Joe Magnarelli Quintet
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About
Syracuse, New York native Joe Magnarelli first played music at age 12, starting with guitar and trumpet lessons. He also picked out songs on the piano by ear.
Joe's early performance experience, from elementary through high school, came via playing the trumpet and guitar in church. Later, while attending Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, he was the pianist and choir director at the Central Baptist Church there.
In 1986, Joe received a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the State University of New York in Fredonia, and that year, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in music.
Mags, as he's known, soon became a regular participant on the Manhattan-and-beyond jazz scene. From 1987, he toured and recorded with Lionel Hampton and Brother Jack McDuff.
In 1990, Joe was a semifinalist at the Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition in Washington, D.C. That decade also found him performing and recording with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Harry Connick, Jr., the Hard Bop Quintet, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Grant Stewart. He also performed with Jon Hendricks, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Ben Wolfe, and many others.
Joe made his debut as a leader with 1994's Why Not (Criss Cross). He's followed that excellent album with three others, all on Criss Cross: Always There (1997), Mr. Mags (2000), and Hoop Dreams (2005).
He also made two albums co-leading a sextet with the legendary
Philadelphia trumpeter John Swana: Philly-New York Junction (1998), and New York-Philly Junction (2003).
In 2003-2006, Mags performed with the great Latin jazz conguero Ray Barretto's New Sextet. Joe recorded on Ray's Time Was, Time Is (O+ Music), which was nominated for a Grammy.
Other artists and ensembles Joe has performed with include the Louis Hayes Quintet, the Marty Sheller Nonet, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dado Maroni, Rosemary Clooney, the Tom Harrell Big Band, Spike Wilner's Planet Jazz, Harry Whitaker, Junior Mance, John Pizzarelli, Mark Sherman, and Don Sebesky.
Joe is also a teacher. He is currently an adjunct professor of music at the New School for Social Research in New York, and New Jersey City University in Jersey City, New Jersey. He also conducts clinics and master classes around the world, sharing his musical experience and his knowledge from his past teachers. These teachers have included Jack Palmer, Sal Amico, Tommy Turrentine, James Moody, Garry Dial, Arnold Jacobs, and William Vachianno.
weblinks:
www.joemagnarelli.com
This artist does not have a bio yet.
Hailed by Downbeat magazine as “a new and important compositional voice,” and by allaboutjazz.com as “a composer of great ambition and skill,” Victor Gould has earned distinction as a pianist, composer and first-call sideman for such artists as vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, whose Grammy-nominated recordings A Social Call and Liberation feature Gould prominently. His first album, Clockwork, was named Debut of the Year in the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. With the subsequent releases Earthlings and Thoughts Become Things, Gould documented an ever-widening musical vision, adeptly orchestrating for horns and strings in varied combinations. On his 2021 release In Our Time he stakes a claim as an inventive, highly expressive player in the piano trio idiom with bassist Tamir Shmerling and drummer Anwar Marshall (plus special guest tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens).
Born in Los Angeles and now based in the New York area, Gould began playing piano at age 4 and joined the great alto saxophonist Donald Harrison’s band at age 17. He has toured the world, performing at the Umbria, Newport, Monterey, Detroit and North Sea Jazz Festivals, among others. He has worked extensively with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, whose albums Make Noise!, Noir En Rouge: Live in Paris, Jeremy Pelt The Artist and Griot: This Is Important! all highlight Gould’s top-tier artistry. As a member of the Black Art Jazz Collective, nominally co-led by Pelt and tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, Gould composed the title track from the sextet’s 2020 HighNote release Ascension. In addition, Gould has performed with Buster Williams, JD Allen, Vincent Herring, Eric Alexander and Sean Jones, and recorded with Wallace Roney, Bobby Watson, Etienne Charles, Ralph Peterson and many others.
One of the first recipients of the Herbie Hancock Presidential Scholarship at Berklee College of Music, Gould went on to earn a Master’s degree from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at Loyola University. He has taught at Xavier University and elsewhere, following in the footsteps of his great mentor-educators. His honors include a 2020 New Works Grant from Chamber Music America as well as a 2009 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award. He won Loyola University’s 2011 Concerto, Aria and Composition Competition and placed as a semifinalist in the 2006 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. In light of these accomplishments at a fairly young age, it is clear, as allaboutjazz.com has declared, that Gould “has got the musical world on a string, in his mind and at his fingertips.”
