Tag Archives: Dan Pugach

World Poetry Celebrates the Unique Poet Chad Norman!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***One of our  last World Poetry Festivals . Thanks to CTV News for their invaluable  sponsor help several years ago.***

Ariadne’s Notes: We were so honoured to feature the incomparable Chad Norman from Nova Scotia on April 19, 1-2 PM PST  on the World Poetry Café Radio Show, 100.5 FM, CFRO.  Chad was and still is a friend and mentor that helped World Poetry  launch and provide a intercultural, multilingual venue, radio show website and special events. It is timely that he joined us as we celebrate 20 years on the show and even more on our venues. To hear this important show  which also includes a celebration poem for our 20 years by Mohan Sanjeevan, India. Our great Tech, Victor Swartzman read it twice on the show-he liked it so much! Music by Feature Dan Pugach. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SHOW!

Brief Bio: Chad Norman, Truro, NS, Canada

His poems have appeared for the past 35 years in literary publications across Canada, as well as a number of other countries around the world.

He hosts and organizes RiverWords: Poetry & Music Festival each year in Truro, NS., held at Riverfront Park , the 2nd Saturday of each July.

In October 2016 he was invited by the Nordic Assn. for Canadian Studies to give talks on Canadian Poetry and read from his books at Borupgaard Gym in Copenhagen, and Risskov Gym in Aarhus, as well as other readings in both cities and Malmo, Sweden. Because of that tour Norman has started the manuscript, Counting Coins In Denmark And Sweden.

His most recent books are Selected & New Poems, from Mosaic Press, and Waking Up On The Wrong Side of The Sky, from Grant Block Press, and a new book, Squall:Poems In The Voice Of Mary Shelley, is due out Spring 2020, from Guernica Editions. Presently, he also working on another manuscript, The Black Rum Poems.

In October of 2017 he will reading at various Eastern Canada venues in Kingston, Ottawa, and Montreal. And in the Fall of 2018 Norman will undertake a speaking/reading tour of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as a celebration of literacy and Canadian Poetry.

His love of walks is endless.Chad

 

HOW TO TUNE A MIND

If you wait long enough

and the wind

is quite right

each illuminated hardwood

will select you

and send or drop

one yellow

then one red leaf

at a time, until

what you thought

were the sounds of them

hitting the forest floor

turns out to be

one of those big

red-headed woodpeckers

letting you see it

feeding on whatever

insects are still alive

in a brief patch

of sunlight.

 Chad Norman  (C) All rights reserved by the author.

I

 

World Poetry Presents the Talented Dan Pugach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo, entitled Hope  by Afghan photographer Neamat Haidari  with permission.

Ariadne’s Notes: April 19, from 1-2 pm, we had two talented guests on the World Poetry Café Radio, now celebrating 20 years on the air on CFRO, 100.5 FM. Featured were the amazing drummer,Dan Pugach, from Brooklyn , USA and the incomparable poet and World Poetry Mentor, Chad Norman fro Nova Scotia, Canada. Hosts: Ariadne Sawyer, MA and Dr. Diego Bastianutti , special  tech, Victor Swartzman plus volunteer Sharon Rowe .

We want to thank all our guests and radio show members who have helped to keep us on the air by becoming members of our show.  A special announcement  for our beloved peace in the wonderful collaboration between a peace poet in Kabul, Afghanistan, Mahmood Jan and a wonderful band in Ghana www.opokunananomband.weebly.com Please support them also as they help us bring the world together in Peace and Respect.They heard the peace poet’s poem on the air and are going to be creating a song from his poem and play it  on their world tours. What a wonderful way to celebrate our 20 years on the air! 

TO HEAR THIS GREAT SHOW CLICK HERE! 

Our Talented  Feature , courtesy of Braitwaite and Katz . We had a wonderful interview with Dan including advice for a young drummer and his great CD. To buy the CD go to his website : https://www.danpugach.com 

“Dan Pugach Nonet Transforms Proverbial Styles With A Singular Approach and A Secret Weapon On His Unit Records’ Debut, Plus One

“I can’t gush enough about the joyful energy that Dan and his Nonet express in the most open of ways. Dan’s music is thoughtful, exciting and immensely engaging.” – Ingrid Jensen

 “Dan’s writing is sharp, concise and so is everybody’s playing. Beautiful album.” – Antonio Sanchez

“His mastery of the music from the subtle inner workings of his horn orchestrations to his command over shaping larger musical statements puts Dan in a league of his own.”  – Alan Ferber

Arriving in the US from his native Israel in 2006 to study at Berklee College of Music before earning his Masters at The City College of New York, drummer/composer Dan Pugach played cash-and-carry gigs, traditional ethnic dates, worked coffee shops-anything to keep his drumming and music pure. Eventually teaching himself arranging and orchestration, his complete reimagining of Horace Silver’s “Silver’s Serenade” led instructor (and renowned pianist/composer/educator) Mike Holober to exclaim, “Your arrangement departed from the original song; it wasn’t just an adaptation, but a rearrangement. Dude, you’re going to thrive as an arranger/composer.”

