Keith Lockhart - Runnin Wild - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Keith Lockhart - Latin Album [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/26/2000

Lewis Wright is an award-winning British vibraphonist, composer and drummer based in London. As a vibraphonist, he was nominated for Rising Star in the 2016 Downbeat International Critics Poll, was awarded Ensemble of the Year in the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards with Empirical, and was awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians prize in 2011. He has performed at venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall and has been a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra. For his debut recording he is joined by British piano virtuoso Kit Downes for an album of his own works InchThere is limited material for vibraphone and piano (especially for improvising musicians), which has the potential to be so rhythmically interesting and polyphonically grand. I set out to compose pieces that showcase the instruments and are built around the language of the musicians. The right pianist, who can speak in this particular dialect of improvisation and has similar taste in the moment, was an obvious choice. Kit and I have known each other and played together since childhood and we share many influences, musical and otherwise.Inch (Lewis Wright, 2018)

Boston doesn't get enough credit as a jazz town. From the days of the Storyville club and Cambridge-based Transition tag to the star factory that is Berklee College of Music, the city stands tall against more celebrated places like Chicago and Detroit. One big part of that high level of creative output is Jerry Bergonzi who, for this date, leads his most Bostonian band in recent memory, reuniting with trumpeter pal Phil Grenadier and drummer Luther Gray. Bassist Harvie S came up from New York for the gig and it was he who suggested guitarist Sheryl Bailey for the album. She completes the Boston connection with her position as the Assistant Chair of Berklee's legendary Guitar Department. InchTo work with Jerry and study and perform his music is the definition of a dream come true,Inch says Bailey who has played with artists ranging from Ken Peplowski to Shingo Okudaira. Here, Bergonzi has convened a fine band for a compelling album, another feather in Boston's tricorn hat.