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Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen
by Budd Kopman
Just like you need know nothing about cryptography to enjoy and be blown away by Rudresh Mahanthappa's Codebook, you need no knowledge of Erik Satie (his music, or his idiosyncratic dressing habits) or Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to appreciate and get lost in Velvet Gentlemen. (Both of the above ideas inspired Dan Willis in various ways during the creation of the music for this record.) To be honest, just listening to the record without attempting to look ...
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by AAJ Italy Staff
Facciamo fatica a comprendere cosa c'entrino Eric Satie e i paradossi della fisica quantistica di Max Planck, ampiamente citati nelle note di copertina, con l’ultima fatica discografica di Dan Willis. Ma poco importa, perché Velvet Gentlemen, nomignolo affibbiato a Satie per le giacche abitualmente indossate, è un buon disco ed un ottimo esempio di jazz moderno, che trae linfa vitale dalla tradizione ma è aperto a molteplici sollecitazioni e a fonti di ispirazione le più diverse. Così “Gentle Soul“ è ...
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by Michael P. Gladstone
File under: Eric Satie Jazz or Quantum Physics Jazz. I don't know f you have to intellectualize the music, only one of the above subjects is necessary for me.
On his third album, multi-reed player Dan Willis reports in the liner notes of Velvet Gentlemen that his writing for this album was influenced by the French classical composer Eric Satie as well as the theories of quantum physics, including what he refers to as the precision-randomness paradox." The ...
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by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
It's hard not to like a band that calls itself Velvet Gentlemen, even before learning that the moniker derives from a nickname given to the velvet-clad composer Erik Satie by children in his Parisian neighborhood. It's similarly easy to appreciate the sound of the compositions and arrangements on this record even before knowing that they are inspired by Satie's idiosyncratic music. Willis sees Satie not as a decorative impressionist composer, but as a proto-serialist, and accordingly draws upon some of ...
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by John Kelman
Even those who get the titular reference of woodwind multi-instrumentalist Dan Willis' Velvet Gentlemen will be challenged to find a clear link. Those with only a passing acquaintance with classical composer Erik Satie (1866-1925)--nicknamed The Velvet Gentleman because of his predilection for velvet jackets--will find little in Willis' sometimes complex, often electric and improvisation-oriented music to link him with the understated simplicity of works like Trois Gymnopédies (1888) or Trois Gnossiennes (1890).
Still, for those who are more familiar with ...
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by Glenn Astarita
31 year old Saxophonist Dan Willis has performed and recorded with some of jazz's finest, which includes Joey Baron, Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Lee Konitz, Rob McConnell and many others. Here, Dan steps out on his first solo recording aptly titled the Dan Willis Quartet."
Willis' opener, Hankerin'" commences with a sturdy yet vivacious New Orleans style shuffle beat supplied by the fine rhythm section of: bassist, Drew Gress and the explosive drummer, John Hollenbeck. On this piece, ...
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