Boston based Girls Guns and Glory will release Sweet Nothings on August 30, 2011 on Lonesome Day Records. A brainchild of frontman on acoustic guitar and vocals Ward Hayden, Girls Guns and Glory consists of Chris Hersch on electric guitar, Michael Calabrese (also of Lake Street Dive) on drums/vocals, and Paul Zaz Dilley on upright/electric bass. It is a reconnection to the roots of rock and roll for which he exhumed influences of the past including Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, and Little Richard.

Sweet Nothings was produced by Paul Q. Kolderie (Pixies, Radiohead, Warren Zevon, Uncle Tupelo) and Adam Taylor (Sarah Borges, Portugal the Man) and was the last project recorded at Boston's Camp Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sweet Nothings has songs both quick and catchy about the simple pleasures in life and slow and sentimental about—what else?—getting your heart ripped out, chewed up, spit out, and pieced back together. Also, listen for Sarah Borges (Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles) as she lends her voice to the Hayden-penned duet “1,000 Times.”

Girls Guns and Glory are a proficiently trained group: Chris Hersch and Michael Calabrese went to the New England Conservatory of Music and Paul Dilley attended Berklee College of Music. With the demands of a heavy-touring lifestyle, this is a group that cut its teeth on the road, and their resulting chemistry on stage is enjoyably electric. Hayden is quick to mention that, not only do these guys play their focal instruments with mastery, appreciation, and—on occasion—spirited abandon, each one of them is a multi-instrumentalist.

Hayden's original compositions conjure the palpable ache of a crushed heart; they touch on themes of love lost and hope found, and their words alone could be published in anthologies of poetry. Girls Guns and Glory is now an internationally touring band, named Independent Artist of the Year at the French Country Music Awards, and two-time winner of both the Roots Act of Year (Boston Phoenix Awards) and Americana Act of the Year (Boston Music Awards). Girls Guns and Glory is also the only band of its genre to ever take home the top honors of Act of the Year (Boston Music Awards) and to win the legendary WBCN Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble. For more information, tour dates, media materials, click the link below.

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ON TOUR:

June 30 - OIT Summer Music Series - Kiamath Falls, OR
July 1 - The Underground w/ Moondog Matinee - Reno, NV
July 2 - Snowbird Cool Air Concert Series - Snowbird, UT
July 4 - West Yellowstone Comm. Concert Series - West Yellowstone, MT
July 6 - Sol Vista Basin - Granby, CO
July 7 - Walnut Room - Denver, CO
July 8 - Winter Park Pub - Winter Park, CO
July 9 - 320 South - Breckenridge, CO
July 10 - Front Range Barbecue - Colorado Springs, CO
July 12 - Kinetic Playground (w/ Sexfist) - Chicago, IL
July 13 - Grand Rapids Roadhouse - Grand Rapids, OH
July 14 - Beachland Concert Series - Cleveland, OH
July 15 - Toby Hill Bar & Grill - Clarion, PA
July 16 - West Pomfret Music in the Garden - Carlisle, PA - 4PM
July 16 - Harry's Grille - Bloomsburg, PA - 10PM
July 22 - The Tinker's Son - Norwell, MA
July 23 - Toby Keith's - Foxboro, MA
July 28 - Putnam Den Hoe Down - Saratoga Springs, NY
July 29 - Lizard Lounge - Cambridge, MA **Boston CD Release Night 1
July 30 - Lizard Lounge - Cambridge, MA **Boston CD Release Night 2
August 12 - Majestic Theater - Springfield, MA
August 21 - The Governor's Inn Concert Series - Rochester, NH
August 27 - Javelina Festival - Rehoboth, MA
September 9 - The Pressroom - Portsmouth, NH
September 10 - The Hungry Tiger - Manchester, CT
September 11 - Narrows Festival of the Arts - Fall River, MA
September 17 - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion - Bristol, TN/VA
November 4 - New Holland Brewing - Holland, MI

Concord Music Group will release six new titles in the Original Jazz Classics Remasters series on June 14, 2011. Enhanced by 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, generous helpings of bonus tracks (many of them previously unreleased), and new liner notes that provide historical and technical context, the series showcases some of the most pivotal recordings of the past several decades by artists whose influences on the jazz tradition is beyond measure.

