Paul Giallorenzo Trio “Play” Delmark, 2023
Paul Giallorenzo - piano, compositions
Joshua Abrams - double bass
Mikel Patrick Avery - drums
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Recent press:
︎︎︎Dusted (Bill Meyer)
︎︎︎Block Club Chicago Feature (Bobby Reed)
︎︎︎Nowhere Street (Peter Margasak)
︎︎︎JazzWord (Ken Waxman)
︎︎︎NYC Jazz Record_p31 (Jeff Cebulski)
︎︎︎Album press release
Paul Giallorenzo Trio “Play”
Giallorenzo plays beyond the theme-and-variations format, happy to skip beyond the well-worn phrases of silky piano trios, ready to take the game in an oblique direction at every turn. Plenty of musicians have explored such areas: the jazz avant-garde evolved thanks to the legendary artists who “played outside.” Most of those musicians were adept at playing “inside” as well; it’s said that Ornette Coleman, for example, could sound exactly like Charlie Parker when he chose.
And today’s post-freedom musicians sometimes surprise ardent avant-garde fans with their mastery of music that they have supposedly jettisoned from their repertoire. But not so many artists can adeptly merge these approaches into one theory of mind, and such “inside-outside” musicians—the category that certainly includes Giallorenzo’s trio—are a separate gang.
They infuse the tradition into their edgier romps, and vice-versa; more to the point, they inhabit both territories at the same time. So while the music in "Play" can grab the ear of musical adventurers, it also won’t frighten those just dipping their toes into this particular stream. These players find a middle ground—not by compromising the new or the old, but by elevating the virtues of each.
It’s not so easy to make music this demanding and yet so deceptively fluid. ... These performances arise from a combination of focus and intensity, dedication and rigor. But they sure don’t sound like “work.” Whether outside or in, the message remains the same: Play
From the liner notes by Neil Tesser
RedGreenBlue
“The End and the Beginning”
Astral Spirits, 2022
The debut LP from RedGreenBlue posits a mesmeric, minimalist extension of Chicago's groove-based improvised music tradition. Over the course of two introverted, side-long pieces, the band patiently crafts hypnotic—yet still dynamic—sonic spaces using languid pulsations, careful shifts in colour, and occasional bursts of virtuosic urgency. It's music that hovers between worlds, unfurling a foundation of almost-ambient weightlessness that's inflected with audible spontaneity and given breadth through rhythm. The expansive result intimates connections to the most atmospheric corners of Miles Davis' electric catalogue, hints at Terry Riley's trance-inducing drones, makes oblique references to dub, and even nods in the direction of Town and Country's DIY chamber music. Yet, all the while it inhabits its very own aesthetic space—a gravity-defying blend of the ethereal and the earthbound that draws the ear in slowly and subliminally.
The quartet of Paul Giallorenzo (synthesizer, pump organ, electronics), Charlie Kirchen (bass), Ryan Packard (drums, electronics) and Ben LaMar Gay (cornet and electronics) first assembled in spring 2017 for a four-week residency at the Burlington, a beloved a hub for exploratory music in Chicago's Logan Square. The End and the Beginning was conceived and workshopped in the first half of the following year and was later recorded live at the Hungry Brain, another notable Chicago venue in July 2018. With half of its membership leaving Chicago—not to mention the active performance schedule that each member keeps—the group has since started operating more as a rotating collective than a fixed ensemble.
Paul Giallorenzo, synthesizer, pump organ, electronics
Charlie Kirchen, bass
Ryan Packard, drums, electronics
Ben LaMar Gay, cornet, electronics (on Side B only)
Recorded at the Hungry Brain, Chicago, July 1st, 2018
Recorded by: David Zuchowski
Mixed and Mastered by Dan Pierson
Artwork & Layout by Dylan Marcus McConnell / Tiny Little Hammers
Group Info and Reviews:
bit.ly/redgreenblue-band
Selected Reviews:
bestofjazz.org/new-jazz-releases-2022/
www.nitestylez.de/2022/05/red-green-blue-end-and-beginning-astral.html
Charlie Kirchen, bass
Ryan Packard, drums, electronics
Ben LaMar Gay, cornet, electronics (on Side B only)
Recorded at the Hungry Brain, Chicago, July 1st, 2018
Recorded by: David Zuchowski
Mixed and Mastered by Dan Pierson
Artwork & Layout by Dylan Marcus McConnell / Tiny Little Hammers
Group Info and Reviews:
bit.ly/redgreenblue-band
Selected Reviews:
bestofjazz.org/new-jazz-releases-2022/
www.nitestylez.de/2022/05/red-green-blue-end-and-beginning-astral.html
SOTOL
Red Sotol, 2020
self-released
Paul Giallorenzo - synthesizers, electronics, drum machines
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - electric bass, electronics
Released October 2, 2020
Recorded April 18th, 2019 at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago USA.
