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Jazz Articles about Vinnie Sperrazza
New Faces: Straight Forward
by David A. Orthmann
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 ...
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by Paul Rauch
The collection of musicians on this record, collectively referred to as “New Faces," is an attempt by Posi-Tone producer Marc Free to create a sampler of the label's mission, utilizing a selection of young leaders to collectively personify their overall musical vision. As stated on the Posi- Tone website, “The entire series of succinct performances included on this album are deliberately intended to provide accurate practical auditory insight and representation of the musical aesthetics and operational ethos of Posi-Tone Records." ...
read moreVinnie Sperrazza Apocryphal: Hide Ye Idols
by Troy Collins
Forward-thinking drummer Vinnie Sperrazza has proven to be an exceptionally creative and magnanimous bandleader; Hide Ye Idols expands well beyond the imaginative inroads made on Apocryphal, his impressive 2014 debut for Loyal Label. Conveying a distinctive group sound, the original lineup featured on his first album--alto saxophonist Loren Stillman, guitarist Brandon Seabrook, and bassist Eivind Opsvik--returns, now a touring unit with a namesake evoking its origins. Produced by Paris Monster's Geoff Kraly and mastered by Kneebody's Nate Wood, this modernistic ...
read moreVinnie Sperrazza: Juxtaposition
by David A. Orthmann
The most intriguing thing about Juxtaposition, Vinnie Sperrazza's recently released recording, is its loose grip on the jazz tradition. The disc's twelve tracks don't come with a set of standard, recognizable references. Not unlike many of today's leading young artists, Sperrazza has absorbed the lessons of the music's past, and is currently interested in doing things on his own terms instead of dwelling in the accomplishments of his elders. The other essential aspect of the record is it's overall disposition--the ...
read moreVinnie Sperrazza: Apocryphal
by Vincenzo Roggero
Batterista piuttosto indaffarato, richiesto e apprezzato da molti musicisti, co-leader dei 40Twenty con Jacob Sacks, Vinnie Sperrazza debutta da solista con un gran album. Bastano i primi tre minuti di Apocryphal per intuire che questo sarà un disco ad alto tasso di interesse, giocato sui contrasti, sintonizzato su frequenze spesso disturbate che allertano continuamente le antenne degli ascoltatori. Vi è dunque una melodia dai toni pastorali esposta dal sax di Loren Stillman, morbido e rassicurante nel suo ...
read moreVinnie Sperrazza: Apocryphal
by Dave Wayne
An understated but highly-skilled and insanely versatile drummer in the vein of Kenny Wolleson, Jeff Hirshfield, and Paul Motian, Vinnie Sperrazza has been turning up on all sorts of interesting recordings over the past half-decade or so. Co-leader of 40Twenty with Jacob Sacks, Jacob Garchik, and Dave Ambrosio, Sperrazza is also in a trio with Sacks and bassist Masa Kamaguchi, and is one fourth of Hush Point; a brainy collaboration with veteran trumpeter John McNeil and alto saxophonist Jeremy Udden. ...
read moreVinnie Sperrazza: Peak Inn
by Clifford Allen
The piano trio is a medium that became immensely popular with Bill Evans' meteoric rise on the international scene in the '50s and has remained an astonishingly equilateral creative outlet for an extraordinary array of harmonic and rhythmic complexity. However, there aren't a lot of groups taking the chances available to them, instead mining the standard fake book or the popular canon in either a neo-romantic or wholly discordant manner. Peak Inn joins Brooklyn-based drummer Vinnie Sperrazza with regular sparring ...
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