MNMP has released two critically acclaimed recordings on the award winning Soul Note jazz label.
Descriptions, personnel, sound clips, and ordering info can be accessed through the links below.
MNMP has since recorded two more CDs of recent works by late founding director Paul Nash, one of which was released in Fall 2007 on MNMP Records, the second one to follow in Spring 2008:
 
AVANT NOIR & JAZZ CYCLES
TWO POSTHUMOUS RELEASES BY JAZZ COMPOSER PAUL NASH AND HIS MANHATTAN NEW MUSIC PROJECT
 
In summer of 2004, faced with the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor, Bronx born Jazz composer Paul Nash embarked on the journey of recording and archiving what he could of his life’s work, called his band together and went to work with producer Julia Reinhart.
Present are the two first releases to emerge from this endeavor, Avant Noir and Jazz Cycles. Distribution for these records is currently being sought.
The ten compositions presented on Avant Noir combine Mr. Nash’s flair for avant-garde Jazz with sonic textures well known from soundtracks of the film noir genre. This collection includes older pieces never previously recorded as well as new compositions. From the daring arrangement of the Kaper/Webster classic Invitation to soft spoken ballads such as Ballad for Bill Evans, Turning Light or Logo Rhythm, Nash’s sixth album release showcases some of his most complex and yet most accessible writing and presents the culmination of his life long effort to harvest musical ideas and elements from an eclectic array of sources. E.g., Echoes started from an idea suggestive of some classic 60’s Herbie Hancock during his Maiden Voyage period while Marta’s Dance combines Salsa Rhythms with easy going solos. The Manhattan New Music Project delivers some of its finest playing with the following line-up:
Solo trumpet: Jack Walrath (Charles Mingus, Ray Charles, Glen Ferris)
Section trumpet: Richard Vitale (Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Buddy Rich Big Band, Count Basie Orchestra
Tenor, Alt & Soprano Saxes: Adam Kolker (Ray Baretto, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider Big Band)
Alto, Soprano Saxes, Flute, Clarinet: Bruce Williamson (Bobby McFerrin, Mark Isham, Randy Brecker)
Trombone: David Taylor (Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra)
French Horn: Chris Komer (McCoy Tyner, Harry Connick Jr., J.J. Johnson)
Piano: Armen Donelian (Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, John Scofield)
Guitar: Vic Juris (Richie Cole, Dizzie Gillespie, John Abercrombie)
Bass: Jeffrey Carney (Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Dewey Redman)
Drums: Grisha Alexiev (Gunther Schuller, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker)
Percussion: Diana Herold (Tony Trischka, Rob Henke, Chuck Clark)
Jazz Cycles (Purchase CD, Get Digital Download) continues the strength of Nash’s writing in a one-hour concept piece that takes the listener through the development of different jazz styles. It combines a variety of musical elements developed over a 30-year period. Finally recorded in a single 6-hour session on December 6th, 2004, it would mark the last time, Nash would ever enter a recording studio. Propelled forward by the rock-driven drumming of Grisha Alexiev, the band combines a tight cohesion in rhythm and horn section in scripted parts such as Nigh Fflight and Outside In with a free flowing spirit during solos and improvised parts of the piece such as Strange Rife and Tamalpais Night. The line-up for this record includes:
Trumpet: Shane Endsley (Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi)
Alto and Soprano Sax: Bruce Williamson (Bobby McFerrin, Mark Isham, Randy Brecker)
Tenor Sax: Tim Ries (Rolling Stones, Phil Woods, Tom Harrell, Al Foster, John Patitucci)
Piano: Jim Ridl (Pat Martino, Dave Liebman, Denis DiBlasio)
Guitar: Vic Juris (Richie Cole, Dizzie Gillespie, John Abercrombie)
Bass: Jay Anderson (Paul Bley, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Bob Mintzer, Mike Stern)
Drums: Grisha Alexiev (Gunther Schuller, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker)
Born in the Bronx, Paul Nash's musical career began when his teenage rock band performed at the Café Wha? In Greenwhich Village, opening for the Blues Project and following a then unknown guitarist named Jimi Hendrix. Nash graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1972 and earned a Masters in Composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1976. Moving to San Francisco, Nash formed the ten-piece Paul Nash Ensemble, which featured drummer Eddie Marshall and trumpeter Mark Isham. He was co-founder of Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra in 1987. In 1990, Nash returned to New York City to establish the Manhattan New Music Project, an ensemble of like-minded composers and performers of forward-thinking and daring Jazz. His orchestral compositions have been performed by the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Aspen Music Festival, the Chamber Symphony of San Francisco, The Reading Symphony in Pennsylvania and at the Aspen Music Festival. Five previous albums were released by Nash between the years 1979 and 2000, featuring such noted jazz artists such as Tom Harrell, Jack Walrath, Tom Varner, David Samuels, Mark Isham, Vic Juris and Art Lande. An accomplished guitarist (who performed on custom-made, seven stringed acoustic and electric guitars), Nash is also the author of two books on rythym structure and guitar fingering and the forthcoming Fingerstyle Jazz Workbook.
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