Jazz Articles about Tangria Jazz

Tangria Jazz Group: Tangria Jazz Group

by Michael P. Gladstone
April 16, 2008

On their third release, the self-titled Tangria Jazz Group continues to impress. With lots of positive press from the San Francisco Bay Area this trio, led by drummer/composer Sheryl Mebane with keyboardist Simon Rochester and bassist Justin Hellman, is thoroughly interactive and entertaining.

Founded in 1997, Tangria Jazz Group has evolved with its most accessible album to date, with two originals and four standards. Eden Ahbez's “Nature Boy" is a good beginning for the album; a familiar tune ...

Tangria Jazz Group: Tangria Jazz Group

by C. Michael Bailey
January 30, 2008

Tangria Jazz Group is what happens when the academy gets bored in the classroom and decides to go blow in the studio. The trio's first recording, Songs From Lady Bird was inspired by drummer/percussionist/physical chemist Sheryl Mebane's jazz novel Lady Bird (Pearl Street, 2003). Mebane's Eleven: Tunes for Two (Blastfamous, 2007) featured an abundance of original material and sidemen. The eponymous Tangria Jazz Group brags an abundance of standards with a couple of originals that shows the group maturing.

Tangria Jazz Group: Mebane's Eleven: Tunes for Two

by C. Michael Bailey
June 28, 2007

The Tangria Jazz Group is ostensibly a jazz piano trio made up of brainiacs from all over the map.

Drummer and composer Dr. Sheryl Mebane is an environmental chemist, bassist Justin Hellman is a product of the music department at the University of California, Berkeley where keyboardist Simon Rochester is currently conducting physics research.

So, what type of jazz does such a brainy bunch produce? Surprisingly, it is quite mainstream and straight-ahead. There are some sharp turns however, so listeners ...