Last updated: February 22, 2006

Press Quotes

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“The Lynne Arriale Trio is putting the heart back into jazz”

The Sunday Times – London

“Lynne Arriale’s brilliant musicianship and bandstand instincts place her among the top jazz pianists of the day.”

The New York Times

NEW PRESS FOR ‘NUANCE’

Excerpts from Downbeat Magazine:
4 Stars

Over the last 15 years, Lynne Arriale has made a case for herself as a top-rank jazz pianist through her recordings.  If any doubt existed that she can run with the big boys, this release dispels it.  She stands toe-to-toe with trumpeter Randy Brecker in a stunning and affirmative collaboration.  Their rapport is lucid, and their spontaneous exchanges often offer jewels of invention and exchange.

Sting’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” crackles with passion and dynamism, without resorting to exhibitionism.  In deference to the piano, Brecker might not play forte, but holds nothing back.  He has a heartbreakingly beautiful flugelhorn feature on Arriale’s elegiac “Longing.”  His lyricism is wistful yet aching, real holding-back-the-tears stuff.

Few pianists have such a spectrum of dynamics at their disposal as Arriale.  She may whisper or attack, but never pounds.  Her melodic improvisation on “Ballad Od The Sad Young Men” is crystalline and touching.  Her playing features spiky treble statements that press the beat.  Drummer Anthony Pinciotti seems to know what she’s going to play before Arriale does, and he’s right under her when he needs to be.  Bassist George Mraz is the model of tasteful support and strong rhythmic input.

The CD includes a DVD of a live recital of the same program.  The players seem a little more playful with the material.  Arriale’s classical depth makes her virtuosic uptempo flight on “La Noche” a mini tour-de-force.  Mraz, an ensemble player on the CD, gets a couple of solos on the DVD: pithy yet understated on “Young Men,” and nimble and articulate on “Gumbo.”  “I Hear A Rhapsody” is a noticeably more adventurous–almost deconstructed–exploration.  The rubato journey hangs together precariously, yet hands just the same.

-Kirk Silsbee

*************

The Jazz Breakfast
Lynne Arriale: Nuance: The Bennett Studio Sessions (In & Out Records IORCD77089-2)
Pianist Lynne Arriale brings a wider audience to jazz, I believe, because, like orchestra leader Maria Schneider, she values the heart over the head. Or rather, she places the head in service to the heart (I use these parts of the body as shorthand, you understand – but I think you know what I mean). In other words, she understands that all these notes, all these interesting constructions of notes, all these scales and harmonies and time signatures, all this interaction of instruments, all this playing out of melodic ideas, all this spontaneous composition called improvisation has as its purpose a communication of emotions, of truths about the human condition, of observations about the world around us.

Is it a coincidence that both musicians are women? No, of course not. Does that mean men can’t also do this? No, of course not. Men might just need to try a bit harder to convey the whole wood of experience without getting bogged down in the individual trees of technique. They might need to realise that showing off how clever you are is not enough in itself – you need to use that cleverness to convey something deeper, more interesting, more universal. That the  mind is not an end in itself, it is the means…

This impeccable session expands Arriale’s band from piano trio to quartet, and the trumpet and flugelhorn of Randy Brecker is a real bonus, as are the contributions of the veteran bass player George Mraz. Drummer Anthony Pinciotti is a new name to me, but he is equally classy. These are mean who know what Arriale is on about – and all use their incredibly well-developed technical prowess and many years of experience to get to the heart of the matter

Some of the songs are originals, others are by Monk, or Sting, or Dizzy. Try Tommy Wolf’s timeless and always wonderful Ballad Of The Sad Young Men. The pace is stately, Brecker’s muted horn is at once imperious and vulnerable, and Arriale’s chord voicings and fills close gently around him like a cradle of arms. Her own solo is so precisely and thoughtfully played, one can almost sense the way the pressure of each finger on each key has been measured.

