Luvpark by Luvpark

He was talking about his latest project, LUVPARK, a fusion band that performs tomorrow at the Painted Bride and will release a CD in mid-May on Evans' Imani Records.

"Why can't jazz artists be superstars?" he asked. "We don't have those goals in our mind, we're not thinking like that because we are so caught up in that slave mentality." jazz musicians are supposed to be happy just to get a record out and "hopefully get their 75th birthday party at the Blue Note" jazz club.

To view LUVPARK simply as a means to an end wouldn't be correct in Evans' eyes. Its amalgamation of jazz, hip-hop and R&B may seem like a change for the gifted pianist, but he disagrees.

"I personally don't consider it a different direction. I understand what everyone means by that, but it's all music," he said. "We're playing electric music, but if you listen to it, it's still jazz, it's still hip-hop, it's still soul, it's still R&B."

In short, Evans said, "It's black music."

The 29-year old Philadelphian is considered one of the best young acoustic jazz pianists around, adventurous in straight ahead settings.

The LUVPARK project incorporates sounds reminiscent of '70s Herbie Hancock, '80s Steve Coleman and '90s R&B and hip-hop. Though Evans' name may have the highest profile, everyone in LUVPARK has an equal financial stake in the band, he said. That's an effort to truly make this a band, not a collection of cats who get together to play a gig.

The music is different, but there is only a slight change in Evan's approach to it.

Sets are put together differently. "When I do straight ahead gigs, I can gear the set to how the audience is feeling," Evans said. "With LUVPARK, I try the audience to where we are."

And techiquewise, when he plays electric keyboards, he's more conscious of his touch, as well as what comes out of the instrument.

"With LUVPARK, it's all about making people feel good, including me," he said.

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Philadelphia City Paper

April 29-May 2004

Orrin Evans' Luvpark

by A.D. Amorosi

Protean acoustic pianist Orrin

Evans has been a Philly fixture since he started hard bopping his way through town in the early '90s. Back then Evans - Whether leading his own trio or backing the likes of drummer-collaborator Ralph Peterson or soul diva-wife Dawn Warren - wowed listeners with his fluid keyboard style that combined the off-kilter lilt of Horace Silver with the elegant rhythmic fortitude of McCoy Tyner and just a bit of Monk-like mischief. In 1997, the wow became a flutter as he started a tenure with the Criss Cross label that included LPs filled with buyoant originals (Justin Time) as well as flashy, iconoclastic covers of jazz giants (Grown Folks Bizness, Blessed Ones). But his due-soon electric band, LUVPARK (and its eponymous debut CD), takes the cake. "It's all music," says Evans of the highly charged change from acoustic jamming to the wonky electric workouts that fill songs like "Apple Seed." "There is no permanent departure. We're just visiting." Yet, with old friends from Philly like scatmaster JD Walter and classically trained vocalist Bilal (Evans' pal since age 14), you can only hope the visit becomes more permanent. Though the slow serenity of Bilal's vocals and Ralph Bowen's sax solos are precious commodities, you'll stay for Evans' elastic runs.

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Who is LUVPARK:

LUVPARK BIOGRAPHIES

Mike Boone plays acoustic bass, electric bass and piano. He has performed with Ben Vereen, Buddy Rich Big Band, Clark Terry, Mose Allison, Dakota Staton, Robert Klein, Nat Adderly, Leslie Uggams, Shirley Scott as well as in the Philadelphia public school system. He has worked and taught as Artist-In-Residence at Cheyney University (1993-1996), Mt. Airy Cultural Arts Center (1998-present) and has released two self produced CD's on Encounter/Dreambox Media.

