Emily Bear - Diversity
Label.........................: Concord
Genre.........................: Jazz
StoreDate.....................: May-07-2013
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 70.52 MB
Total Playing Time............: 42:58
Release Notes:
In his illustrious career, Quincy Jones had seen it all û or so he may
have thought before he came across Emily Bear. Only 11 years old, Emily
is one of the most astonishing musical talents of our time û composing,
orchestrating, and performing in a bewilderingly diverse collection of
styles. Some of her huge talent will be on display in the
appropriately-named album Diversity, her first album for Concord
Records/Quest Records, which Jones produced.
Diversity was recorded at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles û the same
Studio that Quincy recorded his Back On The Block album and Bad with
Michael Jackson, thus passing on the torch of a mighty tradition to one
of the youngest members of a new musical generation. Using her own jazz
trio handpicked by Quincy, Emily demonstrates both her versatility and
an open-hearted melodic soul at the piano, writing all of the selections
herself.
ôSheÆs the most delightful human being IÆve ever met in my life,ö Quincy
says. ôAnd her music is the same way. I am at once astounded and
inspired by the enormous talent that Emily embodies. With the ability to
seamlessly move from Classical to Jazz and Be-bop, she shows as much
musical prowess as pianists/composers twice her age, and I am thrilled
to be working with her. SheÆs astounding, man à sheÆs astounding. She
plays like sheÆs 40 years old. She is the complete 360-degree package,
and there are no limits to the musical heights she can reach.ö
On Diversity, Emily shares several of her reflective mood compositions
(among them ôBlue Note,ö ôAlika,ö ôJessieÆs Songö and ôTutti Cuoreö) and
demonstrates her ability to get down with a Latin feeling in the rhythm
section (the catchy ôHot Peppersö and self-explanatory ôSalsa
Americanaö). There is a specific Spanish flavor in ôPeraladaö û inspired
by the Catalan city where she first performed this piece at a music
festival û and utilizes her classical technique to a tee in
ôReflections.ö ôNorthern Lightsö is the piece for which Emily won an
ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition Award at the age of 6. And
ôQ,ö of course, refers to the nickname of EmilyÆs producer, which after
a heartfelt slow intro, turns into a jaunty jazz-trio tribute to the
ever-youthful spirit of her mentor.
Emily plays all of her music from memory û even 45 page classical
concertos. ôI memorize them (the notes) pretty quickly,ö she says,
adding modestly, ôthen itÆs all about polishing the details.ö George
Gershwin and Debussy are currently her favorite classical composers. Her
jazz favorites include Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, and,
of course, Quincy Jones. Emily says working with Quincy is, ôabsolutely
amazing. HeÆs so special in every way and heÆs so fun to work with. HeÆs
about the best mentor anyone could dream of.ö
A child of this century, born Aug. 30, 2001 in Rockford IL where she
still lives with her parents and older brother and sister, Emily started
to show extraordinary musical talent practically from the cradle. ôThere
was never a definitive date when it began û itÆs always been,ö says
Andrea. ôAs a baby, she would sing back lullabies to me in perfect
pitch. By 18 months, she was experimenting constantly at the piano. At
just past 2 years, my mother thought it was my son playing. She was
composing tangible pieces since she was 3. By the time she was 4, she
was having pieces published and distributed by Hal Leonard.ö
At age 5, Emily made her concert debut at the Ravinia Festival in
Chicago, playing a 40-minute solo program performing classical pieces
side by side with jazz standards and her own compositions. She was
invited to perform at the White House at age 6. Later that year, she
opened for Ramsey Lewis and his Trio with a 30-minute set of her own.
Her orchestral debut came at age 7, playing Mozart Piano Concerto no.
23, K488 and by age 8, she was playing concerts abroad in Italy and
China. At the age of 9 she made her Carnegie Hall debut with a 110-piece
orchestra, a 220-voice choir, and R&B soloists performing one of her
compositions, ôPeace û we are the future.ö
Emily broke into the national spotlight at age 6 when she appeared as a
guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show performing Mozart, jazz and an
original song she composed. She was invited back on the show five more
times û all in a span of two years, performing original music at each
visit. She has since been featured on several major news programs,
including Good Morning America, ABC World News Report with Diane Sawyer,
ABC Nightline, and the Katie Couric Show. Internationally, Emily has
been featured in stories on Swiss, German, Australian, Italian and
Chinese television, among others.
In 2011, Emily had yet another big year when she made her debut at the
iconic Hollywood Bowl. With more than 11,000 people looking on, Emily
played a medley of her own compositions, ôThe Bumble Boogieö and
performed ôMiss CelieÆs Bluesö (from the score of ôThe Color Purpleö)
with singers Gloria Estefan, Patti Austin, Siedah Garrett and Nikki
Yanofsky. That summer, Quincy also presented Emily at the 45th Montreux
Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Festival Castell in Peralada, Spain
where she performed solo as well as with GRAMMY Award-winner, Esperanza
Spalding.
Emily recently performed SchumannÆs Piano Concerto in a minor with the
Santa Fe Concert Association Symphony to a sell-out crowd, and premiered
8 new works of her own for orchestra. She also appeared with the
Rockford Symphony Orchestra performing jazz standards to a capacity
audience. Now that her hands are finally large enough to play it, she is
learning GershwinÆs ôRhapsody in Blue,ö one of her all-time favorite
pieces, for a concert series in Connecticut run by a member of the
Gershwin family.
Emily is currently studying classical piano with the Chicago SymphonyÆs
principal keyboardist Mary Sauer and jazz improvisation with Alan Swain.
Emily also studies with Veda Kaplinsky, head of the piano department at
Juillard and Ron Sadoff, head of NYU Film Scoring Department. One of
EmilyÆs greatest loves is composing for film and she has already scored
many short films. Yet like anyone her age, Emily has other interests as
well; she loves swimming, ice skating, designing and making jewelry,
baking, spending time with her family and friends, and going to the
beach.
Equally important to Emily as the joy and fun of making music û is
putting her talents to the service of good causes. Profits from each of
her songbooks and previous five CDs are donated to charities such as:
Susan G. Komen For The Cure, ChildrenÆs Hospitals of Los Angeles and
Chicago, UNICEF, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
The CD title represents the diversity of EmilyÆs style as well as the
diversity of the cultures that are her musical influences. In turn,
through her music, Emily has touched the souls of countless people
worldwide and her natural joy and innate connection to the music,
communicates emotion through every note.
Tracklisting
01. Northern Lights 2:40
02. Blue Note 2:57
03. Diversity 2:25
04. Hot Peppers 4:30
05. Alika 2:58
06. Peralada 5:25
07. Jessie's Song 2:47
08. Jazz Angles 2:41
09. Italia 2:53
10. Salsa Americana 2:40
11. Tutti Cuore 2:43
12. Reflections 4:05
13. Q 4:14
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