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Born: April 2, 1972
Jazz-Fusion guitarist, Brian Kastan introduces his newest CD, Roll the Dice on Life. This double album showcases dynamic original compositions by Brian Kastan. The goal of this album is to balance the integrity of composed songs with the fierce energy activated by free improvisation. This album produces high energy jazz-fusion between Brian Kastan’s raw yet playful electric guitar, Miles Griffith’s rich provocative vocals, bassist Steve Rust’s artful sound pallet, and Peter O’Brien’s rhythmic and dynamic play on drums—All of which take the listener on a journey to new, uncharted musical territory.
Read moreJazz-Fusion guitarist, Brian Kastan introduces his newest CD, Roll the Dice on Life. This double album showcases dynamic original compositions by Brian Kastan. The goal of this album is to balance the integrity of composed songs with the fierce energy activated by free improvisation. This album produces high energy jazz-fusion between Brian Kastan’s raw yet playful electric guitar, Miles Griffith’s rich provocative vocals, bassist Steve Rust’s artful sound pallet, and Peter O’Brien’s rhythmic and dynamic play on drums—All of which take the listener on a journey to new, uncharted musical territory.
What is most exciting about this double album is Brian Kastan’s compositional style and improvisational approach to this recording. All of the musicians are constantly pushing, pulling, and weaving the compositions to create music that articulates the feeling of always evolving.
Disc 1 reveals Brian Kastan’s compositional range—from catchy odd metered grooves, a beautiful ballad, continuing on to jazz funk fusion and dark long melodies. With the addition of the powerful song, Rat Attack written by Miles Griffith, this disc explores the ingenuity of Brian Kastan’s goal; To intertwine compositions with improvisation.
Disc 2 focuses on experiencing the spontaneous musical explosion of pure improvisation. The unique creativity revealed by these outstanding musicians shows the genius of the intentional uncontrolled musical environment. This second disc features two political and racially charged songs called Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter 2 recognizing the current events happening in the United States in 2016.
With this combination of experience, creativity, and talent, it’s no surprise that this group of players has come together to produce such an engaging, high-energy double album. Roll the Dice on Life showcases their skills—and their musical telepathy—in a way that is ultimately satisfying and exciting for both the players and listeners.
Brian Kastan plays electric/acoustic guitar, electric bass, and composes soundtracks for T.V. and Film.
Played guitar for Nonsuch Record Label, Rhys Cantham's “The Grissom Grail”, Recorded Live at Lincoln Center in 2010. He is an award winning nature photographer with gallery shows in NYC, Europe and Asia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in both Jazz Performance and Psychology from Suny New Paltz, a Masters Degree in Music from Brooklyn College, Brian is a Certified Clinical Hypnotist, and has co-authored a book called “Target Talking” with wife and artist Maria Hartmann Kastan.
Miles Griffith, vocalist/composer, has been a vital member of the New York jazz scene for more than two decades. A very short list of who he’s played with includes NEA Jazz Masters Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, Max Roach, Toshiko Akioshi, Jimmy Heath and Barry Harris; venerable icons including Jimmy Heath, Sir Roland Hanna, and Reggie
Workman; Cassandra Wilson, Carl Allen, and T.S. Monk; Lisa Sokolov, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Jay Clayton. Miles Griffith is also a notable band leader whose vocal range and unique musical insight make him a highly recognized composer and singer of his time.
Steve Rust, bassist/composer knows his way around a concert hall, orchestra pit, and recording studio. He’s written for both film and theater, has collaborated with visual artists, and has appeared on dozens of albums. Steve, comfortable in virtually every musical genre, has accompanied everyone from Anthony Braxton to Eileen Fulton, from Jay Unger to Sir James Galway to Hubert Laws, Paul Simon, Natalie Merchant, and Baikida Carroll. Steve is a well known bass player in the style of sound painting.
Peter O’Brien, drummer, has played with artists such as, Eric Person and Dr.Lonnie Smith.He has toured with legendary musicians including organist Brother Jack McDuff, Edgar Winter, and Roy Buchanan, before joining guitarist John Hall and his hit band Orleans. Besides maintaining a busy schedule appearing at major music festival/clubs across the country, and around the world, he also teaches at Bard College as well as privately, and is an in-demand studio musician.