There is an invaluable bonus here, too. A DVD included in the package gives us this exact same programme and played in the same superb studio just outside New York, but live and with a studio audience. It’s filmed with the same attention to quality and detail as the CD has been recorded. There’s a fab interview with Lynne Arriale below for you to hear more about her:

*****

Jazz Improv Magazine
By Cathy Heimbauer

Nuance—what an album! Arriale’s original “Wrapped Around Your Finger” starts the disc off on a mysterious and haunting note. This Sting standard isn’t a particularly dark tune, but Arriale gives it new depth with her wealth of harmonic knowledge. Her playing is intense and urgent; important and captivating. Her left hand keeps its independence, hitting pedal tones and keeping time, reminiscent of McCoy Tyner, as her right hand flies away.

“I Mean You” starts off very free yet in a stiff way, reminding me of an old ‘Jack in the Box’ (that plays Monk tunes) that hasn’t been wound for a while. The tension is hard and someone is winding away with all their might but it won’t come out evenly. Brecker, Pinciotti, and Mraz respond to her every whim with taste and support. Suddenly it all comes together, swinging hard, before going out again. Her touch has such a ferociously restrained intensity that simmers at the surface, as her left hand jabs in its two cents here and there, sparse and staccato. Her playing is so open, and unpredictable. She is an extremely genuine player with no affectations.

The recording quality on this disc, and the way it is mixed is very impressive. Mraz’s bass is big and clear. Pinciotti’s drums are tight and crisp and up front. Lynne’s piano has a slight natural reverb and plenty of warmth, but without a loss of clarity, and Randy’s horn is clear but not overly bright in the tonal spectrum.

Arriale’s original ballad “Longing” has a very long song structure, and Brecker states the well composed melody beautifully. Arriale takes a short solo that sounds as if it is completely composed, as much of her improvisations do, and Brecker does the same before taking it out for the last minute.

Having just returned from Mardis Gras, I was especially interested in hearing the fourth track, “Crawfish and Gumbo.” It is a rather joyful tune with a very danceable vibe to it and it features a wonderful solo from
Mraz.

“Ballad of the Sad Young Men” by Tommy Wolf is given a gorgeous treatment by the very reverent and inventive Arriale. What I mean by reverent is that you can hear her intense appreciation and thanks for a beautiful tune in the way she touches the piano—with a blissful awe of what her hands are able to conjure. It is not what her hands can do that she is concerned with showing us, but the thing their abilities allow to happen. Dig? She loses herself. She gently explores the harmonies as Randy Brecker lays the melody on her bed of roses—some red and full of life, others yellow or white, and some wilting and falling apart. Her solo again has the quality of being composed. It tells a story. It develops, it climbs, and it falls. The way she lays into the understood but hardly stated tempo, and articulates her phrases is full of life, humanity, and highly developed musicianship.

“Carry On” starts off with a very open and circular feel, but for the solo sections, settles into a straight ahead swing. Brecker’s solo is very melodic yet with plenty of rhythmic fun. Arriale comes in and swings her butt off, as the smile comes to my face.  She has a few different gears that she gets into during this solo. One is to play very sparse with hardly any left hand. The other is with staccato accentuations in the middle register, and lastly is with plenty of low register McCoy like heavy handedness. Her time feel is so deep, and will surely get you right in the gut.

“Yada Yada Yada” features a very quirky and unsettling melody that comes off as sounding like someone took an eraser and removed or displaced certain parts—I can hear plenty of Monk influence here. The way that Brecker, Mraz and Arriale come together in the opening minute, harmonically and rhythmically, makes for a very intense and potent listening experience. Throughout the tune, the band creates the illusion of a constantly changing meter, but it seems to be in 4/4 the whole way through. Mraz takes a very impressive solo and Arriale’s accompaniment pushes him on and props him up.

After hearing all of these originals, she confirms her musical identity by  infusing it into a couple of well known standards—“I Hear a Rhapsody” and “A Night In Tunisia”, which she gives predictably rich and adventurous re-workings before ending the set with a short and simple but beautiful ballad entitled “A Gentle Soul.”

