Jazz Eyes: Eyes and Ears Wide Open

Elaborating on the partnership, Siculiana says: "When I started the label, the collaboration with Toti, who is a great promoter, was fundamental. The strategy was to combine my album producing with Toti's concert roster. In brief, to promote the artist's growth through the album and the tour." Thus, at the heart of the label, there is belief in the artist and dedication to his or her individual work. Jazz Eyes isn't about producing a signature sound for the label. The dedication to each artist's own vision is what counts. As Siculiana says: "I do not aim to have a specific sound. I prefer to leave the artist to choose whatever his inspiration suggests for his project. But I decided to have specific packaging and graphics which can identify my label."

What it all comes down to is promoting the artist's work in the most fruitful way, and this is done not only through alluring packaging but also through ensuring that the music is available in different formats. Besides pressing CDs and offering its music digitally through a wide range of portals, Jazz Eyes now caters to the audiophile connoisseur. Says Siculiana: "We are printing all the catalogue in 180 gram vinyl."

In mid 2009, Jazz Eyes' catalogue consists of six high quality releases which, in their diversity and integrity, affirm the decision to let each artist's own vision shape the profile of the label.

The Kevin Hays Trio
For Heaven's Sake
Jazz Eyes
2006

Pianist Kevin Hays' Trio, including drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Doug Weiss, provided the first release for Jazz Eyes with the album For Heaven's Sake, and it's easy to understand why the album received so much critical acclaim. It combines the virtues of tight interplay, profound melodic understanding and delicacy of tone on eight tunes that shimmer with timeless beauty.

The reading of Sonny Rollins' "Sonny Moon for Two" is bold and yet tender while the choice of Sam Rivers' classic ballad "Beatrice" brings forth the saxophonist's much undervalued abilities as a composer. Weiss opens with a carefully constructed solo before the rest of the group enters. Stewart graces the tune with empathic brushwork and the leader plays the piano pensively, softly stretching the melody with Weiss lingering around.

Just as Weiss gives a thoughtful introduction to "Beatrice," he takes a prominent role on "For Heavens Sake," carving out an intricate pattern on the bass while Hays lays down a riverbed of chords.

Duke Ellington's "Caravan" is another classic revisited and treated with great imagination. As is the case with the album as a whole, Hays is able to strike a perfect balance between traditionalism and modernism, bringing out the best in the tunes he chooses to play. There's a sense of the compositional core both being respected and stretched; Hays makes the trio work as a unit but allows enough space to let performer individuality shine through.

Eddie Gomez Trio
Palermo
Jazz Eyes
2006

Kevin Hays has been around for some time, but he is still entitled to be called a rising star. The same cannot be said of the leader on the second release on Jazz Eyes, bassist Eddie Gomez. By now, Gomez must be considered something of an elder statesman on the jazz scene. He has played with such luminaries as keyboardist Chick Corea, trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist Michael Brecker, but is perhaps best known as a member of pianist Bill Evans' trio.

On Palermo, Gomez returns to the format of the trio that has brought him so much artistic success, but this time the headliner is the bassist himself. This doesn't mean that Gomez hasn't gathered some stellar players to complete the line-up. Stefan Karlsson is a pianist who is as talented as they come, with both technical prowess and superior sensibility, and drummer Nasheet Waits has quickly become a modern day Philly Joe Jones. With his propulsive style, he has helped define the post-modern piano trio, playing in constellations with contemporary masters such as Fred Hersch and Jason Moran.

The repertoire on Palermo includes some of Bill Evans' old favourites. A particularly daring move is the inclusion of "My Foolish Heart," which has practically become defined by Evans. However, the trio comes out free, and also give a convincing interpretation of "On Green Dolphin Street." But it is the less travelled road that provides the highlights. "Palermo," sporting a riveting riff, and "Illusion," displaying a brilliantly knotty solo by the leader, show that Gomez indeed is still at the top of his game.

The Joe Locke Quartet
Sticks And Strings
Jazz Eyes
2007

Vibraphonist Joe Locke's Sticks and Strings takes a detour from the piano trio, bringing in the supporting cast of young guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Joe La Barbera. Locke has established himself as a modern vibraphonist who combines the abstract impressionism of Bobby Hutcherson with the swinging style of Milt Jackson. The result is a sound that is both adventurous and accessible.

Sticks And Strings finds Locke at his most inviting, crafting a melodic outing that is both sunny and mellow. Kreisberg's fat, warm guitar lines fit perfectly with the resonating beauty of the vibes. Another string player, Jay Anderson, adds to the organic feel of the music with his woody tone, and the sticks of drummer Joe LaBarbera gives the swing necessary for Locke to act freely as a colorist.

"Terzani" dances away with a bouncing rhythm, while "The Rosario Material" finds Locke playing feather-light and fast over a soulful bass figure. There's also room for a standard in the shape of "I Fall In Love Too Easily" but it's the self-penned balladry of "A Word Before You Go" that shines brightest. Overall, the album isn't so much about single tunes as the conjunction of a musical mood that wraps itself nicely around the ear like finely woven sheets of silk.

Al Foster Quartet
Love, Peace And Jazz!
Jazz Eyes
2008

Drummer Al Foster is a distinctive sideman who has played with everyone from Miles Davis to saxophonist Joe Henderson. However, he hasn't been as prolific documenting his own groups. Love, Peace And Jazz! provides a welcome opportunity to hear him as a leader.

