Showing posts with label Chris Gale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Gale. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Barry Elmes Quintet - Night Flight

Styles: Mainstream Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 70:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 160,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:54) 1. Night Flight
(9:50) 2. Morning Star
(7:04) 3. Opus 3
(9:30) 4. Sandino
(8:16) 5. Hindsight
(7:44) 6. Azure Te
(6:20) 7. Spiral Dance
(7:30) 8. Turn Out the Stars
(7:53) 9. Funk in Deep Freeze

Barry Elmes is a drummer and composer who, over the years, has made notable contributions to the Canadian jazz scene. On the release Night Flight, he pays tribute to several iconic composers such as Charles Mingus, Cedar Walton, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans and Hank Mobley.

Joining Elmes for this pianoless release are several first-rate players, namely, Brian O'Kane on trumpet, Chris Gale on tenor saxophone, Lorne Lofsky on guitar and Pat Collins on bass. The group leads with Elmes' original and title track, "Night Flight." Reverberating with echoes of collaboration, the front line of O'Kane and Gale is grounded in a textured exploration of the theme brimming with ideas and energy. The Mingus chart "Opus 3" is from his 1973 release Mingus Moves; it swings along with tireless precision. Filled with shifting instrumental textures, Lofsky, O'Kane, and Gale show a devotion to gregarious grooves which are swift and purposeful.

"Hindsight" by Cedar Walton has been covered by many bands since its first release in 1981. With Elmes' dynamic and expressive drumming setting the pace, the band captures the composition's defining essence, including a nuanced solo from guitarist Lorne Lofsky, whose technical proficiency and melodic sensibility are often under-appreciated. However, it is worth noting that these capabilities were duly recognized early by Oscar Peterson who, in the late '70s, brought Lofsky into his band.

Two of jazz's most revered pianists Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans each composed a piece on this session, respectively "Spiral Dance" and "Turn Out The Stars." The former number is engaged by a unique selection of timbre and texture from Elmes' drumming as the melody is established. In this fertile ground for improvisation, bassist Collins delivers his distinctive approach to the bass with a solo marked by a deep, resonant tone and impeccable technique. Evans' composition was consistently included in his live performances and offered in a reflective and pensive mood. The band adheres to this construct and provides lots of interior room in the chart for the players' improvisations.

The final track, "Funk In Deep Freeze," is by hard bop tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. It opens with unison playing between O'Kane and Gale as they state the theme in bop attack mode, setting the frame for the following solos; O'Kane, Gale, Lofsky and Collins all deliver lucid solos with a structural perspective which keeps the material at a distance but eventually returns to the frame.By Pierre Giroux https://www.allaboutjazz.com/night-flight-barry-elmes-quintet-cornerstone-records-inc

Night Flight

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Gale & Rodrigues Group - Live At The Rex

Size: 109,6 MB
Time: 67:43
File: MP3 @ VBR ~226K/s
Released: 2007
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Full House (10:09)
02. Statement (11:54)
03. One-Eyed Monster ( 8:55)
04. I-90 ( 8:09)
05. You Don't Know What Love Is (11:46)
06. Laurier Luxury Walk ( 7:38)
07. Bye Bye Blackbird (In 7 For Chris Driscoll) ( 9:09)

Chris and Vanessa met at a very intense jazz workshop in the Canadian Rockies, where they decided after hiking to the summit of Sulpher Mountain that they were a musical match made in heaven. (well, more like after their set in the dark cabaret in the bowels of the Theater Complex, but a mountaintop does seem more majestic and mighty, doesn't it?).

Fast forward a few months to the Rex in Toronto, where Chris invited his good friend and marvelous drummer Davide DiRenzo to join them for a trio gig. They FREAKED out ... they couldn't believe the chemistry, the magic! It was like that love-at-first-sight feeling when your stomach flies up into your throat! They thought "We've gotta get this band recorded NOW! Yesterday is too late already!"

All they needed now was a guitar, and they'd be cruisin' down the road to 1960's-style organ jazz uphoria! Vanessa brought Mike Rud into the mix ... he's one of Canada's best-kept secrets, and he's BURNING!

So, on March 15 & 16, 2006, they returned to the Rex to put on a show, and they captured it on record for your listening and grooving pleasure!

Enjoy! They sure did!!!

Chris Gale - saxophone
Vanessa Rodrigues - Hammond organ
Mike Rud - guitar
Davide DiRenzo - drums

Live At The Rex