Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:36
Size: 162,0 MB
Art: Front
(5:07) 1. Stomp In F Sharp Minor
(7:15) 2. Step Waltz
(5:47) 3. Make Someone Happy
(9:34) 4. Rain
(6:47) 5. Cry Me A River
(6:29) 6. The Producer
(8:13) 7. Reflections
(6:02) 8. The Q
(9:18) 9. Fran Dance
(5:58) 10. P.T. Blues
Saxophonist Jed Levy has been a mainstay on the New York jazz scene for over 20 years. In addition to performing and recording as a leader, he has had long standing working relationships with such jazz luminaries as Jaki Byard (a musical mentor, 3 recordings and countless performances), Don Patterson, Jack McDuff (valuable road experience), Ron McClure (2 CDs and ongoing performances), and Headhunters drummer Mike Clark (2 CD's and new projects in the works.) He has also been fortunate to have worked with, Junior Mance, Eddie Henderson, Jack Walrath,The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Shirley Scott, Kevin Mahogany, Gene Bertoncini,Don Friedman,Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, Chico O'Farrill, Attilla Zollar, Groove Holmes, Tom Harrell, and many others. Levy has toured Japan as a leader and appeared at several international jazz festivals as well as leading bands at such New York venues as Sweet Basil, Blue Note, Birdland, Visiones and Zinno. Diversity has been the key to Levy's success on the New York scene. A recent week found him moving from a concert with the Cab Calloway Orchestra to a night with Mike Clark and Charley Hunter at the Knitting Factory, to the Apollo Theater with the Temptations and the Four Tops, to Birdland with Chico O'Farill's Afro Cuban Orchestra. In his presentations as a leader, as well as in his compositions, Levy tries to incorporate these varied musical experiences. His compositions have been recorded by such artists as the Headhunters, Don Friedman, Eddie Henderson, and Mike Clark. His CD's "Mood Ellington", "Gateway" and "Evans Explorations " on Steeplechase are receiving critical acclaim. http://www.jedlevy.com/
What critics say of Jed Levy
-from the All About Jazz review of "Evans Explorations"Jed Levy has set for himself in his explorations of a piece of the Evans digest using his tenor trio is a daunting one. Levy succeeds remarkably well through his own impressionistic gentle touch, Francois Moutin's up-in-the-mix yet perceptively sensitive bass and the drumming of Evans grad Eliot Zigmund.
-from the All About Jazz review of "Gateway" Jed Levy, as demonstrated on the most attractive Gateway, lives in the mainstream world, but one that is filled with unexpected twists and turns while bringing together musicians who had never played together as a quartet.
-from the Jazz Times.com review of "Mood Ellington": Tenorist/flutist Jed Levy's Mood Ellington can be both admired and enjoyed for its imaginative reworkings of some lesser-known Duke Ellington compositions, all performed with skill and affection by a stellar quintet.
-from the Montreal Mirror Review of "Mood Ellington" 10/10: Tenorman Levy comes up with one of the greatest Ellington CDs in recent memory, including compositions like "Neo Hip Hot Cool Kiddies Community" from Duke's suite "The River?" and "Circle of Fourths," inspired by the Bard. It's also a great introduction to pianist Bill Mays.
-from Penguin Guide to Jazz, a review of "Round and Round": "Jed's playing, though, is again tremendous. He powers through themes and solos in a way which ought to seem bland, in terms of the steely confidence of the execution, yet its nothing but full-throated enjoyment. The sort of record which empowers the jazz-repertory tradition without troubling to make any statements at all.
- from Jazz Review review of "Round and Round": "The first thing to notice about this fine album is what a lot of sax playing you get for your money. Jed Levy's tenor is unstoppable: the music flow out the horn in torrents."
-from the Penguin Guide to Jazz's review of "Sleight of Hand": "Very impressive and about as inventive a departure from the standard tenor-and-rhythm conventions as one can hope for. Levy's broad-shouldered tone and confident delivery give him the kind of full-on swing one associates with an earlier generation, but he's soaked in bebop and hard-bop practice."
Personnel: Jed Levy (ts); George Colligan (p); Ron McClure (b); Adam Nusbaum(ds).
Rain
