Angelica Sanchez Quintet -][- WIRES & MOSS – [Clean Feed Records, 2012] –

Tags

Angelica Sanchez, Avant-Garde, Clean Feed Records, Composer, Drew Gress, Educator, Marc Ducret, Pianist, Tom Rainey, Tony Malaby

“In her piano playing as well as her compositions Angelica Sanchez seeks out the lyrical heartbeat within any avant-garde storm.” – The New York Times/Chinen

Angelica Sanchez Quintet, WIRES & MOSS

Angelica Sanchez Quintet -][- WIRES & MOSS –Mp3– [Clean Feed Records, 2012] –

It’s no longer possible, today, to exclude the name of pianist and composer/improviser Angelica Sanchez when discussing the New York jazz scene. With her fluid, loose and lyrical style, contrasting with an energetic and avant-gardist approach, she seems to be at the center of a hurricane, dealing with poetic feelings and magmatic chaos. Somehow combining the influences of Herbie Hancock and Cecil Taylor, in her previous solo album, “A Little House”, Sanchez used a John Cage favorite instrument, the toy piano. Not to play children lullabies, but to introduce ironic and ambiguous shadows in her music, reminiscent of her memories of the horror movies she saw in a younger age, with soundtracks using that tool to maximum effect. If the toy piano was, then, her ghost-in-the-machine, now the same role is performed by Marc Ducret’s guitar.

Ravi Coltrane -][- SPIRIT FICTION – [Blue Note, 2012] –

Tags

African American, Composer, Drew Gress, E.J. Strickland, Eric Harland, Geri Allen, James Genus, Luis Perdomo, Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane, Saxophonist

Ravi Coltrane, SPIRIT FICTION

Ravi Coltrane -][- SPIRIT FICTION – [Blue Note, 2012] –

Praised for his music s elusive beauty (DownBeat), and for his style informed by tradition but not encumberedby it (Philadelphia City Paper), saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane takes a bold step in his creative journey with Spirit Fiction, his Blue Note Records debut . The 11-track album features two different band lineups, each with a unique expressive urgency. Several tracks feature Coltrane s long-term quartet with pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress and drummer E.J. Strickland. Coltrane also enlisted a quintet featuring trumpeter Ralph Alessi, pianist Geri Allen, bassist James Genus and drummer Eric Harland the personnel featured on his sophomore release From the Round Box.

Saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane will release his debut album for Blue Note Records, entitled Spirit Fiction, on June 19

Tags

African American, Drew Gress, E.J. Strickland, Eric Harland, Geri Allen, James Genus, Luis Perdomo, Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane

Ravi Coltrane

Saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane will release his debut album for Blue Note Records, entitled Spirit Fiction, on June 19. The album features two different band lineups including Coltrane’s long-term quartet with pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress and drummer E.J. Strickland as well as a quintet featuring trumpeter Ralph Alessi, pianist Geri Allen, bassist James Genus and drummer Eric Harland.

Coltrane’s label mate and fellow saxophonist Joe Lovano served as co-producer of the album along with Coltrane. “I’ve always produced my own recordings except for the first one, Moving Pictures, which was produced by Steve Coleman,” says Coltrane. “Joe was a truly supportive producer on this project. He has been an important figure in my life for over 20 years.” Lovano also plays alongside Coltrane and Allen on a rendition of Paul Motian’s “Fantasm” as well as a version of Ornette Coleman’s “Check Out Time.” Spirit Fiction also includes six original compositions by Coltrane and three by Alessi. See below for the full track listing.

Luis Perdomo -][- Universal Mind – [Now Forward Music, 2012] –

Tags

Drew Gress, Jack DeJohnette, Jazz, Luis Perdomo, Piano

Luis Perdomo, Universal Mind

Luis Perdomo -][- Universal Mind –MP3– [Now Forward Music, 2012] –

Luis Perdomo grew up in a home filled with music. Born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1971, Luis was exposed to just about every style of music by his father, an avid music fan and collector. Alongside salsa, Latin, R & B, and classical, the young Perdomo heard jazz greats like Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, two of his earliest and most important musical influences. Drawn to jazz and to the piano at an early age, Luis was making regular professional appearances on Venezuelan TV and radio by the time he was twelve. It was about this same time that Luis started to think more and more about the possibility of pursuing a life in music. The more he began to listen and to read about jazz—his tastes had expanded to include players like Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane—the more he became aware of one undeniable truth. All his favorite artists lived and/or recorded in New York City. Thus, it was only a matter of time before he too would make that move.

Drew Gress -][- 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES [Koch Records]

Tags

Bass, Drew Gress, Jazz

Today I was listening to Slacker.com, they played this intriguing track titled “Zaftig” by this artist/group name Drew Gress. Although “BLACK BUTTERFLIES” was released in 2005, I still find this to be a very interesting yet likable recording. If you dig music on the cutting edge, then you might want to check it out Drew Gress and like me know what you think about it.

Drew Gress - 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES

Drew Gress -][- 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES – [Koch Records, 2005]

I first listened to this cd last year when it came out. When I finished listening to the entire CD back then, I found it too difficult for repeated listenings. Then I left it aside for some months… untill today. I don’t regret to listen to it again. Gosh ! What a thrill ! This is avant garde jazz, full of surprises, a record that is to be a classic within a few years’ time. I find no lacking moment of interest. Tim Berne on alto sax is great, inventive, Tom Rainey’s drumming is one of the finest, he makes a continuous rhythmic comment on what is being played in the front line (Ralph Alessi on trumpet is smart).

If you hate nostalgic music or that tendency to reproduce a kind of jazz without being creative, then try this all acoustic quintet. You shall be surprised because there’s something out of this world going on here… It’s complex, creative and exciting for neurons. This is one of those rare CDs that will continue to reveal its beauty and depth with repeated listenings. I know I’ll spend more time with it. Again, let time accomplish miracles… –R comme Ralingue | Customer Review/Amazon.com

While you’re hear you might want to listen to “THE IRRATIONAL NUMBERS” the groups latest recorded in 2008.

..:: SOURCE: Amazon.com ::..

CONTACT -·- FIVE ON ONE

Tags

Billy Hart, Contact, Dave Liebman, Drew Gress, Jazz, John Abercrombie, Marc Copland

Contact - Five on One

CONTACT -·- FIVE ON ONE – [Pirouet Records, 2010]

Five on the way to one. Five in one. Five on the same wavelength. The group is simply called Contact. But that’s a word with a whole slew of possible meanings. There is certainly contact–but not of the physical sort.
With the very first tones the quintet evinces a striking impression of vibrant unity. Or better yet–of synchronized life-blood. And it remains so until the last note. Five big names. An “All-Star” band. But not just. It’s not just a gathering of five jazz celebrities who get together to churn out a few pieces, and then scatter to the winds in every aesthetic direction in order to land where they better fit in. As the pieces are played, there is a growing sense that these musicians have produced a long overdue set of recordings that are an organic synthesis of their musical beings. Five who together discover a musical spirit that incorporates every individual. The CD is called Five on One, and on it, the musicians develop an intense interplay that is characterized by an intimate warmth.