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SOCAL JAZZ November 4, 2019

Garzone, Erskine, Pasqua, Oleskiewicz Live at Sam First

The venue in which you see and hear a performance has always mattered. Perhaps much more so than most people realize or even think about. Acoustics, ambiance, and comfort have always been important. In recent years you see more and more listening rooms popping up. Why? Well, neither acoustics nor talented musicians making great music matter much if the sound of people chatting turns a quartet into an unwanted sextet. Fortunately, venues such as Sam First in Los Angeles have ...

ALBUM REVIEWS September 7, 2019

George Garzone/Peter Erskine/Alan Pasqua/Darek Oles: 3 Nights in L.A.

By Jim Worsley

Any jazz cat will tell you that the art of improvising is the primary contributing factor in what sets jazz apart from other genres. It is the artists' ability to continuously and freely explore a composition. As they expand the notes and the feel, they expand and open our minds along with them. One of the finest examples of that process can be heard on 3 Nights in L.A.. Tenor saxophonist George Garzone, drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Alan ...

ALBUM REVIEWS November 21, 2009

George Garzone: Among Friends

By Jakob Baekgaard

George Garzone is one of the unsung heroes of the saxophone, who is known for playing fast and hard. Anyone who has heard his legendary group, The Fringe, whether live or on record, can testify to his ability to blow any competition off the stand, but there is also a softer side to his playing and it is this other aspect of Garzone's art that comes into full fruition on Among Friends, which finds him exploring the mood and aesthetic ...

FILM REVIEWS April 11, 2009

The Music of George Garzone & the Triadic Chromatic Approach

By Tom Greenland

George Garzone The Music of George Garzone & The Triadic Chromatic Approach Jody Jazz 2008 Boston-based tenor saxophonist George Garzone is one of the most overlooked giants of modern improvisation. Primarily designed for intermediate and advanced musicians interested in expanding their improvisational toolkit, this two-disc DVD set contains step-by-step instructions, narrated and demonstrated by Garzone, on how to develop a “Triadic Chromatic Approach." In simplified terms, the concept entails generating ...

PROFILES May 21, 2008

George Garzone: Steering Clear of Ideology

By Matthew Miller

An esoteric system and guru status among musicians makes for an easy target in today's niche-driven market. Terms like musician's musician and classicist start getting thrown around as a way to commodify and explain away public indifference. This, luckily, is a non-issue for George Garzone. The veteran saxophonist has avoided pigeonholing his entire career, letting his emotionally resonant music speak for itself. “We never put in any boundaries on the music," said the saxophonist of his longstanding group The Fringe ...

ALBUM REVIEWS November 1, 2000

George Garzone: The Fringe In New York

By Mark Corroto

Sometime after the death of John Coltrane and before the rise of the conservative button-down star as repertoire performer, the influence that Trane had over jazz waned. It’s not that he was forgotten, but that his music required such a commitment from a musician that it must have scared away most by sheer intimidation. Within the past twenty years, musicians like Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman, Pharoah Sanders, David S. Ware, Roy Campbell, Julius Hemphill, and George Garzone have taken up ...

ALBUM REVIEWS March 1, 2000

George Garzone: Moodiology

By Mark Corroto

Legendary Boston saxophonist George Garzone may not quit his day job as a jazz educator, but with each record he releases, the more fans and critical attention he garners. He plays sideman to Joe Lovano on his upcoming Blue Note release and has stood as equal on his own 1996 Fours And Twos (NYC). Like Lovano, he is a descendant of the Coltrane school of the tenor saxophone. That is evident on the opening track, which recalls “A Love Supreme”, ...