"...a career that can only be described as singular... think of vocalist Katie Bull as a jazz prism, refracting musical light in endlessly unpredictably ways." Christopher Louden, JazzTimes Nov.1/11

Frank's most recent trio CD is Rumors (Palmetto), with bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Jeff Hirshfield. It features seven of Kimbrough's original compositions, along with one by the Catalan composer Federico Mompou. It was released in spring 2010.

Kimbrough's much anticipated debut solo piano recording, Air features Frank's original compositions alongside tunes by Paul Motian, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington. In a recent review in The New York Times, Nate Chinen says "fittingly, rewardingly, it's a mature and personal reflection. He approaches each theme with generosity and composure. His readings of Monk's "Coming On The Hudson" and "Jackie-ing", both resplendent in tensions, hint at an elusive mastery." His 2007 solo concert at New York's Rubin Museum of Art was named among the best performances of the year by All About Jazz New York, and Air one of the top 10 Jazz CDs of 2008 by Slate Magazine.

Growing up in Roxboro, NC in a musical family, Kimbrough received full support for his musical endeavors, as both of his parents and all of his siblings were musicians. He has been playing piano since before he can remember and received influential piano instruction from an early age. His foundation in classical music studies grounded him in strong technique and profoundly influenced his open musical tastes. After leaving college, he formed his first trio and set out in pursuit of real world musical opportunities, first in Chapel Hill, and then in Washington, D.C. In Washington he met Shirley Horn, who became an enthusiastic supporter and mentor. He worked there with his trio, and as a sideman with Maurice Robertson, Buck Hill, Paul Horn, Anthony Braxton and Webster Young. Arriving in New York in the fall of 1981, he sought out pianists Paul Bley and Andrew Hill, both unique artists who helped him hone his artistic identity. In 1985, he won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. The next year, on Shirley Horn's recommendation, he made his first recordings and since then has recorded sixteen albums as a leader or co-leader.

Kimbrough’s involvement in the Jazz Composers Collective, with its 11-year-long concert series, diverse recording projects and frequent touring, fostered several of Kimbrough’s groups: trios with bassist Ben Allison and drummer Matt Wilson (Lullabluebye, on Palmetto), or Allison and Jeff Ballard (Quickening, a live JCC concert recording on OmniTone), his duo with vibraphonist Joe Locke (Saturn’s Child and The Willow, both on OmniTone); and his group with saxophonist Scott Robinson, guitarist Ben Monder and drummer Tony Moreno (Noumena, also a JCC concert recording on Soul Note). Major support for Kimbrough’s work as a composer has come from Meet the Composer, The Mary Flagler Cary Trust, and Chamber Music America’s Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project. As an integral part of most of the Collective’s groups, Frank worked closely with the other composers-in-residence, touring and recording with Ben Allison’s Medicine Wheel and Peace Pipe groups; Ted Nash’s Still Evolved Quintet and Double Quartet, Ron Horton’s Quartet and Septet, and Michael Blake’s Elevated Quartet, Free Association, and Eulipion Orchestra. Besides co-leading the Herbie Nichols Project with Ben Allison, he participated in other Collective endeavors focusing on the music of Andrew Hill, Lucky Thompson and Lennie Tristano; and he’s played on concerts and recordings by some of the Collective’s guest composers including Eddie Gale, Ed Neumeister and Jon Gordon.

In 1995 Frank was awarded a Jazz Performance Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts for his work on Herbie Nichols’ music, which he'd begun in 1985. The Jazz Composers Collective's Herbie Nichols Project has toured the U.S., Canada, Brazil, France, Portugal, Wales, Netherlands, Azores, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and England, and its work has been documented on three critically acclaimed CDs for Soul Note and Palmetto. Kimbrough has written about Nichols' life and work for the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and with Ben Allison, contributed liner notes to The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols.

