Jazz Articles about Gary Versace

About Gary Versace

Album Review

Gary Versace Trio: Three Track Mind

Read "Three Track Mind" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
June 8, 2026

La figura di Gary Versace sembra appartenere alla categoria dei “musician's musician," artisti molto stimati dai colleghi ma poco conosciuti dal vasto pubblico. Le sue collaborazioni sono molte e prestigiose e in quelle dove ha maggior visibilità (pensiamo all'orchestra di Maria Schneider) non suona il pianoforte ma la fisarmonica o l'organo. I suoi dischi da leader in 25 anni d'attività sono pochi e tra i recenti in piano trio abbiamo solo All for Now del 2020 e Time Frame del 2022, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Lea Maria Fries, Gary Versace, Amalie Dahl, Ingrid Jensen & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
April 18, 2026

No matter its origins--European or American, live or recorded in the studio, from the '30s or today--this playlist brings together music that is not only recent or upcoming, but destined to stay with you.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Ingrid Jensen “Many Homes, Many Places" Landings (Newvelle) 0:16 Host talks 4:41 Gary Versace “Darn That Dream" Three Track Mind (Sunnyside) 6:09 Host talks 11:45 Lea Maria Fries “Just ...

Album Review

Maria Schneider Orchestra: American Crow

Read "American Crow" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 24, 2026

Maria Schneider has a thing for birds. Credible sources have reported sightings of the jazz composer frequenting Central Park wearing a floppy hat, a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck. Her 20-plus minute “Cerulean Skies," from her album (one of her masterpieces) Sky Blue (ArtistShare, 2007) speaks to her love for birds; her fascination with their migratory nature and their arduous flights, which span continents and beyond. The composition “Bluebird," from the “Our Natural World"' half of her 2-disc ...

Album Review

Dara Starr Tucker: Time Wouldn't Wait

Read "Time Wouldn't Wait" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 24, 2026

L'ultimo album della cantante Dara Tucker conferma la sintesi tra l'estetica dominante nella prima parte della sua carriera (i quattro album dal 2009 al 2019 per Watchman Music, impegnati di jazz, blues e soul) e quella più incline al neo-soul e al pop, presente in Dreams of Waking--Music for a Better World (Green Hill 2021) e nel successivo Dara Starr Tucker del 2023. È un aggiustamento dovuto (forse) a esigenze di mercato che non pregiudica il buon gusto e la ...

Album Review

Ingrid Jensen: Landings

Read "Landings" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
March 13, 2026

On Landings, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen convenes a quartet that thrives on speed and alertness. With organist Gary Versace, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and drummer Jon Wikan, she leads a band capable of sharp turns and open-road lyricism in the same breath. The music feels meticulously shaped yet gloriously unbound; an ensemble language forged in deep listening and shared risk. The album starts with a historic moment as 89-year-old tenor legend George Coleman joins in for his own composition “Amsterdam ...

Album Review

John Ellis & Double Wide: Fireball

Read "Fireball" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
February 24, 2026

La spinta, la propulsione, la pienezza, che può generare la presenza di una tuba (o di un sousaphone, come accade qui) all'interno di un combo jazz è indiscutibile, generalmente tangibilissima, almeno se il suo impiego è di natura prevalentemente (ma non esclusivamente, attenzione) ritmica. Il Double Wide diretto ormai da quasi vent'anni dal cinquantunenne polistrumentista e compositore John Ellis ne è esempio quanto mai tipico. Ellis è nativo della Carolina del Nord, si è formato musicalmente a New ...

Album Review

Ingrid Jensen: Landings

by Jack Kenny
February 14, 2026

Ingrid Jensen has emerged as a unique trumpet player with a distinctive sound that defines her and proclaims her nonpareil gifts. The album opens with “Handmaiden's Tale," a virtual duet with Gary Versace that clearly demonstrates the beauty of Jensen's tone. The track weaves together many strands of sheer beauty: warmth, lyricism, resonance and the roundness of the notes. It balances space and pace with a barely suppressed melancholy and soft dynamism. There is a fluidity here--refusal to ...