For The Inquirer
On April 19, when Terence Blanchard played the movie music of Spike Lee at the Kimmel Center, Michael Pedicin conducted the orchestra. The evening's best-kept secret was that Pedicin, 60, is a fine tenor saxophonist with seven albums to his credit.
At Chris' Jazz Cafe on Saturday, Pedicin took his turn in the spotlight, fronting a quintet and playing material from a new album, his eighth, Everything Starts Now.
All the music was original, but interestingly, it was not Pedicin's. Guitarist Johnny Valentino wrote almost the entire album, and he played his modern compositions with a clean, pointed articulation, strongly influenced by Pat Martino, but with an ethereal drift more reminiscent of John Abercrombie.
For more information contact All About Jazz.