Frank also enjoys work as a frequently sought-after sideman, and has performed or recorded with saxophonists Dewey Redman, Rick Margitza, Rich Perry, and Noah Preminger, trumpeter Dave Ballou, bassist Ron Brendle, drummer Tony Moreno, and vocalists Kendra Shank, Maryanne deProphetis, Judi Silvano, Katie Bull, and others. As a duet partner, he's been paired with Lee Konitz, Paul Bley, Joe Locke, Noah Preminger, Scott Robinson, and Ben Allison. Kimbrough's duo performance with Bley at New York City's Merkin Hall in May 2006 was cited by Time Out New York magazine as one of the Best Live Shows of 2006.

Maria Schneider invited Kimbrough to join her orchestra in 1993, just as she began her five-year Monday night residency at Visiones in Greenwich Village. Since then, Frank has performed with the MSO in the U.S., Macao, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, England, Luxembourg and Finland. He is prominently featured on Schneider’s Grammy-winning CD Concert In The Garden , and also appears on her three previous albums: Coming About, Days Of Wine And Roses, and Allegresse. He also appears on Sky Blue, her latest on artistShare.

Frank has made a name for himself as a supportive and inspiring educator, and was recently appointed to the Jazz Studies faculty at the Juilliard School. From 1996 – 2001, he served on the adjunct faculty of New York University's Department of Performing Arts Professions, where he taught applied jazz piano, jazz piano classes, improvisation, and led two student ensembles. Residencies and workshops include the Juilliard School, Paris Conservatory (with Maria Schneider), Oxford University and The New School University (with the Jazz Composers Collective), Berklee College of Music, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music (with Maria Schneider), Indiana State University, the University of Iowa, the University of North Florida, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Appalachian State University, the University of Minnesota, and Jazz@Lincoln Center Outreach Program (with Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts). Frank has also served as an adjudicator for Chamber Music America's Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project, The Great American Jazz Piano Competition, The American Pianists Association's Cole Porter Fellowship Competition, and the Thelonious Monk Competition in composition. He has also contributed transcriptions and annotations for a book of Andrew Hill's music to be published in 2010 by Hal Leonard.

Joe Fonda is a composer, bassist, recording artist, interdisciplinary performer, producer and educator.

An accomplished international Jazz artist, Fonda has performed with his own ensembles throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He has collaborated and performed with such artists as Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Katie Bull, Curtis Fuller, Bill Dixon, Han Bennink, Bobby Naughton, Xu Fengia, Randy Weston, Gebhard Ullmann, Carla Bley, Carlo Zingaro, Barry Altschul, Billy Bang.

Fonda was the bassist with the renowned Anthony Braxton sextet, octet, tentet, from 1984 through 1999. Fonda also sat on the Board of Directors from 1994 to 1999, and was the President from 1997 to 1999 of the newly formed Tri-Centric Foundation. He has also performed with the 38-piece Tri-Centric orchestra under the direction of Anthony Braxton, and was the bassist for the premiere performance of Anthony Braxton’s opera, Shalla Fears for the Poor, performed at the John Jay Theater in New York, New York, October 1996.

As a composer, Fonda has been the recipient of numerous grants and commissions From Meet the Composer New York and the New England Foundation on the Arts . He has released twelve recordings under his own name. (Reviews and recordings available). Fonda was also a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith, and was the bassist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world renowned tap dancer, Brenda Bufalino.

In 1989, Fonda performed with Fred Ho’s Jazz and Peking opera in its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. From 1982 to 1986 Fonda was the bassist and dancer with the Sonomama Dance Company. An independent producer since 1978, Fonda is the founding director of Kaleidoscope Arts an interdisciplinary performance ensemble and is the producer and musicial director for the Connecticut Composers and improvisors Festival from 2001 to 2011.

Currently Fonda has been recording and touring extensively with the Fonda-Stevens Group, Conference Call , The Fab Trio, The Nu Band and Bottoms Out , with performances at the Bim huis in Amsterdam, Holland, Prague Jazz Festival, Czech Republic, Jazz Halo Festival, Belgium, Jazz Festival Thurinsen, Weimer, Germany, Berlin Jazz Festival Berlin Germany , Jazz Im Agusto Festival Lisbon Portugal, Natt Jazz Festival Bergen Norway, The Vision Festival New York, New York, Jazz and More Festival Sibiu Romania, Bakau Jazz Festival ,Azerbijan, Tondela Jazz Festival Tondala portugal , Vancouver Jazz Festival ,Vancouver Canada, Guelph Jazz Festival ,Guelph Canada .

