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Accent
Accent: 6 Singers, 5 Countries, 1 Vocal Supergroup A "Stealth" Jazz Group, Accent Turns A Cappella Fans On to Jazz Harmony "Accent is the most amazing young vocal group on the planet! Great arrangers and singers, they come up with the most gorgeous harmonies, impeccable swing, grooves, feeling and pitch." - Jorge Calandrelli, Grammy Award-winning composer and arranger In the increasingly popular world of a cappella singing groups, Accent has carved out its own niche. Inspired by the wizardly jazz harmonies of TAKE 6 and, before them, The Hi-Lo's, the six singers of Accent, all of them accomplished arrangers and instrumentalists in their own right, decided to take their love of close-harmony jazz singing - the denser and more intricate the better - as far as it could go. Accent is six singer/arrangers, all of whom have considerable musical careers in their home countries: Jean-Baptiste ("JB") Craipeau (France) - tenor 1; Simon Åkesson (Sweden) - tenor 2; Danny Fong (Canada) - tenor 3; Andrew Kesler (Canada) - tenor 4; James Rose (United Kingdom) - baritone; and Evan Sanders (USA) - bass. Having originally met and recorded together via the Internet, they have since come together to record and tour, becoming an international vocal supergroup. Their amazing blend and arrangements have been acclaimed by a cappella devotees and fellow musicians alike. Cedric Dent of TAKE 6, Clark Burroughs of The Hi-Lo's and Alan Paul of The Manhattan Transfer have all sung their praises. Accent is, arguably, the most spectacular jazz vocal group since TAKE 6, singing original arrangements that are daring and dazzling but never lose the melody, even as they effortlessly execute seemingly impossible chordal shifts. The improbable meeting of Evan, James, Andrew, Danny, Simon and JB could have happened only in the age of social media. The self-described "jazz vocal nerds" became long-distance fans of each other's elaborate multi-tracked jazz vocal videos on YouTube. In 2011 they decided to join forces, collaborating online on new vocal arrangements and videos. Since then, they have released two albums (fan-funded at https://www.patreon.com/Accent), performed at the London A Cappella Festival, played dates in Germany, France, Sweden, Mexico and the U.S., and were featured in a sold-out Christmas show at the Royal Albert Hall with British big-band leader Guy Barker and jazz singers Kurt Elling and Clare Teal. Accent first album, Here We Are, released in 2015, introduced their luscious blend and innovative jazz arrangements.
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Accent: Christmas All the Way
by Nicholas F. Mondello
A rhetorical question: what makes a great Christmas album? We know all or most of the chestnuts, both commercial and religious. The Drummer Boy flams, someone's dreaming white, and another will be home in their dreams. The annual marathon Yuletide programs rely heavily on the tried and true with an occasional novelty thrown in. Classical purists hit up the legit pantheon. With this album, a capella vocal group, Accent adds a Who's Who of world-class arrangers (Jorge Calandrelli, Nan Schwartz, ...
read moreAccent: In This Together
by Nicholas F. Mondello
The a capella and instrument-accompanied jazz vocal ensemble format has a robust presence in the genre's history. Vocal groups such as The Four Freshmen, The Hi-Los, The Swingle Singers, Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, and the L.A. and New York Voices and others all added wonderful material to the canon (and also significantly influenced Pop genre groups such as The Beach Boys and many others). Accent is a six-member, all-male a capella vocal group. It is comprised of ...
read moreJazz with Dominican accents and flavours: A reality in South Florida
Source:
Michael Ricci
The third version of the South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest is anxiously awaited in Miami In October 2012, Landestoy Enterprises presented a completely new and exiting concept from the Dominican Republic: The South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest. A multicultural event that brought to Florida the best Jazz currently being made by musicians in the Dominican Republic as well as Dominicans living in the United States. Last October (2013) the second version of the successful festival was held and Miami is ...
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Jazz With Dominican Accents and Flavours Back in South Florida
Source:
Fernando Rodriguez
In October 2012, Landestoy Enterprises presented a completely new and exiting concept from the Dominican Republic: The South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest. A multicultural event that brought to Florida the best Jazz currently being made by musicians in the Dominican Republic as well as Dominicans living abroad. At this event, Miami witnessed the Jazz proposals from the land that gave Merengue & Bachata to the rest of the world. Three groups that played various genres of Jazz, in fusions with ...
