Tag: Brandon Wright

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Brandon Wright talks with Anthony Cekay on the Page4Music podcast…Check it out!

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Today marks the launch of Page4Music’s saxophone podcast. Tune in each Friday as Anthony Cekay interviews various saxophonists, equipment manufactures, teachers and more saxophone specialists about everything saxophone related.

In this episode, saxophonist Brandon Wright joins Anthony to discuss their favorite Blue Note albums that feature the tenor saxophone.

Brandon regularly leads his own quintet around the New York City area, and has made leader appearances at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The Kitano Hotel, Smalls Jazz Club, Smoke, Zinc Bar, The Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Brandon has been performing and touring as a member of Chuck Mangione’s working group and the Max Weinberg Big Band.

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Here’s a new All About Jazz feature article about Posi-Tone Records!!!

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When Posi-Tone Records founder Marc Free was growing up, he looked forward to each new record purchase, cherishing the cover artwork, devouring the liner notes and most of all, feasting on the music. He came to love the music and albums issued by iconic labels such as Blue Note and Impulse!, knowing that even if he hadn’t heard of the artist, it was likely to be a quality recording by a great musician.

And when Free launched Posi-Tone in 1994, he made those remembrances his business plan.

“I hadn’t intended it; it wasn’t my dream,” says Free of the company’s founding. “It was kind of an outgrowth of other things.”

Technically, he started his record-producing career when he built a studio in his mother’s house, ala Rudy Van Gelder, the Blue Note engineering master whose work set the standard for sound and quality in the 1950s. Free had even hoped to make a documentary on Van Gelder at one point, conducting interviews and gathering research, but the project ultimately fell apart.

“He didn’t think a documentary was the right way to tell the story and he never gave me the permission to do it,” says Free.

A jazz guitarist, Free used his studio space to record friends and other musicians whose music he enjoyed. A chance to record multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers performing at Los Angeles’ Jazz Bakery in 2002 led to a decision to turn the underground label into a “real business.”

“We try to make records we want to listen to,” he says.

At a time many labels struggle to find a niche, Posi-Tone has emerged with a solid lineup of well-crafted recordings, packaged in distinctive cardboard sleeves. Rather than focus on a particular genre of music, Posi-Tone’s stable of artists are picked by Free and partner/engineer Nick O’Toole.

“What we decided to do was go out to New York three or four times per year to scout for talent,” Free says. “That’s where the musicians who are more serious about making a career in jazz are.”

When a potential Posi-Tone artist is found, Free says the label will record them in a New York studio, such as Acoustic Recording Brooklyn or System 2 studios, also in Brooklyn. The masters are then taken to Los Angeles for post-production work.

This method has connected the label to a diverse collection of musicians, including saxophonist Sarah Manning, trombonist Alan Ferber and trumpeter Jim Rotondi. Free notes he doesn’t sign artists to long-term deals, and allows them to retain all of the publishing rights to their music.

“I can’t tell you how many people in the recording business told me I was crazy,” he says. “[One record company executive] said, ‘your roster of artists and publishing rights is what you build your business on.’ And I said, ‘No, my label’s reputation is what I’m building my business on.'”

Which, Free says, strikes at the biggest hurdle facing new artists and new labels in today’s marketplace: reissues. A quick look at the upcoming releases page on AAJ shows a deluge of reissued jazz recordings every month, with new CDs which repackage and reissue works by everyone from bandleader Artie Shaw to saxophonist Zoot Sims. This means a young artist doesn’t only have to compete with other musicians of today, but those from the last 80 years as well.

“I have a hard time competing with John Coltrane when he’s got 60 years of marketing behind him,” Free says.

The problem, as Free sees it, is the copyright act of 1978, which extended the time before the rights to musical compositions pass into public domain from 28 to 75 years. This meant the recording companies who owned the rights to music and recordings made in the 1950s and 1960s can continue to produce and sell the music for years. Hence the belief that building the back catalogue is the key to a label’s survival.

“All of us are struggling with these issues all the time,” says Free.

Another issue confronting labels concerns digital distribution: Free is sticking to emphasizing direct sales of physical CDs because he says the economics just don’t work with downloads. He says the average online customer won’t download a full CD, reducing the revenue to the label (and artist) to a fraction of what CDs net. Consequently, he says he would need to sell to 14 online customers to realize what he can earn for one CD sale.

“The music isn’t in any danger, but the record labels making recordings may well be,” Free says. He’s marketing the company’s releases through Amazon, the label’s website and with distributors outside the United States. “We’re seeing tremendous response to our efforts.”

Summing his philosophy up, Free says: “The answer is to make more and better records.

“We’re good for jazz, we’re good for business and we make good records.”

