Search - Laszlo Gardony :: Life In Real Time

Over the past quarter century pianist/composer Laszlo Gardony has gained widespread acclaim for a series of inspired albums documenting his trio and his riveting solo recitals. In a welcome addition to his treasure-laden discography, he delivers his first sextet session, Life In Real Time, a thrilling live album recorded at the Berklee Performance Center at Boston s Berklee College of Music (where most of the ensemble is on faculty). The album is slated for release on July 10, 2015 on Sunnyside Records.

Rather than an all-star blowing session, Life In Real Time introduces an ensemble that breathes, phrases and reacts as one, reveling in the knifepoint balance between structure and freedom afforded by Gardony s arrangements and bandleading sensibility. Indeed, part of what makes the album so much more than the sum of its considerable parts is the rhythm section s extraordinary rapport. Gardony s long-running trio with bass master John Lockwood and drum maestro Yoron Israel has forged a soul-deep bandstand communion over the past 13 years, an almost telepathic bond captured on three critically acclaimed Sunnyside albums. The trio is directly responsible for the loose and limber feel of Life In Real Time, where three immediately recognizable saxophone stars can feel free to be themselves in the music, Gardony says.

And what horn players! Most conspicuously, the album marks the reemergence of the great Bill Pierce, a player who established himself as a commanding improviser during his years with drum legends Tony Williams and Art Blakey (who called Pierce my best tenor player since Wayne Shorter. ) He sounds more formidable than ever with his thick, muscular sound and driving rhythmic attack.

While Stan Strickland is best known as a startlingly inventive post-bop tenor saxophonist, he s a polymathic creative force who also works as a singer, actor and art therapist. Gardony s longtime friend and Berklee colleague, Strickland contributed memorably to the pianist s 2011 Sunnyside album Signature Time with Lockwood and Israel. It was Israel who suggested adding Don Braden to the mix. The album s only Berklee ringer (he s the director of the Harvard Monday Night Jazz Band), Braden was in Wynton Marsalis band, has performed with Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams, and is featured on some 20 albums as a leader.

I hand-picked the musicians for this band, Gardony explains. Don was a great addition to the band, and it clicked so beautifully from the first. All of the bandmembers have had long careers and we re committed to playing together as a beautiful and meaningful experience.