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The Kevin Frenette 4: Connections
(fsm 1781-2)

Kevin Frenette – guitar | Andy McWain – piano | Todd Keating – bass | Tatsuya Nakatani – percussion

Tracklist: 1. connections (6:36) 2. network theory (8:12) 3. logic synthesis (4:00) 4. correlation coefficient (6:22) 5. amalgamation (7:49) 6. combinatorial mathematics (9:06) 7. merger doctrine (3:49)

Produced by Kevin Frenette and Andy McWain. Recorded August 27, 2006 by Michael Cagliaone at 7A West Studios, Charlestown, MA. Mixed and mastered by Kevin Frenette. All tracks are collective improvisations by Frenette / McWain / Keating / Nakatani and published by Fuller Street Music (ASCAP). Graphic Design by Lisa Frenette.

“Featuring Kevin Frenette on guitar, Andy McWain on piano, Todd Keating on bass and Tatsuya Nakatani on drums. I am previously familiar with just 2 members of this quartet. Boston pianist, Andy McWain, has had a couple of strong discs on this same label, a quartet date with Assif Tsahar and a trio with Albey Balgochian & Lawrence Cook that I reviewed. Former Boston-based percussion wiz, Tatsuya Nakatani, remains one of the best and most distinctive of all improvising drummers and moved to Pennsylvania a couple of years back. Although Kevin has nice round jazz guitar tone, his playing is quite free and focused. Both he and pianist, Andy McWain, have a special relationship as they swirl layers of notes around one another with a magical connection. The other magic is the way the acoustic bass and drums also swirl freely at an astonishing pace that is sparse and well-connected simultaneously. It is as is there are two incredible duos playing at the same time yet they are subliminally always connected. I had to play the first piece again, since there was so much going on to hear in one sitting. I dig that Tatsuya is not a jazz drummer per se and never worries about having to swing, instead he keeps up an ongoing dialogue that is fresh and often surprising. Tatsuya unique approach features much, rubbing, bowing and thin sticks on the drums and cymbals. He is ever so restrained and crafty, never covering any of the other sounds that the rest of this magical quartet provides. I find this music to be rich in colors and textures, like a wonderful dream world being revealed. It never ceases to amaze when incredible music comes from voices mostly unknown.” Bruce Lee Gallanter – Downtown Music Gallery (NYC)

kevin.jpgKevin Frenette began playing music at the age of eleven and began working professionally in the 1990s. He studied guitar, composition, and music theory at UMASS-Dartmouth where h

e received a BA in Theory/Composition and has performed throughout the Northeast USA making music that is inspired by both contemporary improvisation and avant-garde jazz. He has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Tatsuya Nakatani, Jack Wright, Joe Giardullo, Pandelis Karayorgis, Andy McWain, Forbes Graham, Luther Gray, Jane Wang, James Rohr, Gordon Allen, Sarah Weaver, Harvey Sorgen, Brian Melick, Michael Snow, Dan DeChellis, Gwen Laster, Larry Packer, Martha Colby, Lori Freedman, David Gamper, Al Margolis, Ryan McGuire, Jeff Kimmel, Adam Dotson, Joe Moffett, Chris Vellieux, Ricardo Donoso, Jules Vasylenko, Jonathan LaMaster, Andrew Hickman, Eric Platz, Todd Keating and Gabe Cabral. In 2007, Fuller Street Music released Kevin’s first date as a leader: Connections. That album featured Frenette with Tatsuya Nakatani on percussion, Andy McWain on piano and Todd Keating on bass. Please visit his website here…

tatsuya.jpgTatsuya Nakatani, originally from Kobe and Osaka, Japan, internationally renowned percussionist has toured extensively throughout the world, having performed in approximately 80 cities and 10 countries. Utilizing drumset, gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, sticks and bows, he creates collages of sound, which combine the sense of space and beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music with the extended techniques of New Music, yet with great energy and intensity. Although his music defies category or genre, it can be viewed as a cross-culture mixture of improvised music, experimental music, jazz, free jazz, and rock. In addition to live solo and ensemble performances, he has provided sound design for films and television projects. The latest of these was the performance of an improvised sound score for silent movie “The Water Magician” (1933, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi), which was part of exhibition of Hiroshi Sugimoto Photograph at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He is the recent recipient of The Bronx Arts Council Individual Artist grant. Also he has been selected PennPAT Artist Roster 2007 (Pennsylvania Performing Art on Tour). In addition to his work as a percussionist, Nakatani heads H&H Production, an independent record label and recording studio based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Please visit his website here…

