Category: Reviews

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An insightful review of our record “Playdate” (featuring Amanda Monaco, Wayne Escoffery, Noah Baerman, Vinnie Sperazza and Henry Lugo) taken from the pen of AAJ writer John Barron…

Playdate brings together a trio of long time friends and musical collaborators. Guitarist Amanda Monaco, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and pianist Noah Baerman have known each other since high school, studying music together at the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut. The ensemble is rounded out by bassist Henry Lugo and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza for a lively quintet set of originals and lesser-known jazz gems.

The disc opens with Monaco’s spirited hard-bopping swinger “Copper Tone,” a perfect warm-up vehicle for the lyrical guitarist, as well as Escoffery and Baerman. The three deliver succinct solos, spurred by Lugo’s pulsating walking lines. Baerman’s waltz “Remember the Goldfish,” a disc highlight, has a rhythmic give-and-take with catchy thematic sweeps. Here, Escoffery builds his tenor solo to a level of otherworldly intensity, followed by an explosive drum excursion by Sperazza.

A colorful rubato guitar introduction sets the pace for “Yes, Yes, Oh Yes!,” a groovy minor blues by the late pianist James Williams. “T-Time,” composed by Baerman is the most intricately composed piece from the session, utilizing the instrumentation at hand to skillfully weave together a variety of motifs into a coherent unit. Refreshingly, the tune settles into a more straightforward middle section, allowing Escoffery to soar on soprano saxophone.

The disc slows to a melancholic turn with “Baby Man,” a swaying ballad by the late saxophonist John Stubblefield. Escoffery and Monaco seem to relish in the tune’s laid-back groove, exhibiting patient and thoughtful lines. Sperrazza contributes the disc’s closing tracks, “Milan Kundera,” an exotic sounding piece with an odd-metered funky feel and “Memday,” a light-as-air ballad featuring a strong bass solo by Logo.

The camaraderie and shared musical vision of the ensemble is evident throughout this superb recording. Hopefully, there are more playdates scheduled.

Track listing: Copper Tone; Remember the Goldfish; Yes, Yes, Oh Yes!; T-Time; Baby Man; Milan Kundera; Memday.

Personnel: Wayne Escoffery: saxophone; Noah Baerman: piano; Amanda Monaco: guitar; Vinnie Sperrazza: drums; Henry Lugo: bass.

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Some advance coverage from Audiophile Audition for our next release “Boiling Point” by tenor saxophonist Brandon Wright…


www.audad.com
Brandon Wright – Boiling Point – Posi-Tone PR 8063 – 55:17 **** (4/20/2010)
(Brandon Wright, tenor sax; Alex Sipiagin, trumpet; David Kikoski, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass; Matt Wilson, drums)

You can tell when a jazz label is serious about helping an artist with their debut release. You stand the best chance of success when you let your newbie use his own compositions and not rely solely on jazz standards. (“Let’s see what he can do with Lover Man.”) Let your musician show his composing talent as well as whether he can blow his horn.

Surround your future star with established veterans who can both blend and comp behind the leader, yet when it is either ensemble playing or showing their talent during solos, they are fully ready to be team players.

Well, Posi-Tone has done things right with tenor saxist, Brandon Wright. Top flight sidemen from the Mingus Big Band – pianist David Kikoski, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, and bassist Hans Glawischnig – are here. First call New York drummer supreme Matt Wilson can, and does play drums for a myriad of players, both inside and out, as well as lead his own groups.

Wright won the 2009 ASCAP Young Composer Award, so including five of his own compositions out of the eight tracks on his CD, Boiling Point, is entirely appropriate. Free Man opens the CD with a hard bop flavor. After the opening intro, Brandon immediately shows his blowing skills, with a mature hard attack. Sipiagin steps up and brings to mind Freddie Hubbard, while matching Wright’s intensity. David Kikoski’s solo shows why he is such an integral part of the Mingus Band as when he plays you don’t miss the horns-his touch is light, yet sparkling, and keeps pace with the front line before Wright and Sipiagin re-enter with the theme.

