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Vinnie Sperrazza

Vinnie Sperrazza is a Brooklyn-based jazz drummer. His first album as a bandleader and composer, Apocryphal, was released by Loyal Label on Tuesday, September 9, 2014.

Originally from a small town south of Utica, New York, Vin moved to NYC a million years ago, just after the glaciers melted but before Tower Records closed.

He's played lots and lots of good music with many amazing musicians, but he feels really self-conscious about dropping names and all that so he's just not going to do it, save mentioning the late great Mr. James Williams, pianist, with whom Vin played many memorable concerts.

He feels incredibly lucky to have music in his life, to be able to work with great musicians, and to be able to present his music to an appreciative audience.

He's in lots of bands, spent the summer of 2014 as an actor (he played a drummer- not much of a stretch), is on some cool records that have either just come out or will come out this year (Dana Lyn/Vincent D'Onofrio Slim Bone Head Volt, Jacob Garchik Ye Olde), and as of this writing, just got off the road with the band Hearing Things, led by Matt Bauder. They were the opening band for Will Butler from Arcade Fire for a series of dates in the Midwest and Canada.

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6
Album Review

Blue Moods: Force & Grace

Read "Force & Grace" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


Blue Moods' Force & Grace is the third in a series of Posi-Tone releases in which music of under-recognized jazz composers is given a fair shake by bands comprised of some of the label's leading lights. This time around, the group features 12 compositions by Freddie Hubbard, a figure revered for his prowess as a trumpeter, to the neglect of his talent as a writer. The material receives straightforward no-frills treatments, making it easier to savor Hubbard's penchant for writing ...

7
Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Santiago Leibson / Ken Filiano / Vinnie Sperrazza: Live At Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live At Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


On another missive from the bleeding edge, tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci further documents his fertile alliances in Brooklyn. In a quartet alongside the reedman are Argentinean pianist Santiago Leibson, veteran bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza. Gauci's signature blend from the further reaches of the saxophone--stretching from caustic upper register to burly bottom end--remains a central feature. But on the two off-the-wall pieces, one broaching the half hour mark, the other just over 20 minutes, he promotes an ensemble ...

2
Radio & Podcasts

A Few of My Favorite 2024 Jazz Things (so far), Part 3

Read "A Few of My Favorite 2024 Jazz Things (so far), Part 3" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Welcome to the third part of our retrospective on some of the tunes we have loved the most in the first half of the year. We hope you do too! Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Jukka Eskola, Timo Lassy “The Duke of Bayou" Nordic Stew (Dox) 0:16 Host talks 4:02 Ben Allison, Steve Cardenas, Ted Nash “That Moanin' Blues" Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The ...

Album Review

Mike McGinnis + 9: Outing

Read "Outing" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Il nuovo album di Mike McGinnis si riallaccia a un'incisione del 2013 (Roadtrip, RKM) realizzata con un tentet d'identica strumentazione e un solo mutamento d'organico: Caroline Davis al sax contralto prende il posto di Matt Blostein. Dopo il successo del suo trio del 2017/18 con Steve Swallow e Paul Bley (ricordiamo i due album Sunnyside Recurring Dream e Singular Awakening) il clarinettista torna a evidenziare le sue doti di autore e arrangiatore in un medio organico che ...

13
Album Review

The Choir Invisible with Charlotte Greve, Vinnie Sperrazza and Chris Tordini: Town of Two Faces

Read "Town of Two Faces" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Infused with an inventive and organic zest, Town of Two Faces swings into the spotlight under the deft ensemble of Charlotte Greve on alto saxophone or voice, Vinnie Sperrazza on drums, Chris Tordini on acoustic bass. It is graced by a cameo from Fay Victor, a voice which paints jazz in bold uncharted colors, with her knack for reimagining the vocal weave in the jazz tapestry with her deep dive into a memorably melodic blues-and gospel-shaded piece, entitled “In Heaven." ...

6
Album Review

Blue Moods: Swing & Soul

Read "Swing & Soul" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


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 ...

17
Album Review

Ethan Iverson: Technically Acceptable

Read "Technically Acceptable" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


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 ...

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51
Recording

Matt Blostein, Vinnie Sperrazza and Their Second, "Paraphrase"

Matt Blostein, Vinnie Sperrazza and Their Second, "Paraphrase"

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards

Music changes over time. What was mainstream in jazz circa 1965 is more retro now, 46 years later. So Al Cohn and Zoot Sims are long gone, their music still great, but people coming up with that take on the jazz sound are really not mainstream anymore; they are revivalists. So what then IS mainstream? Perhaps some of the things Dave Holland has been doing form one part of it. There's a looseness that isn't quite “free" in the definition ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Force & Grace

Posi-Tone Records
2025

buy

Technically Acceptable

Blue Note Records
2024

buy

Swing & Soul

Posi-Tone Records
2024

buy

Town of Two Faces

Intakt Records
2024

buy

Outing

Sunnyside Records
2024

buy

Live At Scholes...

Gaucimusic
2024

buy

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