Jazzy Piano Renditions On 180g Vinyl Double LP!
The Songs Of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, ZZ Top & More!
One of the most prolific artists in the RareNoise roster, Jamie Saft has appeared on recordings by such groups as Metallic Taste of Blood, Slobber Pup, Plymouth, Red Hill, The Spanish Donkey and Berserk! As well as on collaborations with Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte (New Standard / Loneliness Road, which also featured Iggy Pop, Bill Brovold (Serenity Knolls), Roswell Rudd (Strength & Power) and his own New Zion album (Sunshine Seas). And yet, over all those sessions he has never recorded a solo piano album.
Solo A Genova is Saft's highly emotive take on jazz standards and other uniquely American compositions. Recorded at the beautiful Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Italy in an acoustically marvelous space, Solo A Genova showcases Saft on a 9-foot Steinway Model D piano in the service of a number beguiling piano arrangements of tunes by Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, John Coltrane, ZZ Top, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Charles Ives, Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
"Pianist Jamie Saft's Solo A Genova is a revelation. It is, in an extensive discography, his only alone-in-the-piano-chair outing. Saft has made a wide-ranging mark in collaborations with Slobber Pup, Metallic Taste of Blood, The Spanish Donkey and Berserk! These group names don't say it all, but do probably say something (Brash? Unconventional? Loud?) about the sounds they make. But for the jazz fan of the more purist persuasion, his piano trio discs are probably the ones that find their way to the stereos: Asorath: Book of Angels, Vol 1 (Tzadik, 2005), The New Standard (Rare Noise, 2014), and the terrific Loneliness Road (Rare Noise, 2017). These trio sets feature commanding instrumentalists in the bass and drum chairs, making for a satisfyingly egalitarian approach to the craft.
"Jamie Saft solo is different. Absent the driving rhythms of the trio sets, he proves himself strikingly virtuosic, lushly harmonic, and beautifully fluid.
"Solo A Genova, as the title suggests, was recorded live in Genova, Italy, but it seems a celebration of America. The pianist covers tunes by quintessentially American artists (with a Canadian, Joni Mitchell slipped in), and he doesn't limit himself to Jazz Standards. Compositions by Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis/Bill Evans, Stevie Wonder and Charles Ives are played out with playfulness (Dylan's "Po' Boy), doom (ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man); life affirmation (Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed") and solemn majesty (Ives' "Housatonic At Stockbridge).
"While Saft's previously mentioned trio discs are uniformly excellent, playing the show alone seems to have freed his artistry. Solo A Genova showcases his uplifting, steeped-in-the-American-sound soul, closing with a gorgeous, got-religion take on Dylan's "Restless Farewell."" - Dan McClenaghan, Allaboutjazz.com, January 18, 2018
Features:
Double LP
180g Vinyl
Gatefold jacket
Musicians:
Jamie Saft, piano
Selections:
Side A:
1. The Makings Of You
2. Human / Gates
3. Naima
Side B:
1. Sharp Dressed Man
2. Overjoyed
3. Po' Boy
Side C:
1. The New Standard / Pinkus
2. Blue Motel Room
Side D:
1. The Housatonic At Stockbridge
2. Blue In Green
3. Restless Farewell
The Songs Of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, ZZ Top & More!
One of the most prolific artists in the RareNoise roster, Jamie Saft has appeared on recordings by such groups as Metallic Taste of Blood, Slobber Pup, Plymouth, Red Hill, The Spanish Donkey and Berserk! As well as on collaborations with Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte (New Standard / Loneliness Road, which also featured Iggy Pop, Bill Brovold (Serenity Knolls), Roswell Rudd (Strength & Power) and his own New Zion album (Sunshine Seas). And yet, over all those sessions he has never recorded a solo piano album.
Solo A Genova is Saft's highly emotive take on jazz standards and other uniquely American compositions. Recorded at the beautiful Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Italy in an acoustically marvelous space, Solo A Genova showcases Saft on a 9-foot Steinway Model D piano in the service of a number beguiling piano arrangements of tunes by Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, John Coltrane, ZZ Top, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Charles Ives, Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
"Pianist Jamie Saft's Solo A Genova is a revelation. It is, in an extensive discography, his only alone-in-the-piano-chair outing. Saft has made a wide-ranging mark in collaborations with Slobber Pup, Metallic Taste of Blood, The Spanish Donkey and Berserk! These group names don't say it all, but do probably say something (Brash? Unconventional? Loud?) about the sounds they make. But for the jazz fan of the more purist persuasion, his piano trio discs are probably the ones that find their way to the stereos: Asorath: Book of Angels, Vol 1 (Tzadik, 2005), The New Standard (Rare Noise, 2014), and the terrific Loneliness Road (Rare Noise, 2017). These trio sets feature commanding instrumentalists in the bass and drum chairs, making for a satisfyingly egalitarian approach to the craft.
"Jamie Saft solo is different. Absent the driving rhythms of the trio sets, he proves himself strikingly virtuosic, lushly harmonic, and beautifully fluid.
"Solo A Genova, as the title suggests, was recorded live in Genova, Italy, but it seems a celebration of America. The pianist covers tunes by quintessentially American artists (with a Canadian, Joni Mitchell slipped in), and he doesn't limit himself to Jazz Standards. Compositions by Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis/Bill Evans, Stevie Wonder and Charles Ives are played out with playfulness (Dylan's "Po' Boy), doom (ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man); life affirmation (Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed") and solemn majesty (Ives' "Housatonic At Stockbridge).
"While Saft's previously mentioned trio discs are uniformly excellent, playing the show alone seems to have freed his artistry. Solo A Genova showcases his uplifting, steeped-in-the-American-sound soul, closing with a gorgeous, got-religion take on Dylan's "Restless Farewell."" - Dan McClenaghan, Allaboutjazz.com, January 18, 2018
Features:
Double LP
180g Vinyl
Gatefold jacket
Musicians:
Jamie Saft, piano
Selections:
Side A:
1. The Makings Of You
2. Human / Gates
3. Naima
Side B:
1. Sharp Dressed Man
2. Overjoyed
3. Po' Boy
Side C:
1. The New Standard / Pinkus
2. Blue Motel Room
Side D:
1. The Housatonic At Stockbridge
2. Blue In Green
3. Restless Farewell
