Music
Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WORLD RISING: A GROOVE TOO FAR
THE SOUND OF A NEW WORLD RISING - WITH ECHOES OF THE PAST
July, 2009 (Sherman Oaks, CA) - World Rising, to be released by Visionsound on August 11, is an innovative and vibrant jazz project from keyboardist Ben Dowling featuring a cast of famous friends from the jazz, funk and world music spheres. A gifted pianist with solid straight ahead jazz, funk and even contemporary-classical credentials, he was a student of Third-Stream advocate Ran Blake at New England Conservatory, a protoge of pianist/composer/jazz-educator Calvin Jackson and shares recording, writing, programming and/or touring credits with Earth, Wind & Fire's Al McKay, Jon Anderson, Don Henley, Yellowjackets, Tom Coster and Freddy Hubbard. A leading light in the field of synthesizer programming, he has created sounds for Korg, Weather Report’s Joe Zawinul, Madonna and the late Michael Jackson.
Dowling has focused his most recent project World Rising on a Miles-inspired fusion of jazz, world and funk. Clearly influenced by 70’s-era Zawinul and Herbie Hancock, he has invited an eclectic array of musicians including smooth jazz sensation Mindi Abair, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, master drummer Will Kennedy and Indian tabla player Satnam Ramgotra to create a modal, percussion-rich offering that is as compelling as it is new.
Overlaying infectious grooves with piano, keys and horn ensemble ala vintage Hancock, World Rising is a world influenced groove-fest that is funky, ethnic and musically refreshing. As a pianist, Dowling ranges from an almost Chopin-like touch to relentlessly funky, with none of the flashy grandstanding one might expect from a solo keyboard artist. In so doing, World Rising holds together as a strong ensemble approach to improvised music with brilliant production and an expansive musical focus. Hard edged, four on the floor dance tempos contrast beautifully with Brazilian-inspired compositions reminiscent of Ivan Lins.
"The Calling" and title track “World Rising” exemplify the polyrhythmic world-funk approach, combining furious percussion and long meter ensemble sections. "Spirit Dance" is a touch of smooth, with saxophonist Mindi Abair turning it out in her featured performance. Dowling's sole lyrical vehicle "Love Embraces All" is an innovative approach to harmonic-loop-based soul fused with a Steely Dan horn-ensemble sensibility. Originally written for the late Carl Anderson (Weather Report), the song represents a refreshing new direction in crossover Jazz R&B and introduces Dowling's unique vocal texture to the mix. Also featured is a formerly unreleased track, "Starting Over" with percussionist Luis Conte and trumpeter Jeff Beal in a brilliant vocal duet between Anderson and former Madonna vocalist Niki Haris.
World Rising delivers an inspired approach to new jazz music with a depth of harmony, sophisticated melody and relentless rhythmic drive integrated in a compelling and authentic new direction. Dowling's playing is superb, understated and tasteful, demonstrating that this is one artist with a unique point of view and the chops to pull it off. "I’m committed to making records that push new directions that technology and culture make possible, but that are musically honest, draw inspiration from the moment and speak from the heart,” he says. “‘World Rising’ is my first jazz release to honor the tradition that has impacted me so profoundly, as we move together into the new and vital music to come."
###
For further information, please visit:
www.world-rising.com
Visionsound, Inc.
Sherman Oaks, CA
Tel 818.786.4800
press@visionsound.com
- Visionsound - Innovation in Music
"An incredible demonstration of how two mediums can come together for a powerful meditative experience...an amazing production piece and something you will listen to and watch over and over again..." - Tom Averna, NC Radio
A unique event in music industry history... In a world filled with violence, tragedy and ignorance, Dowling and Wagner have found a way to be a part of the solution..." - Vision Magazine
"...the project as a whole is phenomenal and needs to be experienced. I give The Path of Peace my highest recommendation, and hope to interview one or both artists very soon. Treat yourself and your loved ones to an extraordinary sensory experience! Wow!" - Kathy Parsons, Solo Piano Publications
"Think of your favorite indulgent meal. Does a glass of the finest wine to accompany your chosen dish enhance the dining experience? For many the answer to this question would be "yes"- and, if this is the case, the reader may begin to appreciate why Visionsound's inaugural CD, "The Path of Peace" is a special and, indeed, quite unique experience...through the imagery created by Mark, and the auditory bliss resonating from Ben's piano. Put the two together, and you have a magical combination; a cocktail from heaven..." - Stephen Cairns, Piano Heaven
