Jazz Articles about George Garzone

About George Garzone

Album Review

George Garzone: Themes For Good Friends

Read "Themes For Good Friends" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 14, 2026

Tenor saxophonist George Garzone, a driving force on the New England jazz scene for more than half a century, traveled to the famed Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey to record the genial Themes for Good Friends, his 13th album as leader, with an all-star supporting cast that includes trumpeter Randy Brecker on his quintet's front line. The rhythm section (Luis Perdomo, piano; Santi Debriano, bass; Jeff “Tain" Watts, drums) is no less impressive, lending Garzone and Brecker ...

Album Review

George Garzone: Themes For Good Friends

Read "Themes For Good Friends" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
October 3, 2026

Tenor saxophonist George Garzone's album Themes For Good Friends is especially satisfying because the musicians involved seem to be simply enjoying the music, with nothing to prove. In the beautifully recorded session at Van Gelder Studios, Garzone has surrounded himself with fellow masters, including trumpeter Randy Brecker, pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Santi Debriano and drummer Jeff Tain Watts, each of whom sounds like an old friend, listening closely and taking chances. The album opens quietly with Fred Lacey's ...

Album Review

Juán Chiavassa: Fourth Generation

Read "Fourth Generation" reviewed by Marco Iacoboni

by Marco Iacoboni
May 5, 2026

Il batterista argentino Juan Chiavassa scommette su un progetto da leader che collega anelli generazionali, che vanno da Wayne Shorter e Joe Henderson (autori di gran parte delle composizioni presenti in questo lavoro) a John Patitucci e Mike Stern, suoi compagni di viaggio d'eccezione insieme a Leo Genovese al piano e Rodhes e a un notevole George Garzone al sax tenore. Tre generazioni caratterizzate da un groove dinamico ed elastico, in un atto di devozione filologica e un omaggio continuo ...

Album Review

The Flying Horse Big Band: Unbridled

Read "Unbridled" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 20, 2025

On Unbridled, its ninth album to date, central Florida's admirable Flying Horse Big Band “meets veteran tenor saxophonist George Garzone" on four of seven numbers, starting with John Coltrane's exemplary jazz standard, “Giant Steps," arranged by the band's music director, Jeff Rupert. Garzone is showcased again on Michael Philip Mossman's handsome arrangement of Rupert's seductive “Pharaoh's Daughter," Lalo Schifrin's genial “Reflections" (neatly scored by Mark Taylor) and Slide Hampton's clever arrangement (borrowing phrases from “Giant Steps") of Coltrane's ...

Album Review

Gaia Wilmer, Ra Kalam Bob Moses: Dancing with Elephants

Read "Dancing with Elephants" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 21, 2025

Questa collaborazione tra la sassofonista e compositrice Gaia Wilmer e il batterista/bandleader Bob Moses, è stata progettata dieci anni fa, quando i due si sono incontrati al New England Conservatory, nei ruoli di allieva e docente. Il giudizio che Moses esprime in copertina sulle doti di scrittura di Gaia può apparire eccessivo (la paragona a Charles Mingus, Hermeto Pascoal, Gil Evans, Maria Schneider, Michael Gibbs) ma basta ascoltare il suo ultimo album orchestrale (Folia, Sunnyside 2023) per capire ...

Album Review

Spike Wilner Trio Contrafactus: The Children & The Warlock

Read "The Children & The Warlock" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 30, 2025

A parodist might quip that Trio Contrafactus is simply another name for a quartet, as that is what pianist and entreprenuer Spike Wilner is leading on his new recording, The Children & the Warlock, wherein Wilner and his rhythm section (Paul Gill, bass; Anthony Pinciotti, drums) are flanked by renowned tenor saxophonist George Garzone. Wilner writes that the album is a tribute to one of his teachers, the late pianist and composer Harry Whitaker, who wrote its ...

Album Review

Claire Daly: VuVu for Frances

Read "VuVu for Frances" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 2, 2024

Claire Daly, whose gruff yet eloquent baritone sax has brightened the New York scene for almost four decades, reunites with acclaimed tenor saxophonist George Garzone on Daly's seventh album as leader, VuVu for Frances, whose honoree is Frances Ballantyne, described by Daly as “a profound influence on [her] life" and “a consummate New Yorker." Daly and Garzone last recorded together in 1999, on Garzione's Moodiology (NYC), and Father Time hasn't caused either of them to lose so much as a ...