The "While You Were Out" CD is $15.00 + $2.00 shipping/handling (within the U.S.) = $17.00 USD.
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Who would imagine that a group of American musicians from Kansas City, Missouri, could have such a passion for "musica bem Brasileira" that they have stayed together for 18 years, developed a strong following and managed to release one of the finest albums of Brazilian jazz to date?
- All About Jazz (Read the whole review)
While You Were Out
The Sons of Brasil | Self Published (2009)
By Edward Blanco
Who would imagine that a group of American musicians from Kansas City, Missouri, could have such a passion for "musica bem Brasileira" that they have stayed together for 18 years, developed a strong following and managed to release one of the finest albums of Brazilian jazz to date? The Sons of Brasil is such a group, and While You Were Out offers an impressive repertoire, featuring pieces from the sub-genres of bossa nova, samba and choro styles of Brazilian music.
Led by trumpeter, band leader, educator and clinician Stan Kessler, The Sons of Brasil is a core sextet drawn from the talent-rich musical community in the Kansas City area. The band includes Danny Embrey on guitar, Greg Whitfield on bass, Doug Auwater on drums, Gary Helm on percussion and Roger Wilder on piano. For While You Were Out, the band adds the talents of percussionist Luiz Orsano, who performs on "Salvador" and the title track.
No Brazilian-style recording would be complete without at least one composition by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim, and this album is no different, providing a sensuous reading of the immortal "Desafinado," arranged by Kessler. He also lends a tender flugelhorn voice to this excellent rendition of the classic. Auwater does the honors on the other Jobim cover, "Surfboard," where Embrey and Wilder lead the melody in front of Kessler's more supportive flugelhorn bows.
Except for Jose Roberto Bertrami's standard "Partido Alto" and Joao Bosco's "Bala Com Bala," the remaining repertoire consists of originals from Kessler and members of the band, starting with the high-energy samba beats of the opening Kessler tune "Joao," featuring the bandleader on flugelhorn. Embrey is magnificent throughout, making his guitar dance through lively Brazilian rhythms. He also contributes three charts of his own, with "Migration," "Journey," and the gentle, light ballad, "Tell Me Now." Other exceptional pieces include "I've Got Samba," Wilder's "Esso Bees" and the gritty choro-styled finale "It Feels Good."
Kessler and The Sons of Brasil prove that a Midwestern band, playing a host of exciting Brazilian-flavored music, can be authentic and successful with spicy sambas and cushy bossa nova music that are tailor-made for lovers of the genre.
Published: May 20, 2009
The "Stan Kessler's Television" CD is $15.00 + $2.00 shipping/handling (within the U.S.) = $17.00 USD.
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
The "Open" CD is $15.00 + $2.00 shipping/handling (within the U.S.) = $17.00 USD.
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Kessler's long, thoughtful solo lines, delivered with gorgeous tone, have long deserved the kind of recorded showcase he gives himself here.
- The Kansas City Star (Read the whole review)
The Kansas City Star.
Fri, Nov. 07, 2003
Musicians are doing it for themselves
By JOE KLOPUS
The Kansas City Star
Record companies aren't hurrying to sign jazz artists in Kansas City or anywhere else. But the musicians are getting their art represented on record anyway.
They simply do it themselves.
The do-it-yourself approach to recording is increasingly common these days, judging by the number of locally produced CDs that arrive in this writer's mail. Naturally, some artists bring it off better than others. And here are a couple of cases where artists with Kansas City connections make DIY sound much better than just OK.
Stan Kessler, Open: Trumpeter Kessler's long, thoughtful solo lines, delivered with gorgeous tone, have long deserved the kind of recorded showcase he gives himself here. This is a free-spirited blowing date, and the leader's trumpet and flugelhorn lines really take flight.
Egged on by pianist Phil DeGreg, guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Bob Bowman and drummer Todd Strait, Kessler works out on a few standards and some originals. "It Could Happen to You" is intriguingly re-arranged; "Cool Struttin'" has an urgently bluesy trumpet solo; and "Detour Ahead" has ballad-playing on a very high level.
