Home » Jazz Articles » Drew Gress
Jazz Articles about Drew Gress
The MacroQuarktet: The Complete Night: Live At The Stone NYC
by Mark Corroto
Listening to The MacroQuarktet calls to mind comedians Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters. Did they warm up before an evening of improvisational comedy? Once on stage or a TV talk show, instantaneously they were 'on,' firing a superabundance of thoughts, jokes, impressions, etc at their audience. It is the same for the two improvised music sets by this 'on' quartet. Recorded in 2007 and originally released as a single disc on Herb Robertson's Ruby Flower Records label as ...
Continue ReadingPaul Shaw Quintet: Moment of Clarity
by Jack Bowers
Drummer Paul Shaw, best known as a reliable sideman in groups large and small, strides into the spotlight with panache as leader of his own quintet, having written every number on Moment of Clarity and entrusted them to the capable hands and singular talents of his earnest colleagues. He also gives those teammates ample space to shine, confining himself for the most part to timekeeping duties, which he carries out with adeptness and assurance. As a composer, ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: Better Than Gold and Silver
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 attempting these jazz arrangements. The first disc in this double disc set presents settings with two vocalists, tenor Tomás Cruz and mezzo-soprano Kim Mayo, accompanied by a remarkable band: trumpeter Ralph Alessi, guitarist Ben Monder, violinist Christian Howes, bassist Drew ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: In The Shadow Of A Cloud
by Neri Pollastri
Continua la ricca vena creativa della pianista e compositrice russa Yelena Eckemoff, di formazione classica ma dedita al jazz dal suo arrivo negli U.S.A., nel 1991. Questa vena si concretizza in una fitta serie di album (l'ultimo di cui ci siamo occupati è Leaving Everything Behind, del 2016) registrati con formazioni sempre diverse e ogni volta composte da musicisti di altissimo livello. Stavolta il gruppo che realizza questo doppio CD è un quintetto, con una ritmica tra le ...
Continue ReadingYelena Eckemoff: In The Shadow Of A Cloud
by John Kelman
She may rarely perform live in this context, but Yelena Eckemoff has managed to build, over just seven years and a mammoth eleven releases--including her second release of 2017, In the Shadow of a Cloud--a loyal and growing following in the jazz world. It's all the more remarkable for a multi-talented expat Russian pianist who began life in the classical world, and only entered the jazz world in 2010 with Cold Sun. But there's even more to marvel ...
Continue ReadingDrew Gress: The Sky Inside
by Vincenzo Roggero
Formazione stellare quella che Drew Gress presenta per il suo debutto sull'etichetta tedesca Pirouet, e quintetto consolidato fin dal lontano 2005 quando impressionò con l'ottimo 7 Black Butterflies . Formazione di musicisti avventurosi, spinti da un insaziabile spirito di ricerca, seppur con prospettive e gradi differenti di intensità, che... sembra incappare, se non in un esercizio di stile, sicuramente in un compitino ben fatto, senza sbavature, dove tutto funziona a meraviglia, scorre liscio come l'olio e ogni cosa è sotto ...
Continue ReadingDrew Gress: The Sky Inside
by AAJ Italy Staff
Formazione stellare quella che Drew Gress presenta per il suo debutto sull'etichetta tedesca Pirouet, e quintetto consolidato fin dal lontano 2005 quando debuttò con l'ottimo 7 Black Butterflies. Formazione di musicisti avventurosi, spinti da un insaziabile spirito di ricerca seppur con prospettive e gradi differenti di intensità che... sembra incappare se non in un esercizio di stile, sicuramente in un compitino ben fatto, senza sbavature, dove tutto funziona a meraviglia, scorre liscio come l'olio e ogni cosa è sotto controllo. ...
Continue Reading
