2008Winter Season WishesWinter 2008With the winter upon us and members of Esthema traveling to see family and friends over the holidays, things will be quiet over the next couple of months The line up for our second CD, The Hereness and Nowness of Things is just about complete and arrangements are being worked on. Those that have been at our last couple of gigs got a chance to hear some of the newest tunes… Those wondering about the release date…late Spring 2009. Our initial release date had to be pushed forward due to circumstances beyond our control…the beauty of pushing the date forward is that the end product promises to be that much better…all the members of Esthema are looking forward to getting back into the studio and capturing the energy from the live shows. Until next time, from all the members of Esthema, have a great winter season, those celebrating holidays, have a Merry/Happy Everything and a Happy New Year to All… Please make sure to check back for the latest…till next time…cheers!!! See you in 2009 Esthema Esthema's A P A R T FROM THE REST Voted Top 25 on Indie-Music.comDecember 2008Yes, you read right... Back in April Esthema submitted our CD, A P A R T FROM THE REST to Indie-Music.com for a review. We received an amazing review from our reviewer Jamie Anderson (Thanks Jamie!!!)...some of the highlights of the review read "It’s a perfect combination of Middle Eastern/East European folk music and American jazz, like an amped-up Loreena McKennitt without vocals." "...with excellent musicianship, they smoothly turn out originals centered around the beautiful melodies..." You can read the full review at Indie-Music.com. Back to December...anyways, one morning we got an email that says we were EDITOR'S CHOICE FOR TOP 25 CD's of 2008. Check out what they had to say: "This disc features a sharp blend of Middle Eastern and Eastern European melodies with American jazz, played on oud, bouzouki, violin, bass, drums and more. Some cuts make me want to order a few beers and dance; others, sit still and nod my head, a martini in front of me. I love that there's a very in-the-moment feel with some songs, like a good jazz jam. I'll bet Coltrane and Parker would have loved this release."
We really can't ask for more than that...the CD, which can be purchsed on CDBaby, Amazon, iTunes, IndieRhythm, Digstation, Walmart, etc...has been selling both domestically and internationally and accolades like this make it feel that much more real... So check it out when you have a chance: ESTHEMA TOP 25 @ Indie-Music.com
Esthema Live @ RylesNovember 2008Thank you to everyone that came out to support us at Ryles. We had a great crowd with a lot of familiar faces. Thank you to Christiane Karam and ZilZALA for sharing your evening with us. Love the CD!!! Thank you to Anita Coelho of Medici Musica for putting the evening together. Looking forward to March 25!!! See below for some of the highlights of the show. And check out our photos page courtesy of Ellen Bellini Photography.
Check out Wednesday night...for those that don't know, from left to right...Bruno, Ignacio, Onur, Andy, and Tery
Tery in action
Onur feeling each note... We know it is December and posting November news. Things have been super crazy and have only now started calming down. As mentioned above, some more great shots will be posted real soon on our photos page...please check back soon...much love. Taking a break, but looking forward ...Fall 2008If anyone was wondering about our light performance schedule, some of the members of Esthema had a chance to travel back home to visit family and friends. So you can say, we are on vacation. However, our next show is a very exciting one and we hope you can all make it. On Wednesday night, November 12 Esthema will be the Special Guests on a very special show at Ryles Jazz Club in the heart of Inman Square Cambridge. Christiane Karam and her Middle Eastern ensemble, ZilZALA are having their CD release party and we are psyched to be a part of the evening. For those that haven't been introduced to ZilZALA and Christiane, make sure you check them out. You do not know what you are missing, The evening begins with Esthema at 8pm, for a one hour set and ZiLZALA takes the stage thereafter. We hope you can join us for what promises to be a fantastic evening. And for some other exciting news, although our CD, Apart From The Rest was released in July 2007 we have recently received a couple of very exciting reviews. You can read both reviews on our website at reviews or go directly to the reviewers site: The Noise – Boston and Phsyche Music. Here are just some highlights from the review in The Noise by Joel Simches: “This recording is nothing less than a true celebration of a number of different styles of world beat, jazz, rock, ethnic European and Middle Eastern traditional music.” “…the global chemistry between them is obvious, like five minds MIDI-linked without latency issues.” “This CD will be in my player for some time to come” In addition to our review by Psyche Music, you can now also catch us on their radio broadcast in Antwerpen, Belgium 106.7 FM or live at Radio Centraal.