Selected Posi-Tone releases

Doug Webb
Midnight
2010

 

 

 

Hooking up with bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboard player Larry Goldings for a set of sweetly swinging chestnuts has saxophonist Webb playing in fine form. Although a session veteran, this is Webb’s first release as a headliner and it gives him a chance to stand out. Webb plays with smooth tone and uses the full range of his tenor, which works well on ballads such as “I’ll Be Around” and “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Webb builds his solos skillfully and is matched by the quality of Clarke’s and Goldings’ turns. Clarke offers a deep acoustic bass sound throughout, getting some amazingly legato notes that fill the quartet’s sound.

Sarah Manning
Dandelion Clock
2010

The demure face looking up from the cover of Dandelion Clock contrasts Manning’s often aggressive, experimental style, as she plays over a collection of original tunes and two covers, Michel Legrand‘s “The Windmills of Your Mind” and “The Peacocks” by Jimmy Rowles.

Her compositions offer enough harmonic room for Manning to craft exploring solos, often using long runs that seem to end in question marks. Never one to settle for an easy note choice when there’s a more interesting one available, her solos soar in such post-bop ballads as “Marbles” and “Habersham Street.”

Orrin Evans
Faith in Action
2010

Evans has been growing into a major figure in jazz piano, thanks to releases as strong as his 2010 release in tribute to saxophonist Bobby Watson. Combining his own compositions and five by Watson, Evans plays smoothly through oblique runs and blues turns on solos, and lets his accompanists—which include bassist Luques Curtis and drummers Nasheet Waits, Rocky Bryant and Gene Jackson—provide a solid base for his work.

Watson’s “Appointment in Milano” features a pounding bottom underneath Evans’ swift runs, which alternate between sweet scales and modal triplets. The delightful “Beattitudes,” another Watson gem, combines an airy intro with a gentle melody. Musicians know it takes more to keep a ballad moving than a burning up-tempo number, and Evans shows his real chops on this one.

Brandon Wright
Boiling Point
2010

Saxophonist Wright is clearly a student of the 1960s, and these eight tunes—including five original compositions—show he learned well. This is a disc fans of swinging, smoky jazz will favor. Wright never overplays and fits in pianist David Kikoski‘s playing marvelously. Case in point, the interplay on Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day.” With Kikoski comping sweetly, Wright gets just enough blues to keep his solo emotional without going saccharine. On the other side of the coin, the interplay between Wright, Kikoski and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin at the crescendo near the end of the samba-based “Castaway” is a real treat. All are playing hard but not over each other.

Jim Rotondi
1000 Rainbows
2010

Rotondi’s smooth chops and smart tune selection make this a delicious outing. Playing alongside a capable four-piece band, including Joe Locke on vibes, Danny Grissett on piano, bassist Barak Mori and Bill Stewart on drums, Rotondi shines on his compositions “Bizzaro World,” “One for Felix” and “Not Like This,” a beautiful ballad duet with Locke.

 

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With an early new year gift, Clifford Allen provides a ton of coverage for Posi-Tone on his amazing Ni Kantu blog….

cliffordallen.blogspot.com

Briefly Reviewed: Four on Posi-Tone Records
As the year draws to a close, with most holidays celebrated and top-ten lists submitted, the hope is that space has been left for tastes to grow and expand with new musical horizons and relationships to form over the coming twelve months. One challenge that I’ve had – and expressed here on a few occasions – is where dyed-in-the-wool jazz music fits into all of this. Despite an avowed love for historical jazz recordings as well as enjoying new music in the idiom, nevertheless the bug of challenge bites and I find myself questioning the current place of making refined statements within a timeworn linguistic structure (not that the same can’t be said for people working in the ‘free’ or avant-garde idioms).

Questioning, one must remember, doesn’t necessarily mean that a musical statement isn’t valid or engaging; rather, questioning something is a dynamic engagement with a thing or a concept. I can still find myself interested in and moved by music in the tradition while at the same time inquiring of that music’s function or value. Not coincidentally, the contemporary jazz that I find the most interesting is that which questions (in-) itself and for which expressive and structural boundaries are pushed at, even if only slightly.

Los Angeles’ Posi-Tone is one of the labels keeping close to a vision of modern, straight-ahead jazz that, while not particularly rough around the edges, remains full of surprises and engagement. Among their nearly fifty releases are discs by multi-instrumentalist and improvising composer Sam Rivers, trumpeter-composer Jim Rotondi, trombonist-composer Steve Davis (the New Jazz Composers Octet, etc.) and tenorman-composer Wayne Escoffery, alongside lesser-known or up-and-coming artists and ensembles. Not every title in their deep catalog is a winner, but in the several months that I’ve had to familiarize myself with a selection of their releases, there are a number which stick out.

