Gene Ess featuring Nicki Parrott to perform a special pre-Thanksgiving concert previewing the forthcoming album at Somethin' Jazz Club, NYC on Nov. 22nd, 2011 7PM to 10PM.
Gene Ess - gtr/arrange, James Weidman - piano, Thomson Kneeland - bass/arrange, Gene Jackson - drums and Featuring Nicki Parrott - vocals.
"Guitarist Gene Ess completed recording a new album featuring Nicki Parrott on vocals. This new work features carefully selected songs from the jazz canon arranged by Gene Ess and Thomson Kneeland. The music keeps true to the great songs but adds fresh and a modern edge to the presentation of the music. There are no comprosmises to the musical integrity throughout the album. The new album will be released internationally early 2012."...
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Gene Ess featuring Nicki Parrott to perform a special pre-Thanksgiving concert previewing the forthcoming album at Somethin' Jazz Club, NYC on Nov. 22nd, 2011 7PM to 10PM.
Gene Ess - gtr/arrange, James Weidman - piano, Thomson Kneeland - bass/arrange, Gene Jackson - drums and Featuring Nicki Parrott - vocals.
"Guitarist Gene Ess completed recording a new album featuring Nicki Parrott on vocals. This new work features carefully selected songs from the jazz canon arranged by Gene Ess and Thomson Kneeland. The music keeps true to the great songs but adds fresh and a modern edge to the presentation of the music. There are no comprosmises to the musical integrity throughout the album. The new album will be released internationally early 2012."
Gene Ess brings his award-winning musicianship from a very diverse background. He grew up playing the classical piano, due to his mother being a classical pianist and a well-known piano instructor. His early years were filled with the classical sounds of Beethoven and Chopin. Growing up on a U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa - Japan, Gene was influenced by the indigeneous music of the island along with the pop and jazz music coming from the clubs on base.
Cindy McLeod of Jazz Review says "Gene Ess has firmly cemented his place as a major jazz artist of the new millennium. His post-bop work is delivered with adventurous spirit and intense ethos, offering a powerful, unique voice to the idiom. A guitarist of virtuosic proportions, Ess plays fluid chromatic lines sometimes reminiscent of John Abercrombie. His performance is simply stated, yet reveals stunning technical fluency, the signature of all true greats. There's a delicious sense of tension/release with his performance riding over the rhythm section, Ess is a master of the art of creating dynamic interplay. Supple, sanguine, and superb are the three words that kept popping into my head as I listened, this recording knocked my socks off and will be in my CD player on a regular basis for many years to come."
Gene Ess has performed and recorded with Rashied Ali, Al Foster, Ravi Coltrane, Matt Garrison, Reggie Workman, Santana, Dave Liebman, Tigran Hamasyan, Archie Shepp, Danilo Perez, Donny McCaslin, Harvie S and many more wonderful artists.
Nicki Parrott, an internationally acclaimed musician, arrived in New York in May of 1994, the recipient of a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts allowing her travel to the US and study with her mentor, one of the world's premiere double bassists, Rufus Reid. In the same year she was also nominated for the "Australian Young Achievers Award".
Today, Nicki Parrott is a world-class double bassist and an emerging singer/songwriter. In her work with artists from around the globe she has brought a signature sound to every bass part she has played. She performs regularly at the world's best Jazz Festivals and can be seen Monday's at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City with the legendary guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. Since June of 2000, this union has been an ideal showcase for her musical abilities, flair for improv, and gift for entertaining a crowd.
On this performance and the album, Nicki's beautiful singing is prominently featured.
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