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Jazz Articles about Meilana Gillard
Meilana Gillard: Adventures In Sound
by Ian Patterson
To nurture a sound on one's instrument--a personal voice--that is instantly recognizable, is not necessarily easy. It can be especially hard if following in a line of historical heavy hitters. Meilana Gillard, the Ohio-raised, Northern Ireland-based tenor saxophonist has been compared to Johnny Hodges, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Coleman Hawkins, Joe Lovano and Branford Marsalis by critics scrabbling to describe her warm, robust and melodic playing. Despite the universal praise for her formidable chops, Gillard keeps ...
Continue ReadingBAN BAM: Bianca Gannon, Carole Nelson, Meilana Gillard and RBG Trio At Crescent Arts Centre
by Ian Patterson
Bianca Gannon, Carole Nelson and Meilana Gillard / RBG TrioBAN BAMCrescent Arts Centre Belfast, N. Ireland January 21, 2024 What do an Indonesian candy floss seller, a Hawaiian bird and the video game Sega Genesis all have in common? Well, in one way or another, and to different degrees, they all informed the music on a memorable BAN BAM (see below) triple bill in Belfast. The artists in question were, in running ...
Continue ReadingRBG Trio: RBG Trio
by Ian Patterson
From small acorns and all that. A Dublin gig in 2019 brought Ohio-raised, Derry-based saxophonist Meilana Gillard into the orbit of bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady. That became the springboard for an ongoing collaboration, pandemic be damned, that celebrates their mutual commitment with this fine debut album. All but two of the twelve straight-ahead originals are freshly minted, though the trio attacks these burners and ballads with the same swagger and intuitive feeling that are the hallmarks of ...
Continue ReadingMeilana Gillard: Dream Within A Dream
by Ian Patterson
There are eight years between Ohio-born, Belfast-based tenor saxophonist Meilana Gillard's impressive debut, Day One (Inner circle Music, 2009), and her follow-up, Dream Within A Dream (Lyte Records, 2017) -simply way too long a gap for a musician and composer of her talents. Her debut, backed by Nir Felder, Tyshawn Sorey, Marcos Varela and Sam Barsh, flitted between classic jazz balladry and a more contemporary, upbeat vibe. For this all-acoustic outing, Gillard pins her old-school colors firmly to the mast, ...
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