NEW CD "HEROES" IPO C1010
IPO C1010 |
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ROGER KELLAWAY RECEIVES
"LE PRIX DU JAZZ CLASSIQUE"
AWARD
FOR "HEROES"
IPO Recordings is pleased to announce that Roger Kellaway’s “Heroes” CD has been awarded the "Best Record Of The Year" in
the "Classic Jazz" category by the French Jazz Academy. The college of voters is made up of 60 independent
journalists, photographers, writers, radio and TV producers. Roger
Kellaway Trio "Heroes"
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net Lorraine Tucci Sound newsoundideas@earthlink.net Savannah Pershina SavannahPR@gmail.com click on article for URL link
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Click on article above for
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| JAZZ Improv,
P.O. Box 26770, Elkins Park, PA 19027 • tel: 215-887-8808 • fax: 215-887-8803
• e-mail: iazz@jazzimprov.com • www.jazzimprov.com • V7 N1 p.211 HEROES-IPO Recordings #IPOC10l0. www.iporecordings.com. www.rogerkellaway.com. Killer Joe, Cotton Tail, I Was Doing All Right, Nuages, Night Train, I'm Smiling Again, Midnight Sun. Moten Swing, 52nd Street Theme, Hymn to Freedom. PERSONNEL: Roger Kellaway, piano; Bruce Forman, guitar; Dan Lutz (bass) By Bill Donaldson The relationship between pianist Roger Kellaway and IPO Recordings is a beneficial one—so much so that now, it seems, Kellaway has become a regular recording artist on this estimable label. IPO Recordings hasn't been in business very long, but its recordings have been unifonnly excellent, earning much acclaim. Too long overlooked for his originality and mastery of the instrument, Roger Kellaway has been making up for lost time in the past few years. In panicular, his recent IPO Recordings CD's have fondly recalled his decades-ago work with singer Bobby Darin, the first of which coincided with the release of the Bobby Darin movie tribute, Beyond Ihe Sea. Now, Kellaway is recalling another positive experience from his early professional years: his blissful experiences in listening to some of Oscar Peterson's prime recordings. Even after years of studying Peterson and listening to his records in awe, Kellaway, prodigiously talented pianist though he is, still felt challenged in performing some of the songs included on Peterson's now¬famous recordings with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown. He needn't have been. Heroes (dedicated as well to other piano/guitar/bass trios like Nat Cole's and Art Tatum's) accomplishes the feat of recalling legendary jazz piano trios with pieces like the dazzling "52nd Street Theme," with its crisp, rapid-fire piano-guitar exchanges. Still, the project allows Kellaway to settle into his own style, for instance with the sweeping gales of notes on "Killer Joe." Recognizing the difficulties of multiple chorded instruments in the same group, Kellaway has set up arrangements, like Peterson's empathetic work with Barney Kessel and Ellis, that allow the piano and guitar to complement one another. One may back up the other with rhythmic movement, or one may trade fours with the other. As with B-3 organ trios or vibraphone/guitar combinations, the music of Heroes requires mutual respect as the musicians listen closely to one another, not to mention requiring much forethought about the role each instrument will take in each arrangement. As important as the Heroes reeording is to him, Kellaway chose a guitarist with whom he felt a similar will to swing, Bruce Forman. Bassist Dan Lutz falls into the same groove. So aligned with Peterson's aesthetic is Kellaway that we find in Heroes's liner notes that Kellaway even suggested to writer Gene Lees the name of his biography about Oscar Peterson, The Will to Swing. The result on Heroes is some irresistible music that—like Peterson's, Cole's and Tatum's—entertains and delights listeners, enveloping them in the music. "Night Train" roars ahead at high volume from the first note, startling the listener with its force and energy, which lead, of course, to its infectious swing...and then a solo stride chorus. In Django Reinhardt's "Nuages," Forman, as would be expected, takes the lead, stating the melody with ringing clarity as Kellaway backs him with relaxed, minimal filling in of the chord changes. The trio's performance of "Midnight Sun," rather than gliding into swing, glistens with coruscating ripples and an intriguing staggering of the beat for an iridescent effect. On "Moten Swing," Kellaway employs his well-known stride piano work as Forman and Lutz play a unison background figure, the piano's syncopation highlighted even more by the minimalism of accompaniment. Speaking of unison work, Kellaway and Forman play the first chorus of "Cotton Tail's" easy swing in unison, the precision of their articulation evident in the exact timing of their note placement. Finally, the intent of Kellaway's tribute to Oscar Peterson, rather than to piano/guitar/bass trios in general, becomes clear on the final track. when Kellaway plays Pcterson's own composition, "Hymn to Freedom." Combining gospel chord voicing with, yes, swing, Kcllaway performs the first part of the 8½-minute performance alone, exploring Peterson's signature modulations and musical extroversion. After Forman and Lutz come in for the dramatic conclusion, the celebration of the great Oscar Peterson's originality of style and of his will to swing is complete as Kellaway finally fulfills the opportunity to record his own musical thank-you. |
