Jazz Articles about Brian Charette

About Brian Charette

Album Review

Alphabet City is organist Brian Charette's ninth album, titled for the part of Manhattan where he lives (in the building which featured on the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, apparently). He's alongside guitarist Will Bernard and drummer Rudy Royston, both familiar names on numerous other releases for Posi-tone Records: a standard, though high quality, organ trio, but the leader's compositions give it a far-from-standard repertoire.The 12 tunes, all originals, are all pretty short, pretty snappy and, in ...

Album Review

Brian Charette: Alphabet City

Read "Alphabet City" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 19, 2015

Organist Brian Charette brings his A-game to Alphabet City. But who would expect anything else from this consummate artist? After delivering a covers-heavy program with two different trio lineups on Good Tipper (Posi-Tone, 2014), Charette returns here with an all-originals outing that finds him in the company of guitarist Will Bernard and drummer Rudy Royston. Alphabet City, in some respects, is an ode to Charette's New York city home, haunts and habits. But that minimizes the scope ...

Album Review

Brian Charette: Good Tipper

Read "Good Tipper" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 18, 2014

Nine of the eleven tracks on organist Brian Charette's Square One (Posi-Tone, 2014) were originals, but that doesn't mean he's uninterested in tackling the music of others. In fact, judging by this album, it would seem that he really digs digging into covers. Everybody from film score icon John Barry to tunesmith Jimmy Webb to saxophonist Joe Henderson gets a nod during the fun-filled Good Tipper Charette has built a reputation as one of the most adventuresome ...

Album Review

Brian Charette: Square One

Read "Square One" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
June 12, 2014

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but that can be a double edged sword with respect to self-expression and individuality. Reverence to past influences such as the pioneering organists Larry Young and Jimmy Smith is commonly heard in many contemporary jazz organ players including New York based Brian Charette who breathes originality in 2014's The Question That Drives Us (SteepleChase) and particularly 2012's Music for Organ Sextette (SteepleChase). Both feature that iconic Hammond B3 sound ...

Multiple Reviews

Brian Charette: The Question That Drives Us and Square One

by Hrayr Attarian
May 18, 2014

Classically trained pianist turned organist Brian Charette is an accomplished master of the Hammond B3 with an elegant yet passionate touch. His signature style imbues the many recordings of his various ensembles with a light, crisp sound and an effervescent melodicism that is, unapologetically, mainstream without being pedestrian. In 2014 Charette cut two charmingly seductive albums that delight and gratify without experimenting with innovation or breaking any radically new ground. Brian Charette The Question That Drives Us ...

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Threshold

Read "Threshold" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
March 21, 2014

New York-based alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo is one of the most recognizable and formidable forces in the jazz world today. A former student of the late great jazz icon Jackie McLean and a fixture in the Big Apple's vibrant jazz scene, DiRubbo is no novice. He has a substantial discography, and experience performing with some of the best players in the world. The adventurous Threshold is the artist's eighth album as leader where--with the exception of Charlie Parker's Bebop classic ...

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Threshold

Read "Threshold" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 18, 2014

Mike DiRubbo's eight disc as a leader, Threshold finds the ever inventive alto saxophonist in a solidly hard bop environment that is reminiscent of Blue Note records of the 1950s but has a clear modern edge. In addition to leading a superb and sympathetic quintet, DiRubbo penned eight of the nine tracks on this riveting record with a momentum that never slacks from the first note to the last.DiRubbo's acerbic, passionate tone marks his tight and intelligent improvisations ...