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Andy McWain, Boston-born improvising pianist/composer has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Karl Berger, Assif Tsahar, Tiger Okoshi, Santi Debriano, Brian Melvin, Daniel Levin, Tatsuya Nakatani, John Dirac, Jorrit Dijkstra, Hafez Modirzadeh, Albey Balgochian, Laurence Cook, Dino Govoni, Luther Gray, Jim Robitaille, Brooke Sofferman, Bruno Raberg, Reuben Radding, Dennis Warren’s Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble, and the Zen Bastards, among others. He studied at UMass-Dartmouth, the Aspen Music School, and the New England Conservatory of Music (M.M., composition), and participated in artist residencies at Yaddo (NY), the Atlantic Center for the Arts (FL) with Butch Morris, and the Akiyoshidai International Art Village (JPN). McWain also founded and produces the Audible Think Improvised Music Series in Massachusetts. Recent gigs include three months in early 2006 in a jazz quintet house band at the club _Number Five_ in Shanghai, China. McWain’s recordings include his quartet debut STARFISH with saxophonist Assif Tsahar, bassist Noah Jarrett, and drummer Chris Poudrer. In December, the trio recording McWain-Balgochian-Cook: VIGIL was released and features McWain with Albey Balgochian (Cecil Taylor’s current bassist), and veteran drummer Laurence Cook (Bill Dixon, Sabir Mateen, Paul Bley). The recording Andy McWain Ensemble: RESEMBLANCE will be released this spring. It features eight musicians (including Sofia Koutsovitis, Assif Tsahar, Rick Britto, Chris Poudrier, Jeremy Udden, David Landoni, and Albey Balgochian) in various combinations from solo piano, duos, and trios to sextet.

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As a composer, he has written concert, jazz, and (some) theater music, and has received grants, honors, and awards from the American Music Center, ASCAP, Meet the Composer/New England, and the American Composers Forum/Boston Chapter. His recent creative efforts include hybrid concert/improvised works. These include “Impervious to Weather” (2004), premiered by violinist Joanna Kurkowicz and a composer-led trio of piano, bass, and saxophone, and “Sovereignty” (2005) premiered by the Radius Ensemble with the composer at the piano. In December ’05, he made a live recording (at the Audible Think Improvised Music Series) with the Andy McWain Ensemble (McWain: elec pno; Marcus Monteiro: alto sax; Jim Robitaille: gtr; Sean Farias: bass; and Brooke Sofferman: drums). He has also recently recorded sessions for a new Hilary Noble Quartet project, a duo/trio project with cellist Daniel Levin, the Kevin Frenette 4 (with Tatsuya Nakatani) and a group project called Gryllus. Please visit his website here…

Fuller Street Music : Indie music label featuring avant jazz, free improv, and other hybrid forms of music (world, concert, etc). CD’s are available online through CD Baby, Jazz Loft, Amazon.com, Tower Records.com, and others, and at fine music retailers around the country including Downtown Music Gallery (NYC), Jazz Record Mart (Chicago), and distributed by North Country Distribution (USA). Digital Downloads of this music on the web is available on iTunes Music Store, Rhapsody, and many others.

listen to The Kevin Frenette 4 | merger doctrine

Buy Kevin Frenette – The Kevin Frenette 4 here…

Kevin Frenette Quartet live at The Attleboro Arts Museum on April 9, 2008.

Kevin Frenette – guitar | Forbes Graham – trumpet | Andrew Eisenberg – percussion | Ryan McGuire – bass | Video shot by Lillian Schrank | www.lillianhelenschrank.net