Planet D Nonet / pair of 6 song EP's

[RJ Spangler]

I thought I'd post this here just in case some of you fine people might be interested in my latest recordings:

Eastlawn Records Presents

Two EP Companion Set debut recordings by the Planet D Nonet

"Blowin' Away the Blues" & "Ballads, Blues & Beyond"

NOW AVAILABLE at CDBaby.com! http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/PlanetDNonet

Detroit's down & dirty little nine man swing ensemble, the Planet D Nonet celebrate the release of their debut EP's. The PD9 start with swing music from the late 1920's into the '30's and make their way to space-age jazz ala Sun Ra!

The Planet D Nonet is co-led by veteran Detroit musicians RJ Spangler & James O'Donnell and features some wonderful younger Detroit area players, along with various guest vocalists.

The Two EP Companion Set of recordings includes "Blowin' Away the Blues," a collection of six songs on the bluesy side of things. This set features guests like vocalists Alberta Adams, Charles "Buddy" Smith & Mario Rodriguez, as well as sax player Keith Kaminski. "Ballads, Blues & Beyond" is another collection of six songs but this time the emphasis is one classic swing & ballads by the likes of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and beyond, like the intergalactic Sun Ra.

LOTS of radio play already on WEMU in Ypsilanti (MI), as well as on WHPK in Chicago, WRCJ in Detroit, WPKN in Bridgeport (CT), WMNF in Tampa & yesterday on WEFT (ILL).

http://eastlawnrecords.com/

http://www.myspace.com/planetdnonet

Edited February 20, 2010 by RJ Spangler

[RJ Spangler]

My buddy Scott Barretta does a radio program out of Oxford, MS ('Ol Miss) called Highway 61. On his show last Saturday, March 13, he featured most of the tunes from the Planet D Nonet EP "Blowin' Away The Blues" including the track with Alberta Adams. The show is heard all over the entire state:

Biloxi WMAH

Booneville WMAE

Bude WMAU

Greenwood WMAO

Jackson WMPN

Meridian WMAW

MS State WMAB

Oxford WMAV

www.highway61radio.com

[Lazaro Vega]

We've been hittin' it, too!

[RJ Spangler]

Great news! This makes 22 stations that have played our music, in 9 states, including, MI, IN, ILL, WI, FL,MS,CT, NY & OR.

[RJ Spangler]

Planet D Nonet Reviews:

(The Planet D Nonet) got an immediate emotional thumbs-up in the first eight bars of "Good Queen Bess," and not because it was a dead-on copy of a Hodges small group. Rather, Planet D Nonet knew the original thoroughly enough to be a little naughty, to make sure that each players idiosyncratic sensibility shone through. The CD isn't called Swing Goes Modern, which is a good thing -- each of those terms is so open to misreading these days -- but it feels as if Hilton Jefferson had secretly been listening to Phil Woods on his day off, as if Shorty Baker had had that third cup of coffee. This compact, hot little band is all about rocking momentum -- something they've got internally (as opposed to the ersatz "swing" some groups manifest) and about timbre -- coarse or purringly smooth. I apologize to the soloists for not praising them individually, but I was too busy enjoying the band (beautifully recorded) to care. And their "Saturn" is just as much fun. I was thoroughly sorry when this short CD was over.

Michael Steinman / Cadence: The Independent Journal of Creative Improvised Music / Summer, 2010

http://www.cadencemagazine.com/about-cadence-magazine.html

Recently, Planet D released two recordings, on Eastlawn Records, a label Spangler co-founded. The EPs capture the group's diverse roots. The ballads on Ballads, Blues & Beyond are so soothing you'd want to cuddle up with them. Those tunes will surely put you in a hypnotic state, but the Sun Ra ditty "Saturn" will snap you out of it, and prep you for the second album. Blowin' Away the Blues is a down-home, rip-snorting blowing session in which the horn players show off their chops, as do guests vocalists (Adams, Mario Rodriguez and Charles "Buddy" Smith) and instrumentalist guests (including saxophonists Johnny Evans and Keith Kaminski).

Charles L. Latimer / Metro Times / 2/24/2010

http://www.metrotimes.com/news/story.asp?id=14834

oving back in time, if not in space we mention here two short CDs by the Planet D Nonet, co-led by drummer RJ Spangler and trumpeter James O'Donnell. This large combo is dedicated to preserving the music of the twenties through the fifties and on these recordings several instrumentalists and singers augment the group.

The first release, Ballads, Blues & Beyond, features music by Ellington, Strayhorn, as well as the Motor City's own King Porter and Sun Ra! This is driving, exciting, unpretentious music; the solos are short and to the point and the accent is on swinging.

The second one, Blowin' Away the Blues, lives up to its name, complete with vocals by Charles "Buddy" Smith, Alberta Adams, and Mario Rodriquez. From the opening bars of the "Honneydripper" you know this is joyful party music. Both are available from www.cdbaby.com/Artist/PlanetDNonet.

By Piotr Michalowski / Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association / June, 2010

http://www.semja.org/jun2010/records.html

[RJ Spangler]

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/PlanetDNonet

[sonnymax]

Sweeeet! Great sound. Thanks for the heads up RJ.