The six new titles in the series are:

• Chet Baker: In New York
• Ornette Coleman: Something Else!!!
• Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Alone in San Francisco
• Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans: Know What I Mean?
• Bill Evans Trio: Explorations
• Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass: Easy Living
  

“These six releases bring us to 20 titles altogether since the launch of the series in March 2010,” says Nick Phillips, Vice President of Catalog and Jazz A&R at Concord Music Group and producer of the series. “Each occupies an important place in any quality jazz collection.”

Chet Baker: In New York

Recorded in September 1958 for Riverside, Chet Baker’s In New York features saxophonist Johnny Griffin, pianist Al Haig, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. In addition to the half-dozen tracks from the original album, the reissue includes a bonus seventh track — “Soft Winds,” a blues composition written by Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson.

The recording provides a glimpse of the trumpeter “coming off a run of popularity, critical praise, and commercial success the likes of which few musicians have known,” according to the new liner notes by Doug Ramsey. By the late ’50s, Baker had won numerous awards throughout the decade for his instrumental work, and was even regarded as a romantic idol for his singing.

“Baker had been somewhat pigeonholed as a West Coast cool jazz artist,“ says Phillips, “but this recording illustrates that he was right at home playing with New York musicians — who dealt with their own stereotype of being harder edged and more aggressive. On this recording, they all seem to meet effortlessly somewhere in the middle.”

Of the ongoing tug-of-war between Baker’s artistic successes and his personal battles with substance abuse, Ramsey adds: “It will be a long time before Chet’s struggles with his demon are forgotten, but one day when the headlines have finally disappeared, the beauty of his music will still be shimmering in the air.”

Ornette Coleman: Something Else!!!

Recorded at Contemporary’s studios in Los Angeles in February and March 1958, Ornette Coleman’s Something Else!!! features Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Walter Norris on piano, Don Payne on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The first of two albums that Coleman recorded for Contemporary, Something Else!!! marks the saxophonist’s debut as a leader. “He was a very influential but at times controversial artist,” says Phillips. “Right out of the gate he was doing something that was just so different from what people were used to hearing,” says Phillips.  ”Although structurally-speaking, the music in this recording is based on established song forms, you can hear very clearly that Coleman is starting to break free of the limitations of conventional harmony.”

Neil Tesser writes in his new liner notes that Coleman traced jazz back to its roots to rid the music of its increasingly elaborate harmonic structures and other constraints. “Without the limitations imposed by such harmonic patterns, his band would freely travel into, out of, and between musical keys,” says Tesser. “As Ornette said in the original notes, ‘I think one day music will be a lot freer. The pattern for a tune, for instance, will be forgotten and the tune itself will be the pattern . . .’ When he recorded Something Else!!! that day was still a little ways off. In these performances, you hear him in the last throes of unshackling the past.”

Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Alone in San Francisco

Recorded on Riverside in October 1959, Thelonious Alone in San Francisco was a sequel of sorts to Thelonious Himself, recorded two years earlier. In addition to the album’s 10 original tracks, the reissue includes an alternate take of “There’s Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie.”

“With Thelonious Alone in San Francisco, Monk proved that his earlier success as a solo artist was not a fluke,” says Tesser in his liner notes for the reissue. “And in rejecting all the ‘rules’  for playing without accompaniment — as he’d rejected so many rules before — Monk expanded the entire concept of the solo piano idiom. Without Monk’s recordings as bedrock, it’s hard to imagine similarly intimate (though otherwise quite different) solo albums that would eventually come from Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea or even McCoy Tyner.”

For as unique as Monk’s style was, “he stayed pretty consistently within that style throughout the remainder of his career,” says Phillips. “That’s not to imply that there was any lack of creativity on his part. Within the unique style that he established, there was so much to explore and develop. But he still sounds unmistakably like Thelonious Monk, no matter what chapter of his career you listen to.”

Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans: Know What I Mean?

Know What I Mean? was recorded between January and March 1961, with bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay supporting the saxophonist and pianist. The reissue includes three bonus tracks that are alternate takes of “Who Cares?,” “Toy” (previously unreleased), and “Know What I Mean?”.

“This album takes two artists who were part of the legendary, historic 1958 Miles Davis Sextet and pairs them together,” says Phillips. “The modal approach that Evans was pioneering in the context of that 1958 group reveals itself in some of the material that he and Cannonball are playing on this album.”

