{"id":9973,"date":"2017-10-31T21:47:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T20:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asmm.fr\/?p=9973"},"modified":"2024-09-10T15:44:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T13:44:00","slug":"raul-midon-concert-masterclass-at-the-american-school-of-modern-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asmm.fr\/en\/raul-midon-concert-masterclass-at-the-american-school-of-modern-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Raul Midon Concert + Masterclass at the American School of Modern Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American School of Modern Music have the great pleasure to welcome Raul Mid\u00f3n<\/a> for a Master-Class and a unique concert in France <\/span><\/span>with his trio on Wednesday, November 15th at La Petite Halle in La Villette!<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets: https:\/\/www.billetweb.fr\/raul-midon<\/a><\/p>\n

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Ever since the 20th century turned into the 21st, singer-songwriter and guitarist Raul Mid\u00f3n has earned renown as one of music\u2019s most distinctive and searching voices \u2013 \u201ca one-man band\u2026 who is spiritually connected,\u201d according to The New York Times<\/em>, and \u201can eclectic adventurist,\u201d in the words of People magazine. The New Mexico native, blind since birth, has released eight albums since 1999, including the acclaimed studio productions Don\u2019t Hesitate<\/em> (Mack Avenue\/Artistry, 2014), Synthesis<\/em> (Decca\/Universal, 2009), A World Within a World<\/em>(Manhattan\/EMI, 2007) and State of Mind<\/em> (Manhattan\/EMI, 2005). Mid\u00f3n\u2019s questing musicality makes him, as the Huffington Post<\/em> put it, \u201ca free man beyond category.\u201d Attesting to his enduring ambitions is Mid\u00f3n\u2019s ninth studio album, Bad Ass and Blind<\/strong><\/em>, set for release via Mack Avenue\/Artistry Music on March 24, 2017.<\/p>\n

Search for \u201cRaul Mid\u00f3n\u201d on YouTube and you\u2019ll find a clip of him appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman<\/em> in 2006. Performing \u201cState of Mind,\u201d the title track from his major-label debut, Mid\u00f3n unveils what would become his signature combination of silky tenor voice and percussive guitar style. His guitar playing is a syncopated, flamenco- and jazz-infused wonder in which bass, harmony and melodic lines fly from the fretboard in a way that seems to belie the fact that all the music is being produced by just two hands. If that weren\u2019t enough, Mid\u00f3n busts out his improvisational mouth-horn technique, in which he creates a bebop \u201ctrumpet\u201d solo entirely with his lips, earning himself a spontaneous burst of mid-song applause from the audience in the process. It\u2019s the sort of performance that led the Huffington Post to describe how \u201che plays with such freedom and joy that his hands smile.\u201d Billboard<\/em> called him, simply and aptly, \u201ca virtuoso.\u201d Subsequently, Mid\u00f3n\u2019s live 2016 rendition of John Coltrane\u2019s jazz classic \u201cGiant Steps\u201d \u2013 which sees him fly through all 12 keys \u2013 has earned more than 1.2 million views via Facebook.<\/p>\n

Mid\u00f3n\u2019s upcoming Bad Ass and Blind<\/strong><\/em> album \u00ac\u2013 the title a description of its maker that soul icon Bill Withers endorsed \u2013 finds the artist expanding his range compositionally, tapping into the linear modal harmony explored by such jazz composers as Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. Album highlight \u201cWings of Mind\u201d utilizes this technique with a sophistication that brings to mind jazz-savvy pop acts like Steely Dan. \u201cAs a listener, you don\u2019t need to know anything about the Phrygian or Dorian modes to get this music \u2013 it just sounds different, intriguing, exotic,\u201d Mid\u00f3n explains.<\/p>\n

In early 2016, the guitarist was invited to cross the U.S. as a featured artist in the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour company that also included the likes of jazz stars Nicholas Payton, Ravi Coltrane and Gerald Clayton. The tour culminated in a weeklong run at New York City\u2019s Birdland. It was an acclaimed live collaboration, with JazzTimes<\/em> remarking on how Mid\u00f3n became \u201cthe undeniable focus\u201d whenever he came onstage and praising his \u201cacrobatic\u2026 note-perfect\u201d performances, as well as the \u201cnew, swinging \u2018Wings of Mind\u2019.\u201d Inspired by his encounters with top jazz improvisers, Mid\u00f3n tapped some of the Monterey players to form a band for several tracks on Bad Ass and Blind<\/strong><\/em>, including \u201cAll That I Am,\u201d \u201cIf Only\u201d and \u201cWings of Mind,\u201d each complete with scintillating solos. \u201cIt was the realization of a dream to have my music performed by players of this caliber \u2013 they really took the tunes to a higher plane, adding their own art to the songs,\u201d says Mid\u00f3n, who produced the album himself. \u201cGuys like these are never just hired guns \u2013 listen to the killing trumpet solo Nicholas played on \u2018Wings of Mind\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are songs on Bad Ass and Blind<\/strong><\/em> sure to please fans of Mid\u00f3n\u2019s earlier albums, beginning with the title track, which in fact was written and recorded after the album was almost completed. The tour de force piece finds Mid\u00f3n celebrating blindness with a ripping guitar solo, a fierce spoken word rhyme, slamming bass by Richard Hammond (Hamilton) and drumming by Lionel Cordew (Spyro Gyra). Celebrating blindness continues with the naturally funky \u201cGotta Gotta Give\u201d featuring blind French musician Jean-Philippe Rykiel. The album also includes the philosophic, toe tapping \u201cPedal to the Metal,\u201d as well as the ballads \u201cYou & I\u201d and \u201cJack (Robert Lorick),\u201d the latter dedicated to the titular voice actor who moved Mid\u00f3n with his portrayal of Jack in the ZBS audio adventures \u201cJack Flanders.\u201d Another notable track on Bad Ass and Blind<\/em><\/strong> is Mid\u00f3n\u2019s multi-layered cover of the Steve Miller Band\u2019s FM staple \u201cFly Like an Eagle.\u201d As a boy, he bought the original LP featuring the song at a Woolworth\u2019s in Santa Fe, New Mexico. \u201cThe lyrics have some social consciousness, and there\u2019s a groove and simplicity about the song that I think are beautiful. I changed the key, re-harmonized it a bit, changed the tempo \u2013 customized the song for the way I feel it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the exploratory grasp of past and present represented by Bad Ass and Blind<\/em><\/strong>, Mid\u00f3n says: \u201cLike with all my records, this album is for those who are interested in going beyond notions of genre \u2013 it\u2019s for listeners with open ears, open minds, open hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n