mushroom jazz

30 Jazz Mafia

GUITARRA FLAMENCA - 3

MIXER JAZZ MIX02

MOBtet

instrumental jazz / free jazz

Tu Canción en Mi Guitarra

Hallelujah (feat. Pastora Lara)

Rental Skates - 01/17/14

SENTIMIENTOS NUEVOS

Cueva Del Sonido(Granaina)

Julián Monzón: Guitarra Rítmica
Gonzalo Romero Mansur: 1era guitarra
Luís Esteban Martínez Moulín: Bajo
Gerardo Bustamante: Batería

Voces: María Belén Martínez Moulín; Nazarena Vidal; Davina Marcón

Mood Indigo

Germán Bustamante: Batería
Gonzalo Romero Mansur: 1er guitarra
Luís Esteban Martínez Moulín: Bajo
Julián Monzón: Guitarra
Nazarena Vidal: Voz
María Belén Martínez Moulín: Voz
Davina Marcón: Voz

Get Back

Come Together

All Of Me

A Night In Tunisia

Day 2 
song: Shotgun Boogie
artist: The Shotgun Wedding Quintet

Shotgun Boogie is a song made popular in the 1950s by Cab Calloway, written by Tennessee Ernie Ford. In 2011, Jazz Mafia’s Shotgun Wedding Quintet was invited to create and perform our interpretations of Calloway's music at the Hotplate series produced by SFJAZZ. Even though we were on a 2 month tour, we had to take the opportunity because we thought it was such a perfect fit. In much of my spare time I had my laptop open in the van and was chopping up old Calloway recordings, making new beats, bending them into new compositions, reworking the old ones, basically just doing our Shotgun Quintet thing to these songs. Dublin is a perfect fit for this project and dove in head first as well. 

The Hotplate event turned out to be a major success in many ways. Somehow we managed to get a 10 song set together and rehearsed and I was really happy with the wide range of music in it and how it featured the unique players in the group. We had recently done a gig with Digital Underground and invited Shock G to come by; much to our surprise the one and only Humpty Hump appeared along with legendary Bay Area rapper Ray Luv, who is Cab Calloways grandson! Yes, it was a very memorable, unique night! I still have my Humpty Glasses/nose that Shock gave me!  Here’s some footage of the show:
https://youtu.be/DxB59mwcG4s

In 2013 we went into Bird and Egg studios and recorded some of our favorite Cab Calloway reworkings in a really memorable live session. Everyone in the band was spitting hot fire and Joe Bagale did a great job of capturing the magic in that awesome studio.

This song has got a serious hillbilly twang to it, so it’s even more bizarre having a post millennium eclectic Hip-Hop group doing a fusion-Jazz version of it but we had a wild time with this! Guitarist Jon Monahan kicks it off with a wild solo over Brandon Werlin’s complicated drum pattern while the horns play avant-garde swells and effects. Once the groove comes in you can hear the blues progression and the connection to music from the mid 20th century a little more. I also hear a bit of the groove from Jay Z’s “Takeover” on our chorus groove, interesting how that crept in!

Joe Cohen takes an insane sax solo and you can hear the band getting ultra-inspired with by his pyrotechnics. 

We have more recordings from this night so maybe you will hear some more coming your way soon!

Adam

Here’s the original Cab Calloway Version:
https://youtu.be/vrRTYjSYCDE

personnel:
Dublin - vocals
Adam Theis - arranger, bass, trombone
Joe Cohen - sax
Rich Armstrong - trumpet
Jon Monahan - guitar
Brandon Werlin - drums


The Shotgun  Wedding Quintet - Shotgun Boogie

Day 3
song: Safe To Say
artist: Adam Theis & Cosa Nostra Strings
written by Adam Theis

Personnel
Shaina Evoniuk - violin
Keith Lawrence -viola
Lewis Pazner - cello
Adam Theis - trombone
Aaron Kierbel - cajon/percussion

Recorded 1.27.16 at Jazz Mafia Compound.
Engineered by Chris Fletcher
Mixed and Mastered  by Chris Fletcher