Orrin Keepnews, who produced the original recording sessions, writes in his new liner notes for this OJC Remasters reissue, “One of the many advantages of working with a man like Julian Adderley was that he was totally stubborn about pursuing an idea he believed in. And, quite simply, he thoroughly believed in the validity of an album based on his moving very much in a Bill Evans–influenced direction.”

In his liner notes to the original recording, Joe Goldberg observes that while not all of the selections are ballads, an “aura of relaxation” permeates the recording. “In this instance it can be recognized as simply a matter of four highly skilled artists away from their usual tasks and delighting in one another’s musical company,” he says. “Nothing more really need be said about the results of their meeting than that the feeling of delight comes through.”

Bill Evans Trio: Explorations

Recorded in New York in February 1961 for Riverside, Explorations was the last album this version of the Evans trio would make in a recording studio. Bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian also appear on Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby — both live recordings, released later in 1961 — but LaFaro died in a car accident shortly after the live sessions. This reissue features four bonus tracks, including previously unreleased alternate takes of “How Deep Is the Ocean?” and “I Wish I Knew.”

“Evans’ sound and approach was his own by ’61,” says Ashley Kahn in his new liner notes. “His piano style had fully matured, as had the interplay of the trio . . . Upon entering Bell Sound’s studio on February 2, 1961, producer Orrin Keepnews immediately noted the three had ‘made giant strides towards the goal of becoming a three-voice unit rather than a piano player and his accompanists.’”

What’s more, the disparity of styles between the unreleased alternate takes and their counterparts that made the final cut on the original record “illustrates that jazz masters like these are real improvisers,” says Phillips, “and no two takes are ever going to sound the same — because no two moments in jazz are ever the same.”

Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass: Easy Living

Recorded in Los Angeles in 1983 and 1986, Easy Living was one of a series of Ella Fitzgerald–Joe Pass collaborations on Pablo throughout the ’80s. In addition to the original album’s 15 tracks, the reissue also includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks — alternate takes of “Don’t Be that Way” and “Love for Sale.”

Easy Living and the other collaborations between these two veterans “worked on many levels,” says Tad Hershorn in his liner notes for the reissue. “As her voice aged and deepened, Fitzgerald discovered partial remedies in her phrasing, choices of keys and the pleasing maturity that now enveloped her still youthful voice. Pass was the perfect foil to display her diminishing resources to their best and most emotive advantage. Ella was known to incessantly toy with songs in her restless artistic striving, so one can perceive the music she made with Pass as a direct extension of her creative method. The leanness of their music underscores that even this late in her career, Ella Fitzgerald retained her bonafides as a singer for whom words did matter: not every song was merely a vehicle for her to bat notes out of the park. The allure was in the quiet majestic intimacy that focused an audience’s attention on full absorption of the musings of joy, wistfulness, and melody.”

The level of confidence with which each of these two musicians performs on this recording is hard to miss.  “The fact that Ella could walk into the studio with a bunch of lead sheets,” says Phillips, “and they could do a little rehearsal on the spot, figure out the best key for her, and he could just play it in any key behind her — all of that takes some phenomenal musicianship . . . They have a very conversational, relaxed sensibility about them, and both musicians seem very much at ease performing together and recording together in the studio.”

Town Mountain release their third studio project Steady Operator today on Pinecastle Records. Produced by GRAMMY Award winner Mike Bub (formerly of the Del McCoury Band), the album was tracked live in the studio and features bluegrass originals written by band members Jesse Langlais and two-time International Bluegrass Music Association Songwriter Showcase selection Phil Barker. This is the first release on Pinecastle since it was purchased under new ownership.

Town Mountain brings a unique energy with their mix of original bluegrass material mixed with slow country crooning and a honky-tonk edge. Born out of the all night jam sessions and fertile picking scene of western North Carolina, Town Mountain has emerged as one of the premier young American bluegrass bands. With superb original material about topics ranging from love lost and heartache, to the weariness of a midnight drive across America's heartland, to environmental commentary on mountainside development, Town Mountain's music is sincere, honest, and heartfelt. They've played national festival stages like Merlefest (where the shared the stage with Jim Lauderdale during his bluegrass set this year), Rockygrass, and Pickathon. Full schedule of summer tour dates below.