Esthema Live @ Johnny D'sAugust 2008As we continue to work on the material for our next CD, we try to introduce new pieces at the performances. The way we like to approach our arrangements is after the piece is written, we play it and play it. Some things on some nights we like and some we don't. We catalog (mentally and by recordings) that which we do and that which we don't and the arrangements come to life...somewhat an organic process. The beauty of working this way (and those that have been to a show lately know) each composition continues to grow and form. Seldomly do you hear the same things twice and so, we are using our performances to create. Which means, everyone that is at the shows is part of the creating process... In August, we had the very exciting opportunity to play at Johnny D's in Somerville. We had a great time and wanted to share some of the pictures with you (see below). More pictures will come (photos) so make sure to check back soon.
Check out (above) Tuesday the 26th...our name in lights!!!
who's touching who?
Where's Bruno... To all of our family, friends, and fans, thank you for making the night at Johnny D's a success. The support is sincerely appreciated. So stay tuned for more pics, coming soon...have a great end of summer...see you soon. Summer FunJuly 2008Things have definitely been heating up for Esthema. First, the issue of Phosphorescence Magazine with the review of our first CD, Apart From the Rest was published and available for purchase/download. This is a great magazine that focuses on all the arts. You can also check out the review on our reviews page. Secondly, over the course of the next few months we have a couple of extremely exciting gigs lined up with some great bands. On August 26, we will be performing with singer/songwriter Effi Kallas and her band at Johnny D’s in Somerville, MA. For those that aren’t familiar with Effi and her music, please check her out at www.effi.com. For this show, we have collaborated with Effi on one piece that we will be performing that evening. Check out our shows page for information about the gig. Then on November 12 at Ryles in Cambridge (Inman Square) we have the privilege of performing with vocalist/songwriter, Christiane Karam and her Middle Eastern ensemble, ZilZALA. For those that have not been introduced to Christiane and ZilZALA’s music, check them out at http://christianekaram.com/ or www.myspace.com/zilzala. This evening is extra special because this will be a CD release for ZilZALA’s upcoming CD. Check out our shows page for information about the gig. Finally, Esthema continues to work on our upcoming CD release scheduled for the end of 2008. Each one of our future performances will showcase some new pieces that will be on the CD. We would love to see you there and get your input on the new material. So until next time, thank you all for your continued support and we wish you all the best… Bruno who?May/June 2008Hope everyone is having a great summer…Things for Esthema have been moving along very nicely. This entry is all about Bruno. Who is Bruno you ask? Bruno Esrubilsky (drums/percussion) is the newest member of Esthema.
