongues, in November 2006.

Saxophonist and composer Paul Carlon has been active on the New York City jazz and latin jazz scenes for fifteen years, having performed with and/or composed for James Hurt, Phil Bowler & Pocket Jungle, the Jason Lindner Big Band, the Brooklyn Big Band, Afro-Cuban star Juan Pablo Torres, Harvie S, Grupo los Santos, Rumbatap Dance Company, Sonido Isleño, the Ileana Santamare-a Orchestra, and Phil Woods, as well as leading his own quartet and quintet. Paul recorded with JP Torres on his all-star CD Together Again, alongside such stars of Latin jazz as Arturo Sandoval, Chucho Valdes, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Steve Turre. Paul has also recorded with Guadaloupean singer Maxo Severin, jazz guitarist Doug Clarke, vocalist Hollie Baines, Sonido Isleño, Ileana Santamar�-a, and Grupo los Santos.

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Album Review

Schapiro 17: Human Qualities

Read "Human Qualities" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Following its splendid premiere recording, an exploration of Miles Davis' unrivaled album Kind Of Blue (Capitol Records, 1959), composer/arranger Jon Schapiro's 17-member ensemble broadens its horizons on Human Qualities, pairing seven of the maestro's astute and adventurous charts with the Roberta Flack best-seller, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." This time around, Schapiro proves that he need rely on nothing more than his own considerable experience as a jazz artist to create an album that expresses his point ...

5
Album Review

Schapiro 17: New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60

Read "New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Miles Davis' album Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959) is the best-selling jazz album of all time and has been highly influential for the last 60 years. Most of its five tracks have become jazz standards and have been interpreted time and again. However it is rare to see the entire album reworked to the extent that Jon Schapiro and his big band, Schapiro 17, do here. The tracks undergo extensive retooling, expanding into big band arrangements that carry on the ...

7
Album Review

Schapiro 17: New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60

Read "New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60" reviewed by Jack Bowers


2019 marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Miles Davis sextet's acclaimed album, Kind of Blue (Columbia). While the tributes didn't exactly pour in, New York-based composer / arranger Jon Schapiro took it upon himself not only to revisit that classic session but to re-orchestrate it for a large ensemble (the Schapiro 17) and flesh it out with half a dozen compositions of his own and another by pianist Roberta Piket. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, all of ...

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Album Review

Paul Carlon Octet: Roots Propaganda

Read "Roots Propaganda" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


"I am interested in combining all roots music," explains saxophonist, bandleader, composer, and educator Paul Carlon. “Not necessarily to make a point, but because I love it all. So I'm trying to take these disparate elements and put them into a jazz context." Carlon continues, “That was the idea behind Roots Propaganda. We need some propaganda for this kind of music."

“This kind of music" boasts a uniquely powerful and genuine Afro-Cuban spirit thanks to its percussive rhythms, ...

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Album Review

The Paul Carlon Octet: Roots Propaganda

Read "Roots Propaganda" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone


For his sophomore effort as a leader, multi-reed player Paul Carlon has found quite an interesting project. Roots Propaganda retains most of the musicians from his debut, Other Tongues (Deep Tone, 2006), and also the impression that each track represents a totally different shade of Latin jazz. Although only two albums have been released, the octet has been playing together for the past six years.

Carlon explains the meaning of the title Roots Propaganda in the ...

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Album Review

Paul Carlon: Other Tongues

Read "Other Tongues" reviewed by Budd Kopman


If you are at all into Latin music in all of its rhythmic diversity, and furthermore like the fusion of that music with jazz, then you'll find saxophonist/composer Paul Carlon's Other Tongues to be a kick-ass album that will keep you moving from beginning to end while engaging the mind. To someone who values the endless surprises that jazz can bring, Latin rhythms, which, after all are names for patterns, can begin to grate from the sheer ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Paul Carlon

Read "Take Five With Paul Carlon" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Paul Carlon: Saxophonist and composer Paul Carlon has been active on the New York City jazz and Latin jazz scenes for fifteen years, having performed with and/or composed for James Hurt, Phil Bowler and Pocket Jungle, the Jason Lindner Big Band, Juan Pablo Torres, Harvie S, Grupo los Santos, Rumbatap Dance Company, the Ileana SantamarÃa Orchestra, Swingadelic, Sonido Isleo, Gary Morgan's Panamericana, Clave y Guaguanco and Phil Woods.Paul recorded with JP Torres on his all-star CD Together ...

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Recording

Album of the Week: Roots Propaganda, the Paul Carlon Octet

Album of the Week: Roots Propaganda, the Paul Carlon Octet

Source: The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz


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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Human Qualities

Summit Records
2021

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New Shoes: Kind of...

Summit Records
2020

buy

Roots Propaganda

Deep Tone Records
2008

buy

Other Tongues

Deep Tone Records
2007

buy

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