Pianist James Weidman Releases 'Sonic Realities'

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For the past four decades, the Youngstown, Ohio-born pianist James Weidman has literally been one of the most valuable players on the New York scene, as an indispensable sideman with a wide variety of jazz leaders, from singers Abbey Lincoln and Cassandra Wilson, to Steve Coleman's iconoclastic M-Base collective to Joe Lovano's Us Five ensemble. Weidman's recordings as a leader showcase his profound, propulsive and poetic pianism, as does his long-awaited recording, Sonic Realities, with bassist Harvie S and drummer Alvester Garnett. Weidman sees this project as the latest in a continuum of jazz piano trios that have defined the music.

"When you do a piano trio album, it evokes some memories of past piano trios, " Weidman says. "You think about the great people who had trio albums … Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton … the list goes on. So, one of the things that Alvester, Harvie and
I were talking about in the studio was about the fact that we owe those people who came before us, no matter where we take the music."
Weidman owes much to his bandmates. Harvie S is a bassist extraordinaire, who worked with a potpourri of jazz artists including Tony Bennett, Chick Corea and Grover Washington, Jr., and drummer Alvester Garnett (husband of violinist Regina Carter) has
shared the studio and stage with Lincoln, Betty Carter and Benny Golson, to name a very select few. "Alvester and I never recorded together, but we played together in my trios and quartets. Harvie and I recorded together on The Aperturistic Trio's 2013 release, Truth and Actuality. After that, Harvie and I played together on a few sessions with other musicians." Which brings us to this new recording, released on the Inner Circle Music, a co-op label, founded by alto saxophonist and ex M-Base bandmate Greg Osby. Consisting of nine tracks, the non-Weidman composed selections include a dark-shadowed rendition of the classical composer Hale Smith's, "Frozen Mist, " which Weidman previously performed with alto saxophonist Talib Kibwe, aka T.K. Blue; a sensitive reading of Kurt Weill's classic
"September Song, " based on Weidman's arrangement of the composition he produced for vocalist Ruth Naomi Floyd; and the hypnotic, slow backbeat Weidman puts on Charlie Parker's bop number, "Steeplechase."
The remaining compositions by Weidman highlight his erudite and ever-evolving musicianship. "Fuvi Blue, " dedicated to Weidman's wife, is a danceable, straight-ahead 4/4 swinger, as is the driving, anthemic title track. "Reflections from the Multiverse" is a waltzy,
impressionistic, tone poem evocative of John Coltrane's groundbreaking work from the sixties. Stride-ish syncopations set the tempo for "As Quiet As It's Kept, " written by Weidman when he first came to New York, and recorded by vibraphonist Jay Hoggard,
and the title of the ebullient "Generations Generating, " is from a lyric Weidman borrowed from Abbey Lincoln's song, "Wholly Earth."

"Jam for Jimmy James" is Weidman's soulful shout out to his saxophonist father. "It's interesting, because I took a line from a solo that he played that I recorded on a cassette recorder, " Weidman recalls, "Dad would often find and hire young people like myself to
play in the band. We were playing this tune, an old chestnut by Kool & the Gang entitled 'Give It Up.' The first four bars are based on how he started his solo. I always liked the way that he played that particular line. This is my tribute to him."

Weidman's latest recording is a reminder that he is the latest premier pianist from his home state's impressive line of jazz piano titans, from Art Tatum to Stanley Cowell to Aaron Diehl. Weidman was born into a musical family in Youngstown. He started piano lessons at the age of 7, courtesy of doo-wop singer George "Wydell" Jones, Jr., who sang in Weidman's father's band. "He showed me the blue changes and that actually became the start of my musical foundation, " Weidman recollects. "After that, along with the church music that I heard, I could pick out songs. I could hear how music was constructed. …Then I started taking piano lessons. The piano was kind of fun for me."

Weidman played organ with his father at 14 and graduated Cum Laude with a degree in classical piano & music education from Youngstown State University and moved to New York in 1978. He worked with Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Cecil Payne, Harold Ousley,
Bobby Watson and Pepper Adams. Weidman remembers his association with alto saxophonist Steve Coleman was challenging because, "working with that group, you were forced not to think in the standard clichés of how to put stuff together."
Weidman met T.K. Blue in 1978 when they both worked together in a band called Taja and has been a longtime collaborator with him ever since. He also worked with fellow Ohio native saxophonist Joe Lovano in his nonet and his US Five ensemble. "The wonderful
thing about working with Joe is how open he was. He would just let you play, and you just follow the music and you let the chips fall where they may and try to see where the music will develop, " Weidman remembers. Weidman's recordings as a leader include People Music, All About Time, Songs of Spiritual Love (with Jay Hoggard), Three Worlds, October Feeling and Spiritual Impressions. Weidman taught at William Paterson University, from 2000 to 2020, and he currently is an Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano and African-American Studies at the University of Georgia.

As Sonic Realities aurally illustrates, James Weidman is a musician's musician, and a pianist for the ages, who believes that teamwork makes the dreamwork. "I really enjoyed making this album, " Weidman writes in the CD's notes, "and I relished the musical
conversations that we all had together on each track." For more information, please visit https://jamesweidman.com.

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