I am so looking forward to these upcoming dates with the amazing bassist/composer Mike Pope and his band, the House of Cardinals - featuring Joe Locke, Eldar Djangirov, Bob Franceschini and Mauricio Zottarelli.
June 4 - Blues Alley - Washington DC - buy tickets: 8pm and 10pm
June 6 - An Die Musik - Baltimore, MD - buy tickets: 8pm and 9:30pm
June 10 - Regattabar - Cambridge MA - buy tickets 7:30pm
The shows are also celebrating the release of Mike's new studio CD in a decade, "Cold Truth, Warm Heart"(Nineteen Eight Records):
(from Mike's website)
"... Bassist and composer Mike Pope builds significant musical, personal and spiritual bridges between the past, present and future with his third release, Cold Truth, Warm Heart. The new album shows him to be a visionary composer, arranger and bandleader.
The 2014 offering is the first in a decade and establishes a new threshold of leadership for the virtuoso acoustic and electric bassist who has toured extensively with Chick Corea, David Sanborn, Al DiMeola and Bill Bruford, and more recently, Joe Locke and Eldar Djangirov.
'The new album,' says Pope, 'was written for the players who were playing it. The idea was to write stuff that was inspired, worrying less about how it would all go together than how it felt in the moment'. On most compositions, he establishes the subject matter and directs the conversation, while the (recording and touring) musicians contribute superb interaction and improvisation. Pope leaves plenty of space for these world-class improvisers to do what they do.
The stellar touring band includes Eldar Djangirov (piano), Joe Locke (vibraphone), Bob Franceschini (saxophone) and Mauricio Zottarelli (drums). The studio album features Joe, Mauricio, Geoffrey Keezer (piano/keys), Alan Blackman (piano), Seamus Blake (saxophone) and Lydia Courtney."
Visit Mike's website at www.mikepopejazz.com
You can purchase/download Mike's new album here.