Jazz Articles about Mario Pavone

Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet: Ancestors

by Nic Jones
November 1, 2008

This is bassist Mario Pavone's second release of 2008 and it's every bit as strong as the earlier Trio Arc, also on Playscape. In marked contrast to the piano trio featured there, the quintet fronted by two tenor saxophones here is a more heated, volatile affair. The resulting contrast is as good an example as any of the amount of ground Pavone covers.

He's aided in that respect by having big ears. There are times here, as with the febrile ...

Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet: Ancestors

by Troy Collins
October 29, 2008

Ancestors marks the debut of bassist Mario Pavone's Double Tenor Quintet. A tireless bandleader and endlessly resourceful composer, Pavone's nineteenth release as a leader is his tenth recording for guitarist Michael Musillami's Playscape label. Dedicated to iconic masters Andrew Hill and Dewey Redman, Pavone pays homage to their legacies with a robust, unflagging set rich in soulful intensity and harmonic complexity.

Longtime associate pianist Peter Madsen and veteran drummer Gerald Cleaver join Pavone as unassailable rhythm section partners, ...

Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet: Ancestors

by Mark Corroto
October 28, 2008

It might be cliche to say that the recording Ancestors by Mario Pavone's Double Tenor Quintet has caught lightning in a bottle, but this is indeed a potent feat of extraordinary music making. The bassist/leader became famous as the primary accompanist for the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin. In the ten years since Chapin's death in 1998, Pavone has distinguished himself with his own groups such as Trio Arc, with Paul Bley and Matt Wilson, his various quartets and quintets, plus ...

Mario Pavone: Trio Arc

by Robert Iannapollo
June 13, 2008

Bassist Mario Pavone's first recording was as a member of pianist Paul Bley's trio on the little-heard 1968 release Canada (Radio Canada International). This was when Bley's trio was at the peak of its acoustic glory, but Pavone's tenure was short-lived as Bley moved into an electronic phase shortly after. Pavone would go on after to release a number of fine recordings of his own forward-looking music as well collaborating with such players as Bill Dixon, Anthony Braxton and Thomas ...

Mario Pavone: Trio Arc

by Nic Jones
June 10, 2008

This is a meeting of minds. Bassist Mario Pavone first worked with pianist Paul Bley some forty years ago, but there's something about the music they produce in this trio setting with drummer Matt Wilson that renders the issue of time irrelevant. What makes it so is the underlying impression that this is music destined never to be resolved, as if the musicians making it are so clear in their innate understanding both of each other and their collective musical ...

Mario Pavone: Trio Arc

by Troy Collins
June 3, 2008

Trio Arc is bassist Mario Pavone's 18th recording as a leader, and the first to consist entirely of totally improvised music. Reuniting with his former mentor, legendary pianist Paul Bley, for the first time in 35 years, this freewheeling session recalls the halcyon days of the early Loft Era of the 1970s.

Pavone made his recording debut on Bley's Canada (Radio Canada, 1968) and continued to tour with the pianist in trio formation with drummers Barry Altschul and Laurence Cook ...

An Interview with Mario Pavone

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2007

This interview was first published at All About Jazz in December 2002. “Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can play weird--that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple complicated is commonplace--making the complicated simple, awesomely simple--that's creativity." --Charles Mingus “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." --Albert Einstein It is often overlooked that a significant amount of dedication, determination, and plain ...