HOME |
DINING |
MOVIES |
LIVE SHOWS |
ARTS |
UPCOMING EVENTS
ARCHIVES |
ABOUT |
ADVERTISE |
CONTACT |
DISTRIBUTION
entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
<<
Leo Kottke
|
Main
|
Springing The Blues
>>
|
|
|
by rick grant
rickgrant01@comcast.net
There was something ethereal about listening to Al Maniscalco’s sweet tone on tenor and soprano saxophones that took me back to my John Coltrane and Miles Davis period during the 1960s. Previously, I’d covered Al with a bassist at The Brick, but I wanted to hear him with a quartet at Simon’s last Saturday night. This time, I let Al’s thoughtful improvising take me away to another time and era when I could walk into the Village Vanguard and witness Stan Getz play. Of course, this was before the onslaught of the rock’s dominance in the popular music milieu.
|
|
Although the era of jazz being played in the mainstream is long gone, improvisational music is still around on the periphery of the music biz. Simon’s is one of the few venues in town where one can hear traditional and modern jazz played. Indeed, Al Maniscalco Quartet is a major force in today’s reincarnation of the saxophone driven quartet.
Joining Al at Simon’s were Josh Bowlus on piano, John Lumpkin on drums, and Chelsea Chason on upright bass. It was a tight impromptu ensemble fronted by Al’s tenor and soprano excursions, which flowed into my inner consciousness. Al’s emotional passion comes through his vibrating reed, creating vivid musical images that hang in the air like floating crystals.
Yes, “zen is when” I let Al’s solos take me away into another world. That is the essence of the jazz experience–a mind meld with a higher consciousness where music is the soul means of communication and love is the supreme power of the universe.
As Al soloed on the tenor, I remembered peak moments in New York City at smokey clubs of a long lost time and space. I could hear Coltrane playing A Love Supreme, and getting so wrapped up in the music I forgot where I had parked my car down in the bowery. I wandered the streets for hours looking for my old Plymouth. Ah yes, nostalgia strikes deep when Al’s skillfully developed spontaneous compositions stimulate my mind. This music has that power.
Clearly, Al has the credentials to back up his stellar playing. Al graduated from UNF and he earned a Master of Music degree from Towson State University. Al is now a major dude in today’s East Coast jazz scene and has won many honors, including winner of the Jazz Category in the Great South Florida Sound Search sponsored by the Miami Herald. Yes, this sax cat has paid dues performing with many jazz luminaries including Chuck Manigione, the Temptations, Hal Linden, and The Guy Lombardo Orchestra.
In 1994, the Al Maniscalco quartet won accolades as one of the region’s premier jazz groups. In 1997, they released their first CD, Altitude. In 2000, Al released Maniscalco: Live at Tidings Park. Then in 2003, he moved on to record another landmark album, More in My Heart. Now, Al is ready to release his new album. On May 18 & 19, 2007, Al will have a CD release party at Simon’s for One Blessed Day–a triumph of Al’s cumulative musical experience.
More significantly, Al takes saxophone improvisation into a new era of jazz appreciation, yet his roots come through in his playing, paying homage to a bygone era. But it’s Al’s emotional commitment to his music and his passionate delivery that distinguishes him as a modern jazz titan who carries improvisational music into a bold new world of changing values and attitudes.
|
|
