ROLLING ALONG
It's been a great fall/winter thus far. My new record Just Like That which I'm celebrating the release of this weekend (November 11th/12th) currently sits at #15 on the Jazz Week Charts and The Night Crawlers - Down In The Bottom just one the West Coast Music Award for Best Jazz Album Of The Year.
Myself, guitarist Oliver Gannon, drummer Jesse Cahill and NYC Organist Mike Ledonne had a successful West Coast tour and we recorded an album in Edmonton, live at The Yardbird Suite. No scheduled release date yet but it should be a nice record. We did the music of Hank Mobley.
The B3 Kings are getting set to release their brand new Christmas CD You Better Watch Out! and head out on a little mini tour in early December!
More updates soon!
LOTS GOING ON!
As the dog days of summer slowly come to and end (although we really never had a summer) I'm very excited about the rest of this year as well as 2012!
Things get off to a flying start with a recording with BILL COON guitar, PETER WASHINGTON bass and LEWIS NASH drums on September 19th, then October a tour and recording with MIKE LeDONNE and gigs with Jennifer Scott and The Night Crawlers with Jim Byrnes. November I will 'officially' release my new record with The Tilden Webb Trio called 'Just Like That' and in December I will be on the road with the B3 Kings!!
Im also exited to announce some NEW YORK shows! On April 13th and 14th, 2012 I will be at Smalls Jazz Club in the Village leading a quintet with JOE MAGNARELLI trumpet, SPIKE WILNER piano, PAUL GILL bass and JOE STRASSER drums. After that I will be heading to Pittsburg, PA for a show on April 17th with organist JOEY DEFRANCESCO, trumpeter JOE MAGNARELLI and drummer BYRON WOOKIE LANDHAM!!!
RECORDING WITH THE TILDEN WEBB TRIO
I'm very excited to announce that I will being to gigs at The Cellar with The Tilden Webb Trio featuring JODI PROZNICK bass, TILDEN WEBB piano and JESSE CAHILL drums on Friday & Saturday, March 11th and 12th. On Sunday, March 13th the quartet will take up residence on the top floor of my friend Norah's house and we'll record the quartet for what will be my fourth recording as a leader. Im really excited to play and record with this band. We'll be featuring a bunch of new compositions mostly from me but both Jodi and Tilden contributed a tune each and Tilden did a great arrangement of a John Hiatt tune called 'Have A Little Faith In Me.' It's gonna be fantastic! These three musicians are not only three of my favorite in the city but also three of my best friends!
NIGHT CRAWLERS with THE BIG BAND SOUND - DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OUT NOW!!!
Im really excited be a part of drummer JESSE CAHILL's NIGHT CRAWLERS project. We have just received copies of the band's lastest CD, DOWN AT THE BOTTOM. The CD features tracks with the quintet of myself on alto sax, STEVE KALDESTAD tenor sax, CHRIS GESTRIN b3 organ, DAVE SIKULA guitar and JESSE CAHILL drums and 6 tracks where we're joined by BRAD TURNER, CHRIS DAVIS and DERRY BYRNE on trumpets, ROD MURRAY, JEREMY BERKMAN and STEVE MYNETT on trombones, BIL COON guitar, CHAD MAKELA bari sax and JODI PROZNICK bass!
You can go to www.cellarlive.com right to do download a copy or order your CD and VINYL!!!!
Monday, November 1st
Welcome to my brand new website! Thanks for stopping by. Im hoping this is the last time I get a website together! My good friend Matt Jorgensen has done a wonderful job and I'm really excited to finally have a cool, easy to navigate and interchangeable website! Come back often for new photos, videos and of course itinerary updates! A few tidbits below that I'm excited about:
* The Many Deeds is currently in it's 13th week on the Jazz Week Charts which is fanastic.
*The New York With Weeds Tour is up to 20 registrants already. For information on the tour please click here.
