Grammy-nominated pianist Art Lande and his long-time collaborator, saxophonist Sam Williams will be celebrating the release of their new CD, “Portals”, on November 26, 2023, 6:30 PM at Dazzle. Get tickets here: Live Music – Dazzle Denver
‘Portals’ is very much like an impressionist painting in music. Art says, “Life is poetic” He likes to celebrate each day and is grateful and thankful to still be playing at 76. Each tune on the album paints a different picture with elements of Jazz, Classical, Salsa, World Music and is a culmination of everything he has played over his long career.
When asked about the Sea Shanties on “Portals”, Art laughed and said that without discussing it beforehand, he and Sam had both written sea shanties while apart and when they were talking about doing the recording, they thought it would be fun to put them into a medley. They brought in 6 different shanties with different keys and speeds and put them all together.
For the lineup at the Dazzle performance, Art said “We will play a few pieces from the album, but since it was made over a year ago, we have moved on to other music.” They like to keep it fresh. They will play some Miles Davis, some French tunes, and some new music they have been working on. Art says, “We always want to play pieces that are worth hearing and if you want music from the CD, you should just buy the CD.”
They have also recently taken some of the 500 pieces that Art has written over the years and brought them back to life again for the duo. He really likes playing with a smaller group. Art says, “I am not a big band guy. It’s more fun to play more of the parts. In a smaller group, you have more space to breathe”. He says he and Sam aim for freedom of expression and flexibility in their music.
Join them at Dazzle on Nov 26th and see what Art and Sam are working on now. These guys are endlessly creative and are ALWAYS very much worth hearing.
Get tickets here: Live Music – Dazzle Denver
