The Squid's Ear Magazine


London, Frank: Brass Conspiracy (Tzadik)

A diverse, upbeat and embraceable album of brass-heavy jazz from New York trumpeter Frank London's ensemble, from funky rhythms to material that would be at home in Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool, flavored with London's Klezmatics background and performed with three percussionists, taking a wide view on the role of brass, particularly trumpet, trombone & tuba, in the history of jazz music.
 

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Product Information:

Personnel:



Frank London-trumpet

Josh Roseman-trombone

Marcus Rojas-tuba

Javier Diaz-drums, marimba

Onel Matos-congas

Kenny Wollesen-drums, vibes

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UPC: 702397405023

Label: Tzadik
Catalog ID: CD-TZA-4050
Squidco Product Code: 35111

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Brooklyn Recording, in Brooklyn, New York, in March- and April, 2024, by Andy Taub.
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"Trumpeter/composer Frank London is a member of the Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, has performed with John Zorn, LL Cool J, Mel Torme, Lester Bowieπs Brass Fantasy, LaMonte Young, They Might Be Giants, David Byrne, Jane Siberry, Ben Folds 5, Mark Ribot, Maurice El Medioni and Gal Costa, and is featured on over 100 cds. His own recordings include INVOCATIONS (cantorial music); Frank Londonπs Klezmer Brass Allstarsπ DI SHIKERE KAPELYE and BROTHERHOOD OF BRASS; NIGUNIM and THE ZMIROS PROJECT (Jewish mystical songs, with Klezmatics vocalist Lorin Sklamberg); THE DEBT (film and theater music); THE SHEKHINA BIG BAND; the soundtrack to THE SHVITZ; the soundtrack to Perl Gluck's THE DIVAHN and four releases with the Hasidic New Wave.

His projects include the folk-opera A NIGHT IN THE OLD MARKETPLACE (based on Y.L. Peretz's Bay nakht oyfn altn mark), DAVENEN for Pilobolus and the Klezmatics, Great Small Works' THE MEMOIRS OF GLUCKEL OF HAMELN and Min Tanaka's ROMANCE. He composed music for John Sayles' THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and MEN WITH GUNS, Yvonne Rainer's MURDER AND MURDER, the Czech-American Marionette Theaterπs GOLEM and Tamar Rogoff's IVYE PROJECT.Live in CrackowPoland, 2001

He was music director for David Byrne and Robert Wilsonπs THE KNEE PLAYS, collaborated with Palestinian violinist Simon Shaheen, taught Jewish music in Canada, Crimea and the Catskills, and produced CD's for Gypsy Ledgend Esma Redzepova, and Algerian Pianist Maurice el Medioni.

He has been featured on HBOπs SEX AND THE CITY, at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, and was a co-founder of Les Miserables Brass Band and the Klezmer Conservatory Band."

-Frank London Website (http://www.franklondon.com/bio.html)
11/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Josh Roseman is a New York based jazz trombonist whose presence has been felt in the downtown scene of improvisers from the 1990s onward.

Born June 5, 1967 in Boston, MA, he picked up the trombone because it was the most prevalent instrument in his household. His father, uncle, and cousins were all musicians. Classical influences informed his playing, but he was also enjoying Motown artists Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, Sly & the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, early ska music (as his mother was from Jamaica) and the Beatles. Moving to higher education, Roseman stayed close to home, studying at both the Berklee and New England Conservatories. One of his last professional associations before leaving Boston was as a founding member of Gershon's Either/Orchestra, so this show is a reunion as well as a new venture.

Arriving in New York City where he was a participant in the early Knitting Factory heyday of the early '90s, Roseman was acclimated quickly as a co-founder of the acid-jazz dance band the Groove Collective and the less appreciated Giant Step. His most important mentorship was with the late trumpeter Lester Bowie, under whom he honed a refined style and sense of humor.

A quintessential sideman, Roseman has played with Dave Holland, Don Byron, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, Jason Moran, the Skatelites, the Roots, John Zorn, edeski Martin & Wood, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, and the late Lester Bowie, as well as leading his own bands. His album "New Constellations" was released in the US by Russ's Accurate Records. Roseman is busy aside from staged music, as a trombone instructor and improvisation coach for the New School For Social Research at N.Y.U., the Harlem School for the Arts, and the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada."

