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| Please vote for MoonJune Records in 2017 JazzTimes Reader's Poll Dear Friends in Music this year was a great year for MoonJune Records, and one of the biggest achievement for my one-man-only record label was the "lunar" landing to the 4th place in the DownBeat's 82nd Annual Poll. DownBeat is the most prestigious Jazz magazine in the world, and in the USA. I am truly blessed that MoonJune arrived so high and that 477 people voted for the most unorthodox rules-breaking truly and brutally independent record label which focuses on progressive music which explores and expand boundaries of Jazz, Rock, Avant, Ethno, The Unknown and Anything in Between and Beyond. Therefore I am asking You again to support me again and vote for MoonJune Records in the Annual 2017 JazzTimes Reader's Poll as well. You can vote as well for any of Your favorite artists. albums or labels (up toy three per category), and if You are keen to vote for any of "moonjunistas", please consider that only album releases and events occurred between November 1st 2016 and December 1st 2017 qualify for the Reader's Poll. JazzTimes is the second most important North-Americasn Jazz publication. SUPPORTING MOONJUNE, You will also support all the artist on the label, and in this case, specially those whose albums (those on the jazzier sonic side) were released in 2017: Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Yaron Stavi, Asaf Sirkis, Dusan Jevtovic, Vasil Hadzimanov, Tohpati, Talinka, Machine Mass (Michel Delville, Tony Bianco, Antoine Guenet). Direct link for voting is: https://madavor.polldaddy.com/s/jazztimes-readerspoll-2017 Q6 is the category where I am asking You to vote for MoonJune. if You del to vote for any of MoonJune's albums in the Best New Release, see the only albums that qualify, in the Q.7 category. Of course, You are free to vote for any of individual artists on MoonJune in any of other categories (Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Yaron Stavi, Asaf Sirkis, Dusan Jevtovic, Vasil Hadzimanov, Michel Delville, Tony Bianco, Antoine Guenet, Tohpati, Indro Hadrjodikoro, DIki Suwarjiki, Demas Narawangsa, Endang Ramdan, Tali Atzmon, Gilad Atzmon, Frank Harrison, Jenny Bliss Bennett). And of course, You can vote for any other artist that You feel to vote for. Please keep it mind, it will be very obvious if You vote only for established artists, they already get so much deserved attention. Winton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Stanley Clarke, Ron Carter, Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, all legends and heroes of mine for decades, but they already got what they fully deserved, the music industry environment in the past 5 decades allowed them to be where they are, but consider that new artists, if they do not have support from big guys, big money, they would have tremendous difficulty to emerge. We live in the world in which being independent is a challenge, and I am challenging very heavily myself as a truly independent record label who only works with musicians-friends, independent musicians from all the 7 corners of the world. Yes, I got some "fame" due to the legendary status of Soft Machine, Allan Holdworth and Stick Men (Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto), but most of my friends-musicians comes from virtually nowhere, and for them is much harder. Do not ask me how I run my label being solely on my own, while doing other things to support my living. It's a mystery to me, and a sort of miracle. I do not know why I am doing it. I do not want to complain about Spotify, YouTube, exponential intellectual laziness in today's society. All I want is to find more space and attract more attention for my hard-working friends-musicians, and voting for MoonJune Records, You are not just voting for myself and my one-man label, but You are voting for my friends. I am here for them, they are here for me, we are all together in this uncertain trouble world. Enough of talks, please vote! Voting ends at 12 p.m. EST (New York time) on January 3rd, 2018. You don't want to see all the same people winning polls, all the same labels, always the same, same as usual. Vote for progress, innovation, future. Direct link for voting is: https://madavor.polldaddy.com/s/jazztimes-readerspoll-2017 And here are categories to got for, have fun! Thanks for the support. Q.1 Best New Artist Q.2 Artist of the Year Q.3 Best Acoustic Small Group/Artist Q.4 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist Q.5 Best Big Band/Large Ensemble Q.6 Best Record Label MoonJune Q.7 Best New Release Wingfield Reuter Stavi Sirkis, The Stone House (MoonJune) Dusan Jevtovic, No Answer (MoonJune) Machine Mass, Play Hendrix (MoonJune) Tohpati Ethnomission, Mata Hati (MoonJune) Talinka, Talinka (MoonJune) Wingfield Reuter Sirkis, Lighthouse (MoonJune) Q.8 Best Historical/Vault/Reissue Release Q.9 Best Vocal Release Q.10 Best Syndicated Radio Program Q.11 Best Podcast Q.12 Best Jazz Festival Q.13 Best Jazz Documentary Q.14 Best Book On Jazz Q.15 Best Jazz Club Q.16 Best Trumpeter/Cornetist/Flugelhornist Q.17 Best Trombonist Q.18 Best Clarinetist Q.19 Best Tenor Saxophonist Q.20 Best Alto Saxophonist Q.21 Best Soprano Saxophonist Q.22 Best Baritone Saxophonist Q.23 Best Flutist Q.24 Best Violinist Q.25 Best Pianist Q.26 Best Keyboardist (Electric Piano, Synth) Q.27 Best Organist Q.28 Best Guitarist Q.29 Best Double Bassist Q.30 Best Electric Bassist Q.31 Best Vibraphonist Q.32 Best Percussionist Q.33 Best Drummer Q.34 Best Vocalist (Male) Q.35 Best Vocalist (Female) Q.36 Best Composer Q.37 Best Arranger Q.38 Best Instrumentalist (Misc.) Q.39 Best Vocal Group Q. 40 Enter your email address for a chance to win a two-year subscription, and to receive JazzTimes' offers and newsletters. Brutally independent MoonJune Records, operated by no more and no less than one person only - multilingual globetrotter and renaissance man Leonardo Pavkovic (whose main activity consists in USA and international booking of mostly non-MoonJune-Records-roster artists in the genres of jazz, fusion, progressive and classic rock) - has landed recently at the 4th place in the DownBeat's 82nd Annual Poll (2017). DownBeat is the most prestigious Jazz magazine in the world. In 2016 MoonJune reached the 7th place in the same poll. It's an achievement for someone whose main activity is something else, while running label as a labor of love. MoonJune Records – an unorthodox out-of-box rules-breaking record label accidentally established in 2001 by the urge to help an old friend, the legendary Elton Dean (R.I.P.), and named after Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt's famous 1970 epic "The Moon in June" – has already established a name for itself with "in the know" fans. Its focus is to release internationally-situated music by artists exploring the expanding boundaries of genuine, challenging, non-over-produced music that cannot be easily categorized into any specific format. MoonJune Records' ongoing goal is to support music that transcends stylistic pigeon-holing, but operates within an evolutionary progressive musical continuum that places jazz at one end and rock at the other. The ever-expanding boundaries of these two musical categories have since come to include everything from progressive rock to ethno-jazz, from experimental avant-garde to jazz-rock, and anything in between and beyond. Quoting Anil Prasad of Innerviews: This is a great overview of the ever-intrepid, genre-bending MoonJune label's output that points towards, and far beyond, the jazz universe. The price is right. Download this thing and start a journey exploring one of the world's most interesting catalogs of music. Quoting the most recorded MoonJune artist, Belgian guitarist and composer Michel Delville (10 albums on MJR): Leonardo Pavkovic is a discoverer of new sonic landscapes and a visionary manager capable of anticipating new developments in jazz and rock while maintaining his focus on the legacy of past revolutions. Because of his vision and erudition know no physical or mental boundaries, MoonJune might seem an oddity founded by a starry-eyed idealist, a rather utopian proposition in our increasingly prefab musical world. MoonJune is not just a record label pushing out alternative music. It feels more like a family of like-minded musicians keen to explore new grounds while collaborating with each other and engaging in a dialogue between the past and the present. Well known drummer/pianist/keyboardist/composer Gary Husband (of the Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Billy Cobham fame), with whom Pavkovic collaborated for over a decade touring the world, says: In these days of immense difficulty brought on by the sudden, drastic devaluation of our art, it is, undoubtedly more than ever before, great to have gallant and determined ambassadors of music around - especially when they come in the form of fellows like sir Leonardo 'Nardini' Pavkovic, who's label, MoonJune, was championing, pioneering and relentlessly forwarding artists and their work for the past decade and a half. Here is a man who gets behind everything and everyone he believes in - whatever the hardship and unfeasibility he faces - with gusto, wisdom, integrity and with real heart. Guitarist Mark Wingfield, another exclusive MoonJune artist, says: MoonJune stands out because it doesn’t get caught up in pointless concepts like “is this too jazzy for us?, maybe this isn’t jazzy enough, is this too rock?, is this world music?" etc… Instead MoonJune works with criteria like, “how high is the quality of this music, what feeling does it have, is there something really new here”. That’s why the MoonJune label has become associated with quality and innovation. MoonJune ignores the conservative critics who reject or downplay anything outside their own restricted genre biases, and looks to the place where musical innovations have historically always happened, in the genre free mixing of influences. When it comes to committing the crime of presenting genre defying, innovative music in a world of compartmentalised, risk averse, musical mundanity, Leonardo Pavkovic is the Godfather. Bassist Jimmy Johnson (James Taylor, Allan Holdswoeth, Steve Gadd) says: It’s the only explanation for Nardini's continued and tireless dedication to the music and Artists he looks after. His years of work with Allan Holdsworth alone should put him on the shortlist for sainthood. He wholeheartedly and unselfishly represents music which would not be called “mainstream” but is of great and sometimes historical importance to musicians and fans of jazz, fusion, and prog. And Leonardo continues to do great work in our unique corner of the music business. Indonesian guitar legend, Agam Hamzah: Leonardo's perspective on music has served to encourage and inspire musicians throughout Indonesia to create the music on a higher level. MoonJune Records has been great in its impact, helping to orchestrate so many positive changes for the benefit of the Indonesian progressive music scene and its artists. write your comments about the article :: © 2017 Jazz News :: home page |