Kessler's originals by themselves are worth the price. "Berlin November," a gorgeous waltz inspired the fall of the wall, is as lyrical as anything being played anywhere. "Blue Man," a blues, has an astonishingly long-lined trumpet solo. And "Squall Line," a duet with Strait, is pure excitement.
This disc provides an accurate picture of Kessler's strengths as a player. In the end, it doesn't sound like anybody else but him. It's available from www.stantonkessler.com.
The "Jazz Meets Chant" CD is $15.00 + $2.00 shipping/handling (within the U.S.) = $16.50 USD.
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When John Winkels commissioned me to do this work I was thrilled. I have always enjoyed performing in clubs, but recently I had been searching for other ways to express myself musically. I saw this as a unique opportunity to put forth something that could have a deeper spiritual impact. I was not disappointed. At our first concert the response was overwhelming and demands for a CD were numerous. What started out as a little church event has blossomed into a full-blown project. This has been a labor of love all the way, a true blessing.
Our purpose is to bring these wonderful Gregorian Chant melodies to life in a new way, utilizing rhythmic and chordal progressions of our time.
All modes remain melodically in tact within the arrangements, including "Amens" where they apply. Each chant in its traditional format is coupled with its contemporary version in order to provide a point of reference for the listener.
We do this with the utmost respect and reverence. Our intent is not to replace but to augment existing material.
Although these chants in their simplest and purist renditions do not need any accompaniment, nearly every composer throughout the last few centuries has utilized a chant melody for the basis of their composition. Chant has met nearly every musical style, and today it meets jazz.
- Stan Kessler
The "Sons of Brasil" CD is $15.00 + $2.00 shipping/handling (within the U.S.) = $16.50 USD.
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
In Kansas City, there is a popular jazz group that has performed every week since their inception in 1991. This would not be so remarkable, as Kansas City is renowned for it's tradition of great jazz since the days of Count Basie and Charlie Parker. What is remarkable is that this group of native Kansas Citians plays nothing but Brazilian jazz, with a flavor and passion one might think could only be found at a night club in Ipanema or Leblon. The Sons of Brasil invite you to sample these sounds, which stem from their love and admiration of "musica bem brasileira."
I had the luck of meeting Danny Embrey many years ago, when I was working with Sergio Mendes and his Brazil 66 group. Danny joined the band and we toured together and became good friends. I also had the opportunity, through that collaboration, to discover how good a musician he was.
Cut to the present. I get a tape in the mail from a group, The Sons of Brasil. What a nice surprise; I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto. this is Rio, Sugarloaf, Corcovado, samba, wild percussion, great melodies with sophisticated harmonies, and subtle but driving pulse of bossa nova guitar.
A good musician really transcends borders and frontiers. Here are six musicians from Kansas City that, without losing their jazz roots, embrace the Brazilian style with knowledge and true feeling. You can sense the dedication and the love for their music on all cuts. The group works so well together that, like in a well-tuned machine, you cannot single out the pieces because each one of them brings their expertise and contribution to create a pulsating, dynamic fusion of jazz and Brazilian music. With three exceptions, all songs were written by members of the group.
I had a great time listening to this music. It is energetic, romantic, and well-played, with great improvisations. It is good jazz and good Brazil. This is an album that deserves a chance to be heard. I wish them longevity and success, and I hope there will be many more albums to come.
Um abraco brasileiro and good luck.
–Oscar Castro-Neves
The Artists Recording Collective is an American label brand that emphasizes promoting and facilitating the distribution and exploitation of works by a select group of artists. The A R C was co-founded by artists who were also among the very first pioneers employing viable uses of 21st Century technologies in the tangible areas of: product manufacturing, worldwide music distribution, digital global marketing and on-demand sales of recorded music.
Available for concerts, clubs and clinics.
Contact Stan Kessler at stankmusic@earthlink.net or 816.531.6881.