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Andy LaVerne: Intelligent Design

By C. Andrew Hovan

Certainly not your household name by any stretch of the imagination, pianist Andy LaVerne is nonetheless a particularly adept pianist who has worked with many jazz legends over the years including Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra, Michael Brecker and Lionel Hampton. He's also a respected educator and has been largely documented on almost forty dates as a leader for the Danish SteepleChase imprint, including Intelligent Design.

It is an out-of-the-ordinary ensemble that LaVerne assembles for the date at hand, ...

Andy LaVerne: Epiphany & Process of Illumination

By Eric J. Iannelli

When considering these two discs by pianist Andy LaVerne, it's easy to think that he has some kind of obsession with the revelatory experience. That may be so. But the similarity between the titles seems to be more coincidental than anything else. The first comes from the unusual inspiration to form a piano/organ (not one or the other, but both) trio, the second from a “slip of the tongue by a friend" that upon reflection took on additional meaning.

Andy LaVerne & Dave Samuels: Between Earth & Mars

By C. Andrew Hovan

Like label mate Harold Danko, pianist Andy LaVerne possesses talent that should be commensurate with a much broader public awareness. One of sax legend Stan Getz’s favorite accompanists, LaVerne has built a sizable catalog for SteepleChase over the past two decades- some 18 strong- with Between Earth & Mars serving as a reunion with vibraphonist Dave Samuels. Also thrown into the mix is bassist Jay Anderson, who completes this rather atypical trio.

Far away from his visibility as a past ...