Two of Fonda’s most recent projects are From the Source, The Off Road Quartet.

From the Source is a group that incorporates the tap dancing and poetry of Brenda Bufalino and the healing arts of Vicki Dodd, and four jazz musicians. The group has released their first CD entitled, Joe Fonda and From the Source, on Konnex Records.

The Off Road Quartet is comprised of four musicians from four different countries. Ux Fengia from Beijing China , Carlos Zingaro from Lisbon Portugal , Lucas Niggle from Zurich Switzerland and Joe Fonda New York USA. The Off Road Quartet blends the musics from all four of these musicians cultures into a unique musicial and visual experence.

Drummer, Percussionist and Composer Harvey Sorgen has been an integral part of the worldwide jazz and improvised music scene for over 30 years.

Some of influential musicians that Harvey has worked with include: Ahmad Jamal, Michelle Shocked, Paul Simon, Dewey Redman, Dave Douglas, Mark Feldman, Pete Levin, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago, Wadada Leo Smith, Cameron Brown, Neil Rolnick, Anthony Braxton, John Stubblefield, Bruce Hornsby, Roswell Rudd, Phil Lesh, Bill Frisell, Fonda/Stevens Group, Carlos Santana, Dry Jack, Art Lande, NRBQ, Bob Weir, Greg Allman, Jack Dejohnette, Dave Samuels, Garth Hudson, among many others.

Harvey Sorgen’s first instructional video "Drumming Made Easy" is currently available worldwide from Homespun Tapes Inc./Hal Leonard publishing.

Harvey Sorgen also appears on Jack DeJohnette’s "Musical Expression On The Drum Set" and Jorma Kaukonen’s "The Electric Guitar Of Jorma Kaukonen"DVD. DVD's also available from Homespun Tapes Inc.

Harvey Sorgen endorses Fidock Handcrafted Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Vic Firth Drum Sticks, Remo Drumheads, Everyone’s Drumming Percussion, and Veiger gig bags exclusively.

Hailed by the NY Times as a “Commanding Vocalist”, Ayelet Is a world traveler, explorer of sound and seeker of musical adventures. Living on the line between New York, London and Tel Aviv, she has shared the stage with some of the greatest improvisers of our times, including John Zorn, Joe Lovano and Bobby McFerrin. Ayelet has performed on stages from Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim’s Woks & Process Series to downtown clubs such as Jazz Standard and Jazz Gallery.

Ayelet released three critically acclaimed CDs featuring her original music. Her first album “Internal-External” (Genevieve ’04), was chosen as Best Debut of 2004 by the leading jazz publication “All About Jazz”. The following, Mayim Rabim (Tzadik ’06) is a song cycle based on the erotic biblical love poem Song of Songs. Following its release, Mayim Rabim continued to receive awards and recognition, including BRIC ’07 and BOB Award ’08 (PS122’s Best of the Boroughs). Ayelet’s latest album Upto Here | From Here (Obliqsound ’09) features her long standing Sextet, including frequent collaborator pianist Anat Fort (ECM recording artist) with whom Ayelet continues to perform, in a duo collaboration as well as in Ayelet's recent project "Betzidei Drachim"

"Betzidei Drachim" (On the Roadside) combines Israeli and Palestinian poetry with Ayelet's Contemporary Jazz compositions. The musicians Ayelet collaborates with on this project are all improvisers who have a strong classical background as well, which gives the music a special "third stream" feel. She draws on the words of poets such as Agi Mishol, Shimon Adaff, Mahmud Darwish, Yehuda Amichai, Naomi Shihab Nye and more. Upcoming performances include the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival. This project is planned to be recorded in 2011.