Engineered by Matt Mehlan. Mixed by Paul Giallorenzo. Mastered by Alex Inglizian. Music by SOTOL. Coverdesign by Marte Håker.
Paul Giallorenzo Music ASCAP
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten TONO
HEARTS & MINDS
Electroradiance
Astral Spirits, 2018
Jason Stein -- bass clarinet
Paul Giallorenzo -- synthesizer, keyboards
Chad Taylor -- drums, percussion
"Drawing inspiration from the astral explorations of vintage Sun Ra but relocating them in gritty Chicago” – Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
“Prog-rock rears its ugly head in the best possible way” – Tom Burris, Free Jazz Collective
“. . . raucous and scintillating” – Nate Chinen, Jazz Times
Soon after the catchy synth-bass line that opens Electroradiance, listeners will start to suspect they’re in for something different. The synth-bass line has a herky-jerky contour that does fit a basic pattern of power-rock bands over the decades, but the bass clarinet melody that follows? Not so much. And halfway through, when the bass line becomes a vamp, and the improvisation enters a realm of altissimo squawks and thrillingly convoluted deep runs – well, we’re not in Kansas anymore, are we?
Electroradiance, the captivating new collection of grooves and freedom from Chicago trio Hearts & Minds, teems with such episodes. “Future Told” marches to a humorously ominous riff rooted in the cartoonish melodies of Raymond Scott in the 1930s. The dance-inducing beat of “Step’n” supports a stuttering melody from bass clarinet – and then some whole-tone keyboard swaths, pockmarked by synthesized percussion blips – before shifting to a fast swing beat and back again. That same dynamic comes into play on “Slippery Slope,” while a modified New Orleans street beat drives “Shreveport”. On the other hand, though, “Treeline” opens with a mournful melody and retains its lovely rubato tempo for the first portion; and the title track offers a space-agey tone poem – night-lonely and a little eerie – in which synthesized keyboard sounds and bass clarinet gargles become almost interchangeable.
Hearts & Minds is the brash and ballsy brainchild of Jason Stein and Paul Giallorenzo, who have remained friends since they met as grade-school classmates almost three decades ago. Employing an unusual, not to say bizarre, instrumentation, they make music that loops the solar system but maintains an irresistibly grounded pulse (despite the lack of a bassist). Giallorenzo’s keyboard work reaches back to the fledgling electronics of the 60s to encompass synth lines as well as asymmetrical tones and textures, which embrace Stein’s rangy command of bass clarinet techniques. Joining them for the first time on disc, drummer Chad Taylor simmers or percolates, utilizing his wealth of experience with such artists as Chicago tenor-sax legend Fred Anderson and his Chicago Underground cohorts Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek.
Taylor’s history made him the perfect choice to replace Hearts & Minds’ original drummer, Frank Rosaly (who moved to Europe shortly after the trio’s debut recording). Working with Fred Anderson allowed him to learn from a free-jazz contemporary of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, and Pharoah Sanders, whose pioneering improvisations of the 1960s are one touchstone for Hearts & Minds. And Taylor’s collaborations with trumpeter-electronicist Rob Mazurek honed his ability to support and shape music made by electronics – the other major inspiration for Hearts & Minds, whose music reverberates with memories of Sun Ra and the jazz fusion of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.
As the title of the opening track indicates, this ability to go “Back And Forth” between two seemingly opposed camps distinguishes Hearts & Minds – as does the ability to find a fusion path that skirts them both. This same dialectic applies to the name of the band itself, as these musicians seek to achieve an aesthetic unification of expressionistic energy (heart) and intellectual formalism (mind) – all with a 21st-century voice that refers to but does not imitate past influences.
