Jason McKenzie: News

Billy Joe Shaver will be taking the rest of the summer off to recover from shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, Atash has decided to continue our highly-acclaimed weekly residency at the Red Fez in downtown Austin.

After a year's hiatus, Atash will return to the Red Fez weekly for the month of July 2010. Join us each Wednesday at 10pm.

Thank you, Austin!

Featuring Joel Laviolette from Rattletree on the African mbira at Ruta Maya Friday March 12th.

Joel began studying the mbira in 1995, and those studies took him to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Canada, and back to the US. He formed a record company, Mhumhi Records, in 2001. This was done to promote and support the groups that Joel recorded while in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Profits from those recordings go directly to the musicians involved.

Joel has had the joy of performing on stage and/or touring with some of the greatest musicians to come out of Zimbabwe, including Newton Gwara, Stella Chiweshe, Tute Chigamba, Garidziva Chigamba, Ambuya Buelar Dyoko, and David Gweshe. He has also done extensive teaching for students of all ages and is one of the regular teachers for Zimfest-an annual music festival dedicated to Zimbabwean music.

Atash is back in the studio working on our second studio album in years in this beautiful studio in Lockhart, TX. Look for our record release sometime this Fall.

I'm excited to get out to Seattle and Vancouver from Feb 10th to the 16th to play with a trio version of Tehranosarus. Chris Ladesma will be playing acoustic guitar, Fared Shafinury vocals & setar, and I will be on tabla.

I am stunned to learn that my good friend and favorite artist has just passed on. Andrea Burden was the primary visual artist for Atash. She created our album covers, our posters, our website, and our stage design for the Global Harmony shows. She also did posters for the Sunray Project as well as innovative work with Govinda, Kan' nal, and for festivals all over the country.
Her vision was unique and rich like a fine wine. Her paintings take you to enchanting worlds. She was an incredibly loving person and a role model. My heart goes out to her family. http://www.andreaburden.net

For the next couple of weeks I will be touring Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and a few more states on the way back to Texas with Billy Joe Shaver until December 12th.

The tabla/guitar album with Darin Layne "Left of Sunday Afternoon" has just been reviewed by Guitar Player magazine.

Also, the online South Asian publication, Nazar, has recently featured me in an interview by Pragya Bhagat.

Click on "PRESS" to read both articles.

Electronic music is like painting. It's never finished, only abandoned. I've been adding new sounds to an old recording I made of two members of Atash. I call it "Eminar". Click on "Music Samples" and tell me what you think.

September was an adventurous month of touring and traveling. For the next several weeks, I will now focus on writing new material with Atash and for the Sunray Project. As a result, both groups will be cutting back on performances for a short while.

In the meantime, I will continue doing weekend shows with Billy Joe Shaver and will begin a classical Indian residency at the Whip-In Cafe with sitarist Dr. Amelia Maciszewski on Mondays in Austin for the month of October.

It's an exciting month! I'll be opening for Willie Nelson for a few Midwest dates with Billy Joe Shaver and I will be visiting the West Coast twice; once with Persian singer Fared Shafinury at the Iranian Music Festival in San Francisco and then again the following week with Billy Joe at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

The acoustic guitar & tabla album that Darin Layne and I recorded last year is getting out there! I also notice that my friend and former San Francisco roommate, Rena Jones, is in the list too. Small world.

I am very pleased to announce that I will now be doing regular Sunray Project shows every 2nd and 4th Thursday at Copa starting June 11th featuring a different world musician at every show with myself on tabla and laptop in the elegant lounge upstairs at Copa called the Buzios Room.

Thank you, Austin! My name is also listed in the top 10 of the jazz category which is way cool. I haven't even played much jazz lately, but perhaps I should..

Now you can download it! Just search my name in the itunes store.

The Darin Layne/Jason Mckenzie guitar/tabla album entitled "Left of Sunday Afternoon" is now available. You can find it on CD BABY. Click here to sample it:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/laynemckenzie

Due to some last minute additions to my gig schedule, I will be going to L.A. from Jan 11th to the 17th for the NAMM show, then I return to Austin for some Billy Joe Shaver gigs. After that, I'm going back to L.A. on the 22nd to do a show with my buddy Aben Eubanks and his partner Ashley Arrison at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood.

The debut album "Goodbye Songs" from Brooklyn singer/songwriter Jacob Jiles is now on itunes. It features my drumming on most of the tracks and was recorded in Austin, tx.

I'll be in L.A. from Jan 11th to the 19th to visit friends and attend the NAMM conference in Anaheim.