This is
the second outing from S.F. bay area's drummer Joe DeRose and his electric
fusion formation Amici. Comprised of some of the leading improvisers Northern
California has to offer each member brings his signature interpretation of the
jazz and world idiom blending a sound that is truly a comfort to the soul.
Blend
vibrant Jazz Fusion, ECM harmonies, and soulful melodies and you get Joe De
Rose and Amici. A multi-cultural, energetic, and completely unique ensemble
that will leave every listener truly amazed. Comprised of some of the leading
improvisers Northern California has to offer (Joe DeRose – drums, Hristo
Vitchev – guitar, Dann Zinn – sax, Murray Low – keys, and Dan Robbins – bass),
each member brings his signature interpretation of the jazz and world idiom
blending a sound that is truly a comfort to the soul.
Joe
DeRose is a San Jose
native Joe DeRose is an alumnus of the Alum Rock Jazz Program and Stanford Jazz
Workshop. In 1994, DeRose followed his love for jazz and moved to Boston to
attend Berklee College of Music. He graduated in 1998 and began touring with
R&B diva Toni Lynn Washington. He also played on jazz singer Robin McKell’s
debut CD, Never Let Me Go. Some years later DeRose returned to San Jose
brimming with experience and enthusiasm. It was about this time he became
friends with jazz legend Louie Bellson. DeRose says, “Louie was like a second
father to me. He taught me so much about music, friendship and life. It was a
true blessing to have Louie in my life.”
"We've
heard from drummer Joe DeRose before as a member of Bulgarian-American
guitarist Hristo Vitchev's excellent Bay Area ensemble. On his first album as
leader, DeRose utilizes basically the same group, while augmenting the core
with saxophonist Dann Zinn. And as to be expected from a drummer - this group
takes things in a slightly more combustible direction than the slightly more
atmospheric sounds in Vitchev's writing and moves into more of an uptempo
fusion direction that is quite exciting. On the opening "Nick's
Legacy," (written for his father) everyone gets into the action with
outstanding solos from stellar bassist Dan Robbins, Grammy-nominated pianist
Weber Iago, Zinn and Vitchev on a fiery electric guitar over explosive drumming
by DeRose. DeRose explains that "Amici" means friends in Italian, and
many of the songs are dedicated to people (like Louie Bellson on "Drum
Angel") who helped him along the way. He also thanks his fellow musicians
for their input and it is clear that these musicians truly enjoy working with
each other.
Most of the songs were cowritten with Vitchev and his keen ear for
warm harmonization is a solid presence. Saxophonist Zinn is also a welcome
addition - often taking the lead on the themes - freeing Vitchev to and
bringing the music into new dimensions sonically. Songs like "The Skies
Below," "Bros At Play" and "Ancient Prayer" navigate
the area between the melodic and the rhythmic with abandon. There is an urgent
undercurrent of energy barely restrained from breaking out at any time and this
tension results is some enthralling music. Even the beautiful "Tears from
Tokyo" refuses to sink into slumber, while the catchy title track is the
"hit" and offers great solos, especially from Robbins. The
Iago-cowritten "Miracles" ends this wonderful recording - finally
succumbing to take a breath and chill out a bit." - Brad Walseth
(JazzChicago.net)
Listening
to his works will bring us to a conclusion: Joe DeRose is truly a wonderful
talent. The drum legend, Louie Bellson, also referred Joe as “a wonderful
talent and a wonderful friend.” There’s a meaningful story in every beat he let
out from his stick work. In his hand, drum is not only an instrument to guard a
song and a base of rhythm but also as the beat which could speak louder and
clearer about many things. Drum becomes alive with him. Joe DeRose was born in
San Jose, California. He started finding his passion on drums at the tender age
of 5, taught by his elder brother. He became active in school bands including
Alum Rock Jazz Band in 1988 soon after. When he reached 14 years old, he began
his professional career by series of appearance along the San Fransisco Bay
Area. He got the chance to learn from some great drummers such as Louie
Bellson, Joe Porcaro, Freddie Grubber, Bryant Mills, John Ramsay, Wally
Schnalle, Karl Carter, Lewis Nash, Kenwood Denard, Mike Mangini and many more.