Organist Jared Gold is one player whose work is impressive, drawing on the playing of such seminal figures as Larry Young and John Patton for his harmonic choices, which are often salty and slightly dissonant. On Out of Line, his third disc for Posi-Tone, Gold is joined by guitarist Dave Stryker, drummer Mark Ferber and tenorman Chris Cheek on six originals and three covers. It’s a fairly strong statement to open one’s set with a cover of a tune like Hank Mobley’s “An Aperitif” (which appeared on 1967’s Thinking of Home, first issued in 1980). Cheek’s flinty, cutting tone meshes well with Gold’s stopps-pulled jounce and steaming modal clamber, propelled by a loose stoke from guitar and drums.

Minus tenor, the trio settles into an easy lope for “Preachin’,” which despite missing hard-toned fire (and not that Cheek is particularly ‘out,’ but his phrasing and projection are unequivocally weighty), nevertheless sports fine grit and ebullience. Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” has openness to its groove, though one does get the feeling that Ferber’s drums could have an external push to them. His dustily tasteful propulsion/carpet is clearly part of the axis on which chunks of electric grease turn, so a little more recorded presence could balance the proceedings. There’s pregnant ballpark goo to Gold’s tone on “It Is Well,” mostly a vehicle for organ, tenor and barely-there brushes, with Cheek’s cottony minor explosions providing an interesting counter to the leader’s grinding evocations. In all, Out of Line is a solid disc with some fine grease and expansive playing, but could have been better served with a little more realization of its “in the red” qualities.

Tarbaby (winner of the “most charged band name award”) is a collective made up of drummer Nasheet Waits, bassist Eric Revis and pianist Orrin Evans, which formerly also included saxophonists Stacy Dillard and J.D. Allen. On the group’s second disc and first for Posi-Tone, The End of Fear, Allen is present as a “guest” along with altoist Oliver Lake and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Evans has a kaleidoscopic approach to the tradition, heavily gospelized but also florid, ethereal and rhythmically crepuscular. The presence of Revis and Waits – along with the odd bits of studio chatter and samples – might seem to nod in the direction of Bandwagon redux, but there really isn’t much basis to compare Evans with Jason Moran. The trio moves deftly through “Brews,” a shifting array of reflections and expressions of the piano-trio, never losing its step or becoming overly flashy. That’s an island of pure form in a disc that does lean on conceptualism a bit – mostly clear in the use of sound-bites to shape the area around forays into dissonance like “Heads.” One would hope that they believe their music can stand on its own, free or inside, but attaching snatches of verbiage seems to unseat what otherwise is honest group playing.

“Jena 6” is pointillist, full of gradient shifts and subtle turns in its shortish length – like much of the music here, a wide range of colors and shapes are worked into and out of tracks that mostly hover around five minutes. This disc is one of the more adventurous recordings to feature Payton, and he gets a full seven minutes to stretch out around alternately lush and thrashing piano, bass, and percussion on “Hesitation.” Revis’ muscular arco, echoing an interest in players like Henry Grimes, Steve Tintweiss and William Parker, is quite well represented, and his throaty pluck helps to bolster the questing lilt at the heart of “Tough Love,” which compositionally (if not pianistically) recalls Andrew Hill. At times, one might wish that Tarbaby stretched the performances a bit lengthwise and shrunk their reliance on snatches of verbiage intended to shape our appreciation of the music’s aesthetic and social weight. Nevertheless, concision never really hurt expressive actualization.

Tenor saxophonist Brandon Wright and alto saxophonist Jacám Manricks lead two strong small-group dates recently waxed for Posi-Tone; the former with Boiling Point and the latter with Trigonometry. Wright’s session features venerable drummer Matt Wilson alongside pianist David Kikoski, bassist Hans Glawischning and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin. Wright has worked with the Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider Orchestra and Chico O’Farrill, among others. A mix of originals and standards, Boiling Point opens strongly with “Free Man,” its bright head arrangement reminiscent of incisive Blue Note 1960s dates, and something about the tune and the front line nods toward the Freddie Hubbard/Wayne Shorter team. Wright himself is a rough-and-tumble hardbop tenorman, drawing from the school of tenor playing exemplified by Joe Henderson, Tyrone Washington, Sam Rivers, Alan Skidmore and their brethren, buoyed perfectly by a hard charging rhythm section. Though on the surface such a tune can easily fall into the “revivalist bag” (and it does), one forgets comparisons as “Free Man” rockets forward. Filmic lyricism imbues the following “Drift,” explored further in Kikoski’s opening, Wynton Kelly-like cadenza to “Odd Man Out,” which moves into odd-interval Shorterish lilt once the head comes around. Wright’s husky and sandblasted tone, coupled with turns of phrase that move well outside of cookie-cutter territory, mark him as one of those rare products of jazz education (U-Mich., U-Miami) willing to actually “search” within the idiom. One can’t say enough about the importance of that impulse, as well as the presence of inventive and dynamic sidemen, making Boiling Point feel like a “band” effort.