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Excerpted from All About Jazz review by C. Michael Bailey - click panel for Bailey article on Roger |
http://www.jazznotes.blogsource.com
OUTSTANDING ALBUMS OF 2006
1 ORNETTE COLEMAN - SOUND GRAMMAR (Sound Grammar)
2 ANDREW HILL - TIME LINES (Blue Note)
3 JOE LOVANO ENSEMBLE - STREAMS OF EXPRESSION (Blue Note)
4 BENNIE MAUPIN ENSEMBLE - PENUMBRA (Cryptogramophone)
5 TOMASZ STANKO - LONTANO (ECM)
6 EDSEL GOMEZ - CUBIST MUSIC (Zoho)
7 BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET - BRAGGTOWN (Universal /A&M)
8 ROGER KELLAWAY TRIO - HEROES (IPO)
9 RANDY WESTON & AFRICAN RHYTHMS TRIO - ZEP TEPI (Random Chance)
10 OMER AVITAL GROUP - ASKING NO PERMISSION (Smalls)
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| Feeding
the Swing: Roger Kellaway November 6th, 2006 by Richard LINK Heroes Roger Kellaway Trio Heroes: IPO Recordings [Buy] There is something to be said for sticking to the game plan. Roger Kellaway’s mission for his new outing on IPO Recordings, Heroes, is to play tribute to the great exponents of the piano/bass/guitar trio format. The “heroes” in this case are inter alia Oscar Peterson, Monk and Nat King Cole. And so it stands to reason that the best moments on the disc happen in the straightahead swingers. 
Roger Kellaway
Image (c) Edward Berger For those less familiar with Roger Kellaway, the best online reference is his own website bio. Suffice to say that Kellaway, 67 this year, is a multifarious pianist, composer and conductor whose career includes composing the closing theme for All in the Family and a stint as the musical arranger for Bobby Darin. Throughout this disc, it’s the swing that is the priority. And we’re talking rollicking barrelhouse sweat-staining-your-worn-out-dinner-jacket swing here, none of this new-fangled conceptual stuff. Kellaway is quoted in the liner notes: “I have made a concious effort to select lines and figures that feed the swing. The abstraction I feel for the music is never far behind, but the feature is to swing.” The swing may be to the fore here, but Heroes is most exciting when the musicians gently nudge the limits of this particular trio format: Kellaway’s piano teeters on the edge of tonality in his solo passage in Night Train, but never loses the essence of the blues at the heart of the composition. Similar fun is had with the near-breakneck version of Monk’s 52nd Street Theme - hear if you can spot guitarist Bruce Forman’s little nod to Rollin’s St Thomas in his solo spot. 
Dan Lutz (b) Roger,
and Bruce Forman (g)
Moten Swing is slow, stately, purposeful, almost skanking, and there’s a gorgeous take on Django Reinhardt’s Nuages. If there’s a false note on the record, it’s the loose samba Midnight Sun, which is well-played in its own right, but sounds out of place among the other tracks - like the cast of The Avengers has invaded the set of I Love Lucy. And I have a personal vendetta against Benny Golson’s Killer Joe, (the track that opens the album), but since this is born from exposure to a gazillion low-grade high school jazz band performances in a past life, so I exclude that track from any objective criticism. Like the music of Oscar Peterson’s trios, this is material you have to come down to - but once you’ve fixed your headspace, an hour spent with Roger Kellaway’s heroes is time well spent. |
November issue Jazztimes - writer Tom Conrad
October 20, 2006 CD Review: Kellaway's a veteran player as far back as the sixties when he appeared on Oliver Nelson's MORE BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH. Oscar Peterson says Kellaway is his favorite piano player. The trio is a classic with Bruce Forman on guitar and Dan Lutz on bass. It's the grand old style and too good to pass up as it is here with tradition, post modern classicism and original report. Dick Crockett STILL ANOTHER JAZZ SHOW MONDAYS 10AM &10PM, PACIFIC “The Voice” 88.7fm 4623 T Street, Suite A Sacramento, Ca 95819-4743 |
| October
