Jazz Articles about Vinnie Sperrazza

About Vinnie Sperrazza

Album Review

Swing & Soul is the second in a series of recordings by Blue Moods, one of the projects initiated by Posi-Tone Records producer Marc Free to attract new listeners to jazz. The release showcases a collection of compositions by pianist Duke Pearson, an underrecognized figure who worked for Blue Note as an A&R man, arranger, and sideman, in addition to leading several dates that remain in high regard by many aficionados. Five of Posi-Tone's leading lights, tenor ...

Album Review

Ethan Iverson: Technically Acceptable

Read "Technically Acceptable" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
January 3, 2024

The funhouse genius of pianist Ethan Iverson hits full nor'easter with Technically Accepted, an album so loaded with invention and cool it rises instantly to the pack of hands-down favorites for the still unformed year of 2024. Unbounded, Iverson's many quirks and instigations hurl madly around the house, the studio, the bodega down the street and it is up to the rest of us to keep up. That includes his two simpatico rhythm sections: bassist Thomas Morgan and ...

Album Review

Shawn Lovato: Microcosms

Read "Microcosms" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
September 9, 2022

Bassist Shawn Lovato's debut album, Cycles of Animation (Skirl, 2017), possessed a conceptual sophistication that went far beyond an imaginative slice of creative jazz. The same is evident on Microcosms, an album that involves giving his terrific ensemble the chance to develop minute gestures into larger, more determinate shapes. The constant ebb and flow that results is compelling, with a sense of order that periodically takes hold amidst the individual members' freedom to find their own pathways to a common ...

Album Review

Ember with Orrin Evans: No One is Any One

Read "No One is Any One" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
November 6, 2021

To truly be in the headspace to appreciate the music of Ember, an understanding of the individuals making up the collective is paramount. The original compositions are not mind boggling, complex exercises brandishing the challenging dynamics of jazz composition in the 2020s. Refreshingly, the writing is open ended, containing melodies that come across as recitable mantras. The individual approaches to modern melodic improvisation within the collective memory of the musicians so easily rise to the surface of No One is ...

Album Review

Mike McGinnis - Elias Bailey - Vinnie Sperazza: Time Is Thicker

Read "Time Is Thicker" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
September 29, 2021

Conclusa la notevole parentesi con Art Lande e Steve Swallow per l'etichetta Sunnyside (Recurring Dream del 2017 e Singular Awakening del 2018), Mike McGinnis conferma la formula del trio con due nuovi partner, privilegiando il clarinetto rispetto al sax soprano. Dopo ricercati lavori con medie formazioni dove ha espresso originalità come compositore e arrangiatore, McGinnis evidenzia l'alto talento strumentale confermandosi l'erede di Jimmy Giuffre e della moderna scuola clarinettistica nata con Buddy De Franco. Anche se ha ...

Album Review

Charlotte Greve / Vinnie Sperrazza / Chris Tordini: The Choir Invisible

Read "The Choir Invisible" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2020

The music on The Choir Invisible, presented by the musical equilateral triangle of saxophonist Charlotte Greve, drummer Vinnie Sperrazza and bassist Chris Tordini, presents the ear with a simple yet often intense beauty. Three strong sonic personalities exploring uncluttered territory. The trio, all of whom are busy members of the New York City jazz scene, formed their The Choir Invisible in 2017. This eponymous album is their first recording. When the subject of an alto sax, bass and ...

Album Review

New Faces: Straight Forward

Read "Straight Forward" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
March 14, 2018

New Faces is the brainchild of producer Marc Free, who comingles the talents of six young jazzers, each of whom has led at least one session for Posi-Tone. With the exception of a Herbie Hancock composition, the material is comprised of attractive, catchy themes of varying degrees of complexity, penned by a number of the label's artists and originally released on records throughout Posi-Tone's two-decade plus history. The record was recorded in one day, the group sounds well prepared, and ...