The Bates Update – The Road Thru November
I recently had the opportunity to reunite with Pat Moriarty, Ellen Lease and our guest Michael Attias! It was truly a beautiful night of music making and I encourage you to check out Michael. He is a powerful voice on the NYC scene and deserves far wider recognition than he has. Check him out here: www.michaelattias.com
Michael Attias, Bill Murray, Chris Bates, Pat Moriarty. photo by Andrea Canter
I’m heading out of town for several dates this month and most of the focus will be on one band – Atlantis Quartet! We are all pretty excited to be embarking on some short trips around the midwest. There is no substitution for playing many hours together and no greater generator of creativity than being on the road. The music grows and changes every night. The band gets a chance to dig into the music consistently, resulting in greater clarity and deeper trust. In improvised music that means we grow exponentially every night. It’s one of my most favorite aspects of playing! If you have any friends or family in these towns please help us spread the word about our shows. Every little bit helps!
In the intellectual department; I’m super excited to be working on my first big band chart for it’s premier at Macalester College in early December. This year has provided me with some new opportunities in composition. I composed new music for Zeitgeist and now the big band. All this work is really pushing me to focus my ideas and dictate them more clearly in notation. I’ve relied on the instincts and tendencies of my collaborators for so much of the music I write so this is an intense but gratifying challenge. I’m looking forward to working on some more big band arrangements of my tunes and bringing a ton of new ideas back into the small groups I work with most frequently. Keep your eyes peeled for new tunes for Atlantis, Enormous, Framework and Red 5. When there’s new music that means new recordings can’t be far behind.
One last housekeeping note. Many of you have been patiently waiting for the live recording of the Good Vibes trio from our Cd release back in April at Creation Audio. Due to some serious travel conflicts with my mixing and mastering engineer we’ve had to delay this for many months. I’m happy to say it’s now mixed and will be mastered when he returns in November. Look for a digital version of that to be distributed to you before Xmas season. Apologies for the delay. It will be worth the wait though. It sounds so good. Miles did an incredible job. The dynamics and sensitivity of that concert are all there waiting to be experienced again.
It will be here soon! Thanks for your patience.
Here’s the November schedule:
10/31– Atlantis @ Jazz Central (A Love Supreme Halloween reprise)
Music at 7:30. Atlantis @ 8:45 or so. All Ages $10 donation
11/3 – Pete Enblom @ Jazz Central 8:30pm All Ages $10 donation
11/4 – Bill Simenson @ Jazz Central 8:30pm All Ages $10 donation
11/7 – Steve Kenny Quartet @ Studio Z 9pm All Ages
part of Zeitgeist’s New Music Cabaret (Kenny, Wozniak, Bates and Lea)
11/8 – Prudence Johnson Quartet @ Lanesboro Art Center
11/10 – Doug Haining @ Jazz Central 8:30pm Al Ages $10 donation
11/12 – Christian Howes Quintet in Chicago, IL
11/13 – Christian Howes Quintet in Burlington, WI
11/14 – Christian Howes Quintet in Fergus Falls, MN
Chris Howes violin, Hamilton Hardin keys, Cedric Easton drums, Patrick Harison accordian & CB.
11/15 – Dean Granros, Zacc Harris, Chris Bates & Jay Epstein @ Jazz at Studio Z
Workshop @ 5:30 Concert @ 7pm All Ages $10 Dean IS a bad dude.
CB, Jay Epstein, Zacc Harris and Dean Granros. Hilarity ensued shortly after this shot was taken by Andrea Canter.
11/16 – Framework & Bach Society w/ Clea Galhano @ Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Our 4th year collaborating on Bach and Jazz. Really fun stuff!
11/20 – Atlantis @ Luna in Green Bay, WI 7pm All Ages $5
11/21 – Atlantis @ Jazz Estate in Milwaukee, WI 9:30pm 21+ $10
11/22 – Atlantis @ Lawrence Univ. Appleton, WI
11/24 – Atlantis @ Icehouse – Recording Live for possible release!!! 9:30pm 21+ $8
11/26 – Enormous Quartet @ Cafe Maude 7pm All Ages FREE
Chris Thomson, Park Evans, Joey Phillips and CB.
Enormous Quartet at Jazz Central. We’ll be recording an album this winter. Photo by Brenda Shepherd.
11/28 – Davu Seru, Steve Kenny & CB @ Black Dog 8:00pm All Ages $10 donation
Post script December:
12/6 Atlantis @ Black Dog 8:30pm
12/7 Atlantis w Mac Jazz at Macalester College 8pm
12/13 Chris Bates’ Red 5 @ Black Dog 8:30pm NEW TUNES!
12/16 Atlantis and Kevin Kozol trio at Jazz Showcase Chicago, IL
12/20 Atlantis and Good Vibes @ TC Jazz Sampler Release party. Venue TBD.
Keep it real. Live life to the fullest. Don’t hurt people. Choose positivity!
See you soon – CB!