Multi-reedist and composer Mike MCGINNIS IS A MUSICAL EXPLORER UNBOUND
BY STYLISTIC BARRIERS, unwaveringly individual, curious, and
open-minded. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, MCGINNIS CAN SWING IN
THE STRAIGHT AHEAD TRADITION, improvise on the most distant edge of
the avant-garde, or navigate the meticulous turns of a contemporary
classical composition. With every new release, he further reveals his
passion for traversing musical genres. As a composer, MCGINNIS
SKILLFULLY BLURS THESE BOUNDARIES, working from a deeply imaginative
space that has led DownBeat magazine to hail him as “a bold musician
who… follows the road less traveled."McGinnis’ penchant for
experimentation has led him to work with a dizzyingly impressive array
of artists – from jazz innovators like Anthony Braxton, Alice and
Ravi Coltrane, Hank Roberts, Ben Goldberg, Steve Coleman, and Lonnie
Plaxico, to indie rock mainstays Yo La Tengo, to the Afro-Baroque Stew
& the Negro Problem. He has performed on Broadway in the Tony-winning
show Fela!, has co-led several ensembles, and has appeared as a
soloist or sideman on over 60 recordings. For three consecutive years
he has been listed in the Clarinet “Rising Star” category by the
DownBeat magazine international critics poll.
In April of 2017, in his 20th year on the New York City jazz scene, he
is releasing his fourth album as a leader. For Recurring Dream
(Sunnyside) McGinnis brought together two of his musical heroes, Art
Lande and Steve Swallow who had not played together in over 40 years.
The album consists of originals by each of them along with two covers
and improvisations. His goal was to capture the sound of three
sympathetic and like-minded musicians playing easily, relaxed and
authentically. McGinnis will make his debut at one of NYC’s most
prestigious jazz venues, the Jazz Standard with Lande and Swallow.
McGinnis’ personal vision has been evident since his 2000 debut
release, Tangents (RKM), but perhaps no more than on two critically
acclaimed 2013 releases that highlight his deep commitment to
stylistic diversity and collaboration. Road*Trip (RKM) and Ängsudden
Song Cycle (482 Music) both feature extended compositions that
showcase McGinnis as composer and improviser. For Road*Trip, McGinnis
worked with West coast jazz legend Bill Smith to plot a course through
Smith’s deceptively complex “Concerto for Clarinet and Combo” ;
and at Smith's urging, McGinnis wrote “Road*Trip for Clarinet & 9
Players”. The album received a rare 4½ stars from DownBeat
magazine, was named one of the 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2013 by the
Village Voice, and was described by WNYC’s David Garland as “full
of adventure, surprises, and beautiful vistas."
In the dramatically different Ängsudden Song Cycle (482 Music),
McGinnis found inspiration in the work of his longtime friend
Filipino-American visual artist MuKha. The album, a tone poem that
depicts the sonic landscape bridging a Swedish archipelago and the
woods of McGinnis’ home state of Maine, evokes the strange silences
and plaintive sounds of a forest in winter. The piece was described as
a “poetically driven artistic statement” featuring “achingly
beautiful arrangements” by Elliot Simon of the NYC Jazz Record,
which named the LP release concert for Ängsudden Song Cycle one of
the best live performances in New York City in 2013.
McGinnis’ musical daring has been recognized outside the jazz world
as well and he has received commissions as varied as his own colorful
palette, including creating music for the choreography of his wife,
acclaimed dancer/choreographer, Davalois Fearon which was premiered at
the Joyce Theater in January 2016. In 2015 he was commissioned by the
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia to compose music based on emotions, in a collaboration with
renowned brain scientist Pierre Magistretti. McGinnis’ music has
appeared in film, including for Ang Lee’s 2009 Taking Woodstock and
the recently-released Christopher Walken comedy One More Time.
McGinnis, who has performed extensively throughout the United States
and the world, is a Selmer Paris performing artist. He plays Selmer
saxophones and clarinets and Bill Street mouthpieces exclusively.
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29/05/2020 Last update