When the door opens with unlimited opportunity it’s time to evaluate, frame and proceed to explore the possibilities. Composer and bassist Iris Ornig from Germany approaches her sophomore album “NO RESTRICTIONS” with a cadence that’s unparalleled, eclectic and remarkably stimulating volume of imposing originals and covers. Continue reading →
Gonzalo Rubalcaba -][- XXI CENTURY –Mp3– [5Passion, 2012 | Review] –
Unknown by most of us at the time, the unanticipated arrival of soon to be Grammy Award winning pianist Gonzalo Julio Gonzalez Fonseca native Cuban landed on the shores of US some twenty-five years ago. Since then of course pianist, improviser and songwriter recorded dozens of jazz recordings to his credit. With his latest project, the multi-facet virtuoso embarks on an unequalled journey with enchanting lyricism in the spirit of innovation he unleashes the exhilarating “XXI Century.” On this outing, his compositions swells from the womb of his beloved Afro-Cuban heritage and merges these voicings within the body of ten sumptuous and ambitious songs to pay tribute to two piano icons Bill Evans and Lennie Tristanto gives me reason to believe this is probably his best recording to date. Continue reading →
≈ Comments Off on Vijay Iyer Trio’s Accelerando (Out March 13): NPR First Listen, NPR Song of the Day, All Things Considered, JazzTimes Cover, U.S. Tour Dates & More
Early Praise for The Vijay Iyer Trio’s Accelerando
(ACT Music, March 13) Album Features Covers of Michael Jackson,
Flying Lotus, Heatwave, Henry Threadgill,
Duke Ellington & Herbie Nichols
Vijay Iyer - Jazz Times
Album to be Featured as NPR First Listen (March 6 to 13), NPR Song of The Day, NPR’s All Things Considered, January Cover of JazzTimes Magazine & Much More
Iyer Tours US in March & April with Trio, As Solo Pianist & With Collaborative South Asian Trio, Tirtha
“…a stunning album…” – Paste
“In musical terms, accelerando signifies a quickening of tempo, a gradual acceleration of pace…it’s a dead-on descriptor of the velocity at which Iyer’s career has traveled of late” – JazzTimes
“Vijay Iyer does the nearly impossible with his captivating makeover of Threadgill’s “Little Pocket Size Demons,” from Iyer’s forthcoming album Accelerando.” – NPR Song of the Day
Danny Grissett Trio -][- STRIDE – [Criss Cross, 2011]
On Stride, his fourth Criss Cross leader date, pianist Danny Grissett returns to the trio format he navigated with such panache and imagination on his first two outings for the label. Longtime bass partner Vicente Archer and top-of-the-class drummer Marcus Gilmore join Grissett in a fluent three-way conversation on a reflective program that incorporates the American Songbook, the European canon, original tunes by trumpeters Nicholas Payton and (his current employer) Tom Harrell, and three heady Grissett originals.
As always, the leader’s playing is melody-driven, harmonically acute, swinging and focused; he again proves himself one of the major voices on his instrument among the under-40 crowd.