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Jazz Articles about Bill Mays
The Inventions Trio (Marvin Stamm, Bill Mays, Alisa Horn): Life's a Movie
by Maurizio Zerbo
In un avvincente incontro tra jazz e mondo classico si sviluppa questo splendido progetto in cui riluce il palpitante violoncello di Alisa Horn. Gli equilibri interni sono dettati da Bill Mays, ma è il camerismo della Horn a brillare in un percorso di grande nitore formale. Il suo toccante eloquio nella rilettura dell'evansiano Turn Out the Stars" è l'esempio magistrale di come il talento possa rinverdire lo spirito della tradizione attraverso la sensibilità contemporanea. Il sontuoso ...
read moreBill Mays Inventions Trio: Life's a Movie
by Jack Bowers
For pianist Bill Mays' Inventions Trio, the third time is indeed a charm, as it would be difficult to find music more charming than that performed by Mays, trumpeter Marvin Stamm and cellist Alisa Horn on Life's a Movie, the trio's third album together (and first for Chiaroscuro Records). This is chamber jazz" of the highest order, with the classically trained Horn complementing perfectly the jazz-inflected sorties of Mays and Stamm in a program whose beauty is equaled only by ...
read moreBill Mays: Inventions, Conventions and Dimensions
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
This title is more than a rhyme: it's an attempt to capture some of the legendary versatility of pianist Bill Mays. Inventions" refers to his unprecedented, working jazz trio of piano, trumpet, and cello. Conventions" is a nod to his invaluable contribution to the annual meeting of the International Society of Bassists (in 2013, he played 21 rehearsals and 24 concerts during the week). Finally, dimensions" reflects his multifaceted musical accomplishments, which include soundtracks for TV and movies--for example, his ...
read moreBill Mays: Mays at the Movies
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
Bill Mays has spent much of his career as a first-call studio pianist in Hollywood, accompanying singers like Sarah Vaughan and Al Jarreau, and playing on movie soundtracks. Moreover, his most recent CDs have involved his innovative third-stream group, The Inventions Trio, with trumpeter Marvin Stamm and cellist Alisa Horn. As a result, Mays's profile may be a bit lower than some who spend more time in the jazz performance spotlight. But he's also one of the most intelligent, fluent, ...
read moreBill Mays: Solo and Trio
by Ken Dryden
Bill MaysSolo!s/r2009 Bill MaysAt the MoviesSteeplechase2009
Bill Mays is a veteran artist with an extensive musical resumé, having taken part in all kinds of session work, ranging from movie soundtracks to jazz, backing vocalists and even working with Frank Zappa! Mays paid his dues as a sideman with Sarah Vaughan, Bud Shank and ...
read moreThe Marvin Stamm Quartet: Alone Together
by Jack Bowers
Alone Together is not only another splendid album by trumpeter Marvin Stamm's quartet (does he ever produce anything less?), it also comes with a bonus--a DVD whose playing sequence duplicates the CD and allows one to see and hear Stamm, pianist Bill Mays, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Ed Soph as they study one another, alertly interact and carefully work things out in a concert taped on November 2006.
The quartet as it now stands has been performing together for ...
read moreBill Mays: Fantasy
by Ralph A. Miriello
For those who have never seriously incorporated classical music in their musical diet, Fantasy, the new crossover album from pianist Bill Mays, trumpeter extraordinaire Marvin Stamm and cellist Alisa Horn, collectively known as The Inventions Trio, is a good starting point for some exposure to classical pieces rendered with a sensibility toward improvisation.
Mays, perhaps best known for his longtime association with the marvelous singer Sarah Vaughn, is a consummate musician who has taken classical works from Rachmaninoff, ...
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