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Jazz Articles about Drew Gress
George Colligan: Ultimatum
by C. Andrew Hovan
Unlike classical music, where so much of the performance is based on an authentic interpretation of the material, jazz has always been more about inventiveness and the musician's quest to find an original voice. Additionally, some of the most innovative artists in the genre have been known not only for their instrumental prowess, but also for great bodies of work that have substantially contributed to the jazz annals. Men like Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Thad Jones, to name only ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: I Am a Stranger in This World
by Mark Sullivan
Russian-born pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff began setting verses from the Bible's Book of Psalms shortly after her conversion to Christianity, even before her emigration to the United States. But she waited until she had considerable experience working with jazz musicians before producing her jazz arrangements. They were first recorded on her album Better Than Gold and Silver [L&H Production, 2018], which presented ten Psalm settings in both vocal and instrumental versions. The detailed story of how Yelena Eckemoff came to set ...
Continue ReadingMarc Copland Quartet: Someday
by Dan McClenaghan
Marc Copland is a former saxophonist who found his instrument artistically confining for the purposes of expressing his vision. So he called on his childhood piano training (synaptic memories intact) to make the switch to the keyboard. The results have been magic. His artistry with the 88s is second only to the late Bill Evans, and an argument for his surpassing of Evans could be made. His discography boasts more than forty albums as a leader, beginning in 1988 with ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Breath By Breath
by John Chacona
Why is Fred Hersch not sufficiently mentioned among the great jazz pianists? It could be a generational thing. At 66, Hersch is an eminent tweener, too old to qualify as the Hot New Thing and too young to be an Elder Statesman. He's in good company there with fellow sexagenarians Myra Melford, Satoko Fujii, Uri Caine, Jean-Michel Pilc and Matthew Shipp. It's true that Hersch's contemporaries Geri Allen, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland have entered the pantheon (and Frank Kimbrough ...
Continue ReadingFred Hersch: Breath By Breath
by Pierre Giroux
The intellectual and musical curiosity that inspires the work of pianist Fred Hersch is broad and deep. Validation of this is in his current release Breath By Breath which is informed by his early piano education and listening to string quartets, supported more recently by his advocacy of meditation as a way manage external factors beyond one's control. In the liner notes, Hersch encourages listeners to take the time to attend the eight-movement “Sati Suite" in ...
Continue ReadingAlexis Parsons: Alexis
by Richard J Salvucci
Alexis Parsons is an honest-to-goodness jazz singer. She has considerable vocal chops, a wide range and great time. She usually comes in right on or slightly behind the beat. Except when she does not. Which makes for considerable contrast and interest. Her sense of drama is apropos ("Organ Grinder" may be the sole exception, but de gustibus) and you often have the sense you are listening to an instrumentalist rather than a singer. Or to put it differently, Ms Parsons ...
Continue ReadingAlexis Parsons: Alexis
by Jack Bowers
The self-named Alexis is the third album by New York-based vocalist Alexis Parsons. To showcase her talents, she has chosen a medley of standards (half a dozen) and lesser-known but engaging originals, opening and closing with the Cole Porter classics “Easy to Love" and “In the Still of the Night." Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins, Kurt Weill, Astrud Gilberto and even Franz Schubert are also represented. For back-up, Parsons employs two trios—pianist David Berkman, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Matt ...
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