Gene Ess, guitar
Mika Pohjola, piano
Harvie S, bass
Greg Ritchie, drums
Jimmy's Freestyle Jazz
May 22, 2006
10:00 pm
43 East 7th Street
NYC
212-982-3006
www.Freestylejazz.com
Guitarist Gene Ess draws the traits that identify his style with firm brush strokes. On the one hand, we have his jazz streak, and on the other hand, his exquisite sensitivity with the guitar, and as a final complement, his taste for sophisticated rhythms. The quartet will perform music from Gene's latest release Sandbox and Sanctum.
What the press is saying:
H. Allen Williams, Jazzreview:
Throughout Sandbox and Sanctum, Ess displays a unique approach to the guitar. Ess's use of thoughtful voicings and eloquently chromatic lines definitely grow out of the rich soil of the likes of John Coltrane and the post be-bop era. Ess is a highly recommended guitarist to keep an eye and ear on for the future of jazz guitar."
Wayne Zade, All About Jazz:
While a listener might think of Pat Metheny or John Abercrombie or even Grant Green now and then, Ess here really sounds like no one else on guitar: he is his own man. In his solos, his front line playing with the very fine tenor and soprano saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and his comping, Ess is a full-fledged master of taste and touch. His solos are model essays of eloquence and compression. His very special moments occur on acoustic guitar on 'Ballad for a Swordsman' and a very electric rock-ish 'Sun Matsuri.'"
For more information contact All About Jazz.