Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants
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Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants

New York City, New York, United States | SELF

New York City, New York, United States | SELF
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"Shhhh, Gordon Does It Again... Cone's Coup Another Spectacular Outing For Wycliffe Gordon"

He recalls for me a gig with drummer Alvin Atkinson from the Sound Merchants, "I just did this Crescent City gospel concert and I wrote the music (in a manner) to create the mood that I wanted. It was a cry out to and for the people who were suffering from Hurricane Katrina. We performed it for three nights and on the third night, Alvin nailed it on the head (you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice)."

Gordon says of Atkinson's drumming, "It was almost like he was acting. I sang the words, but with his drum playing, he delivered the cries and the moans." - Jazz Review.com


"Ras Al Khaimah - and all that jazz"

Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants had RKMC students and staff rocking to the sounds of jazz last week. Courtesy of the Cultural Office of the US Embassy, the College was treated to an afternoon of rhythm and blues, with a repertoire ranging from Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk.

Alvin and his band had students chanting and clapping along as impromptu jazz strains resounded around the auditorium. This was a great opportunity for students to be exposed to American music and culture and for cross-cultural exchange. - Higher Colleges of Technology Staff Newsletter


"Chennai, All That Jazz"

BREAKING away from the monotony of work, a privileged few gathered to unwind over a good jazz music performance by The Rhythm Road, an All Stars group, from US. Contrast to the murky weather outside, the event organised by The American Consulate, Chennai, partnered with the CII’s Young Indians - Chennai Chapter and The Taj Connemara, took off on a cheerful note.

A cocktail preceded the show and after the socialising bit was over, audience were ushered in at Binny Room, quickly filling the hall to its capacity. A short introductory speech by David Hopper, the US Consul General, gave a sketch of what would follow. Branding Jazz truly an American art form, he gave way for the musicians to take over.

For the band members it was their first Indian tour as a band. ``The crowd in India is very warm, receptive and knowledgeable,’’ feels Alvin Atkinson.

The Rhythm Road (Alvin Atkinson on drums, Charlie Porter on trumpet, Ari Roland on double bass, and Eli Yamin on piano) is here in India as part of the American Music Abroad programme.

The programme is being produced by Jazz at Lincoln Centre and the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is designed to foster cultural exchange with audiences worldwide.

For over one hour music hold the centrestage. The composition by Eli Yamin was performed along with students of Jayaganesh Tala Vadhya Vidhyalaya and another with painist Madhav. As the band performed the composition by Colonius Monk `Evidence’, the crowd joined with a hand clapping expedition.

The show wrapped up the number The Saint Go Marching In. - newindpress.com


"First Yemeni Music House officially opens"

Written By: Thuria Ghaleb
Article Date: Mar 24, 2007

A large crowd of artists, musicians, members of the diplomatic corps and other interested people gathered Saturday morning, March 18, in Sana’a at an opening ceremony for The Yemeni Music House.

The American jazz group Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants visited the Yemeni Music House in late February, to express their admiration for the house, and to hear some popular Yemeni songs. They also played a concert in Sana'a in Sunday, Feb 25. The concert was hosted by the US embassy and the Ministry of Culture. The concert was very well received by the large crowd.
- Culture & Society


"How N.C. Central's jazz program became a national leader"

By Roy Pattishall

"That experience at Central," remembers drummer Alvin Atkinson, speaking for many others, "led me to so many great musicians."
Atkinson met Houston Person on the sax star's 1993 visit to Central. He found Person when he arrived in New York years later, and, within a week, was at work on his first recording date. Work with Ellis and Wynton Marsalis followed. In the 12 years since graduation, Atkinson has completed several State Department tours, played The White House with singer Vanessa Rubin, taught at two universities, and headlined Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center with his own band, The Sound Merchants.

Atkinson isn't the older exception, either: Younger students and recent grads are holding their own across the country. Bassist Ameen Saleem met visiting drummer Winnard Harper while a Central student. He now records and tours with him, and his bio boasts a tour in Europe last year with singer Andy Bey, plus work with Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton and Ronnie Laws. Drummer Iajhi Hampden, now transplanted to Los Angeles, has performed on MTV and NBC. Will Terrill drummed for Betty Carter for four years and maintains a busy New York schedule, while tenor Brian Horton, another Harper sideman, now teaches sax at his alma mater.

The key to this success, Atkinson believes, is an unequaled degree of preparation. "What I learned from Ira was you have to know your instrument. When you were playing with him, he was at a high level, which taught me to stay at a high level," he explains. "Look, I've traveled all over the country, seen most of the programs, North Texas State, Temple, all of them. Central's gives you a more applicable approach, and it's more personal, you get a lot more one-on-one time, to really help you develop. And there's a community in Durham, so you can jam and so forth. Some of these places ... can be so cutthroat that some of the students end up falling between the cracks."