Bassist Paul Gill is veteran of the New York jazz scene and is recognized for his buoyant, swinging bass lines and virtuosic arco solos. When Gill arrived in New York in the mid 1990's he was described by Jazz Times magazine as "surely one of the brightest of the up-and-coming bassists”. He has appeared as a sideman on over 60 recordings.
Born in Baltimore, MD, Paul had established himself as a local mainstay in the Balto-DC area from 1984-1994 by both working with fellow hometown musician Gary Bartz, and backing artists that came to town such as Benny Golson, Rosemary Clooney, Stanley Turrentine, and Sonny Fortune.
Immediately upon moving to New York, Gill began working with legendary vocalist Jon Hendricks. In 1999 he left Hendricks to embark on a year long world tour with singer Diana Krall. Following Diana Krall in 2001 he joined the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. The second half of the 2000’s found Paul touring with either vocalist Elvis Costello or guitarist Pat Martino.
Gill has worked in every major jazz club in New York City and has performed or recorded with artists such as Hank Jones, Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Lou Donaldson, Bill Charlap, Jimmy Cobb, Al Foster, The Vanguard Orchestra, George Coleman, Eric Alexander, Lew Tabackin, Jim Snidero, Steve Wilson, Eddie Henderson, Kurt Elling, Kenny Rankin, and John Pizzarelli.
He is currently spending his time working in a trio setting with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi as well as touring with vocalist Hilary Kole.
Weblinks:
[email protected]
Three exemplary recordings from the first decade of the 21st Century, all issued on Marc Edelman's Sharp Nine imprint, are closely tied to two important New York City venues. Alto saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith's Up In Smoke (2003) and Still Smokin' (2004) were recorded live at Smoke Jazz Club (formerly Augie's), an uptown bastion of Hammond B-3 organ combos, jazz-funk bands, as well as an abundance of no-nonsense, straight-ahead sounds. In Orbit (2006), a studio date by Planet Jazz, the sextet founded by the late Johnny Ellis and currently led by pianist Spike Wilner, was nurtured by weekly appearances at Smalls, the legendary, musician-friendly Greenwich Village nightspot.
These recordings are living proof that jazz based on traditional practices continue to sound fresh and vital in an age when the music is stretching in a myriad of directions. The personnel include significant mainstream players who are held in particularly high esteem by their peers: Guitarist Peter Bernstein, trumpeters Joe Magnarelli and Ryan Kisor, tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, pianists David Hazeltine and Wilner, as well as bassists Barak Mori, Peter Washington, and Neal Miner. Hendrickson-Smith's records contain the enthusiastic blowing that one expects from live recordings, minus the customary excess. In Orbit is mostly dedicated to Ellis's unique, melodically rich compositions which lend themselves to improvisations of short-to-moderate duration.
Aside from unapologetic ties to swing and bebop, the common denominator of all three discs is drummer Joe Strasser. Although you'll search in vain for his name in critic and listener polls, Strasser is a one of a kind stylist. Joe has his own take on jazz drumming, his own sound, says Hendrickson-Smith, who co-founded The Hotpants, a funk band which was a mainstay at Smoke for several years, with Strasser. And that's the true mark of any musician. Spike Wilner regards Strasser as an artist at a very high level; so creative and so thorough. Everything is very meticulous and everything is musical. He's tremendously versatile and traditional in the sense that he's got a real foundation. I know his idol is Jimmy Cobb, then Philly Joe Jones and the classic bebop drummers.
Not unlike any tradition-minded trapster, Strasser's sound starts with the ride cymbal. The second he hits the cymbal, you know who it is, Hendrickson-Smith says. It's really crisp and exact. The cymbal beat contains just enough weight, pushing the band forward without taking up too much space. It drives an easygoing, medium tempo version of I Wish You Love, from Still Smokin', and works well with repetitive tom-tom and rim knock combinations. Tightly cleaving to Barak Mori's walking line, the light yet distinct cymbal is the most prominent part of Strasser's playing behind Hendrickson-Smith's solo on The Best Things in Life Are Free (Up In Smoke). Later on during Hazeltine's turn, he varies the ride cymbal rhythm, shifting into choppier patterns for a couple of bars.