At the start of the Summer, Carl moved back to his hometown in Colorado to pursue other musical opportunities that were presented to him last semester in school - a great person and musician and we wish him all the best!!!! We performed our first gig with Bruno on June 28 at the Gulu-Gulu in Salem and it went amazingly well. We performed three sets - we loved it and it seems everyone there loved it too. For those that made it out, thank you for your continued support... Check out some pictures below:
Bruno’s full bio and more pictures will be posted very soon along with more exciting Esthema News. Make sure to check back soon…until then, take care of yourselves. Spring AheadApril 2008So many things are going on. This is a very exciting time for Esthema. As always, check out our shows page. We have several performances in a variety of locations - Boston, Vermont, Lowell, Lynn that hopefully everyone gets a chance to come and check us out. This week we were notified by Phosphorescence Magazine that a review of our CD, APART FROM THE REST will be in their June 2008 issue. Please visit our reviews page for the full review. You can now hear Esthema, at www.unuradio.com. We are being played on the Jazz program, which is on, on Tuesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 pm cst. We would like to thank DJ Scorpia www.myspace.com/unuradio for checking us out and her support. As many of you know, the independent music scene is a thriving scene and it is all thanks to individuals like DJ Scorpia who choose to support independent music. Esthema also has a lot of “stuff” in the works. In the coming weeks we will have live downloads available on our myspace page, www.myspace.com/esthemamusic…we are now working on all sorts of new material for our future Fall/Early Winter 2008 release. Some you will hear at gigs and some you will not (be on the look out for the free downloads of some of the new tunes)… Before members of Esthema take some vacation, the next six weeks promise to have all sorts of fun and excitement. We hope you will be a part of it all. We will keep you posted. Until then…take care. Esthema Tomorrow's Dreams Radio Show and Skope Magazinemarch 2008This coming Sunday, March 2 between 9:00 and 10:00PM, Esthema can be heard on the radio at FM 95.9 (WATD). The radio show is called Tomorrow’s Dreams. For those that cannot get the station, the program is broadcast live at www.loveourmusic.com. If you can't listen live, after midnight on Sunday, you can go to the website and in the upper left corner, you will see "last weeks show" link. Click on that and then click on the star, and you can download the show to listen whenever you want for a week. In addition, the March/April issue of Skope Magazine has hit the newsstands. We are psyched about the review of APART FROM THE REST. If you don’t get a chance to pick up a copy, please check out our reviews page for the full review. To all, our sincerest thanks for your support last month at all our gigs. Reviews & NewsFebruary 2008Thus far, 2008 has been truly exciting. First, our CD, Apart From The Rest received a fantastic review from an on-line music reviewer. Please check it out at Wildy’s World. Second, we are extremely excited about our future Skope Magazine review and ad. Skope Magazine is sold at over 1500 locations internationally including Barnes & Noble, Hastings, B-Dalton, Newbury Comics, Borders, Books A Million & much more! Skope is sold in USA, Canada, Autsralia, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Spain, India, Indonesia, Brazil, PMG (Military). This is a great opportunity for us to expose our music to individuals, globally that may not otherwise get a chance to check us out. The March/April issue hits newsstands early March. Stay on the look out. We also started the month off on a great note. We had our first performance of 2008 at the Lily Pad. The place was packed and we sounded pretty good. Thank you to all for coming out and once again supporting us. We saw some new faces, which is always exciting. We hope to see you and get a chance to speak with you again. We also premiered a new piece named arrhythmia. We got many kind words regarding the piece and are looking forward to record it and many others later this year. We will keep you posted. For those that couldn’t make it, take a look below at some of pictures from the show:
More exciting news on the way...please check back soon. HAPPY NEW YEARJanuary 2008All the members of esthema would like to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy 2008!!! 2007 was a milestone year for esthema and we would like to thank everyone for their support, love, and kindness. Thank you for making it to our shows, signing the mailing list, buying the CDs, spreading the word, and sharing your thoughts. We do this because we love music, but we also do it because we love sharing that music with others and you allowed us to do just that. Please read below for all the special moments of 2007 that many of you shared with us. And as we begin 2008, we wanted to reach out to everyone with our well wishes and of course, some exciting news. On New Year’s Day, esthema’s music was heard for the first time on the radio. MIT’s WMBR 88.1 featured esthema as one of the artist’s on their weekly program The New Edge which is “devoted to creative and innovative instrumental music” and on January 8 they will be having an esthema CD giveaway. To listen to the show and take part in the giveaway listen to The New Edge on 88.1fm or webcasting at www.wmbr.com from 2-4pm Boston time. In addition, over the next few months, esthema’s Apart From The Rest will be reviewed in Phosphorescence Magazine, Skope Magazine, and possibly the Northeast Performer (more info to come). Apart from the above happenings, business will be as usual. Check out our shows page for upcoming performances And in the fall of 2008, you can expect to see a new release from esthema. We have already started writing and performing pieces that will be featured on our next release. Check back here, for the latest news and updates throughout the year. All in all, we are looking forward to a great year and hope you will take part in it. We would love to hear from you. But for now, take care of yourselves and Happy New Year. Esthema
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