Guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire Raul Midón plays the Blue Note in a benefit for JazzReach on June 14. Midón drew national attention with a jaw-dropping performance of his song "State of Mind" on the David Letterman show in 2005. His unique guitar strumming style, soaring vocals and mouth horn/trumpet solo caused the Letterman audience to erupt in spontaneous cheer throughout the song. Since then, he's toured all over the world and worked with numerous high-profile musicians including Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock. Midón's latest release, Synthesis, was released on Decca in April, 2010 and was produced by legendary Grammy award-winner Larry Klein. People Magazine writes: "Three albums in Midón remains one of music's best-kept secrets. On Synthesis, the singer-guitarist deftly mixes R&B, reggae, jazz and Brazilian stylings." This Blue Note performance will benefit JazzReach, a nationally recognized, New York City-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, creation, teaching and performance of jazz music.
WHEN: Monday, June 14, 2010; Sets at 8:00pm & 10:30pm
WITH: Raul Midón, guitar & vocals
COST: $35 @ table / $25 @ bar
WHERE: The Blue Note; 131 W 3rd. St, New York, NY 10012
MORE: Doors open at 6:00pm. Set times are 8:00pm & 10:30pm.
BIO: Search for "Raul Midón" on YouTube and you'll find a clip of the New York-based vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2006. Performing "State of Mind," the title track from his 2005 debut album, Midón unleashes a silky, soulful tenor and dazzling percussive guitar style - a syncopated, flamenco- and jazz-infused approach in which bass, harmony, and melodic lines emanate from the fretboard in one slap-happy storm. It's a virtuosic performance, and one that reveals what has made Midón such an exciting artist to watch over the past few years.
The New Mexico native funnels all that creativity and fiery passion into his third album, Synthesis, which he recorded in Los Angeles in June 2009 with legendary producer and bassist
Larry Klein, who is noted for his work with such luminaries as
Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, and Peter Gabriel. A genre-defying blend of soul, pop, jazz, folk, and Latin elements, Synthesis showcases Midón's evolution as an artist as he sets some of his more biting insights about betrayal, fear, loss, and the American Dream to deceptively up-tempo swinging rhythms and deliriously catchy melodies.
Midón has always experienced the world differently than most. The son of an Argentinean father and an African-American mother (who died when Midón was young), Raul was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, where he and his twin brother, Marco, were blinded as infants after spending time in an incubator without adequate eye protection. Marco now works for NASA as an electrical engineer, while Raul followed a musical path inspired by his father, a professional Argentine folkloric dancer with a diverse record collection that included Beethoven and Mozart, progressive composers
John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and jazz greats
Charlie Parker,
MiLes Davis, and Sonny Rollins.
Young Raul began playing hand drums at age 4 before shifting his focus to guitar while he and Marco attended a school for the blind from age 5 to 15. "I don't believe that blindness makes you a better musician," Midón says. "I think perhaps it focuses you in a very pragmatic way. I knew I had limited job possibilities, but the Midóns don't believe in backup plans - like ‘Do music, but get your teaching degree in case it doesn't work out.' That's never been our modus operandi. I knew that I had this talent, so blindness focused me on developing that talent. But I don't think it made me play better. Most of the great musicians I know can see."
After completing his final two years of high school at a Santa Fe prep school, Midón attended the University of Miami, which he selected for its prestigious jazz curriculum. He remained there after graduating and became an in-demand backup singer, working primarily in the Latin-pop world for such artists as Julio and
Enrique Iglesias, Shakira,
Ricky Martin, and Alejandro Sanz. In 2002, Midón walked away from his lucrative work as a back-up singer to pursue a career as a solo artist in New York City.
Midón's first year in Manhattan didn't pan out as he'd expected (a period he chronicles on State of Mind). His experience singing back-up on countless Latin-pop records didn't mean automatic work, so he found a gig playing in between sets by a Top 40 band at a club in the West Village, where he began to develop his show-stopping performance style.
He began to attract attention and eventually landed a monthly residency at highly regarded downtown club Joe's Pub. In 2003, he was approached backstage to perform at a show called "The Movie Music of
Spike Lee," at
Carnegie Hall, along with Terence Blanchard,
Angie Stone, Cassandra Wilson, and
Bruce Hornsby. Midón received a standing ovation, a rave in the New York Times, and, eventually, an audience with legendary producer
Arif Mardin, who signed him and co-produced State of Mind.
For the next several years, Midón made a name for himself touring throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan, then released his second solo album, A World Within a World, in 2007, which, with its uplifting lyrics about social consciousness and insinuating grooves, went a long way toward further establishing Midón as an artist "who contributes something lasting to the musical landscape," as NPR said of him.
Now comes Synthesis, which Midón began working on last summer, demoing the songs at his home studio using a PC-based software program called Sonar, which makes Windows accessible to blind people. "The company that makes it is called Dancing Dots," Midón explains, "and the program allows you to edit audio and have access to the things that everyone uses in recording, like compressors, reverb, effects, MIDI - all on a professional level. So each demo I recorded served as a way to figure out how to do something else in my studio."
In June 2009, Midón arrived in Los Angeles to begin recording with Klein, whose previous work with so many beloved singer-songwriters Midón credits with making his voice sound more alive than he'd ever heard it recorded.
Midón and Klein agreed that all the elements should be acoustic. "I wanted to get back to organic recording," Midón says. The result is an intimate, classic-sounding album that is sure to delight newcomers to Midón's music and those who've been following his remarkable talent for years.
Synthesis will be released by Universal in fall 2009 in Europe and Japan and in Spring 2010 in the United States.
ABOUT JAZZ REACH:
Established by musician, H. Benjamin Schuman in 1994, JazzReach is a nationally recognized, New York City-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, creation, teaching and performance of jazz music. Through the presentation of captivating live multimedia educational programs for young audiences, dynamic main-stage concerts for all audiences and informative clinics, workshops and master-classes for student musicians, JazzReach is ardently committed to fostering a greater awareness, appreciation and understanding of this vital American art form.
Since the premiere of its debut program in 1997, JazzReach has quickly established itself as one of America's leading arts organizations dedicated to jazz. Our innovative programs have successfully served over 100,000 young people nationwide at many of our nation's premiere performing arts venues and have received unanimous praise from arts professionals, students, teachers and parents alike.