Drift shows Wright’s lyrical side and Sipiagin’s solo has a burnished quality that is deeply pleasing. Matt Wilson’s presence is felt as his cymbal work and drum fills add flavor and tone. Odd Man Out is further proof that Wright’s ASCAP award was well deserved, as he has great talent with the hard bop idiom that will please lovers of straight ahead jazz. Once again Alex Sipiagin’s solo makes him the center of focus, as he has stepped into the role of a commanding artist, for whom you eagerly wait to solo.

The title track is apropos as Brandon is hard-charging before Kikoski’s fleet hands up the ante, and Wilson pushes Wright into Coltrane territory. The obligatory ballad, Here’s That Rainy Day, shows Wright to be a more than capable balladeer with that warm hearty tone that indicates he can wring out the emotion that a jazz standard demands. My favorite track on Boiling Point is another Wright-penned composition, Castaway. It has a true 1960s Blue Note feel, led by Sipiagin again, with a take no prisoners strut, and propelled by Matt Wilson to a feverish pitch, before Wright lowers the temperature with a bluesy flourish. The rhythm section also shines on this extended number.

Posi-Tone has a winner on its hands with Boiling Point. Nick O’Toole has done another superb job engineering a crisp mix where all band members’ talents are fully presented. Brandon Wright has a bright future, and Posi-Tone has pointed him in the right direction with a classy debut CD.
TrackList: Free Man, Drift, Odd Man Out, Boiling Point, Here’s That Rainy Day, Castaway, Interstate Love Song, You’re My Everything

– Jeff Krow

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A nice multi-album review piece “Posi-Tone Saxophones” by writer Joel Roberts taken from this months issue of AAJ-NY….

www.allaboutjazz.com

by Joel Roberts

Giving underappreciated jazz artists their due is one of the perks (and responsibilities) of writing about the music. The frustrating thing is the sheer number of outstanding musicians flying under the radar of most listeners. These three saxophonists, all New York-area players recording for the LA-based Posi-Tone label and all checking in at various places along the post-bop continuum, are prime examples.

Canadian-born tenor saxophonist and educator Ralph Bowen is the elder statesman of the three, with a recording career dating back to the ’80s. Like his previous Posi-Tone release Dedicated, Bowen’s new one, Due Reverence, features tributes to friends and mentors, including the austere opener “Less is More,” written for guitarist Ted Dunbar, and the soaring, exuberant “This One’s for Bob,” fêting saxophonist Bob Mintzer. While he’s no stylistic trailblazer—the influence of modern masters like Coltrane, Shorter and Michael Brecker is evident in his playing—Bowen is a commanding soloist with exceptional control of his instrument. Backed by a hard-hitting quintet (trumpeter Sean Jones, guitarist Adam Rogers, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Antonio Sanchez), Bowen proves he’s near the top of the tenor sax heap.

Mike DiRubbo emerged on the New York scene about a decade after Bowen and has carved out a place for himself as one of the top straight-ahead alto saxophonists. Repercussion is a strong effort that highlights DiRubbo’s sharp alto tone and intense approach, both of which recall his former teacher, the late, great Jackie McLean. The album’s standout track, the title tune, with its simple bluesy riff leading into enticing solos by DiRubbo, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and the late drummer Tony Reedus, wouldn’t sound out of place on one of McLean’s vintage Blue Note sides. DiRubbo also excels on the jaunty Dave Brubeck tune “The Duke” and on a heartfelt reading of the ballad chestnut “Too Late Now.” Nelson’s contribution is notable throughout, particularly his scorching improvisations on “Nelsonian.”

Although he’s active in a host of other styles, including funk and fusion, tenor saxophonist Sean Nowell’s The Seeker follows a direction similar to DiRubbo and Bowen. The Alabama-born Nowell, who also plays clarinet and flute, proves himself a forceful improviser on the energetic “New York Vibe” and the rollicking klezmer tune, “Oy Matze Matze,” which features some lovely work from cellist Dave Eggar. Nowell also shows he has a subtle hand with ballads on covers of the Beatles’ “I Will” and the standard “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” It’s a fine outing by yet another undervalued performer.

Tracks and Personnel

Due Reverence

Tracks: Less Is More; This One’s for Bob; Phil-Osophy; Mr. Scott; Points Encountered.

Personnel: Ralph Bowen: tenor saxophone; Sean Jones: trumpet; Adam Rogers: guitar; John Patitucci: bass; Antonio Sanchez: drums.

