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Alan Pasqua: Day Dream
by Jim Worsley
When you hear that Alan Pasqua has put out a new record, the first thought--other than perhaps happiness--is what genre are we talking about? Pasqua has worn many hats in his career. To his credit, he looks quite fashionable in any of them. Maybe you think of fusion Pasqua, who mixed it up with the genre's finest, from Tony Williams to Allan Holdsworth. Perhaps it is the highest order of straight ahead jazz with the likes of Peter Erskine on ...
Continue ReadingBob Dylan: Rough And Rowdy Ways
by Doug Collette
Bob Dylan's Rough And Rowdy Ways is a uniformly excellent piece of work. On these ten new original songs, the Nobel Laureate blends folk, blues and country music with just the slightest dash of gospel and, accompanied with sensitivity by his touring band (plus a few additional musicians including Blake Mills and Fiona Apple), the seamless sound makes this thirty-ninth Dylan studio album superior to both of the other standouts of recent years, Time Out Of Mind (Columbia, 1997) and ...
Continue ReadingAlan Pasqua: Keys That Unlock Many Doors
by Jim Worsley
Recently, and just a few days before Thanksgiving (2019), I was thankful for the opportunity to have two separate conversations with renown pianist Alan Pasqua. As generous with his time and candid commentary as he is talented as a musician and composer, both conversations crashed the one-hour mark. For you non mathematicians, that is over two hours of discussing, recounting, and engaging into a wide range of topics. With that in mind I will keep this intro brief ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Garzone/Peter Erskine/Alan Pasqua/Darek Oles: 3 Nights in L.A.
by Jim Worsley
Any jazz cat will tell you that the art of improvising is the primary contributing factor in what sets jazz apart from other genres. It is the artists' ability to continuously and freely explore a composition. As they expand the notes and the feel, they expand and open our minds along with them. One of the finest examples of that process can be heard on 3 Nights in L.A.. Tenor saxophonist George Garzone, drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Alan ...
Continue ReadingAlan Pasqua: Soliloquy
by Dan McClenaghan
Webster's Dictionary defines the word “soliloquy" as “the act of talking to oneself." In terms of solo piano recordings, it is an apt title. Pianist Alan Pasqua's Soliloquy is a sophisticated and reflective, alone-with-the piano work, a deliberative and lovely take on a batch well-chosen standards and one Bob Dylan tune. A versatile and virtuosic player, Pasqua has recorded with a wide array of top line jazz artists--Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motion, Michael and Randy Brecker, etc--as well as ...
Continue ReadingPeter Erskine / Bob Mintzer / Darek Oles / Alan Pasqua: Standards 2, Movie Music
by Edward Blanco
Standards hold a particular fascination for drummer Peter Erskine, as initiated through his Grammy-nominated Standards(Fuzzy Music, 2008). Unlike that first album--comprised primarily of old jazz standards--Standards 2, Movie Music focuses on songs that are considered standards from the realm of Hollywood movies. Featuring music from Gone With The Wind (1939), considered by many to be one of the best movies ever made, to the main theme from Rosemary's Baby (1968), this unusual collection of songs, by necessity, has to leave ...
Continue ReadingPeter Erskine / Bob Mintzer / Derek Oles / Alan Pasqua: Standards 2, Movie Music
by Dan Bilawsky
While the songs featured on Standards 2, Movie Music were given an initial audience through the medium of film, some of them have led a fruitful existence beyond the borders of the silver screen. Some melodies--like Tara's Theme," from 1939's Gone With The Wind--will always be associated with their point of origin, but much of Cole Porter's catalog, including the two inclusions on this album ("Night And Day" and “I Concentrate On You"), is more familiar to current audiences than ...
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