Jazz Articles about Nick Vayenas

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Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days

by Richard J Salvucci
July 16, 2022

Who knew “Del Sasser" had lyrics? Part of the joy of listening to new recordings is finding such things out. And Vicki Burns does a convincing job of it. In this intriguing compilation of standards--yes, musicians can record from the Great American Songbook (GAS) without disgracing themselves, no matter what anyone says--bop heads and originals, Vicki Burns acquits herself admirably. She is solid evidence that the singer makes the song, rather than the other way around. ...

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Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days

by Jeff Winbush
July 10, 2022

Whatever else can be said about jazz, there is little disagreement that it is best experienced in a live setting. Listening to Vicki Burns' Lotus Blossom Days is as close to a front-row seat in a New York nightclub as many of us are likely to get in these times of high fuel costs and crowded airports. Burns is not attempting to blow the roof off with vocal gyrations and tricks. She never oversings as she tries to ...

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Nick Vayenas: Syntesthesia

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 10, 2008

Con questo Synesthesia il polistrumentista Nick Vayenas si avvia alla carriera solistica. Sideman prestigioso con Michael Buble e altri per anni, debutta ora con un album tutto suo. Energetica e scattante la traccia d’apertura, “Voyager", in cui il sintetizzatore crea texture sonore e il leader si produce in lunghi assoli al trombone a pistoni dal timbro morbido e disteso che si contrappongono all’agilità e alla tecnica sfoggiate dal pianista Aaron Parks. Si comprende subito che la formazione è costituita da ...

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Nick Vayenas: First Steps

by Franz A. Matzner
September 16, 2008

Soft spoken, straightforward, and possessed of a pleasantly down to earth sense of humor, trombonist Nick Vayenas' speech reflects well his musical approach--deliberate, unassuming, mellow, and deceptively layered.Candid about his stature as a young composer and player still just starting out, Vayenas discusses the genesis of his musical approach; what he learned putting together his debut album Synesthesia (World Culture Music, 2008), which he shaped from composition to final production and mixing; and what he sees as the ...

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Nick Vayenas & World Culture Music at The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, NYC

by Budd Kopman
June 6, 2008

Nick Vayenas & World Culture MusicThe Tribeca Performing Arts CenterNew York City, New YorkMay 21, 2008 World Culture Music is an artists' collective music label founded by drummer Kendrick Scott. This concert was split into two halves, the first a showcase for the albums by the members of the collective, including vocalist/composer Julie Hardy (The Wish (2007)), guitarist Mike Moreno (Between The Lines (2007)), and Scott himself (The Source (2007)); and the second a ...

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Nick Vayenas: Synesthesia

by Greg Camphire
May 1, 2008

Trombonist and multi-instrumentalist Nick Vayenas unveils a colorful palette of ideas on Synesthesia, his debut as a leader. Vayenas and his band mates chart their own course, albeit one that uses musical maps drawn up by the Herbie Hancock Sextet on such albums as Mwandishi (Warner Bros., 1970) and Sextant (Columbia, 1972), with the resulting path fusing elements of jazz, funk, rock and electronics while bypassing the dated connotations of the fusion label.

The energetic opening track, “Voyager," makes sparing ...