Cosa Nostra Strings - Safe To Say

Day 4
song: Whoopin’ Blues
artist: Brass Mafia

Personnel
Mike Olmos - trumpet
Joe Cohen - tenor sax
Danny Grewen - trombone
Colin Hogan - B3 organ
Adam Theis - sousaphone
Pat Korte - drums

Recorded in 2008 at Coast Recorders 
Engineered by Sebastian “Seabass” Richard
Mixed and Mastered by Chris “Fletch” Fletcher

Since it’s Mardi Gras right now, we figured it would only be appropriate to bring you some of our brass band stylings. From now until Fat Tuesday, we’ll be giving you a bunch of horn-heavy new and unreleased tracks!

“Whoopin Blues” is a traditional New Orleans song that has been played by virtually every brass band and we had a grand ol’ time putting our own spin on it. Joe Cohen, Mike Olmos and Colin Hogan all take some ripping solos on this and you can almost see us all jumping around and being silly through the sounds of this recording. Props to our drummer Pat Korte who really lays down a mean 2nd line groove on this, without the usual 2 drummers of a typical brass band..

I remember when we were in the studio the first night, I got some weird allergic reaction to something and my face started swelling up like crazy! At first, when we were cutting this song, it was just kinda annoying but manageable. Next, it got to the point where it was effecting my vision, no biggie, the show must go on! After that, it got so uncomfortable that I couldn’t really play the tuba with my face so puffy, so I got out a bass and we kept recording that way. The session came to an abrupt end when my throat started swelling a little - I knew it was probably not a big deal but didn’t want to risk it with the whole not being able to breathe thing, so Joe took me straight to the E.R. and hung there with me for hours. Thanks Joe! 

We ended up recording the next day as well and then going back into Coast later that year and doing a bunch of very challenging originals. Many of these tunes will be released this month in the 30 tracks event. 

Happy Mardi Gras y’all!
Adam

Whoopin Blues - Brass Mafia

Engineered by Chris “Fletch” Fletcher
Mixed and Mastered by Chris “Fletch” Fletcher

It’s Mardi Gras and until Fat Tuesday, we will be releasing Brass Band music each day! This tune is another Brass Mafia track that we recorded in our 2nd round of sessions at Coast Recorders in 2007. It was arranged by Joe Cohen and is one of Brass Mafia’s signature mash-ups. Brass Bands often do covers, usually of 70s Funk, or Hip-Hop tunes; Joe’s idea to take an early electronica tune by Kraftwerk and put it in the Brass realm is still brilliant.  The band never does it the same way twice and you can hear on this recording, instead of the horns “soloing” they each come up with different 80s songs to quote and the others have to jump in. This always keeps the guys on their toes, especially when it’s a more obscure 80s tune that they might not be as familiar with! I love Joel’s toy piano playing on this, too classic!

Listen to the original song by KRAFTWERK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHv4u8Vomw

Thanks for listening! 

Adam

The Model - Brass Mafia

Day 8
song: $500 Song
artist: Adam Theis MOBtet    
personnel:
Adam Theis - trombone
Daniel Casares - sax
Kevin Wong - keys/synth bass
Joe Bagale - drums

recorded 1/24/2016 ay Jazz Mafia Compound
engineered by Joe Bagale
mixed and mastered by Joe Bagale

The story of $500 song….where do I start? Well, it’s easy, I start this past summer, in Europe! It was on my first European trip and it was unreal. In addition to seeing all the sights and being a tourist, I had my horn and every day I’d go to different beautiful places to practice, play and create new song ideas if one came. One day, not much different than the others, I was just sitting in an empty  park in Barcelona, in the sun, playing the trombone on a bench away from any people. A new song idea came to me, so I did what I often do, I got my iphone out to record the idea. As soon as I pressed the record button, closed my eyes and started jamming on the riff, the tune seemed to take shape naturally and the ideas were free flowing. If you are a writer, this is THE PLACE you want to be! I played for about 3 minutes until I felt like I had an arrangement and an ending. I was in the zone and felt so lucky to have been inspired, to be sitting in such a beautiful place so far from home, to be able to simply play my horn. As I took the horn from my lips and opened my eyes, I reached down for my phone to stop the recording...PHONE GONE!!!! 

