Jazz Articles about Mario Pavone

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Mario Pavone: Boom

by Jerry D'Souza
September 5, 2004

Mario Pavone brings in a stripped down version of the band he has worked with in the recent past for Boom. He couldn't have done better than choose these three players. They chip in and put all the pieces together so compactly that it would be hard to imagine any other band reaching in and reacting to the music as marvellously as they have done.

With the exception of two tunes from Thomas Chapin, the music was composed ...

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Mario Pavone: Orange

by Jeff Stockton
February 24, 2004

For those of us who need a little structure in this chaotic world, bassist, composer, and bandleader Mario Pavone offers Orange, with offerings from his Quintet and Nu (piano) Trio. And while these tunes keep chaos at bay with tightly composed melodies, chaos is given its due through the exciting and risky soloing of the musicians. The opening cut, “Blue Rex,” demonstrates the influence of the second classic Miles Davis Quintet on this group and features Steven ...

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Mario Pavone

by Celeste Sunderland
December 1, 2003

Bassist Mario Pavone holds a picture up to the light. It looks like a collage of geometric graphics, with strong hues, shadows, and text. “You won't notice a guy standing here," he says, rotating the picture. “It's our driver in Europe. This is a performance space in Munich, and this is our driver but you would never know it if you saw it that way right?"Pavone creates his album covers with photos he takes on tour. He cuts ...

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Mario Pavone Nu Trio/Quintet: Orange

by AAJ Staff
November 4, 2003

Very, very few jazz bassists can cover the range that Mario Pavone swings on Orange. It's not a matter of expansive tonal color, which doesn't seem to particularly interest him much, but a relationship with the notes themselves, and especially the way they are put together. Modern jazz can be real tricky these days when it comes to figuring out how much of a piece is composed versus improvised--whether or not it's led by a trickster like Mario Pavone. In ...

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Michael Musillami / Mario Pavone: Pivot

by AAJ Staff
December 15, 2002

Guitarist Michael Musillami and bassist Mario Pavone have formed an alliance. While each player has forged his own independent identity as a musician and composer, their work in common offers real excitement. Musillami and Pavone share a certain approach to jazz in which the straight-ahead tradition of swing, changes, and song arrangements receives high priority. Yet at the same they constantly strive to stretch the rules and break down boundaries. The give and take is where the sparks fly. They've ...

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Mario Pavone Nu Trio/Quintet: Mythos

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2002

One of the most prolific yet least recognized bassists on the New York scene today is Mario Pavone. Pavone, six decades into life, has no shortage of energy, and this is reflected on Mythos. Pavone offers three quintet tunes and eight trio tunes, mostly originals, on this outing. The piano trio is always at the center of the music, but a couple horns add nice density up top. As always, Pavone treads the line between swing and punch, structured composition ...

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Mario Pavone: Totem Blues

by Glenn Astarita
October 1, 2001

Having spent several fruitful years performing with the late, great saxophonist/composer, Thomas Chapin amid numerous session dates, bassist/composer, Mario Pavone renders his third Knitting Factory Records release titled, Totem Blues. Here, the bassist utilizes the laudable talents of long time running mates, pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Matt Wilson along with some up and comers and ex-Duke Ellington trombonist, Art Baron.

Pavone's modus operandi consists of oscillating rhythms, tightly woven horn charts and multi-layered tonalities, while the band maintains a ...