|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Paul ’Spazzy’ Winston at the Iridium Pianist Paul "Spazzy" Winston will play Saturday January 27th at the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC. Michael Max Fleming (Bass) will assist him. Paul "Spazzy" Winston played his first jazz engagement at a club called "El Bombin" in Cuernavaca, Mexico. On returning to the states, he composed some jazz pieces, one of which, "Vico-Vico, " was named for another pianist who was playing at the club. "Dancing at Bombin" commemorates his experiences in Mexico as well. He made a tape of his tunes with the outstanding bassist, Cecil McBee and the dynamic drummer, Joe Chambers. A few years later he went back into the studio with another original composition and recorded "Reckless, " this time with the inimitable Chambers and one of Miles Davis' most famous bassists, Ron Carter. His performing career gained impetus after he walked into Londel's Supper Club in Harlem and asked to audition. The owner, Londel Davis, hired him steadily after that. The band included Brian Smith on bass and Ibrahim Saadiq on drums. (Percy Brice, who made some classic recordings with Oscar Pettiford, would occasionally fill in on drums as well.) Smith had honed his jazz chops on tours with Lionel Hampton and "Philly Joe Jones. Saadiq was already well-known as the resident drummer of the Savoy Lounge. Paul and Brian also played duo engagements at Circles in Brooklyn and The Garage in Sheridan Square. Eventually Paul was introduced to jazz vocalist Rochelle Thompson. Known in Harlem as "the jazz singer's singer", Ms. Thompson had performed steadily in New York and at various European jazz festivals. After performing together at the historic Lenox Lounge, she decided to use Winston as her musical director. The chemistry was right as they collaborated on the writing and/or re-arrangements of many tunes including "Not Blues (A Song That Lives On G)". The four blues known collectively as "Twillo" were composed by Winston on the bandstand during a Thompson performance. It is difficult to determine whether Paul Gabriel Winston prefers jazz or classical as he plays both with the compassion and reverence that exceeds most of our contemporary pianists. His graying hair and metal framed glasses give the appearance of a literature professor( A discipline in which he majored in at NYU) but once you hear the sounds of his piano echoing the tunes of Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk you know that you've been a victim of a pleasant faade. His mother, a former teacher at the extension faculty of The Julliard and The Manhattan School of Music was his first influence, as he began his lessons at the ago of four. Paul has played and recorded with such reknowned artists as Ron Carter, Cecil McBee, Joe Chambers, Brian Smith, Rochelle Thompson, Tarik Shah, Mike Campeni, Wayne Henderson, Rau Williams and Ibrahim Saadiq. Venues include the Knickerbocker, Circles, Londel's Supper Club, Cleopatra's Needle, The Lafayette Bar and Grill and Parlor Jazz. His classical resume begins with a full-evening ballet version that he composed on the story of "Beauty and the Beast" The piece has been hailed by Kevin McKenzie, Artistic Director of American Ballet Theater as "a piece which benefits the cause of American music and American Classical ballet in particular and Lawrence Rhodes, Director of the Julliard School of Music's Dance Division, who called Beauty and the Beast "the next step in the history of full-length ballet. Paul founded and chaired Touro College's music department and is editor, essayist and reviewer for NYCBigCityLit, the online literary magazine. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |