The JC Group Giveaway/Review - Mark Kleinhaut - Holding The Center

[Lois Gilbert]

Mark Kleinhaut would like to share his new CD: Holding The Center (Invisible Records)

We're very pleased that another JC client has kindly offered to share his latest CD, Holding The Center with 10 of you for review.



Mark Kleinhaut - guitar
Jim Lyden - bass
Les Harris Jr. - drums

You can hear soundbites and tune listing by visiting Mark's site

[Lois Gilbert]

This is open to anyone who didn't receive a Jaco Big Band CD.
We have 10 cds available.

You can submit a request for both Mark and Matthias' CDs but you only receive one (if you have a preference, we will try to accomodate)

Please send email to lois@jazzcorner.com

Subject: Mark Kleinhaut giveaway
Screen Name
Real Name and address
Email
Tel #

Thanks and good luck from Lois and Mark

[Mike Schwartz]

Mark was kind enough to advance me the new CD in January at the JC Jam at Birdland.

I'm pretty certain that this one will be warmly received around here!

[Lois Gilbert]

The reviews have starting coming:


"Jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut has been playing music for thirty years and has several albums to his credit. In May 2006 Kleinhaut releases his newest album titled Holding the Center which he recorded with his trio that includes bassist Jim Lyden and drummer Les Harris, Jr.. Offering thirteen tracks of modern rhythm-based music, Holding the Center contains an interesting sound that blends the contemporary, Latin and the straightforward styles in one setting.


"The first two tracks come in a Latin-tinged flavor reflecting Kleinhaut’s experience with Cuba in 2004. With a nylon string acoustic guitar he picked up in Cuba, Kleinhaut penned the opener, “Intro to Sister Cuba” a short but beautiful solo number. This is followed by the faster paced “Sister Cuba.” Bassist Lyden shows his stuff and Kleinhaut lays down some fine riffs on the title cut.

"The group mellows out on the slow and soft “Forgotten Song.” In contrast, the trio really grooves with “Erika’s 8:30 Rule” a terrific catchy tune. A favorite of mine is the bossa nova styled “Shells on Ancon Beach” that finds the guitarist playing crisp and clean chords that mark this number. Another bossa nova tune with a warm and delicious melody is “Passing Bird.” There are notable cuts such as “Holiday,” “Green T,” and “Gospel of B” that highlights Kleinhaut’s skills on strings.

"Holding the Center provides a selection of contemporary mellow charts with sparks of electricity. Kleinhaut’s mastery of the guitar comes shinning through on all thirteen tracks. The trio plays tight like they’ve been together forever and the result is obvious, an album of splendid music."

Edward Blanco, ejazznews.com

[Lois Gilbert]

for those of you new to Jazzcorner's Speakeasy or forget check out this thread:

http://jazzcornertalk.com/speakeasy/...Mark+Kleinhaut

We have a few copies left

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

Mark was kind enough to advance me the new CD in January at the JC Jam at Birdland.

I'm pretty certain that this one will be warmly received around here!

Hi Mike, thanks for mentioning that. It was very good meeting you at Birdland a few months back- nice to put a face to the name and voice. Groov Marketing will be sending your radio station a play copy any day now. The advanced copy you have was something like v.5.0 whereas the final replicated version was at least v.14- definitely some mixing and mastering tweaks that came later that I'm really pleased we did.

Anyone interested in discussing the project with me please feel free to fire away on this thread. I'm happy to give away all the secrets. Also, for musicians, there are charts to all my compositions (since this is an album of all-MRK compositions) posted on my website www.markkleinhaut.com which is graciously hosted here at Jazzcorner.

Thanks again, Mark

[claude]

Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut

Also, for musicians, there are charts to all my compositions (since this is an album of all-MRK compositions) posted on my website www.markkleinhaut.com which is graciously hosted here at Jazzcorner.

Thanks again, Mark

Hey, thanks for posting those Mark. I'll have to try to copy some of those Bobby Watson lines from "A Balance of Light" on Tenor (yeah right ). Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing your latest.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Originally Posted by claude

Hey, thanks for posting those Mark. I'll have to try to copy some of those Bobby Watson lines from "A Balance of Light" on Tenor (yeah right ). Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing your latest.

Hey Claude, I hope you have fun with it. If you get stuck, I do have Bb (and Eb) charts I could share, although I don't plan on posting them to the site.

[Lois Gilbert]

We still have a couple of copies left. So start your engines running!!!

[Lois Gilbert]

I'm still looking for some folks to grab and review Mark's wonderful guitar trio new cd, Holding the Center. So please email me at lois@jazzcorner.com

Thanks and good luck.

Check out Mark's site to hear soundbites in his jukebox, as well as wonderful, insightful liner notes by Bill Miklowski

[Lois Gilbert]

We have 4 copies left!!!

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

We have 4 copies left!!!

Show me some love

[ormsbop]

Well, I personally think Mark is one of the unsung guitar heroes of New England and would have jumped on this freebie deal if I could have but since I was already committed to the Jaco tribute review...

I ended up buying Holding the Center and Mark was very generous and threw in Chasing Tales no charge. So, I've been listening to both cds over the past couple of weeks. If y'all need another reviewer for Holding... I'd be willing to post some comments here.

[Lois Gilbert]

3 copies left

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Originally Posted by ormsbop

Well, I personally think Mark is one of the unsung guitar heroes of New England and would have jumped on this freebie deal if I could have but since I was already committed to the Jaco tribute review...

I ended up buying Holding the Center and Mark was very generous and threw in Chasing Tales no charge. So, I've been listening to both cds over the past couple of weeks. If y'all need another reviewer for Holding... I'd be willing to post some comments here.

Thanks Ormsbop, maybe a few comments from you would help prime the pump here...increase the interest level a wee bit..... take care, Mark.

[ormsbop]

Hi Mark. First impressions: I really liked the tunes and playing. You wrote some good pieces as usual and you're trio is as tight as ever. The fingerstyle intro to Sister Cuba was beautiful. You clearly had a lot of fun with this! The electric pieces like Erika's 8:30 Rule were pretty cool. I'd like to see you play that one live. I did feel the album as a whole lacked some cohesion. Maybe because it goes in many directions (nylon fingerstyle; looping; scratching; various effects; straight ahead jazz) it's hard to get a firm handle on it. I'm still listening and digesting though. I know that you mentioned on the usenet guitar group that the electronic looping and effects is a direction your music is heading. So it'll be interesting to see what develops from that.

I'll try to put together some better, more thought-out comments later.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Mark Kleinhaut Trio Holding The Center (Invisible Music)
– Ed Trefzger JAZZWEEK.COM May 1, 2006

WHILE HARDLY THE center of the jazz universe, Maine is home to an outstanding jazz guitarist, Mark Kleinhaut. The follow-up to his 2003 album Balance of Light, which featured a guest appearance by alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, Holding The Center allows Kleinhaut to show his versatility. With sounds ranging from Pat Metheny-like introspection, to Latin rhythms, to the loping backbeat shuffle popularized by people like Charlie Hunter and John Scofield, Kleinhaut covers the jazz guitar gamut on this CD of originals. The album’s title track includes some ambient loops, and “Erika’s 8:30 Rule” feeds the guitar through a Leslie and adds samples and a turntablist for some hip, jam-influenced sounds. As a complete contrast, the album opens with gentle, nylon-stringed acoustic guitar. Bassist Jim Lyden and drummer Les Harris, Jr. are also versatile and follow the different styles with seeming ease. Not everyone could pull off all of these different jazz guitar approaches, but from swing to groove and shuffle to samba, Kleinhaut does it, with an eclectic album that’s nonetheless cohesive.


