“A daring improviser, Charles also delivers with heart-wrenching lyricism” - Jazz Times
“…had strength and a clear, almost classical sense of thematic organization.” - New York Times
Etienne Charles - KaisoEtienne Charles is a young Trinidadian trumpeter on a musical, cross-cultural mission. His debut album, Culture Shock (2006), features a unique mélange of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and straight-ahead jazz.
In 2009, Etienne released Folklore, an enticing album of original music. The music employed jazz improvisation and harmony with folk rhythms and chants inspired by the African experience of Trinidad & Tobago.
This time around he explores Caribbean songbook classics on the album entitled Kaiso, which will be on sale next Tuesday, 12th July 2011.
"The term "kaiso" originated in Nigeria, and literally means "go on" or "continue." In the current, popular usage of the word in the Caribbean, audiences use it to exhort the musicians; to encourage them, to "play on!" "Kaiso" is the verbal response to the energy that comes from being inspired by something you see or hear: a performance, a sound, a dance, a lyric, a cry. It's found in many different cultures of the African diaspora, and as such, connects us."
It's an important point to remember, because while calypso is the inspiration and essential component on Kaiso, the engine that drives the recording is its jazz sensibility, and the combination of the two fit like hand in glove. As a seasoned jazz musician who has performed with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, and The Count Basie Orchestra, the concept of this CD is perfectly natural for Charles."
Kaiso features such diverse musicians as saxophonists Brian Hogans and Jacques Schwarz-Bart, bassist Ben Williams, drummer Obed Calvaire, pianists Monty Alexander and Sullivan Fortner, rapso group 3canal, percussionist Ralph Macdonald, and calypso master Lord Superior (with an orchestra conducted by Rich DeRosa).
LISTEN TO EXCLUSIVE STREAMING TRACKS FROM KAISO
Etienne Charles' 2011 Tour Schedule:
- July 21 - Black Sea Jazz Festival (with Beka Gochiashvili) in Batumi, Georgia
- Aug 1 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York City [CD Release Party for Kaiso]
- Aug 25 - with Tim Warfield and the Unusual Suspects in Cincinnati, OH
- Aug 36 - at Jazz Kitchen (with Tim Warfield & the Unusual Suspects) in Indianapolis, IN
- Sept 30 - at Creole Gallery (with Professors of Jazz) in Lansing, MI
- Oct 7 - at Harris Theater in Chicago, IL
- Nov 19 - at 92Y Tribeca in New York City