A colorist who is mindful of the effect of each stroke on the band as a whole, Strasser mines the rest of the components of the drum kit with equal parts of efficiency and artistry. The snare drum snaps with authority yet retains a certain lightness. Throughout Ryan Kisor's solo on an up tempo Love For Sale (Still Smokin'), his edgy snare accents push the trumpeter, and he sometimes plays in unison with Hazeltine's chords. The tom-toms are tuned beautifully and often employed on heads and behind soloists, frequently in repetitive patterns that sound out in a bell-like clarity. Improvising second-line funk rhythms on Hendrickson-Smith's Jacob's Crib (Still Smokin'), recurring three and four stroke figures to the mounted tom-tom make a fine contrast to single and buzz strokes to the snare. Strasser uses the bass drum more sparingly, and it impacts in interesting ways, like comping rhythms that would normally be executed on the snare or in acute contrast to brush strokes on ballads. He animates parts of Wilner and Stewart's solos on Buttermoose (In Orbit) with prominent bass drum hits, including one pattern that marches across the pulse. Memories of You (Still Smokin') includes stimulating bass drum beats amidst sensitive brush work behind Hendrickson-Smith's rendition of the melody and Hazeltine's solo.
Both Wilner and Hendrickson-Smith speak enthusiastically about Strasser's rock solid time and his empathetic ways of interacting with other musicians. I love playing fast tempos with Joe, Wilner says. He just burns, but he's never out of control. It's so easy to play with him. He's on everything. You give him a glance and he gives you exactly what you want. Me and Joe have these weird, comping experiences that happen quite a bit, Wilner continues, where I'll comp an idea and he'll comp something elaborate at the same time-those great jazz moments. And it happens a lot. One of those moments occurs during the latter part of Wilner's solo on Ellis's The Squirrel is a Girl (In Orbit) when Strasser intuits one of Wilner's lines and tailors accents to it.
That's a tough tempo to keep rock solid, Hendrickson-Smith says of the slow-to-medium pace of Chelsea Bridge, from Up In Smoke. At the suggestion of David Hazeltine, Strasser played with sticks instead of brushes. Sounding perfectly at ease, his steady, patient ride cymbal leads the way. He adds significant touches, like repetitive eighth note triplets to the mounted tom-tom during Hazeltine's solo, that never get in the way or violate the spirit of Billy Strayhorn's composition. He's a consummate sideman, Hendrickson-Smith adds. Joe's always waiting for you to ask him for something, and never forces the tune in a specific direction. He's got the perfect balance between gut and brains. If somebody gives Joe something to work with, he's all over it. Conversely, Strasser knows when to stay out of the way. For example, he all but disappears during the early stages of Magnarelli's Dual Highway (In Orbit) solo, allowing the trumpeter to explore a floating melodic line without the slightest interference.
Apart from incisive playing on the heads and effective comping strategies, Strasser is a first-rate soloist who stays in close touch with the materials at hand. The thing about Joe Strasser is that his solos are unbelievable; they're really quite unusual, Wilner enthuses. Mommy, Mommy NO! (In Orbit) begins with a brilliant eight bar break. A repeated five note figure executed in unison on the bass drum and cymbal is answered by terse fills. Though the break is grounded in time and indicates a specific tempo, it nonetheless contains a slightly unsettled feel. When the band enters you realize that it's based on the composition's melody. That's stuff Joe came up with, Wilner replies when asked if the break is part of Ellis's chart. It's part of the level of authority that a guy like Joe brings to the table.
A two bar vamp played by Wilner, Bernstein, and Gill provides a foundation for Strasser's extended solo on Hampton Hawes's Sonora (In Orbit). Thickset rhythms to the tom-toms, snare and cymbals are bound up in the simple figure. He approaches the vamp from every conceivable angle, cleaving to some parts and leaving others exposed. In contrast to the rest of the track's fleet swing, Strasser sounds as if he's having a grand time thrashing about in the muck of his own making.
