#EveningSkyBand#Jazz#Roots #Quartet featuring Chris Brooks on pedal steel guitar, Joe Potenza on bass, Gino Rosati on guitars, and Eric Hastings on drums. #TheLongWeekend digital only 4 song EP with guests Ben Shaw on tenor saxophone and @ Carl Gerhard on trumpet and flugelhorn. Releases April 8, 2022 The Parlour Providence
Chris Brooks, Joe Potenza, Gino Rosati, Eric Hastings
A bunch of our musical friends will be joining us onstage to play the music they’ve recorded with us! Come through and hear us play with:
Singers Tish Adams, Eden Casteel & Michelle MyBelle Hill, plus Wendy Klein (flute), Carl Gerhard (trumpet), Ben Shaw (tenor sax).
Welcome to New England! This time the new release takes us to the smallest US state of Rhode Island and introduces musicians who are quite famous on the local stage – the Evening Sky ensemble from Providence. The ensemble is unique, they characterize their music as “root music under the influence of jazz and jazz under the influence of root music”. Bassist Joe Potenza said in an interview that Evening Sky’s music ranges from Bill Frizell to the Grateful Dead. In general, Evening Sky is a quartet, where, in addition to the bassist mentioned above, two guitarists play, Chris Brooks on a pedal steel guitar and Gino Rosati on an ordinary electric guitar, as well as drummer Eric Hastings. The ensemble already has a number of albums in its discography, and local vocalist Tish Adams also joined the band in her new project, which is why the designation +1 appeared in the title. Adams is also not the last person on the local scene. A versatile vocalist and a popular radio host for many years, Adams is a perfect fit for her collaboration with Evening Sky, which should clearly reflect on the popularity of the new album.
The album’s program looks rather motley. Here is the classic of American music Cole Porter (My Heart Belongs to Daddy), and Wes Montgomery (West Coast Blues), who influenced many generations of American jazz guitarists, and the popular singer and songwriter Joe Henry with the composition Stop, which became famous performed by Madonna, and Percy Mayfield’s old R&B ballad Please Send Me Someone To Love, and Horace Silver’s hard bop standard Peace. Such a set may seem eclectic, but just as everything King Midas touched turned to gold, Evening Sky and Tish Adams turn all these very different works into their own product with a very distinctive personal touch. The group’s motto mentioned above works in this project as well, and Adams, with her obvious inclination towards the blues, sings in such a way that in each track the listener receives a story-story composed as if specially for him. Small Day Tomorrow has been turned into a blues, there is practically nothing left of the characteristic swing in Porter’s My Heart Belongs to Daddy, and I would call Stop simply the pinnacle of the album, and even here there is very little in common with Madonna’s version. In a word, a real indi, a great gift for those who do not like standard sounds. https://jazzquad.ru/index.pl?act=PRODUCT&id=6252
Something special happens when the players in Evening Sky get together. The chemistry begins. The grooves materialize and the melodies fall into place. The sound that emerges is truly its own. It dwells in the fertile ground between jazz and roots, the soft spaces between soul, country, and folk, with the spirit of collaboration and the passion of playing great music.
Chris Brooks, Eric Hastings, Joe Potenza, and Gino Rosati together make wholly unique music and have been working at it since assembling back in 2017. Drawn together by proximity, kismet, and a mutual affinity for unusual and unpredictable sounds, the quartet has the capability of blending seemingly disparate styles to create music that feels completely logical. It’s a rare feat for sure and only advised when the participants are up to the task.
Evening Sky’s newest recording, The Desert at Night, their fourth and most fully realized recording, is rhythmic and smooth, playful, and intriguing. The street date is March 4, with an album release show on Saturday, March 12 at The Parlour in Providence. With Brooks on pedal steel, Rosati on electric guitar, Potenza on bass, and Hastings on drums, the band stakes out an extraordinary aural ground. There’s the sultry opener “Van Cleef,” the mild boogie of “Bowlagumbo,” and the Jerry Reed-style chicken picker “Goodbye Columbus” are all memorable. Flutist Wendy Klein adds serious flair to the title track and the closing “A Blustery Day,” the latter of which features an atmospheric King Crimson vibe and builds subtlely and satisfyingly until Klein wraps things up. “Bill’s Porch” would sound great on a summery, sunshiny porch with a frosty lemonade. Brooks’ pedal steel carries the lead responsibility and it’s a delight. Easy listening, indeed, with the emphasis on aaaah.