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ON TOUR:

May 13-14 - Aiken Bluegrass Festival - Aiken, SC

May 21 - Birdfest - Panola, SC

May 29 - White Squirrel Festival - Brevard, NC

June 2 - Avogadro's Number - Fort Collins, CO

June 3 - Gold Hill Inn - Gold Hill, CO

June 4-5 - Pagosa Folk 'N Bluegrass Festival - Pagosa Springs, CO

June 8 - Music City Roots - Nashville, TN

June 9-10 - Festival of the Bluegrass - Lexington, KY

June 15 - The Mast Farm Inn - Banner Elk, NC

June 18 - Mo Daddys - Asheville, NC

June 30 - WDVX Blue Plate Special - Knoxville, TN

July 1- The Station Inn - Nashville, TN

July 2 - Music on the Square - Jonesborough, TN

July 7 - Ulrich Museum at Wichita State University - Wichita, KS

July 8 - Salida Cafe - Salida, CO

July 9 - Crested Butte Music Festival - Crested Butte, CO

July 13 - Bunning Park Concert Series - Rock Springs, WY

July 15 - Bluegrass on the Bay - Great Falls, MT

July 16 - The Summer Music Festival at Roseberry - McCall, ID

July 18 - St. Maries Council for the Arts Concert Series - St. Maries, ID

July 19-21 - McMenamin's Old St. Francis School - Bend, OR

July 22-23 - Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival - Stevenson, WA

July 28 - Top of the Rockies Ralley - Paonia, CO

July 29 - Oskar Blues - Lyons, CO

July 31 - Fiddles, Vittles, and Vino Festival - Colorado Springs, CO

August 11 - River Jam Concert Series - Charlotte, NC

September 16 - Downtown After 5 - Asheville, NC

September 22-23 - Jammin' at Hippie Jacks - Crawford, TN

October 8 - Blue Ridge Big Sky - Moravian Falls, NC

Denver Botanic Gardens and Swallow Hill Music, the Gardens’ concert promotions partner, today announce the 2011 Summer Concert Series lineup. Situated inside of the gates of one of the nation’s top botanic gardens, the 2011 Summer Concert Series at Denver Botanic Gardens’ UMB Bank Amphitheater offers an unrivaled ambience of thousands of blooming plants and the crystal clear music of some of the world’s most sought-after artists.

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The 2011 Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series schedule is as follows:

June 1 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

June 14 Dr. John & the Lower 911 & Mavis Staples

July 8 Chris Isaak

July 14 Natalie MacMaster & Great Big Sea

July 15 Allen Toussaint & The Dirty Dozen Brass Band & Buckwheat Zydeco

July 21 India.Arie & Idan Raichel

July 22 Chris Botti

July 24 Bruce Hornsby & the Nosiemakers and Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
(@ Chatfield Green at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield)

July 29 Rosanne Cash w/ Nina Storey

Aug. 4 k.d. lang & The Siss Boom

Aug. 7 Keb’ Mo'

Aug. 9 David Sanborn, George Duke & Marcus Miller

Aug. 21 B.B. King

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Ticket sales for Denver Botanic Gardens members begin on April 25, 2011, April 29, 2011 for Swallow Hill Music members, and May 2 for the General Public. Membership to the Gardens or Swallow Hill Music does not guarantee availability of tickets.

Purchase tickets online or by phone or via the phone @ 1-877-435-9849 (convenience fees apply to phone orders)

The 2011 Summer Concert Series at Denver Botanic Gardens is presented by UMB Bank.

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About Denver Botanic Gardens:

Green inside and out, the Gardens is considered one of the top botanical gardens in the United States and a pioneer in water conservation. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Gardens’ living collections encompass specimens from the tropics to the tundra, showcasing a plant palette chosen to thrive in Colorado’s semi-arid climate. The Gardens' dynamic, 23-acre urban oasis in the heart of the city is now in its 52nd year, offering unforgettable opportunities to flourish with unique garden experiences for the whole family – as well as world-class education and plant conservation research programs. Additional sites at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, a 750-acre wildlife and native plant refuge in Jefferson County; and Mount Goliath, a high-altitude trail and interpretive site on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway, extend this experience throughout the Front Range. For more information, visit us online.