Jazz Articles about Drew Gress

About Drew Gress

Album Review

Christopher Zuar Orchestra: Exuberance

Read "Exuberance" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 23, 2024

Composer/arranger Christopher Zuar's second album, Exuberance, recounts in musical terms a twisting yet picturesque journey that began seven years earlier, in 2017, when Zuar first met his now-wife, the animator Anne Beal, at MacDowell, the famed artists' residency in New Hampshire. While the relationship “blooms" in winter, there are “moments between" and other inescapable detours until “certainty" erases any lingering doubts, “exuberance" carries the day and Zuar and Beal are united as one. Yes, the music is ...

Album Review

Jason Robinson: Ancestral Numbers II

Read "Ancestral Numbers II" reviewed by Pat Youngspiel

by Pat Youngspiel
December 16, 2024

Jason Robinson's Ancestral Numbers is “a sound meditation on genealogy and family history" and will comprise an “ongoing series of compositions for varying instrumentation." “I" and “II" are merely the starting point for an intimate investigation into the depths of the saxophonist's family tree, set in motion shortly after the passing of Robinson's grandmother. Accompanying the saxophonist/composer on this personal endeavour is a cast of top-drawer players, including Drew Gress on bass, Michael Dessen on trombone, pianist Joshua White and ...

Album Review

Jason Robinson: Ancestral Numbers II

Read "Ancestral Numbers II" reviewed by Terence Collie

by Terence Collie
November 23, 2024

Ancestral Numbers II is saxophonist, flautist and composer Jason Robinson's second album of music reflecting on his ancestry, following the May 2024 release of Ancestral Numbers I. The album launches with “Sweet Tooth," a simple but compelling composition that starts with a vamp. Opening melodic statements--with saxophone and trombone playing together over infectious piano and bass hits propelled by the energetic drums--then move into a hard swinging walking bass section. Pianist Joshua White takes the first solo, followed ...

Album Review

Day Dream: Duke & Strays Live

Read "Duke & Strays Live" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
November 17, 2024

The Day Dream trio's album Duke & Strays Live is a two-CD release recorded at Bucknell University in September 2023. It is a sparkling exploration of the timelessness embedded in Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's music. Lead by drummer Phil Haynes along with pianist Steve Rudolph and bassist Drew Gress, the trio deftly navigates the familiar Ellington-Strayhorn catalogue, offering a fresh examination of these standards without ever lapsing into well-worn paths. It breathes new life into the classics, creating an ...

Album Review

Lisa Rich: Long As You're Living

Read "Long As You're Living" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
August 4, 2024

With Long As You're Living ace jazz vocalist m: Lisa Rich and a team of New York A-listers soar across a dozen tracks of superior jazz. The album, her first since Highwire (Tritone Records, 2019) is a tour de force of musical talents and it once again validates Rich as one of our finest vocal artists. The title track opener, “Long As You're Living" hits with a hip 5/4 up-tempo take on the classic testament to optimism. Rich ...

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Album Review

Jason Robinson: Ancestral Numbers I

Read "Ancestral Numbers I" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 11, 2024

Ancestral Numbers I by Jason Robinson is a jazz album that feels like a deep, reflective conversation with history itself. With his saxophone, Robinson pays homage to the jazz tradition and his family heritage, crafting a sound that's both personal and expansive. The journey begins with “Second House," where the all-star ensemble, featuring pianist Josh White peppering the hornists, lays down a groove that's as profound as it is inviting. The track quickly establishes a soulful theme, with ...

Album Review

Christopher Zuar Orchestra: Exuberance

Read "Exuberance" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
May 13, 2024

Exuberance is part of a “long-form tonal conversation" between composer Christopher Zuar and animator Anne Beal. Zuar, a Long Island New Yorker, describes the work as “a journey of personal growth," which began in 2017 when he and Beal met as fellows at the MacDowell Colony in the woods of New Hampshire. He explains that the album is a “collaborative project that charts the last seven years of our lives." “In Winter Blooms," the opening track, grew out ...