Weblinks:
[email protected]
Joe's early performance experience, from elementary through high school, came via playing the trumpet and guitar in church. Later, while attending Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, he was the pianist and choir director at the Central Baptist Church there.
In 1986, Joe received a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the State University of New York in Fredonia, and that year, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in music.
Mags, as he's known, soon became a regular participant on the Manhattan-and-beyond jazz scene. From 1987, he toured and recorded with Lionel Hampton and Brother Jack McDuff.
In 1990, Joe was a semifinalist at the Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition in Washington, D.C. That decade also found him performing and recording with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Harry Connick, Jr., the Hard Bop Quintet, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Grant Stewart. He also performed with Jon Hendricks, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Ben Wolfe, and many others.
Joe made his debut as a leader with 1994's Why Not (Criss Cross). He's followed that excellent album with three others, all on Criss Cross: Always There (1997), Mr. Mags (2000), and Hoop Dreams (2005).
He also made two albums co-leading a sextet with the legendary
Philadelphia trumpeter John Swana: Philly-New York Junction (1998), and New York-Philly Junction (2003).
In 2003-2006, Mags performed with the great Latin jazz conguero Ray Barretto's New Sextet. Joe recorded on Ray's Time Was, Time Is (O+ Music), which was nominated for a Grammy.
Other artists and ensembles Joe has performed with include the Louis Hayes Quintet, the Marty Sheller Nonet, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dado Maroni, Rosemary Clooney, the Tom Harrell Big Band, Spike Wilner's Planet Jazz, Harry Whitaker, Junior Mance, John Pizzarelli, Mark Sherman, and Don Sebesky.
Joe is also a teacher. He is currently an adjunct professor of music at the New School for Social Research in New York, and New Jersey City University in Jersey City, New Jersey. He also conducts clinics and master classes around the world, sharing his musical experience and his knowledge from his past teachers. These teachers have included Jack Palmer, Sal Amico, Tommy Turrentine, James Moody, Garry Dial, Arnold Jacobs, and William Vachianno.
weblinks:
www.joemagnarelli.com
This artist does not have a bio yet.
Hailed by Downbeat magazine as “a new and important compositional voice,” and by allaboutjazz.com as “a composer of great ambition and skill,” Victor Gould has earned distinction as a pianist, composer and first-call sideman for such artists as vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, whose Grammy-nominated recordings A Social Call and Liberation feature Gould prominently. His first album, Clockwork, was named Debut of the Year in the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. With the subsequent releases Earthlings and Thoughts Become Things, Gould documented an ever-widening musical vision, adeptly orchestrating for horns and strings in varied combinations. On his 2021 release In Our Time he stakes a claim as an inventive, highly expressive player in the piano trio idiom with bassist Tamir Shmerling and drummer Anwar Marshall (plus special guest tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens).
Born in Los Angeles and now based in the New York area, Gould began playing piano at age 4 and joined the great alto saxophonist Donald Harrison’s band at age 17. He has toured the world, performing at the Umbria, Newport, Monterey, Detroit and North Sea Jazz Festivals, among others. He has worked extensively with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, whose albums Make Noise!, Noir En Rouge: Live in Paris, Jeremy Pelt The Artist and Griot: This Is Important! all highlight Gould’s top-tier artistry. As a member of the Black Art Jazz Collective, nominally co-led by Pelt and tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, Gould composed the title track from the sextet’s 2020 HighNote release Ascension. In addition, Gould has performed with Buster Williams, JD Allen, Vincent Herring, Eric Alexander and Sean Jones, and recorded with Wallace Roney, Bobby Watson, Etienne Charles, Ralph Peterson and many others.
One of the first recipients of the Herbie Hancock Presidential Scholarship at Berklee College of Music, Gould went on to earn a Master’s degree from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at Loyola University. He has taught at Xavier University and elsewhere, following in the footsteps of his great mentor-educators. His honors include a 2020 New Works Grant from Chamber Music America as well as a 2009 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award. He won Loyola University’s 2011 Concerto, Aria and Composition Competition and placed as a semifinalist in the 2006 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. In light of these accomplishments at a fairly young age, it is clear, as allaboutjazz.com has declared, that Gould “has got the musical world on a string, in his mind and at his fingertips.”
