Music
Press
“…fusion music in the best sense—an organic mixture of jazz, classical and world music that defies categorization.” - None
"Amidst the pulsing energy and virtuosity of this album, a refreshing and soaring lyricism stands out as perhaps Trio Globo's signature qualilty."
- None
"Trio Globo produces diverse, challenging music that is a fitting showcase for the instrumentalists' virtuosity and skill at group improvisation."
- None
"Eugene, Howard and Glen are magnificent players with distinct musical voices. Together they have a fresh new sound and offer a unique vision of the world of music." - None
"...consummate musicians at the peak of their artistic form." - None
"By using asymmetrical phrases and scales unfamiliar to Western ears as the basis for jazz improvisation, Trio Globo has begun to form a sound and an idiom of its own making. At first glance, this borrowing of rhythms and pitch sequences from foreign cultures may suggest "world music" at its most glib and superficial. Listen closely, though, and you'll perceive the depth and intellectual vigor of this recording."
- Howard Reich
Discography
2007 - Trio Globo, new CD, in production.
2007 - Trio Globo with Amikaeyla, in production.
1995 - Eugene Friesen, Howard Levy, Glen Velez (aka Trio Globo), CARNIVAL OF SOULS, Silver Wave - SD 904
1994 - Eugene Friesen, Howard Levy, Glen Velez, TRIO GLOBO, Silver Wave - SD - 806
Photos
Bio
Formed in 1993, Trio Globo has crafted a totally original voice in contemporary acoustic music with combustible spontaneity, rhythmic influences derived from six continents, and diverse musical roots that span jazz, classical and sacred traditions. Eugene (Paul Winter Consort), Howard (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Kenny Loggins, Paquito dRivera), and Glen (Paul Winter Consort, Steve Reich) bring three unique musical visions together to create original work that is instantly recognizable as their own.
EUGENE FRIESEN
Eugene Friesen, composer/cellist, is at the forefront of a new generation of musicians versed in classical, popular and world music. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, he is active as a performer, composer, teacher and recording artist.
Friesen's gift for the responsive flow of improvisatory music has been featured in concerts all over the world with the Paul Winter Consort, Trio Globo, and with poets Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Coleman Barks. He has performed as a soloist at the International Cello Festival in Manchester, England; Rencontres d'Ensembles de Violoncelles in Beauvais, France; International Cello Encounter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and at the World Cello Congress in Baltimore, Maryland.
His compositional credits include many albums of original music: Sono Miho; In The Shade Of Angels; New Friend; Arms Around You; The Song of Rivers; Grasslands, a symphony premiered on the Kansas prairie in 1997; Earth Requiem: Stories of Hope, an oratorio first performed in 1991; The Brementown Musicians with Bob Hoskins for Rabbit Ears Productions in 1992; Sabbaths, settings of poems by Wendell Berry premiered by the Brattleboro Music Center in 1999; and numerous scores for documentary films. Eugene's music can also be heard on the recordings of Trio Globo, which he founded in 1992 with Howard Levy and Glen Velez.
Friesen was awarded a Grammy award as a member of the Paul Winter Consort in 1994 and 2006. He was also the 1999 recipient of grants from the Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Fund and Continental Harmony to compose a symphonic setting of Carl Sandburg's PRAIRIE, which was premiered in June of 2001 at PrairieFest in Kansas.
CelloMan, his one-man show for young audiences, features a wide variety of music on solo cello: classical, jazz, blues and rock. Created in collaboration with maskmaker/choreographer Robert Faust, CelloMan has been performed widely in the United States and Canada. The CelloMan video was released in 1999.
Eugene Friesen is on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. He lives in Vermont.
HOWARD LEVY
Howard Levy is a musician without limits. His musical adventures include journeys into many realms: jazz, pop, rock, world music, Latin, classical, folk, blues, country, theater, TV, film and commercials. He has appeared as a guest artist on more than a hundred albums.
Known for his fine piano playing, it is on the harmonica that Howard has made the greatest impact. From 1989 to 1992, Howard was a member of the contemporary jazz group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he won a Grammy. He has toured, recorded and performed with Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Styx, John Prine, and many others. Howard has performed on The Tonight Show six times. He has also been active internationally. Credits include projects for The Southwest German Radio Network; international tours, and two award-winning CDs with oud player Rabih Abou Khalil.
In the spring of 1995, Howard premiered his composition "Harmonica Mundi, Suite for Harmonica and Chamber Ensemble," commissioned by The Rembrandt Chamber Players of Chicago. Howard has been featured on several recent film soundtracks, including "A Family Thing" with James Earl Jones; "Striptease" with Demi Moore and "A Time to Kill." He is currently working on his debut solo album for Blue Note Records.
In 2003, Howard released a jazz duo CD with Naumberg Award-winning pianist Anthony Molinaro, entitled The Molinaro/Levy Project Live. In 2002, he performed On the Other Side... (a triple concerto composed for him, a clarinetist and an accordianist) with The Bavarian State Radio Orchestra in Munich, Germany. In 2001, Howard was commisioned by The Illinois Philharmonic to compose a Harmonica Concerto, the first ever written for diatonic harmonica. Since the debut, he has performed it 13 times to standing ovations, with more perfomances scheduled.
GLEN VELEZ
Three-time Grammy award winner Glen Velez is considered one of the most influential percussionists of our time, as well as being responsible for a world-wide resurgence in the popularity of the frame drum. Even twentieth century composer, John Cage acknowledged Velez' mastery when he wrote a piece especially for him in 1989, entitled "Composed Improvisation for One-sided Drum with or without Jingles."
While Glen draws upon th
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