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Leslie Pintchik: Prayer For What Remains
by Jack Bowers
Pianist and composer Leslie Pintchik abandoned a promising career as an educator at New York's Columbia University in favor of writing and playing piano full-time. What has become clear since then, and especially on her eighth album, Prayer for What Remains, is that academia's loss is beyond any doubt the jazz world's gain. Pintchik leads her working trio here, with guest appearances by the esteemed soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson on two numbers and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi on ...
Continue ReadingLeslie Pintchik: Prayer For What Remains
by Dan McClenaghan
As a doctoral candidate at Columbia University studying 17th-century English literature and working as a teaching assistant, Leslie Pintchik could have moved into a life of academia. But, an old story: jazz called. She wanted a music career. A clear-eyed financial advisor might have tried to dissuade her, pointing out the problems and pitfalls of making a living in jazz. She probably would not have listened. In 2024, with eight fine albums under her belt, she offers up number nine, ...
Continue ReadingRoseanna Vitro: Listen Here
by C. Michael Bailey
Roseanna Vitro is a singer's singer in the same way as Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. She is a studied practitioner of the jazz vocal arts, an interpreter, performer, educator. Her repertoire, taste, and vocal chops are beyond compare. Vitro's ability has evolved horizontally and vertically over 14 recordings and nearly 40 years. The singer's most recent release, Tell Me The Truth (Skyline, 2018), was thematically devoted to the rich music of the American South where Vitro capably migrates from ...
Continue ReadingLeslie Pintchik: Quartets
by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
How to keep the exacting piano-trio format fresh sounding? Leslie Pintchik rises to that challenge by making the trio a quartet. Not one or many quartets, but two quartets. The strategy is a successful one.On five tracks, pianist Pintchik, bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Mark Dodge are joined by percussionist Satoshi Takeishi (the brother of trumpeter Cuong Vu's pile-driving bassist Stomu Takeishi; the mind reels at the thought of a Takeishi-Takeishi duet). The idea here is not so ...
Continue ReadingLeslie Pintchik: Quartets
by AAJ Italy Staff
La pianista Leslie Pintchik si era già distinta con il suo brillante esordio discografico del 2004, grazie ad un trio insolito con chitarra e percussioni. È decisamente un’artista camaleontica, che non si adagia sulle forme consolidate del piano jazz. Lo dimostra ancora una volta il suo nuovo disco, in cui cambiano gli orizzonti timbrico-armonici della formula esplorata in precedenza. Due sono le formazioni impiegate, per evitare il ricorso allo scontato mainstream. Una dal respiro più swingante, con l’imponente sax alto ...
Continue ReadingLeslie Pintchik: Quartets
by Virginia A. Schaefer
Both quartets on Quartets include pianist Leslie Pintchik, bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Mark Dodge. One quartet extends its percussion section with Satoshi Takeishi, who played drums and percussion on Pintchik's first release, So Glad to Be Here (Ambient Records, 2004). The other quartet features Steve Wilson on alto or soprano saxophone. A strength of this disc is its three standards, inventively arranged by Pintchik and Hardy. “Happy Days Are Here Again" moves at a stately pace, starting ...
Continue ReadingLeslie Pintchik: Quartets
by Michael P. Gladstone
For her second album, pianist Leslie Pintchik has chosen an unusual musical motif. While her debut, Glad to be Here (Ambient, 2004), featured a piano trio, Quartets presents two distinctly different ensembles: one with Pintchik, alongside percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Mark Dodge; the other with alto/soprano saxophonist, Steve Wilson replacing Takeishi. The music of the two quartets is quite different: Wilson is the primary voice of the four songs--all written by Pintchik--on which he appears, making ...
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