Tenor
saxophonist, composer, and arranger Russ Nolan continues his exploration of Latin
rhythms on his fourth CD Relentless, which will be released by his Rhinoceruss
Music label on January 21. Picking up where last year's critically acclaimed
Tell Me left off, Relentless features the contributions of Grammy-nominated
Cuban pianist Manuel Valera as well as Tell Me's rhythm section of Michael
O'Brien on bass and drummer Brian Fishler.
Nolan's
concern with rhythm began coming into clear focus in the late 1980s, when he
was living in Chicago. Then-teenage saxophonist Chris Potter came through town
with Red Rodney's band and gave Nolan the first of what would become many
lessons. "He could have talked to me about scales and harmony and all this
other stuff," Nolan recalls, "but he really impressed upon me that
the horn player has to have the same mastery of time as the rhythm section and
can't rely on them to carry him along."
Having
taken up salsa dancing nearly seven years ago has further served to strengthen
Nolan's rhythmic sensibility. "Instead of just having the music in my
head, it's also in my body," he explains. "It's something that's
natural for drummers because they play such a physical instrument, but for
somebody who just moves their fingers and occasionally their head, as a horn
player I feel the music differently than I used to."
Afro-Cuban
grooves as well as samba and Bomba beats infuse Nolan's originals, including
"Cassa Cerrado," one of a number of tunes on the album that the
saxophonist wrote during a seven-month engagement at a midtown Manhattan hotel
as the leader of an organ trio that included drummer Fishler, and the samba
"It Ain't Child's Play," one of three tunes featuring percussionist
Yasuyo Kimura. Also included on Relentless are Nolan's readings of the Stephen
Sondheim ballad "Not While I'm Around" (from Sweeney Todd) and Duke
Ellington's "Solitude."
Russ NolanRuss Nolan, 45, born in Waukegan,
Illinois, and raised in nearby Gurnee. He took up clarinet at age 10 and
switched to saxophonist a couple years later because, he says, "I was
attracted to the sound and the power that I wasn't finding on clarinet."
Although he played in his high school marching and jazz bands, playing
basketball and baseball were his primary passions and he dreamed of one day
becoming a professional athlete.
He
eventually turned his focus back to music and spent three and a half years at
the University of North Texas, studying saxophone and jazz arranging and
earning a B.A. in jazz performance. During a summer vacation from North Texas,
he studied with legendary Chicago tenor saxophonist Joe Daley. Nolan moved to
the city after graduation and studied with local saxophonist Rich Corpolongo
and with visiting New Yorkers Chris Potter, Dave Liebman, and Kenny Werner. In
2000, pianist Werner convinced Nolan to move to New York City -- and would play
on the saxophonist's 2008 CD With You in Mind (Nolan's debut recording was 2004's
Two Colors).
A
10-year resident of Sunnyside, Queens, Nolan has performed with his own group
at Smalls Jazz Club and Jazz at the Kitano, both in New York City, and in
Canada, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Orleans, Chicago, and Washington, DC. He
frequently conducts workshops and clinics while on tour. He's a member of an
all-star band that has been playing for jazz services at Redeemer Presbyterian
Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side once a month for the past decade and
since March 2013 has been playing for dancers with his own salsa quintet.
Russ
Nolan will celebrate the release of Relentless with upcoming shows in Chicago
and New York. On Tuesday 1/21 he plays two sets at the Jazz Showcase, Chicago,
with Jim Trompeter, piano; Larry Gray, bass; and Jon Deitemyer, drums. He
brings the band from his new CD (Manuel Valera, Michael O'Brien, Brian Fishler)
to the Kitano Hotel in New York on Friday 3/21.
No comments:
Post a Comment