Monday, July 12th, 2010 | MUSINGS
I'm really excited about things for the summer! First off my record 'The Many Deeds Of Cory Weeds' was released on vinyl. My quintet did a festival gig in London, Ontario where we unleashed the vinyl on the public! People were kind of shocked. The sold pretty well and I have to say its kinda funny watching people walk around with a record of yours!
On July 20th I will be part of The Cellar Jazz Orchestra that will be recording at The Cellar as part of The Night Crawlers. Half of the album will be the quintet of myself, STEVE KALDESTAD tenor sax, DAVE SIKULA guitar, CHRIS GESTRIN organ and JESSE CAHILL drums and the second half of the album will feature the CJO: same as above with BILL COON guitar (replacing Sikula), JODI PROZNICK bass, CHAD MAKELA bari sax, CHRIS DAVIS, DERRY BYRNE and BRAD TURNER trumpets, ROD MURRAY, JEREMY BERKMAN and STEVE MYNETT trombones. Its gonna be awesome!
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 | THE MANY DEEDS OF CORY WEEDS RELEASED ON VINYL!
My new record featuring JOEY DEFRANCESCO called THE MANY DEEDS OF CORY WEEDS will be officially launched at The Cellar this coming August. it will be available in three formats; MP3 Download from www.cellarlive.com, CD and also in a limited edition vinyl release! Check out the website for more information!
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 | RECORD IN THE CAN
Well, perhaps the biggest weekend of my life (musically speaking) has come and gone. What a whirlwind. I was so happy to have had the support of so many friends, family, musicians and most of all Joey Defrancesco, Chris Davis and Byron Landham. Joey Defrancesco and Byron Landham are two of the kindest souls I have ever had the pleasure of playing with. Both of them are gracious, generous, supportive and funny as hell. It was pretty fantastic to be able to share the stage with them. Chris Davis continues to amaze me every time he brings the trumpet to his lips. He is a special musician who is going to continue to get better and better! Thanks to all who attended the shows and I'm looking forward to a relatively quick turnaround on the record!
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 | EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS - TOP 100 CDS FOR 2009
Jazz Week has announced the TOP 100 JAZZ CDS or 2009 and Everything's Coming Up Weeds Made the cut at number 32. The album peaked on the charts at NUMBER 6 and received 2457 spins on various stations across the U.S. and Canada.
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 | JIM WILKE SELECTS EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS as ONE OF THE TOP 10 NORTHWEST JAZZ RELEASES
Amanda Tosoff Group - Wait And See - Cellar Live
Marc Seales Band - The Paris Suite -
The Ross Taggart Trio - Presenting - Cellar Live
Bridge Quartet - Night - Origin
Thomas Marriott - Flexicon - Origin
Bill Anschell/ Brent Jensen -We Couldn't Agree More - Origin
Greta Matassa -I Wanna Be Loved - Resonance
Chad McCullough - Dark Wood, Dark Water - Origin
Cory Weeds Quintet - Everything's Coming Up Weeds - Cellar Live
McTuff - Volume 1 - Joe Doria Music
Johnny Conga - Breaking Skin
Phil Kelly & NW Prevailing Winds - Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles - Origin
Friday, December 18th, 2009 | NEW ONLINE RADIO SHOW ON JUST JAZZ FEATURING YOURS TRULY CORY WEEDS
My second radio show is posted and ready to be heard. In this show you'll hear more brand new releases as well as the best in live releases!
By the way, you can now hear either of the shows whenever you want: We're working as an "On Demand" web radio station rather than adhering to a schedule. To listen, just click on the link above to go to my page.
Sunday, November 29th, 2009 | PREMIERING DEC. 5TH - ALL JAZZ RADIO STATION ( MY SHOW AIRS ON SUNDAYS FROM 3pm to 5pm)
The Media On Tap Radio Network is pleased to announce the launch of the world's greatest Jazz station. Vancouver's own JUST JAZZ.