-Passim (https://www.passim.org/artists/josh-roseman/)
11/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Best known for his work in jazz, Marcus Rojas is a graduate of New York City's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and holds a B.Mus. degree (with distinction) from the New England Conservatory of Music.

A longtime member of Spanish Fly, which includes Steven Bernstein (trumpet) and David Tronzo (guitar), he has played on over 300 recordings. He has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of musicians, including They Might Be Giants, John Zorn, Henry Threadgill, Sly & Robbie, and Foetus.

He teaches at New York University, the State University of New York at Purchase, Brooklyn College, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division."

-Brooklyn College (https://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/schools/mediaarts/departments/music/faculty/marcusrojas.php)
11/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Javier Diaz is a percussionist, educator, and composer active in New York City. Javier plays regularly with the American Symphony Orchestra, chamber music groups, and Latin Jazz/Afro-Cuban folkloric groups in the New York area. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, New York Pops, New York Perspectives Ensemble, John AdamsŐ Zankel Hall New Music Band, and the Hilliard Ensemble. He has been the principal percussionist in the Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, Phil CollinsŐ Tarzan, The Wiz, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Rocky, AinŐt Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, Gloria EstefanŐs On Your Feet!, and Once on This Island. JavierŐs studio credits include Steven SpielbergŐs West Side Story, Lin Manuel MirandaŐs In The Heights, ECM's Tituli (with the Hilliard Ensemble) by Stephen Hartke, two albums with David Sanborn, including Time and the River (produced by Marcus Miller), award-winning films such as Tango Flush and Jesus Camp, and many TV and radio commercials.

As an Afro-Cuban/Pop percussion specialist, Javier has appeared with: Sean Kingston, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patty La Belle, L‡zaro GalarragaŐs Afro-Cuban All Stars, percussionists Angel Lu’s Figueroa, C‡ndido Camero, Rom‡n D’az, Pedro Mart’nez, The Pan-American Jazz Band, The Ethnix, Anette AguilarŐs Latin Jazz Group, Marta Topferova, Edmar Casta–eda, Tribal Sage World Music duo project with multi-percussionist Roger Squitero, World Percussion group Kalunga, and the New York World Music Institute.

An active educator, Javier has taught concert percussion at El Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, University of Connecticut, Rutgers University, Queens College (CUNY), New York University, and at his private teaching studio in New York City and New Jersey. He has also taught Afro-Cuban percussion seminars, classes, and clinics at the Peabody Institute, University of Southern California, Percussion Artists Workshops Los Angeles/New York, Los Angeles School District, The Juilliard School, Rutgers University, Queens College, New York University, Boston Conservatory, University of Minnesota, and Mannes School of Music in New York City.

Mr. Diaz currently teaches the Afro-Latin percussion survey at the Juilliard School and directs the Afro-Cuban Percussion Ensemble at Rutgers University. His most recent book on Afro-Cuban percussion, The Afro-Cuban Handbook, has become an instant classic of the percussion literature.

As a composer, Javier has written chamber music, solo pieces, orchestral works, and electronic music. He has been commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival, New York University, and University of Southern California.

An alumnus of El Sistema de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela and the Aspen Music Festival, Javier holds a BM from the University of Southern California, a MM from The Juilliard School, and a DMA from The Graduate Center (City University of New York).

-Javier Diaz Website (https://javierdiazpercussion.com/bio)
11/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist.

Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a member of the Sex Mob and Himalayas groups. He also performs on the soundtrack to the popular children's show The Backyardigans.

Kenny grew up in Capitola, CA, studying at Aptos HS and spent many teenage years jamming with Donny McCaslin. He spent quality classroom time with flugelhornist and arranger Ray Brown at Cabrillo College. Kenny also arranges and studied vibraphone at Cabrillo."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Wollesen)
11/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:

Tzadik

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Sextet Recordings
Recordings featuring brass instruments - trumpets, trombones, tubas, other horns
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