"Creating a liquidy, gentle and natural sense of flow and movement, this disc evokes deep and rich imagery, awakening the imagination and stirring the inner eye. With the same emotive and touching quality found in a piano soundtrack, The Path of Peace serves perfectly as a background for contemplative, reflective times." - CD Baby
Discography
Tom Coster: "Did Ja Miss Me" - 1989 (programmer)
Freddy Hubbard: "Times Are Changin'" - 1989 (programmer)
Tom Coster: "From Me To You" - 1990 (programmer)
Starr Parodi: "Change" - 1991 (programmer)
David Patt: "Intimate Notions" - 1991 (programmer)
Greg Walker: "Love You So Good" - 1991 (producer)
Michael Jackson: "Dangerous" - 1991 (programmer)
Yellowjackets: "Greenhouse" - 1991 (programmer)
Michael Jackson: "HIStory" - 1995 (keyboardist/programmer)
Kathleen Gibson: "Jungle Bungalow" - 1997 (producer)
Equator: "Equator" - 1998 (producer)
JD Martin: "One Heart" - 2000 (producer)
Suzanne Teng: "Mystic Journey" - 2001 (keyboardist)
Jami Lula: "Something's Calling Me" - 2001 (producer)
Benjamin Dowling "Ahimsa" - 2001 (artist/producer)
David Newman: "Soul Freedom" - 2001 (producer)
Al McKay: "Live at Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival" - 2003 (keyboardist)
Al McKay: "Live In Europe" - 2004 (keyboardist)
Korg Oasys: "Love Embraces All" - 2005 (artist/producer)
Andre Delano: "Full Circle" - 2005 (keyboardist/producer)
Ester Nicholson: "Child Above the Sun" - 2006 (producer)
Ben Dowling/Mark Wagner "The Path of Peace DualDisc" - 2007 (artist/producer)
Charles Holt: "I Am" - 2007 (producer)
Ben Dowling: "World Rising" - 2009 (artist/producer)
Session player on many recordings
Photos
Bio
Jazz pianist and composer Ben Dowling takes the long view when it comes to music and his artistic-life journey. Born in Arkansas, raised in New York, Vermont and Boston but settled in Los Angeles, Dowling smiles at his conflicting geographical history, "so I'm this Southern white boy who knows how to shovel snow, design synthesizers and play funk. Go figure..."
The one thing this player does figure is how to push music to the next level. Whether from the synthesizers he's designed (Korg M1, Wavestation, Oasys, etc.), the multimedia and film projects he's scored (United Nations documentaries and interactive games), or in his producing and keyboard playing, Ben knows how to push the envelope forward while being true to the musical essentials.
"It truly is not about me. It's about the music and where it needs to go," he says.
With "World Rising," his new CD to be released on August 11, 2009, Ben takes his music exactly where it needs to go - creating a refreshing Weather Report-inspired, Herbie Hancock-like fusion of jazz, world and funk with top jazz talents including Mindi Abair, the late Carl Anderson, Niki Haris, Will Kennedy, Satnam Ramgotra, Bob Sheppard and a host of other friends from the World Music and Funk universes. World Rising is getting a substantial lift this summer with radio play and targeted performances in the US, in addition to Ben's appearances at the Montreax Jazz Festival and at concert venues across Europe and Asia.
Trained in classical piano and organ at an early age, Ben discovered the music of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett at 14, later studying improvisation from Ran Blake at New England Conservatory, piano performance at Boston University and composition from pianist, composer and jazz educator Calvin Jackson.
As a jazz pianist, a synthesizer programmer and in all his musical endeavors - Ben has had quite a ride from playing funk with Earth, Wind & Fire's Al McKay to programming sounds for Madonna and Weather Report's Joe Zawinul, to his wide-ranging discography including recordings with Tom Coster, Freddy Hubbard, Yellowjackets, Jon Anderson (Yes) and the late Michael Jackson - while performing worldwide at top venues including: Lincoln Center, The Greek Theater, Hollywood Bowl, the Montreax, Umbria, Jakarta and Mt. Fuji Jazz Festivals.
World Rising is thematic of a lifelong mission of bringing different creative elements together in new and innovative ways. "Real innovation comes from bringing things together that don't usually keep company and taking the time for inspiration to reveal itself," Ben says. "That is how new synthesizers are designed, and that is how new ideas grow. Entirely new forms spring forth." Another example might be Ben's 2007 multimedia project "The Path of Peace" with painter, Mark Wagner. An ambient art collaboration, it casts Ben's solo piano improvisations with visual artist Mark Wagner's video scoring of his original paintings, drawings, sketches - garnering rave reviews from around the world.
"With World Rising, I wanted to design a new kind of World-Soul music that is really great to move to, that breaks new ground creatively and that really lends itself to live performance. I'm so tired of music being over-planned, over-produced and over structured. Lip-syncing and air guitar are fine for video games, but I want to see players take some risks. World Rising is my way of returning the jazz form to its tradition of "open arrangement" so we can perform at a higher level – more available to the magic that makes live performance such a life-changing event."
Links
