The Song Project

Aoife with James Genus & Nate Smith

TSP — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:33:11 +0000

Derek Lee Bronston: guitar, vocals
Mark Rapp: trumpet, didgeridoo
James Genus: bass
Nate Smith: drums

The third Jazz Collective-sponsored concert of the Winter 2012 semester featured “TSP: the song project”, a group co-led by trumpeter Mark Rapp and guitarist Derek Lee Bronston. Joining them is bassist extraordinare James Genus, who tours regularly with everyone from Ravi Coltrane to Herbie Hancock and plays with the Saturday Night Live band. And Nate Smith, who plays regularly with the great Chris Potter. TSP is redefining jazz for a new generation by expanding jazz improvisations to songs ranging from Radiohead, Paul McCartney, AC/DC, to Cole Porter, Miles Davis, and more.

The Concert was free to the Fordham Community and will be a continuation of the Jazz it Up! concert series, now in its 6th year, which brings amazing musicians from New York city and around the world to Fordham University.

This is a quick clip of TSP playing an original composition entitled “Aoife”

Blue in Green with James Genus & Nate Smith

TSP — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:26:50 +0000

Derek Lee Bronston: guitar, vocals
Mark Rapp: trumpet, didgeridoo
James Genus: bass
Nate Smith: drums

This is a quick clip of TSP playing “Blue in Green”

Stella By Starlight

TSP — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:11:40 +0000

This is one of our favorite songs to play – it can be approached equally as free and open as it is structured. It can be effectively interpreted in so many different ways. But given the history and lyrics of the song, we enjoy playing it as a ballad with introspection and a subtle sense of being vulnerable.

That’s Stella by starlight,
And not a dream,
My heart and I agree,
She’s everything on this earth to me.

I think this was the first song that as a young man introduced me to Miles Davis’ artistry. Miles’ 1964 recording is a beautiful aural painting on a level of greatness that is out-of-this-world.

“Stella by Starlight” is a jazz standard written by Victor Young and featured in The Uninvited, a 1944 film released by Paramount Pictures. Originally played in the film as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946. The title had to be incorporated into the lyrics, which resulted in its unusual placement: the phrase appears about three quarters of the way through the song, rather than at the beginning or the end.

Bach Cello Suite

TSP — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 03:02:16 +0000

The prelude, which is the first thing on this score, is what we were listening to on that Yo Yo Ma track. It’s in D so it could be a could thing to segueway into a didge thing. Lisa Parott and I used to do these dou improvs on Bach Chorals. This could be cool to play in unison, then do our dou line solo into a didge thing, turning into Radiohead’s “Pakt Like Sardines” or our introspective version of “Summetime.” – Derek

Love this idea man. It’s a difficult piece to pull off on the trumpet, but I love the challenge. I’m going to really have to work my butt off to get this together. – Mark

Red Clay Key Signature

TSP — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 04:44:20 +0000

I was recently refreshing the ‘ol noggin on the tune Red Clay and noticed that most cats and the Real Book play “Red Clay” in C-minor when Freddie mostly played it in C#-minor. I went searching around on YouTube and found some heavy NY cats also play it in C#-minor. Personally, I like the challenge of working it out in a new key, but at the end of the day, when you’re laying it down in the club, nobody truly cares what key you play anything in. All they care about is if you’re playing with honest passion and sincerity and giving it all you can. And if a musician-in-the-know is going to turn their nose up at you because you played a song in a more familiar key, fuck ‘em. Anyway, I digress… This would be a good one for our jammy jam jams repertoire… we can do some crazy shit on this.

-rapp

C#-minor

C-minor

D-minor

Hmm key choices??
-dlb

Ask Me Now – T. Monk

TSP — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 02:24:23 +0000

[full]This past weekend, I attended some killer concerts at J@LC and heard Bobby Hutcherson, Chris Potter and Brian Blade play an amazing version of Monk’s “Ask me Know”. So, I started to learn it and am finding this would be a great tune to add to our repertoire. [/full]

TSP on Seattle’s New Day Northwest Morning Talk Show

TSP — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:37:34 +0000

During our recent West Coast tour, we stopped by the King 5 television studios to appear on the NBC-affiliated show “New Day Northwest” hosted by 4x Emmy Award winner Margaret Larson (www.king5.com/new-day-northwest). We performed and had a fun interview. Thanks to all at the King 5 studios for making everything so easy and fun. Thanks to everyone in Seattle for the warm reception. See you soon!

by New Day Producers
Two musicians are joining forces with other talented performers as they travel the country introducing audiences to their unique blend of genres.

Mark Rapp and Derek Lee Bronston are The Song Project – and have played alongside the likes of Branford Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Walter Blanding, Jr and more.

Along the way, they’ve created a groundbreaking iPad app for recording, and they conduct workshops and clinics for up and coming musicians interested in the business side of things. They just peformed to several packed crowds in Seattle and Bellingham – and we’re happy to have them on New Day!

TSP on KRON 4 in San Francisco

TSP — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:44:50 +0000

[full]
TSP: The Song Project appeared live on KRON 4 in San Francisco kicking off a West Coast tour and an appearance at The Fillmore Jazz Festival.

