Jay Rosen - Drumsa
Ted Daniel - Trumpet
Michael Marcus - Reeds
The "R" in RDM is none other than old Bop Shop friend, drummer Jay Rosen. He's played at the store over a dozen times since his first appearance in 1998 as member of a Paul Smoker's Standards Quartet. And Smoker returned the favor when Rosen brought his own quartet (with Mark Whitecage and Vinny Golia) a year later. In addition to leading his own quartet, he's also appeared four times as a member of the legendary Trio X with Joe McPhee and Dominic Duval. He has an extensive discography. He was the drummer on all 8 recordings by The Cosmosomatics, saxophonist Sonny Simmons' adventurous group. He's released an excellent solo record on CIMP and has appeared on many, many other recordings including those of trumpeter Herb Robertson, saxophonists Mark Whitecage, Charles Gayle and Gebhard Ullmann. Suffice it to say that if Jay Rosen is drumming in a group, it's worth hearing.
The "D" in RDM is trumpeter Ted Daniel. We've been wanting to bring him to the Bop Shop for many years but things never quite fell into place. But we're glad that he's finally coming and in this configuration. Daniel has a lot of history behind him. His earliest recordings come from 1970 and were released in that first flush of self-released recordings, when the jazz avant-garde was taking over the means of production, recording and distributing their own work. He's appeared on recordings by Archie Shepp, Sonny Sharrock, Billy Bang and Dewey Redman. He was a regular member of Andrew Cyrille's groups and in Henry Threadgill's Sextet. He appeared on the first recording of Defunkt, one of the earliest bands that fused funk with avant-garde. Recordings under Daniel's own name have been sporadic but they've always been well-received and worth hearing.
The "M" in RDM is Michael Marcus, a multi-reed player (seemingly all clarinets and saxophones. The first release under his own name, 1991's Under The Wire (which included trumpeter Daniel in the group) aligned him with the jazz avant-garde but also drew from his experiences playing behind Bobby Blue Bland and Albert King. The album he recorded in duet with pianist Jaki Byard, This Happening, is a gem. He and Daniel have maintained a close musical friendship culminating in 2006's beautiful duet album Duology. Marcus shared a membership with Rosen in Simmons' Cosmosomatics. And Rosen has played on several albums with Marcus as leader.
This trio is a mighty combination of forces that have been glancing off each other for nearly two decades. We feel fortunate to bring RDM to the Bop Shop.