I had been warned that Barcelona had some of the craftiest pickpockets in Europe. The inspiration of the moment took over my better judgement and I let my guard down. Being in Europe for the next 3 weeks with no phone was actually kinda awesome, so thanks pickpocket! Coming back home and having to pay $500 for a new iphone, was NOT awesome.

$500 Song - Adam Theis MOBtet

Day 6
song: Brass Mafia Theme
artist: Brass Mafia

recorded 2006 at Coast Recorders
engineered by Sebastian “Seabass” Richard
mixed by Chris “Fletch” Fletcher

Personnel
Mike Olmos - trumpet
Joe Cohen - tenor sax
Danny Grewen - trombone
Colin Hogan - B3 organ
Adam Theis - sousaphone
Pat Korte - drums

From the same session as “Whoopin’ Blues” where I had to cut the recording short and be taken to the emergency room! Ah , the memories : ) This was the first original tune I wrote for Brass Mafia and what really begun my exploration into more modern ways to use the ensemble. The tune starts out sounding like a jazz-funk tune, definitely some quirky chords and stuff but nothing too out of the norm but around 2 minutes the mood changes drastically and we enter into another world not often explored by brass bands. I think I’d recently seen Skerik’s “Syncopated Taint Septet” which influenced this section a lot with their mixing of B3 Organ/Rock-heavy drums and lots of brass. This was also one of the first time that I used the “slow down” effect, something that has become one of my favorite arranging devices for “warping” the rhythmic feel and creating a cliff-hanging tension. I love that we had Colin Hogan playing B3 organ on this, it fits so well into the brass band sound.
Yes, that’s a rare sighting of Joe Cohen on the BARI sax! Checkout the super chunky doubling of the Sousaphone and Bari in the rock section. ARRRRGH! Sounds like a bulldozer knocking over a McMansion!

If you like it, please share and spread the word! Thanks     - Adam

Brass Mafia Theme - Brass Mafia

Day 16
song: Stardust Tempest
artist: Adam Theis MOBtet

personnel:
Adam Theis - trombone
Daniel Casares - sax
Kevin Wong - keys/synth bass
Joe Bagale - drums

    This piece suite was composed for a collaboration with the 18 piece Realistic Orchestra and 3 dancers for a “Space” themed show at Treat Social Club, an experimental performance-art series I started in 2013. I came up for many of the melodies and rhythms by using samples from the newly-available “NASA sound library”. For the structure I was inspired heavily by dancer Shannon Gaines (Vau De Vire) who provided me with an outline for what she was envisioning; she included tempos for various sections and numbers of bars and lengths for what she was thinking for her choreography. I think some composers might be uncomfortable with a dancer dictating these terms to them but for me it’s a challenge that I really enjoy and it always yields fresh new results.
    For the past year I’ve been performing this one live occasionally with my quartet and it’s always a really exciting challenge to navigate through the various sections, time changes, key changes, odd-length phrases etc…Everyone in the band gets to do their thing on this and I thought it would be a perfect song to capture live in the studio for this project. I’ll be posting video of this soon, when I have some “extra” time.

recorded 1/24/2016 ay Jazz Mafia Compound
engineered by Joe Bagale
mixed and mastered by Joe Bagale
©2016 Jazz Mafia Recordings

Stardust Tempest - Adam Theis MOBtet

Day 19

song: Crazin For U
artist: Adam Theis feat. Matt Wong
written and produced by Adam Theis

Just a simple, pretty, melodic song. Thanks to Matt Wong for playing such beautifully soulful piano on this! 

personnel:
Matt Wong - piano
Adam Theis - trombone, upright bass, cajon, percussion

recorded at Jazz Mafia Compound Jan/Feb 2016
piano recorded at Ed & Steve's Thanks guys!
mixed and mastered by Chris Fletcher
©Jazz Mafia Recordings 2016


