Edo Castro: News

You probably noticed the awesome CD artwork on the home page.  The release of Sacred Graffiti grows nearer.  More news about this amazing product coming soon!

Edo Castro at Skywalker Sound - in mix with new project  Sacred Graffiti, to be released on Passion Star Records soon.  Edo is in sessions this week with engineer Leslie Ann Jones and producer Ray Cooper.  More news soon!

 Hello my Friends,

This time of year is my favorite time of year but it's not because of the holidays. I love the changes of the seasons, the leaves turning brilliant hues of red and orange, the rain, the dark clouds, the cold brisk air and yes the snow.

It's a time of introspection and contemplative ideals to germinate, with intentions to take seed and blossom in the spring. I can feel the winter solstice blanket darken the fabric of my spirit, the fabric of my existence. It is a time to hibernate a life that has weathered the past year.

We've all gone through a lot this year and it's not all so promising with the economic world downturn, The H1N1 Flu, constant threats of violence close and far from our homes, people losing their home, their jobs and their dignity. Indeed it is a very dark time, I would be a fool not to say that I'm scared or nervous.

If there's any real comfort in all this, I'm not alone in my fear and that in its self is comforting. Here we share a common thread that goes back since our awareness of self and our existence: we're still afraid of the unknown. The ultimate boogey man.

Perhaps that's why we have holidays in the darkest part of the year. To give us a sense of hope and that no matter what it is we're struggling with now, it will be better the next day, the next week, the next month or the next year.

In this time of darkness,whatever we came into this economic turmoil with, looming health issues, or whatever it is this year you are struggling with, I wish for all of us to emerge with strength, dignity and hope, so that we can turn around our personal struggles and be fearless in uncertain times.

To all of you Whatever it is you celebrate this time of year
Sharon, Dillon (our dog) and I wish you all the best for this holiday season and A Happy New Year.

With Gratitude

Edo

We're hunkered in our editing suites - preparing for an early spring mix session for Sacred Graffiti.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

 The Edo Castro Quartet

Edo Castro- bass, Erik Lindquist- guitar, Alex Aspinall-drums, Dan Zinn- sax

SATURDAY | OCTOBER 24th | 3pm-4:30pm | FREE 

 

Live Performance by Edo Castro w/Quartet:margin:.5in;

111 Minna Street  S.F. CA.  Bet. Howard and Mission St.

 

“Accomplished composer and innovative bassist, Castro has a gift that transforms the sound of unique multi-stringed basses into a palate from which intricate compositions are drawn. Castro lures the listener to embark on an amazing and stirring journey”

Fourteen art galleries in the Yerba Buena Neighborhood, San Francisco’s most dynamic arts community, are joining forces to host the Fall 2009 Yerba Buena Gallery Walk. The Gallery Walk will feature free admission and refreshments, along with ample opportunities to experience art. The 14 participating galleries offer a diverse look at contemporary, emerging, and established artists working in a variety  of mediums.  They are: 111 Minna Gallery, 871 Fine Arts, Baer Ridgway, Catharine Clark Gallery, Chandler Fine Art, Crown Point Press, Fivepoints Arthouse, Modernism, Rayko Photo, Sculpturesite, SF Camerawork, Varnish Fine Art, Visual Aid and the UC Berkeley Extension Art and Design Center Gallery.

 

Grammy Award Winner Mark Isham is playing a beautiful trumpet part on the title track of Castro's upcoming release, Sacred Graffiti!

Sacred Graffiti is in the oven.. so to speak.. all of the flavors are blending and binding.. More special announcements soon!

LARKSPUR, CA, June 05, 2009

"This is one of the most beautiful bass solo pieces I've ever heard. I can't believe I hadn't heard of Edo before. Where have I been?" - YouTube Fan viewing "Rain", written & performed by Edo Castro.

Currently, Passion Star Records' artist Edo Castro is recording & mixing his latest project at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio, California with Ray Cooper as producer.

This will be his second release on the Passion Star Records label due out later this year.

Bay Area bassist sensation Edo Castro describes his new release, Sacred Graffiti, as a "catch-all for my musical musings since Phoenix" - his landmark release in 2006 on Passion Star Records.

"A musical Journal if you will," Edo explains, "In my day-to-day travels I notice signs, scribbles on walls, imprints in the sidewalk, bumper stickers and more. These in a way have become the modern day cave paintings"

It's as if these dynamic visuals have been given auditory life as Edo delivers intricate urban jazz arrangements followed by ambient and enchanting soundscapes.

"Sacred Graffiti gives an impression that is at once modern and yet timeless in its varied compositions," enthuses Passion Star Record's founder, Lisa Star.

Special guests - David Friesen, Michael Manring, Dan Zinn, Ray Cooper and Percy Jones join Edo on this newest release.

Kick off the Denver Bass Bash concert series!