Just Jazz is not your ordinary Jazz radio station. We don't just play endless streaming tracks of music, we actually talk to you about the artists, and who accompanies them, and we read between the liner notes to not only tell you when the song was recorded but a little bit about their life too, because many of our hosts have not only met the artists but may have recorded with them.
Just Jazz hosts are jazz musicians first and radio announcers second. At Just Jazz we believe that the best people to tell you about the music are the people who have lived and are still living the music. We are proud to say that we have the most knowledgeable hosts of any Jazz station anywhere.
Just Jazz is the best "free range" Jazz radio station you'll find anywhere on the dial or on the web, with the greatest line-up of Jazz hosts anywhere on the planet. We guarantee it! Best of all it's entirely commercial free with no am/fm static or drops.
From Brubeck to Basie, from Ella to Esperanza, just the pure stereo sound of Jazz.
Just You, Just Us, Just Jazz!!
On Saturday Dec. 5th at 10:00 a.m pacific. 1:00 p.m. eastern, OPEN YOUR EARS to Jazz like you never heard it before! GO TO WWW.MEDIAONTAP.COM.
Sunday, November 1st, 2009 | WEEDS TO RECORD ALBUM with ORGAN GURU JOEY DEFRANCESCO
On the heels of the extremely successful EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS, Weeds will record his third album in as many years as a leader. Weeds gets to fullfill another dream recording with another one of his favorites in organ guru Joey Defrancesco! Joining them will be Joey's regular drummer Byron Landham and local trumpeter Chris Davis. The recording will be an easy going affair with a few original compositions and some tunes that have been important to Weeds developement as a musician. As it always when Joey D. is on the stage, its gonna swing hard and be a lot of fun!
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS STILL ON CHARTS
October 26th will mark the 17th week that THE CORY WEEDS QUINTET - EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS album has been on the JAZZ WEEK CHARTS. The album has enjoyed a huge amount of success reaching as high as #6 and spending 3 weeks in the TOP 10.
Monday, September 28th, 2009 | FIRST LEG OF TOUR COMES TO A CLOSE
The EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS TOUR Western swing came to a close this past weekend. The band played to packed houses across BC and ALBERTA. Highlight performances included The Beatniq in Calgary, The Yardbird Suite in Edmonton (PJ PERRY and SENATOR TOMMY BANKS were spotted in the front row), THE OLD FIREHALL in ROSSLAND and THE PENDER HARBOUR JAZZ FESTIVAL. The band is on a 5 day break before heading out EAST to visit TORONTO, NORTH YORK, OTTAWA, NEW YORK and MONTREAL!
Sunday, August 30th, 2009 | MOVIN ON UP!
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS reaches a new high this week (31/08) when it will be at #6 on the JazzWeek Charts. The album shows now signs of slowing down.
Thursday, August 20th, 2009 | AN NPR FEATURE!
I'm very honored to be mentioned in the same breath as Oscar Peterson and Diana Krall in a recent National Public Radio article on their website. Stellar Vancouver pianist Amanda Tosoff is also mentioned. As well. Check it out! There is also another wonderful review of Everything's Coming Up Weeds from Rick Erban, KIOS Radio in Omaha:
Every now and then an album comes along that jumps right out at one - hittin' on all cylinders. Such is the case with this new release from Cory Weeds. Weeds is owner of the Vancouver, BC, Cellar Restaurant and the Cellar Live record label that has been issuing numerous sessions recorded at his venue. He is also a fine tenor saxophone player, as evidenced by this recording - his second (preceded by last year's "Big Weeds"). "Everything's Coming Up Weeds" is a marvelous post-bop session that showcases the saxophonist in a quintet setting featuring a great group including trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist Ross Taggart, bassist John Webber and drummer Willie Jones III.
Names of themselves do not a good session make. There must be a certain chemistry, the presence of which ignites all of the artists in both group cohesiveness and individual fire. That is what is on display and contributes to the satisfaction one obtains while listening to this album.
