David Hazeltine George Mraz Trio Manhattan [chesky Sacd 310] {studio Master 2496}

Jazz pianist David Hazeltine was born and raised in Milwaukee, making his professional debut at age 13 and going on to gig extensively in Chicago and Minneapolis as well. Serving as the house pianist at the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery, he backed luminaries including Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Chet Baker, the latter encouraging Hazeltine to further pursue his career by relocating to New York City; arriving there in 1992, he formed his own trio with drummer Louis Hayes and bassist Peter Washington, additionally serving as musical director for Marlena Shaw and playing with Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters Big Band as well as the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. With tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, Hazeltine also helmed the group One for All; as a headliner, he made his debut in 1995 with Four Flights Up, followed two years later by The Classic Trio. He resurfaced in 1998 with How It Is, issuing The World for Her the next year. Blues Quarters, Vol. 1 was released in August 2000. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

David Hazeltine is one of a handful of contemporary pianists who has mastered all of the major musical skills, from improvisation and technique, to accompaniment, arranging, and composition. Even more impressive, David is the rare artist able to innovate in each category. The mark of a true artist, David's style appeals to a wide range of musical tastes and levels of sophistication. His melodies and harmonies are beautifully complex and memorable. As a composer and instrumentalist, he has developed a signature style that is readily recognizable. Hazeltine has worked with some of the world's most respected jazz legends including James Moody, Eddie Harris, Jon Faddis, Joe Henderson, Pepper Adams, Jon Hendricks, and Marlena Shaw.

In 2000 Richie Beirach surprised the jazz world in his guise as "Bartók’s nephew from New York". Those who have heard the pianist in concert with violinist Gregor Huebner and bassist George Mraz, or on the critically acclaimed CD "Round About Bartók" (ACT 9276-2), have also heard how the three effortlessly improvised around themes from Alexander Scrijabin and Zoltán Kodály. Thus it should come as no surprise that Beirach has discovered he has relations with other modern classical composers. "Discovered" in the narrower meaning of the word, for the band of admirers of Federico Mompous’s resolutely unspectacular music is still small; yet it is music that makes you sit up and take notice once you have heard it.

You couldn't have asked for a more sensitive, intuitive acoustic bassist in the '70s, '80s, and '90s than George Mraz. From Stan Getz and Joe Henderson to Hank Jones, Oscar Peterson, Jimmy Rowles, and Tommy Flanagan, the Czech bassist has accompanied one heavyweight after another since arriving in the U.S. in 1968. But surprisingly, Mraz didn't record as a leader until 1991. His first two albums, 1991's Catching Up and 1995's My Foolish Heart, were recorded for the Japanese Alfa label, and it wasn't until 1995's Jazz that Mraz finally recorded for an American label as a leader. Much of this excellent hard bop/post-bop CD finds him leading a trio that includes Richie Beirach on acoustic piano and Billy Hart on drums, although the trio becomes a quartet when tenor saxman Rich Perry steps in on Wayne Shorter's "Infant Eyes" and Mraz's brief "Pepper" (written for baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams)…