**June 7 1pm: Edo Castro, Christopher Cardone

The Denver Bass Bash, Blue Sky Collective, Circle K Strings, APC Instruments and Knuckle Guitar Works present:

Denver Bass Bash Concert series at Blue Sky Collective! 9635 W. Colfax Lakewood, CO 80215
303-238-0959

May 9th, A beautiful sunny day at Skywalker Ranch in Nicasio, CA. Passionstar's Edo Castro spent the day in the soundstage at Skywalker Sound. It was an amazing day featuring Passionstar's Ray Cooper/Producer, Leslie Ann Jones & team/Engineering and a variety of musicians including Erik Lindquist/guitar, Alex Aspinall/drums, Dan Zinn/Sax, Jonathan Moe/drums, percussion.

More news soon on Edo's upcoming project.

He’s currently working on his 3rd Release with special guest bassist David Friesen, Michael Manring and Percy Jones. Edo is also planning a Bass project involving Stew McKinsey and Yves Carbonne.

Edo is preparing to return to Skywalker Sound in Spring of 2009 with his latest material. He is rehearsing musicians currently.

More Studio News Soon!

As 2008 winds to a close, Edo has spent his time since early fall rehearsing & writing for his upcoming projects for 2009.. He has also been collaborating with various artists, including Eric "Doc" Smith whos electric drummstick rhythms can be found accompanying Edo at various performances & festivals on a variety of shared material from both artists.

Happy Holidays!

Edo's CD Phoenix will be available in major stores that carry CDs such as Barnes & Nobles! If you don't see it onshelf.. you can request it! We thank Pacific Coast Jazz for their support in distribution.

Check out Edo's piece on Jaco Pastorius featured on RARWRITER.com.

http://www.rarwriter.com To gain further perspective into the influence that Jaco Pastorius had on subsequent generations of bass players, RAR went to San Francisco bass player extraordinaire Edo Castro (left). The ultra-articulate Edo, who in 2006 released his album Phoenix (Passion Star Records), which explored the range of rhythm and melodic possibilities presented by the instrument - Edo uses the 7-string variation - owes much to the innovative spirit of Jaco Pastorius.

That said, Edo admits that talking about Jaco and the effect his playing had on him was not easy.

"It actually was difficult because it's as if I were asked to describe a religious experience... words fall short and one must just be in the experience to understand it."

With that introduction, here is what Edo had to say about Jaco Pastorius.
________________

You know I never knew Jaco personally but I wish I had. If there was anything true to what I've read about him, he was larger than life and words didn't do him justice: You had to experience him. We were blessed to have his creative spirit, if ever so briefly in our musical lives.

As most will agree he was perhaps the most influential musician of our time who single handedly changed the paradigm of the electric bass. After 20 years of his passing, there isn't a bassist out there who hasn't been influenced by his work.

It's interesting because my introduction to Jaco, via recordings, didn't start with his solo album Jaco Pastorious or Heavy Weather, it was Joni Mitchell's album Hejira which came out a year before Heavy Weather (1977). I was a Joni Mitchell fan already but when this album came out my hair stood on end. Joni Mitchell took a big step with this album and I welcomed it with open arms.

Track 1 on the album Hejira, "Coyote" mesmerized me. I kept wondering what "that sound was and what instrument that was making it?" I listened to that album for a year constantly to the annoyance of everyone around me. It never occurred to me that was a bass. Because up to that point I had been accustom to "thump, bumpty-bump-bump." (LOL) During that time we had Larry Graham with Sly Stone doing his slap thing, Chris Squire, John Entwistle and Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power pumping those 16th notes. Oh yeah, and Stanley Clarke's Journey to Love (1975) - that is a whole other story. Clearly though, Jaco's fretless tone and melodic approach turned everyone's head. Nobody had this sound.

Anyway that was the first time I clearly heard Jaco, not as a bassist but as a composer, overlaying his fretless bass parts, doubling melodic figures and creating textures using harmonics. By the time Heavy
Weather hit the scene I was like "oh yeah that's him." Then I got his solo album and Heavy Weather.

Jaco's fretless tone was undeniable. I mean everyone had a fretless bass by then, scrambling to emulate his sound. Even though the fretless bass existed prior to Jaco coming onto the scene, he definitely popularized it.
Oddly enough I did my best not to play a Fender Jazz bass or a Precision because Everyone had one, so I bought a black Gibson Fretless Ripper bass, that had a very unique tone and sound. (Back then you didn't have much of choice, it was Fender, Rickenbacker, Kramer or Gibson.) The sound that Jaco had was partly due to his bass set up: Low action, roto sound Strings and that Epoxy finish on his fingerboard. The rest
of it was his hands.

This may sound controversial but in many ways Jaco's revolution was a blessing and a curse, because in
one hand he brought the bass to center stage, made bassists more accountable and raised the bar for musical competence.

On the down side, many tried to play like him sacrificing the fundamental role of the bassist.

The point I think most of us missed when trying to play like Jaco back then was that he had the most sublime and innate sense of groove that was way beyond all of our preconceived notions. His command of the musical language gave him a unique insight to the "other side" of the groove: partly stated, mostly implied. It's a line easily blurred and often misunderstood. Only Someone of Jaco's level could do this. His sense of the groove and time was uncanny.

