Jazz Articles about Jim Rotondi

About Jim Rotondi

Album Review

Jim Rotondi & Dena DeRose: Out of the Past

Read "Out of the Past" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 2, 2026

Although trumpeter Jim Rotondi and pianist-singer Dena DeRose had wanted to record together for years, life always seemed to get in the way. Finally, when they were both on faculty at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, Rotondi decided to make it happen. He booked a studio in Vienna, enlisted the services of esteemed Austrian bassist Danny Ziemann (his studio) and drummer Mario Gonzi, and on June 23, 2024, the quartet recorded Out of the Past. ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Big George

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 9, 2025

The world has changed dramatically since the end of the 20th century, the time period when the jazz collective One For All began to forge their stamp on the history of hard bop. Using the club Augie's on New York's upper west side as their stomping grounds, the group would make their debut recording at the beginning of 1987. The Broadway club would eventually become home of Smoke, one of the gems of the city's jazz scene and continued purveyor ...

Album Review

One for All: Big George

Read "Big George" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
June 5, 2024

Smoke Sessions Records, based out of NYC's Smoke Jazz Club, has a fascinating recording model: artists play a few nights at the club, take a day off, and then go into a studio such as the famous Sear Sound to record their repertoire for release. They been putting out some excellent material, the latest of which is the first album in seven years from the sextet One for All. The title, Big George, reveals what sets this one apart from ...

Album Review

Jim Rotondi: Finesse

by Jack Bowers
April 6, 2024

Finesse is trumpeter Jim Rotondi's ninth recording as a leader but his first using a full orchestra including strings. The band and string section are from Austria, where Rotondi presently lives, performs, and teaches, and each one is quite good. As for Rotondi, besides playing superb trumpet--open or muted--he wrote every song on the album save for two brief “introductory" pieces by Jakob Helling who was the arranger on every number. As if that many instruments weren't ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Blueslike

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

As the timeworn adage goes, sometimes the best things come from situations where one is asked to function in less than ideal circumstances. When you have little time to analyze things and go with pure instincts, there's an air of veracity and spontaneity to the results that is seldom arrived at by any other means. Although the hard bop collective One For Allhas forged a shared identity through regular gigs and a growing catalog of recordings for several labels, including ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Live at Smoke Vol.1

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

Aside from the musical fireworks that make the enclosed sides noteworthy, there are additional factors that mark Live at Smoke as a major event. For one thing, this “on location" recording is one of the rare live dates to grace the Criss Cross catalog. Furthermore, it serves as a perfect summation up to this point of One For All's musical fortunes as heard in the same venue that fostered the ensemble's very formation. Back in the mid-'80s, drummer Joe Farnsworth, ...

Liner Notes

Mike DiRubbo: Human Spirit

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 26, 2023

In an era that seems to more fully embrace the idea of the 'tough young tenor,' alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo puts forth a singular voice that stands apart from the crowd. With exceptions such as Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, and Vincent Herring, DiRubbo is one of the few musicians of this generation to choose the alto horn as his main axe, although his sound and approach seems heavily rooted in the conventions of the tenor and its many historic practitioners. ...