Dease proves yet again that straight-ahead post-bop can prove to be fertile ground for musical ingenuity and emotional heft as he tips, grandly, to composer Gregg Hill.
Michael Dease has fully earned his stature as one of the great trombonists and jazz figures of these times. His formidableness on the instrument, matched by his pursuit of inspired musical challenges and robust partnerships, is fully on display in the double CD, City Life, his third album devoted to the music of composer Gregg Hill. Teaming with two of the more powerful voices in music—bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts—Dease devotes Disc One to a kinetically charged trio environment, capturing the gritty side of City Life by sparring freely with his trio mates while they masterfully cohabitate the flow of time. Disc Two adds saxophonist Nicole Glover and pianist Geoffrey Keezer to the soundscape, which may reflect a sophisticated counterview, with each disc capturing a perspective of the contradictions that make up City Life.
"Dease modernizes the style significantly, energizes it, and gives it a new dimension. He skillfully handles both the most lively and the most poetic..." Paris Move
DISC ONE - TRIO
1 Willow Walks In 5:03
2 City Life 6:29
3 Danger Zone 5:05
4 Movie Theme 4:53
5 Sweet Georgia Gillespie 4:15
6 Double Bill 5:14
7 Claxilever 4:26
8 Catalyst 7:16
9 Say What!? 4:41
10 Movie Theme (Reprise) 6:11
Compositions by Gregg Hill, except:
(5) J.J. Johnson; (9) Sharel Cassity
DISC TWO - QUINTET
1 Tea Time 6:08
2 The Classic II 7:11
3 Grave Concerns 6:31
4 Mr. Hurt 6:59
5 Rainy Afternoon 5:43
6 Enigma 6:16
7 Skittles 6:03
8 Blues for Herb 4:50
9 Lafayette Square 4:56
Compositions by Gregg Hill, except: (3,7) Michael Dease;
(4) Gregory Tardy; (6) J.J. Johnson; (8) Emily Remler
Michael Dease - trombone
Linda May Han Oh - bass*
Jeff "Tain" Watts - drums
Nicole Glover - tenor saxophone (disc 2)
Geoffrey Keezer - piano (disc 2)
*Jared Beckstead-Craan - bass (4,6 on disc 2)
Brooklyn Dease - voice (4,10 on disc 1)
Gregg Hill - compositions & producer
Produced by Michael Dease & Gregg Hill
Recorded Oct. 25-26, 2024
at Power Station at Berklee, NYC
Engineered by Akihiro Nishimura and Ben Miller
Mixed by Akihiro Nishimura
at Spin Recording Studios, NYC
Mastered by Mark Wilder
at Battery Studios, Sony Music Entertainment, NYC
Liner notes by Michael J. West
Cover art by Laura Shepard
Cover concept by Lynne Brown
Cover design & layout by John Bishop
Jazz Weekly (George W Harris)
Trombonist Michael Dease continues his catalogue building from th ecomposition skills of Gregg Hill, this time with a two disc album with two different band formats.
The first is a bopping trio session with Linda May Han Oh/b and Jeff ‘Tain' Watts, with daughter Brooklyn Dease adding the innocence of a childlike voice to the multi-mooded "Movi ...
Paris Move (Thierry De Clemensat)
5-STARS There are two trombonists in the world I hold in the highest regard. One hails from Europe, the unmistakable figure with the red trombone, Nils Landgren. The other is American, and his name is Michael Dease. While their styles are worlds apart, shaped by different cultural soil, both possess something rare and essential: the ability to tra ...
The New York City Jazz Record (George Kanzler )
The double-album City Life: Music of Gregg Hill is the third recording of Hill compositions that trombonist Michael Dease has released; and although 7 of the 18 compositions are by others, Hill is also a co-producer of the set. For this project, Dease goes way beyond his and fellow Michigander Hill's usual reliance on Mid-American musicians. Instea ...
All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
4 1/2 STARS Jazz trios featuring a horn, bass and drums get right to the core of musical expression. With, most commonly, a saxophone—see Sonny Rollins' blueprint for the horn and trio setting, the 1957 Contemporary Records album Way Out West—the music flows freely. The player do not need to chase chords around. The result is a stretching of t ...
All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4 1/2 STARS Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill is on a remarkable roll, authoring an impressive run of compositions represented on eight albums released on the Origin Records label. Each has featured a bandleader associated with the top shelf staff at Rodney Whitaker's jazz program at Michigan State University. City Life (2025) is the third under ...
DownBeat (Ed Enright)
4-STARS When you live, work and play in New York, the city's renowned culture is there for the taking. But even if your day-to-day pursuits are of the utmost sophistication, there's no escaping the raw grit and inherent riskiness of urban life. Nobody knows that better than Michael Dease, who spent more than a decade of his formative years in the ...
Modern Drummer (Mark Griffith)
A double CD set of Jeff Watts playing music can never be a bad thing. And trombonist Michael Dease has given us just that. The first CD of this two CD is a strange combination. Dease has given us a trio of trombone, bass, and drums. And while that might seem strange, trios of saxophone, bass, and drums are some of my favorites, so why not a trombon ...