During that time every bass player was overplaying, trying to play like Jaco and just ruining the musical experience.

There was a plethora of great and not-so-great Jaco imitators but thanks to Marcus Miller, Anthony Jackson and Stanley Clark, these guys made us remember what the bass is all about first and foremost: the Groove.

For me It was a great awakening to understand that I could never be like him as a bassist but as a composer I could emulate his style and achieve the same results in my music. And perhaps that's what people hear in my music and say "wow that sounds like Jaco." That is perhaps the ultimate compliment for any bassist
or composer.

For many of us, Edo's first CD entitled simply - EDO - has been "off the shelf" unless you've been fortunate enough to buy a copy at one of his gigs.

In the next couple of months, you'll be able to find EDO on iTunes as well as Amazon.com, Rhapsody, eMusic, Napster, etc.

MANRING KASSIN DARTER
with Edo Castro and E. "Doc" Smith
http://sanfrancisco.going.com/invite-28499?src=v_wi_sfo_28499_aa59608365">http://sanfrancisco.going.com/badges/invite-28499/src-v_wi_sfo_28499_aa59608365/style-1/show_flyer-1/format-img/badge.jpg"/> Saturday, April 12 8:00pm
$20.00 General Admission
$15.00 Students
$22.00 General Admission, Day of Show
Buy tickets at TicketWeb or by calling 415.383.9600

"Mindboggling musicianship. Complex, provocative compositions. Darter, Manring and Kassin are all-around awesome!" - Greg Rule, Keyboard magazine

Performing "chamber music for the new millennium" this virtuoso trio has been astounding audiences for the last ten years with their amazing chops, quiet soul and diverse compositions. With over 100 albums to his credit, bass phenom Michael Manring has been hailed as "the world's greatest electric bassist" while pianist Tom Darter's compositions have drawn praise from Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland and Karel Husa and music critics have compared Kassin's flute playing with Rahassan Roland Kirk, Hubert Laws and Paul Horn. While listeners can hear echoes of classical, folk, avant-garde, and world music in their performances, the net result is music that tears down stylistic walls and refuses to be compartmentalized.

Opening this evening is Edo Castro with E. "Doc" Smith. Edo Castro is a multi-stringed bass virtuoso. Castro has performed with a plethora of jazz greats; Roy Haynes, Ed Thigpen, Johhny Griffin, Armando Peraza, Stu Hamm and Mark Egan, just to name but a few. E. "Doctor" Smith is a drummer and percussionist who has worked with the likes of Brian Eno,Madonna, Warren Zevon, Mickey Hart, Jimmy Cliff, and John Mayall among others. He is the inventor of the musical instrument, the Drummstick. He is thrilled with his recent collaboration with bassist Edo Castro.

Michael Manring (bass), known for his innovative approach to the bass and adventurous solo concerts, has appeared on approximately 200 recordings, and toured throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has received Grammy and Bammie nominations, the Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, two Gold Records, and the Bassist of the Year award from the readers of Bass Player magazine.

Larry Kassin (flute) founded the internationally recognized Noe Valley Music Series in 1981, at the acoustically superb Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, California. His wide-ranging performance style has led to appearances with Bobby McFerrin, Jessica Williams, SF Klezmer Experience, Rhiannon, Sonia, and Box Set, plus a recent CD release with Doors keyboardist Ray Manzerek and Beat poet Michael McClure.

Tom Darter (piano), founding editor of Keyboard magazine, established the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, where he also taught music theory and composition. He has arranged two albums of music for the Kronos Quartet Monk Suite (Music of Bill Evans), played keyboards on numerous Jerry Goldsmith film scores, and won several composition awards.

Phoenix has been added to Linda Coffin's Night Traveler playlist for March and April for you night owls.

Her show is Sun/Mon at 12am.

KRCB Television 22 and Radio 91 FM - Public Broadcasting for the North Bay, Sonoma County, California.

Thank you Linda!

Castro has collected some of the most creative musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area to join him on stage in performing his original compositions including: Charles Moselle saxaphone, flutes and vocals, Alex Aspinall on drums, Erik Lindquist on guitar and keyboardist, Greg Sankovich.

"These guys understand what I'm trying to do with my music”, Castro explained, “Each has a daring approach to their instruments; defying norms, avoiding musical clichés and taking the risky, musical path of improvisation and experimentation."

Be sure and check the calendar often! Edo will be playing out a lot this year in different configurations with a lot of great, original music happening!

More when we get into the new year! This event will feature a new configuration of musicians & arrangements for Edo.

More soon!

Check out Edo's mySpace link below or the music page to listen to one of his latest compositions slated for his upcoming CD. He is in the process of working on the final arrangement & recording - but we wanted to share it with you asap!!

When the Stars Fell on You....

Enjoy!!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=64312385

A great evening of Solo Bass music with Michael Manring, Edo Castro and Yves Carbonne!

More info at http://www.noevalleyministry.org/

After returning from the Lodo Bass Bash, Edo is enjoying a few weeks of play/rest while he continues to compose for his next CD project.