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Kevin Fort: Everything I Love
by Hrayr Attarian
Pianist Kevin Fort is a virtuoso improviser and an imaginative composer with a refreshingly novel style rooted firmly in the mainstream tradition. In addition to playing with several Chicago-area artists, Fort leads a cohesive trio that has created a unique, delightfully textured sound. It is mostly with this ensemble that he has recorded his four superb albums, the last of which is the disc at hand, the captivating Everything I Love. A mix of standards and Fort's originals, ...
Continue ReadingKevin Fort: Everything I Love
by Dan McClenaghan
The ghosts of pianists past inhabit the music of Kevin Fort. The Chicago-based piano man's third album release, Everything I Love, keeps a grip on the tradition with an eye to right now on this ten-tune workout that includes five engaging Fort originals and and five well-chosen standards, incuding the Cole Porter title tune, the Rodgers and Hart's “Spring Is Here," and Tadd Dameron's “If You Could See Me Now." Those ghosts? Erroll Garner, Tommy Flanagan, maybe even ...
Continue ReadingKevin Fort: Perspectives
by Edward Blanco
Pianist and composer Kevin Fort follows his extraordinary debut, Red Gold (CD Baby, 2014), with another tip of the hat to jazz standards and the modern tradition; Perspectives is a musical package nicely filled with new arrangements of six classics and four new originals, performed by a standard piano trio. For more than twenty years an in-demand player in Chicago's talent-rich jazz scene, Fort is also an educator, currently lecturing at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music.
Continue ReadingJoe Policastro Trio: Nothing Here Belongs
by Jerome Wilson
The Joe Policastro Trio is a working band that has been playing together in Chicago area clubs for almost ten years. This CD reflects that history in how the three musicians play off each others' twists and turns with a near-telepathic rapport. Guitarist Dave Miller darts and swoops with cool assurance while bassist Policastro and drummer Mikel Avery keep the rhythms sounding relaxed and natural even when abruptly switching tempos within songs. The set consists mostly of Policastro ...
Continue ReadingJoe Policastro Trio: Nothing Here Belongs
by Dan Bilawsky
Everything belongs here on Nothing Here Belongs, the first Joe Policastro Trio album to focus primarily on original material. The three previous outings from this Chicago-based outfit sold themselves with a pliable approach to covers. On West Side Story Suite (Self Produced, 2013) it was an expansive brush with Bernstein; with Pops! (Self Produced, 2016) the band tackled popular music, from Burt Bacharach to The Pixies; and through Screen Sounds (Jerujazz Records, 2017) the group visited songs of the silver ...
Continue ReadingJoe Policastro Trio: Screen Sounds
by Dan Bilawsky
There are always new wrinkles to be found in the familiar. That's a philosophical stance that seems to serve the Joe Policastro Trio well. This Chicago-based outfit's debut album--West Side Story Suite (Self Produced, 2013)--served as a distillation and expansion on Bernstein's masterpiece, turning Broadway on its head; Pops! (Self Produced, 2016) referenced both the venue that served as the band's birthplace and the titular musical strain, presenting newly drafted takes on the music of The Pixies, Neil Young, Stevie ...
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