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The Mark Kleinhaut Trio “Holding The Center” CD-2006 Invisible Music
By Glenn Astarita ejazznews.com April 18, 2006

New England area jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut conveys his dappled musical palate, laudable technique and expansive jazz vernacular on this newly issued studio effort. The band swings hard, as many of the guitarist’s phrasings are rich in lyricism, via intricately designed single note runs. Armed with a medium-toned sound, Kleinhaut steers his trio through gracefully executed unison choruses amid flotation-like qualities.

And they render subtle groove-based themes, to complement a divergent program as they navigate through various pulses and metrics. On the affable piece titled “Baby R,” Kleinhaut implements complex chord voicings during his solos, hearkening back to a vibe set forth by the late Wes Montgomery. The trio ventures into turntable, DJ, hip-hop vistas, along with cool, samba beats and high-octane jazz-fusion vibes on selected cuts. Overall, Kleinhaut covers quite a bit of territory here, but it’s the straight-ahead jazz works,supplanted by a quiet-storm type vibe that provides the winning touch here.

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The Mark Kleinhaut Trio “Holding the Center”
By Edward Blanco ejazznews.com April 3, 2006

Jazz guitarist Mark Kleinhaut has been playing music for thirty years and has several albums to his credit. In May 2006 Kleinhaut releases his newest album titled Holding the Center which he recorded with his trio that includes bassist Jim Lyden and drummer Les Harris, Jr.. Offering thirteen tracks of modern rhythm-based music, Holding the Center contains an interesting sound that blends the contemporary, Latin and the straightforward styles in one setting.


The first two tracks come in a Latin-tinged flavor reflecting Kleinhaut’s experience with Cuba in 2004. With a nylon string acoustic guitar he picked up in Cuba, Kleinhaut penned the opener, “Intro to Sister Cuba” a short but beautiful solo number. This is followed by the faster paced “Sister Cuba.” Bassist Lyden shows his stuff and Kleinhaut lays down some fine riffs on the title cut.

The group mellows out on the slow and soft “Forgotten Song.” In contrast, the trio really grooves with “Erika’s 8:30 Rule” a terrific catchy tune. A favorite of mine is the bossa nova styled “Shells on Ancon Beach” that finds the guitarist playing crisp and clean chords that mark this number. Another bossa nova tune with a warm and delicious melody is “Passing Bird.” There are notable cuts such as “Holiday,” “Green T,” and “Gospel of B” that highlights Kleinhaut’s skills on strings.

Holding the Center provides a selection of contemporary mellow charts with sparks of electricity. Kleinhaut’s mastery of the guitar comes shinning through on all thirteen tracks. The trio plays tight like they’ve been together forever and the result is obvious, an album of splendid music.

[Gerardo A]

If there are any copies of this CD left to be reviewed I'll take one! I just read a review of it at AAJ and it made me want to listen to Mark. I don't know if I'm qualified to get it, though, because I got the Matthias one...

[Lois Gilbert]

By C. Michael Bailey
Maine guitarist Mark Kleinhaut expands his impressive discography with Holding the Center, a progressive, contemporary outing. On his previous two recordings, A Balance of Light and Chasing Tales, Kleinhaut employed trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, respectively. Here the guitarist displays his own considerable talent in the more intimate trio format.


Kleinhaut employs a guitar style best described as unhurried swing on the thirteen original compositions on Holding the Center. His tone is warm, round, and furry about the edges. He is not enamored with technology, save for the occasional loop or sample thrown in here and there. Kleinhaut produces a very refreshingly straightahead brand of jazz that is still full of surprises--again progressive and contemporary.


Thoroughly modern, Holding the Center facilely incorporates older elements of jazz, which in turn reveal themselves in Kleinhaut’s creative approach. “Intro to Sister Cuba” is the first piece to introduce sampling, manifested as the sound of children playing behind Kleinhaut’s taut flamenco nylon-string guitar playing. The introduction slips deftly into the complex head of “Sister Cuba.” With shades of “Caravan” and “Tin Tin Deo,” this piece bounces with effervescent and humid Latin nuance. “Baby R” is a bubbly bit of island music with some fine tom-tom drumming by Les Harris. Kleinhaut is fluid and rich in his comping and soloing.