He moved to Boston in 1994 and studied at the famous Berklee College of Music.
It was a dream coming true for him to attend this prestigious college. He
graduated 4 years ago and got a Bachelor in Performance by Magna Cum Laude.
Even while he was in Boston he couldn’t miss the chance to grace the stage. He
went on tour with RnB and Blues diva, Toni Lynn Washington.
In 2006
he got the honor to perform his debut drum clinic for San Jose Pro Drum, as the
opening for Tommy Aldridge. Being back to his hometown, San Jose, was a good
decision. In October 2008 he went on a Japanese tour with jazz singer Yoshiko
Oda and also Hristo Vitchev Quartet. They performed around Japan including a
shot at Okazaki Jazz Festival. Recently he has finished two European tours with
Kofy Brown and a northern California tour with Italian singer Pasquale
Esposito,also a performance at the AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival. Having
learned from many iconic drummers, the Berklee period and around the world
experience has raised his skill level to the max relatively fast. And now he
continued his journey in different role, as the band leader for the very first
time for his own band, Joe DeRose and Amici. We can clearly see how proud Joe
is to have his dearest friends in his band. Joe explains the using of “Amici”
is meant to describe a band, where great friends, great minds and great souls
come together to make great music. As they have known each other well both on
and off stage, it absolutely makes them easier to connect in perfect chemistry.
When you listen to “Sounds for the Soul”, his first debut album as the band
leader, you will certainly feel it.
Most of
the songs were mostly composed by Joe DeRose and Hristo Vitchev. “Sounds for
the Soul” shows how drum can appear in the front, as the main meal and not just
the side dish. What interesting is, even with the drums on spot, the
compositions still give enough room for everyone to go solo bringing their
explorations and improvisations. 9 songs contained in the album shows the stylishly
vibrant set of fusions with the spirit of ECM style of harmonies and soulful
melodies. Most of the songs mean very personal to Joe as he tributes them to
some of the most important people in his life, his heroes who have contributed
a lot to make him as who he is today. Technically speaking, the compositions
were made stylishly with enough room for everyone to show their tasteful skill
freely. In this album, you will hear the guitar maestro Hristo Vitchev showing
his rocking side through some seriously cool riffs besides being the showcase
of Joe’s accent in stunning stick work. Weber Iago once again shows that the
name “Amazonian” given to him by his friends refers to the unique
hand-movements wildly; dancing on the piano is not for nothing. Again he shows
his ability to play fast, explorative and wild, just like Weber we used to
love. Dan Robbins grooves with his bass on the low end, and Dan Zinn’s blows on
his sax giving melodic and soulful sounds in between Coltrane’s approach and
smooth jazz patterns. It’s a wonderful combination, it’s magical ingredients.
They create series of sounds to splash our soul with. “Nick’s Legacy” opens up
the album wonderfully. This is a song dedicated to Joe’s father, Nicholas
DeRose, whom Joe feels blessed to have. “He touched my life and so many others
with his love, warm heart and passion for life.” says Joe. “He left so many
legacies with us: family values, great food, antipastos, music, laugh.. but the
most important one to me is the love he left in people’s heart.” Joe continues.
“The composition carries on every detail” said Joe. It has warm melody
projecting a thankful heart of a son to his father. This song also delivers the
combination of skills among friends in strong chemistry. Joe’s cool drum
beating and splashing cymbals fills up the song including a part where Hristo
rocks really did well with his electric guitar just like the way a rocker does.
The landscapic song follows, “The Skies Below”. It’s a composition enabling you
to fly to the high altitude and watch the skies below. Zinn’s saxophone and
Vitchev’s roaring guitar act like the wings to bring you fly in the
multi-colored sky. “Tal’s Dream” is next. It’s a composition dedicated to
Talmadge Hicks, an amazing musician and composer that was very important in
Joe’s life.