Awards
Jazz Views With CJ Shearn: Best albums of 2016 Jazz Views with CJ Shearn Best Albums of 2016 year end list. A lot of impressive albums this year, if not all have been reviewed on the blog, they certainly have been listened to. What I consider to be the crème de la crème this year. Brian Kastan: Roll The Dice On Life (Kastan Records)
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January 30, 2017
Brian Kastan "Roll The Dice On Life" New Fusion Double Album
Jazz Views With CJ Shearn: Best albums of 2016
Jazz Views with CJ Shearn Best Albums of 2016 year end list. A lot of impressive albums this year, if not all have been reviewed on the blog, they certainly have been listened to. What I consider to be the crème de la crème this year.
Brian Kastan: Roll The Dice On Life (Kastan Records)
by http://contemporaryfusionreviews.com ROLL THE DICE ON LIFE: Ev’ry once in a while, a promoter sends me an album they may not even realize is destined to make musical HISTORY… think “Zappa 21st Century”… Brian’s guitar is just killer. http://thevinylanachronist.blogspot.com/2016/12/brian-kastans-roll-dice-on-life-on- cd.html?spref=fb Sometimes I get some strange stuff in for review
Jazz Views With CJ Shearn: Best albums of 2016
Jazz Views with CJ Shearn Best Albums of 2016 year end list. A lot of impressive albums this year, if not all have been reviewed on the blog, they certainly have been listened to. What I consider to be the crème de la crème this year.
Brian Kastan: Roll The Dice On Life (Kastan Records)
by http://contemporaryfusionreviews.com ROLL THE DICE ON LIFE: Ev’ry once in a while, a promoter sends me an album they may not even realize is destined to make musical HISTORY… think “Zappa 21st Century”… Brian’s guitar is just killer. http://thevinylanachronist.blogspot.com/2016/12/brian-kastans-roll-dice-on-life-on- cd.html?spref=fb Sometimes I get some strange stuff in for review. Sometimes I think people are just messing with me, sending me copies of The Emperor's New Clothes just to see if I break the fourth wall for a quick WTF. “We've got a box-set of Tibetan monks farting...let's see if Phillips gives it a good review!” Then again, to stroke my own ego, maybe I'm just one of the few people who can still listen to utter strangeness and cull the artistic merits. Or, people are just messing with me. Yeah, that's it.
From the cover, Brian Kastan's Roll the Dice on Life looks like a fairly straightforward jazz album. Brian, a perfectly normal-looking young man with a shaved head sits cross-legged on the ground holding his guitar in front of a pair of steel doors that feature a couple of stenciled-in dice. The cover also says that bassist Steve Rust, drummer Peter O'Brien and vocalist Miles Griffith are featured. Seems legit. So I popped this into my CD player and WTF? What's going on here? Is this for real?
What I heard, for about ten full seconds before I hit the stop button, was full-force free-jazz-rock-funk, not too distant from what you'd hear on some of Frank Zappa's more experimental releases, but with vocal improvisations that were, to say the least, very interesting. I'm not talking about Ella Fitzgerald scatting in that lovely little-girl voice of hers. I'm not talking about Liz Fraser and her ethereal and nonsensical vocalizations on old Cocteau Twins albums. I'm not talking about the involuntary humming and singing that comes from pure artistic expressions of someone like Glenn Gould or Keith Jarrett. I'm talking vocal improvisations that sound like Dave Chappelle doing his Edgar G. Robinson impersonation. I'm talking about the Cookie Monster eating an entire jar of cookies while wearing a mic.
Ah, Miles Griffith. Who are you? The press release talks of his “rich provocative vocals,” which are not the words I would use. Griffith turns out to be one of those guys who's been a part of the NYC jazz scene for a couple of decades and has quite the reputation as both a musician and a band leader. Kastan, Rust and O'Brien are also serious musicians with some serious chops. Kastan's also a licensed hypnotist—but I'll bet he doesn't play this album for clients.
But here's the thing. Ten seconds of Roll the Dice on Life can be off-putting and disconcerting. But if you hang in there, crawl into this particular crazy madman vibe, you start to relax and inhabit the space. Your shoulders start to lower. You start realizing that every minute or so, things really start to click between Miles' cartoonish ramblings. Then before you know it the CD is over and wait! Look! There's TWO CDs! Awesome! By the time you make it through to the end you'll have laughed quite a bit because this odd, odd music does have a logic to it that's above and beyond the “raw energy” of outlandish improvisation. Griffith even speaks actual words at certain points, providing an even heavier anchor to the swirling and chaotic mix, especially with the two closing cuts—”Black Lives Matter” and “Black Lives Matter 2” which addresses all the craziness we've had to endure in 2016.
