Showing posts with label Olaf Polziehn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olaf Polziehn. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Scott Hamilton Quartet & Harry Allen - Burghausen Jazz Festival 2007

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 88:47
Size: 205,4 MB
Art: Front

( 8:45) 1. Just You, Just Me
( 8:06) 2. Lonesome Road
( 9:18) 3. Cotton Tail
( 5:52) 4. Chelsea Bridge
( 8:43) 5. Sweet Georgia Brown
(10:06) 6. Did You Call Her Today
( 9:48) 7. Tickle Toe
( 7:02) 8. This Is All I Ask
(12:26) 9. Blues Up & Down
( 8:36) 10. Blue Caper

Scott Hamilton is the premier 'mainstream' saxophonist of today. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1954, he came along at the time when the kind of jazz he loved-the small-group swing of such great stylists as Illinois Jacquet and Eddie Lockjaw Davis-was out of fashion, and largely out of the public ear. Scott's handsome sound and impeccable phrasing were a rare commodity among young jazzmen. So when he signed to Concord Records, and began making albums for label boss and mainstream advocate Carl Jefferson, it caused surprise and excitement among both devotees of the style, and in the wider musical world.

His first Concord set, [Scott Hamilton is A Good Wind Who IS Blowing Us No Ill] was made in 1977 and took it’s title from an admiring remark from veteran jazz critic Leonard Feather. But it became only the first in a long and memorable series of albums for the label, which now stretches to nearly 30 releases They feature Scoff's playing in all kinds of settings-with small groups, string orchestras, in partnership with such distinguished players as Ruby Braff and Dave McKenna, and in many other situations. The constant is Scoff's creative imagination and the beautiful, honeyed sound he gets out of the tenor saxophone.

While he acknowledges the sidelong influence of players such as John Coltrane, he continues to perform the music he loves, which first brought him into jazz - great ballads and blues, played from the heart, with the timeless virtues of swinging playing underscoring every phrase. A worldwide following of admirers wouldn't have it any other way. Long regarded a consummate interpreter of standards, Scoff Hamilton's big, warm tenor saxophone tone and unerring sense of swing have a way of making every tune he plays uniquely his own. For his latest Concord Jazz outing, Hamilton-with the help of his simpatico group featuring John Bunch (piano), Dave Green (bass), and Steve Brown (drums)-presents some of his very favorite tunes. Tunes which happen to have been penned by other great jazz players, including such legendary jazz musicians/composers as Dave Brubeck, Fats Waller, Illinois Jacquet, Benny Carter, and many others.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/scott-hamilton

Gene Lees writes, "Stan Getz was once asked his idea of the perfect tenor saxophone soloist. His answer was, 'My technique, Al Cohn's ideas, and Zoot's time.' The fulfillment of that ideal may well be embodied in thirty-year-old Harry Allen."

BMG recording artist Harry Allen has over twenty recordings to his name. Three of Harry's CDs have won Gold Disc Awards from Japan's Swing Journal Magazine, and his CD Tenors Anyone? won both the Gold Disc Award and the New Star Award. His recordings have made the top ten list for favorite new releases in Swing Journal Magazine's reader's poll and Jazz Journal International's critic's poll for 1997, and Eu Nao Quero Dancar (I Won't Dance), the third Gold Disc Award winner, was voted second for album of the year for 1998 by Swing Journal Magazine‚s reader‚s poll.

Harry has performed at jazz festivals and clubs worldwide, frequently touring the United States, Europe, and the Far East. He has performed with Rosemary Clooney, Ray Brown, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Flip Phillips, Scott Hamilton, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Gus Johnson, Jeff Hamilton, Terry Gibbs, Warren Vache, and has recorded with Tony Bennett, Johnny Mandel, Ray Brown, Tommy Flanagan, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Kenny Barron, Dave McKenna, Dori Caymmi, Larry Goldings, George Mraz, Jake Hanna, and Al Foster, among others.