Repercussion

Tracks: Repercussion; The Duke; Lunar; Highbridge; Nightfall; Déjà vu; Too Late Now; Nelsonian; Pisces Rising.

Personnel:Mike DiRubbo: alto saxophone; Steve Nelson: vibraphone; Dwayne Burno: bass; Tony Reedus: drums.

The Seeker

Tracks: New York Vibe; You Don’t Know What Love Is; Oy Matze Matze; Dunavski Park; Jamie’s Decision; For All Intensive Purposes; I Will; I Remember You.

Personnel: Sean Nowell: tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute; Art Hirahara: piano; Thomas Kneeland: bass; Joe Abbatantuono: drums; Dave Eggar: cello; Nir Felder: guitar.

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Dan Bilawsky’s AAJ review for “Playdate” featuring Amanda Monaco, Wayne Escoffery, Noah Baerman, Vinnie Sperrazza, Henry Lugo….

by Dan Bilawsky

www.allaboutjazz.com

While children spend after school-hours and weekends working on homework and spending time with their families, they also have play dates. They get together with other like-minded friends to let loose and blow off some steam. Musicians often do the same thing and, appropriately enough, three of the five performers on Playdate have been friends since high school. Guitarist Amanda Monaco, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and pianist Noah Baerman have a shared history, having studied music together in Connecticut, and they’ve joined forces with bassist Henry Lugo and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza to form Playdate.

The group/album title makes perfect sense because of the relationship of the participants but it can be misleading if viewed from a musical stance. This isn’t a loose blowing session with overdone standards. The press materials mark the album as a “delightful combination of the hard bop tradition and modern sophistication” and, while this is largely accurate, the scales tip a little toward the latter. Five of the seven tracks on this record were written by the participants and each song has something different to say. Monaco’s tone is warm and inviting and Escoffery—lacking rough edges here—matches her with his own sound.

The album begins in with the mid-tempo swing of Monaco’s “Copper Tone.” Escoffery spins out instantly appealing and simply executed melodic lines that dovetail with Monaco and, to a lesser extent, Baerman. At times, Monaco blends so well with Escoffery, that it almost seems like another horn is present. James Williams’ “Yes, Yes Oh Yes!,” receives a red carpet reading, beginning with Monaco’s solo introduction and moving to a cool swing vibe, highlighted by Escoffery’s nonchalant and incredibly hip delivery. A long run of solos, featuring some deep bellowing notes from Escoffery, is capped off by a sax cadenza and some arco bass toward the end of the song.

Sperrazza proves to be a double-threat here with his fine drumming and intriguing compositions. His “Milan Kundera,” taking its name from the famed author, sounds like a cheery Vince Guaraldi-style Charlie Brown song—in seven—with slight calypso inflections adding to its originality. While Escoffery’s main axe is his tenor saxophone, his work on soprano here is fresh and proves to be one of the highlights of the album. The connection established between these musicians, both in terms of personal history and in musical empathy, is solid; hopefully this won’t be a one-time play date.

Track listing: Copper Tone; Remember The Goldfish; Yes, Yes, Oh Yes!; T-Time; Baby Man; Milan Kundera; Memday.

Personnel: Wayne Escoffery: saxophones; Noah Baerman: piano; Amanda Monaco: guitar; Vinnie Sperrazza: drums; Henry Lugo: acoustic bass.

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A nice write-up for Playdate taken from the Audiophile Audition…..

audad.com
By Daniel Krow

Playdate – Playdate – Posi-Tone Records PR8055, 49:23 ****:

(Wayne Escoffery, tenor and soprano saxophone; Noah Baerman, piano;Amanda Monaco, guitar; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums, Henry Lugo, acoustic bass)

Playdate is made up of three high school friends (Noah Baerman, Wayne Escoffery, and Amanda Monaco, who all attended the jazz program at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts together), plus bassist Henry Lugo and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, who play with Baerman in his Noah Baerman trio. The group’s first CD, Playdate, is a delightful album that’s full of complex interplay and melodic invention.

