Kendra Shank & John Stowell
New York Conversations CD Release Tour
Friday, April 11, 7 p.m.
Jazz In The Vineyard, Paschal Winery, Talent
Cost $25/$20 for SMP Members $10 for Full Time Students
Reservations: by Email or 541-488-3869 or by Paypal:
Siskiyou Music Project presents vocalist Kendra Shank with jazz guitar icon John Stowell for an intimate concert and CD release event on Saturday, April 11 at Paschal Winery in Talent.
Based in New York, vocalist Kendra Shank and Portland based guitarist John Stowell have been performing together sporadically for the last twenty years. In 2012 they began an informal recording that eventually became “New York Conversations” which will be released in April 2014 by the Swiss label TCB.
Kendra Shank, acclaimed for her “delectable voice” (Time) and “breathtakingly original concept” (Boston Globe) joins master guitarist John Stowell who “seems to pull arching motifs out of thin air, eschewing clichés” (All About Jazz), in this co-led project. The interactive duo pushes boundaries with a personal mix of Stowell originals (some with Shank’s lyrics), reimagined jazz standards, a Fred Hersch/Norma Winstone song, a folk song medley, and free improvisations. Moods range from intimate tender ballads to mixed meter jaunts, syncopated swing, sensuous samba, and the evocatively experimental. Stowell plays pianistic chords and rich unexpected harmonies on a colorful array of guitars: electric, steel string acoustic, nylon acoustic, and fretless. In addition to her compelling interpretations of lyrics, Shank improvises multi-layered wordless collages using an electronic looper and other effects, functioning as an instrumentalist in organic interplay with Stowell.
Born of an impromptu Manhattan studio session, New York Conversations is music created in the moment and captures the playful, conversational synergy that results from this duo’s two-decade collaboration.
“Delightfully uninhibited.” — All Music Guide
“A startlingly inventive improviser.” — All About Jazz NY