"Pangaea" is Ayelet's dynamic international band, consisting of rotating musicians with whom Ayelet has been continually playing over the years. The repertoire is heavily based on improvisation, and the lyrical content frequently reflects on concepts of expansion and contraction in a person's life. An example of this can be found in Anna Smail's words (New Zealand based poet) which Ayelet put to music:
"I find the things I take away are ill assorted / a small handful of pink gravel / a dried thumbnail petal of a fern / a photo that reveals / blured"

“Shiv’a” - a 40 minute composition by Ayelet for string quartet and percussion, written for NY based string quartet ETHEL and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi. The piece was composed in memory of Ayelet's close friend and musical collaborator Take Toriyama, who passed away in 2007. She composed the majority of it in Wellington, New Zealand, in front of the clashing waves of the pacific ocean. The piece is laced with symbolism from the Jewish and Buddhist traditions of mourning. Aside from the traditional instruments, Ayelet also scored for a blanket with 49 bells which is "played" with the help of a hidden wind fan. the sound of the bells and the movement of the blanket accompany the piece. The blanket is being made these days by installation artist Michelle Jaffe. Shiv’a is expected to be recorded in 2011.

Michelle Jaffe has commissioned Ayelet to compose the music for her installation "Wappen Field". Scored for seven improvising vocalists, the voices will be "choreographed" within Michelle's installation, consisting of 12 metal masks, each hiding a speaker. Ayelet composes, produces and performs in this piece of music, along side singers including Fay Victor, Kyoko Kitamura, Jeremiah Lockwood and others.

Ayelet is a member of "Mycale", a NY based international a-cappella quartet - with Basya Schechter (Brooklyn), Sofia Rei (Argentina), Malika Zarra (Morocco). Mycale was commissioned by composer John Zorn to arrange, perform and record eleven compositions from his Book of Angels: Masada Book II. Their CD "Mycale: Book of Angels, Vol 13" was released in early 2010, and they have been touring internationally since, including performances at the Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada), Teatro Manzoni (Italy), Beit Avi-Chai (Jerusalem) and an upcoming performance at Lincoln Center (NY).

Katie Bull is a “downtown cutting edge” jazz vocalist, composer, and the band leader of The Katie Bull Group Project. She was born in New York City, moved upstate to Brockport, NY, in early childhood, and returned to Manhattan’s Tribeca as a teenager. Katie has released four self-produced albums on her Corn Hill Indie Label - Conversations With the Jokers; Love Spook; Cup of Joe/No Bull; and The Story, So Far, a CD/DVD dual release.

The Katie Bull Group Project current pool of members includes Frank Kimbrough and Landon Knoblock (pianos); Joe Fonda, Hilliard Greene (bass); Harvey Sorgen & George Schuller (drums); Jeff Lederer (saxophones). In addition, Katie has played and/or recorded with numerous musicians over the years, including (to name a few) Michael Jefry Stevens, (piano); Saizon Machado, Martin Wind, Cameron Brown, Ben Allison (bass); Lou Grassi, Matt Wilson (drums); Marcelo Coelho, Ras Moshe (saxophones); Alejandro DeMogli, Dom Minasi, David Phelps (guitar).

Katie's last album, The Story, So Far was on the JazzTimes Top 50 Albums list; Jazz Improv Top 50 Album; and made All About Jazz – New York Honorable Mention in 2007. A performance of music from the Story album was a New York Times Pick (Nate Chinen). Her album Love Spook was Editor’s Choice in Cadence in ’05. Her duo album with Joe Fonda, Cup of Joe, No Bull was released the same year to critical acclaim, recorded and mastered by David Baker. Her premiere album, Conversations with the Jokers, featured Michael Jefry Stevens (piano), Joe Fonda (bass), and Lou Grassi (drums) and made 15 Top 10 CMJ Radio Charts, culminating in an inviation to the Rochester International Jazz Festival’s Jazz Week event at the Montage.

