Jazz Articles about Mario Pavone

Mario Pavone and Michael Musillami: Op-Ed

by AAJ Staff
August 1, 2001

After doing a bit of catching up with recent releases of older material on Playscape Recordings, Michael Musillami and Mario Pavone are stepping out again. Op-Ed, the most recent Pavone/Musillami collaboration, was recorded in February of this year, and it provides an interesting snapshot of a working band on its way up. The same quartet that got together for last year's Motion Poetry returns on Op-Ed with a set of perky, upbeat tunes that demand and achieve a degree of ...

Mario Pavone: Sharpeville

by AAJ Staff
March 1, 2001

Unusual among bass players, Mario Pavone has an extremely well-developed sense of melody as well as harmony and rhythm. He exercises this musical fluency at the levels of both composition and improvisation on Sharpeville. Recorded fifteen years ago during the dark days of apartheid, this disc makes explicit reference to the particularly outrageous events that occurred in the South African Sharpeville Township. Pavone originally released Sharpeville in 1988 on Alacra Records, his vinyl-only label. This reissue brings the recording to ...

Mario Pavone: Sharpville

by Mark Corroto
February 1, 2001

This reissue of bassist Mario Pavone’s self-produced 1985 session is an opportunity to hear creative music just as it was breaking into what we now call the ‘Downtown’ scene. Both Thomas Chapin and Marty Ehrlich were in their early thirties and had yet to make a name for themselves as leaders. As it appears that the famed Knitting Factory will soon close, the phenomena it spawned (or more accurately took undeserved credit for), had its roots in the jazz rebels ...

Mario Pavone: Sharpeville

by Mark Corroto
February 1, 2001

This reissue of bassist Mario Pavone’s self-produced 1985 session is an opportunity to hear creative music just as it was breaking into what we now call the ‘Downtown’ scene. Both Thomas Chapin and Marty Ehrlich were in their early thirties and had yet to make a name for themselves as leaders. As it appears that the famed Knitting Factory will soon close, the phenomena it spawned (or more accurately took undeserved credit for), had its roots in the jazz rebels ...

Mario Pavone: Sharpeville

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

It’s great to have this disc back again; even better for me who never did get the original Alacra LP recorded in 1985 and released in 1988. Pavone creates a magical soundworld through what for some other artists might be called chamber jazz, but Pavone makes his own “school” here, as it is neither ethereal nor “cool.”

The bassist constructs pieces with different rhythms, but whether because of the compositions or the players, all of them masters even then, it’s ...

Mario Pavone/Michael Musillami: Motion Poetry

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

While credited to bassist Mario Pavone and guitarist Musillami, Motion Poetry is truly a group effort. Their quartet (with pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Michael Sarin) enjoys a remarkable level of cohesion and energy. The demanding compositions on Motion Poetry (by Pavone and Musillami, as well as Thomas Chapin and Marty Ehrlich) require rock-solid on-the-spot tightness. The mostly upbeat character of these tunes emphasizes punch and groove. Motion Poetry, as the title suggests, emphasizes the development of melodic ...

Mario Pavone/Michael Musillami: Motion Poetry

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

While credited to bassist Mario Pavone and guitarist Musillami, Motion Poetry is truly a group effort. Their quartet (with pianist Peter Madsen and drummer Michael Sarin) enjoys a remarkable level of cohesion and energy. The demanding compositions on Motion Poetry (by Pavone and Musillami, as well as Thomas Chapin and Marty Ehrlich) require rock-solid on-the-spot tightness.The mostly upbeat character of these tunes emphasizes punch and groove. Motion Poetry, as the title suggests, emphasizes the development of melodic ideas ...