The Squid's Ear Magazine


Karayorgis / McBride / Gray: The Hasaan, Hope & Monk Project (Driff Records)

The long-running Boston trio of Pandelis Karayorgis on piano, Nate McBride on bass and Luther Gray on drums explore the music of Hasaan Ibn Ali through four compositions transcribed by Karayorgis from Hasaan's so-called "lost" Atlantic album Metaphysics, interleaved with six of the band's favorite tracks from Thelonious Monk and three tracks from Monk peer Elmo Hope.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Pandelis Karayorgis-piano

Nate McBride-bass

Luther Gray-drums


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Label: Driff Records
Catalog ID: CD2201
Squidco Product Code: 32723

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Tracks 1-4 and 8-13 recorded at Firehouse 12, studio B, in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 9th, 2022, by Greg DiCrosta.

Tracks 5-7 recorded live at the Lilypad, Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Pandelis Karayorgis.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Features four compositions from Hasaan Ibn Ali's recently re-discovered 1965 recording Metaphysics (Omnivore, 2021), three classics by Elmo Hope, and six Thelonious Monk favorites.

The two recent Omnivore releases of Hasaan's "lost" recordings were the starting point for this project. Karayorgis and McBride had previously recorded several Hasaan tunes from the Max Roach album recorded in 1964 (The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan) with their trio mi3 with drummer Curt Newton, for Clean Feed and HatArt in 2008 and 2013. Here, with Luther Gray on drums, they take up four "new" Hasaan compositions transcribed by Karayorgis last year and surround them with material by Monk and Hope, who, like Hasaan, stand out for their one-of-a-kind approach to writing and playing the piano. The two elder pianists also had a close musical relationship and personal friendship, while the somewhat younger Hasaan was a great admirer of Hope and saw him as the person from whom he "heard how to learn" according to Alan Sukoening's liner notes from the Max Roach album.

The three Hope tunes presented here come from the 1953-54 recordings for Blue Note. Elmo Hope's writing, while certainly subtler than Monk's, is still striking for its melodic inventiveness and unexpected harmonic twists. Some of his tunes can have very unusual forms and chord progressions that bring to mind his close personal relationship with Monk-these two are known to have exchanged musical ideas. (The A section of "Off Minor" is reportedly "borrowed" from Elmo Hope.)

Finally, six compositions by Monk himself, whose work figures prominently in Karayorgis's earlier discography, round off the program. Karayorgis and McBride have been working on Monk's music since the early 90s.

Karayorgis, McBride and Gray have a long history of playing together in various formations, most recently in Cutout with Jeb Bishop and Jorrit Dijkstra, The Diagonal adding Jeff Parker, the large ensemble Bathysphere, the double trio CliffPools, and numerous other groups."-Driff


Artist Biographies

"Pandelis Karayorgis is a Boston based jazz/improvised music pianist, composer and educator.

In the last twenty years mostly led or co-led numerous groups in performances at festivals and clubs in Europe and the United States and Canada. Recordings appear on labels such as Hat Art, HatOLOGY, Clean Feed, Not Two, Leo Records, Nuscope, Boxholder, Okkadisk, Cadence, Accurate, Leo Lab, Ayler and more recently on Driff Records, a new artist-run label co-founded by Pandelis Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra.

Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Ken Vandermark, Mat Maneri, Guillermo Gregorio, Jorrit Dijkstra, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson and Dave Rempis.Pandelis Karayorgis performed and recorded with Joe Maneri, Han Bennink, Mary Oliver, Jeb Bishop, Steve Swell, Frank Rosaly, Jason Roebke, Keefe Jackson, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, Forbes Graham, Matt Langley, Jeff Galindo, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Lockwood and Eric Rosenthal.

Also performed with Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor, Jason Adasciewicz, Jacob William, Laurence Cook, Eric Hofbauer, Jeff Parker, Tim Daisy, Jason Stein, Mike Reed, Josh Berman, Charles Waters, James Falzone, Nori Tanaka, Daniel Levin, Kresten Osgood, Jeff Platz and Charlie Kohlase.

Notable projects include The Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, The Whammies, The Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (whose first trio CD "Heart And Sack" was featured on National Public Radio's program Fresh Air), the mi3, Construction Party, System of 5, the quartet Matchbox, the large group Bathysphere and more recently, the quintet Cutout.

Born in Athens, Greece in 1962, moved to Boston in 1985. Prior to that, studied piano and performed in various jazz groups in Athens while pursuing a degree in Economics. Earned BM and MM degrees in music from Boston's New England Conservatory while studying with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Dave Holland and Joe Maneri (composition). Studied and performed extensively Thelonious Monk's and Lennie Tristano's music and in 1991 compiled a collection of all of Monk's compositions."

-Pandelis Karayorgis Website (http://karayorgis.com/Pages/bio.html)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Nate McBride, who was born in 1971, is a very versatile double-bassist and electric bassist, and has performed with such important musicians as Dennis Gonzalez, Pandelis Karayorgis, and Ken Vandermark. McBride is a Boston native, and recently relocated to Chicago, Illinois.

He has played in the groups: Bathysphere, Bridge 61, Dennis González Boston Project, Dull Thud Trio, FME, Jason Adasiewicz's Sun Rooms, Joe Morris Quartet, Joe Morris Trio, MI3, New Fracture Quartet, Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio, Powerhouse Sound, Predella Group, Riot Trio, Spaceways Incorporated, The Engines, The Frame Quartet, The Whammies, Tripleplay, Wheelhouse"

-Nuscope, Discogs (http://nuscope.org/musicians/nate-mcbride/)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Drummer Luther Gray, though largely self-taught, his musical training involved drum lessons from Kim Martin, Larry Bright, Steve Bagby, and Mickey Newman. In 1995 he graduated the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Music, after which he taught privately and performed in the Washington , D.C. area with, among others, Butch Warren, Cecil Payne, Webster Young, Tsunami, Liquorice, Peter Edelman, Jenny Toomey, Bob Butta, and Buck Hill. Since moving to Boston he has resumed teaching private drum lessons and has played with Joe Morris, Jay Hoggard, Joe McPhee, Timo Shanko, Cameron Brown, Allan Chase, Joseph Daley, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Ida, Geoff Farina, Andrew White, Rob Brown, Bill Lowe, Greg Abate, Raqib Hassan, Bill Pierce, Mitch Seidman, Steve Swell, Joe Beck, Fred Anderson, Ken Vandermark and many others. In addition to his performing schedule Luther teaches art and music at an after-school program for elementary school children."

-Lilypad Inman (https://www.lilypadinman.com/luther-gray/)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Chips 03:51

2. Work 05:12

3. Atlantic Ones 05:11

4. Off Minor 04:44

5. Abdullah 04:49

6. Evidence 05:41

7. El Hasaan 03:59

8. Criss Cross 04:08

9. Stars Over Marrakesh 06:36

10. Epitome 04:04

11. Trinkle Tinkle 05:42

12. Viceroy 04:11

13. Think Of One 03:14

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
Trio Recordings
Piano Trio (Piano Bass Drums)
Boston Area Improvisers
New in Improvised Music
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