Jazz Articles about Michael Pedicin

Michael Pedicin: 'Just the Three of Us' at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
September 20, 2022

Michael Pedicin: Just the Three of Us Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA September 10, 2022 This superb set of mainstream jazz by three accomplished and dedicated musicians: Michael Pedicin on tenor saxophone, Jim Ridl on piano, and Dean Johnson on bass, owes much of its successful execution to the trio format without drums. The absence of drums places more of the rhythmic responsibility on the others, especially the bass, but it also ...

Michael Pedicin: As It Should Be: Ballads 2

by Dan Bilawsky
June 21, 2017

With Ballads...Searching For Peace (Self Produced, 2011), saxophonist Michael Pedicin managed to produce a work that satisfied by focusing on subdued sentiments while also shining a light on the compositions of some of the great tenors of all time. On this perfectly complementary companion piece, Pedicin dims the lights and wears his heart on his sleeve again. But this time it's guitarist Johnnie Valentino's music that's in the spotlight. Eight of the ten tracks that comprise As ...

Michael Pedicin: Compassion Joins Creativity

by R.J. DeLuke
December 16, 2013

Saxophonist Michael Pedicin, he of the rich tone and fertile imagination, is on a tear lately. His last three albums are remarkable, exhibiting both his catchy improvisational skill and simple beauty. His 2011 album, Ballads... Searching for Peace (Jazz Hut Records) is that beauty on display and one of the best ballad albums to come a long in a while. Now, Pedicin has crafted an album of varied music, named for his view of how the world should ...

Michael Pedicin: Why Stop Now/Ubuntu

by Dan Bilawsky
September 24, 2013

Michael Pedicin, like many a tenor saxophonist, bows at the altar of John Coltrane. Pedicin's work in the past has frequently referenced that iconic figure through theme, spirit, sound and/or song selection, and he continues along a similar path on Why Stop Now/Ubuntu. For his twelfth outing as a leader, Pedicin crafted a program that speaks in different musical tongues but aims to deliver a single message. Ubuntu, as a term and philosophy, is all about humanity, ...

Michael Pedicin: Live @ The Loft

by Dan Bilawsky
July 25, 2012

The tenor saxophone has earned a reputation over the years as the wrecking ball of the reed family, but Michael Pedicin doesn't seem to buy into that line of thinking. While Pedicin can knock down walls and wreak havoc with his tenor if he so chooses, he rarely goes to town in this fashion. He'd rather play the role of the musical soul stirrer than the storming brute and it makes perfect sense, since beauty becomes him. ...

Michael Pedicin: Ballads...Searching For Peace

by Dan Bilawsky
November 4, 2011

Ballads are often consumed as one of many items on a musical tasting menu, but they can also serve as a satisfying meal on their own, when prepared by the right chef. On Ballads...Searching For Peace, tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin serves up seven satisfying songs from the softer side of jazz, while also paying tribute to some tenors of note. John Coltrane's Ballads (Impulse!, 1963) was the inspiration behind this album, but the dearly departed icon is ...

Michael Pedicin: Everything Starts Now...

by J Hunter
December 31, 2007

"To my friend, Michael Brecker, the ruler of it all.. I miss you." That is the last line of Michael Pedicin's dedications on Everything Starts Now... and it is the key to the whole date. Although Coltrane runs deep, the Philadelphia tenor man's formative years (Pedicin studied with Denis Sandole, an instructor of Coltrane's), the love Pedicin has for Brecker and Brecker's sound is palpable throughout the disc.

It's a coin flip as to what Brecker's greatest accomplishment ...