HOWARD FISHMAN QUARTET VOL.III: "MOON COUNTRY"

Reuniting Howard with violinist Russell Farnhang and cornetist Peter Ecklund (both from the very first incarnation of HFQ) and joined by longtime bassist Andrew Hall, "Moon Country" features the quartet essaying songs by the late, great Hoagy Carmichael.  Like HFQ Vols. I and II, these recordings were made live in the studio over just a couple of afternoons, with no overdubs. Featuring special guest Henry Bogdan on Hawaiian Steel Guitar on "Ole Butterilk Sky."

01 • Georgia
02 • Memphis
03 • New Orleans
04 • In the Cool
05 • I Walk With Music
06 • How Little
07 • I Get Along
08 • Judy
09 • Buttermilk
10 • Blue Orchids
11 • Hong Kong
12 • Two Sleepy
13 • Moon Country

BETTER GET RIGHT

"...Hits a high point with the infectious "Mexican Radio," an ingenious mash-up of Wall of Voodoo and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band; I've played it so many times, I feel like I'm experimenting with the possibility of wearing out a sound file."

- Will Friedwald, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"A good-natured take on New Orleans jazz, folk and New Wave..." - TIME OUT New York

BETTER GET RIGHT is Howard Fishman's love letter to New Orleans, featuring his "Biting Fish Brass Band" working out on a dizzying array of new originals ("Since You've Been Gone, "Tee Na Na"), soulful traditionals ("Down By The Riverside," "When I Die"), and at least one funky cover from left field ("Mexican Radio").

01 • I'm So Glad
02 • Since You've Been Gone
03 • (Take Me Back) To New Orleans
04 • Mexican Radio
05 • Tee Na Na
06 • La Danse de Mardi Gras
07 • When I Die
08 • Down By the Riverside
09 • Yeah You're Right!
10 • Lift Me Up
11 • We Shall Not Be Moved
12 • Good Times
13 • Judgment Day 

 

NO FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

NO FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS is a song cycle about Howard's travels through rural Romania with a childhood friend, and what Howard in his liner notes calls "the strange and beautiful adventures we had there."  The album features Howard's vocals and guitar enveloped by lush arrangements for strings, accordion, piano, banjo and horns (with a bit of nasty electric guitar and bass thrown in for good measure).

"Howard Fishman paints pictures as real as your best dreams. No Further Instructions is an inspired piece of work." - VERBICIDE MAGAZINE (full review)

"Part of Howard Fishman's genius is that he...get his ingredients locally. Some of the best and the brightest  local musicians are part of the collective that jams with him live and on record." - HELLBOMB

01 • In Romania
02 • Through the Countryside
03 • Let It All Come Down
04 • Baia Mare
05 • Set Me Free
06 • Maramures
07 • Garbage
08 • The Pensione Owner's Song
09 • Mamaliga
10 • Tonight
11 • Plum Wine 
12 • The Farmer's Song
13 • Your Voice 

THE WORLD WILL BE DIFFERENT

THE WORLD WILL BE DIFFERENT is an intensely personal suite of songs about love won and lost, featuring a stripped-down combo of guitar, bass, drums and piano accompanied by a string quartet.

01 • Just You and I
02 • A Ghost
03 • Letter From Brooklyn
04 • Almost
05 • I Know/I See
06 • Summer Rain
07 • Can't Get Along
08 • Darling Babe
09 • Ashley
10 • Autumn
11 • It Won't Be Long
12 • Goodbye
13 • Dawn Above 

BOB DYLAN AND THE BAND'S BASEMENT TAPES

“Remarkable…I’m stunned, especially by ‘I’m Not There.’ Seems to me completely right, never forced, lucid, luminous, but the performance, as with Dylan’s, is where the truth of the song reveals itself. It just broke me in half. Second only to ‘I’m Not There’ [is] the gorgeous ‘Crash on the Levee.’”
-Greil Marcus

Cult recordings meet cult artist on the new CD/DVD HOWARD FISHMAN PERFORMS BOB DYLAN & THE BAND’S “BASEMENT TAPES” LIVE AT JOE’S PUB, released in conjunction with Fishman’s Lincoln Center debut in 2007.Culled from three sold-out evenings at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in New York City, the CD features classics like “Tears of Rage” and “This Wheel’s On Fire” alongside less well-known numbers. True to the subversive nature of the original material, the new CD also features the first-ever commercial release of “I’m Not There (1956),” considered by many to be Dylan’s unfinished masterpiece. A bonus DVD is included, featuring live footage from the Joe’s Pub performances. Featuring Mazz Swift (violin, vocals), Michael Daves (guitar,vocals), Ian Riggs (guitar, vocals),Mark McLean (drums), Greg Glassman (trumpet) and special guests Peter Ecklund (cornet) and Boo Reiners (guitar).

From the “Basement” sessions, but only available here at howardfishman.com… download “Rock Salt and Nails” right now!

 

AUDIO

01 • Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
02 • Santa Fe
03 • Open the Door, Homer
04 • I’m Not There (1956)
05 • Kickin’ My Dog Around
06 • Down in the Flood (full download)
07 • I Don’t Hurt Anymore
08 • Nothing Was Delivered
09 • This Wheel’s on Fire
10 • I Shall be Released
11 • One Man’s Loss
12 • Pretty Polly
13 • Tears of Rage

DVD

01 • Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
02 • Down in the Flood
03 • This Wheel’s on Fire
04 • I Shall be Released 

LOOK AT ALL THIS!