Lynne Arriale is a monster of a piano player—a gentle monster. She swings as hard as anyone but in a modern way. She can play soft and gentle like Bill Evans or loud and heavy like Monk or McCoy Tyner, and her harmonies are extraordinarily rich. She is an explorer, and a true artist, with a very unique voice and her ego seems to be completely out of the picture, allowing her to take musical explorations that only such humility can get you a ticket for. And to top it off, she writes beautiful melodies that are memorable and singable, yet with mindboggling harmonic richness. To put it simply, Nuance is a beautiful album that I urge you to give a listen to.

*****

Beyond “Nuance”: Lynne Arriale’s New Quartet Release
Nuance: The Bennett Studio Sessions (2009, Motema Records)

© 2009, Andrea Canter

“I don’t think I can compare her to anyone…her music transcends jazz. It’s just pure music.”

– Randy Brecker

Once in a while we find ourselves delightfully reacquainted with an old friend, someone we thought we already knew so well, only to suddenly discover a new talent, a new philosophy, a new look, a small alteration in style or a more significant transformation. We’re awed by the change yet also relieved that the original basis of our attraction remains. Such is my encounter with Lynne Arriale’s new (and gorgeous) CD/DVD, Nuance: The Bennett Studio Sessions, released May 12th on Motema.

I first heard Lynne Arriale at the old Dakota Bar and Grill about 7 years ago. Shortly thereafter I found her 1997 release, The Long Road Home, in a used CD bin and soon “caught up” with the rest of her discography. What has always drawn me to Arriale’s music is her articulate lyricism and passion for melody as composer and improviser—an ability to give complex layers of rhythm and harmony an elegant simplicity, and to give the simplest lines multiple layers of feeling.

A Milwaukee native, Lynne Arriale studied classical piano, only discovering her affinity for jazz well into her 20s. She won the Great American Piano Competition in 1993 and initiated a decade-plus of impeccable trio recordings the following year. Her career almost exclusively focused on the piano trio through the release of Live in late 2005. For most of this period, she toured and recorded with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis. But, as Arriale says, “It seemed like time for a change. Music is music, whatever the configuration is. I treasure all of the years I spent with Steve and Jay. There’s something special about being able to concentrate on one thing, such as trio playing and work with that format, year after year.” Initially she tried out different combinations of bassists and drummers, still working in a trio format. Yet, “I wanted to work with a quartet, to add a horn…”

And not just any horn, Arriale wanted to work with trumpet master Randy Brecker, one of the most eclectic performers in jazz. “I wanted to work with a quartet, and I had always wanted to record with Randy, so he came to mind immediately. Playing with him is so exciting, he’s so versatile, so able to go in any direction. So he was an obvious choice for me… I was specifically thinking of Randy when I was writing, listening to his recordings while I was writing to get the feel of his spirit…” What she didn’t know was that Brecker had been a fan for years, since hearing Lynne play at Sweet Basil during her early years in New York.

Internationally acclaimed bassist George Mraz was another new partner, a first choice for producer Suzy Reynolds. In addition to his long-standing collaborations with Brecker, he shares Lynne’s “strong sense of melody.” Mraz quickly agreed to the project—he also was a long-time fan of Lynne’s music. “George is incredible,” notes Lynne. “He brings a balance between support and interaction, and his lyricism is remarkable.” Adding drummer Anthony Pinciotti, whose diverse resume includes Dr. Lonnie Smith, Pat Metheny and musicians of the AACM, Arriale had her new ensemble. “I had played with Anthony before, and I feel that we have a wonderfully deep musical connection… The musical conversation is stimulating, it takes us in different directions because there is a fourth voice…”

Writing for this quartet set her music on a new path. “I think, in general, that the music has opened up,” she said in a recent interview. “I think it has become more free. I feel very much at home, that I can just allow the musical palette to expand. I’ve experienced some changes in my life in the past few years, and it seems that new energies are coming forth, and playing with a new group definitely stimulates different parts of my mind. It’s very much like meeting someone new and you find yourself saying things that don’t normally come up in conversation, probably because the energy from that person stimulates new areas of your consciousness and touches on areas that are not normally present.  In the same way, with music, we can find new parts of ourselves that haven’t been accessed before.”