4, 2006 Media Alert: Roger Kellaway ''Heroes'' IPOC1010 CD Review: JazzWeek October, 9, 2006 issue PICK Roger Kellaway Trio Heroes (IPO Recordings) String trios are probably one of the best, most satisfying sounding drummer-less combos around. Traditionally (as in the trios of Kellaway fan Oscar Peterson or Dick LaPalm prodigy Nat King Cole) these groups feature piano, guitar and bass, though pianist Matthew Shipp did a brilliant job of replacing guitar with violin on his landmark String Trio albums. As for Roger Kellaway, this is truly out of the Peterson school of swing (and dedicated to the pianist as well), but does have some of Cole’s jaunty sense of swing and even a little bit of Shipp’s modern avant-garde flavor. The tunes roll by one after another in all-too-short order. While bassist Dan Lutz and guitarist Bruce Foreman cook like master chefs, Kellaway’s nuanced, prodding leads constantly stir the pot with tasty results. People will likely dig the trio’s version of “Cottontail,” but “Killer Joe” is a fine fine opener and “Nuages” is wholly sentimental but still a little playful too. “Night Train” brings up the blues quotient while the solo “Hymn To Freedom” is thoughtful and hopeful end piece. Conventional without being tired, swinging without being predictable, Heroes measures up nicely to any jazz effort put this year. – Tad Hendrickson |
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| CD Review: View the article here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=23109 Heroes The Roger Kellaway Trio | IPO Recordings (2006) By Michael P. Gladstone The last we heard from pianist/composer Roger Kellaway was last year, when he dazzled the world with his remembrances as Bobby Darin's musical director (undoubtedly timed to coincide with the release of the Darin biopic Beyond The Sea. Now, we have a dramatic and long-needed tribute to the “drum-less” piano trio (guitar/bass/piano) that dates back to sessions from Art Tatum, Django Reinhardt, the King Cole Trio, and most especially the Oscar Peterson Trio, pre-Ed Thigpen when first Barney Kessel and then Herb Ellis occupied the guitar chair alongside bassist Ray Brown. Kellaway explains the importance of the “drum-less” trio by noting that “...the difference between a trio with guitar and one with drums is immeasurable. With drums, the pianist is responsible (with the bassist, of course) for the harmony, but guitar is a chorded instrument, and harmonic clashes have to be avoided. The piano-guitar-bass trio is like a chamber-music group. There's more intimacy in the interaction....” It seems pretty obvious that, although Roger Kellaway has cited several jazz musicians as models, his primary influence was the Oscar Peterson trio, although the are specific references to the King Cole trio (”I Was Doing All Right”) and Django Reinhardt (”Nuages”). Save for a Kellaway original, “I'm Smiling Again,” the other tunes were recorded by the Peterson group. Kellaway is utilizing the same trio that he worked with on the Bobby Darin project (bassist Dan Lutz and guitarist Bruce Forman). Forman remains one of my favorite underappreciated plectrists, having recorded most of his dozen albums in the 1980s. Kellaway further notes that this is a working trio, and thus he is out spreading the word of the “drum-less” trio as we speak. The album begins with Benny Golson's “Killer Joe,” where Forman takes the melody line before handing it off to Kellaway for a rollicking solo. Then on an uptempo romp through the Ellington classic “Cottontail,” both the guitarist and pianist are featured with sparkling solo work. Appropriately, Forman is given the head on Reinhart's “Nuages,” while Forrest and Washington's “Night Train” closely follows the Peterson trio version. Although the ballad work here is limited, it is noteworthy. In addition to ”Nuages” and most of Oscar Peterson's “Hymn To Freedom” (played by solo piano until the trio joins in), the Lionel Hampton “Midnight Sun” is given a sleek reading. Visit The Roger Kellaway Trio on the web. The Roger Kellaway Trio at All About Jazz. Track listing: Killer Joe; Cotton Tail; I Was Doing All Right; Nuages; Night Train; I'm Smiling Again; Midnight Sun; Moton Swing; 52nd Street Theme; Hymn to Freedom. Personnel: Roger Kellaway: piano; Bruce Forman: guitar; Dan Lutz: bass. All material copyright © 2006 All About Jazz and contributing writers. All rights reserved. |
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Friday, September 01, 2006 4:40 PM Subject: Sal from Blue Sky Music Roger, David Paich from the rock group Toto lives here in Carpinteria, CA where our new business is located (clothes, jewelry, and gifts). He was in the store and heard me playing the Remembering Bobby Darin CD and said; "Nobody plays better than Roger Kellaway." Just thought you'd like to hear that. If you ever get up to Carpinteria, drop by and see us here at Island Outfitters.....873 Linden Ave., right on the main drag to the beach in old town Carpinteria. Best Wishes, Sal |
