Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet/WCS

Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet/WCS

Mar 14, 2018

“Passion Reverence Transcendence”

Whaling City Sound

Facebook: Benito Gonzalez,Facebook: Gerry Gibbs ,Facebook:

 Essiet Okon

Twitter: @pianobg

Instagram: @benitopiano

YouTube- Benito Gonzalez,Youtube-Gerry Gibbs,Youtube- Essiet Okon

SoundCloud-“You Taught My Heart To Sing”

YouTube: Benito Gonzalez Recorded Live at Caramoor

Website:  Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs

Bio – Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon

Photo: Benito, Gerry, Essiet

Press/Reviews: City Guide New York, The Milford Daily News, All About Jazz Review by Geno Thackara, JazzTimes, Texas Public Radio (KSTX), Great American Jazz Piano Competition Give Him the Keys: Improv Pianist Benito Gonzalez at Twins Jazz, All About Jazz

Radio:  BTR Today, KRCB, WCLK 91.9 
8/27/18 JazzWeek Radio Chart: #39 Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet “Passion Reverence Transcendence

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Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet

style=”text-align: center;”>click here“…Gibb’s marimbas are a nice touch on ‘Atlantis’…The drummer brings the most personality to the record with a delicious crashing solo on ‘Rotunda’ and extra rhythmic juice on ‘You Taught My Heart to Sing.’…On the three originals (one by each member) that close the album, in particular Gonzalez’s irrepressible ‘Brazilian Girls,’ the amount of pianistic imitation lessons. (Gonzalez) On a solo rendition of ‘Naima’ he also acquits himself tastefully, if not originally…” Michael J. West

 

Benito Gonzalez, Gerry Gibbs, Essiet Okon Essiet

The title says all you need to know about how three musicians—Gonzalez, Gibbs and Essiet—tackle the music (and more) of legendary pianist McCoy Tyner. Pianist Benito Gonzalez, drummer Gerry Gibbs and bass player Essiet Okon Essiet rally around the music of McCoy Tyner on their new Whaling City Sound recording and the result is pure jazz joy.

Lavishly arranged and beautifully played Passion Reverence Transcendence is an unequivocal triumph of sound and spirit. Gonzalez, Gibbs, and Essiet celebrate Tyner with gusto. Gonzalez interprets Tyner’s stuff aggressively, passionately, with modern flourishes to keep pace with Gibbs’ driving rhythms. Gibbs, in typical fashion, charges into it with his brawny, supersonic jazz drumming. Essiet is critical and fabulous in his support role, diving into a blend of traditional, contemporary and fusion lines that pushes the arrangements into some seriously sparkling terrain.

Produced by Gibbs and beautifully captured, the recording feels live without the rawness.

And it’s all ridiculously high energy. The trio doesn’t bother kicking back much. Gibbs and Essiet drive the opening tunes, “Fly With the Wind” and “Just Feelin’,” along with “The Greeting,” which features a nice interlude from Essiet. Some of it’s playful, like “Inner Glimpse,” which finds Gonzalez and Gibbs holding onto the rhythmic motif while Essiet dances playfully around. After digging into nine Tyner compositions, the three artists each contribute one of their own tunes to close the record. Essiet launches into the wryly elaborate “Tyner/Train Express” and Gibbs serves up the stylish, bluesy jazz of “Between Friends.” The closer, Gonzalez’s “Brazilian Girls,” explodes with melody about a minute in and spends the rest of its seven-minute length making good on that initial promise. While they are not Tyner compositions per se, they are in the spirit of the great pianist and they settle in nicely with the compositions that came before it on the recording.

Together, the trio embraces, and even supercharges Tyner’s vibe without succumbing to cliches. The material is always melodic, always together, thanks to the dexterity and high energy you’d expect from each of these musicians. They’ve proven themselves on their independent projects, and they prove themselves on Passion Reverence Transcendence: The Music of McCoy Tyner.687606010222_SalesSheet

WCSound releases on 11/27 JazzWeek Radio Chart: #27 Eric Wyatt “Look to the Sky,” #45, Alma Micic “That Old Feeling,” Chartbound, Dave Zinno Unisphere “River of January”

WCSound releases on 11/27 JazzWeek Radio Chart: #27 Eric Wyatt “Look to the Sky,” #45, Alma Micic “That Old Feeling,” Chartbound, Dave Zinno Unisphere “River of January”

Nov 24, 2017

 

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#27, Eric Wyatt Look to the Sky Brooklyn-born and bred Eric owns a solid berth along the saxophone continuum originally laid out by guys like Parker, Coltrane and Rollins. Throughout his career, his playing has been edgy and inventive, heartfelt and poignant. In fact, his father was good friends with Rollins and after Wyatt’s dad passed away, Sonny Rollins became involved in Eric’s music. “After my dad passed in 1989, Sonny became very present in my music and offered his help. I was given the opportunity to record my first CD, Godson, on the Japanese label King Records. Sonny suggested the title Godson because it explained his and my dad’s Hope. The Godson CD featured Al Foster, Rufus Reid and Mark Soskin, all members of Sonny’s bands. Look to the Sky, Wyatt’s debut for Whaling City Sound and his sixth recording overall, is magnificently realized, both instrumentally and emotionally. There are musical nods to his father (“Jolley Charlie”) and mother (“Psalm for Phennie”), to Coltrane (“My Favorite Things”) and a few other intimate touch-points, some original, a few written by his accompanist, Benito Gonzalez. Indeed, Wyatt is joined here by excellent progressive musicians, including the resounding pianist Gonzalez, drummers Shinnosuke Takahashi and Kyle Pool, Eric Wheeler on bass and Keyon Harrold on trumpet. Together, their music is filled with hope and dedication, reciprocity and passion. With every recording, Wyatt flourishes, in terms of artistry and intensity, power and finesse. Look to the Sky is the man’s—and his band’s— finest and fullest record yet.

 

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#45 Alma Micic That Old Feeling check out new video for “Estate” on YouTube Alma Micic Quartet serves up a delightful take on timeless standards, embellished by an original, and a version of the Romany anthem “Solnishko”, with visions of a dreamy night, both sentimental and hopeful. Songs inspired by dancing in the moonlight, till the sunrise comes, Alma’s new album That Old Feeling will leave you with a sweet feeling.

 

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Chartbound Dave Zinno Unisphere River of January. CLICK HERE to download a general radio station ID “Hello, this is Dave Zinno of Dave Zinno Unisphere & the new WCS release River of January, thanks for listening.” The songs are lavish jazz adventures, rich with texture, ripe with melodicism, and simply joyful audio journeys. The band is spectacular: Unisphere includes the talents of sax man Mike Tucker (Arturo Sandoval), drummer Rafael Barata (Milton Nascimento, Marc Johnson), Leo Genovese (Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spaulding), and Crescent City trumpeter Benny Bloom. Zinno leads them the way a hopeless romantic treats a first love: gently, understanding and worshipful. He glorifies his accompanists and allows them to go on at length, indulging their considerable talents and making River of January a wall of glorious of sound. This isn’t to say that it’s stodgy. Zinno infuses the work with progress. The band takes the vibe of traditional jazz and reverses the paradigm, so the songs, while familiar, certainly don’t remain the same. There are many highlights here, and while it wouldn’t be a waste of space to speak about them individually, it would be easier to say that these tunes all include rushes of adrenaline, sweetness of melody and serious elements of style. River of January is a work of forward thinking tradition and one that has much substance within it to discover.

 

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