She performs regularly as part of RUCMA/ARTS FOR ARTS Evolving Voice Series. Other NYC venues Katie has performed at include The Local 269, 55Bar, Smiths Bar, Cornelia Street, Pam Kraft's Loft Jazz , University of the Streets, and The Stone. She performs annually at the La Plata International Jazz Festival in La Plata, Argentina.

Katie is also a published and produced playwright; Best Plays of 2005 Anthology, NYTE Press; Best Monologues ’06 , J.L. Lapidus; Best Women’s Monologues of the 21st Century, Applause Books, ‘08; and her jazz writing has been included in AllAboutJazz-NY's Megaphone '09; and in the German Press, Buddy's Knife, a poetry anthology, Silent Solos, Improvisors Speak ('10). Katie was given the honor of inclusion in jazz critic Scott Yanow’s book, The Jazz Singers.

Katie grew up listening to live jazz improvisation in her home. She was raised by her now deceased father, Richard Bull, who was a jazz piano player from Detroit. Richard migrated to New York City to study and play with Lennie Tristano. It was there that he became a post-modern dance improvisor, and married Katie’s now deceased stepmother, dance-anthropologist & dance improvisor Cynthia Novack. The song "Anniversary" is dedicated to Richard and Cynthia. Katie’s biological mother, Fran Bull, is a painter and multi-media artist living in Vermont. Richard and Cynthia co-founded the Warren Street Performance Loft in Tribeca, which was also a living space for the family. Players and family friends such as Jay Clayton, Lou Grassi, Borah Bergman, Elliot Sharpe, Meredith Monk, Brenda Buffalino, Bill T. Jones, Judith Ren-Lay, Daniel Nagrin, Julien Beck/Judith Malina, and Jane Ira Bloom (to name just a few) would ofen grace her parent’s loft space in Tribeca for rehearsals and performance-based collaborations. Katie credits her aesthetics to growing up within ear shot of those wild romps, and within witnessing range of those veteran pioneers’ ground- breaking visions.

She is indebted to her teachers: Her beloved speaking voice mentor, Chuck Jones, inspired a life journey of hearing music through the primary path of the spoken word. Katie is a freelance vocal production coach for the speaking voice (founder, Whole Body Voice; freelance coach of performers in film, television, & stage; on faculty at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting Studio & NYU/Tish School of the Arts Drama Dept.) Katie affectionately refers to her jazz singing mentors as her “jazz mothers”: Ms. Jay Clayton and Ms. Sheila Jordan.

Katie currently resides in Upper Manhattan with her children, Hannajane, and Hudson.

She also has a home in the Catskill mountains, where she often writes music.

REVIEWS

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Christopher Louden, JazzTimes  Nov.1/11____

"...a career that can only be described as singular... think of vocalist Katie Bull as a jazz prism, refracting musical light in endlessly unpredictably ways."

 http://jazztimes.com/articles/28539-freak-miracle-katie-bull

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Florence Wetzel - AllAboutJazz.com

" Katie Bull is a highly original talent, a vocalist steeped in tradition who fearlessly rocks the boundaries of the known. Freak Miracle is a wonderfully expressive and free-flowing CD, a fresh and unpredictable mix that highlights Bull's gift for approaching music and songwriting from her own unique angle......."

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=40138

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Monsieur Delire (Quebec blog)

"She’s young, she has a suave voice, she knows the art of torch singing, yet she knows out not to follow it too closely. Katie Bull is a very accessible modern jazz singer, and an accomplished songwriter. Her lyrics are delicate and elegant. On Freak Miracle she is backed by a very strong band consisting of the rhythm section from the Fonda-Stevens Group (Joe Fonda and Harvey Sorgen), pianists Frank Kimbrough and Landon Knoblock, and Jeff Lederer on tenor sax. There a few standards here, but the real deal is Bull’s compositions: poignant songs that, occasionally, take a few steps left of the norm. Beautiful, masterful jazz music, from a unique singer-songwriter."

http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/search/label/Katie%20Bull

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THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD JUNE 2011