High points of the album include Remember the Goldfish, which has a breezy, Brubeck-sounding melody and a careful restrained guitar solo from Monaco; Yes, Yes, Oh Yes!, a song written by the late James Williams, which starts with slow, “loungey” guitar from Monaco, but moves into a swinging tete-a-tete between Monaco and Baerman, with each taking turns playing eight bar solos that gain intensity from Sperrazza’s shifting tempos; T-Time, which has a funky bass line that sounds like it’s being played by both Henry Lugo and Baerman’s left hand, and Milan Kundera, a tribute to the Czech author that has a buoyant triumphant melody.
As a group, Playdate have an amazing chemistry together. Their generosity as players is highly commendable and leaves one impressed with the unit as a whole, not just as individual players. I highly recommend Playdate’s self-titled album and look forward to their next CD.

TrackList: Copper Tone, Remember The Goldfish, Yes, Yes, Oh Yes!, T-Time, Baby Man, Milan Kundera, Memday

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Another positive review for Dan Pratt Organ Quartet “Toe the Line”….

by Derek Taylor
masterofasmallhouse.blogspot.com
The Hammond organ is a hardy instrument, having weathered waxing and waning popularity since pioneers like Fats Waller and Bill Doggett brought it prominence as a viable jazz voice. Still, the number of players who opt to apply it to adventurous settings remains relatively few compared to the legion content to toe the line of convention. Saxophonist Dan Pratt and organist Jared Gold choose the less traveled path on this second disc by Pratt’s working quartet. Gold is an important part of a recent release by guitarist Jeff Stryker also reviewed in these virtual pages. The difference in his playing in that context compared to here is instructive as to just how well Pratt is able to press the best from his partners by giving them plenty to work with.

Pratt’s writing for the band is its principal asset. Each of the nine originals brims with ideas and novel avenues for execution. “Houdini” and “Minor Procedure” work of tightly wound heads and bright, bustling rhythmic structures. Gold builds throbbing bass lines and whirring fills that make the most of his instrument’s variable tone settings. “Wanderlust” opens with syrup-thick sustain and weirdly warbling effects that instantly place the tune apart. On “Star Crossed Lovers” and the closing “After” Gold traffics in luminous, church-appropriate swells that resist tipping over into treacle. The Brothers Ferber, Alan on trombone and Mark on drums, complete the band and are equally essential to the constantly shifting sound that reflects the players in nearly all manner of component groupings. Alan works like the cooling balm preceding the burning heat of Pratt’s improvisation on “Dopplegänger”, his rounded lines transmitting with an almost tactile smoothness.

Other pieces in the program cover different bases from the rock-inflected patterns of the title piece that works off another monster snaking bass line from Gold and a string of dynamic drum breaks to the vaguely Latin groove of “Stoic”, which again features the unflappable ingenuity of the drummer’s textured stick play. Trading in humor and tradition, “Uncle Underpants” gains momentum as a spiraling Pratt-penned head irons out into a stomping funk vamp. Ferber’s malleable backbeats soon reach street band fervency and he virtually steals the track with a galloping extended break. Pratt and his colleagues have been gigging quite regularly and the multiple merits of this release are certain to extend that employment streak. It’s a set custom-designed for skeptics who consider organ dates strictly old hat.

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Some advance press for our next release “Boiling Point” by tenor saxophonist Brandon Wright…

by Derek Taylor
masterofasmallhouse.blogspot.com

Over four decades after his premature passing, Coltrane is still a near-inescapable force for jazz saxophonists who opt for tradition-minded playing. Twenty-something Brandon Wright certainly sounds under the master’s spell. From the bright, soaring unisions of “Free Man” the opening number on his new release, the tracks of Trane are a primary method of melodic travel. That observation may read like a slight, but it’s not indended as one. After all, if a player is going to cop a sound to build on, it might as well be that of the heavyweight champion.

Subsequent pieces in the program betray other indelible influences. “Drift” sounds shorn from a cloth similar to that of Wayne Shorter’s Sixties tune-smithing in the warm enveloping harmonies and dusky overriding melody. “Here’s That Rainy Day” has etchings of Ammons in the robust rounded tone Wright rings from his horn’s reed. A capable band of conscripts aid him in his cause starting with his canny frontline partner,Alex Sipiagin. Morgan and Hubbard weigh heavily as ringers in the trumpeter’s lithe phraseology and there are moments in his animated interplay with Wright that intimate stimulating frontline partnerships so common to the classic Blue Note-ear. Pianist David Kikoski, bassist Hans Glawischinig and drummer Matt Wilson also make fine company for the leader.