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Friday, August 25, 2006 4:33 PM Subject: Kellaway Hi Fran, My friend Terry Teachout, who writes for the Wall St Journal, Washington Post and other elite publications also has a very successful and widely-read blog. He has posted the following: "Roger Kellaway Trio, Heroes (IPO, out Sept. 12). The second CD by a California-based, telepathically tight piano-guitar-bass group that’s already worthy of comparison with the Oscar Peterson and King Cole Trios, the two classic combos after which it’s modeled. Anyone who heard Kellaway earlier this year at the Jazz Standard (or read about him here) knows that his utterly individual piano playing has never been better. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, pick up Heroes, put on “Killer Joe,” and prepare to be swung into bad health." When Terry says "read about him here, he is referring to something he posted this past May about the gig at Jazz Standard. You can read that by following this link: http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/archives20060521.shtml#106494 Also, in case you never saw it, Terry wrote a piece about the cello quartet in may 2004 for the Washington Post here's the link to that: http://www.rogerkellaway.com/post5-04.html -- Devra Hall Levy |
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August 8, 2006
Media Alert: Roger Kellaway ''Heroes'' IPOC1010 Street Date September 12, 2006 CD Review: http://www.ejazznews.com/ The Roger Kellaway Trio - Heroes (2006 IPO Recordings) There is something about a Roger Kellaway recording that makes your music quality of life better with each listen. Upbeat, vibrant, and tones that appeal to all tastes! Case in point his soon to be released effort “Heroes” which applauds the guitar-bass-piano trios of our times. Ellington’s “Cotton Tail” is a fine example of those times and the arranging Kellaway has constructed. Just the right touch of Ellington with a sprinkle of the Kellaway Way! This project is pure and polished and fun to spin. A must listen is “Midnight Sun” with such angelic overtones and a melodic delivery and wonderful dinner for two selection. Any jazz fan will simply embrace this fine exhibit! Karl Stober is an international freelance columnist and broadcaster who can be reached at jazztrenzz@bellsouth.net. Karl can also be reached at 1-251-625-0866. |
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27, 2006 Media Alert: Roger Kellaway ''Heroes'' IPOC1010 Street Date September 12, 2006 CD Review: http://www.ejazznews.com/ By John Gilbert This trio, sans drums, consists of Roger Kellaway at the piano, Bruce Forman, guitar and Dan Lutz on bass. As mentioned in Gene Lees liner notes, Roger's early favorites were the first trios of Oscar Peterson with Barney Kessel on guitar and later Herb Ellis with Ray Brown on bass. This album is a tribute to these superlative trios (mainly from the ensembles of 1952 to '59). The majority of tunes on this album were recorded by Peterson, the exceptions being "Killer Joe" and Kellaway's "I'm Smiling Again". The selections are superb and Kellaway's interpretations are magnificent. In the liner notes "swing" is alluded to many times and not without reason. Swing, in my opinion, is music that excites the listener and is pleasing to the ear. This album has all these qualities, and more. "Cottontail" Ellington's composition romps along merrily with Forman's guitar solo swinging most emphatically. Kellaway's idea filled soliloquy is reminiscent of Oscar's speedy keyboard prowess but it is Roger Kellaway's signature all over it. Dan Lutz's bass sound is pure velvet and ideas abound. "Night Train" chugs along non stop with Kellaway's pristine presentation augmenting the familiar melody with his own personal message. Forman's guitar says hello with dexterity and rapid fire runs. "I'm Smiling Again" this tune is aptly named. It's jaunty theme is happiness in the melody and the changes played by all are performed joyfully. "52nd. Street Theme" Speed does not kill in this instance, it simply defines beauty. Everyone is in this race and all reach the finish line in record time. Talk about swing! Kellaway is swinging like the Flying Wallenda's in this grooving aerial assault. The summary suggestions to Oscar Peterson are felt rather than explicitly explored by Kellaway and it works magically. This trio defines artistry in musical high fashion. I am sure Peterson is as impressed as this writer. 5
Stars.
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Will be available in major record outlets, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, TowerRecords.com and IPO Records.
Media Contact:
Jim Eigo
Jazz Promo Services
269 S Route 94
Warwick, NY 10990
T: 845-986-1677 / F: 845-986-1699 / Cell: 917-755-8960
E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net
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Mp3 clips of the IPO Records release "REMEMBERING BOBBY DARIN."
Click a title for a 1-minute preview:
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT BEYOND THE SEA FOUND A NEW BABY LAZY RIVER MACK THE KNIFE
MEDITATION MORE OH LOOK AT ME NOW ONCE UPON A TIME REMEMBER SPLISH SPLASH