And hearing Nuance for the first time, I found myself listening differently, hearing that new palette of sound and color while simultaneously recognizing Lynne’s continuing devotion to melody and emotional expression; the collaborative ownership of musical interaction is not confined by configuration. Eleven compositions, original works and new arrangements, are covered on both the Bennett Studio CD recording and the DVD session, again at Bennett with a live audience. Although documenting the first time all four musicians had played together, the synergy suggests otherwise, a testament to Arriale’s ability to harness creative disparities with a transcendent sense of purpose. “The musicians were so open to my expressing my concept for each tune and the specific things I was going for,” says Lynne. “Within each tune there was an inherent character that needed some explanation sometimes; I described what it was and the particular feel I was looking for. There was plenty of room for magic to occur….the unexpected, but everyone really embraced the music with open hearts.”

Six tracks are Arriale’s compositions, written for this band; the remainder includes diverse arrangements of Sting, Monk and Gillespie, a topsy-turvy dismantling of “I Hear a Rhapsody,” and a heart-piercing setting of Tommy Wolf’s “Ballad of the Sad Young Men.” Although the concept of “nuance” – defined by my Webster’s as subtle or delicate shadings or variations—has always defined Arriale’s work, it might actually be a misleading title here, as some of these arrangements are far more assertive, the shadings bolder, the improvisations crossing into more distant territories than the more “nuanced” explorations of the trio. Yet one must also recognize those nuances—the selection of each note and voicing, the slight shifts in rhythm, the subtle movement from one idea to the next.

The covers display the technical and emotional range of the quartet. Sting’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” opens both the CD and DVD, setting the stage for this quartet’s orchestral interaction. Notes Lynne, “I wanted many things happening at once to add to the density, like a flurry of activity and the tension building from that point to a higher intensity.” And so it goes: The piano begins, Brecker coming in on flugelhorn while Arriale is still building the emotional structure. Lynne solos with bass and drum support, using some interesting, very lyrical and mildly dissonant voicings, giving an edge of mystery to the harmonies. As her intensity builds, Brecker returns to add his own layer, resulting in multiple plotlines; Pinciotti’s drums are ferocious. A conversation between piano and horn evolves over a pulsating bassline, and Lynne takes it out with the steady ostinato that informed the beginning.

“I Mean You” is as quirky as one expects of Monk but Lynne’s arrangement creates more playful cacophony than what is normally heard with four instruments. Although she regards him as a source of inspiration, Lynne views Monk as more of a point of departure than direct influence. “I think that the message from Monk is ‘be yourself!’ His tunes are great vehicles for exploration, but the way I play them has no relationship to the way he plays them. His tunes provide such great material for improvisation and having fun.” Fun is definitely on the menu here. The trumpet comes in a bit behind the piano as if mocking, the two voices coming together in a unison line before Randy’s solo. Yet it is more like a dual solo as Arriale’s “support” is more counter play than comping. Brecker’s lines are deliciously twisted and Arriale ventures far from home, her improvisation more assertive than one might expect. There’s a passing remnant of “Bemsha Swing,” and solos by Mraz and popping accents from Pinciotti give the interplay more immediacy.

The finality of “Ballad of the Sad Young Men” is the result of Lynne’s focused preparation for the recording (including experimenting with various keys). “I went back and forth between having it played in D or E-flat.  D had more of the pathos than E flat, so I left it in D,” she explains. “I wanted the song to have a very lonely feel.  First we tried it on flugel, but then I decided that the Harmon mute would impart a more stark sound. I always want to treat each tune with the attention and respect that it deserves. ‘Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ was originally an AIDS anthem, and now that young people are going off to war, not knowing what their future will be, the tune has wider implication…When I hear the trumpet with the Harmon mute, it reminds me of taps.” Indeed, Brecker’s muted trumpet sounds sad and bleak, not dark and funereal as much as tragic and wistful. Lynne, as always, has the most elegant, delicate, articulate—and patient―touch on the keys, conveying a melodic simplicity of pending doom, while bass and drum give her space and supporting voices. Mraz’s solo echoes the pathos with exquisite pain. It’s lovely and devastating.

