| The Manhattan Project | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by The Manhattan Project | |
| Released | 1990 |
| Recorded | December 16, 1989 |
| Genre | Jazz fusion |
| Length | 1:00:54 |
| Label | Blue Note |
| Producer | Lenny White |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
The Manhattan Project is a jazz fusion album, the only recording to be made by a band of the same name comprising Wayne Shorter, Michel Petrucciani, Gil Goldstein, Pete Levin, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. The album was released in 1990 by Blue Note Records.
The arrangements were written by Lenny White and Gil Goldstein, and the album was recorded live before an audience at Chelsea Studios, New York, with Alec Head engineering. Executive producers were Michael Cuscuna and Stephen Reed.
The project was the brainchild of White, who proposed transforming traditional jazz standards based on saxophone/piano arrangements with multiple synthesizers. The musicians invited for the project ranged from jazz traditionalist Petrucciani to longtime fusion experimenter Clarke. [2] The project was also just one of many collaborations between White and Clarke. [3] The musicians experimented with blues and funk arrangements of the standard jazz songs, and used both electric and acoustic instruments. [4]
The 1989 album has since been augmented by a DVD featuring a performance filmed the same year and released in 2005. [2] The performance included a seven-song set by Shorter, Petrucciani, Clarke, and White and featured Rachelle Ferrell on one track. [5]
Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.
Wayne Shorter was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary composer. In 1964 he joined Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report in 1970. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.
Michel Petrucciani was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplished jazz pianists of his generation despite his health condition and relatively short life.
"Spain" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea's most recognized piece, and is considered a jazz standard.
Hiromi Uehara, known professionally as Hiromi, is a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blending of musical genres such as stride, post-bop, progressive rock, classical, nu jazz and fusion in her compositions.
Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career.
John Laird Abercrombie was an American jazz guitarist. His work explored jazz fusion, free jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Abercrombie studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He was known for his understated style and his work with organ trios.
Live Under the Sky was an annual jazz festival held in summer, July and August, at the Denen Coliseum and Yomiuriland in Tokyo and other areas in Japan. The multiple day festival featured musicians from Japan and other countries performing on different stages. It was held from 1977 – 1992.
Gil Goldstein is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 times.
Steven Mark Grossman was an American jazz fusion and hard bop saxophonist.
Lewis Michael Soloff was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor.
The Berkeley Jazz Festival is held once a year at the outdoors Hearst Greek Theatre on the University of California, Berkeley campus. The theatre overlooks the San Francisco Bay at Hearst & Gayley Road. The festival was started in 1967 by Darlene Chan.
This is a comprehensive list of the discography of the jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter as a leader and sideman.
The Essential Miles Davis is a 2-CD compilation album by Miles Davis released by Columbia Legacy on May 15, 2001. It belongs to Sony Music Entertainment's "The Essential" series, not to the series "Essentials", established by WEA International, and was released as part of Sony's Miles 75 Anniversary program. In 2008, The Essential Miles Davis 3.0 was released as a limited edition album featuring a bonus third disc that added five more songs to the original track list.
Pete Levin is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer.
Adam Holzman is an American jazz keyboardist. He is the son of Elektra Records' founder Jac Holzman.
Forever is a double CD album of live acoustic recordings recorded in California, Tokyo and Seattle in 2009 by the Return to Forever pianist Chick Corea, bass player Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White and studio rehearsals with guests Jean-Luc Ponty, Bill Connors and Chaka Khan. It was released on the Concord label I 2011.
Letizia Gambi is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. Her music is a fusion between her Italian and Neapolitan heritage and Black-American jazz roots. Gambi performs and records in English, Italian, Neapolitan and Spanish and is best known for her work with Lenny White, Ron Carter, Gato Barbieri, Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Patrice Rushen, Gil Goldstein, Helen Sung, Pete Levin. She has been awarded with the San Gennaro Award and was nominated for the Targa Tenco. Letizia is a Recording Academy voting member since 2010.