Roughly ten years later, Pugach’s Plus One is the fruit of years of hard work, practice, writing and rewriting, a joyous and thematically diverse recording that expresses Pugach’s vision of a “mini big band.” 

“What I like the most about the sound and concept of Dan’s Nonet is that the playing and the writing is selfless,” says five-time Grammy Award winning composer and perennial Pat Metheny Group member, Antonio Sanchez. “It’s all about the music. The writing is on point, sharp, concise and so is everybody’s playing. Beautiful album.”

Gathering some of New York’s finest musicians in his Nonet, Pugach’s Plus One is an exciting ride encompassing a New Orleans second-line strut, expansive arrangements of familiar pop material, and dynamite original compositions performed in classic small ensemble tradition.

“I’m not trying to be too modernist; I want to have a few surprises,” Pugach says. “But they’re hidden. Each tune has a specific vibe I’m staying loyal to. I’m trying to keep everything focused.”

Pugach’s compositions and arrangements mirror his personality as a drummer. Each note flying off his drums, cymbals and percussion is concise, poised and delivered with purpose. A YouTube search yields Pugach’s drumming blowing the lid off various NYC clubs with different ensembles, his collective rhythms a streamlined approach animated (all too briefly) by fiery solos. Similarly, Plus One is music of a stylized, singular principle with moments of absolute burn.

“I believe playing less is more until it comes to my solo-then I explode,” Pugach explains. “And in my music, I don’t want to hear overblown drumming.”

Pugach is aided on Plus One by his plus-one in life, powerhouse singer Nicole Zuratis, whose recent release, Hive Mind, shows her at full force.

“Nicole is my secret weapon,” Dan confides. “Our relationship onstage is part of the conversation. She handles the mic duties; I might come up to speak and she’ll cut me off. The audience laughs. It’s our natural banter.”

Pugach goes from strength to strength on Plus One, the album showcasing his beautifully intricate  compositions, peerless arrangements and yes, his drumming, which is funky, on-point and surprisingly restrained for a musician of such skills and gifts. Dan’s arrangements for Nonet recall the classic sounds of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Bob Mintzer, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra-expressed in a far smaller ensemble. Deft compositions, challenging arrangements, brilliant players and Dan’s silken rhythmic touch make Plus One a special outing.

The album including moving vocal versions of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” Chick Corea’s “Crystal Silence,” Quincy Jones’ “Love Dance” and Zuratis’ male-ego-impaling rouser, “Our Blues,” Plus One culminates in the two centerpieces: “Coming Here” and “Discourse This.”  The former, a circuitous coming-of-age journey with great solos all around, including a dexterous showing by Pugach; the latter, a blustery, sparse Nonet dance that reveals the musicians’ glove-tight interplay and cohesion. Through it all, Pugach’s sizzling drumming drives his Nonet-hard.

The Nonet plays as a single organism throughout Plus One, with plenty of soloing power. The Dan Pugach Nonet, plus one, is comprised of Nicole Zuraitis, voice; Ingrid Jensen, David Smith, trumpets; Mike Fahie, trombone; Jen Hinkle, bass trombone; Andrew Gould, alto saxophone; Jeremy Powell, tenor saxophone, Andrew Gutauskas, baritone saxophone; Carmen Staaf, Jorn Swart, piano; Tamir Shmerling, bass; Bernardo Aguiar, pandeiro; and Pugach, drums.

From his experiences growing up near Tel Aviv to the influences of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and Bob Mintzer Big Band, Pugach’s compositions and arranging on Plus One are a thrill, including the opening, second-line bruiser, “Brooklyn Blues,” to the closing, full-throated, “Discourse This.” An album of such high-level ensemble playing and standout vocal tracks is exceedingly rare. Plus One is pure and powerful-simply exceptional music.  

“People love the warmth and interaction between myself and Nicole and the Nonet,” Dan says. “It’s natural. The audience feels the connection. And connection is what it’s all about.”

Dan Pugach is a Brooklyn-based, two-time ASCAP Jazz Composer Award-winning drummer/arranger. Dan has worked with Ingrid Jensen, Rosa Passos, Airto Moreira, Gregoire Maret, Billy Drews, Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Bergeron, Sloan and Lucy Wainwright, and Dave Stryker, among others.  Originally from Israel, Dan served his mandatory three-year military duty as the drummer of the Air-Force Orchestra. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music and his Masters from the City College of New York, where he studied with Hal Crook, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, John Patitucci, Terri-Lyne Carrington and Ari Hoenig.”