Pat Martino / We'll be Together Again Steve Grossman / Some Shapes to Come Bruno Walter Conducting / Brahms Symphony No.1 Glenn Gould / Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Arvo Part / Fratres Led Zeppelin / Presence Weather Report / Weather Report McCoy Tyner / The Real McCoy Toru Takemitsu / Requiem for Strings John Coltrane / Crescent

The artist formerly known as Gene Shimosato, now preferring the handle Gene Ess, comes from a diverse background involving classical piano, the indigenous music of Okinawa, classical guitar, orchestral composition, a scholarship to Berklee and the payment of some jazz dues. Heavily influenced by the music of John Coltrane, Gene headed to New York , somehow landing in a band with Rashied Ali and Reggie Workman and befriending the second generation of the classic Coltrane quartet, Matt Garrison and Ravi Coltrane. In surprising fact, this entire latter unit played on Rashied Ali's solo disc, the underpublicized No One In Particular (available at www.cdbaby.com).

Gene (that's Mr. Ess, now) is currently putting the finishing touches on his followup to the well-received "Prayer for September". It will feature JoJo Mayer and Rashied Ali on drums, with Matt Garrison and Fima Ephron on bass, and is slated to include a healthy dash of laptop generated sound sculptures. Check out Gene's thing at www.jazzcorner.com/shimosato.

November 2001 AAJ Interview