The title track is the disc’s center. Nominally a waltz, “Holding the Center” features an expressive arco solo by bassist Jim Lyden. “Green Tea” is Kleinhaut’s answer to Monk’s “Green Chimneys,” full of craggy blues riffs and flatted fifths. Kleinhaut’s piece de résistance is the closing “Rock and Sand,” which departs from the guitarist’s more mellow environs and evokes the spirit of Phillip Catherine crossed with John McLaughlin, ending this fine guitar disc with a bang.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/revi...t.php?id=21367

[Lois Gilbert]

Now that the reviews are in for Matthias and for Jaco, since we have a few copies left up for grabs to review Mark Kleinhaut's Holding the Center, please submit name, address, tel # to lois@jazzcorner.com with subject Mark Kleinhaut Giveaway

Thanks Lois

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Thanks Lois. There are now several review links at
http://www.invisiblemusicrecords.com/Resources/HTC.html where you can
also read the Milkowski liner notes AND download a full length FREE
hi-res MP3 of the opening song on the album, Sister Cuba.

Cheers,

www.markkleinhaut.com

[Lois Gilbert]

I'm missing several potential reviewers

so please resubmit with your screen name
real name
address
phone #
email

to lois@jazzcorner.com

thanks

[Gerardo A]

Got my CD! Thanks Lois and Mark!

I listened to it a couple of times yesterday, and I liked it a lot! Especially the first half of it, those solo guitar parts rock! Mark has a beautiful sound, he reminded me of some of my favorite French guitar players like Sylvain Luc. I'll write a proper review soon.

[groover]

I got mine last Saturday, only listened once so far. My initial take is four out of five stars, but I'll also write a detailed review after a few more listens.

[groover]

The Mark Kleinhaut Trio's “Holding the Center” was recorded in late August 2005 at Bunganuc Studio in Brunswick, Maine. The digipak case sports an abstract design credited to Erika Aberg, who also co-engineered and co-produced the recording, which was mixed and mastered at Erika's studio in Topsham, Maine. She must also be the Erika referred to in the title “Erika's 8:30 Rule”, probably the most radical cut on the disc. Nowhere in Bill Milkowski's fairly thorough notes is Erika's rule explained, but it must have had some effect on the session. Whatever it may have been, it's notable how this trio recording uses a variety of tempos, rhythms, guitar tones, and other elements to vary the sonic pallet widely over the thirteen tracks, from a whisper to a scream.


The set opens with the sparsest track, the brief “Intro to Sister Cuba”, with Mark alone, playing his Cuban nylon string on a Cuban street near where a group of children were playing, creating an unpretentious, earthy ambiance. This solo setting allows Mark to display a bit of classical technique with a latin feel, and leads into the sultry groove of “Sister Cuba”, driven by the double bass of Jim Lyden and Les Harris Jr. on drums, with Mark still on the nylon string. Mark states the graceful melody over a couple of choruses, then increases the tempo for a dramatic bridge section that reaches a striking climax, The bass drops out and the drummer switches to blocks, recreating the sparse feel of the intro as Mark rips off some fast rhythmic licks and even bends a blues note before the bass and drums resume the original groove. Mark solos over a few more choruses and bridges, and the song ends with another dramatic crescendo.


“Baby R” switches gears to a funky, almost dub beat, with Mark playing sophisticated warp-speed licks on his PRS hollow-body, displaying advanced picking facility. The title track, “Holding the Center”, opens slowly and subtly with ambient surges triggered by Mark in real time, with a Boss Loop Station and GT6 effects processor run through volume pedals. Mark states the structured opening section and bright, playful melody before dropping back to chords, allowing Jim Lyden to speak in deep searching tones with bowed bass. Mark restates the theme and plays melodically over the next chorus and bridge before delving into improvised variations, returning to the opening statement and one last poignant phrasing of the winsome melody.


