Produced by Bud Spangler & Anton Schwartz.
Recording and Mixing Engineer: Dan Feiszli
Mastering Engineer: Paul Stubblebine
Recorded December 5-6, 2005 in 96kHz 24 bit audio. HDCD® encoded for extended headroom.
Special edition also available in DVD-Audio!
Anton Schwartz tenor sax
Peter Bernstein guitar
Taylor Eigsti piano
John Shifflett bass
Tim Bulkley drums
1. Phantom Dance
2. Alligator Strut
3. Wave (A.C. Jobim)
4. Slightly Off Course
5. Life & Times
6. Marcel Marceau
7. Blues for Now
8. Groundsurge
9. Hooking Up
10. Sneaking Suspicion
All songs composed by Anton Schwartz except #3, as noted.
All songs arranged by Anton Schwartz.
About "Radiant Blue"
"Anton Schwartz and his sidemen are deadly serious about their fun...
they are all adept at staying in the pocket while stretching it.
As for Schwartz, he has a classic clear-throated tenor sound and kicks like a mule.
His zeal to communicate is fervent yet sophisticated... Radiant Blue could make an excellent introduction to jazz for
someone on the outside looking for a way in." - Thomas Conrad, Jazz Times Magazine
Listen
Check out Radiant Blue and our other CDs on this site's audio page.
Free Download!
The track "Life & Times" is now available for free download from the All About Jazz web site. It's 7:43 long, and it's absolutely free!
The Band
This is Anton's first quintet offering. His three prior CDs were in the classic quartet format of sax-piano-bass-drums; here he adds a guitar to the lineup, making full use of the possibilities it affords. The band includes two longtime bandmates of Anton's: John Shifflett on bass (played on The Slow Lane and When Music Calls) and Tim Bulkley on drums (played on Holiday Time).
On piano is Taylor Eigsti, a stunningly mature and ferociously talented twenty-one-year-old who has been a frequent collaborator of Anton's over the past five years. Taylor released Lucky To Be Me in 2006, his debut recording for Concord Records, featuring Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, James Genus and Billy Kilson.
Joining Anton on the front line is guitarist Peter Bernstein. Peter has made his mark in jazz in his long associations with artists such as Joshua Redman, Lou Donaldson and Diana Krall, as well as the trio he has co-led for many years with Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart. Peter and Anton played together growing up in New York in the 1980's, so this CD marks a reunion for them.
This band was featured in December 2005 on NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.
The Music
The ten tunes on Radiant Blue are all variants of the classic blues form -- nine originals by Schwartz and an unusual arragement of the Jobim composition "Wave". The blues form, a sequence of chords twelve measures long, is the structure underlying many of the great songs of blues, jazz, and rock music. Despite its name, the blues form is not particular to blues music, and this CD is not a blues CD -- in fact, most of the tunes wouldn't even be called "bluesy". Rather, the styles span a wide gamut: fast straight ahead jazz; New Orleans second line; afro-samba; angular funk; relaxed swing;
feel-good South African; greasy shuffle. Likewise, the forms and the harmony are playfully varied from tune to tune -- several tunes have a bridge or an additional section, and almost all have altered harmony of one sort or another.
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Distribution (Wholesale)
AntonJazz records are distributed in North America by:
Burnside Distribution Corp. 3647 SE 21st Street Portland, OR 97202 voice: (503) 231-0876 fax: (503) 231-0420
Radiant Blue
- Thomas Conrad, Jazz Times Magazine