Liner notes by Neil Tesser
Liner notes by Neil Tesser
Jason Stein is among the mere handful of improvisers who play the bass clarinet exclusively (rather than doubling on it as a change of pace). He occasionally performs for more people in one night than most jazz musicians see in a year: his free-jazz trio Locksmith Isidore has opened arena shows for comedian Amy Schumer (his half-sister). In addition to that trio and his own quartet, he contributes to several of the leading bands on Chicago’s new-music scene, and has brought a vital voice to the freest of free-jazz jams. But he has also stated a fondness for playing actual tunes, such as those that fill the repertoire of Hearts & Minds. And while several of these songs provide a section for free improvisation, their initial frameworks provide a uniquely inviting showcase for Stein’s extraordinary expertise on the bass clarinet, which ranges from powerful post-bop lines to ear-grabbing wails in the altissimo range. Chicago writer Neil Tesser notes that his playing has “a rawboned swagger particular to Chicago jazz in all its manifestations – from the trad playing of Bud Freeman and Jimmy McPartland in the 20s, through the tenor titans of the 50s, through the adventurers who formed the AACM in the 60s, and right up to the city’s renowned modern cadre of new-music improvisers.”
Paul Giallorenzo, in addition to leading his own groups – particularly his GitGO quintets and the widely admired acoustic piano trio heard on the 2018 album Flow – has emerged as a leading virtuoso on the analog synthesizer. Giallorenzo’s work has been praised for its “inside-out” nature – his ability to push the boundaries of “conventional” jazz toward more freedom but also, on the other side, to bring a measure of structure to more avant-garde material. In addition, he is a co-founder of Elastic Arts, an important Chicago performance space and gallery, where he curates concert series, produces individual programs, and performs. Writing in the online journal Point Of Departure, John Litweiler said, “His solos and aggressive duets are gems of after-Bop, after-Bley melody,” while AllAboutJazz.org lauded music that “smudges the lines between the tradition and the avant-garde.”
Stein and Giallorenzo first met in sixth grade in Rockville Centre, a mid-sized Long Island suburb of New York City. Giallorenzo attended Northwestern University just north of Chicago; Stein, studying at University of Michigan, traveled frequently to Chicago before graduation, then moved there in the early 2000s. Each settled quickly into the city’s burgeoning jazz/new-music environment, which by then was attracting attention throughout North America and Europe. They first performed in the format that evolved into Hearts & Minds in 2003; Frank Rosaly came on as drummer in 2005, ably succeeded by Chad Taylor, who grew up in Chicago and now lives in New York. His discography includes more than a dozen albums under the Chicago Underground rubric, starting with the Chicago Underground Duo formed by him and Rob Mazurek; multiple albums recorded with Fred Anderson, guitarist Jeff Parker, and award-winning flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell; and one of the most critically respected albums of 2017, trumpeter Jamie Branch’s Fly Or Die.
Recorded October 24-25, 2017 by Zach Goldstein at Kawari Sound, Philadelphia, PA.
Mixed by Liberty Ellman.
Mastered by Mikey Young.
Layout & Design by Jaime Zuverza.
Tracks 2,5, 8 written by Jason Stein, Steinbassclar Publishing ASCAP
Tracks 1,3,7,11 written by Paul Giallorenzo, Paul Giallorenzo Music ASCAP
Tracks 4,9 written by Chad Taylor, Ctorb ASCAP
Tracks 6,10 written by Hearts & Minds
Special Thanks to Nate Cross, Kim Alpert, and Constellation Chicago.
Paul Giallorenzo Trio - Flow
| Paul Giallorenzo - piano Joshua Abrams - double bass Mikel Patrick Avery - drums |
For his second Delmark release, pianist and composer Paul Giallorenzo does more with less, assembling a classic piano trio backed by masters of jazz minimalism, Joshua Abrams and Mikel Patrick Avery. The writing’s not sparse: there are notes on notes, hummable heads, surprising solos, and a harmonic conception of frequently startling complexity. But it’s always for the purpose of advancing the music. Covering wide terrain, from high energy poly-tonal swing to abstract blues to free-form invention, this trio is in tune in the truest sense, creating music that’s embedded in the jazz tradition with a sound that’s both singular and forward-thinking.
"Stunning" Review by Chicago Reader's Peter Margasak
"Maybe Flow can redefine what jazz minimalism is all about" Review by Elmore Magazine's Peter Lindblad
"The more abstract compositions contribute an aesthetic balance that points to the considerable breadth and depth of the players."Review by Chicago Jazz Magazine's Jeff Cebulski