“I Hear a Rhapsody” begins as a solo piano abstraction, minor voicings all but obscuring the original melody while leaving fragments intact, soon fed from the bottom by Mraz. As the intensity builds, Pinciotti adds rumbles and clangs, Brecker then joining with a more conservative melodic line over searing fireworks. Through these layers, Lynne pushes out the skeleton of melody, surely one of her most effective, if outward-bound, improvisations yet.
image 4

“A Night in Tunisia” is the only tune of the set that Lynne has previously recorded. Brecker bends the final note of the first verse as if inviting a free exchange, then continues to make further modifications while his bandmates each contribute their own. Randy’s speed and dexterity, Lynne’s affirmative-action chord combinations, Anthony’s driving percussion and George’s running bass give this Tunisia a 21st century post bop tune-up. Lynne’s solo continues the frenzy with an increasingly free flowering of ideas, setting up an explosive break from Pinciotti. Brecker recapitulates Gillespie’s theme and the quartet spins a brief vamp into a quick-stop finale.

The six original compositions provide a crisp snapshot of Lynne Arriale’s wide-ranging musical imagination. “Longing” is eloquently expressed by Brecker’s flugelhorn in the opening passage over a sparse chord accompaniment, deep bass tones and subtle percussion. Like a solemn prayer, horn and piano move in unison, leading into Lynne’s solo passage, buoyed by Mraz’s prominent basslines and true to Arriale’s trademark reverence for melody. Brecker returns, weaving majestically with the piano, supported elegantly by Mraz and Pinciotti. “Crawfish and Gumbo” recalls a French Quarter jubilee, Brecker leading the way with Arriale’s jaunty theme.  Lynne’s solo is filled with energetic bounce, playfully serious. Mraz’s solo similarly bounces like a yo yo; Pincotti stirs up plenty of percussive gumbo and his solo break bursts with sheer delight.

Randy gives “Carry On” a Miles Davis feel in its early phrases but with a much brighter tone. A drum roll from Pinciotti introduces Brecker’s first improvised verse and the drummer continues as a dominant presence. Lynne furthers the abstraction on her solo with tumbling right-hand figures and strong statements from the left hand. “La Noche” flows like a second movement following “Carry On” (on CD), Randy making his statement and taking the first turn, Lynne coming in with more twists, while the bass and drum support keeps it all well grounded. The pianist’s fading chords open the floodgates for Pinciotti’s billowing break, and the smoldering fire continues after Brecker returns to the forefront.

On “Yada Yada Yada,” Arriale provides a simple melody and quirky rhythm that sets up the improvisations that follow. “The melody of ‘Yada Yada Yada’ gives us the motive for the solos—the foundations of all of our improvisations,” says Lynne. “We take this simple idea and use that rhythm and interval throughout the solo, varying it in many different ways.  I wanted that, it gives the tune continuity and distinguishes it from what we often hear—just playing the melody and improvising, without a real, deep connection to the original melody. I like hearing the connection to the melody, as it creates a more cohesive musical piece; i.e., everything is related.”  The spirit of Monk pervades this track in particular, a spirit most often conveyed through Lynne’s arrangements of Monk tunes that appear often throughout her discography. The interplay among the musicians provides the connecting threads–Arriale splicing dissonant chord voicings into the spaces of Brecker’s serpentine lines (on flugelhorn); Mraz dancing throughout Lynne’s two-handed gymnastics; piano and drums winnowing around the basslines, all returning to that basic staccato motive, ending in mid phrase surprise.

The closing track on both discs, the brief and majestic “A Gentle Soul” (“dedicated to all of the gentle souls in each one of us!”) hints at “Danny Boy”, an elegant melody with which Lynne braids a sweet harmony with Brecker.

