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Michael Dease: Never More Here
Perhaps the most significant thing about Never More Here, trombonist Michael Dease's seventh outing for the Posi-Tone imprint, is the striking polarity of two of the disc's four outstanding tracks, “Mirror Image" and “Blue Jay." In a recording filled with compositions by J.J. Johnson, John Lewis, Jackie McLean and Jimmy Heath, pianist Renee Rosnes' “Mirror Image" commands respect equal to these distinguished predecessors. It doesn't readily fit any familiar jazz niche or template, possesses a somewhat stately air, ...
read moreNew releases and a special focus on albums from Dease and Giancola
New music all the way with two featured albums from Michael Dease and Trevor Giancola... and some great new releases from the Caligola Records label. Playlist Michael Dease “Mirror Image" from Never More Here (Posi-tone) 00:00 Trevor Giancola “Report Card" from Sonnet 18 (TQM Recording Co) 07:41 Ben Wolfe “Blind Seven" from Fatherhood (Resident Arts) 15:58 Billy Mohler “Deconstruction" from Focus! (Make Records) 19:55 Claudio Cojaniz, Franco Feruglio “Insomnia" from Blue Question (Caligola Records) 24:50 Michael Dease “Blue ...
read moreMichael Dease: Never More Here
Trombonist Michael Dease released Bonafide (Posi-Tone Records) in 2018. The disc was a testament to some of his influences—pianist Geri Allen, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, trombonist J.J. Johnson. For his 2019 testament, Never No More Here, he tips his hat to saxophonist Charlie Parker. But he doesn't cover “Confirmation" “or “An Oscar For Treadwell" or “Segment," familiar Parker tunes; nor does he offer up ”Loverman" or ”Star Eyes," familiar Parker vehicles. Instead Never No More Here“ reflects on the artists that ...
read moreMichael Dease: Bonafide
Trombonist Michael Dease was born in Augusta, Georgia. His propensity for the arts landed him at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet High School, where he studied saxophone, voice and trumpet. During his senior year, after sage advice from another Augusta, Georgia jazz mainstay, Wycliffe Gordon, Dease pointed his ambition towards the trombone, what would ultimately become his primary instrument. Dease furthered his studies at Juilliard School where he earned his bachelor and master degrees. His continued journey includes several ...
read moreMichael Dease: Bonafide
Listening critically to recently produced mainstream-jazz recordings often feels like prospecting for gold amidst the dross of familiar templates, all-too-common stylistic references, and unremarkable performances. However, occasionally, even when a record doesn't hang together particularly well and is likely to disappear under the weight of scores of similar sounding releases, diligence is rewarded by a track that stands out and demands to be taken seriously. “Pearls" is the piece de resistance of trombonist/composer Michael Dease's Bonafide, an ...
read moreMichael Dease: Reaching Out
Somebody has to be the keeper of the flame, right? In jazz, an art form that has only recently passed the century mark, that responsibility has seemed to diminish in importance. It's not that music schools aren't churning out graduates versed in the traditional repertory, and post-modern players aren't constantly pushing the envelope of possibilities. It's just that we need more musicians like Michael Dease who, to quote Art Blakey, play jazz that “washes away the dust of everyday life." ...
read moreMichael Dease: All These Hands
Trombonist Michael Dease is never short on ideas, but this one might be his best yet: With All These Hands, Dease traces the early migratory patterns of jazz through his own well-crafted originals. He starts in NOLA and moves along to many a music mecca, including the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York. All the while he addresses regional dialects that developed as jazz permeated different regions while remaining cognizant of the need to avoid the ...
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