The album, a live recording taped at the legendary New York jazz club Village Vanguard, offers a program of six tunes where Foster's own compositions take up a fair share of the space. "The Chief," "Peter's Mood" and "Brandyn" all show his knack for writing sophisticated post-bop. Helping him out are pianist Kevin Hays and bassist Doug Weiss, complemented by saxophonist Eli Degibri. These talented musicians fuel the fire of the master who continually delivers inspired playing—whether he's handling his own compositions or interpreting the works of others.

When it comes to picking material, Foster favours newer compositions by Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis and Blue Mitchell. The swinging exoticism of Mitchell's "Fungii Mama" conveys a vivacious feeling in the shape of Degibri's singing saxophone lines against the backdrop of Foster's dancing rhythms. The live ambiance comes across and so does the joy of playing. Love, Peace And Jazz is a vibrant work.

Seamus Blake Quartet
Live In Italy
Jazz Eyes
2009

Another artist on Jazz Eyes who has documented his live performances is tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake. The two-disc release Live In Italy brings together different recordings culled from a tour Blake did in Italy in February 2007, when he visited Palermo, Senigallia and Cesenatico with his quartet, including the unsung piano-master, David Kikoski.

The group, which also includes bassist Danton Boller and drummer Rodney Green, is one of Blake's best yet, with the players both giving plenty of room for his improvisational flights and still being able to challenge him musically. The interplay between Kikoski and Blake is particularly awe-inspiring. These two players, who are brilliant technicians and sensitive interpreters, are the perfect match for each other.

The repertoire is varied, including classical music, standards, original material from Kikoski and Blake and a reading of John Scofield's "Dance Me Home," and even some of the more unlikely choices, like tackling Claude Debussy's "String Quartet In G Minor," fall into place. It works, because Blake's quartet succeeds in making the material their own, constantly responding to the challenges the different musical structures provide. The result is one of Blake's most satisfying efforts committed to wax.

The Kevin Hays Trio
You've Got a Friend
Jazz Eyes
2009

Coming full circle, the sixth and most recent release from Jazz Eyes is You've Got A Friend by the Kevin Hays Trio. Whereas For Heaven's Sake focused on standards and modern classics, this time Hays brings in a healthy dose of pop evergreens, taking in such tunesmiths as Carole King, Paul Simon and Paul McCartney.

An inherent danger in songs like "You've Got A Friend" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is that they border on sentimentality, but Hays avoids the risk of mere nostalgia by re-imagining the songs completely and drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Doug Weiss are able to follow his every move.

However, Hays doesn't completely avoid jazz tradition. Saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Thelonious Monk are properly saluted; Parker through a spirited interpretation of "Cheryl," Monk in the frenetically swinging "Tune Of One." Impressively, what could easily have been a disjointed meeting between sugary pop and hectic bop is instead a successful merging of the old and new, the experimental and the accessible. Hays makes the simple complex and gives new life to the intellectual realms of Parker and Monk—and it is all done with the feeling of a progressive pianist who is a romantic at heart.

Taking a look at the six releases that make up the Jazz Eyes catalogue, one thing immediately springs to mind: there aren't any Italian artists who have recorded for the label. This is something that will change with the scheduled release of pianist Salvatore Bonafede's Trio. When asked further about future projects for the label, Seculiana also promises albums by BANN featuring Seamus Blake, Jay Anderson, Oz Noy and Adam Nussbaum, and the Steve Kuhn Trio with Eddie Gomez and Bill Drummond. As he says: "What can I want more?"

One declared ambition is to win a Grammy and the catalogue so far augurs well for the future. Jazz Eyes has succeeded in creating a brand that has come to signify quality in both form and content. There are plenty of reasons to keep both eyes and ears wide open whenever a new release arrives from the label.

Tracks and Personnel

For Heaven's Sake

Tracks: Sonny Moon for Two; For Heaven's Sake; Lady Day; Beatrice; Beautiful Love; It Could Happen To You; If Ever I Would Leave You; Caravan.

Personnel: Kevin Hays: piano; Doug Weiss: bass; Bill Stewart: drums.

Palermo

Tracks: Palermo; Illusion; Missing You; On Green Dolphin Street; Smilin' Eyes; We Will Meet Again; If I Should Loose You; My Foolish Heart.

Personnel: Eddie Gomez: double bass; Stefan Karlsson: piano; Nasheet Waits: drums.

Sticks And Stones

Tracks: Time Like The Present; The Rosario Material; Sword Of Whispers; Terzani; All Of You; A Word Before You Go; Appointment In Orvieto; I Fall In Love Too Easily; Sixth Sense.

Personnel: Joe Locke: vibes; Jonathan Kreisberg: electric and acoustic guitars; Jay Anderson: bass; Joe La Barbera: drums.

Love, Peace And Jazz!

Tracks: The Chief; E.S.P.; Blue in Green; Peter's Mood; Brandyn; Fungii Mama.

Personnel: Al Foster: drums; Kevin Hays: piano; Douglas Weiss: double bass; Eli Degibri: saxophones.

Live In Italy

Tracks: CD1: The Jupiter Line; Way Out Of Willy; String Quartet In G Minor; Fear Of Roaming. CD2: The Feeling Of Jazz; Spacing; Ladeirinha; Darn That Dream; Dance Me Home.

Personnel: Seamus Blake: tenor saxophone; David Kikoski: piano; Rodney Green: drums; Danton Boller: double-bass.

You've Got A Friend

Tracks: You've Got A Friend; Bridge Over Troubled Water; Fool On The Hill; Think Of One; Sweet And Lovely; Nothing Like You; Cheryl.

Personnel: Kevin Hays: piano; Doug Weiss: bass; Bill Stewart: drums.

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