Recorded by Hastings at The Grapevine in Providence, mixed by Graham Mellor at Uptown Sound, also in Providence, and mastered by Scott Craggs at Old Colony Mastering, the songs on The Desert at Night are all composed by Gino Rosati, except for the funky jazz nugget, “Where the Buses Don’t Run,” written by Potenza. All the tracks on this recording are instrumental, though the band works with some very talented vocalists. (When you get a chance, check out the band’s epic cover of Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited.”)
Incidentally, Evening Sky is staying busy, with a full slate of shows and upcoming recording sessions, including a recording with singer Tish Adamsand an additional handful of new music.
Whaling City Sound warmly thanks the knowledgeable and committed readers of DOWNBEAT Magazine for the honor of making our label #5 on the list of esteemed jazz labels for the year 2020-21. While some deride polls as “popularity contests,” all of us at Whaling City Sound have no problem being considered near the top of those organizations who bring jazz to you on a regular basis.
We are also thankful that many of the artists featured on our releases in recent years, either as leaders, co-leaders, or side-persons, have been recognized by Downbeat readers. Congratulations to those who have achieved this well-earned recognition. If we left anyone out of the list below, we apologize, and again, thank you for listening and voting. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to know more about which releases include any particular musicians. ~Neal Weiss, President.
Hall of Fame: Kenny Barron #2
Jazz Artist: Christian McBride: #2, Kenny Barron: #7, Teri Lyne Carrington
Trumpet: Ingrid Jensen
Trombone: Steve Davis
Soprano sax: David Liebman #2,
Alto sax: Greg Abate: #2
Tenor Sax: Gerry Bergonzi
Flute: Ted Nash, David Liebman
Piano: Chick Corea, #1, Kenny Barron, #3
Keyboard: Mark Cary
Organ: Joey DeFrancesco, #1: Larry Goldings, #3
Guitar: Russell Malone
Bass: Ron Carter, #2: John Patitucci, Linda May Han Oh, Dezron Douglas
Drums: Teri Lyne Carrington, #3: Joe Farnsworth; Johnathan Blake, Jeff “Tain” Watts
O’s Notes: Saxophonist Dino Govoni leads a quintet with Alex Sipiagin (t), Henry Hey (p), Michael Pope (b) and Jeff “Tain” Watts (d). The music was mostly original, composed by Paul Nigel (4) with Hey (2), Pope (1), and Govoni (1) along with a swinging cover of Hal Crook’s “Thinkers Anonymous”. The band maintains that energy, especially on “Stories Passed”. Dino’s best illustrations are on “Ask Again” And “Apels to Apples”, overflowing with passion.
“Hiding in Plain Sight” is a jazz album featuring Dino Govoni on tenor saxophone, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet and flugelhorn, Henry Hey on piano, Michael Pope on acoustic and electric bass, and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts on drums. The smooth, versatile, evocative music takes the listener on an auditory pleasure cruise. Hiding in Plain Sight is a treasure for jazz connoisseurs, highly recommended. The tracks are Stories Passed, Cobalt, Falling Ahead, Thinkers Anonymous, Ask Again, Sublimate, Point Turn, Appels to Apples, and Edge Walker.
Tenor saxophonist Dino Govoni is best known as a longtime professor at the famous Berklee College in Boston and an excellent session musician. So on our site until now, his name has appeared as a participant in the recordings of other performers. But he also has his own leadership records. He does not often release his own albums, mainly on Whaling City Sound. And his last album, the third on this label, appeared here after a long break.
Hiding in Plain Sight was recorded in Brooklyn in January 2020 as a quintet. For this project, Dino put together an excellent team. The second brass voice in the quintet was the trumpet player Alex Sipiagin, one of the most successful representatives of the Russian jazz diaspora in the States, the place at the piano was taken by Dino’s main assistant on the project, Henry Hey, Michael Pope played the bass, and one of the most popular modern ones sat at the drums. jazz drummers Jeff “Tain” Watts.
