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Greg Abate: Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron
by Chris M. Slawecki
Musicians will sometimes honor another musician who influenced their lives or work with a tribute or memorial recording after that influential musician has passed on. There's an abundance of first-rate music on the double-disc Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron. But the best thing about it is that the leader, flutist and saxophonist Greg Abate, convinced Kenny Barron to fill its piano chair. Kenny was kind enough to provide me with music for a range of his tunes, some ...
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by Rob Rosenblum
Magic Dance is an offering by multi instrumentalist Greg Abate, who is a proud keeper of the bebop flame. In the 75 plus years that bebop has been around, there have probably been hundreds of thousands of quartet records with sax, piano, bass and drums, a few of which have been contributed by Abate. But this one is a departure from his previous releases, and because it isn't the bare bones presentation that jazz fans are accustomed to, it may ...
read moreGreg Abate: “Be-Bop-Er” Takes His Music To The World
by Rob Mariani
This article was published posthumously and on behalf of All About Jazz's long-time friend and contributor, Rob Mariani. Bebop is one of the more complicated forms of jazz music," says Greg Abate, one of New England's most well-known alto sax players. He's been keeping this art form" alive and thriving for years. It takes a lot of technique and dexterity to play bebop right," Abate says. Every good musician knows that jazz is an art ...
read moreGreg Abate, Charlie Persip & Steve Grossman
by Joe Dimino
This week we open with the Greg Abate Quintet and then go on marking the Charlie Parker centennial. Champian Fulton has a new album honoring Bird, Birdsong and we hear her take on Yardbird Suite." There are profiles of Kenny Washington, Daniel Hersog and Hal Galper. We also pay respects to musicians that left us in August 2020, including Charlie Persip and Steve Grossman. Long live Bird and enjoy the music. Playlist Greg Abate Quintet Tommyhawk" Dr. Jekyll ...
read moreGreg Abate: Man on a Journey
by Rob Rosenblum
After a warm up tune by the trio of Frank Puzzullo on piano, Sam Edwards on bass and Edwin Hamilton on drums, a medium sized fellow with slicked back hair and very casual attire walks on stage. He seems almost reticent as he acknowledges his audience at Fox's Music House in North Charleston, South Carolinamost of whom have never heard of him other than whatever scant advance publicity they may have come across. One might almost expect a quiet, polite ...
read moreGreg Abate & The Tim Ray Trio: Gratitude: Stage Door Live @ the Z
by Rob Rosenblum
If you are going to be a bebop purist, you have to resist the temptation to dress your music up to appeal to the masses. Greg Abate is one of those brave souls who worship at the altar of Charlie Parker, and depends on pure inspiration to capture his audience's attention. Gratitude: Stage Door Live @ the Z is his latest recording and, according to form, there are no pop tunes or electric helpmates and gimmicks. The album ...
read moreGreg Abate & The Tim Ray Trio: Gratitude: Stage Door Live @ the Z
by Jack Bowers
If somehow you haven't yet heard saxophonist Greg Abate (pronounced Uh-BAH-tay), now in his seventh decade and as sharp and eloquent an orator as ever, it is high time you did. The Rhode Island native is an earnest post-bopper from the Phil Woods / Bud Shank school of straight-on swinging, and Gratitude, Abate's fourth album with the admirable Tim Ray Trio, happens upon the ensemble in blue-chip form in a lively concert recorded on the cozy stage of the Zeiterion ...
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