|
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
(Pedro Giraudo Website)
Will Vinson, alto and soprano saxes
Todd Bashore, alto sax
Luke Batson, tenor sax and clarinet
Carl Maraghi, baritone sax and bass clarinet
Jonathan Powell, Tatum Greenblatt, trumpets
Ryan Keberle, Mike Fahie, trombones
Jess Jurkovic, piano
Jeff Davis, drums
Tony De Vivo, cajón
Special guest: Sofia Tosello, voice
Pedro Giraudo, bass & composition
Presented by Ellen Azorin, Cantaloupe Music Productions
Media: Theresa Mullen, tmullen@ushgnyc.com
At
Jazz Standard
(Jazz Standard Website)
116 East 27th Street, NYC
212.576.2232
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
March 3, 2008
(Read a Review of Pedro Giraudo’s CD, Desconsuelo)
Program:
Contrapuntren (Giraudo)
El Bajonazo (Giraudo)
Juan Panadero (Cuchi Leguizamon)
Nachgeschmack (Giraudo)
La Viudita (Giraudo)
Hiroshima (Giraudo-Ramon Navarro)
New Suite I (Giraudo)
La Bronca (Giraudo)
Pedro Giraudo, from Argentina, infuses his music with the roots of Argentine tango and Argentine folk music, and his compositions and styling also exemplify the Big Band influences of Ellington and Mingus. He opened this second set with his bass bow, and urgent, undulating straight jazz ensued with a full brass contingent. The saxophones were showcased, along with flashes of trombones and trumpets, heralding a classically infused theme. Nachgeschmack followed, both bitter and sweet, and the German title refers to the aftertaste, perhaps of a lost relationship. The fused theme was poignant with recurring atonalities. A trumpet solo with steady punctuated rhythms added a conversational element, as musicians responded to riffs, back and forth. Muted trombones pulsated with scintillating sound, and I sensed a decidedly contemporary temperament, one that might serve as a film score or such.
The next composition presented Philip Glass-styled repetitive notes, with a sax solo riff, in upbeat, playful syncopation. The music built to a crescendo, with buoyant, brassy themes. Hiroshima was composed as a tribute to Giraudo’s performance for terminal patients in Japan. This is a doleful, introspective piece with unsettling blues. However, the mood picked up with a work composed for the recent birth of Giraudo’s child, a “very emotional experience”. An echoing, brief melody is evocative of Piazzolla and new tangos. Rippling refrains are enhanced with trumpet flourishes and frills. Jess Jurkovic, on piano, plays the slowed down theme solo, with surprising Latin sax infusion. Soon the saxes take off like a speeding train, and the piece closes with vibrant reverberation. A lengthy baritone sax riff led into an equally compelling sax riff, and the Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra closed the set with explosive brassy energy. Both I and my guest, Marco Losavio, of JazzItalia.net, were impressed with the stunning versatility of this Jazz Orchestra.
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Pedro Giraudo on Bass
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Jeff Davis on Drums
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower and Marco Losavio
Marco Losavio and Pablo Ziegler
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Marco Losavio and Pedro Giraudo
Photo Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
|
