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Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh CD RELEASE EVENTS/LIVE DUO APPEARANCES IN DECEMBER Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh CD RELEASE EVENTS/LIVE DUO APPEARANCES IN DECEMBER: Multiple DUO CD Release Shows at Chez Zee American Bistro in Austin, TX: Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh – CD Release Dinner Shows Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 Friday, Dec. 13, 2024 Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 Set Times: 6:00 pm & 7:45 pm Chez Zee American Bistro 5406 Balcones Drive, Austin, TX, 78731 512-454-2666 Margaret Slovak – guitar; Chris Maresh – bass Music Charges + Any Minimums: No cover, no minimum; all ages welcome Intimate DUO House Concert CD Release Show in Austin, TX: Leader: Margaret Slovak Billing: Margaret Slovak & Chris Maresh – CD Release House Concert Saturday, December 21, 2024 Set Times: 8:00 pm Sessions on Mary Austin, TX (exact address provided with ticket purchase/reservation) 512-470-1919 Band Personnel + Insts.: Margaret Slovak – guitar; Chris Maresh – bass Music Charges $15 admission; no minimum NEW CD Guitarist Margaret Slovak and bassist Chris Maresh bring comfort and joy to this holiday season on their new Christmas CD, A Star’s Light Does Fall. The Austin, Texas based musicians celebrate the holiday by performing their enchanting instrumental jazz interpretations of traditional, non-traditional and lesser-known Christmas music. December issue of the Los Angeles Jazz Scene Margaret Slovak is a jazz guitarist who plays sophisticated chords with a gentle touch. She met bassist Chris Maresh in 2023, they found that they had similar styles, and the duo has often played together during the past year. On A Star’s Light Does Fall, the two musicians perform Christmas-related songs including a few standards, some lesser-known material, and Wayne Shorter’s “Infant Eyes” which is probably the first time that the latter tune has been on a Xmas album. Their treatments of such songs as “What Child Is This, ” “Christmas Time Is Here, ” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah, ” “I Wonder As I Wander, ” and “Some Children See Him” are melodic, respectful and lightly swinging. Margaret Slovak’s attractive chord voicings, Chris Maresh’s supportive bass lines, and their optimistic interpretations make A Star’s Light Does Fall a worthy acquisition for those who enjoy relaxing Christmas jazz. It is available from www.margaretslovak.com. Scott Yanow “There is an incredible warmth and peacefulness that radiates from the music created by nylon string guitarist, Margaret Slovak and double bass player, Chris Maresh. This duo offers us their awesome and individual talents in perfect harmony. . . . The way they musically melt together is like candle wax dripping down the candelabra to create a beautiful pattern.” – Dee Dee McNeil: Making A Scene: The Independent Music Magazine – 10/30/24 Artist: MARGARET SLOVAK & CHRIS MARESH Title: A STAR’S LIGHT DOES FALL Artist Website: www.margaretslovak.com https://margaretslovak.bandcamp.com/album/a-stars-light-does-fall Label: Slovak Music Catalog Number: 105 Release Date: November 1, 2024 UPC Code: 195269327408 photos by Laura Skelding TRACK LISTING 1. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (4:28) (Traditional; text translated by John M. Neale) Public Domain 2. I Wonder as I Wander (6:07) (John Jacob Niles) G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP) 3. What Child Is This? (4:24) (Traditional; text by William C. Dix; melody based on Greensleeves) Public Domain 4. Christmas Time Is Here (5:09) (Vince Guaraldi/Lee Mendelson) Lee Mendelson Film Prod. Inc. (BMI) 5. Infant Eyes (7:02) (Wayne Shorter) Kobalt Music Pub. America Inc. OBO Miyako Music (BMI) 6. Away In a Manger (3:24) (William J. Kirkpatrick/James R. Murray) Public Domain 7. Christmas Dinner (4:26) (Noel Paul Stookey) WC Music Corp. OBO Pepamar Music Corp. (ASCAP) 8. Some Children See Him (4:34) (Alfred Burt/Wihla Hutson) Hollis Music Inc. (BMI) 9. The Star Carol (3:51) (Alfred Burt/Wihla Hutson) Hollis Music Inc. (BMI) 10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (5:00) (Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane) EMI April Music Inc. OBO EMI Feist Catalog Inc. (ASCAP) 11. Hallelujah (3:20) (Leonard Cohen) Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) Total Playing Time: 51:51 A Star’s Light Does Fall Song Descriptions O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Traditional; text translated by John M. Neale) – Starlight. Solitude. Reflection. A wide-open winter sky. These elements define the track – and this album. Listen to the twinkle in Margaret’s high notes, the sophisticated lines in Chris’s opening solo as the pair interprets this advent hymn with roots