“Holiday” opens with a lightly swinging minor key melody, followed by an staccato bridge section that modulates before returning to the light theme. Mark solos over a couple of choruses and bridge, and after the next chorus, they go into a fast driving jam that climaxes and collapses into a shimmering drum solo. Les gets his licks in and hands the baton to Lyden's bass, who gets his moment of glory before bringing the band back in with the rhythmic bridge. They groove through the chorus and bridge, ending gracefully with the lilting opening melody, belying all the dramatic intensity in between.


“Forgotten Song” is a wistfully melodic ballad, with Harris on brushes and Mark playing pirouetting lines and triggering synth washes that provide a lush harmonic backdrop, particularly effective behind Lyden's sensitive solo. “Erika's 8:30 Rule” opens with an electronic pulsation and features looped samples, provided by turntable artist Andrew Zachary triggered from Mark's effects. Mark uses a murky Leslie rotary speaker tone on his guitar over a funky groove which goes through some jazz modulations.


“Logical Extension” returns to a cool minor-key swing groove. Mark combines single-note runs, chords, and octave phrases in stating the pretty yet dark-edged melody. He then delves into an exploratory solo that climaxes with a virtually geometric phrase, giving way to Lyden's driving bass line. Lyden's pulse is solid enough to allow Harris to improvise rhythmically around the original groove, before Mark returns with the opening melody to close out the tune.


The only thing edgy about “Shells on Ancon Beach” is the title's reference to the popular Cuban beach, as the tune is a pretty yet wistful jazz samba that again lets Mark run through his bag of licks within a traditional jazz setting. “Green T” is an introspective post-bop excursion with a quirky melody. Marks incisive soloing again gives way to a thoughtful solo from Lyden, followed by a series of drum drops from Harris before the wrap-up. “Passing Bird” is yet another pretty jazz bossa, probably inspired by that same trip to Cuba. Mark's soloing again displays his technical facility and empathy with this style.


Lyden's bass leads off and states the melody of “Gospel of B”, a mournful, bluesy, ballad with a Mingus-like swing feel. Lyden bass continues to lead, extending the melody with spiritual feeling. Mark delivers his own thorough testament in virtuosic style before both drop out, giving Harris equal time to testify powerfully and eloquently with the longest drum break of the set. “Rock and Sand” closes out the set with a bang, Mark using a distorted, overdriven tone to deliver an intense couple of minutes of white-hot jazz-rock fusion.


There seem to be two themes intertwining through this set. About half the songs have titles which seem to have been inspired by Cuba, and display a sympathetic sense of that subject. The other half are more abstract representations which illustrate the shifting roles of the three instruments, a theme possibly implied by the album title, “Holding the Center”. Maybe these two could have been more separate, as the eclectic flow of the album may deter some listeners. Of course, these days, you can re-program it in your Ipod anyway you like, so that shouldn't really be an issue. Overall, I think it's a very impressive set of memorable compositions and compelling performances.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Originally Posted by groover

Nowhere in Bill Milkowski's fairly thorough notes is Erika's rule explained, but it must have had some effect on the session.

Erika's 8:30 rule stems from her having an office in our home and having learned from experience that one should never answer the phone before 8:30 in the morning- it's NEVER a good call that you wanted to take. BTW, thanks for taking the time to listen and comment so thoughtfully. I appreciate it. -Mark

[Mark Kleinhaut]

I hear crickets.....anybody home?

[Mark Kleinhaut]

oblivion.........

[claude]

What happened to all the reviews? I didn't want to jump in since I had just reviewed the Lupri CD and didn't want to be greedy. I just ordered the CD and look forward to hearing it, I'll post a review once I have a listen.

[ormsbop]

Yeah, the silence is very strange. I don't know what happened. I mean, even if everyone totally hated the cd they should say so and explain why. Did anyone receive the cd (besides Groover)? I bought mine. When Lois asked for names the second time I emailed her but never heard back. I thought I was forbidden because I reviewed the Jaco tribute already.