Already a busy figure on the New York scene, Manricks is going forward with young, semi-free innovators like drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Jacob Sacks to support his larger-form compositional efforts (heard on Labyrinth, available here). Trigonometry is a quirky small-group date with pianist Gary Versace, drummer Obed Calvaire and bassist Joe Martin, with trombonist Alan Ferber and trumpeter Scott Wendholt guesting on three of the disc’s ten tracks (all are originals save for a cover of Eric Dolphy’s “Miss Ann”). On the latter track, Manricks is supported only by bass and drums, moving from the loquacious theme to a soft burble and gooey cry, with odd flurried warmth to his collected tones. Some of Manricks’ lines seem like those of a classical saxophonist, but their movement is bop-informed, like a weird update to Lee Konitz’ Motion. It’s no surprise that Dolphy would be an important influence – not necessarily because both are altoists, but because Manricks is also interested in broader concepts of organization, and has employed lush orchestral arrangements to his compositions in some intriguing ways. That lushness comes through on the sextet piece “Nucleus,” which if it nods in the direction of Gil Evans, does so in simpler knots, perhaps a little more on the Graham Collier side of things. The leader’s curlicues occupy a wholly immediate world, while chordal backing keeps Manricks’ arrangements hovering in the air. “Mood Swing” is a particularly fine feature for Versace’s darting classicism as a partial framework for the altoist’s lateral sketches, implications of dark grandeur from the composer’s horn. With two fine discs under his belt, as both a composer and improviser Jacám Manricks is a player to watch, questioning the nature of his art while still holding fast to tradition.

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Elliot Simon’s AAJ Review of Boiling Point

By Elliott Simon

A talented young saxophonist, Brandon Wright came to NYC from Miami and honed his craft in its intimate uptown and downtown venues, while taking advantage of the Petri dish nature of its musician collegiality. And Wright obviously did more than just show up and play. He had to have listened, learned, practiced and sweated to master the full-throated sound that so impresses on each of Boiling Point’s eight cuts. As is obvious from both the compositional strength of the originals and the level of integrative ensemble work, Wright also learned that to be a great leader you need a rhythm section up to the task. In pianist David Kikoski, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Matt Wilson, he has chosen very well.

The whole range of the tenor is here and Wright’s horn can be both smoky and smoke. The opening “Free Man” and title cut are bop vehicles that have broad rhythmic soundscape,s on which Wright swings and wails, showing who’s boss. Trumpeter Alex Sipiagin is also featured on several cuts and the two meld, fly off in different directions and then come back together in ways that can thrill the soul and touch the heart.

While Wright and Sipiagin can both certainly blow, the more introspective tunes like “Drift” reveal a gorgeous mature blending of warm sounds. Kikoski sets up a quirky mood and is perhaps “Odd Man Out” as the two front men blend beautifully while the pianist then waxes classically and beautifully to begin a gorgeously melodic Ben Webster-esque rendition of “Here’s That Rainy Day.” An interesting inclusion is Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song,” that has its countrified grunge morphed into urban sophistication.

It is easy to point out what’s wrong with NYC jazz but Brandon Wright’s debut as a leader points out everything about it that is so right.

Track listing: Free Man; Drift; Odd Man Out; Boiling Point; Here’s That Rainy Day; Castaway; Interstate Love Song; You’re My Everything.

Personnel: Brandon Wright: tenor sax; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; David Kikoski: piano; Hans Glawischnig: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

Style: Straightahead/Mainstream

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Woodrow Wilkins from AAJ.com on Boiling Point

allaboutjazz.com

by Woodrow Wilkins

It’s never a bad thing when an artist emerges with a collection of more original music than remakes of standards. And when the covers are unique arrangements, or of songs not copied ad nauseam, so much the better, as is the case with saxophonist Brandon Wright’s Boiling Point.

Wright, originally from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, leads his own quartet in the New York City area. He has played with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Chico O’Farrill Latin Big Band, Doc Severinson and Tony Bennett, among others. For his debut release as a leader, Wright is accompanied by trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, pianist Dave Kikoski on piano, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Matt Wilson.

The rhythm section lays down the groove, setting off “Free Man.” Sax and trumpet blend on the melody, doing a brief call-and-response in the bridge. After a second pass, Wright steps out with a spirited solo, followed by Sipiagin and Kikoski. These musicians are clearly having fun with this piece.