Together they performed a program of nine songs. Dino’s greatest interest was aroused by the music of the jazz veteran Paul Nagel, who worked with Robben Ford, Bobby McFerrin, Boz Skaggs: the album included as many as four of his compositions. Hey brought two plays to the project, one each by Pope and Govoni himself. Stylistically, the music of Hiding in Plain Sight is a typical neo-pop mainstream with a stable structure of pieces, developed solo performers and a relatively regular rhythm. For those who love this direction, Hiding in Plain Sight is just perfect, given the high class of performers. For me personally, the favorite of the album was Nagel’s play Falling Ahead with its somewhat mysterious atmosphere and catchy melody. But this is already a matter of tastes.
As for Dino Govoni himself, Hiding in Plain Sight gave me an interesting observation. Today in American jazz there is a whole cohort of the most talented tenor saxophonists of Italian-American origin. And next to the giant Joe Lovano, next to Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone (by the way, Dino’s teachers), Dino Govoni also occupies a worthy place in it.
Musicians are always trying to reach the next level as instrumentalists, as composers or as band leaders. Tenorist Dino Govoni states that he has finally found his own voice in this album, which will be released on 10.15.2021 via the Whaling City Sound label. This time, he was very satisfied with the sound of the album, he performed without worrying about how he should approach each piece. On this album, he is accompanied by Alex Sipiagin on trumpet and flugelhorn, Henry Hey on piano, Michael Pope on acoustic and electric bass and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums.
When you look at his background, two strong voices stand out at the basis of Govoni’s education. These are Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone. These two important names will be a strong reference for music lovers who know jazz well to understand how solid the background of Govoni is.
In “Hiding In Plain Sight”, we will witness that Govoni is a versatile composer, a unique session player, as a long-time faculty member at Berklee College of Music. Pianist Henry Hey’s elegant touch, Sipiagin’s bright-toned trumpet and Jeff “Tain” Watts’ cymbals make the listener jump, increasing the tempo of the music. Extremely thunderous performances, astonishing solo scores are connected with each other with smooth transitions. If you haven’t heard the name Dino Govoni before, this album is a good showcase for him.
For more information please visit the record company.
Dave Zinno and his Unisphere bandmates—Mike Tucker on tenor sax, Eric Benny Bloom on trumpet and flugelhorn, Leo Genovese on keyboards, Tim Ray on piano, Rafael Barata, drums and percussion, and special guest Rafael Rocha on trombone—have been writing and practicing, biding their time until jazz scene reopened. In that time, Unisphere took advantage and managed to piece together, Fetish, a brilliant and beautiful album. The colorful panorama, tonal palette, and sonic breadth featured on Fetish are breathtaking. Zinno’s Unisphere is jubilant, rapturous, and free. Everyone contributed compositions or arrangements to the project, which creates a stunning picture of the diversity represented by this group. Fetish is the sound of that catharsis, that anticipation, a primal release of aural energy. “This project is the culmination of a year without live music,” says Zinno. “Every ounce of energy and ambition, in reserve from not expending it for so long, is on this record. I hope people feel what we felt while creating it.”
New World N Jazz Dave Zinno Unisphere “Fetish” 9th Most Added (+12) JazzWeek radio 📻 chart 9/20/21
Music industry consultant and publicist Ginny Shea has garnered international exposure for her clients through radio and video promotion, print media, and her vast industry network.
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Welcome to New England! This time the new release takes us to the smallest US state of Rhode Island and introduces musicians who are quite famous on the local stage – the Evening Sky ensemble from Providence. The ensemble is unique, they characterize their music as “root music under the influence of jazz and jazz under the influence of root music”. Bassist Joe Potenza said in an interview that Evening Sky’s music ranges from Bill Frizell to the Grateful Dead. In general, Evening Sky is a quartet, where, in addition to the bassist mentioned above, two guitarists play, Chris Brooks on a pedal steel guitar and Gino Rosati on an ordinary electric guitar, as well as drummer Eric Hastings. The ensemble already has a number of albums in its discography, and local vocalist Tish Adams also joined the band in her new project, which is why the designation +1 appeared in the title. Adams is also not the last person on the local scene. A versatile vocalist and a popular radio host for many years, Adams is a perfect fit for her collaboration with Evening Sky, which should clearly reflect on the popularity of the new album.
Music industry consultant and publicist Ginny Shea has garnered international exposure for her clients through radio and video promotion, print media, and her vast industry network.
