At Iridium Jazz Club....

Sept. 23rd Bob Albanese Trio CD Rel 7PM

Celebrating his critically acclaimed Zoho recording
Piano: Bob Albanese
Bass: Tom Kennedy
Drums: Willard Dyson
This evening (Coltrane's birthday and the fall Equinox) Bob's special guest artist with the trio will be saxophonist extraordinaire, Mr. Steve Slagle
Later in August I went to the Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle where pianist Bob Albanese was leading a trio with Ugonna Okegwo, bass; and David Meade, drums. Some of you may be aware of him because of his recent Zoho CD of One Way Detour with guest artist Ira Sullivan that has been garnering many positive reviews. It was during the release party at Smalls that a Carlyle executive heard him and offered him the Sunday night gig at Bemelmans for the month of August. I'm hoping that he's held over into September so that you can hear him in trio mode playing such songs as "This Heart of Mine," "Just in Time," "Alone Together," with a vigorous mambo section, and his original "Merciful Percival." Sitting in at times were guitarist Paul Myers, trumpeter Chris Payson, a mate of Bob's in a Buddy Rich band of yore; and vocalists Karryn Allison and Loretta Ables Sayre, the latter currently appearing on Broadway as Bloody Mary in the revival of South Pacific. By the second set it became a big party. Judging by the enthusiasm of the audience, with one more Sunday to go, perhaps you'll be able to hear and see it for yourself in September. - Ira Gitler Jazz Inside NY Sept. 2009


Albanese names Evans, Corea, Jarrett, Hancock and Clare Fischer as major influences, but this distinctive pianist is more than the sum of his mentors. At 52 and making his leader debut on CD, that’s how it should be, and Albanese’s lines, harmonic sense and compositions bear the mark of a definite musical personality. The later Evans trios are echoed in the charged interaction of Albanese, Tom Kennedy (bass) and Willard Dyson (drums), but though they work within mainstream/bop norms, theirs is a contemporary flexibility with time and harmony. The results are a striking example of what happens when fine craftsmen find something personal and vigorously spontaneous to say with a language that’s been around for a couple of generations. Though the veteran reedman Ira Sullivan guests on five tracks, this is really all about Albanese and his trio. - Irish Times http://www.propernote.co.uk/