“Odd Man Out” begins with Kikoski alone. Wilson and Glawischnig then join in, setting up the leisurely tempo, with Wright and Sipiagin harmonizing on the lead. Wright amps up the power during his solo, while Sipiagin gives the illusion of softening up, but his release is measured—spacing phrases at first and connecting them later. Throughout, Wilson and Glawischnig carry the beat, noting a few points of emphasis.

Sipiagin sits out on the energetic title track, with Wright leading and Wilson throwing in some rim shots and cymbal crashes to help underscore the melody. After the introduction, the tenor takes off on a hard-charging adventure, with Kikoski answering.

Wright composed five of the eight tracks on Boiling Point.

Track listing: Free Man; Drift; Odd Man Out; Boiling Point; Here’s that Rainy Day; Castaway; Interstate Love Song; You’re My Everything.

Personnel: Brandon Wright: tenor saxophone; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; David Kikoski: piano; Hans Glawischnig: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

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AAJ writer Raul D’Gama Rose gives us a heartfelt run down of Brandon Wright “Boiling Point”….

www.allaboutjazz.com

by Raul D’Gama Rose

The appeal of saxophonist, Brandon Wright comes fast, bearing a rather lyrical swagger. This young tenor player shows plenty of confidence—even cockiness—and a mature attitude on Boiling Point. Wright has a full, round tone and a forthright attack; his fingering is deft, almost like a stage magician, and it bodes with it a whispering glissando in the dying elements of his phrases and notes. His solos are full of bright ideas and flow full and free, billowing in gentle gusts of breezy air expelled from pliant lungs. They grow vertically, spiraling upwards with elegant power, twirling around his peers, especially trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, who sometimes answers in a contrapuntal fashion. Then, of the down-stroke Wright employs, a double helix-like free-fall occurs, as he soft-lands on the beautiful melodies he creates/interprets.

Wright’s compositions are modal in nature, forcing the ensemble to sometimes echo the middle period of John Coltrane, where he was extremely garrulous in the company of Wynton Kelly and McCoy Tyner, and the arpeggios were incessant and full of dynamic tension. However, Wright is his own man as well and sounds less like ‘Trane than imagined. If ancestry is being sought, then he has descended from a melting pot that includes more Wayne Shorter than ‘Trane. Still his voice is distinctive. The breathtaking pace of “Free Man” is followed by the more thoughtful, almost languorous “Drift.” “Odd Man Out” is bewitching and tricky, both harmonically and rhythmically. “Castaway” returns to a mysterious melody, indicating that Wright somewhat favors the more magical elements of sound rather than the logical, mathematical notation of music, for here he bends notes and makes them twist and turn as he plays with tone and textures; this is such a thrill to the ear.

Of the standards fare offered, “Here’s That Rainy Day” is soaked in emotion, and is a ballad par excellence. The softness of this performance is distinctly vocal, and almost conjures up the spirit of someone like Sarah Vaughan as Wright’s heartrending melody unfolds. “Interstate Love Song” negotiates its elegiac content with mature expertise, as the song swings gently between waltz-time and a quickstep. “You Are My Everything” is another masterfully melodic sashay from a musician who combines the best sense of lyricism and romance of music, altogether eschewing crass sentimentality.

Part of the reason Wright blows with heartfelt abandon is that he is accompanied on his tuneful journey by a fine group of musicians—cohorts from regular working bands like the Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider Orchestra and Fred Wesley’s. Hans Glawischnig is majestic and melodic, dancing all over the songs’ bass lines. Pianist David Kikoski is firm and sinewy, but expresses himself with feline grace. And Matt Wilson listens as carefully as a musician singing in harmony with a lead voice. Based on the musical evidence here, much more will be expected from Wright, and soon.

Track listing: Free Man; Drift; Boiling Point; Here’s That Rainy Day; Castaway; Interstate Love Song; You’re My Everything.

Personnel: Brandon Wright: tenor saxophone; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; David Kikoski: piano; Hans Glawischnig: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

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Another positive review for Brandon Wright “Boiling Point” this time from the pen of freelance jazz journalist Gina Vodegel….

www.allaboutjazz.com
by Gina Vodegel

Determining the order of tracks on an album can be as significant as gathering the right ensemble of musicians for a project. On both accounts, saxophonist Brandon Wright has succeeded very well on his debut, Boiling Point, for which he penned five of the eight compositions. The opening “Free Man” grabs hold at once, with the piano/bass/drums rhythm section paving the way, in just a few beats, for a strong melodic entrance by Wright and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin (Mingus Big Band/Dynasty/Orchestra, Dave Holland Big Band, Michael Brecker’s Quindectet).