 “Ain’t nothing orthodox about the spin he puts on blues, funk and boogie…The singer-guitarist is just this side of buzzville, and it’s his swagger and joie de vivre (in cahoots with a well-crafted chorus or three) that’ll boost his ever widening circle of zealots. See the new LOOK AT ALL THIS! for proof.”

-Jim Macnie, THE VILLAGE VOICE

“Complete with tasty horn and mandolin accentuation, Howard Fishman spans genres from the upbeat zydeco styling of “Katie Lala” to the talking country blues of “That Lonesome Road.” The opening track, “Superstitious” could pass as an acoustic David Byrne/Mexicali jam. It doesn’t hurt that the Grammy-winning producer Rob Fraboni, who has worked with everyone from Patti LaBelle to Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg, did an incredible job highlighting the varied backing instrumentation and unique vocal delivery of this singular artist. Fishman is a musician’s musician that can tickle the ivory and turn right back around with some fantastic guitar rhythms and licks. Unafraid to layer his sound with backup vocals, “The Best Is Yet To Come,” dedicated to the songster’s mom, is flavored with a gospel vibe that chimes through like something from a redemptive Sunday service mass, complete with a lovely mid-song break-down featuring just drums, piano and vocals before launching into an inspiring coda. With “You Say,” “Small Talk,” “Decision,” and the closing track, “Pictures,” Fishman pulls off some delightfully tender ballads that effectively carry the emotional weight between the faster-paced tunes like the beams of a well-built musical mansion.”
-VERBICIDE

01 • Superstitious
02 • Ocean Avenue
03 • Decision
04 • Katie Lala
05 • Best is Yet to Come
06 • Strange Woman
07 • Insomnia
08 • Spiritual (Independence, Mo. 1846)
09 • Small Talk
10 • You Say
11 • Someday (Lullaby)
12 • That Lonesome Road
13 • Pictures

HOWARD FISHMAN QUARTET VOL. II

"The best jazz I've heard since the '20's!"

- AL HIRSCHFELD

A collection of previously unreleased material left off of the original, eponymous debut, this collection features classic standards like “STARS FELL ON ALABAMA” and “ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET” alongside rarities like Jelly Roll Morton’s “SWEET SUBSTITUTE” and “GOOD OLD NEW YORK,” the Jimmie Rodgers numbers “THE HILLS OF TENNESSEE” and “CAROLINA SUNSHINE GIRL,” and outings of songs by Fritz Kriesler and Stephen Foster. A grab bag of early 20th century (mostly) American music, the CD also includes alternate takes of “WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM,” “BEST DAYS,” and “GOOD TIMES” from the first CD.

01 • Sunnyside of the Street
02 • Sweet Substitute
03 • Carolina Sunshne Girl
04 • Good Old New York
05 • Best Days
06 • Sweet Sunny South
07 • Good Times
08 • Sweet Rosie O’Grady
09 • Jelly Bean Blues
10 • Hills of Tennessee
11 • When I Grow Too Old to Dream
12 • Stars Fell on Alabama
13 • Old Folks at Home
14 • Liebeslied

DO WHAT I WANT

"A break from their previous efforts; it appears the devil got his paws in on this one. The music seems moodier, edgier, and - dare I say - groovier." -freewilliamsburg.com

" A vital statement, issuing from a very different precinct of Howard Fishman's mind. It's a rare artist that can do something drastically different and still sound entirely like himself." - THE ALL MUSIC GUIDE

01 • Good Times (rock)
02 • Mary Ann
03 • Don't Wait
04 • In Another Life
05 • Do What I Want
06 • Nervous Breakdown
07 • A New Life
08 • Weary Blues
09 • Get Some Rest
10 • Don't Love Me
11 • What Was it Like?
12 • Do You Want to be Mine
13 • Dating Game

I LIKE YOU A LOT

From 2001, featuring the second iteration of the Howard Fishman Quartet: Russell Farhang (violin), Erik Jekabson (trumpet), Jon Flaugher (bass) and Howard's vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo and piano.

* Listen to Howard talk about this album on NPR's FRESH AIR with Terry Gross!

"Howard Fishman's sophomore release contains all the wit and eclectic charm of his debut. This combination of instruments is remarkably flexible. It can just as easily conjure jazz, folk, country, tango, or even mariachi music, all of which, in one way or another, inform Fishman's wonderfully quirky vision.  The Howard Fishman Quartet [is] an important force in the world of creative music. " - THE ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"An affecting, haunting collection of cunning originals."  - THE NEW YORKER

01 • Night After Night
02 • Dirty
03 • Another Night
04 • Hey, Little Girl
05 • Time Will Tell
06 • Dreams of You
07 • Tango
08 • Molly's Pies
09 • It Won't Be Long
10 • Your Guess Waltz
11 • I Surrender Dear
12 • Your Guess
13 • Oh Death

THE HOWARD FISHMAN QUARTET

"On its excellent debut recording, the Howard Fishman Quartet creates an infectious blend of early jazz and blues, western swing."- THE ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"Colorful takes on old time jazz/country classics and swinging new standards.  These young hipsters remain reverent to their influences while adding their own modern mojo.  On their own timeless material, the band’s sincerity is charming.” – VILLAGE VOICE

01 • Good Times
02 • When I Grow Too Old To Dream
03 • Limehouse Blues
04 • Best Days
05 • St. James Infirmary
06 • Took My Gal A-Walkin'
07 • World On A String
08 • Gypsy Waltz
09 • New Louisville Burglar
10 • The One Rose
11 • I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
12 • Blue Yodel "Stomp"