|
Andy LaVerne Piano/Organ Trio Press
Kit
Andy LaVerne Piano/Organ Trio
 Andy
LaVerne
Jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Andy LaVerne, born Dec. 4, 1947, in
Brooklyn, NY, studied at The High School of Music & Art, Ithaca College,
Juilliard, Berklee, the New England Conservatory, and took private lessons
from pianists Jaki Byard, Richie Beirach, Don Freidman, and jazz piano icon
Bill Evans. The list of musicians with whom Andy has worked reads like a
Who’s Who in jazz: Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie,
Chick Corea, Lionel Hampton, Michael Brecker, Elvin Jones, Miroslav Vitous,
Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Stitt, Benny Golson, Eddie Gomez, Mel
Lewis, Mel Torme, Dave Samuels, John Abercrombie, & numerous others. A
prolific recording artist, his projects as a leader number 50+, among them
is a quartet recording featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassist George
Mraz, and drummer Al Foster, Four Miles (Polygram), which reached the top
ten on the Gavin Jazz Chart.
LaVerne’s lastest CD’s are, Epiphany (ClaveBop), a collection of his newest
compositions, and Intuition (SteepleChase), a duo with saxophonist Jerry
Bergonzi. Andy is also a prominent jazz educator, having released a series
of instructional videos, Guide to Modern Jazz Piano, Vols. 1 &, 2, and Jazz
Piano Standards (Homespun Tapes), featuring the Yamaha Disklavier, as well
as the video, In Concert (Homespun), with John Abercrombie. He is the author
of Handbook of Chord Substitutions, Tons of Runs (Ekay), The Music Of Andy
LaVerne (SteepleChase Publications), and Bill Evans Compositions 19 Solo
Piano Arrangements (Hal Leonard). Countdown To Giant Steps (Aebersold Jazz)
is a two CD play-a-long with companion book, of which LaVerne served as
player/producer & writer. Tunes You Thought You Knew (Aebersold Jazz) is a
LaVerne play-a-long CD/book set. Secret of the Andes, a new Aebersold
playalong is a collection of Andy LaVerne compositions.
Andy is a frequent contributor (since 1986) to Keyboard Magazine, and Piano
Today Magazine. His articles have also appeared in Down Beat, Jazz Improv,
Piano Quartely, Piano Stylist, Jazz and Keyboard Workshop, and JazzOne
Andy is the recipient of five Jazz Fellowships from the National Endowment
for the Arts, and winner of the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting contest for his
tune Shania. He has appeared at concerts, festivals, and clubs throughout
the world, and has also given clinics and Masterclasses at universities,
colleges, and conservatories around the world. Recently he has toured and
recorded with legendary singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka. LaVerne is professor
of Jazz Piano at The Hartt School - The University of Hartford, and is on
the faculty of the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops.
Gary Versace
Since basing himself in New York City in June of 2002, pianist, organist,
and accordionist Gary Versace has quickly become one of the busiest and most
versatile musicians on the scene, often featured in bands led by musicians
such as Maria Schneider, John Abercrombie, Eliot Zigmund, Theo Bleckmann,
Chris Potter, Brad Shepik, and many others. He currently co-leads a band
with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen (featuring saxophonists Seamus Blake and Steve
Wilson) whose first recording on Justin Time records, “Now As Then,” was
released in May of 2003 and received 4 stars in Downbeat magazine.
Versace will be the subject of a feature article in the July 2004 issue of
Keyboard magazine, and will record as a leader for SteepleChase records in
the fall of 2004. Other recent recordings include a piano trio record for a
Japanese label featuring Johannes Weidenmueller and Billy Drummond, and
appearances as a sideman on recordings by composer/arranger Maria Schneider
(mariaschneider.com), trumpeter Dave Scott with saxophonist Rich Perry
(Steeplechase), guitarist Rez Abbasi featuring saxophonist David Liebman
(Arabesque), guitarist Joel Harrison (ACT), drummer John Hollenbeck’s big
band (Omnitone), and with Andy LaVerne’s piano/organ trio.
In January of 1999, Versace performed in a two-piano recital with Marian
McPartland, and in April of 1999 appeared on her acclaimed National Public
Radio program, “Piano Jazz.” McPartland has called him “...endlessly
inventive... (Versace) really has an extraordinary talent.”
From 1993-2002, Versace was a tenured associate professor in the jazz
department at the University of Oregon, and has a masters degree in jazz
performance from the Eastman School of Music, as well as batchelors degrees
in both classical piano performance and music education from the University
of Connecticut. He remains an in-demand clinician at high schools and
universities worldwide, and has recently worked with students at schools
including the University of Michigan, the Drummers Collective in New York
City, the University of Indiana, the Tavira Jazz International Jazz Workshop
in Portugal, the University of Kansas, the Berkelee College of Music, the
Eastman School of Music, and the Los Angeles Academy of Music.
Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb is one of the most popular drummers in jazz and contemporary
music. While best known as the drummer in the original Pat Metheny Group,
Danny, during the past 25 years, has performed and recorded with some of the
world’s greatest musicians.