The opening track, "B.B.'s Blue Blues" by pianist Taggart comes right out of the old hard-bop school with an upbeat, bluesy theme as foundation for the soloists. "Biru Kirusai", co-written by Rotondi and Eric Alexander, has a Japanese flavor to its insistent minor melody and the tune smokes. Rotondi takes the first solo with perfectly placed, soaring notes in his concise style that nicely balances soul and technique. Weeds comes in next with a beautifully rich tone and progressively captivating choruses, further increasing the ante for Taggart to carry-on at the piano. He does so with a beautifully constructed solo embracing chords and single note lines that rhythmically and spiritually continue to raise the excitement level on this number.
Taggart's "Ella's Walk" is a brisk, boppish melody featuring Weeds' agile tenor work and Rotondi's muted horn. Again, Taggart at the piano impresses. "Little Unknown One" by Weeds is a lovely ballad written with the care exercised by the legendary "standards" composers. It begs for lyrics. The tune is done in a quartet setting with some fine lyrical work by the leader and sensitive piano by Taggart. As, throughout the album, bassist Webber and drummer Jones provide steadfast, tasteful support. "I've Never Been In Love Before" features straight-ahead blowing along with the opportunity to hear drummer Jones step out with a solo.
"Bailin' On Lou" is an in-the-pocket cooker, this time giving John Webber a chance to solo; Taggart's "Cyclaman" is a tender ballad and Weeds' "The Pour" a number reminiscent of Art Blakey And His Jazz Messengers. There's a lot to like on this fine recording by Cory Weeds and company.
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | MORE GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS will move up one spot on next week's JazzWeek Charts to number 11! One step closer to that much coveted Top 10 spot. This makes ECUW the highest ranking album ever on Cellar Live.
Tom Harrison also gave the album a great review:
The Cory Weeds Quintet: Everything's Coming Up Weeds
Weeds is best known as the owner of the Jazz Cellar on Broadway but his jazz label, Cellar Live, has produced a consistently good line of albums. Naturally, he has recorded himself on sax and fits right in. It's great to see that someone who stands for something he professes to love can also back his talk up with proof. Here he and his group pay tribute to a variety of styles but perhaps the standout is the opening track, "B.B.'s Blue Blues," a composition by Ross Taggert that swings mightily.
- Tom Harrison - The Vancouver Province
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 | THE REVIEWS JUST KEEP ON COMING
Everything's Coming Up Weeds, the 50th release from the Cellar Live stable, is a stellar recording featuring an extraordinary quintet. At first blush, it recalls the energy and fervor of wonderful Benny Golson bands and, if the memory can be stretched a wee bit further, also some memorable sessions of The Jazztet-or even a Jazz Messengers middle passage. The date is led by the big tenor sound of Cory Weeds-saxophonist, broadcaster, jazz impresario extraordinaire and owner of Canada's leading West Coast nightspot, The Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club. There is also excellent work from pianist Ross Taggart, trumpeter Jim Rotundi, bassist John Webber and drummer Willie Jones III.
There are several remarkable aspects to this record. First, the writing of the originals is of the very highest order. The music is wonderfully crafted with an extraordinary ear for tonal colors and rhythmic textures, whether it is a blues such as Taggart's "BB's Blue Blues," which appears to be an oblique tribute to Monk, or an exotic narrative from Rotundi, "Biru Kirusai," which is almost a title in Bunga Emas (the language of Malaysia) and conjures up images of the sights and smells of exquisite Southeast Asia. The highlight, of course, is Weed's writing, which is mature and exquisitely crafted, with a fine sense of the sonority and sliding elegance of the tenor saxophone. On his "Little Known One," Weeds paints sonic images of Dexter Gordon. And like Gordon, Weeds is able to bend his fat sound to practically cry at the most tender moments of the song.
