Two-time Grammy–winning composer and saxophonist Ted Nash
releases his first live recording in over 25 years. Known for his larger works
(Presidential Suite, Chakra, Portrait in Seven Shades) this much anticipated
release provides an opportunity for Nash to share his improvisational side. His
inspired solos are impassioned and interactive. On this album he finds new areas
of expression that will excite and move you.
These three nights at Dizzy’s were electric for me. I think
you’ll hear in it the combination of great players, with history letting loose
on music that has grown with me over the course of my career. On this album we
share not just a night of music but the history of collaboration.
It was a wonderful opportunity to make music again with many
of my favorite musicians. I have known Rufus Reid since I was 24, when we
recorded an album featuring my mother and father (which never was released).
Rufus always plays with tremendous instinct and flexibility and brings decades
of experience to the music. Rufus appeared on my Mancini Project album
(Palmetto).
I first met Matt Wilson when I was 18 and he 14, when I came
to Rock Island, Illinois to play with Louie Bellson’s quartet. Of course I had
no idea the skinny teenager I met that night would become one of jazz’s
greatest contributors, appearing on more than 250 recordings. Matt has played
on several of my albums, including Sidewalk Meeting, Still Evolved, La Espada
de la Noche, In the Loop, and The Mancini Project.
This is the second time Warren Wolf and I have played in a
quintet at Dizzy’s together. He is one of the most consistently killing
vibraphonists I have heard; at once fiery and cool. He is also one of the most
melodic players – on any instrument. I have always had a connection with the
vibes, as my jazz teacher was the great vibraphonist Charlie Shoemake, with
whom I also played my first small band gigs, at the long-gone Donte’s in Los
Angeles.
I have known Gary Versace for years, hearing him with many
great ensembles, and have always wanted the chance to play in a small group
with him. I got that chance, and the experience is something I will never
forget. The moments he found on Emily, for example (which we played as a
clarinet and piano duo) were rich, inspiring and truly original. I feel Gary is
on the cusp of being acknowledged as one of piano’s superstars.
This performance was also a chance to revisit a couple
original compositions in an entirely new context, and re-explore music by some
of my favorite composers: Chick Corea, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, Johnny
Mandel, and Henry Mancini.
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