JOEY CALDERAZZO to Return to Porgy And Bess Jazz Music Club

Joey Calderazzo is returning to Vienna to play at the Porgy and Bess Jazz Music Club Aug. 6, 2019.

Pianist Joey Calderazzo does not care how many people sit opposite him, how often he has to go on stage, whether he is rested or tired. As soon as he touches the keys, all that is left to him is high-level music. "And if I feel half dead, I'll play until it kills me," the musician once told the online magazine "All About Jazz."

The jazz player played for many years mainly in quartet formations. Bandleaders like Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis have sought and found in him a reliable collaborator. Parallel to this, the American founded his own classic trio with Orlando de Fleming on bass and drummer Adam Cruz some years ago. Today, the 50-year-old fulfills exactly this great passion.

His new album "Going Home" (Sunnyside / Harmonia Mundi), which he recorded with de Fleming, Cruz and guest star Branford Marsalis on tenor saxophone, is an important snapshot for Calderazzo. He sees in it an experiment. Can this music work in trio settings and fascinate? Yes, she can. The nine songs (seven Calderazzo compositions and two standards) are interesting, the tunes open, the improvisations elegant.

The twelve-tone based opener "Manifold" reflects glowing intensity. From the Simons & Marks standard "All Of Me" the trio makes an exploratory number with 6/8 rhythm over a 4/4 bar. "Stars Fell on Alabama" (Perkins & Parish) is balladesque and content wise. "Legend" builds up to the full jazz funk number and "One Way" is a bit reminiscent of New Orleans.

Branford Marsalis plays on the tenor saxophone "I Never Knew", a slow jazz-waltz with unbelievably soft dynamics. "Mike's Song" is a piece that Calderazzo dedicated to his other former bandleader, Michael Brecker, who passed away in 2007. And with "Going Home" the recording concludes with another piece in memory of a person who died much too early. (Focus online, 2015)

Almost legendary was his last appearance at the P & B in November 2016 when he explained instead of a second encore to the enthusiastic audience, how important a good piano is for a pianist and fifteen minutes left his thoughts free rein and also demonstrated on the piano what he meant.

For more information about Calderazzo and his concert, tap here.

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