Jacob Varmus Releases His New CD and Adheres to The Law of Pleasure

[karigaffney]

Jacob Varmus
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

All the Things We Still Can Be
Hummable, Memorable Melodies

Requesting: CD Review

The Jacob Varmus Quintet focuses on music that sounds natural without adhering to any theory or dictum--except perhaps Debussy's 'pleasure is the law'. Varmus the composer favors the tradition of great jazz composers like Wayne Shorter and Thelonious Monk who have a penchant for creating pieces with hummable, memorable melodies and an approach to harmony and texture that imbues the music with striking shades of emotion. Varmus the trumpeter features a round warm tone with an envelope pushing harmonic sense. He's joined with a fantastically empathic band, each with plenty to say in his own right. 'All the Things We Still Can Be', Varmus’ first release as leader, features originals that prod each player into new dimensions of thoughtful, soulful invention.

Alex Henderson, of AMG explains: One person who trumpeter Jacob Varmus has mentioned more than once when discussing All the Things We Still Can Be, his first official album as a leader, is Chet Baker. When he was alive, Baker was far from a jazz critics’ darling many jazz critics of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s wrongly dismissed Baker and other Cool Schoolers as lightweights but Baker’s impact has outlasted critics’ barbs, and this 2006 date is a prime example of Baker (who died in 1988) influencing someone who is young enough to be his grandson. That is not to say that Varmus spends all of his time going out of his way to emulate Baker; Varmus has other noteworthy influences, ranging from Miles Davis (Baker’s primary influence) to Tom Harrell to Art Farmer to Don Cherry. The only time Varmus flat-out emulates Baker is on "Everything Happens to Me, ' which is one of the standards that Baker loved to play; Varmus, who is very much an instrumentalist, even includes a little Baker-ish singing. But Varmus’ own compositions dominate this post-bop-oriented effort, and most of the time, Baker’s influence although certainly evident is no less important than the influence of Davis or Harrell. Further, Varmus generally favors a bigger tone than either Baker or Davis, whose mid-‘60s output has had a definite impact on his writing; compositionally, Varmus gets a lot of inspiration from the Davis period that was post-standards but pre-fusion the Davis who was no longer playing "Someday My Prince Will Come " and "My Funny Valentine" but had yet to kick off the fusion revolution with In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

Join Varmus and his group; Jacob Varmus (trumpet, cornet), Daisuke Abe (guitar), Gil Smuskowitz (bass), Brian Woodruff (drums), but do not come expecting the ordinary.

Who: Jacob Varmus
When: Every Tuesday Time: 8-11PM
Where: Cup, 35th Ave at 36th St., Astoria, Queens, NY
Venue Phone: 718-937-2322
Tickets: Free To Public
Press Contact: Kari Gaffney, Kari-On Productions – 706.294.9996 - karionprod@knology.net
Epress Kit: karionpresskits.com/jacobvarmus/jacobvarmus.html
Kari-On Productions  P.O. Box 436, Evans, GA. 30809  tel: 706.294.9996 fax: 706.210.9453