Jazz Articles about Joey Calderazzo

Joey Calderazzo: Improviser in Top Form

by R.J. DeLuke
December 19, 2011

Creative musicians are generally an insightful lot: people that have curious minds but also have a sense of direction--a sense of purpose, if not a search for it. They express what they see, what they experience. Pianist Joey Calderazzo is among those. A man of extraordinary talent at the keyboard, he's held the piano chair in Branford Marsalis' band for some 11 years and also spent a long tenure with Michael Brecker. Both of those men have had ...

Joey Calderazzo: Amanecer

by Elliott Simon
April 3, 2008

There is a hopefulness borne out of the continued crystallization of pianist Joey Calderazzo's sense of his artistic self on Amanecer. Compositionally and musically, the session is a potpourri. Reworked pieces that date to his associations with saxophonists Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis along with new originals are presented in solo, duo and trio formats. Artistically, there is clearly a developmental process at work here; Calderazzo reaches back to the roots of his craft to extend his ...

Joey Calderazzo: Amanecer

by Mark F. Turner
July 18, 2007

On Amanecer, pianist Joey Calderazzo continues to prove that playing solo is one of his strengths. His fearless and stalwart performances with the Branford Marsalis Quartet have been documented over the last few years but outside of the group his playing soars even more. Like its predecessor Haiku (Marsalis Music,2004), this recording is intimate, insightful, flowing with a quiet strength as the pianist delivers an effective set of tunes (both solo and with special guests). The music ...

Joey Calderazzo: Amanecer

by Jim Santella
June 21, 2007

With five solo piano selections and several with guests in tow, Joey Calderazzo gently squeezes tender melodies from the piano in a program of muted eloquence. He caresses the keys in a fluid manner, adding in blue notes and consonant harmonic gestures to maintain balance. Calderazzo loves to “sing through his piano pieces, providing a fragrant adventure for each tune that's designed to instill lyrical simplicity.

The pianist, 42, has made an impression during the past two decades ...

Joey Calderazzo: Haiku

by Joshua Weiner
August 10, 2004

Until the recording of his new album Haiku , Joey Calderazzo was, he has admitted, frightened by the total exposure of solo piano performance. Indeed, such solo work is daunting to most pianists, particularly in jazz, where the rhythm provided by bass and drums is so integral to the music's movement and swing. Calderazzo, however, exhibits no sign of nerves, and acquits himself nicely on Haiku 's well-balanced and well-recorded program of originals, standards, and one tune each by his ...

Joey Calderazzo: Haiku

by Mark F. Turner
August 1, 2004

The solo jazz piano is a study in diverse angularities of expression. From frenetic tension to simplistic beauty, the instrument can yield various contours of sound. Some of these shapes are realized on Joey Calderazzo's new release, Haiku. A vital member of the Branford Marsalis quartet over the past few years, his last recording as a leader was a self titled trio outing with notables bassist John Pattitucci and drummer Jeff “Tain" Watts. The new recording features a mix of ...

Joey Calderazzo: Haiku

by Jim Santella
July 1, 2004

Joey Calderazzo's solo piano album gives him plenty of room for exploration. He moves gracefully through a program of originals and familiar tunes. Some are up-tempo, outgoing and bright, while others turn loose an introspective nature. The pianist explores jazz from several angles.

It was the parlor pianist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century who paved the way for jazz’s roots. The audience was attracted to the spontaneity and freedom that ragtime and early jazz espoused. ...