Reggie Quinerly Words
to Love Hailed by DownBeat as the embodiment of "style, substance, soul,
and swagger," Reggie Quinerly is just the kind of drummer to take on a
first-time challenge -- like writing an album's worth of songs featuring
vocalists. "As a drummer, I'm always trying to write things you wouldn't
expect," says Quinerly. On Words to Love, his third album as a leader
which is set for April 20 release by Redefinition Music, Quinerly composed
music and lyrics for eight songs exploring the many facets of love.
Previously the drummer had written words and music for the
title track of his acclaimed 2012 debut album, Music Inspired by Freedmantown,
and collaborated on another song on that disc. Now, his muse told him to build
on the experience.
"I decided to write about love in all its
varieties," the 37-year-old Houston native explains.
"This gave me another chance to reveal something new
about myself as an artist, and I really immersed myself in the process."
Inspired by singers Lou Rawls, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty
Carter, and others, Quinerly drafted a pair of proven young artists to sing his
songs: Chicago native Milton Suggs, a soulful conduit to the Rawls legacy, and
Melanie Charles, a multifaceted Brooklynite who also plays the flute and is
actively in touch with her Haitian roots.
Quinerly had wanted to work with Suggs since meeting him
about five years ago. "I love Milton's articulation, his attention to
melody," he says. "He's all business when he sings. Every word is
meaningful, thoughtful, impactful. There's a regal quality to what he does."
Though he had only played one gig with Charles, she made a
strong impression on him. "Melanie's an expressive singer with a very
personal approach," he says. "I like the light texture of her voice
and the fact that she sings in a lot of different styles. She brought a
distinctive pop sensibility to the songs."
Having teamed with Gerald Clayton, Tim Warfield, and Mike
Moreno on his first album and rising stars Warren Wolf and Christian Sands on
his second effort, Invictus (2015), Quinerly put together another killer band
for Words to Love: pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Ben Wolfe, and, on selected
tracks, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw.
Reggie Quinerly With its overarching concept and alternating
male and female vocals, Words to Love is an ambitious step forward for Quinerly.
"I'm always looking to take a back seat, to play in support of the people
around me," he says. "Everybody on this album understood that the
music, the songs, came first."
Words to Love explores all varieties of love. The opening
piece "Until I Met You" addresses "the full beauty" of what
falling in love entails, while the bluesy "You Bring Out My Best" is
about the kind of deep and lasting love Quinerly found with his wife Toni, to
whom the album is dedicated (and who appears with him on the cover). The tender
"Times We've Yet to See" was written with their baby daughter, Harper
Joy, in mind.
One of the least discussed aspects of jazz may be the work
of great drummers on ballads. "There is a tendency to focus on things that
are more rhythmically challenging," says Quinerly, who might be referring
to the groove-tight but open-feeling "Hope Is My Home," on which Shaw
meshes beautifully with Suggs and Evans dances elegantly around Wolfe's walking
notes. "But ballads make their own special demands. It's really important
to be in control of your dynamics, to maintain an even sound, and to be
supportive. Some drummers are much better at accompanying singers than others."
Reggie Quinerly was born on November 16, 1980 in Houston,
into a scene that nourished such strong and singular artists as Jason Moran,
Robert Glasper, and Mike Moreno. Like them, Quinerly attended the High School
of the Performing and Visual Arts, where his mentors included Lester Grant, a
top session drummer in the 1950s. Reggie went on to attend the Mannes School of
Music at New School University in New York where he got to study with three
great drummers: Jimmy Cobb, Lewis Nash, and Kenny Washington.
From the start, Quinerly was less interested in becoming the
next traps phenomenon than developing into a complete artist whose skills as a
composer and arranger were fully integrated into his prowess at the traps. He
went on to earn his Master's in Jazz Studies at Juilliard, after which this
"conscientious jazz drummer with a nimble and approachable style"
(New York Times) played with such leading artists as Wynton and Branford
Marsalis. With saxophonist Marcus Strickland, he played and lectured as part of
Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz in the Schools program. In the fall of 2017 he
returned to Juilliard as an adjunct professor.
The Reggie Quinerly Quartet will celebrate the release of
Words to Love at Smoke, New York, on Thursday 5/31.
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