Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Giacomo Gates: Centerpiece

125

Giacomo Gates: Centerpiece

By

View read count
Giacomo Gates: Centerpiece
A product of vocally imitating complex bop solos, vocalese grew into a respectable singular art form under its most famous practitioners, King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson. On the swinging Centerpiece , Giacomo Gates uses these two giants as touchstones and makes the genre his own.

In addition to his deep, rich tonal quality, Gates' impressive vocal arsenal includes whistling, scat and mood-inducing intros. He uses these talents to lead us through a delightfully varied program consisting of ballads, blues and bop. Things begin with an easy "Summertime" groove that has the Gershwin classic stripped down by Ray Drummond's bass, only to be kicked up a notch by pianist Harold Danko's chords and Greg Bandy's drumming. Danko's chordal backdrops augment tunes like Tadd Dameron's lyricised "Lady Bird," while his solo breaks inventively explore standards like "All of Me."

The trio traverses the diverse program in style and guest appearances by guitarist Vic Juris and saxophonist Vincent Herring do much to expand the overall soundscape. Juris uses his guitar to color both the title cut and the Gene Ammons/King Pleasure classic "Hittin the Jug/Swan Song" blue, while Herring's sax solo sweetly complements Gates' vocalese on "How High the Moon/Ornithology" and swings with him on "Lady Bird." Herring then takes things a little more out on "Milestones" as Gates expertly executes his own inventively composed lyrical interpretation of the Miles Davis classic.

Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is given a laid back treatment that includes a pleasingly expressive mouth trombone solo before Gates leisurely drives from Chicago to L.A. by way of "Route 66." Gates uses the instrumental quality of his voice to effortlessly navigate the challenging phrasing, exacting lyric and precise tempo demands of Centerpiece to create an engaging, fun-filled session.

Track Listing

Summertime; I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out; Centerpiece; How High the Moon / Ornithology; You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To; All Of Me; Lady Bird; Route 66; Scotch & Soda; Lester Leaps In / I Got the Blues; Milestones; Hittin' the Jug / Swan Song.

Personnel

Giacomo Gates- vocals; Harold Danko- piano; Ray Drummond- bass; Greg Bandy- drums; Vincent Herring- alto saxophone; Vic Juris- guitar.

Album information

Title: Centerpiece | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Unknown label

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.