On
STANDARD-IZED!, the newest project by ERIC GOLETZ,
the trombonist re-imagines modern jazz standards with hip
arrangements that fuse his contemporary jazz sound with swing, Latin,
and funk. Goletz is not only a virtuoso trombonist, he is also a
first-rate arranger and composer. His first two albums, A New
Light (2022) and his debut album, Into the Night (2021),
released after spending 30 years as a composer and sideman, largely
comprised his original compositions. All About Jazz says of A
New Light, “A remarkable recording, up and edgy and at the
highest level of musicianship … no one will call this big band
sterile or devoid of excitement. Bracing, to say the least.”
Although
Goletz is a prolific composer, for STANDARD-IZED he
decided to focus his creative endeavors on music composed by other
artists, like Charlie Parker, Horace Silver, Michel Legrand, and
other jazz luminaries. The idea for the album grew out of a casual,
cocktail hour gig with his band. Goletz relates, “We were told to
play whatever we wanted, so we decided to just have fun and pick tunes
that we wanted to blow on. We had such a great time that I decided to
do a studio recording of four of the songs to use as a demo get more
gigs just like it.”
When
the recording session was over, the musicians enjoyed themselves so
much that they decided to record a whole album of standards. STANDARD-IZED
features some of the finest New York-based players including HENRY
HEINITSH (guitar), JIM RIDL (piano), BRIAN GLASSMAN (acoustic
and electric bass), MARCO PANASCIA (electric bass), STEVE
JOHNS (drums), and JOE MOWATT (percussion).
Goletz
likes to create different textures on his albums by mixing the
instrumentation on different compositions. For STANDARD-IZED,
he wanted to use a different combination of sounds and brought on
board renowned saxophonist DON BRADEN and vocalist LAJUAN CARTER,
who has been a backing vocalist, both in live performances and on
recordings, for scores of A-list artists, including Stevie Wonder,
Celine Dion, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Feinstein, and many more.
Goletz also includes a full string section on four of the tracks.
Goletz
wanted the album to have the energy and ambience of a live
performance. His arrangements are simpler and a bit more open than on
his previous recordings, giving more space for spontaneity. The band
went into the studio with just a couple of rehearsals. With no
overdubs or any digital gimmickry, Goletz wound up using the first
take of more than half the numbers.
The
album opens with Charlie Parker’s “Now Is the Time.” Goletz got the
inspiration for the arrangement of this impromptu track at 3am on the
morning of the first session. The track features Goletz and Braden
trading fours with solos by Ridl and Heinitsh.
Goletz
included three compositions by the inestimable Horace Silver, an
up-tempo Latin version of “Nutville,” which also features Braden on
soprano sax, “Jungle Juice,” which Goletz arranged in 5/4, and the
up-tempo “Mayreh,” also featuring Braden.
Michel
Legrand has written some of the most beautiful melodies in modern
music, and Goletz includes two of his most iconic songs. Accompanied
by a lush string arrangement, Goletz’s soulful playing perfectly
captures the wistful melody of “The Summer Knows.” Goletz’s bluesy
arrangement of “The Windmills of Your Mind” features a musical
conversation between the trombone and Carter’s poignant vocals.
Goletz is also an accomplished pianist and takes a turn on the keys
on this number.
Goletz
has always been captivated by the haunting melody of “Nature Boy,”
which again features Carter’s vocals. He also plays piano on Stevie
Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” backed by just Heinitsh on guitar and Mowatt on
percussion.
Goletz
and the band also do covers of Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol’s “Caravan,”
Tom Harrell’s bluesy ”Train Shuffle,” an uptempo Latin version of
Gershwin’s “Summertime” and Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar,” performed
by just trombone, bass, and drums, and featuring a hip, arco bass
solo by Glassman.
Goletz
puts his own stamp on the well-known tunes on STANDARD-IZED
but pays respect to the composer’s original concepts. With its superb
musicianship and open arrangements, STANDARD-IZED is
the next best thing to listening to the Eric Goletz band in an
intimate jazz club.
About
Eric Goletz
Goletz
has had a 30-year career as a studio musician and first-call horn
player in New York City. He grew up in Denver but moved to New York
City to pursue a career in music, where he quickly found work
composing and arranging music for radio and TV commercials, and
soundtracks for independent films. He also worked on many recording
projects for different singers and ensembles, most notably with
pianist Mike Longo’s State of the Art Jazz Ensemble and with Sal
Salvador, who was Stan Kenton’s former guitarist. Goletz played and
wrote for Salvador’s album, “Lorinda’s Kitchen.”
Goletz’s
father was a pianist and big band arranger who wanted to share the
gift of music with his children, and Goletz began studying classical
piano, guitar, and music theory from the age of six with private
teachers, but at the age of 14 he fell in love with the sound of the
trombone in his father’s band. He knew from then on that music was
going to be his life’s work. His father took over his musical education
and taught him jazz.
Goletz
became intrigued with the sound of jazz fused with other styles of
music, with the trombone as the lead instrument. There have been many
great trombone recordings, but he wanted to incorporate the
traditional sound of the trombone in his own original,
non-traditional musical setting
In
the ’90s, Goletz began to realize his vision by fronting a group, led
by both a tenor and bass trombone, that featured his original music
and arrangements. Jazziz Magazine has hailed him as one of the
top 10 unsigned jazz artists in the country.
# # #
STANDARD-IZED!
is set
for release on February 10, 2023 on CAP Records and will be available
everywhere.
Online:
jazzbeat.com/?project=eric-goletz
Ericgoletz.com
facebook.com/Eric.Goletz
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