As soon as Wright kicks off on his own, thoughts emerge of how the legacy of great jazz legends is being kept alive; a notion that finds more room for contemplation during the intro to “Drift.” It’s a sensitive piece where, again, both Wright and Sipiagin narrate a rich melodic line until the saxophonist takes lead in an engaging musical monologue. “Odd Man Out” starts with a luscious piano intro by David Kikoski; a great composition with a catchy recurring theme, around where Wright, Sipiagin and Kikoski play their hand in tasteful abundance. The aptly named, up-tempo title track—halfway through the album—touches on Wright’s many influences and encounters as a sideman, ranging from his Miami school days to touring with various ensembles including The Gregg Field Orchestra, the Chico O’Farrill Latin Big Band, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and Chuck Mangione.

The beautiful standard “Here’s That Rainy Day,” by Jimmy Van Heusen, is poised and very elegant, qualities that also define the rest of the album. “Castaway,” yet another up-tempo piece, is the longest on the album at over nine minutes, highlighting conversational as well as solo skills between Wright, Sipiagin and Kikoski, whilst bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Matt Wilson offer appropriate detail, accent and deceiving invisibility. “Interstate Love Song,” a hit from Stone Temple Pilots, contains a clever arrangement that highlights Wright’s ability to transform any kind of music. The album concludes with “You’re My Everything,” from Harry Warren (one of the first major American songwriters), with Kikoski taking much of the credit for this instrumental yet narrative-rich version, as well as pushing Wilson a little bit in the front.

Though not innovative and, in many ways, treading familiar ground, Wright and his excellent band do offer a fresh and solid incarnation of the jazz idiom: soulful, lyrical, narrative and sensitive, technically skilled and emotionally evolved. Boiling Point is an intelligent debut from a young musician whose broad, award-winning musical horizon is portrayed with a fine sense for both traditional and contemporary sounds.

Track listing: Free Man; Drift; Odd Man Out; Boiling Point; Here’s That Rainy Day; Castaway; Interstate Love Song; You’re My Everything.

Personnel: Brandon Wright: tenor sax; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; David Kikoski: piano; Hans Glawischnig: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

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Jazz Times review for Brandon Wright Boiling Point….


Brandon Wright
Boiling Point
Posi-Tone

By Jonathon Goldman

In a sea of Chris Potter and Mark Turner derivatives there emerges saxophonist Brandon Wright – a throwback player who channels the vernacular of more mainstream players such as Michael Brecker and Eric Alexander.

To this end, Wright’s debut recording Boiling Point is a high-intensity straight-ahead jazz album featuring an assortment of original compositions and standards. The opening track “Freeman,” is an up-tempo blues reminiscent of Brecker’s “Song for Bilbao” right down to the McCoy Tyner-esque voicings of pianist David Kikoski and bright ride cymbal pattern of legendary drummer Matt Wilson. Following the angular melody played in unison by Wright and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, the pair launch into burning post-bop solos which set the tone for the rest of the album.

The title track is another up-tempo number that alternates between stop time, swing, and Latin sections, and has improvisation interspersed with the melody. Wright takes center stage again displaying his bright tone and angular lines all while navigating the tricky 26 bar form with ease. Other originals include “Odd Man Out” a late modal piece à la Wayne Shorter (think a cross between “Witch Hunt” and “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum”), and the atmospheric waltz “Drift”.

Of the three covers, the beautiful rubato duet between Wright and Kikoski on “Here’s that Rainy Day” is the standout. His versions of the jazz standard “You’re My Everything” and “Interstate Love Song” by American rock group the Stone Temple Pilots remain for all intensive purposes unchanged.

There is no doubt of Wright’s immense talent and instrumental prowess. And while it is refreshing to hear a young sax player who has not succumbed to the cult of the David Binneys and Seamus Blakes of the world, it is equally refreshing to hear a player who is attempting to find their own voice. This may be undue criticism however, as Wright is only 27 years of age (a fact listed on his website). Considering that he is already playing at such a high level, Wright is definitely one watch out for.

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Ralph Bowen, Dan Pratt, Brandon Wright: Posi-Tone strikes gold again

By J Hunter

Traditional jazz does not have to be boring. It does not have to be staid, or re-fried or adhere to a formula concocted in a New Orleans barroom over nine decades ago. A lot of the large labels don’t get that. Fortunately, the creative triumvirate at Posi-Tone Records not only understands this concept, but they practice it in a big way. The label closed out 2009 with solid efforts by saxman Wayne Escoffery with Uptown and drummer David Ashkenazy with Out With It, and they’ve hit the ground running in 2010 with three more great releases.

bowen album coverRalph Bowen
Due Reverence
Posi-Tone Records
2010

Tribute discs have long been thick on the ground in jazz. Compatriots remember a colleague who has gone, and new generations give respect to the legends that showed them the way. But not all inspiration comes from giants; sometimes it’s a teacher, or even a fellow countryman who plays the same instrument but hasn’t got a wing in the hall of fame. The latter categories are the building blocks tenor man Ralph Bowen uses to construct Due Reverence.