Central's sytem pushes the willing and able straight onstage. Atkinson, Saleem and Hampden speak fondly of after-hours chances to play with Wiggins in local clubs like Raleigh's old Wicked Smile or Capper's. "It was almost a scary thing," Hampden said from Los Angeles, speaking of those venues. "Elmer Gibson was a regular, Wiggins, Chip, Yusuf [Salim]. It was, like, the stage, you know. And for the jazz community, it was."
- Independent Weekly website, www.indyweek.com


"U.S. sends musicians to make overtures in war zones"

By Kim Thai, USA TODAY

When pianist Jonathan Lefcoski walked into a rehearsal at a Baghdad music club, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't know whether the Iraqi musicians would welcome him — or whether they'd know how to play the same music he did.
Within minutes, however, Lefcoski and an Iraqi bass player were working their way through Caravan, a classic by the American jazz great Duke Ellington. During the clinking of piano keys and the plucking of bass strings, Lefcoski said, they soon realized that "music was universal."

The State Department wants to expand on that universal feeling with its new Musical Overtures program, which took Lefcoski and his band to Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq and Lebanon in April.

Though U.S. musicians have visited other countries on cultural exchange missions for years, Musical Overtures is the first to take them into the dual war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, says Alina Romanowski, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for professional and cultural exchanges.

The State Department had wanted to send such delegations to both countries for years, but only recently have "situations on the ground" allowed for enough safety to send musicians, Romanowski says.

This kind of cultural diplomacy dates back to the Cold War, says Dan Morgenstern, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Music was considered "a good cultural weapon" and the government sponsored jazz musicians specifically because "jazz was an internationally known, admired and a respected art form identified with the United States," he says.

Sending jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie was one of the few ways to penetrate the countries behind the Iron Curtain, Morgenstern says.

The challenges for traveling ambassadors are different after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq, though Alvin Atkinson — the lead singer and drummer of the band Lefcoski played in — says foreign attitudes toward the USA seem to be improving since President Obama took office. On a separate tour two years ago, he says, a man in Jordan called him a "bloodsucking imperialist" and demanded that he leave the country.

"With our new president, there's a possibility to talk about things and not just assume things," Atkinson says. "We now have the possibility of at least having an intellectual conversation."

Funding for the State Department bureau that runs Musical Overtures and other cultural programs expanded under President George W. Bush from $900,000 to $10 million in 2008. The budget for 2009 is at $8.5 million.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has cited the need for cultural exchanges as part of the Obama administration's emphasis on "smart power": using non-military means as a way to expand American influence.

One of Atkinson's most vivid memories from Afghanistan came in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where he danced on stage with Hassan Bismil, a famous local singer. Atkinson began to sing, and the crowd quickly grew from a few dozen to more than 300 people.

The locals didn't know English, but they tried to sing along with him anyway, he says. - USA Today


"The Rhythm Road: American Jazz "All Stars" Hit the Road for Blockbuster Tour to Mali, India, and China"

An all-star group of jazz musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program will present programs in Mali: Bamako (August 18-24), India: Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and New Delhi (August 26-Sept 7), and China: Chengdu and Guangzhou (Sept 7- 13). Alvin Atkinson, drums, Charlie Porter, trumpet, Ari Roland, bass, and Eli Yamin, piano will give public concerts, master classes, lecture-recitals, workshops, jam sessions and media interviews. The program, produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is designed to foster cultural exchange with audiences throughout the world. - US Department of State


"Kolkata, India News"

The Rhythm Road Jazz All-Stars Quartet To Regale Kolkata Audience On August 27-28

August 23, 2007
Kolkata -- Leading American jazz musicians, Alvin Atkinson, Jr, Charlie Porter, Ari Roland and Eli Yamin will visit Kolkata August 27-28 for performances supported by the American Center jointly with The Park Hotel, Congo Square and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industries.
The quartet will begin its tour in the city by playing a concert at the Galaxy in The Park Hotel on Monday, August 27 at 7 p.m. Next morning the musicians will hold a lecture-demonstration/workshop on contemporary jazz music and performance techniques with their local counterparts at the Lincoln Room in the American Center on Tuesday, August 28 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Finally, they will perform at the Palladian Lounge, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industries in the evening at 7:30 p.m.
Alvin Atkinson, Jr. (drums) grew up singing and playing music and hooked on to jazz at the young age of 8 and has been balancing a career as a performer and an educator for over 15 years. Atkinson has played alongside artists such as Houston Person, James Carter, Cecil Bridgewater, Reggie Workman, and Miguel Zenon etc. He also performed at the White House for President George W. Bush. He currently teaches Jazz Language and Rhythm Studies at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy.
Charlie Porter (trumpet) is a New York-based trumpeter, composer and bandleader and is equally at home playing both jazz and classical music. He has performed and recorded with such notable musicians as Paquito D'Rivera, David Taylor, and Kenny Drew, to name a few. Among the many awards to his credit, Porter was the first musician ever to be awarded first prize in the National Trumpet Competition in both the jazz and classical divisions.
Ari Roland (double bass) grew up inside New York underground bop scene, where performing jazz music is always challenging. Roland began attending sessions with Barry Harris at age 12 and was quickly known as a standout player. He made his way into an inner circle of musicians, regularly playing in the company of saxophonist "C" Sharpe, Frank Hewitt, Jimmy Robinson, Vernel Fournier and others. Roland has also toured extensively in the former Soviet Republics.
Eli Yamin (piano) is a jazz pianist, songwriter and composer for film and stage, as well as creator/leader of various ensembles. Yamin is co-founder and Artistic Director of The Jazz Drama Program, a non-profit organization that uses the language of jazz to tell stories relevant to children's lives. He is the Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy and a producer of jazz and blues programs for CBS Saturday Morning, National Public Radio and others. Yamin holds a Master's Degree in Music Education from Lehman College, City University of New York. - Consulate News