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West Coast Tour Kick Off at San Francisco’s Historic Fillmore Jazz Festival

TSP — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:29:33 +0000

“[The Song Project] straddles the worlds of ECM-ish impressionism and straight-ahead blowing” -Cadence Magazine

“…more than anyone else among today’s trumpeters, Rapp is breaking down the age old paradigms as to how the trumpet ought to be played in a jazz environment…” -JazzPolice.com

NEW YORK – TSP is redefining jazz for a new generation, expanding jazz improvisations to songs spanning the gamut from Radiohead, Paul McCartney, AC/DC to Cole Porter, Miles Davis and more. TSP (The Song Project) was created by ground breaking artists, trumpeter Mark Rapp, and guitarist, Derek Lee Bronston, who have quickly established themselves as one of the most promising, crossover, genre-bending new bands in modern jazz. Each artist is a virtuoso on his instrument, creating a collective signature sound by weaving rhythmic and textural elements of didgeridoo, guitar, trumpet, and rhythm section, enhanced with raw, emotional vocals. Rapp and Bronston are also tech gurus. Their original Applum™ app launched the first group recording, Art of the Song, vol. 1.

TSP’s US tour has them playing upcoming major venues such as San Francisco’s prestigious Fillmore Jazz Festival in addition to Silo’s Jazz Club in Napa, CA; Egan’s Ballard Jam House in Seattle, WA, and Blue Horse Gallery in Bellingham, WA. The tour continues in the fall, with additional cities including New York, New Orleans, Greenville, SC, and Atlanta, among others dates soon to be announced.

Their rising fame has had them featured in Jazz Inside Magazine and showcased in the 2011 Association of Performing Arts Presenters. The group’s musical ingenuity has also won them high praise along the way. Performing Songwriter said, “Bronston growls and moans like a male Lucinda Williams.”

TSP has not only led the way in the music scene through their blending of various genres, but has also contributed transformative ideas to music technology with their free iOS app, Applum.™ The app was used to launch their first set of recorded music together, titled Art of the Song, Vol. 1. Its repertoire, created by messaging Garage Band tracks, became a full blown interactive music application. Ever on the cutting edge, they’re now developing a new set of app releases for both iOS and HTML5 in early 2013. Their tech innovations are clearly having an impact on the music industry. Just a year after the release of their Applum™, other pop icons followed suit using nearly the same technology model to release their own music.

The duo also conducts clinics and master classes on music business, teaching core skills for industry success including self-motivation, leadership, connecting with audiences, and other necessary tools for aspiring professional musicians. Their workshops also focus on techniques and elements of rhythm, practice routines, band dynamics, providing original charts and arrangements, which serve as a platform to invigorate and involve music students in the creative process of combined performance.

TSP Tour Dates:

Mon-June 14th: Sweetwater Brewery Euphoria Fest Media Event

Tue-June 15th: Atlanta, GA: The Velvet Note

Wed-June 16th: Atlanta, GA: The Velvet Note

Thu-July 7th: San Francisco, CA: The Fillmore Jazz Festival

Mon-July 11th: Napa, CA: Silos Jazz Club

Tues- July 12th: Seattle, WA: Egan’s Ballard Jam House

Thu-July 14th: Bellingham, WA: Blue Horse Gallery

Thu-September 20th: Greenville, SC: Euphoria Festival

Sun-September 23rd: Greenville, SC: Euphoria Festival

_________________

ABOUT TSP:

Both highly experienced jazz musicians, Mark Rapp and Derek Lee Bronston have had great success in the music industry, proving to be innovative contributors to the classic rock and jazz scenes. Rapp has performed on and released four eclectic records, including his role as leader of the closing track for Disney’s Everybody Wants to be a Cat album, which also featured Esperanza Spalding. Rapp’s debut release, Token Tales (2009) earned him a Top Emerging Trumpeter acknowledgement in Downbeat Magazine.

Derek Lee Bronston is a seasoned musician of multiple genres, who has performed with such top artists as Branford Marsalis, The Hush, Mostley, Tom Harrell and many more. Based in New York, Bronston tours and records internationally, both as a singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has led and co-led 7 recordings and appeared on numerous others.

The duo is accompanied by equally noted musicians, including Rene Hart, an internationally touring bassist, and Allison Miller (Ani deFranco), named Rising Star Drummer by Downbeat Magazine. TSP was among the first groups to perform to a full house at the newly renovated Joe’s Pub in New York City.

PLAN A MEDIA, LLC
56 West 22nd Street
6th Floor South
New York, NY 10010

Patti Conte: PattiConte@nyc.rr.com, 212-337-1406, ext 16
Daria Coppock: DariaCoppock@planamedia.com, 212-337-1406, ext 10
Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes: Gabby.planamedia@gmail.com, 212-337-1406, ext 15
Jackie Stroud: Jackie.planamedia@gmail.com, 212-337-1406, ext 18

TSP Plays Grand-Opening of New Atlanta Jazz Club

TSP — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 01:52:59 +0000

[full]TSP (The Song Project) featuring musicians MARK RAPP (trumpet, didgeridoo) and DEREK LEE BRONSTON (guitar, vocals) will perform back-to-back shows as part of the grand opening of Atlanta’s newest music venue, THE VELVET NOTE in Alpharetta, Georgia.

FRIDAY- JUNE 15th & SATURDAY- JUNE 16th
TWO SHOWS EACH NIGHT: 6:30 PM & 9:00 PM
THE VELVET NOTE
4075 Old Milton Parkway
Alpharetta, Georgia 30022

Tickets may be purchased at: http://thevelvetnote.com/schedule-ticketing/
Ticket Cost Includes: seating, hors d’oeuvres dinner and dessert, and free parking
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