While he was the mentor and great friend, as well as introducing
jazz to Joe at an early age, it was the soulful melodies he sang to Joe when he
grew up that became the source of inspiration for making this composition
together with Hristo. Within the composition you could feel that Joe wants to
tell many things in colorful lines about his feeling towards Tal. The next
track “Bros at Play” is dedicated to his brothers, Gino, Nick and his nephews,
Gino Jr and Michael. The teasing and playful drum beats are followed by the
same way by the rest of the band. The song should also mean to the brothers who
play with him in the band, as you will sense the harmonious interaction between
them, the word Joe says in the beginning of the song tells it all: “Okay bro,
let’s play.”
The 9
minutes track “Ancient Prayer” comes right after. This is a nice melodious
piece that will completely satisfy you especially with the long enough
duration. “Drum Angel” is another exceptional composition tributing to Louie
Bellson, another mentor to Joe’s life. Louie is not only his musical
inspiration but also the one who taught him how to conduct himself as a human
being. It’s obvious that musical pattern for this song is beautiful; you will
love every single line of it. A nice composition again comes from “Tears from
Tokyo”, a melancholic song referring to the time when he missed his mom, Mary
DeRose, the most while he was unable to reach her from Tokyo. The melody
appeared in Joe’s head, and then Hristo went on harmonizing it. That was the
beginning of their collaboration that carries on until now. Then comes the
title track, “Sounds for the Soul.” served in groovy and funky rhythm, this
song carries on a lot of soulful feeling inside, transferring them from soul to
soul. Simply put, it’s the composition that sends the sound to reach our soul
elegantly.
The last track speaks about “Miracles”. Joe believes that if every
person on the planet helped one another on a daily basis, if we all were kind
to one another and took care of one another, that would be the sign of a
wonderful world, and that’s the time when miracle can happen through us. With
that in mind, this composition made together with Weber Iago sounds very
inspiring and optimist. As this is the last song, everyone join hands giving up
their last touch of togetherness for this album. And for us, that is also a
miracle indeed. When you want to have a showcase of elegant drum beating in
excellent collaboration with fully connected team work, when you want to see how
chemistry among real friends can make a difference, when you want to feel the
creativity of composition and playing by real talented group, this is the album
you should have. It’s a brilliant free-for-all fusion served in many textures.
You get the satisfaction for the love of jazz from many eras, the Coltrane’s,
the ECM’s, the smooth jazz heyday to the present day’s jazz, also a visit to
the roaring-rocking style as well. Joe DeRose and Amici’s “Sounds for the Soul”
is a soul transferring album, starting from the circle of friends in the band
to the soul of us as the listeners. It’s a breathtaking album brilliantly made
that marks the first step of Joe DeRose in his new role as a leader. Through
this album we can clearly see there will be more creative ideas come from this
wonderful talent in the future. Are you ready to fill up your soul? You can
always have it from this.
Hristo
Vitchev is a Bulgarian
Impressionistic chamber-jazz guitarist/composer Hristo Vitchev is referred by
the international media as one of the newest and most innovative voices in
modern jazz guitar. Hristo's music has been captivating audiences all across
the globe an at only age 33 he has already released 6 critically acclaimed
albums as a leader plus two more releases as a co-leader with Joe DeRose and
Amici.
Dann
Zinn is a world class musician, known for his brilliant saxophone and flute playing,
stunning compositions, and contribution to music education in and around the
San Francisco Bay Area. Hailed as a “guru,” Zinn finds beauty in making music
comes from constant reinventing and searching. Zinn’s work has developed into a
unique style. Having a sound of his own is tantamount to his creativity. By
blending diverse influences, Zinn has made his music accessible, melodic, textured,
and emotional in both intense and beautiful ways.
Dan
Robbins is one of
the most in demand and virtuosic bass players in the Western part of the
continent, Dan Robbins’s completely unique approach and voice on the instrument
have led him to performances and recordings with international jazz stars
Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Danilo Perez, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez,
Benny Green, Giovanni Hidalgo, Peter Martin, Cedar Walton and many more.
Murray
Low is a veteran pianist of the Bay Area jazz scene and has been playing,
composing, arranging, recording and teaching professionally for over thirty
years. His fluency in all forms of jazz and its blending with other idioms has
led to a multi-faceted career spanning a wide variety of musical contexts.
Murray is perhaps best known for his contributions to Latin Jazz, Salsa and
Afro-Cuban musical landscape.
