Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Rick DiMuzio: First Offerings

119

Rick DiMuzio: First Offerings

By

View read count
Rick DiMuzio: First Offerings
Rick DiMuzio's First Offerings is a very enjoyable album of straight-ahead jazz. DiMuzio, a Boston-based saxophonist and composer, regularly plays in some of the area's best jazz venues, including the Regattabar, Scullers, and Wally's Café. I noted an Eastman School of Music connection with the inclusion of Ray Wright (long-time Chair of Eastman's Department of Jazz Studies and Director of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble before his death in the late 1980s) in the album's acknowledgements. Rick DiMuzio has a master's degree in jazz performance from Eastman, which he followed up with a PhD in composition from New England Conservatory.

Both Rick DiMuzio's playing and composing talents are showcased in this fine first recording, which includes a mix of eight originals, a Sonny Rollins tune, and one songbook standard. Presentation varies from two tenor trios (with bass and drums) to a soprano trio and either quartets or quintets with varying combinations of trumpet, guitar, and piano added to DiMuzio's saxophones, bass, and drums.

The highlights are the two tenor trios, Rollins' "Big House and the standard "Young at Heart. Used by both Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano, the tenor trio is most strongly associated with Sonny Rollins and his 1957 Vanguard recordings. Rick DiMuzio seems to like this format; his tone on these tracks is strong, yet warm and his playing melodic and conversational. DiMuzio's tenor is supported with considerable rapport by the very fine Thomson Kneeland on bass and the superlative John Hollenbeck on drums.

DiMuzio's compositions, which are all settings for improvisition, are very strong melodically. "Waiting for Kate, a quintet with guitar and piano, opens the album attractively with some nice writing in the statement of the theme, which beautifully blends Nate Radley's guitar and Mark Shilansky's piano. "Alpha is an attractive ballad for soprano, piano (Greg Burk), bass, and drums.

Four compositions are grouped as the "Liberty Suite, but no information is provided as to why or what the four individual parts might have in common. The suite is scored for tenor, guitar, trumpet (Phil Grenadier, brother of bassist Larry Grenadier), bass, and drums. These are not fully composed pieces, but like on the album as a whole, settings for solos. Part 1, Head to Head, is underscored with a funky groove created by unison lines of the guitar and bass plus drums. (John Hollenbeck is an active drummer, but his playing always substantially contributes to a composition and the performance.) Guitarist Radley gently opens Part 2, "Night, a very moody, pensive piece, with the theme then stated by Phil Grenadier on trumpet. The third and fourth parts push the edges a bit. These are the most dissonant compositions on the album and the soloists respond in a freer mode.

First Offerings is a fine first effort. This is not a listen-and-file CD; it rewards repeated listening. I look forward to DiMuzio's next recording, which perhaps might include some extended writing.

Visit Rick DiMuzio on the web.

Track Listing

1. Waiting for Kate; 2. Big House; 3. Alpha; Liberty Suite (4-7) 4. Head to Head; 5. Night; 6. Thou Mayest; 7. Psalm; 8. Common Ground; 9. Philip

Personnel

Rick DiMuzio
saxophone, tenor

Rick DiMuzio - tenor, soprano; Nate Radley - guitar (1, 4-7); Mark Shilansky - piano (1); Thomson Kneeland -bass (1, 2, 4-7, 10); John Hollenbeck drums (1, 2, 4-7, 10); Greg Burk - piano (3, 9); Peter Slavov - bass (3, 8,9); Jamey Haddad - percussion (3, 8, 9)

Album information

Title: First Offerings | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Unknown label

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Rick DiMuzio Concerts


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.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.