Crazin For U - feat. Matt Wong

El Sendero De Lo Imposible

Distancia (Taranta)

El Sendero De Lo Imposible (Soleá)

Downtempo Forest 25 - Kauai Plate Lunch Edition - 02/2010

...zur Abwechslung mal ein wenig German Rap der nicht alzu alten Schule.. Es geht von Frankfurt nach Heidelberg und wieder zurück.....ist gedacht für Momente in den der Kopf kurz vorm Überlaufen steht und nicht leer werden will...;)

an alternative: ... a little bit of German not to old "old school"-rap.. 
It goes from Frankfurt to Heidelberg and back again ..... is for moments in which the head is just in front of the overflow, and will and will not get empty ...;)

Think about set (D-hiphop)

Die Zusammenstellung beinhaltet wie man dem Namen entnehmen kann eine kleine Reise durch meine English Plattenkisten Ecke...! Bitte vor dieser akustischen Expidition einfach Namen entsprechend zurück lehnen und Genießen ...! Danke ;) set at @ home on the plattenteller ;) aber vor langer langer zeit....;)

The compilation includes how to remove the name of a little journey through my English record boxes corner ...! Please read before this acoustic expidition simply lay back and enjoy corresponding names ...! Thank you;) set at @ home on the turntables;) .... but a long long time;)

Lean Back & Relax Mix

La Guitarra en el Tiempo

Punta y Tacón (Farruca), Del Maestro Sabicas

Risky jazz 4-25-13

Founded in 2000, the collective known as Jazz Mafia is one of the most ubiquitous names in innovate music on the West Coast, including such artists as: The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Realistic Orchestra, Joe Bagale, Jazz Mafia Symphony, Brass Bows & Beats and founder Adam Theis. 
 This talented group of musicians seamlessly combines Latin polyrhythms, boom-bap rhymes, melancholy ballads, swinging jazz and blistering solos, while at the same time adhering to symphonic structural elements. All spun together in the spirit of a Jazz Era big band- but conducted with a maestro's sense of timing, timbre, and mood- the experience is akin to watching the New York Philharmonic back a street corner B-Boy battle in the heart of downtown Oakland.

The "Brass, Bows & Beats" premiere sold out two shows at the Palace Of Fine Arts as well a sold out a six-show run at Yoshi's in San Francisco. The 60 piece incarnation of Jazz Mafia's "Brass, Bows & Beats" that premiered at the Palace of Fine Arts was recorded and released as a live album in June 2010. 2010 has been a break through year for Jazz Mafia, with performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival (Hollywood Bowl), and the Monterey Jazz Festival. 

The original 60-piece Palace ensemble can be pared down to a tighter core of 40 to accommodate and emphasize more intimate settings. The piece marks a coming of age for The Jazz Mafia as a new voice in composition. Jazz Mafia Symphony is a monumental achievement displaying an exciting barrage of compositional elements, which the composers ingeniously weave together through a complex blend of skill, talent and courage. An eager and quickly growing global audience awaits their further contributions. A creative force on the Bay Area music scene for more than a decade, the loose-knit band of jazz cats, MCs, arrangers and composers known collectively as The Jazz Mafia, is fast emerging as the most prolific musical organization on the West Coast. Launching some of the Bay Area's most innovative and stylistically expansive ensembles, these musicians contribute their varied talents to a cross-cultural mix of new beats and melodies, blended with instrumental virtuosity. The Jazz Mafia Horns have recorded in the studio with Carlos Santana and backed artists such as Zion-I, KRS One, and Thomas Dolby. Other bands in the JM pantheon include The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, the incredible Realistic Orchestra, Supertaster with Joe Bagale, Brass Mafia, Jazz Mafia Trio, Spaceheater, and The Shotgun Wedding Hip Hop Symphony. With top-tier brass players and an always premium rhythm section, and dealing in jazz, funk, hip hop, soul, R&B and more, The Jazz Mafia form one of the most powerful assemblies of virtuosic performers on the West Coast.