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Nick Biello: New America
by Paul Rauch
Upon listening to alto saxophone virtuoso Nick Biello, a quote attributed to Charles Mingus may come to mind: “If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats." “Slow down," you might say, “Biello is not Bird, not even close--nobody is." But the quote relates to Biello in that he is far from a Parker or Cannonball Adderley copycat, but he sure as heck is a gunslinger. Throughout New America, this becomes a known to the ...
Continue ReadingNick Biello: New America
by Jack Bowers
Alto saxophonist Nick Biello's New America covers a diverse and colorful landscape, one over which his able quintet glides, springs and dances with ease and assurance. Respectfully, they unravel a half-dozen of the leader's elaborate yet accessible compositions and arrangements. Biello, whose upbringing in a music-centered household exposed him to every genre from jazz and classical to rock, r&b, world music and opera, took those credits with him as he studied at New Haven, Connecticut's Hartt School ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Porter: Hindsight
by Hrayr Attarian
Trumpeter Charlie Porter has proved himself to be an inventive composer whose works are simultaneously thought-provoking and mellifluous. His third and perhaps most immediately relevant release, Hindsight, draws inspiration from the events that came to public attention in 2020. Musically, the nine originals are fluid yet complex and are peppered with sounds from other genres such as gospel, African folk and hip hop. The result is a seamless and delightfully unique fusion which delivers its message with intelligence and panache. ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Porter: Hindsight
by Paul Rauch
Portland based trumpeter/composer Charlie Porter is back, and following the trend industry wide over the past year, has released a finely crafted collection of pieces attached to a social narrative. Hindsight examines how we act in hindsight dealing with the long term societal struggles of racism, corruption and inequality. While two of the pieces feature the lyrics of Majid Khaliq and Madelaina Piazza, Porter has namaged to weave the emotional uncertainty of daily life during the Covid-19 pandemic into bittersweet ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Porter: Immigration Nation
by Paul Rauch
Jazz has always carried with it a social narrative with historical ebbs and flows reliant on the polarizing issues of its time. With Immigrant Nation (OA2, 2019), Portland based trumpeter Charlie Porter embraces the forever narrative of American immigration, the historical force of humanity that has formed and enriched this country from its beginnings. The linear timeline of American immigration that widened at the beginning of the twentieth century has narrowed due to the gut wrenching actions of the current ...
Continue ReadingNick Biello: Vagabond Soul
by Paul Rauch
Alto and soprano saxophonist Nick Biello has been gaining momentum as an artist on the New York scene in the late 2010s, culminating in this recording for Truth Revolution Records, Vagabond Soul. His prodigious talent as an instrumentalist, composer and arranger is plainly on display on this significant offering, as it is on the myriad of recordings he has made as a side musician. His partnership for this recording with pianist Phil Markowitz is a true sign of the respect ...
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