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Michael Dease: Flow
by Howard Mandel
Everything comes together for Michael Dease and company on Flow, which should be no surprise but mustn't be taken for granted. The dynamic Mr. Dease, a consummate musician, sweeps his diverse crew of long-term collaborators and gifted newcomers through a confluence of songs rich in melody, rhythm and feeling. Pleasure-forward, Flow entices, refreshes, buoys and inspires. The album--Dease's 18th as a leader since 2005 and his 11th from Posi-Tone, all imbued with joyful engagement and flaunting stylistic variety--covers ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Flow
by Dan Bilawsky
Michael Dease is always on the go. A flurry of activity seems to surround the prolific trombonist, composer, bandleader, sideman, educator, and doubler. Yet he's always operating in the moment, never distracted by all of the spinning plates. Dease absolutely personifies the flow state, fully immersing himself in every one of his pursuits. This, his 11th album for the Posi-Tone imprint and 18th in all since his 2005 debut, demonstrates that fact as well as anything. Mixing it up with ...
Continue ReadingSharel Cassity: In the Spirit
by Katchie Cartwright
Even on an old familiar tune like Charlie Chaplin's “Smile" (1936), it is clear from note one that Sharel Cassity is a child of Bird, an altoist in the modernist tradition of Charlie Parker. Her first influence was actually her biological father, an organist, with whom she shared the stage in New Orleans at age 11, but Cassity made the trek from central Oklahoma to the Big Apple in 2000 and remained there until 2017, earning an undergraduate degree from ...
Continue ReadingAlliance: Alliance
by Jack Bowers
Alliance is an impressive all-female co-op quartet whose self-titled debut album, recorded in 2023, offers a luminous snapshot of their remarkable talent and versatility. Reed virtuoso Sharel Cassity, an alumna of New York City's world-class DIVA Jazz Orchestra, oversees the front line, while pianist Hannah Meyer provides an eloquent reciprocal perspective and shares the essential rhythmic duties with bassist Carmani Edwards and drummer Colleen Clark. Up-and-coming trumpeter Kellin Hanas makes a guest appearance on the session's closing number, Harold Mabern's ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Jack Bowers
Even though all but unsung outside his customary locale, Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill has drawn into his orbit a small but well-respected circle of jazz artists including bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist Randy Napoleon and trombonist Michael Dease, all of whom have recorded albums dedicated to Hill's diverse and sophisticated music. Found in Space is Dease's second homage to Hill, with a third one in the planning stages. Hill's compositions, which traverse the spectrum from straight-on jazz to ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch
Leaving a legacy in this life is a subject that holds different meanings for people. For some, it involves building a structure of permanence that will stand up to the test of time after one's entrance into eternity. For others, it is more fleeting, something that can be shaped and reshaped, and if desired, completely torn down. For some it is a function of building a monument to oneself. For others, like Central Michigan composer/arranger Gregg Hill, it is a ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space - The Music of Gregg Hill
by Bill Milkowski
The title itself is revealing. A clever play on words of the old '60s sci-fi show Lost in Space, it immediately suggests an irreverent wit and slightly twisted perspective; qualities that also permeate the unique music of prolific Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill. How this fairly obscure presence on the national music scene has managed to garner such a fervent following remains a mystery to those of us outside the Great Lakes State. Converts include bassist-educator Rodney Whitaker, Director ...
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