On Frank Loesser's "I've Never Been in Love Before," Cory Weeds establishes his mastery over the ballad, digging deep into his horn an extracting a genuine, glowing warmth that few tenor saxophonists today have been able to summon, even in balladry. Weeds also exhibits remarkable command of the bebop rhythm with his "Bailin' On You" and "323 Shuter." His chart, "The Pour," sounds like a classic tune from a Jazz Messengers songbook. But make no mistake, this is all Cory Weeds.
This is, in fact, the second remarkable aspect of this record. It is bursting with ideas and superb expression. Few small ensembles playing today complement each other with sensitivity to each other's sound. It is like an Ellington band, where each of the players, like alchemists, forge tones that meld into one another. The interplay is almost seamless, with Taggart's "Cyclaman" and Weeds' "The Pour" bringing that molten sound of the quintet to sublime fruition.
This is also a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek title: Everything's Coming Up Weeds. If anything, there is jazz in full bloom here, end-to-end.
Raul d'Gama Rose - All About Jazz
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS DEBUTS AT NUMBER 22 ON THE JAZZ WEEK CHARTS
JazzWeek is the definitive Jazz and Smooth Jazz national radio airplay chart-a weekly report of the top fifty Jazz and Smooth Jazz recordings played on radio stations across the United States and Canada.
Radio reporters and industry subscribers receive the weekly Jazz Fax or Smooth Fax with the current chart each Friday.
Industry subscribers have access to detailed radio airplay data in a password-protected area of this site. Each Friday, the current Jazz and Smooth Jazz charts are posted, along with each station's individual report. Airplay data for each release is provided each week showing week-by-week spins and stations reporting the release. Subscribers to this section can also download each week's chart for importing into a spreadsheet.
Radio reporters have access to the Radio section of the website. There, radio reporters can view the airplay reports from other stations. A listing of current and upcoming releases is found in that section also. The radio section also features upcoming jazz birthdays as a help for show prep.
Both the Radio and Industry sections include a directory of Jazz and Smooth Jazz stations. In the near future, an industry directory will be included.
Public areas of the JazzWeek site include the previous week's chart, which is released the Thursday after the current chart's Friday publication date, as well as news and feature sections. News and feature submissions are welcome from writers, labels, artists, promoters, and radio stations.
JazzWeek will also helps tie radio play to retail. National and local retailers will receive the weekly Jazz and Smooth Jazz faxes. Specific airplay reports reflecting areas in which retail chains have outlets can also be provided on a subscription basis.
Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | MORE GREAT REVIEWS FOR EVERYTHING'S COMING UP WEEDS
A superb CD, by a tremendous tenor player!" Everything's Coming Up Weeds" may I suggest "Everything's Coming Up Roses"! I 'm quite familiar with Cory Weeds and his music, he is just great! The group is perfect, and they deserve worldwide recognition, I will certainly do my bid to help them to achieve this. Thank you so much for sending this excellent CD to me."
Peter Kuller
Radio Adelaide, Austrailia
"One could suppose that, given Cory Weeds' position as owner of The Cellar jazz club and associated label, that his records are mere vanity projects, but if the first album from his quintet didn't convince you otherwise (and it should have), then this one will. It's a solid bop/post-bop recording with pleasant soloing and interesting writing. "Little Unknown One" is suitably sensitive and mellow, while the shuffle "Bailin' on Lou" is energetic without getting frenetic. In fact, you could almost say, given the style of play, that this recording came from the wrong coast. "
Daniel Klein
CILU Thunder Bay Ontario
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | TWO REVIEWS FOR EVERYTHING'S COMIN UP WEEDS
From Cory Weeds, who must be the busiest man in Vancouver, what with his Cellar jazz club, Cellar Live record label, radio show and newborn son, comes Everything's Coming Up Weeds. In January this year, he and pianist Ross Taggart traveled to record in New Jersey with some of New York's hard-bop elite, namely trumpeter Jim Rotondi, bassist John Webber and drummer Willie Jones III -- not that there aren't hard-swinging, bop-versed Vancouverites that he could have tapped, such as trumpeter Brad Turner, bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Jesse Cahill, to name just three.
