Harold O'neal Quartet

Copland was interested in exploring various methods of composition that might stimulate his melodic and harmonic ideas. It had been twenty years since he had adapted serialism to his own use. He said that "composing with all twelve notes of the chromatic scale can give one a feeling of freedom. It's like looking at a picture from a different point of view." Copland was the first to admit that he did not keep strictly to the rules of serialism. In fact, the sense of a tonal center is rarely missing in the Quartet.

Pianist Gene Harris' 1992 quartet (with guitarist Ron Eschete, bassist Luther Hughes, and drummer Harold Jones) explores ten wide-ranging selections on this CD. But despite the very different chord changes, they are able to infuse the music with so much soul that the results are consistently bluesy. Among the tunes that Harris and his group explore are Horace Silver's "Strollin'", "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," "Jeannine", "You Make Me Feel So Young", and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams". An excellent effort.

Legendary composer, arranger, pianist, educator, and leader Harold Mabern returns with another Smoke Sessions recording, the engaging album “To Love and Be Loved”. He brings a sextet of exceptional musicians featuring the fabulous tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb of Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” fame, protean trumpet master Freddie Hendrix, and the facile double bassist Nat Reeves, with percussionist Cyro Baptista, in his only appearance, enlivening the song, “To Love and Be Loved”. Mixing up the musicians, Mabern uses quartet, quintet, and sextet sized configurations, and plus a mesmerizing solo piano performance. This recording also especially provides more examples of the power, invention, and empathy that is shown by the long-term Harold Mabern and Eric Alexander association which has enlivened so many wonderful recordings.

It was hard to miss Sammy Davis Jr. during the 1960s, as he was prominent on the radio with a number of hits, as well as singing, dancing, and doing comedy on TV and acting in films. Yet the contributions of this talented entertainer have been overlooked since his death in 1990. Harold Mabern has long thought of paying tribute to him and this 2012 release conveys the joy of Davis on-stage, even without vocals. The pianist is joined by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, with a mix of songs from musicals, movies and Davis' hit records. The quartet's swinging take of "Mr. Lucky" features strong solos by Mabern and Alexander, a working relationship that dates back to the dawn of the tenor saxophonist's career two decades earlier.

Billy Mintz - Mintz Quartet (2013) {Thirteenth Note TNR005}
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© 2013 Thirteenth Note Records | TNR005
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Creative Jazz / Drums / Saxophone

Thirteenth Note Records is pleased to announce the release of drummer Billy Mintz’s debut CD, entitled simply Mintz Quartet. A veteran of both the LA and New York jazz scenes, Mintz is that rare breed of jazz musician who is as comfortable playing standards in a piano trio (which he did in an eight-year stint with the Alan Broadbent Trio) as he is as he is exploring more abstract forms with icons such as Ellery Eskelin and Mark Feldman. While a debut CD of all original material can be a dangerous proposition in less experienced hands, Mintz’s writing is the personal expression of a mature and deeply gifted artist who has quietly been working on his craft. (Several of his originals, such as Flight and Cannonball, have taken on the status of unofficial jazz standards among his peers in the New York jazz world.) The resulting statement is moving, honest and engaging.

According to the composer and conductor Clarence Lucas, writing in 1935, “of the merits of d’Ambrosio… he always maintains his standard of elegance and never becomes commonplace”. By the way d’Ambrosio’s instrumental music was highly appreciated by contemporaries and played by the most acclaimed interpreters of his time, though nowadays seems hélas almost neglected. Alfredo D’Ambrosio (Naples, June 13, 1871-Paris, December 28, 1914) was a Neapolitan violinist and composer studying in Naples Conservatoire with Eusebio Dworzak, Ferdinando Pinto, Enrico Bossi, then in Madrid with Pablo Sarasate and in London with August Wilhelmj.