Ralph Bowen made his mark on the New York jazz scene in the mid-1980's recording for Blue Note as co-leader of OTB (Out of the Blue). He has toured and recorded with pianists Horace Silver and Michel Camilo. In the 1990's, Bowen performed and recorded with Renee Rosnes, Hank Jones, Orrin Evans, Jim Beard, Shirley Scott, Benny Carter, and Trudy Pitts. Ralph established what has become a long-term association with bassist Charles Fambrough, recording numerous CDs together in a variety of settings. In 1990, Bowen joined the jazz faculty at Rutgers University, where he is currently the coordinator of the jazz department, director of the jazz ensemble, and professor of saxophone and music theory. He continues to tour the world, performing, teaching, and giving master classes.

DAWN attended Chatham College, then studied vocals at the famed Berklee College of Music. Dawn has jammed with Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart and Branford Marsalis and has recorded and written music in various genres. Her professional debut took place in Paris where her ability to sing in French, Swahili, Wolof, and Lingala made her a highly sought after performer. She was soon featured on a recording with the prominent funk band, Malka Family. DAWN released her single "Hold On" as the artist 'Katcall', on the MCA France label and another single on the FNAC Music. Recently DAWN's single "Why Not" was included on Bobby Watson's cd entitled, "Live and Learn". She is currently preparing for her upcoming release on IMANI Records.

Donald Edwards "prowress over the three basic elements of music (rhythm, melody, and harmony) is evident throughout his playing." - Ellis Marsalis. Donald has performed and recorded with Mark Whitfield, Nicholas Payton, The Mingus Big Band and many others. His latest release, Ducktones, is on the Zoo'T Record Label.

Orrin Evans has amassed a handful of awards, in the last few years alone, including second place prize in the prestigious 1999 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Others include "Top 10 Jazz CD" by the Philadelphia Inquirer (for Meant to Shine, 2002); the 2002 SESAC Award for "Top Performance Activity Jazz CD; "Best Jazz Success Story" by the Philadelphia City Paper (200); and "Top 10 Movers & Shakers Under 30" in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"The clear-cut best pianist of his time..." is how Hot House Magazine described Evans in 1998, praise which was echoed again the summer of 2002. This remarkable talent was nurtured in a household filled with music due to the efforts of his mother, a classical singer who surrounded the youngster with everything from the melodies of Puccini to the pulsating rhythms of Basie and Ellington. He learned from what he heard which is still the case today when he acknowledges such musicians as Trudy Pitts, Tim Warfield, Kenny Barron, Ralph Peterson, Edgar Bateman, Mickey Roker and Bobby Durham as inspirational guides. His formal study was a Philadelphia's prestigious Settlement School of Music under Charles Pettaway.

The New York Times described the pianist as, "...a poised artist with an impressive template of ideas at his command," a quality undoubtedly recognized by the legendary saxophonist Bobby Watson, who engaged Evans as piano chair for his band, a position he has held for six years. Orrin has been playing with the Charles Mingus Big Band for over three years. He has also toured with such diverse talents as the evolutionary Wallace Roney, Stefon Harris, and Antonio Hart.

Besides touring and recording, Evans is also a teacher and musical commentator, having conducted workshops, clinics and master classes both in the United States and abroad. He is currently the middle school music teacher at the prestigious Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, he is also heading several jazz ensembles both at the school, and also at Settlement Music School. For a discography on Orrin Evans visit www.imanirecrods.com

Ron Jennings began his musical career at age 4 with his first instrument being the spring on the freezer door! "I noticed that the wider I held the freezer door open, the higher the note sounded, so I plucked out some basic melodies." Ron started guitar lessons at age seven, while performing with a children's gospel group called "The Gems of Tomorrow." His early mentors include Norman Harris and Bootsy Collins and his maternal grandmother, Cora lee Alston, who showed him his first blues stylings. Ron's recording career as a side man spans 20 years, including albums with Gladys Knight, Teddy Pendergrass, Bootsy Collins, Loose Ends, Mikki Howard, Regina Belle, Sheena Easton, Nile Rodgers, Omar Hakim, Anthony Jackson and scoring for the film Standing in the Shadows of Motown. He feels that LUVPARK is the highest point in his career thus far.

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