jazz2love

Album:  Being Artist:  Chris Rottmayer Label:  Shifting Paradigm Website:  chrisrottmayer.com Freelance jazz artist, composer, educator, and pianist Chris Rottmayer releases his fourth recording Being .  His recording is comprised of all original compositions, written as part of a study of the jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, and Miller's materials with the Woody Shaw Quintet. Rottmayer calls Madison, Wisconsin his home where is a Lecturer of Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. and where his mentors were instrumental in connecting him with acoustic bassist Rufus Reid, who collaborated often with Miller. Reid joins Rottmayer on Being along with Russ Johnson on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Matt Endres on drums.  Rottmayer travels between jam-inspired arrangements like "On The Street Where Woody Lives" and "Re-United" and elegant scores like "Pigalle" and "Pont Neuf."  The two former tracks are part of the Miller study, and the two

Album:  Being Artist:  Chris Rottmayer Label:  Shifting Paradigm Website:  chrisrottmayer.com Being , the fourth release from pianist and leader Chris Rottmayer, is a compilation of original music, written by Rottmayer as part of a study of jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller and his recordings with the Woody Shaw Quintet.  With that in mind, the music has a statuesque hard bop parlance reminiscent of McCoy Tyner and an intimate jazz club flare reflective of Art Tatum. Five compositions are reflections of the city of Paris, France, such as “Pigalle," which is driven by a slow strutting bass line played by Rufus Reid as Rottmayer's keys drizzle gently across the smooth melodic soundscape.  The tune leaves the listener with an impression of the famous former red-light district of Pigalle, renown for its dancehalls and venues of entertainment, as being relaxing and peaceful.   “Châtelet,” another impression of Paris, projects the bustling activity around the Paris metro station with flai