As a group member, he has worked with the following ensembles: Jeff Berlin
Trio; Gary Burton Quartet; Stan Getz Quintet; Pat Metheny Group; Gil Evans
Orchestra; Bobby McFerrin Trio; Eddie Gomez Group; Michael Franks Band; John
McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra; Al DiMeola Project; Mike Stern Trio;
Manhattan Jazz Quintet; Manhattan Jazz Orchestra: GRP Big Band; Vanguard
Jazz Orchestra; Joe Beck Trio; Lew Soloff Food Group; George Gruntz Concert
Jazz Band; WDR Big Band; NDR Big Band; Tip Toe Jazz Orchestra; Randy Brecker
Quartet; Neenah Freelon Group; Blues Brothers Band; Booker T and the MG’s;
Jazz is Dead; Pete Levin Trio; Ali Ryerson-Joe Beck Group; Joanne Brackeen
Quartet; Bobby Rydell; Joe Farrell Quintet; Andy Laverne Quintet; Jacqui
Naylor Band; Fritz Renold Friends; Haru Trio; Knut Varnes Group; Carnegie
Hall Jazz Orchestra; Loren Schoenberg Big band; Airto and Flora Purim Group;
Chuck Owen Jazz Surge; Jack Wilkins Group, and many more...
Danny has also performed or recorded with: Sting; David Byrne; Herbie
Hancock, Chick Corea; Jim Hall; Miroslav Vitous; Wayne Shorter; Larry
Coryell; Kenny Barron; Rufus Reid; Branford Marsalis; Hiram Bullock; Bill
Evans; Nana Vasconcellos; Trilok Gurtu; Dino Saluzzi; Mark Murphy; Chris
Conner; Mike Abene; Gerry Mulligan; Clark Terry; Ernie Wilkins; Mike Wolff;
Badal Roy; Hubert Laws; Mike Richmond; Jeff Richman; Russell Ferrante; Jimmy
Haslip, and many more...
Danny appears on over 300 cd’s to date, including 5 Grammy winners. As a
leader, Danny has 5 cd’s under his own name, 9 as co-leader of Elements,
with Mark Egan; 2 as co-leader with Pete Levin, and 3 as co-leader of the
Contempo trio, with Mark Soskin and Chip Jackson.
A product of the musical education system, Danny earned BM in 1975 from the
University of Miami. He has studied privately off and on with jazz legend
Joe Morello for over 30 years. Danny has also studied with late studio guru
Gary Chester, late Big band master Mel Lewis, Ed Soph, Bob Moses, and Jack
deJohnette. Danny currently teaches as a guest Artist in residence at
Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida, and at the University of South
Florida, in Tampa.
Danny has been on the covers of Modern Drummer, Down Beat, Drums and
Percussion, and Drum Scene magazines.
Recent and upcoming projects include:
a new cd, “Gottlieb-Danielsson project” featuring Danny and keyboardist Per
Danielsson, along with Beth Gottlieb and Tami Danielsson;
appearances on cds released by Jeff Berlin; Joe Beck; Jeff Ciampa; Mark
Egan; Jeff Laibson; Per Danielsson Trio; Andy Laverne; Mike Radi; George
Gruntz Concert Jazz Band; Chuck Owen’s Jazz Surge; Corey Christianson
Quartet
6 Instructional DVD’s from Mel Bay Company
2 Instructional DVD’s featuring lessons from Joe Morello
Reviews
 Andy
LaVerne: Epiphany (Clavebop)
Keyboard Magazine
As if to underscore the fact that we at Keyboard are all about the music,
Andy LaVerne has released a new CD. Andy’s disc, entitled Epiphany, is his
second release on the Clavebop label. The disc offers a new take on the
organ trio: In addition to Andy on piano and Danny Gottlieb on drums,
organist Gary Versace rounds out the lineup. Andy’s article on Gary appeared
on our July issue, and if you read it, you’ll recognize Gary’s unique B-3
approach instantly. Andy penned all the tunes, which are as adventurous as
they are fun to listen to. The combination of these three virtuosos of the
piano, B-3, and drums and the freedom and structure of Andy’s compositions
is absolutely engaging.
Allaboutjazz.com
By E.J. Iannelli
When considering these two discs by pianist Andy LaVerne, it’s easy to think
that he has some kind of obsession with the revelatory experience. That may
be so. But the similarity between the titles seems to be more coincidental
than anything else. The first comes from the unusual inspiration to form a
piano/organ (not one or the other, but both) trio, the second from a “slip
of the tongue by a friend” that upon reflection took on additional meaning.
LaVerne has honed his chops over the years as a sideman to the big
names—Sinatra, Getz, Woody Herman, Diz and Chick Corea are just a few of
them—and as a bandleader as well, with dozens of records under his own name
on the Concord and SteepleChase labels, among many others. Technique and
expressivity, the yin and yang of music-making, are therefore here in
abundance. His further abilities as a composer on both Epiphany and Process
of Illumination, his second and third albums as leader for the Florida-based
label ClaveBop, are manifest. Of the twenty-two songs to fill out this pair
of albums, not one is a standard.
You’ll be pardoned for raising an eyebrow at the idea of a piano/organ trio
like the one found on Epiphany. The arrangement seems destined to generate a
lot of level crossfire, more or less canceling one another out. Yet in
practice the two keyboard instruments are surprisingly complimentary and not
at all competitive. Gary Versace maximizes the juicy punch of the organ,
contrasting the sharper tinkle and shine of LaVerne on piano. “Creature
Comforts,” one of the album’s many highlights, is also one of the best
examples of how the two make excellent use of the similarities and
differences of their respective instruments. Acting together, the cushiony
and fluid notes of the organ buoy its clearer cousin. Acting in opposition,
they threaten to envelop and sink it. This works just as well as on the
slower ballads like “Tear Drop” as on the more spirited numbers like “This
Just In.”
On “Antipathy,” Versace murmurs the bassline while LaVerne floats freely
overhead with the melody; then LaVerne bows out, leaving Versace and drummer
Danny Gottlieb alone to develop a groove out of rounded growls and broken
whispers. It’s a veritable party when all three reunite. The overall effect
is more remarkable than I was initially prepared to give this peculiar trio
combination credit for. May it inspire others to do the same—though this
will undoubtedly be a tough act to follow.
|
|