"Sound Merchants’ Virtuoso Jazz Crosses Cultures, Thrills Dubai Audience"

The U.S. jazz quartet Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants performed to an enthusiastic crowd of invited guests February 22 at the Dubai Community Theater and Arts Center (DUCTAC), earning a standing ovation for their mix of bebop, swing and classic jazz numbers. Consul General Paul Sutphin introduced the group, noting that blues and jazz music is a vital US contribution to global culture, and plays an important part promoting cross-cultural understanding, particularly between the Middle East and the United States. The Sound Merchants performance at DUCTAC was made possible through the generous support of the Dubai Cultural Council and the Dubai Community Theater.

The audience was treated to two 45-minute sets of jazz classics from Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Chick Corea, as well as to original compositions from Stacy Dillard and Alvin Atkinson. The original pieces included “Ibn Battuta,” reflecting the jazz ensembles’ commitment to incorporating influences from their travels into their music. Another piece performed was in homage of the cooking of Alvin Atkinson’s mother, eliciting a universal response through the shared experience of coming home to the aroma of a succulent meal.

The event was part of the Rhythm Road American Music Abroad Program, which allows performers of jazz and urban music to tour countries with limited exposure to live American culture to reach out across language, cultural and social barriers through the language of music. The Rhythm Road American Music Program is co-produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, The United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and U.S. Embassies and Consulates General Abroad. The Dubai portion of the Sound Merchants’ concert was organized by the Consulate General’s Public Affairs Officer Marion Ram and the office’s Program Assistant. - Consulate General of the United States


"U.S. Embassy Brings Jazz to Oman"

Jazz – the music that is America's quintessential art form – drew crowds March 2 to 8 at performances by Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants in Muscat, Sohar, and Al Buraimi. The New York-based quartet visited Oman through the U.S. Department of State's special program The Rhythm Road - American Music Abroad, which reaches out to audiences around the world to present high-quality American performers.

In addition to their public performances, while visiting the Sultanate the Sound Merchants presented workshops and masterclasses at schools and with the jazz ensemble of the Royal Air Force of Oman, who joined a special appearance with the group at their Muscat concert.

The Sound Merchants were recruited for their American Music Abroad tour by the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center program. The group consists of Alvin Atkinson on drums; Paul Beaudry on bass; Sean Higgins on piano; and Stacy Dillard on saxophone. All four are experienced musicians and teachers who have worked with some of the biggest names in jazz and blues. Reviewing the group’s Muscat concert, the Oman Tribune wrote that “a decidedly explosive performance by Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants enthralled the audience.”

Other stops on the group's tour of the region include the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. - Muscat-Oman Industry News


Discography

Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants, 2007

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Bio

Drummer, educator and clinician, Alvin Atkinson, Jr. has toured the globe with his group Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants. In 2009, the group traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon for the U.S. State Department’s Musical Overtures tour. In the 2007 and 2008, the group participated in the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program (sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center) tour to the Middle East and Russia. In 2008, Jazz at Lincoln Center asked Alvin to lead the “All-Star American Music Abroad Group” tour to Mali, India and China.

Atkinson’s career highlights include recording the theme song for PBS’s show, Moment of Luxury, the New York One Television Network’s theme song, and the music for the HBO Cat House documentary. Additionally, Atkinson participated in two Jazz Ambassador tours of Africa and South America sponsored by the Kennedy Center and the U.S. State Department in 2004; a performance at the White House for President George W. Bush in 2002; house drummer for the 2002-2003 season of the Emeril Live television show on the Food Network Channel; and the “Harlem” National Tour with the Kennedy Center 2002 and 2003.

Throughout the US and abroad, Atkinson has shared the stage with notable artists such as: Freddy Redd, Ellis Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Barry Harris, Houston Person, Luciana Souza, Don Braden, Frank Wess, Oscar Brown, Jr., Ernie Andrews, Miguel Zenon, Tom Browne, Vanessa Rubin and Wycliffe Gordon.

Atkinson’s first solo project Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants received nominations for “Best International Jazz Song” from the First Annual 2007 Toronto Exclusive Magazine and “Best Jazz Song” from the Seventh Annual Independent Music Awards for the single Dance of the Emirates.