Jazz Articles about Ted Rosenthal

Ted Rosenthal Trio: Out of This World

by Dan McClenaghan
November 29, 2011

2011 has been productive year in the recording realm for pianist Ted Rosenthal. His contribution to The Westchester Jazz Orchestra's superb Maiden Voyage Suite (WJO Records) helped elevate the re-imaging of pianist Herbie Hancock's classic Maiden Voyage (Blue Note, 1965) to the highest level of big band artistry. With Out of this World, Rosenthal slips back to the more minimal piano trio, for his exquisite interpretations of some of The Great American Songbook's most beloved compositions.Covering classic tunes ...

Ted Rosenthal Trio: Out of This World

by Edward Blanco
November 1, 2011

Borrowing from The Great American Songbook is a standard practice for many jazz artists, who include one or more pieces when rounding out a repertoire of primarily new material. Not so for pianist Ted Rosenthal, whose affinity for music from the Songbook is reflected on at least two previous recordings, Rosenthology (Concord Jazz, 1994) and One Night in Vermont (Planet Arts, 2003), focusing on music from Irving Berlin, Jimmy Van Heusen, Tadd Dameron and Matt Dennis. On Out of This ...

Ted Rosenthal Trio: Out Of This World

by Dan Bilawsky
October 22, 2011

Standards, when presented in their original form, speak of the time and place of their creation, but part of their longevity is due to the fact that they aren't encased in an early twentieth century amber that fossilizes and dates the material. The music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Billy Strayhorn, and Richard Rodgers is timeless, but it can all be refashioned, refitted and recast to serve any musician's vision and taste. The songs are bodies and the artists are ...

Ted Rosenthal Trio: Impromptu

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
October 16, 2010

As legend has it, the term “third stream" was invented by Gunther Schuller in 1957, to prevent jazz and classical fans from resenting incursions onto their turf by the other side. This new musical entity would be neither classical nor jazz, and not just a simple merging of the two: it would be more than jazz with strings, or classical pieces played by jazz artists. The challenge was to take compositions that are centuries old and infuse them with a ...

Ted Rosenthal and Thelonious Monk

by Nick Catalano
March 4, 2009

This is the year for numerous Monk retrospectives. There are many themes. One show celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Town Hall concert when Hall Overton arranged Monk's compositions for a large band. Another show focuses on Monk's pianism at Minton's Playhouse. And on and on. The concert that I found most intriguing was held in a series dubbed Jazz at DaCapo, with Ted Rosenthal as artistic director. Entitled Images of Monk the performance at the delightful uptown concert hall ...

Ted Rosenthal Trio: My Funny Valentine

by Elliott Simon
December 8, 2008

Ted Rosenthal's My Funny Valentine finds the pianist joined by bassist George Mraz and drummer Al Foster in a tribute to singer Helen Merrill. Rosenthal and Mraz have toured extensively with Merrill in Japan and this CD serves up songs from her repertoire. The subtleties of the arrangements combined with intriguing juxtapositions and perfect lyricism make this a stellar session. The tunes are from the Great American Songbook and, Merrill connection aside, this continues Rosenthal's exploration of ...

Ted Rosenthal Trio: My Funny Valentine

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
April 19, 2008

In a skittish music industry where labels increasingly blur their identities and grab at gimmicks just to stay alive, it's reassuring to know that Venus Records continues to produce high-quality, straight-ahead jazz. Based in Japan but recording mostly in New York, Venus has a longstanding, signature focus on documenting the world's best piano trios, and My Funny Valentine is no exception.

This project was conceived by leader Ted Rosenthal as an instrumental tribute to singer Helen ...