CD Review: Peter Malinverni Trio, "On The Town"

 

Pete Malinverni has been in the middle of the New York Jazz scene for over four decades.  During this love affair with Jazz he has had the chance to meet and perform with the top Jazz artists in the country.  The inspiration for his latest CD, "On The Town" was a result of an unplanned meeting with Leonard Bernstein at an upscale restaurant where Malinverni had a gig.  The restaurant was chosen as the site for the opening night party for Franco Zeffirelli's production of "Tosca" at the Metropolitan Opera.  As Malinverni played through a selection of arias at the piano, Bernstein walked in, and Malinverni immediately launched into the composer's "Lucky To Be Me".  Bernstein was touched by the tribute and spent a considerable portion of the evening hanging around the piano.  Malinverni comments "His public image was of a guy who knew his stuff and was super passionate about it.  But I found out that night that as passionate as he seemed, he was even more so.  When I saw him in the flesh, it was electric.  His head poked through the clouds, and the piano somehow seemed a more exalted place then and thereafter".

It's clear that this meeting left a deep impression on Pete that has only grown stronger with time.  The music on this CD is a wonderful undertaking of great compositions we all treasure and giving them a new Jazz rebirth.  Helping Pete Malinverni accomplish this task were two equally remarkable Jazz musicians, Jeff Hamilton and Ugonna Okegwo .  Playing in a trio with Pete Malinverni's brilliant arrangements of these truly classic songs requires the highest level of musical skills and Hamilton and Okegwo make it seem easy!

This is a truly outstanding Jazz Trio and the music they have produced is outstanding!  I have attached two YouTube videos featuring songs from "On The Town".  The first is "I Feel Pretty" from "West Side Story" and the second is the opening tune, "New York New York" that I believe captures the love Malinverni has for the city.

                                                                          "I Feel Pretty"

                                                                    " New York New York"
Playlist:

1. New York New York

2. Lucky to Be Me

3. Somewhere

4. Cool

5. Simple Song

6. I Feel Pretty

7. Lonely Town

8. Some Other Time

9. It's Love

10. A Night On the Town

Players: 

Pete Malinverni- Piano

Jeff Hamilton- Drums

Ugonna Okegwo- Bass

                                                

CD Review: The Pete Malinverni Trio, "Heaven"

Pianist, Arranger and Composer, Pete Malinverni has a long list of varied and successful projects in the form of a trio, a quintet, solo piano, a big band and choir formats.  With his newest release "Heaven", Pete as a result of unfortunate health and life situations involving his wife, singer Jody Sandhaus who died in 2012 along with his own health scare, decided that it was time to deal with some spiritual things.  Pete says that going through these health ordeals over the past few years had given him a certain clarity that he wanted to embrace through his music.  The album features songs that speak in varied ways of spirituality.

Normally, I would not review a CD with such emotional and deep feelings, but the music and Pete's beautiful playing and arrangements just captured me.  "Heaven" is a thoughtful and sensitive collection of songs that is inspiring and yet comforting at the same time.  Malinverni says, "We all want to look up, we hope, maybe we even trust, that somewhere there is unalloyed truth and beauty.  Much art memorializes tristesse, encouraging us to abide, to await Relief, Rest, or Joy. This recording is meant to reconcile those two perspectives, presenting music of various traditions with one thing in common - the notion that even this vale of tears is tinged with the essence of the transcendent, of the beautiful and the true".

The wonderful Malinverni Trio consists of Pete Malinverni on Piano, Ben Allison on Bass and Akira Tana on Drums.  The CD "Heaven" was release on June 16, 2017 and it's not to be missed by anyone who loves to hear fresh and creative inspirational music.  Pete Malinverni is one of the most creative and unique Composer/Arranger on the American music scene today!

It was very hard to pick just two songs from this CD for you to sample.  I picked the first two cuts, first the title tune from the track, "Heaven".  "Heaven" is a wonderful song written by Duke Ellington and "Palm23" is a Peter Malinverni composition that I fell in love with. I hope you enjoy both.  Also featured on this CD is a wonderful soulful performance of "Shenandoah" by Karrin Allyson that is just about dead on perfect.  Also adding to the party is Trumpet player, John Faddis and Alto Sax player Steve Wilson.  

Playlist:

1."Heaven"  

2. "Psalm 23"

3. "Down in the River to Pray"

4. "Shenandoah"

5. "Eili, Eili"

6. "People, Get Ready"

7. "Come Sunday"

8. "A City Called Heaven"

9. "Wade in the Water"

10. "Ashokan Farewell"