Bassist Paul Gill is veteran of the New York jazz scene and is recognized for his buoyant, swinging bass lines and virtuosic arco solos. When Gill arrived in New York in the mid 1990's he was described by Jazz Times magazine as "surely one of the brightest of the up-and-coming bassists”. He has appeared as a sideman on over 60 recordings.
Born in Baltimore, MD, Paul had established himself as a local mainstay in the Balto-DC area from 1984-1994 by both working with fellow hometown musician Gary Bartz, and backing artists that came to town such as Benny Golson, Rosemary Clooney, Stanley Turrentine, and Sonny Fortune.
Immediately upon moving to New York, Gill began working with legendary vocalist Jon Hendricks. In 1999 he left Hendricks to embark on a year long world tour with singer Diana Krall. Following Diana Krall in 2001 he joined the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. The second half of the 2000’s found Paul touring with either vocalist Elvis Costello or guitarist Pat Martino.
Gill has worked in every major jazz club in New York City and has performed or recorded with artists such as Hank Jones, Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Lou Donaldson, Bill Charlap, Jimmy Cobb, Al Foster, The Vanguard Orchestra, George Coleman, Eric Alexander, Lew Tabackin, Jim Snidero, Steve Wilson, Eddie Henderson, Kurt Elling, Kenny Rankin, and John Pizzarelli.
He is currently spending his time working in a trio setting with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi as well as touring with vocalist Hilary Kole.
Weblinks:
[email protected]
Three exemplary recordings from the first decade of the 21st Century, all issued on Marc Edelman's Sharp Nine imprint, are closely tied to two important New York City venues. Alto saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith's Up In Smoke (2003) and Still Smokin' (2004) were recorded live at Smoke Jazz Club (formerly Augie's), an uptown bastion of Hammond B-3 organ combos, jazz-funk bands, as well as an abundance of no-nonsense, straight-ahead sounds. In Orbit (2006), a studio date by Planet Jazz, the sextet founded by the late Johnny Ellis and currently led by pianist Spike Wilner, was nurtured by weekly appearances at Smalls, the legendary, musician-friendly Greenwich Village nightspot.
These recordings are living proof that jazz based on traditional practices continue to sound fresh and vital in an age when the music is stretching in a myriad of directions. The personnel include significant mainstream players who are held in particularly high esteem by their peers: Guitarist Peter Bernstein, trumpeters Joe Magnarelli and Ryan Kisor, tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, pianists David Hazeltine and Wilner, as well as bassists Barak Mori, Peter Washington, and Neal Miner. Hendrickson-Smith's records contain the enthusiastic blowing that one expects from live recordings, minus the customary excess. In Orbit is mostly dedicated to Ellis's unique, melodically rich compositions which lend themselves to improvisations of short-to-moderate duration.
Aside from unapologetic ties to swing and bebop, the common denominator of all three discs is drummer Joe Strasser. Although you'll search in vain for his name in critic and listener polls, Strasser is a one of a kind stylist. Joe has his own take on jazz drumming, his own sound, says Hendrickson-Smith, who co-founded The Hotpants, a funk band which was a mainstay at Smoke for several years, with Strasser. And that's the true mark of any musician. Spike Wilner regards Strasser as an artist at a very high level; so creative and so thorough. Everything is very meticulous and everything is musical. He's tremendously versatile and traditional in the sense that he's got a real foundation. I know his idol is Jimmy Cobb, then Philly Joe Jones and the classic bebop drummers.
Not unlike any tradition-minded trapster, Strasser's sound starts with the ride cymbal. The second he hits the cymbal, you know who it is, Hendrickson-Smith says. It's really crisp and exact. The cymbal beat contains just enough weight, pushing the band forward without taking up too much space. It drives an easygoing, medium tempo version of I Wish You Love, from Still Smokin', and works well with repetitive tom-tom and rim knock combinations. Tightly cleaving to Barak Mori's walking line, the light yet distinct cymbal is the most prominent part of Strasser's playing behind Hendrickson-Smith's solo on The Best Things in Life Are Free (Up In Smoke). Later on during Hazeltine's turn, he varies the ride cymbal rhythm, shifting into choppier patterns for a couple of bars.
