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Mike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
The album cover says “Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet." What it does not say is that drummer Melito and pianist Losito have at their beck-and-call an awesome secret weapon, Philadelphia-based tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna, a phenom from the Lester Young school of elegant swinging whose voice on the horn is as debonair and persuasive as any you are likely to hear. It is hard to imagine while listening to McKenna glide easily through cadences from ballad to barn-burner that ...
read moreThe Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
Moderation is a virtue which pervades You're It!, a date co-led by drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. It is a pleasure--and a relief—to hear a bop-influenced recording in which jazzmen (three in their middle years and one octogenarian) transcend influences and forge their own standards of performance. The record is impressive in part because of an absence of frenzied, inelegantly swinging tempos, individuals clamoring for attention, and the vociferous sound of competing egos. Rather than peddling artificial excitement ...
read moreThe Mike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
The bold-face names on this release are drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. However, the name of the performer treasure is buried in quasi-mice type on the bottom of the front cover, and that is tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna. He is the difference maker. The two principals are from upstate New York and have worked together for many years along with NYC bassist Neal Miner. Their interplay demonstrates a symbiotic relationship and consequently they have a sense ...
read moreMike Melito: New York Connections
It's somewhat misleading to summarize Mike Melito's New York Connections by dropping a few names of past masters for credibility's sake, applauding him for preserving the essence of hard bop designs from the 50s and 60s, and emphasizing just how effective he is at forging ties to these avenues of the music. Though all of these factors are germane, they're only a small part of the whole tale. The Rochester, NY area drummer and a band of excellent New York ...
read moreMike Melito: New York Connections
Every town has its homegrown talent worthy of wider recognition. This is definitely true when it comes to Rochester native Mike Melito. Since the age of 16, the drummer has held down the drum chair for countless combos and national acts in and around upstate New York. That he has the chops and know-how to make it in New York City is obvious, but Melito has opted to stay around his home environs and has no problem maintaining a thriving ...
read moreMike Melito: The Right Time
When the word “predictable" shows up in music reviews, it's often wrongly viewed as the kiss of death. Somewhere along the way, “defying expectations" or “charting new territory" have become the quickest way to gain recognition, but the tried-and-true shouldn't be sold short. On The Right Time, veteran drummer Mike Melito and his band deliver a mixture of new numbers, rarely heard tunes and classic jazz gems, and, though many of them basically rely on a fairly predictable head-solos-head format ...
read moreMike Melito: In the Tradition
The last time I reviewed something from gifted drummer Mike Melito was in 2007, when he co-released All Through the Night (Indies Records), with guitarist Bob Sneider and bassist Phil Flanigan. Aside from the high quality of the music these guys are making up in Rochester, New York, what impressed me the most was the audible and contagious fun that the band was having. “A great ride," I said.Well, he's done it again, since the same things can ...
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