Tune-wise no true surprises present themselves in what is galvanizing, but ultimately somewhat generic hardbop fare. Wright was the 2009 ASCAP Young Composer award winner so the manner in which he limns close to convention in most of the contexts here is slightly disappointing. Five originals balance against a pair of jazz standards and the left field choice of the Stone Temple Pilots “Interstate Love Song”, reconfigured here as a ballad with muscle. All pieces prove able-bodied blowing vehicles and Wright and his crew tackle them wih equal aplomb. There’s a pleasing consitency between compositions and a solid album coherence to the set.

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Jazz Journal Review of “Supersonic”

April 2010
Jazz Journal 63 No. 4,
Brian Morton

It takes some moxie to start with a John Sebastian tune and then to programme something by Coldplay, who are to jazz favourites Radiohead what Dr Peppers is to moonshine whiskey, but Jared Gold is a confident young man and a thoroughly musical fellow who knows a strong melody when he hears it. The organist has been making a splash on the New York scene for a while now and his debut Posi-Tone CD ‘Solids And Stripes’ was one of last year’s standout organ-jazz records. Here, though, Gold doesn’t have the support of saxophonist Seamus Blake. He’s very much featured on his own, though with Ed Cherry in the line-up, there’s additional interest. The Sebastian song probably won’t ring too many bells or sound too many alarms and no sooner has it wheezed out than Gold’s own Makin’ Do lifts the rating higher still. He’s not yet a fully confident composer, with something of the tyro’s habit of messing with a simple idea in order to make it more complicated. That doesn’t necessarily work and an older and more experienced craftsman might have ironed out the extraneous detail on Times Are Hard On The Boulevard, Battle Of Tokorozawa and Home Again. In the absence of liner notes on the promo, I can’t tell you what the middle one signifies to Jared Gold, but the scrap in question was back in the 14th century, so it’s not particularly personal. I thought Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You bordered on schmaltz, but loved the Beatles tune and the sen- sitive Angel Eyes, and didn’t baulk at the Coldplay cover, which was done before I realised what it was. Gold’s good and will get better still. The bonus here is Cherry, whose own recording career seems not to have built on the high promise of his early 90s stuff on Groovin’ High, but who always delivers intelligently and with feeling. Posi-Tone is on a bit of a roll.

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Faith In Action is thejazzbreakfast’s record of the day

thejazzbreakfast.wordpress.com

Orrin Evans: Faith In Action (Posi-Tone Records PR8058)
Orrin Evans will probably be best known in the UK as the pianist who took the keyboard seat normally occupied by Uri Caine when Dave Douglas toured here in 2008. He has been heard recently with Jamaaladeen Tacuma. In fact the Philadelphian studied with Kenny Barron, worked a lot with Bobby Watson and with the Mingus Big Band, and made his first trio album in 1994.

This one is a trio disc, too, with Luques Curtis on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums for most of the tracks.

He’s a terrific pianist – warm and solid, able to explore some of those modern hip-hop-nuanced things while still rooted in the grand jazz piano tradition that still finds its sternest testing ground in the clubs of New York – grounds where Evans thrives.

A few of the tracks here are original O Evans credits, but a lot also have B Watson next to the titles, so Evans is happy to keep exploring the material first provided by one of his early employers. And some serious exploring he certainly does in this demanding material.

I’m not sure about the piano sound on the album is all it might be on the more explosive tracks, like Appointment in Milano, but so absorbing is Evans’ playing that one soon forgets any sonic shortcomings. The trio interaction here is electrifying, too.

His treatment of the Watson classic, Love Remains, is rhapsodic and expansive against a strong ostinato from Curtis, with tastily chosen voicings and slow waterfalls down the keyboard, before side-stepping briefly into a soul jazz groove and returning to a bass solo against the brushes. This is timeless stuff.

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A link to an interview with Orrin…

thejazzsession.com

Pianist Orrin Evans pays tribute to his friend and musical partner Bobby Watson on Faith In Action (Posi-Tone, 2010). In this interview, recorded while Evans was on tour in Italy, he talks about the importance of family and friends to his life and career; why he chose the particular Watson compositions that appear on the new album; and how he approaches the task of leading a band. Learn more at www.myspace.com/orrinevans.