Charmin & Shapira & Friends: Jazz and Gospel at Gethsemane in Maplewood

by Andrea Canter
Sunday, May 22, 2011

Joel Shapira
©Andrea Canter

For five years as Contemporary Music Director at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Maplewood, guitarist/composer Joel Shapira has directed a “praise band” of top area instrumentalists and guest vocalists, including Charmin Michelle. After teaming with Michelle throughout the Twin Cities and two recordings, he now brings Charmin & Shapira & Friends to Gethsemane for a Tuesday night concert of “Jazz and Gospel” on May 24th at 7 pm. The evening in part will be a celebration of the Charmin & Shapira & Friends new recording, Dawning and Daylight. Among the friends on hand for this evening are members of Shapira’s Gethsemane praise band—bassist Tom Lewis and drummer Nathan Normanm along with frequent collaborator, saxophonist Paul Harper. Vocalist Torie Redpath (a regular at Gethsemane) will also be on hand to sing a few gospel tunes with Charmin.

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Charmin Michelle and Joel Shapira CD Release

A class act through and through. Lovely, elegant singer Charmin Michelle and virtuoso guitarist Joel Shapira, longtime collaborators on the Twin Cities music scene, have made their second CD together, after Pure Imagination (2005). 

Just out, Dawning and Daylight is what they do best: jazz standards and classics from the Great American Songbook. This will be a night of beautiful music, swinging and soulful, pitch-perfect and impeccably performed. 

Friday, 9 p.m., Artists’ Quarter in the basement of the Hamm Building, St. Paul. $10.

Critique: "Dawning and Daylight" (CD)

Charmin and Shapira
02/09/11 - By Leslie Connors

“Dawning and Daylight” is the kind of album that should be released on vinyl. It has that Southern roots feel to it, offering a slice of Americana that most contemporary jazz recordings eschew. Smooth but not smooth jazz, “Dawning and Daylight” is an alternative to the cookie-cutter commercialism that has infected the genre for decades now. Charmin and Shapira cover well-worn jazz staples with the no-frills arrangements and bluesy undertow that immortalized them to begin with...

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Jazz Times Review: "Open Lines"

by Robert Sutton - 11/22/10
Coolness is defined by action, not words. Joel Shapira approaches guitar playing like a veteran baseball player on a hot streak would approach the plate, brimming with an obvious yet calm swagger. When he swings for the fences, there’s no obnoxious boasting, just an easy self-confidence that is bred from years of experience and a complete understanding of the game. On “Open Lines,” Shapira never hogs the spotlight, doesn’t let the musicians that fill his quartet take a passenger seat. Instead, he’s a team player that isn’t afraid to share a groove even when he’s smoking all over it.

A collection of jazz standards and Latin songs, “Open Lines” invigorates older material like drinking ice tea at the end of a desert journey. Pete Whitman’s towering tenor saxophone and Dave Schmalenberger’s steady drumming set its swinging rhythm on “Simone” but Shapira’s guitars weave webs of translucent harmony. As Shapira continues to jam, his fingers working all sorts of unexplainable magic, Whitman’s sax sways to its intoxicating spirit. Ornette Coleman’s “Turnaround” is given a similarly inspired treatment as Whitman’s saxophone offers an upbeat and laid-back framework from which Shapira cuts loose on his guitar.

The Joel Shapira Quartet’s version of Miles Davis’ “Nardis” is a dazzler. Tom Lewis’ deep, mesmerizing bass lines and Schmalenberger’s punchy drums provide the backbone for Shapira’s wintry, reflective guitars. On “How Insensitive,” it doesn’t seem as Shapira is playing anymore but actually painting; each carefully plucked note is like the stroke of an artist’s brush. In other words, it is breathlessly gorgeous. Dreamy textures elevate “It Could Happen to You” and “Time Remembered,” evoking the kind of sentimental imagery that music is supposed to do.

Throughout it all Shapira keeps his cool, never wavering in his goal of simply knocking you out with his impeccable guitar playing.

Jazz Times Article

TCJS ‘Jazz from J to Z’ Concert— March 21, 2010

Pooch’s Playhouse: Exploring Jazz Music Today

by Andrea Canter
What happens when five veteran jazzmen come together for mutual inspiration and free conversation? Welcome to Pooch’s Playhouse at the Artists’ Quarter on March 21 (7 p.m.), a Twin Cities Jazz Society “Jazz from J to Z” concert. Pooch’s Playhouse features bassist Bruce “Pooch” Heine, guitarist Joel Shapira, saxophonist Dave Brattain, pianist Mark Asche and percussionist Dave Schmalenberger. Shapira describes the music as “diversely influenced, adventurous and open-ended, but we are first and foremost a pure jazz group, that is the intention of this band... and we are proud of that fact.” The band will play tunes by Shapira, Asche, Heine, and Brattain. Some other composers will include Hank Mobley, Kenny Werner, Bill Frisell, Branford Marsalis, Joe Henderson, Clifford Brown and more. 

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What happens when five veteran jazzmen come together for mutual inspiration and free conversation? Welcome to Pooch’s Playhouse, built over about six months of experimentation and collaboration. The “housewarming” was held in January at the 318 in Wayzata, and another “open house” took place on a Late Night gig at the Dakota. The playspace now moves to the Red Sea on the U of M’s West Bank, on Thursday, March 19th at 9 pm. 