The opener, “Less Is More,” begins with guitarist Adam Rogers in the clear, playing beautifully meditative lines that reflect the disc’s title. Bowen and bassist John Patitucci ease themselves into the picture, with Patitucci bowing underneath Bowen’s rich melody line. “Less” crystallizes into a bossa when drummer Antonio Sanchez completes the scene, but the bossa goes modern as Bowen slowly turns up the temperature. He doesn’t blow wild, but his passion for his subject is undeniable, as is the intention in his tenor. Rogers and the rhythm section inject some late-night groove into the final section, proving once again that Rogers can do a lot more than just blow people’s eardrums out with his electric wizardry.

There are only five tracks on Reverence, but when the subject is the people who helped form a career, five can be all that’s needed. Bowen’s finger-snapping blues, “Phil-Osophy,” is named for clarinetist Phil Nimmons, a 1930s bandleader and fellow Canadian, while the tasty “Mr. Scott” and the coda, “Points Encountered,” are respectively dedicated to two of Bowen’s instructors at Rutgers. “Less” was written for guitarist Ted Dunbar, one of the first jazz professors at that institution, and the high-flying “This One’s For Bob” goes out to one of Bowen’s many employers, tenor wizard Bob Mintzer. But once again, the fame of a subject is not what matters here.

What does matter (and what most definitely impresses) is Bowen’s love for each of his subjects. All five tracks are long-form pieces that exude purpose and commitment as each character is “fleshed out” by Bowen and his partners. Trumpeter Sean Jones joins the front line on “Scott,” goosing up the energy with his pure, clean tone as he offers Bowen a shining harmonic foil. The track shows the album might have been even livelier as a quintet date. But then, Due Reverence might not have been as personal—or as eloquent—as it is.

Dan Pratt Organ Quartet
Toe The Line
Posi-Tone Records
2010

Reedman Dan Pratt may be a product of northern California’s wine country, but there’s nothing mellow about the music he’s making. Along with membership in about five New York City big bands, this alumnus of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s High School All-Star Band is also part of the mushrooming music scene on the Brooklyn side of the East River. There’s a real swagger to the jazz coming out of Brooklyn nowadays, and that swagger is one of the reasons why Toe The Line works like a charm.

The off-time boogie, “Houdini,” gives this album a beginning as unique as Pratt’s front-line sound. Trombonist Alan Ferber counters Pratt’s opening melody while Jared Gold’s organ lays the foundation even as it helps lift Pratt’s first solo to the next level. Gold’s fills are as solid as his last name, and Pratt’s lines are juicy, unvarnished and laced with a smoky R&B flavor that’s nothing but fun. Ferber’s following solo keeps the direction but changes the harmonic, making it deeper and rounder. When he and Pratt join up on the head, they launch dueling musical monologues that infuse the closing with a wonderful complexity.

Gold’s own Supersonic (Posi-Tone, 2009) showed potential, but suffered from a shortage of engaging material. Without the burden of leadership, Gold gets down and plays his tail off on Toe The Line. He slashes as he runs on the breakneck “Minor Procedure,” throws John Medeski-like color splashes onto “Wanderlust,” and changes the direction of Pratt’s take on Duke Ellington’s “Star-Crossed Lovers” by supplanting the initial romantic mood with a hopping urban vibe. Ferber’s exploration on “Doppelgänger” is both aggressive and off-kilter, adding to the skewed atmosphere of Pratt’s composition. Conversely, Ferber’s solo on the funked-out “Uncle Underpants” eschews introspection in favor of putting the pedal to the metal.

Put simply, Pratt and Ferber love to “fight,” and take multiple opportunities to throw musical punches at each other in a riveting variation of the Afro-Brazilian dance discipline capoeira. After all the battles and the boogie, the whole quartet comes together for the gospel-flavored blues coda, “After.” It’s a warm tribute to the late Bob Pratt, but while the music is certainly reverent, the passion that fuels the piece (and Pratt’s solo in particular) still shows the swagger that makes Toe The Line great on so many levels.

Brandon Wright
Boiling Point
Posi-Tone Records
2010

Putting veteran musicians behind the subject of a maiden recording can actually attract negative questions. Can the rookie match the quality these heavy players are known for producing? More importantly, were the heavies brought in to mask the rookie’s deficiencies? Fortunately the answers are “Yes” and “No”—in that order—when it comes to Boiling Point, tenor man Brandon Wright’s recording debut.