A colorist who is mindful of the effect of each stroke on the band as a whole, Strasser mines the rest of the components of the drum kit with equal parts of efficiency and artistry. The snare drum snaps with authority yet retains a certain lightness. Throughout Ryan Kisor's solo on an up tempo Love For Sale (Still Smokin'), his edgy snare accents push the trumpeter, and he sometimes plays in unison with Hazeltine's chords. The tom-toms are tuned beautifully and often employed on heads and behind soloists, frequently in repetitive patterns that sound out in a bell-like clarity. Improvising second-line funk rhythms on Hendrickson-Smith's Jacob's Crib (Still Smokin'), recurring three and four stroke figures to the mounted tom-tom make a fine contrast to single and buzz strokes to the snare. Strasser uses the bass drum more sparingly, and it impacts in interesting ways, like comping rhythms that would normally be executed on the snare or in acute contrast to brush strokes on ballads. He animates parts of Wilner and Stewart's solos on Buttermoose (In Orbit) with prominent bass drum hits, including one pattern that marches across the pulse. Memories of You (Still Smokin') includes stimulating bass drum beats amidst sensitive brush work behind Hendrickson-Smith's rendition of the melody and Hazeltine's solo.
Both Wilner and Hendrickson-Smith speak enthusiastically about Strasser's rock solid time and his empathetic ways of interacting with other musicians. I love playing fast tempos with Joe, Wilner says. He just burns, but he's never out of control. It's so easy to play with him. He's on everything. You give him a glance and he gives you exactly what you want. Me and Joe have these weird, comping experiences that happen quite a bit, Wilner continues, where I'll comp an idea and he'll comp something elaborate at the same time-those great jazz moments. And it happens a lot. One of those moments occurs during the latter part of Wilner's solo on Ellis's The Squirrel is a Girl (In Orbit) when Strasser intuits one of Wilner's lines and tailors accents to it.
That's a tough tempo to keep rock solid, Hendrickson-Smith says of the slow-to-medium pace of Chelsea Bridge, from Up In Smoke. At the suggestion of David Hazeltine, Strasser played with sticks instead of brushes. Sounding perfectly at ease, his steady, patient ride cymbal leads the way. He adds significant touches, like repetitive eighth note triplets to the mounted tom-tom during Hazeltine's solo, that never get in the way or violate the spirit of Billy Strayhorn's composition. He's a consummate sideman, Hendrickson-Smith adds. Joe's always waiting for you to ask him for something, and never forces the tune in a specific direction. He's got the perfect balance between gut and brains. If somebody gives Joe something to work with, he's all over it. Conversely, Strasser knows when to stay out of the way. For example, he all but disappears during the early stages of Magnarelli's Dual Highway (In Orbit) solo, allowing the trumpeter to explore a floating melodic line without the slightest interference.
Apart from incisive playing on the heads and effective comping strategies, Strasser is a first-rate soloist who stays in close touch with the materials at hand. The thing about Joe Strasser is that his solos are unbelievable; they're really quite unusual, Wilner enthuses. Mommy, Mommy NO! (In Orbit) begins with a brilliant eight bar break. A repeated five note figure executed in unison on the bass drum and cymbal is answered by terse fills. Though the break is grounded in time and indicates a specific tempo, it nonetheless contains a slightly unsettled feel. When the band enters you realize that it's based on the composition's melody. That's stuff Joe came up with, Wilner replies when asked if the break is part of Ellis's chart. It's part of the level of authority that a guy like Joe brings to the table.
A two bar vamp played by Wilner, Bernstein, and Gill provides a foundation for Strasser's extended solo on Hampton Hawes's Sonora (In Orbit). Thickset rhythms to the tom-toms, snare and cymbals are bound up in the simple figure. He approaches the vamp from every conceivable angle, cleaving to some parts and leaving others exposed. In contrast to the rest of the track's fleet swing, Strasser sounds as if he's having a grand time thrashing about in the muck of his own making.
Weblinks:
[email protected]
Lineup
