XAVIER CASELLAS NY QUINTET
(Presenting “Unguarded Smiles")
Xavier Casellas, voice & lyrics
Emlio Solla, piano & arrangements
Nate Radley, guitar
Edward Perez, double bass
Greg Ritchie, drums
“Catalan jazz vocalist Xavier Casellas, after a first album as leader that took him to present it at 38th Voll Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival and Dizzy's Club at The Lincoln Center in NY, for four days, now releases Unguarded Smiles, his new musical work in which he does not only the singing but lyric writing to tunes by outstanding contemporary jazz composers.
Accompanied by an excellent NY jazz-scene lineup that features Emilio Solla as pianist & arranger, along with the likes of Ben Monder, Ted Poor, Jorge Roeder, John Ellis, Oscar Feldman or Víctor Prieto among others, Casellas invites us to go deeper into this vocal jazz proposal inspired on the greatest vocal jazz tradition without ever forgetting all the essential elements needed to be undoubtedly modern. With a repertoire that spans from compositions by Mehldau, Rosenwinkel, Emilio Solla or Chris Cheek to creations from older days such as 'Prelude #9' by Frederic Mompou, “Unguarded Smiles” helps us understand the huge potential vocal jazz holds when communicating, creating situations and musical landscapes where the dramatized power of the voice makes each of the emotions conveyed by the music even stronger."
(Presenting “Unguarded Smiles")
Xavier Casellas, voice & lyrics
Emlio Solla, piano & arrangements
Nate Radley, guitar
Edward Perez, double bass
Greg Ritchie, drums
“Catalan jazz vocalist Xavier Casellas, after a first album as leader that took him to present it at 38th Voll Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival and Dizzy's Club at The Lincoln Center in NY, for four days, now releases Unguarded Smiles, his new musical work in which he does not only the singing but lyric writing to tunes by outstanding contemporary jazz composers.
Accompanied by an excellent NY jazz-scene lineup that features Emilio Solla as pianist & arranger, along with the likes of Ben Monder, Ted Poor, Jorge Roeder, John Ellis, Oscar Feldman or Víctor Prieto among others, Casellas invites us to go deeper into this vocal jazz proposal inspired on the greatest vocal jazz tradition without ever forgetting all the essential elements needed to be undoubtedly modern. With a repertoire that spans from compositions by Mehldau, Rosenwinkel, Emilio Solla or Chris Cheek to creations from older days such as 'Prelude #9' by Frederic Mompou, “Unguarded Smiles” helps us understand the huge potential vocal jazz holds when communicating, creating situations and musical landscapes where the dramatized power of the voice makes each of the emotions conveyed by the music even stronger."
