Wayne Krantz’s “Come And Get It” Tour Kicks Off May 2 In Dublin
30 April 2010, New York City - It’s a faultless Spring day, and Wayne Krantz is finding little to complain about as he sips iced coffee and adjusts costly perscription sunglasses in the glare of ultra-saturated afternoon light in his far-East Village neighborhood of New York City, somewhere beyond Avenue C. The brilliant blue sky overhead, more Maxfield Parrish than Manhattan, offers a fitting bit of set design for the guitarist’s ruminations on music, career and future.
“I think the last time I toured Europe was with Chris’ (saxophonist Potter’s) band,” says Krantz, with a rueful grin, “and that’s going back a ways.”
Krantz’s last Euro tours with his own trio, then consisting of Tim Lefebvre on bass and Keith Carlock on drums, occurred in the early 2000’s. Primarily based in the UK and France, those forays owed much to the late, great jazz facilitator from Wales, Jed Williams. “When Jed died, it took the heart out of my incentive to tour for a while,” Krantz reflects. “But with the new album out, it kind of makes sense to get out again. Hopefully.”
That new album, “Krantz Carlock Lefebvre”, on the Abstract Logix label, has seemingly re-energized the touring side of Krantz’s music, resulting in performances in Asia, the US, Canada and now, Europe.
“Without a label, it was tough to get gigs outside New York,” Krantz admits, referring to his decision in 1999 to produce his own records independently. Those albums, “Greenwich Mean”, “Your Basic Live” and “Your Basic Live ‘06”, sold exclusively on Krantz’s website, www.waynekrantz.com, enabled Krantz to establish a direct rapport with his fans and provided his livelihood during ten years of uncompromised music-making. But the music industry failed to take notice.
“Without a label involved, promoters don’t get excited,” said Krantz. “It’s nothing to be bitter about; it’s just basic economics. Ultimately, I felt I wasn’t playing often enough. So some adjustments had to be made.”
Those adjustments united Krantz with his current record label, Abstract Logix. AL’s CEO, Souvik Dutta, concurs. “I’d been bugging Wayne for years about doing something together. But he was heavily into his do-it-yourself trip and there was no talking him out of it. Who knows what changed his mind - maybe he saw Hole’s touring schedule and put two and two together.”
Whatever the case, Krantz now seems excited at the prospect of bringing his music to new audiences in Europe. “It’s a great band,” he enthuses. “Tim Lefebvre is the bomb - it’s hard to overstate how much he brings to the music. And Gary Novak is absolutely brilliant. Been wanting to do something with him for years. We’re playing music from the new record and most of the other ones, too. As long as the hotels are good, it should be a blast.”
Krantz’s tour begins May 2 in Dublin and ends May 16 in Muri, Switzerland.
KRANTZ LEFEBVRE NOVAK - EUROPE TOUR 2010:
2 May IE- DUBLIN : Mermaid Arts Centre
3 May UK- LONDON : Ronnie Scott’s
4 May UK- LONDON : Ronnie Scott’s
6 May NL- TILLBURG : Paradox
8 May DE- DORTMUND : Domicil
9 May DE- OSNABRUCK : WK clinic
10 May NO-TRONDHEIM : Dokkhuset
11 May NO-TRONDHEIM : Dokkhuset
12 May CH-FRIBOURG : La Spirale
13 May CH-ZURICH : ZHdK - WK clinic
14 May AT-VIENNA : Porgy & Bess
15 May CH-ZURICH : Moods
16 May CH-MURI : Ochsen