The collective résumé of Wright’s backup band—(pianist David Kikoski, drummer Matt Wilson, bassist Hans Glawischnig and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin)—would fill several pages, but if Wright was intimidated, there’s no sign of it on the scorching opener, “Free Man.” After a quick call-and-answer with Sipiagin, Wright takes off like a bird for the high end of the tenor’s register. His lines are hot even as they maintain a linear direction, and his lyrical sense is spot-on as Kikoski’s comps and fills offer fine counterpoint. When it’s the pianist’s turn, there’s no transition point from support to soloist—Kikoski simply kicks the comp into a completely different gear and steps to the front like he owns it…which he does for the balance of his solo.

Wright’s chemistry with Kikoski is explosive, with a vibe that’s more colleague-to-colleague than teacher-to-student. Their duet on the first section of Jimmy van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day” is sensational, and is a logical extension of Kikoski’s pensive in-the-clear opening. Kikoski’s solos on the bossa-bopper, “Castaway,” and “Odd Man Out,” a track reminiscent of trumpeter Miles Davis, are both inspired and inspiring, and Kikoski lays the groundwork for almost every tune on Boiling Point, setting up vamps and foundation figures that are perfect outlet passes for Wright’s melodies. He even helps Wright morph Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song” into a waltz evoking pianist Bill Evans, and that’s a tall, tall order.

Wilson and Glawischnig stay primarily in the background, but that doesn’t mean they’re wallflowers. Wilson is one of the most mesmerizing drummers in jazz, and it’s worth wearing headphones to fully experience his dynamic fills. Glawischnig’s resonant lines snake around Wright on the forlorn “Drift,” and Glawischnig and Kikoski play dueling counters on “Rainy Day.” While Sipiagin provides a pure, bright tone and solid harmony on the melodies, his solos frequently fall short next to Kikoski’s bursting fills. On the other hand, Wright more than holds his own with the veterans, making Boiling Point a satisfying debut and setting a fine baseline for all of Wright’s future recordings.

Tracks and Personnel

Due Reverence

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

Personnel: Ralph Bowen: tenor sax; Adam Rogers: guitar; John Patitucci: bass; Antonio Sanchez: drums; Sean Jones: trumpet (4).

Toe The Line

Tracks: Houdini; Minor Procedure; Wanderlust; Doppelgänger; Star-Crossed Lovers; Toe The Line; Stoic; Uncle Underpants; After.

Personnel: Dan Pratt: tenor sax; Alan Ferber; trombone; Jared Gold: organ; Mark Ferber: drums.

Boiling Point

Tracks: Free Man; Drift; Odd Man out; Boiling Point; Here’s That Rainy Day; Castaway; Interstate Love Song; You’re My Everything.

Personnel: Brandon Wright: tenor sax; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; David Kikoski: piano; Hans Glawischnig: bass; Matt Wilson: drums.

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CD Review: Brandon Wright – Boiling Point

lucidculture.wordpress.com

Good title. Tenor sax player Brandon Wright’s new album is fearless, aggressive and fun, ablaze with a catchy tunefulness that sets up a lot of memorable solo work of his own along with trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, pianist David Kikoski, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Matt Wilson propelling things with a joyous groove. Yet for all the firepower, the band is equally adept at ballads, with a couple of real surprises here. A Maria Schneider, Mingus Big Band and Chico O’Farrill alum and current Chuck Mangione sideman, Wright is a hookmeister: his big band experience has served him well.

Wright sets the tone right off the bat with Free Man, joyously shifting from one mode to another. Sipiagin follows him more bluesily, then Kikoski intensely with some clever quotes in a shifting series of runs down the scale. The second cut, Drift is a casually lyrical 6/8 number, Kikoski weaving incisively beneath Wright’s gently buoyant flights, Sipiagin taking a more pensive tone. Track three, Odd Man Out has an understated swing that picks up once Wright starts sailing after the first verse, Kikoski choosing his spots with spot-on precision. Again Sipiagin gets to play bad cop to Wright’s good cop, bringing in the clouds. The title track matches subtle chordal shifts to an upbeat vibe all the way through to a blazing conclusion, Wright just about jumping out of his shoes, he’s having such a good time. Kikoski’s solo is a clinic in how to work a simple vamp, subtly yet ebulliently ornamenting it. And the swaying, latin-tinged Castaway is a showcase for robust Sipiagin flights and cartwheels, Wright taking it down a bit before Kikoski’s sparkling solo leads it to an ambitiously staggered horn raveup at the end.

There are also three covers here. Jimmy Van Heusen’s Here’s That Rainy Day is just sax and piano, a comfortably medicated dialogue. Interstate Love Song rearranges the country-flavored Stone Temple Pilots original to the point of being unrecognizable (good thing, actually, especially when the piano solos). They close with a warmly convivial, bluesy take of Nat King Cole’s You’re My Everything. The album is just out on Posi-Tone.