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South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest Presents Dominican Accents and Flavours to South Florida
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Jazz en Dominicana by Fernando Rodriguez
South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest presents Dominican accents and flavours to South Florida. Next Friday, October 19th at 8:00pm the first version of The South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest will be held. The event will be inaugurated by the creators of Festival - Jazz en Dominicana & Landestoy Enterprises, they will be accompanied by the Mayor of Miami, Tomás Regalado and the Chairman Miami-Dade Board of County Commisioners, Joe Martinez. This multi-cultural event, during one complete evening, present jazz lovers ...
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Jazz With Dominican Accents and Flavours In South Florida
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Jazz en Dominicana by Fernando Rodriguez
Jazz en Dominicana and Landestoy Enterprises inform that in the coming month of October, during the celebrations of Hispanic Heritage, will be presenting - in Miami - a completely new and exciting concept from the Dominican Republic: The South Florida Dominican Jazz Fest. This multicultural event will bring to Florida the best jazz being performed by musicians in the Dominican Republic and Dominicans living abroad. On Friday, October 19th, Miami will witness the Jazz proposals from the land that gave ...
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Rap and Hip-Hop, Now Accented with Jazz
Source:
AAJ Staff
When fans attend a performance by the Chicago rap stars Common or Kanye West (or, for that matter, the hip-hop princess Beyoncé or the neo-soul crooner Maxwell), they expect certain things: powerful choreography, glitzy peripherals like lights and props and the headliner on video screens in gigantic detail. What they do not expect is jazz artists backing the stars. But a number of pop performers, including the rapper Timbaland and the singer Bilal, have recently employed them. . They don't ...
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With a Catalan Accent
Source:
Michael Ricci
By Larry Blumenfeld for The Wall Street Journal When Chano Dominguez was a boy in Cadiz, Spain, he played the flamenco music his father loved on guitar. At the Jazz Standard in Manhattan in December, he reached briefly into the guts of his piano, damping its strings to make his notes sound as though plucked. He was performing Freddie Freeloader," a Miles Davis tune, but save for Mario Rossy's acoustic bass, the stage evoked the flamenco of his native city ...
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Cosmopolitan Jazz with a Literary Accent
Source:
Michael Ricci
Stacey Kent, fresh from a tour of 27 countries, was in an exultant mood on Thursday evening at Birdland. Her latest album, Breakfast on the Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI), has enjoyed the kind of commercial success in Europe that Diana Krall’s records achieve in the United States; it also earned her a Grammy nomination for best jazz vocal album. In March she received the National Order of Arts and Letters decoration from the French culture minister.
But more significant, Breakfast, ...
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Bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten Experimental Jazz with a Norwegian Accent
Source:
Michael Ricci
Avant-garde jazz has almost always had its sacramental side. Theres a reason for the devotion that some listeners bring to the mid-1960s music of John Coltrane.
Or to the output of his fellow saxophonist Albert Ayler. The spirituality in these performances wasn't subtext or suggestion; it radiated out from a fervent core.
Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, an astute Norwegian bassist, has experience with the fiery side of free improvisation: hes among the most prolific figures on the European experimental scene. His ...
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Devotional and Experimental Jazz with a Norwegian Accent
Source:
Michael Ricci
Avant-garde jazz has almost always had its sacramental side. There’s a reason for the devotion that some listeners bring to the mid-1960s music of John Coltrane, or to the output of his fellow saxophonist Albert Ayler. The spirituality in these performances wasn’t subtext or suggestion; it radiated out from a fervent core. Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, an astute Norwegian bassist, has experience with the fiery side of free improvisation: he’s among the most prolific figures on the European experimental scene. His ...
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Paquito D'Rivera Hamming It up with a Cuban Accent
Source:
Michael Ricci
The Cuban saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Paquito DRivera, now 60, came to the United States in 1981. Cuban music is the core of his repertory, but he has never, before now, led a Cuban band in this country.
Paquito DRivera played a run of shows with his new band. That may seem strange, except that hes been busy with broader ideas. Or maybe just one big idea: Afro-Latin music in the New World. His bands have included besides ...
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"These guys are exceptional musicians...Their debut recording is a harbinger of a signature sound that is sure to delight audiences for years to come." – Cedric Dent, 10-time Grammy award-winning member of TAKE 6 and Professor of Music at Middle Tennessee State University — “Accent is the most amazing young vocal group on the planet! Great arrangers and singers, they come up with the most gorgeous harmonies, impeccable swing, grooves, feeling and pitch.” – Jorge Calandrelli, Grammy Award-winning composer/arranger — "You guys carry on the vocal group legacy." – Alan Paul, The Manhattan Transfer — "The arrangements and skilled vocal precision are among the greatest I've ever heard!" – Tim Davis, Vocal contractor and producer for TV and film
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