Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Eric DiVito: The Second Time Around

3

Eric DiVito: The Second Time Around

By

View read count


In his follow-up to his well-received debut release Breaking the Ice (2012, PJC Records), guitarist Eric DiVito's sophomore album The Second Time Around is a satisfying display of DiVito's dazzling abilities as a musician. With an impressive trio comprised of Corcoran Holt on bass and Alyssa Falk Verheyn on drums, DiVito provides the listener with a pleasing mix of well-crafted originals and intriguing adaptations of a few jazz standards.

Located in New York City, DiVito is active on the local jazz scene and is respected as a highly trained composer and educator, with a B.M. from The Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam and an M.A. from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, focusing on jazz and classical guitar. Although still a relatively young man at 32, DiVito's is gaining a reputation as a guitarist to be watched as he continues to develop his perceptive and intuitive skills as a musician and composer.

Utilizing a beautiful yet subtle guitar tone throughout The Second Time Around, DiVito lays hypnotic foundations to tracks such as "2nd Story (the album's opening piece), and teasingly inserts his nuanced improvisation around the intricate theme he creates. Also appearing in "2nd Story" is the saxophonist heavyweight Steve Wilson. DiVito generously allows Wilson ample opportunity to shine throughout the song, and Wilson takes advantage by providing captivating solos and skilled interplay with the trio. Wilson also contributes his experience and musical chops on two other tracks composed by DiVito, "Autumn" and "Sun Script." Both pieces leave the listener wanting more, as the interplay between each of the musicians is joyful and innovative. Vocalist Mavis SWAN Poole also appears on two tracks and provides an absorbing and eloquent contribution to Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" and the title track, the Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn composition "The Second Time Around."

DiVito also pays homage with tasteful and inventive adaptations of "Windows" by Chick Corea, "Iris" by Wayne Shorter and "Inner Urge" by Joe Henderson. With regard to the recording process with his fine trio and with his guest musicians, DiVito plays with a seamless and simpatico vibe. Upon listening to The Second Time Around, it is clear that Eric DiVito is a talent that the jazz community will look forward to watching as he continues to ascend in his blossoming career.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.