Harry is featured on many of John Pizzarelli's recordings including the soundtrack and an on-screen cameo in the feature film The Out of Towners starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. He has also done a series of commercials for ESPN starring Robert Goulet.

Harry was born in Washington D.C. in 1966, and was raised in Los Angeles, CA and Burrillville, RI. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 1988 from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and currently resides in New York City.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/harry-allen

Personnel: Scott Hamilton - tenor sax; Harry Allen - tenor sax; Olaf Polziehn - piano; Dave Green - bass; Steve Brown - drums

Burghausen Jazz Festival 2007

Friday, July 23, 2021

Olaf Polziehn - Gentle Touch

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:46
Size: 130,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:47) 1. Jazz Folk
(6:14) 2. Detour Ahead
(5:06) 3. Dedication
(4:55) 4. The Candy Man
(4:32) 5. Remembering
(5:33) 6. Pensativa
(6:24) 7. They Say It's Spring
(6:42) 8. Rachid
(6:20) 9. The Hands Of Time
(3:32) 10. Never Let Me Go
(2:38) 11. Silence

In recent years, Olaf Polziehn, who was born 1970 in Ludwigsburg, has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s most sought-after jazz pianists. Evidence of this includes his concerts and CDs with such musicians as Randy Brecker, Quincy Jones, Patti Austin, Al Jarreau, Take 6, Al Foster, Bobby Durham, Benny Golson, Scott Hamilton, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, and many others. The pianist Monty Alexander has written of him: “Olaf is in possession of outstanding piano technique and a wondrous touch.” And Bob Mintzer remarked: “Olaf Polziehn is a terrific pianist! He draws upon the tradition and then takes the music to interesting new places, always with a keen sense of taste and style. He makes everyone in the band sound good and is a great conversationalist. All the ingredients for a great piano player!” Olaf Polziehn has been a professor at the Graz University of Art since October 2008. https://www.lucernefestival.ch/en/program/directory-of-artists/olaf_polziehn/2700

Gentle Touch

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Olaf Polziehn Trio Feat. Scott Hamilton - Live at Jazztone Lörrach

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:58
Size: 149,4 MB
Art: Front

(10:53) 1. Have You Met Miss Jones?
( 9:19) 2. I May Be Wrong
( 8:36) 3. Woody 'n' You
( 6:56) 4. If I Only Had a Brain
( 7:27) 5. As Long as I Live
( 7:01) 6. Skylark
( 3:11) 7. Pitter Panther Patter
(11:33) 8. Blues

Researching key signatures in performances of “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” I made a discovery. Everyone else out there may have known about Olaf Polziehn, but he was new to me. After I heard him play the piece (in E-flat), further research turned up these facts: Polziehn is 40 years old. He was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He is professor of jazz piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. That is where the expatriate American composer, arranger and trombonist Ed Partyka is chairman of the jazz department, Dena DeRose is a professor of voice and Ed Neumeister a professor of composition, arranging and trombone. Clearly, things are happening in Graz.

Polziehn has played with, among others, Bob Mintzer, John Riley, Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, Patti Austin and Warren Vaché. In the video of his unaccompanied version of “Wrap Your Troubles…,” we see the only a three-quarters view of the back of his head. So here, on the right, is what he looks like. Now, press play and you’ll hear what he sounded like at the Stride + Swing Piano Summit in Switzerland in 2008. If you’re curious, the original key of Billy Moll’s, Harry Barris’ and Ted Koehler’s “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (1931) was C. If you’d like to hear a splendid version in B-Flat, click here for Hampton Hawes with Harold Land, Scott LaFaro and Frank Butler from Hawes’ album For Real.~ Doug Ramsey https://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2011/04/meet-olaf-polziehn.html

Personnel: Scott Hamilton (ts); Olaf Polziehn (p); Ingmar Heller (b); Alan Jones (dr)

Live at Jazztone Lörrach