KATIE BULL: FREAK MIRACLE on Innova

"...a textbook example of how effectively a jazz vocalist can integrate elements of the inside and the outside...consistently musical... consistently expressive, not to mention individualistic....her individuality really comes through on 11 originals as well as on highly personal interpretations of George Gershwin's "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", Jimmy Van Heusen's "I Thought About You", and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "How Insensitive" ...(Bull) manages to keep things as intriguing on the standards as she does on the originals which range from the moody "Blue Light and the blusey "An Opportunity" to the Sun Ra-ish "Road Trip". Bull has her influences...the cool-toned introspection of June Christy and Helen Merrill...experimentation of Betty Carter, Jeanne Lee, and Sheila Jordan...
But ultimately Katie Bull sounds like Katie Bull.
And her sense of adventure serves her well throughout FREAK MIRACLE."
Alex Henderson, The New York City Jazz Record

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VOX NEWS: THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD JUNE 2011 by Suzanne Lorge
"...Other stars in town this month: Stacey Kent at
Birdland Jun. 7th-11th and Katie Bull’s Freak Miracle
CD release (Innova) Jun. 27th at Clemente Soto Velez"

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Grego Applegate Edwards; GAPPLEGATE MUSIC REVIEW

September 2011 FREAK MIRACLE REVIEW by Grego Applegate Edwards; founder of his own Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog/Music Review Blog, and writer for Cadence and AllAboutJazz.com. "Katie Bull is the sort of vocalist who uses herself as an instrumentalist....This is music with a freedom. And with a stretch of the vocalists-with-improvisors tradition....If you want a modern-day vocal disc that puts a fresh face on the genre, FREAK MIRACLE will give you that....She is a real talent."

http://gapplegateguitar.blogspot.com

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AMAZON.COM  5-Stars  by Rick Cornell

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This is a terrific album that is destined to fly well under the radar. I'm here to advocate that the radar be raised.

In the 7-8 years since I last heard Katie Bull, she has become a vocal free-jazz singer. She is sort of in the school of singers such as Jay Clayton, Ann Dyer or Lisa Sokolov (not coincidentally, she begins this c.d with a tribute to the "Godmother" of this school, Sheila Jordan). But her pristine singing voice reminds me more of Kendra Shank. Given that both sing with the wonderful pianist, Frank Kimbrough, that is not a coincidence, either.

Singers are the least likely to become free-jazzers. It requires a non-linear mode of thinking that singers usually don't possess. Ms. Bull succeeds with mostly original songs. The "free-est jazz" cut, however, is the standard "I Thought About You." (Picture: "I took a trip on a train, and as it derailed, I thought about you"....) And she revisits the Gershwin chestnut "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" with 21st century sensibilities; time does not erase the inability of the sexes to communicate, but women were in a much different societal place in the 1930's than they are today.

As to be expected from free-jazzers, Ms. Bull can re-create order out of entropy. Listen to her original "blues," "Blue Light," and hear how she does that.

But the thing that impresses me about her music is how soulful she sounds. Listen to her intensity in "One Moment" (particularly when she sings "Bring it on, that's what I say, love is sharp and it stabs, like a sting-ray"). Or her tome to Tony Soprano, "An Opportunity," when she sings, "How many years has it been, Baby, since we've been on the run." Or the intensity of seeing I assume to be her mother or grandmother one more time in "Anniversary" ("She's back again, she's happy," intoned into our brains.) 

The instrumentalists shine on this disc. Kimbrough is wonderful, as usual; but so are Landon Knoblauch (accordion), Jeff Lederer (saxes), Joe Fonda (bass) and Harvey Sorgen (drums). This group of musicians just get down and sing; and Ms. Bull certainly is a voice that sings with them. They make music together with a shared purpose. Ego was checked at the door.

I really wish albums like this could be better known. This one is terrific. If you like Sheila Jordan, Mark Murphy, Kurt Elling, Esperanza Spaulding, Theo Bleckmann, Tom Waits - oh, to hell with it, if you like hearing what jazz singers are capable of doing - then you will want at least to give this a listen. Very highly recommended. RC