Jazz Bassist John Menegon Announces His New CD Release: Sound Embrace

For Jazz fans looking to get their hands on the latest JOHN MENEGON and SOUND EMBRACE album, the wait is over. VALLEY JAZZ RECORDS https://www.valleyjazzrecords.com has announced that SOUND EMBRACE will be available on April 10, 2024. Full details and links to buy the album can be found on the artist's page. https://www.johnmenegon.com.

JOHN MENEGON with his new CD "SOUND EMBRACE" has high hopes for the success of this album and said, "This new project is "music in the now". Cutting-edge compositions and thoughtfully well-executed improvisations make this new music a perfect blend of jazz harmony, emotional subtlety, and a joyful listening experience. I am excited to share my music as well as compositions by the great saxophonist, Dewey Redmond."

New York City bassist John Menegon started his career playing bass in Montreal. After having worked for several years on the Canadian jazz scene with the great guitarists Sonny Greenwich, Mike Gauthier & Nelson Simons, and saxophonists Steve Grossman & Pat LaBarbara, he went on to hone his skills in NYC in the mid-80s. Since moving to New York to study Jazz at Long Island University on a full scholarship, John has performed/recorded with Dewey Redman, David “Fathead” Newman, Matt Wilson, Frank Kimbrough, John Hicks, Yoron Israel, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Burrell, Joel Frahm, Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton's Tri-Centric Orchestra, Nick Brignola, Jimmy Cobb, Al Foster, Slide Hampton, Sheila Jordan, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and many others. In addition to touring, recording, and composing, he has created and taught Jazz Workshops on the music of Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus at Williams College (Williamstown, MA). He has also taught master classes at Jazz Festivals around the world, including the Panama Jazz Festival, Bolzano, (Italy) and San Miguel de Allende.

In 2004 Menegon debuted as a leader on his CD SEARCH LIGHT. The CD is a selection of his original compositions and arrangements, and features one of jazz's greatest living legends, Dewey Redman (sax), along with John Gunther (sax/flute), Mark Dziuba (guitar), Mark McLean (drums), Tani Tabbal (percussion) and Teri Roiger (voice). “John Menegon’s Search Light is witty, atmospheric, and thoroughly engaging from one end to the other. On Search Light, John Menegon shows, without self-indulgence, that the bass can define the character of an ensemble as clearly and fully as any other instrument. The entire project has a surefootedness, a quiet, elegant, muscularity that radiates from Mr. Menegon’s playing, and that is immediately apparent and compelling. The band is made up entirely of accomplished players, the best-known being, in fact, saxophonist Dewey Redman, who is, once again, brilliant, and wonderful.” Steven Robinson, All About Jazz

Review from The Paradiso Cafe, Ottawa, Canada with JOHN ABERCROMBIE: ”Menegon, best-known for his work with two now-departed and almost diametrically opposed saxophone greats in the latter parts of their careers—Dewey Redman and David "Fathead" Newman, whose swan song, The Blessing (HighNote, 2010) came out earlier this year—was, perhaps, the biggest surprise of the evening, if only because of an audience familiar with Abercrombie (for obvious reasons), and with the Montreal-based Doxas brothers, because of their regular Ottawa appearances in a variety of contexts, together and alone. With a robust tone that supported deep, resonant low notes as much as it did lighter excursions in the instrument's upper register, Menegon created both a pliant and unshakable foundation.

“A fine carpet of swing laid by bassist John Menegon sets the jump-blues feel
on Menegon’s tune Bu Bop Bass just right on Newman’s latest CD Cityscape #1 on JazzWeek Charts!” Andrew Rowan, AllAboutJazz-New York

DISCOGRAPHY

As a leader...

"BLEW BY BLUES" (John Menegon, Dot Time Records 2017) John Menegon (bass), Joel Frahm (sax), Frank Kimbrough (piano), Steve Williams (drums), special guest vocalists Teri Roiger, Judi Silvano, Sarah James, MaryAnne de Prophetic

"I REMEMBER YOU" (John Menegon, Inner Circle Music 2014) John Menegon (bass), Tineke Postma (alto & soprano sax), Frank Kimbrough (piano), Matt Wilson (drums), special guest Teri Roiger (voice)

"SOUL ADVICE" (John Menegon, Maki Records, 2006) John Menegon (bass), John Gunther (sax & bass clarinet), Mark Dziuba (guitar) Tani Tabbal (drums)

"SEARCH LIGHT" (John Menegon, Maki Records, 2004) John Menegon (bass), Dewey Redman (sax), John Gunther (sax), Mark Dziuba (guitar) Mark McLean (drums), Tani Tabbal (drums and percussion), Teri Roiger (voice)

His recording "NEW MOON" is a reflection of his many years of love and dedication to the process of creating personal and engaging music that can help to propel positive energy in the world. The recording took place at Upland Studio, deep in the mountains of the Catskills in Upstate New York. The CD was recorded in two sessions: the first session included Harvey Sorgen and Bob Meyer, each playing their own drum kit, along with Jonathan Lorentz on alto sax, tenor sax, and wood flute, vocalist Teri Roiger, and John on bass.

The concept going into the recording was to have all the musicians engage in creating a musical spectrum based on shapes that sometimes look like equations in regard to velocity, rhythm, and intensity. The musicians challenged each other with spontaneity, dynamic range, and self expression. Included in the recording are two compositions that engage the spoken word: "LOST IN TREBLE LAND is based on a poem written while spending a month in Montreal (Canada) in the late summer of 2009. APOLOGY was composed around a poem written by Teri Roiger for the session. The second session included Michael Bocian on electric guitar, along with Jonathan Lorentz on tenor sax, Bob Meyer on drums, and John on bass. All these musicians have been inspirational, as they all work toward a common goal of creating music with spontaneity."

GHOST OF YESTERDAY: Shades of Lady Day (Teri Roiger, Dot Time Records, 2017) Teri Roiger (voice), Wayne Hawkins (piano), John Menegon (bass & arrangements), Steve Williams (drums), Steve Gorn (clarinet & Bansuri flute), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Jay Collins (sax/flute), Mark Dziuba (guitar), Rebecca Coupe-Franks (trumpet).

https://www.johnmenegon.com. https://www.valleyjazzrecords.com