Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge are delighted to announce their scheduled appearance at the 2023 JEN (Jazz Education Network) Conference on Wed., Jan 4th at 10:15 PM! Can’t make that? Well, the ensemble will also return to perform an intimate club set at Pilar’s Martini in Winter Garden (the last one sold out!) and at the Pasco Center for the Performing Arts. Dates are:
Jan 4th 2023 – JEN Conference – 10:15 PM
Jan. 6th 2023 – Pasco County PAC – 8:00 PM
Jan 7th 2023 – beginning at 7:30 PM.
After a Covid-influenced hiatus, Chuck’s new sextet “ReSurgence” will return with a Central Florida mini-tour in January, 2023. Dates are still being set but include:
Jan 11th 2023 – Pilar’s Martini, Winter Garden
Jan 14th 2023 – Palladium Theater, St. Pete
“Renderings” – Chuck’s debut album project with the phenomenal WDR Big Band is set for a Feb., 2023 Release. Recorded over two trips to the famed German studio, this project is something of a departure from those with the Surge as it primarily features arrangements – Chuck’s highly original re-imaginings or “Renderings”, if you will. A Sinatra standard, a Chick Corea work, 3 scintillating compositions from the band’s personnel, and even a couple of Chuck’s own pieces are shone in a new light. More soon!
Chuck will lead the Surge in a series of 3 consecutive one-night performances across Central Florida this Spring. . . . the band’s first FL performances since 2017 when they debuted their prior album “Whispers on the Wind” at the Jazz Composers’ Symposium in Tampa.
- March 23 – Pilars (Martini), Winter Garden pilarsmartini.ticketleap.com
- March 24 – Univ. of South Florida Concert Hall, Tampa 7:30 PM https://www.ticketmaster.com/chuck-owen-and-the-jazz-surge-tampa-florida-03-24-2022/event/0D005C2BE5C4D19D
- March 25 – Eastern Florida State College, Cocoa 7:30 PM https://efsc.booktix.com
The ensemble will continue celebrating 25 years of Surge recordings as well performing material from “Within Us” for the first time in FL.
“Within Us: Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge” is set to receive its premier at the University of South Florida on Thursday, Feb. 24th! The full-length documentary, produced by the talented folks at USF’s InEd Studios, traces the making of the band’s latest album project from the first recording sessions in Orlando through the electric CD release concert at Birdland in New York. Beautifully captured, edited, and produced, we couldn’t be more excited to share this with those interested in getting an inside look at the creative & recording process involved in such a complex undertaking as well as the close-knit interactions of this family of musicians that is seen joyously reuniting and playing again (most for the 1st time) after 15 months of Covid isolation. The premier is free and open to the public although attendees must have tickets via Ticketmaster.
ISJAC (International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers) will, once again, host a gathering of the world’s finest jazz composers – this year in Austin, TX! And what an event it’s going to be!! Featured guest artists include:
- Terri Lyne Carrington
- John Clayton
- Miho Hazama
- Jim McNeely
- Miguel Zenon
But the list of other accomplished composers (numbering well over 75) that will ALSO be presenting their music or scholarship is simply astounding!
Anyone may attend!! You don’t have to be a composer or even a current member of ISJAC (although you’ll find its cheaper to register if you join first). And remember, ISJAC only hosts this every OTHER year. So, if you miss this one, you’ll have to listen to others remind you how incredible it was until June of 2024 when we take the conference to Montreal. For more info or to register visit: https://isjac.org/symposium-main
On Sept. 17th, the Jazz Surge released it’s 7th album in tandem with celebrating its 25th anniversary. Recorded in May of 2021 while just emerging from the isolation of Covid, “Within Us” (Summit/MAMA Records) has been greeted with wide-spread accolades:
“It kills—brimming with a vivid array of colors (including violin and dobro) and shifting dynamics. . . . . at once challenging and eminently listenable, . . . .a seamless stream of grabby melodies and solos.” Eric Snider, Creative Loafing
“Chuck Owen is a master in delineating rhythmically and timbrically compelling arrangements, where the orchestral dynamics leave continuous spaces for the relationship with the soloists.” Angelo Leonardi, All About Jazz, Italia
“Nothing, not even a pandemic that silenced and stupefied most artists into submission, could tamp down Owen and his ensemble’s cinematic majesty. If you listen closely, you can hear Chuck Owen’s heart and soul.” Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak
“If you love big bands then this is for you. If you don’t love big bands then this is even more so for you.” Lance, Be-bop Spoken Here
“The gold standard for their silver anniversary.” George Harris, Jazz Weekly
“Within Us” is a gem.” Richard Kamins, Step Tempest
“Owen is revealed as one who well versed in both jazz and classical modes producing music of considerable finesse, rich in detail and harmonic sophistication, at turns powerfully exultant, sharp, incisive and evocatively elegiac in both the articulation of his themes and in support of the soloists. . . . . . . an heir to Ellington and Gil Evans.” Euan Dixon, Jazz Views