As I've written here, Weeds is a professed traditionalist, which you can even see from his disc's retro cover. The disc's opener, B.B.'s Blues Blues by Taggart, is a shuffle straight out of the 1959 Art Blakey book. Taggart wrote two more tunes on the disc including the fun harmonic slalom Ella's Walk. Weeds wrote four.He's fine with riffier melodies, including the old-time funk of Bailin' On Lou (Donaldson, I'm guessing) and the closer, The Pour, a Moaningesque blowing vehicle. His brisk 323 Shuter makes me think of the classic Sonny Stitt tune The Eternal Triangle. Rotondi brought in one tune, the surging minor tune Biru Kirusai, and the disc's lone standard is I've Never Been In Love Before, which features a bit of waltzing fun before it settle into its 4/4 swing.
Indeed, 4/4 swinging is where it's at for Weeds and his band, and they do it as naturally as breathing. The disc's chief attractions are the assured soloing and big sounds from Weeds, Rotondi and Taggart, and the perfect pocket from Webber and Jones. No need for lofty thoughts about innovating or stretching the bounds of jazz -- just sit back and dig.
PETER HUM - OTTAWA CITIZEN
So there are two ways this can go: either I tear the Cory Weeds Quintet a new one for bringing nothing fresh to the jazz table or I go easy on the boys and prepare myself for a reaming from frequent Payback Time letter-writer Darryl Zimmerman, who seems to have taken on my old job as self-appointed champion of the improvisational avant-garde."
"Hmmm. Guess Ill take my chances with Zimbo."
"So long as youre not looking for new concepts, Everythings Coming Up Weeds is a very likable package of very familiar sounds, played with grace and enthusiasm by five consummate pros. How saxophonist Weeds manages to sound so assured while undertaking two of the worlds most thankless jobsjazz-nightclub owner and record-label bossis a mystery, but here his forthright, bluesy tenor brims with confidence. The rest of the band follows suit, with pianist Ross Taggart deserving special mention for his spare, supportive comping behind the other soloists."
"Sure, this is West Coast lifestyle jazz, having more to do with Sunday drives up the Sea-to-Sky than the nitty-gritty urban realities that spawned the hard-bop style more than 50 years ago. The pleasures offered here are tamebut that doesnt mean theyre not also real."
Alex Varty
Georgia Straight (Vancouver, BC)
Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | CELLAR LIVE WINS LABEL OF THE YEAR AT THE 2009 NATIONAL JAZZ AWARDS
Im proud to announce that Cellar Live has won the LABEL OF THE YEAR AWARD at The 2009 NATIONAL JAZZ AWARDS for the second year in a row. I was in attendance at the awards again this year and kudos to all those involved in putting on such a great event. Thanks to all of you who voted for the label and a sincere congrats to all the other winners!
Friday, April 17th, 2009 | MY NEW SON!
Baby Noah Alexander Weeds was born on Tuesdsay, April 14th at 10:40 AM. Mom and baby are doing fine although baby is a bit overwhelmed as he shot through the birth canal in only 6 hours! Wanted to get out to see the Canucks first playoff game! Thats my boy! For pictures, please check out my Facebook page!
Friday, March 27th, 2009 | CELLAR LIVE & CORY WEEDS GET NODS AT 2009 NATIONAL JAZZ AWARDS
The 2009 NATIONAL JAZZ AWARDS have just released their nominations and CORY WEEDS - BIG WEEDS has been nominated in the ALBUM OF THE YEAR CATEGORY along with CELLAR LIVE for LABEL OF THE YEAR and CORY WEEDS for PRODUCER OF THE YEAR.
Other nominations of note as they relate to Cellar Live are JOEL HAYNES TRIO w/SEAMUS BLAKE - TRANSITIONS for ALBUM OF THE YEAR and MELODY DIACHUN for FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR. We are really proud of the progress of the label and our aritsts! You can vote at www.nationaljazzawards.com