that go back 10 centuries. I Wonder as I Wander (John Jacob Niles) – Margaret and Chris explore the essence of journey, of weight and wandering, light and hope, step by step by step. Do you recognize a trace of John Abercrombie’s “Timeless” in this rendition of the 19th century Appalachian carol? “We were aiming for a circular, modal feel, ” says Chris, “rather than just soloing over the chord changes.” What Child Is This (Traditional; text by William C. Dix) – Chris and Margaret go Deep Renaissance in this carol of adoration, set to the melody of “Greensleeves.” Margaret recalls: “When we first rehearsed this song, Chris said, ‘Let’s pretend it’s the 15th century. Imagine candlelight. You’re playing a lute and we’re in monk’s robes, drinking goblets of grog.’ ” Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson) – “I remember, when I was little, there was this magical, mysterious thing about Christmas, regardless of any spiritual or religious feeling you might have about it, ” says Margaret. “With this record” – and this tune from the 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas special – “we wanted to do something that would allow people to re-enter that part of childhood that they may have lost with the commercialization of Christmas.” Infant Eyes (Wayne Shorter) – Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, renowned for touching spiritual heights in song, wrote this ballad for his daughter in the 1960s. “There’s nothing more magical than looking into the eyes of an infant, ” says Margaret. “They’re new on the earth. Their eyes and hearts are open. Nothing prevents them from a having a total embrace with the world. And that’s one thing about Christmas: It invites us to have that open heart, to embrace that spirit of renewal and rebirth. Hope. Beauty. Joy.” Away In a Manger (William J. Kirkpatrick/James R. Murray) – Margaret and Chris imbue this classic carol with a sense of joy, elevating the mood with a gentle sense of swing. This is a happy manger, with more “smile” than solemnity. “The swing, the bounce, makes it more fun, ” says Chris. “But it wasn’t talked about in advance. It was just birthed that way! . . . There was a lot of serendipity on this record.” Christmas Dinner (Noel Paul Stookey) – This Peter, Paul and Mary tune – released in 1969 – is all about sharing, a tale of two lonely strangers who share a simple Christmas meal of bread and cheese by candlelight. With elegance, Margaret and Chris transcend the literal/lyrical message of the tune – slowing tempo, allowing space for reflection, imbuing it with aching tenderness. Some Children See Him (Alfred Burt/Wihla Hutson) – Alfred S. Burt, a jazz trumpet player, composed 15 original carols between 1942 and 1954 – sharing them with friends, annually, like Christmas cards. This 1951 carol deals with diversity, how children of different cultures might imagine the baby Jesus – “lily-white” or “dark as they, ” “almond-eyed” or “bronzed and brown.” Can you hear Chris breathe as he connects with the song’s higher poetry? “The way he plays with his breathing and his body: It’s all one, ” says Margaret. “Nothing is forced. He’s totally involved.” The Star Carol (Alfred Burt/Wihla Hutson) – “I was moved by these Alfred S. Burt songs the first time I heard them, ” says Margaret. “In rehearsal, Chris felt the same way. And when we found out they were written by a trumpet player who, sadly, left us early at age 33 because of cancer, it brought a more special meaning. Alfred Burt was in the last days of his life when he wrote this song, and he knew it. These songs were an offering from him to his family and the world. His melodic and harmonic construction of the songs: They’re gems. They are perfect.” Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane) – This holiday standard was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Says Margaret: “In my playing for people in cancer centers, hospice, elder care centers – and in particular the Bronx VA Hospital in New York – I found that veterans and elders who lived during those difficult World War II years were often moved to tears when I would play this song. It seemed to take them back to that time, and they felt an emotional connection to the music.” Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) – Although it’s not a traditional Christmas song, “I love the way “Hallelujah” welcomes people of all faiths to listen, to enjoy, to take comfort from it, ” says Margaret. While Margaret and Chris tend to play an extended rendition of “Hallelujah” in live sets, Chris suggested a shorter arrangement for this album – wanting to end with music that felt “like a little prayer.” “Chris’s solo is just gorgeous, ” says Margaret. “It instills, in just four measures, the whole beauty of the song.” |
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