The audio archive from our gig at Smalls on July 15th is now up.  I encourage you to take a moment and listen through either set.  We had a fantastic time playing here and are looking forward to the next time! Click here to check it out!

Last night at the Brooklyn Lyceum began the first of 3 gigs this week for New Tricks. We pushed through some pretty intense heat inside the Lyceum for some fantastic fans that stuck it out through the heat.  We will admit that we made it worth their while, as the band played great. However, we were all soaked by the end of the very first tune.

We continue this week at Kenny’s Castaways on Thursday with a short set at 9pm. There is no cover so come hang with us!

On Saturday we are very excited to be playing two full sets at the Bethlehem Musik-Fest at 6pm on the Banana Island Stage. If you live in western Jersey, or eastern PA. please come and check us out. This is a fantastic festival so don’t miss out. We are really looking forward to this one

Here is a bit of video from the Bethlehem Musik-Fest on August 6th. We are playing one of our favorite tunes “1919″.

Our New CD drops today! We’re so proud of this effort. It’s the first documentation which represents our WORKING BAND. It was recorded after several weeks of touring last year and shows our unique blend and personal interactive style. It’s available on iTunes, CDBaby and Digstation.

At CDBaby:

On Amazon:

As of April 1st, we’re back on the road again to promote our new CD which is set to drop on April 5th. We’ll be playing in the Midwest including dates at Nighttown in Cleveland, the Blue Wisp in Cincinnati, the Bistro in St. Louis and many colleges, universities and high schools along our way.

Check out the Calendar!

A new article about our great, fantastic, awesome, swinging, badass drummer appears in All About Jazz Today.  The author David Orthman has been good to New Tricks over the past couple of years. He’s one of the first to really “get it” about Shawn and New Tricks.

Yes, he really is this good!

New Trick’s second recording, “Alternate Side,” is off to the manufacturer. We hope to have copies in hand by the middle of March. Official release date is April 5th. Just like the first recording, the new cover features the splendid artwork of trumpeter Rob Henke.

About the recording process (from liner notes for “Alternate Side”): This CD was recorded the way we had dreamed of recording. We played all of the material for three weeks on tour before our first recording session and then for another two weeks before our second session. By the time we recorded our tunes — which are sometimes difficult and always quirky — they felt as comfortable as playing a blues and we could concentrate on making music. We recorded in Shawn’s apartment with all of us in the same room using only blankets wrapped around music stands for audio separation. Then we mixed together, painstakingly going over . . . → Read More: “Alternate Side” to be released April 5th]]>

New Trick’s second recording, “Alternate Side,” is off to the manufacturer. We hope to have copies in hand by the middle of March. Official release date is April 5th. Just like the first recording, the new cover features the splendid artwork of trumpeter Rob Henke.

About the recording process (from liner notes for “Alternate Side”):
This CD was recorded the way we had dreamed of recording. We played all of the material for three weeks on tour before our first recording session and then for another two weeks before our second session. By the time we recorded our tunes — which are sometimes difficult and always quirky — they felt as comfortable as playing a blues and we could concentrate on making music. We recorded in Shawn’s apartment with all of us in the same room using only blankets wrapped around music stands for audio separation. Then we mixed together, painstakingly going over each instrument, each track, and finding the right audio effects to apply through trial and error. Shawn’s patience and willingness to experiment with us was unlimited over the course of six different mixing sessions. After each session we took home the tracks and listened, compared, argued with one another, and finally arrived at a sound and a mix that reflects our vision as a band.

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that we’ve upgraded the site drastically. While we imported the posts from our original site and, of course, kept Rob Henke’s great artwork, the new site allows great control of our content. The new music and video clips are hosted right on this site, allowing us great quality control. We plan to expand the capabilities further by having our new CD and our T-Shirts available directly from this site in the near future

So look around, play a video, leave a comment and by all means, “like” the New Tricks Facebook page.

As we enter the holiday season and ponder the events of the last year, we’re really amazed at the progress the band has made over the past year. Of course our tours last spring were the highlights of 2010. We were able to play night after night with musicians that we find continuously creative and swinging. We met so many young fans, old friends and saw how vital jazz is across the country.

The Recording

We also built an entire new repertoire of tunes that we were able to perform live 20 to 30 times across the country and THEN go into the studio after we returned to the east coast. Not only was the recording the easiest session I’ve ever been a part of, because of the preparation and the comradery of the band, but we decided to record and mix it ourselves! Shawn has a home studio that we recorded at on two occasions. We used his expertise (and good will) to work on the mix on five . . . → Read More: Thanksgiving Update]]>

As we enter the holiday season and ponder the events of the last year, we’re really amazed at the progress the band has made over the past year. Of course our tours last spring were the highlights of 2010. We were able to play night after night with musicians that we find continuously creative and swinging. We met so many young fans, old friends and saw how vital jazz is across the country.

The Recording

We also built an entire new repertoire of tunes that we were able to perform live 20 to 30 times across the country and THEN go into the studio after we returned to the east coast. Not only was the recording the easiest session I’ve ever been a part of, because of the preparation and the comradery of the band, but we decided to record and mix it ourselves! Shawn has a home studio that we recorded at on two occasions. We used his expertise (and good will) to work on the mix on five different mixing sessions in which we were able to experiment and discuss all the little nuances about the sound of the recording in a way that only the band members themselves would ever care to do. We have taken our “experiments” home to play on our own systems and really decide whether we had achieved the sound we were looking for, and then go back and try again. We’re almost done with the mix and I have to say, I’m thrilled with the result and I’ve learned so much about what I’m looking for in a mixing session and how to get it.

We should have some sneak previews of the new CD up on our “listen” page very shortly.

We’ve got another tour coming up! California! We go to Kellen & Shawn’s home towns and many other gigs. Get all the information on our itinerary.

http://newtricksjazz.com/itinerary/

Yesterday we went over to Shawn’s and began recording our new record.  It was the most refreshing experience in the studio I have ever had.  We all knew the tunes so well from playing them on the road for 3 weeks that we were able to get to a really creative place in the studio!!  Watch out for the new record in the future.