Signature Time
SSC4011 2011-05-31
Track List
With You At The Bridge - 6:29
On African Land - 4:36
Lady Madonna - 4:31
Lullaby of Birdland - 5:52
Silent Words - 4:36
Johnny Come Lately - 5:45
Under The Sky - 4:34
Eleanor Rigby - 4:52
Spirit Dance - 3:47
Bourbon Street Boogie - 4:45
Musicians
Laszlo Gardony - piano
John Lockwood - acoustic bass
Yoron Israel - drums, vibraharp
Stan Strickland - tenor saxophone, vocals
There is a unifying element in most popular musical forms, their African roots. From jazz, blues, to rock, these originally African-American musical forms are firmly rooted to principles originating from Africa. Pianist/composer Laszlo Gardony acknowledges the indebtedness of his favorite music to these principles on his new CD, Signature Time. Together with his quartet featuring bassist John Lockwood, drummer Yoron Israel, and saxophonist Stan Strickland, Gardony presents a program of original compositions and covers performed in the spirit of these African influences
Reviews
Gardony is a pianist from Hungary who came to America uncertain of his jazz future, made a trio disc with Jack DeJohnette and never looked back. On this deceptively idiosyncratic disc, which Gardony says, is "an acknowledgment of how many genres ... draw upon the African musical heritage," you might well wonder, without hearing it, what the devil the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" and "Eleanor Rigby" and Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" are doing on a disc with such a program? The only solution is to listen and find out. What Gardony is doing here is finding a full, rich, explosive and wild life for his left hand to exult rhythmically in riffs, while his right hand dances in melodic rituals and improvises joyously. Imagine those great old Ramsey Lewis hits turned into something vastly more inventive and celebratory of music itself and you've got some idea of what's so good about most of this. Stan Strickland joins Gardony's long-tenured trio (with bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel) on tenor on some tunes. It's Gardony's simplicity, though, here which makes this such a commanding trio disc by one of our most interesting pianists.Jeff Simon, Buffalo News, June 3, 2011
Nice review on AllAboutJazz.com!
Raul d'Gama Rose, all.about.jazz - July 2011 read the full article
Nice review by Bill Milkowski for JazzTimes, Oct. 2011!
Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes - October 2011 read the full article
Nice review in New York Jazz Record.
Terrell Holmes, New York Jazz Record - December 2011 read the full article