It's a grounded way to end an album like this, one that makes its own rules as you go along. As for me, I liked it. As for you, well, there are two types of people—those who hear ten seconds of Roll the Dice on Life and say “WTF?” and hit the stop button, and those who hear the same ten seconds, say “WTF?” and then sit down and listen to the whole thing. Or maybe, like me, you're a little of both.
CD Review by: http://longplay.blox.pl/strony/premiery2016.html
Guitarist and composer Brian Kastan is one of the independent artists who are for themselves “and rudder sailor.” For years without being influenced zewnętrzym, follow their own chosen course, which brings special effects. Proof of this are the numerous concerts of the artist, along with fellow musicians, each attracting a loyal audience, and discography already includes nine albums copyright. Apart from activities in the framework of their own projects, the musician also taken a composer of music for films and television programs, as well as a respected photographer. At January 1, 2017 years scheduled premiere of the latest, this time: dual panel, publishing guitarist: “Roll The Dice On Life”. The first CD is a set of nine premieres of compositions, while the other filled with improvised instrumental pieces. The whole was registered on 13, 14 and 26 July 2016. in Soundworks Recording Studio. Oscillating around jazz, funk and Latin music leader, support for years Kastan friends with artists: known for his work with, among others, Wynton Marsalis and Max Roach, the eccentric singer Miles Griffith Featuring a unique technique bassist Steve Rust and respected studio musician and concert, drummer Pete O'Brien, whose services are used, among others, Edgar Winter and Roy Buchanan.
The album perfectly balanced proportions between the previously created structures, composition, and loose variations, discovering new, unknown territory improvisation. Here we find humor in the style of Frank Zappa and guitar virtuosity under the sign of Robert Fripp, broken rhythms and hard guitar riffs. Admittedly, specific vocal and scaty Miles Griffith, not everyone can appeal to, but great enthusiasm felt in every sound, makes it after a few minutes we succumb to the mood boards, giving caught up in this crazy, slightly crazy atmosphere.
Brian Kastan in his isolated wykreowanym style does not remain indifferent to the outside world. This is evidenced by at least the end of the album ( “Black Lives Matter”), representing a musical commentary on the current racial and political events in the US.
This is definitely not relaxing music, but full of emotion and tension rock, funk - jazzy dynamic concoction cooked in the original, peculiar style.”
CD Review: http://www.midwestrecord.com/MWR1150.html BRIAN KASTAN/Roll the Dice on Life: This electric guitarist finds the corner where fusion and improv collide with each other but resolves the conflict with making this a two disc set so you can appreciate the opposite ends without the middle turning brown. A hypnotist by day, Kastan has a lot on his plate and is certainly down with the art for arts sake side of the ledger. If you like your fusion with that unbridled Euro edge running through it, this massive spontaneous set might just be your cup of tea. CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
http://www.jazzweekly.com/2017/01/brian-kastan-roll-the-dice-on-life/
Here’s one that will be tough to categorize. Is it rap? Funk? Rock? What you have is guitarist Brian Kastan with a flexible team of Steve Rust/b and Peter O’Brien/dr. The ringer is vocalist Miles Griffith, who uses his nasally voice for wild rants, rampages, lyrics and voice’d meanderings that are like vocalese without melody. The team gets rocking on “My Kids Dance Party” and “Who Knows” while going heavy metal on “Goodbye.” Meanwhile, Griffith howls, chirps and jives through the material. Much of the material is improvised in a “live” setting, with a two part “Black Lives Matter” simply raucous rage. A sound track for Bernie Sanders fans? http://www.empirestatenews.net/2016/11/07/roll-the-dice-on-life-from-brian-kastan- is-no-risk-for-jazz-fusion-fans/ If you’re looking for a jazz-fusion new release that’s filled with robust, high energy music, “Roll the Dice on Life” from guitarist/songwriter Brian Kastan might be just your taste. A double album that features vocals by Miles Griffith, this novel work is loaded with free improvisation and raw instrumental play in each area, whether from Kastan’s heated electric guitar, bassist Steve Rust’s strength, Peter O’Brien’s rich drumming, or Griffith’s provocative voice. A talented quartet, the group has delivered a two-disc set that is now available for fans across the world, and can most easily be found here. Take a listen – it’s pretty cool. www.EmpireStateNews.com
Grady Harp Jazz Review Balancing the integrity of composed songs with the fierce energy activated by free improvisation Important on so many levels, Brian Kastan and Miles Griffith have a lot to say and they say it so well.