20th December 2013: Announcing Zhenya Strigalev’s SMILING ORGANIZM 16 Date European Tour featuring Ambrose Akinmusire, Liam Noble, Larry Grenadier & Eric Harland

Announcing Zhenya Strigalev’s SMILING ORGANIZM 16 Date European Tour featuring Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet, Taylor Eigsti – piano, Liam Noble – piano, Larry Grenadier – double bass, Linley Marthe – electric bass and Eric Harland – drums

DATES:

15th January – DOKHUSSET, Trondheim, Norway
16th January – BIRD, Rotterdam, Netherlands
17th January – PORGY AND BESS, Vienna, Austria
18th January – UNTERFARHT, Munich, Germany
19th January – MURI KULTURE, Muri, Switzerland
20th January – RONNIE SCOTT’S, London, UK
21st January – JIMMY GLASS, Valencia, Spain
22nd January – JAMBOREE, Barcelona, Spain
23/24th January – A-TRANE JAZZ CLUB, Berlin, Germany
25th January – JAZZ CLUB FERRARA, Ferrara, Italy
26th January – PANIC JAZZ CLUB, Marostica, Italy
27th January – SUNSIDE, Paris, France
28th January – BAND ON A WALL, Manchester, UK
29th January – BIMHUIS, Amsterdam, Netherlands
30th January – FASCHING, Stockholm, Sweeden

Smiling Organizm is a project with a rotating line up consisting of the highest calibre international musicians focusing on Zhenya’s original music which swings between a wide range of styles, focusing on strong rhythmic structures, solid bass lines and melodies.

This time around it is a very unique line up (dare we say supergoup) including highly in demand American musicians such as the late Joe Zawinul’s virtuoso bassist Linley Marthe and one of the most original UK pianists, Liam Noble. The tour will follow immediately after the recording of the second “Smiling Organizm” album in New York and the band will be previewing some of the new material.

Smiling Organizm is:

Zhenya Strigalev is critically-acclaimed world-class musician who has cut a dynamic path between the London and New York jazz scenes, having collaborated with some of today’s most forward thinking creative musicians including Chris “Daddy” Dave, “Foley” McCreary, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Robert Mitchell, Liam Noble, Tim Lefebvre, Larry Grenadier, and Eric Harland among others. 

Ambrose Akinmusire – One of the most talked about and lauded trumpet players in contemporary jazz today.

Taylor Eigsti – A rising star of the New York jazz scene who has played with Joshua Redman, Christina McBride and Gretchen Parlato.

Liam Noble – “hardly plays a solo without at least one turn of phrase that brings you to the edge of your seat.” Highly individual, original and thoughtful british pianist who has collaborated with Ingrid Laubrock, Lol Coxhill, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Rainey.

Eric Harland – One of the most in demand drummers of our time, has played with a who’s who of the greats and the contemporaries, including McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Charles LLoyd, Joe Henderson, Ternece Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Kenny Garrett, Betty Carter & Wynton Marsalis.

Linley Marthe – Maurtius born, self taught bass player who was part of Joe Zawinul’s Syndicate from 2003 to 2007. One of the truly original electric bass players.

Larry Grenadier – Widely regarded as a contemporary jazz acoustic bassist, was a member of the Pat Metheny Trio from 1999 -2007 and has been one third of the Brad Mehldau trio since 1995.

Don’t miss this exciting coming together of musicians under the leadership of visionary and catalyst Zhenya Strigalev. 

INTERNATIONAL PRAISE FOR SMILING ORGANIZM: 

“Held together by sheer bravura, raw energy and no shortage of well-placed virtuosity, Strigalev and his band whip up a delightfully  free-flowing musical storm…Smiling Organizm is Strigalev’s fifth and best album to date.”  
-Bass Guitar Magazine

“Zhenya Strigalev is a fascinating old-school/cutting-edge hybrid, with a formidable  bebop-rooted sax technique, a burgeoning talent for composition, and an engaging willingness to take a chance.” 
-Guardian, London CD of the month

“This dashing young Russian emigré is a fearless jammer….He’s in typically fast company here, leading an international sextet including fellow Russian trumpeter Vitaly Golovnev, chameleonic London pianist Liam Noble and the all-American drum’n’bass team of Eric Harland and Larry Grenadier. Bass-guitarist Tim Lefebvre joins the mix for some nimble neobop, muscular funk and a hilariously punked-up version of Midnight in Moscow. Good value If you like fun and originality with your contemporary jazz.
-4 Stars, CD of the Week, Evening Standard

“this well constructed album, in which the leader is backed by A-list players… is worth an hour and a quarter of your day, even in this era where so many are ‘time poor’… Lefebvre’s growling fuzz bass on Midnight In Moscow is arresting…”
-Echoes Magazine

“London-based alto saxophonist brings his crackling, innovative spirit to his new album Smiling Organizm… a recent sampling of New York’s downtown scene….ineffably cool grooves with memorable riffs, free-improv-infused breakouts and fast-talking bebop.”
-The Metro

“[Smiling Organizm] has all the knife-edge momentum and skilled improvisatory abandon of its leader… chock-full of playful twists and turns, Strigalev’s album is what you might call a real cliche-free ride.”
-Jazzwise Magazine

“An irresistibly lively but musicianly album from a stellar band. Strigalev has a penchant for both blazing post-bop acoustic jazz, and for imaginative funk, so lining up Grenadier and electric bassist Lefebvre was eminently sensible; pianist Noble is an inexhaustibly inventive soloist in both modes, and drummer Harland is as at home with the contemplative, relatively straightahead jazz of Charles Lloyd as he is with the multi-hued sound of Joshua Redman.”
-London Jazz

“Smiling Organizm is an impressive statement. Rooted in bebop but not hidebound by it the album has a highly contemporary edge and an urgent, unmistakably urban sound.”
-The Jazz Mann

“Smiling Organizm should appeal equally to the grunge jazz crew as it does to the admirers of instrumental technique…”
-The Jazz Breakfast

“Strigalev’s alto-playing sometimes resembles a faster and even more demented Art Pepper – well suited to the parts of this set that resemble a cartoon-movie score as played by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The studio band is dazzlingly driven by New York’s great Charles Lloyd drummer Eric Harland and Brad Mehldau bassist Larry Grenadier, with New York avant-funk electric bassist Tim Lefebvre contributing to the more abstract passages…Hearing Liam Noble at full stretch with one of the world’s great bass and drums partnerships is a big plus.”
-The Guardian