Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill

Bustling like a mashup of Ray Anderson and Charles Mingus, Dease's band carves a broad swath through territory that seems somewhat familiar.
DownBeat

This second pairing of the dominant trombonist of our time and the prolific idiosyncratic composer Gregg Hill plays out in an expansive aural sandbox. Full of reminders of '70s cinema, Zappa albums circa The Grand Wazoo, bebop, and big bands through the ages, the strong melodies and committed musical integrity assure the feeling is substantial, swinging, and exciting. Structured and highly contrapuntal pieces unfold in sections, with the world-class soloists imbuing the music with an organic energy that ties together the storylines. Dease, performing on trombone and baritone sax, is joined by the woodwind section of Sharel Cassity, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Jason Hainsworth and Virginia MacDonald, Matt White on trumpet, Nanami Haruta on trombone, and the rhythm section of Bill Cunliffe, Katie Thiroux, Colleen Clark, and Gwendolyn Dease on marimba and percussion.

Production Info:

Produced by Gregg Hill & Michael Dease
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Corey DeRushia
at Troubadour Recording, Lansing, MI
Production Assistants: Gina Benalcazar & Hannah Davies
Liner Notes by Bill Milkowski
Cover Painting by Laura Shepard
Album Design Concept by Lynne Brown
Dease Photo by Jessica Cowles
Band Photo by Brad Scott
Cover Design & Layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill

Paris Move (Thierry De Clemensat)
Clearly in 2024, Michael Dease is on all fronts. No sooner had his masterful *Grove's Groove* been released—where he swapped the trombone for the baritone saxophone—than by September, you'll find him back on the trombone for the incredible and excellent *Found In Space: The Music Of Gregg Hill*, once again condemning us to the excellence of his ...

Five Finger Review (Illiam Sebitz)
Michael Dease's latest album, Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill, is a unique and creative journey through the mind of Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill, whose work deftly balances complexity with accessibility. Released by Origin Records on September 20, 2024, the album honors Hill's exceptional compositional voice, combining intricate count ...

Jazz Weekly (George W Harris)
Trombonist came up with a brilliant idea on his last album in putting together material from the catalogue of composer Gregg Hill. He keeps playing the winning hand on this new release, but with a larger ensemble in Virginia MacDonald/cl, Sharel Cassity/fl-as, Rudresh Mahanthappa/as, Jason Hainsworth/ts, Matt White/tp, Nanami Haruta/tb, Bill Cunlif ...

Sound in Review (Steven Miller)
Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill buzzes with the power of collaboration, diversity, and the timeless appeal of jazz as a genre that thrives on collective energy. Trombonist and bandleader Michael Dease, known for his reverence for jazz history and his formidable technique, brings together a stellar group of musicians from different backgroun ...

Jazz Music Archives (Carmel De Soto)
In the vast universe of jazz, where the echoes of the past continually meld with the explorations of the present moment, Michael Dease's "Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill" is a journey through the mind of one of America's most idiosyncratic composers. Dease, a formidable trombonist and educator, is no stranger to innovation. Yet, with this a ...

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4-STARS Leaving a legacy in this life is a subject that holds different meanings for people. For some, it involves building a structure of permanence that will stand up to the test of time after one's entrance into eternity. For others, it is more fleeting, something that can be shaped and reshaped, and if desired, completely torn down. For some i ...

The New York City Jazz Record (George Kanzler)
Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill is the seventh album to be released featuring the music of 78-year-old Michigan composer Gregg Hill, and it's Michael Dease's second Hill project. "Something I really dig about Gregg's writing is that his melodies are direct," says Dease in the liner notes, "they're unpretentious to me and they balance lyrici ...

Jazzport! (Czech Republic) (Jan Hocek)
American trombonist and (since last year) baritone saxophonist MICHAEL DEASE released a new album "Found In Space: The Music of Gregg Hill" on September 20 on the Origin Records label. In the eleven-member line-up... Michael Dease won this year's 69th DownBeat Annual Jazz Critics Poll as Trombonist of the Year! In addition to playing in various ...

Jazz Sensibilities (Jeff Becker)
Listening to Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill is akin to stepping into an astral observatory. It's an expedition of sound, and at its helm are the genre-bending compositions of Gregg Hill, shaped into a constellation of creativity by trombonist Michael Dease and his dynamic ensemble. Dease serves as the captain of this vessel, but the true g ...