Pooch’s Playhouse features Bruce “Pooch” Heine on bass, guitarist Joel Shapira, saxophonist Dave Brittain, pianist Mark Asche and percussionist Dave Schmalengerger. These musicians have a number of interconnections—Schapira and Heine play together in the modern trio, Triplicate; Heine, Asche and Brittain perform together with the Cedar Avenue Big Band; Shapira has played with everyone in one context or another. Notes Shapira, “To me this group was a very natural fit...it felt good from day one and developed rapidly into something special to all members that we want to expand upon in the future...I would describe the music as diversely influenced, adventurous and open-ended, but we are first and foremost a pure jazz group, that is the intention of this band... and we are proud of that fact.” (read entire preview)

Ginger and Fred, Ike and Tina, even Lucy and Ethel—great entertainment has often come in pairs. Locally, vocalists Charmin Michelle and guitarist Joel Shapira are one of the stellar duos of the decade, a collaboration documented on their 2005 recording, Pure Imagination. On Tuesday night, August 14th, Charmin & Shapira “and friends” perform at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis. Other duo gigs this month include the Times (August 18th), Fireside Pizza (August 22nd) and Cue at the Guthrie (August 31st). (read entire preview)

MUSIC: Crack open the merlot, light a fine cigar, and lay back in your comfiest chair with your eyes closed. Are you feeling relaxed? Yes? Listen to the music in your head and let it take you away. Go to the Middle East with "Hit On Twelve," then stop over in the Caribbean with "On Green Dophin Street," before you end up in West Africa with "Alioune." Quite a journey indeed.

DRUMMING: David Stanoch has played with Ed Shaughnessy, Bernard Purdie, Clyde Stubblefield, and has been on the faculty of the McNally Smith College of Music for over a decade. Impressive, no? With a resume like that, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he can play so well. He leads most of "Move" with impressive hi-hat accents and then works the cowbell and woodblock clave simultaneously on "Ritual."

VERDICT: Frankly, these guys are so good that it's intimidating.

Three's a crowd pleaser by Bill Stieger
Triplicate: A sound you can't copy
Modern Jazz trio strikes a balance between form and free expression

Even the casual listener can appreciate the chemistry on Triplicate's new recording, "Day and Age." Guitarist Joel Shapira, bassist Bruce "Pooch" Heine, and drummer Dave Stanoch play like they've known each other for all their lives.... (read entire interview) - (Requires Adobe Reader)

Be-bop, hard-hop jazz trio plays Beaner's

Triplicate, a Twin Cities jazz trio, brings its original and improvisational tunes to Beaner's Centra, 324 N. Central Ave., at 8 p.m. today.

Guitaist Joel Shapira, bassist Bruce Heine and percussionist Dave Stanoch strive to push the envelope of musical variety. Nothing is taboo when it comes to fusing styles and sounds.

Triplicate takes traditional jazz styles and refines them with hard-edged improvisations, funky arrangements and swinging, energetic tunes.

The band released its debut, self-titled CD in 2001 and since then has made the rounds of the college scene in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Admission costs $5. Call 624-5357.

Minneapolis jazz trio Triplicate injects the personality of each band member into swanky original music - by V. Paul Virtucio

The band had three members, so it was called Triplicate. Pretty unoriginal. But the bebop-based, progressive jazz trio tries to ensure that everything else about it is unique. Its members write their own music, make their own arrangements of jazz standards and aren't afraid of fusing other music genres into their jazz sound. [read entire interview]

Three's No Crowd -- For versatile jazz pros, personal expression comes in TRIPLICATE - by Tom Surowicz

My Irish grandmother used to believe that bad things came in threes. However, she never had the pleasure of hearing TRIPLICATE, a Twin Cities trio of experienced, savvy and hip young jazz pros. Their sound is a decidedly good thing. [read entire interview]

Local Artists Produce Impressive Releases by Bob Protzman

"Triplicate," Triplicate, Rhythmelodic * * * 1/2 (out of a possible 4 stars)

The past year was perhaps the most productive and rewarding in some time for jazz recordings by Twin Cities musicians.

Add to those these fine recent releases from the trio Triplicate (Joel Shapira, guitar; Bruce "Pooch" Heine, bass; Dave Stanoch, drums) and the duo of valve trombonist Brad Bellows and guitarist Dean Granros.

Triplicate is deceptively excellent. A band for some five years (you can hear it in their in-sync and interactive playing), its members have varied and extensive resumes as students, players and teachers, evident in the choice of material, incorporation of various idioms, and high level of musicianship.

There's an appealing deliberateness, spareness and relaxed feeling with Triplicate, reflected in some pieces played at a slower-than-usual tempo and the breathing room in the group's ensemble arrangements, as well as in solos by each player.

Speaking of solos, there's a maturity here, too, with no flashy passages, superficial energy, or showy displays--just direct, un-complicated playing that reaches the listener on many levels.

You'll hear Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing," an Afro-Cuban, Brazilian reading of the standard "You Don't Know What Love Is." Bud Powell's hard-swinging "Webb City," Charles Mingus's "Nostalgia in Times Square," a John McLaughlin composition interpolated with something from the rock group Led Zeppelin, a funky Nawlins "Crescent City Strut," J.J. Johnson's haunting "Lament," a jazz-rock piece by Stanoch, and a multi-metered tune from Heine.

Weekend Watch: New and noteworthy events happening this weekend
DEBUT PROJECT -- Friday will be a big day for Triplicate, the progressive Twin Cities jazz trio of Joel Shapira, Bruce Heine and Dave Stanoch. The hard-working trio will release its debut CD, "Triplicate," at a party and performance at the Dakota Bar & Grill in St. Paul. The project includes three compositions written by the group and eight by jazz legends. Call 651-642-1442.