Teodross Avery - The Diva's Choice

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 2009

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 61:51

Size: 142,0 MB

Art: Front

(7:06)  1. Tryin' To Find The Light

(6:24)  2. The Dreamer (Vivo Sonhando)

(5:00)  3. Type Of Girl (Feat. Leela James)

(7:40)  4. Love With Respect (Instrumental)

(5:20)  5. She Doesn't See

(0:09)  6. Interlude: In Portuguese

(4:13)  7. Journey To Paradise

(6:16)  8. Never Let You Go

(6:25)  9. Adult Music (Feat. Roy Ayers)

(5:33) 10. A New Beginning

(7:41) 11. Love With Respect (Feat. Shannone Holt)

Teodross Avery is a saxophonist to watch, as evidenced by many of today’s biggest names in music relying on his wide musical reach. While growing up in Oakland and Vacaville, California, his parents exposed him to a broad range of music including traditional African music, Soul, Rock, and Jazz. At ten, his father started him with classical guitar lessons. Jolted by the sound of John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps,’ he switched to the saxophone. As a testament to his young promise, the great Wynton Marsalis purchased a saxophone for him. He eventually won a full music scholarship at 17 to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, renowned A&R exec, Carl Griffin of GRP/Impulse Records, heard of Avery’s new cutting edge sound and signed him at 19, stating, “I was so thoroughly impressed with his lyricism and writing talent”. In 1994, Avery launched his first album “In Other Words”, which was welcomed by critical acclaim, including a rave review in USA Today, which praised its “mature sense of composition, swing, and improvisation.” After tackling New York City, Avery landed a performing role in the successful film Love Jones in 1995. He then launched his second album, “My Generation”, under the GRP/Impulse label, in 1996. He has also performed and/or recorded with the likes of Amy Winehouse, The Roots, Leela James, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Shakira, Joss Stone, Roy Hargrove, Roy Ayers, Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train), Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, Matchbox Twenty, Talib Kweli, and Betty Carter. Avery holds a Masters degree in Music from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, and is the recipient of multiple awards, including The Sony Innovator Award (1992), The NFAA’s Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship (1992), and The NAACP ACT-SO Award (1991). https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/Teodrossavery

The Diva's Choice

---

Teodross Avery Quartet - In Other Words

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:16
Size: 167,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:20)  1. High Hopes
(6:23)  2. Our True Friends
(5:20)  3. One To Love
(5:23)  4. An Ancient Civilization
(8:10)  5. Edda (Shorter)
(4:39)  6. The Possibilities Are Endless
(7:32)  7. What's New (Haggart)
(6:02)  8. Urban Survival
(6:31)  9. Positive Role Models
(6:55) 10. In Other Words
(4:10) 11. Our Struggle
(5:46) 12. Watching The Sunrise

Teodross Avery, a few days shy of turning 21 at the time of his GRP release, sounds quite mature on his debut as a leader. His tenor tone is attractive, his style is very influenced by Joe Henderson and John Coltrane and he is surprisingly relaxed on the ballads. Avery contributed nine of the 11 selections (all but "What's New" and Wayne Shorter's "Edda"). Three of the songs find trumpeter Roy Hargrove making the group a quintet. The music is very much in the hard bop vein and nothing too innovative or unexpected occurs, but this is an impressive initial effort from Teodross Avery who will hopefully have a long and productive career. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-other-words-mw0000119649

Personnel:  Teodross Avery (tenor & soprano saxophone); Charles Craig (piano); Reuben Rogers (bass); Mark Simmons (drums).

In Other Words

---

Teodross Avery - My Generation

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:12
Size: 160,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:43)  1. Addis Ababa
(8:28)  2. Mode For My Father
(6:24)  3. Theme For Malcolm
(7:19)  4. Lover Man
(4:55)  5. To The East
(4:50)  6. Mr. Wonsey
(6:26)  7. Salome
(4:50)  8. Sphere
(5:19)  9. My Generation
(7:40) 10. Anytime, Anyplace
(5:14) 11. It's About That Time

Young saxophonist Teodross Avery's recording covers a lot of ground, from explorative improvisations that sound as if they really belong on Impulse to selections that use a funky (and even a light hip-hop) rhythm and a straightforward ("Mr. Wonsey") boppish blues. Avery has strong technique and his sound, particularly on tenor (where he hints at Stanley Turrentine, and to a lesser extent, Sonny Stitt), is gradually becoming personal. He is joined by bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Greg Hutchinson on every selection along with either John Scofield, Mark Whitfield, or Peter Bernstein on guitar or pianist Charles Craig. Of the supporting crew, only Scofield (who creates some very unusual and distorted sounds on his guitar during "Theme for Malcolm") makes much of an impression and Avery seems to be most comfortable with the pianist (who is on four of the 11 selections). "Lover Man" sounds surprisingly passionless (showing that Avery is not yet mature enough to uplift veteran ballads) and there is an annoying (and meaningless) 35-second rap on the title cut that lowers the quality of the record. The overall results are generally enjoyable, if not all that memorable or unique. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-generation-mw0000180566

Personnel: Teodross Avery (tenor saxophone); Black Thoughts Of The Roots (vocals); Charles Craig (piano); Peter Bernstein, Mark Whitfield, John Scofield (guitar); Rodney Whitaker, Greg Hutchinson (bass); Andrew Daniels (percussion).

My Generation

---