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| MPS Records - Roland Hanna and George Gruntz (Feb. 10th, 2017) The Roland Hanna Trio - Child of Gemini //1971 One of a host of jazz musicians with deep roots in classical music, Roland Hanna graduated from NYC's prestigious Julliard School of Music and worked with the likes of Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Sarah Vaughan and Jim Hall. Although Hanna had originally intended the pieces as a suite for cello and jazz ensemble, trio members American bass maestro Dave Holland, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair fit in perfectly with the change of plans. Holland had just taken leave from Miles Davis, and Humair was about to go on tour with Oscar Peterson. Prelude combines Bach and a jazz-rock backbeat, while Hanna states that Allemande and the blues waltz Courrante 'are the real gems of the Suite', combining European classical with Afro-American music. Both pieces feature a finely integrated trio with open borders between accompaniment and solo. More Line-Up: Dave Holland (Bass), Daniel Humair (Drums), Roland Hanna (Piano, Written-By) The George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band - Live At The "Quartier Latin" Berlin //1981 This double album represents the 1980 version of Swiss pianist/composer Gruntz's celebrated all-star international 'Concert Jazz Band'. Over the years, each one of Gruntz's bands was stacked with a new set of jazz greats, but his aim was always to mold the band in the Ellingtonian fashion: each member was picked, not only because he fitted into the group concept; it was especially important that he contributed a unique creative color to the band's palette. As usual, Gruntz gives the musicians plenty of space to play over his sophisticatedly rich arrangements. No One Can Explain It has an otherworldly symphonic feel, with Swedish trombonist Eje Thelin's silky smooth soloing, American Bob Malach's passionate Tenor, and Germany's E-L Petrowsky on soprano. Joe Henderson's Black Narcissus has become a jazz standard. Gordon Johnson's bass solo over an earie synth background leads into the theme. Henderson's masterful tenor is followed by Tom Harrell's mellow solo on flugelhorn. Jasper van't Hof's Ready Go! takes off with a theatrical baritone sax solo. The theatrics continue with Malach's funky tenor, Jiggs Whigham's muted trombone, and a spacy van't Hof on synth'd-up keyboards. More Line-Up: Gordon Johnson (Bass), Peter Erskine (Drum), George Gruntz, Jasper Van't Hof (Keyboards), Alan Skidmore, Billy Harper, Bob Malach, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Joe Henderson, Seppo Paakkunainen (Reeds), Eje Thelin, Erich Kleinschuster, Jiggs Whigham, Runo Ericksson (Trombone), Americo Belloto, Charles Sullivan, Lew Soloff, Tom Harrell (Trumpet) MPS Records New Digital Releases Digital Mastered for iTunes Distribution: Edel:Kultur/ Kontor New Media MPS Records Homepage Release Date: February 10th, 2017 (2 months exclusively on iTunes. Subsequently available on all common download services.) Mastered for iTunes // 24-bit-Transfer from original master tapes // produced by Dirk Sommer write your comments about the article :: © 2017 Jazz News :: home page |