Jazz Articles about Billy Drewes

About Billy Drewes

Album Review

In all great ensemble recordings one pays no attention to the compositions and arrangements. The music just seems to dance without inhibitions and flow over the ears. Correction: excellent ensemble performances compel one to recognize and appreciate the compositions and arrangements. With composer, arranger, trombonist John Yao both statements are true and both are in opposition to each other. Proof being Off-Kilter, the second release by his Triceratops ensemble. It follows How We Do (See Tao Recordings, 2019) and includes ...

Album Review

Gui Duvignau: Baden

by Dan Bilawsky
March 12, 2022

Gui Duvignau has had Baden Powell's sound in his sights for some time now. Born in France and raised in Brazil, the rising-star bassist delved deeply into that legendary Brazilian guitarist's work at the behest of several six-stringer friends. And as he studied guitar too, Duvignau came under the sway of Powell's advanced harmonic concepts, personalized technique and keen ability to skirt easy categorization by blending classical stylings, jazz sensibilities and a broad mixture of Brazilian traditions. Having then performed ...

Album Review

Atlantico: A Stovepipe Hat Made From Silk

Read "A Stovepipe Hat Made From Silk" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
August 9, 2021

This album by the European/American quartet Atlantico co-led by French jazz pianist Sebastien Paindestre and U.S. reed and woodwind player Dave Schroeder completes the band's planned triptych, following New Easter Island (La Fabrica'son, 2019). For this sequel they are joined by acoustic bassist Mike Richmond (replacing Martin Wind) and drummer John Hadfield (replacing Billy Drummond). Tenor saxophonist Billy Drewes (who had played on one track on the last outing) guests on four tracks, expanding the group to a quintet.

Album Review

Gui Duvignau: 3,5,8

by Glenn Astarita
July 23, 2021

As a youngster, French bassist Gui Duvignau was exposed to several disparate cultures and musical forms thanks to his adventure seeking parents' relocations to Morocco, Brazil, Portugal and back to Paris before landing in Boston, MA., to attend the Berklee School of Music, and subsequently ending up in New York City. Duvignau advises that in his early musical endeavors he found rock music less challenging than jazz. Hence, on this effort with well-known jazz warriors, saxophonist Billy Drewes and drummer ...

Album Review

Mike Holober: Hiding Out

Read "Hiding Out" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 6, 2020

Un decennio dopo Quake (Sunnyside 2009), l'arrangiatore e bandleader Mike Holober riporta sotto i riflettori la newyorchese Gotham Jazz Orchestra in uno scintillante doppio compact che raccoglie due ricercate composizioni ("Flow" in tre movimenti, “Hiding Out" in cinque) e tre brani medio-lunghi (tra cui il delizioso “Caminhos Cruzados" di Jobim in due versioni). Come è ovvio che sia, l'organico registra alcune sostituzioni. Tra i nuovi ingressi il trombettista Marvin Stamm, i sassofonisti Jason Rigby e Bill Drewes, il ...

Album Review

Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra: Hiding Out

Read "Hiding Out" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
October 24, 2019

Mike Holober is a celebrated composer and arranger who has worked for ensembles like the Westchester Jazz Orchestra in New York and the WDR and HR Big Bands in Germany. He is also the leader and founder of the Gotham Jazz Orchestra which here makes its first appearance on record in ten years. Holober makes this return a fruitful one, coming up with a 2CD set featuring two long suites, both with themes involving American landscapes. The first ...

Album Review

Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra: Hiding Out

Read "Hiding Out" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 23, 2019

Mike Holober has been Hiding Out rather openly for the past ten years or so, waiting for the proper time to gather together his world-class Gotham Jazz Orchestra and record for the first time since 2009's widely acclaimed album Quake (Sunnyside), in which his picturesque compositions and arrangements were compared favorably to those of Duke Ellington and Gil Evans, to name only two. In the interim, Holober has hardly been sitting on his hands, serving time as director of New ...