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Jazz Articles about Larry Willis
Larry Willis: I Fall in Love Too Easily
by Jack Bowers
I Fall in Love Too Easily is subtitled The Final Session at Rudy Van Gelder's," as it is not only descriptively but literally the last recording session by veteran pianist Larry Willis, who died at age seventy-six in September 2019, one year after the album was completed at the renowned Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The occasion also represented a homecoming of sorts for Willis who launched his six-decades-long career at that same studio in 1965, cutting ...
read moreLarry Willis + Tomeka Reid, Ghost Horse, Matana Roberts & Other New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
This week we remember pianist Larry Willis (19422019) who passed away in September, followed by the perusal of a pile of exciting new releases and re-relases building jazz bridges between North America and Europe, featuring Midnight Lilacs (i.e. Chris Speed, Marc Ribot, Danilo Gallo and Zeno De Rossi), Ethan Iverson Quartet with Tom Harrell, Simone Graziano, Tomeka Reid, Ghost Horse, Matana Roberts, Alban Darche and more. Happy listening! Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. ...
read moreLarry Willis: Reaching and Teaching
by Russ Musto
In a career spanning five decades, Larry Willis has amassed one the most impressive resumes in jazz, including tenures with Jackie McLean, Hugh Masekela, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Stan Getz, Carla Bley, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Cobb's So What Sextet and Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, testifying to the high esteem in which he is held by his peers. Yet despite a substantial discography including scores of sideman appearances and over twenty dates as a leader, the gifted pianist/composer ...
read moreLarry Willis: The Offering, Excursions & Expose
by Francis Lo Kee
Larry Willis The Offering HighNote 2008 Paul Murphy/Larry Willis Excursions Wicked Chops 2008 Paul Murphy/Larry Willis Expose Murphy 2008
Pianist Larry Willis leads a full, interesting musical life. From these two projects that span three CDs we hear Willis the rock solid post-bop ...
read moreLarry Willis: The Offering
by John Barron
New York native Larry Willis has had a distinguished career performing with artists as diverse as Jackie McLean, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Woody Shaw. Although he's not nearly as well known as he should be, the veteran pianist has established himself in the upper echelon of modern jazz recording artists. The Offering finds Willis in the all-star company of bassist Eddie Gomez, drummer Billy Drummond and, for three tunes, saxophonist Eric Alexander.
The six-note ostinato bass line on the ...
read moreLarry Willis: Blue Fable and Alter Ego
by Donald Elfman
Larry Willis Blue Fable High Note 2007 Tony Pancella Alter Ego Mapleshade 2007
Larry Willis is one of those musicians whose name should always be remembered when the subject of terrific and, alas, sometimes forgotten pianists comes up. He has been on the scene for over 40 years -- from his ...
read moreLarry Willis: The Big Push & The Powers of Two, Vol. 2
by Joel Roberts
Pianist Larry Willis has had an important and distinguished 40-year career in jazz, even if his name isn't as well known as it should be. Since making his recording debut on Jackie McLean's landmark 1965 album Right Now!, the New York-born Willis, who turns 66 this month, has played everything from free jazz to fusion to rock (he was a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears in the '70s), while performing as a valued sideman with such jazz titans as ...
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