The DVD deserves it own review, a stunning and compelling document of the birth of an ensemble that seems to have instantly come into its own. Producer Suzy Reynolds (in the interview portion of the DVD) notes her commitment to the CD/DVD combination as a means of reaching the largest possible audience internationally. Further, Reynolds notes that the DVD allows an “up close and personal view of how bands communicate…[and] continue each other’s conversation.”  All music from the CD is repeated in front of a live audience, with a somewhat different sequence and the band able to stretch out and explore each composition a bit more with the longer format.

We always learn something new about the music and/or musicians when we have visual as well as auditory input. We see that Lynne Arriale not only sings as she composes, but she sings as she performs—subvocally, almost imperceptibly, but the lips move, the heart and hand tied to the melody. We see Lynne periodically reaching inside the piano, or so it seems. And after a few tunes, she let’s the audience in on a secret “I have never shared with another audience.” Hiding just inside the piano is a lemon—Lynne’s antidote for dry fingers, one that does not leave a sticky residue.

The performance in the main hall of Bennett Studios suggests an old fashioned “house party” with better sound, both audience and musicians seeming as relaxed as in a circle of friends in a large living room. And these are all “first takes” that go wherever the artistic momentum dictates, generally longer solos than on the CD, the communication among musicians now presented with visible as well as audible clarity. There’s something about the additional sensation—seeing as well as hearing—that awakens the brain to the full scope of activity, and in fact it seems that one actually hears more with eyes as well as ears wide open. The intimacy of the video work as well as the warm sound brings the quartet close enough that one applauds with the audience as if literally present. The DVD format of course also allows additional material, in this case candid interviews with each of the musicians and producer.

As Suzy Reynolds notes in her DVD interview, “Lynne has received more stellar press, more remarkable, remarkable critique than any other artist I have known in the last 20 years. To best every effort is no small challenge.” Yet each time out, that has been Lynne’s accomplishment. That she again rises above the very best of her past efforts, and now with the very bold move to a new format and new collaborators, speaks volumes of Lynne Arriale’s versatility and virtuosity as composer, arranger, performer and bandleader. With Nuance, the full range of human emotion is communicated in one diverse but cohesive set, sparsely majestic, densely frenetic, peaceful, playful, tragic, triumphant. I’m aware of no jazz artist working today who brings a broader spectrum of musical ideas to the connection of mind and heart.

And what new journeys lie ahead? The “Nuance Quartet” has already enjoyed two tours of Europe since the recording sessions, and in coming months Lynne will perform in trio and quartet formats here and abroad, with varying combinations of musicians. But I have always wondered, what would happen if, instead of adding elements such as horn, Lynne stripped away all other voices except her own, fashioning melody and improvisation in a conversation solely with the audience? If the past predicts the future, her first solo recording, planned for September, will very elegantly and creatively answer that question.

“Perhaps her finest CD filled with the sparkling clarity that graces her music.”

United Press International / #1 Best CD

“This may well be the best group you’ll hear all year”

The Sunday Independent – Dublin

“Arriale is a rarity among pianists today, commanding airplay with her trio recordings. Growing media attention and a sophisticated sense of melody allows her to reach both aficionados and the casual jazz listener, making Arriale one of the more talked about artists in jazz. She has a profound sense of wonder at the ways in which a melody can be dissected and reassembled. Each track is notable for the way in which the trio finds new wrinkles in the most familiar of melodies.”

Billboard

“…Arriale creates singing melodies of great depth, beauty and interpretation.”

Augsberger Alltmeine

“A powerhouse! A singular voice as a pianist and leader. Arriale’s playing is haunting, gorgeous – a breeze of warm sophistication and accomplished pianism with expressive passion and intelligent interpretation. She has a knack for finding a song’s heart.”

Downbeat

“One of the most exciting pianists in contemporary jazz! Arriale can make music that is ravishingly beautiful. Her glistening left-hand melodies, rich harmonic palette and gift for flowing extemporization bring to mind the crystalline lyricism of Bill Evans and Keith Jarett. The sinewy Come Together and samba-tinged Braziliana demonstrate that Arriale and her long-serving trio can play with real vim and vigor. Undoubtedly one of 2005’s best new jazz records.”

The Guardian – UK

“Even people allergic to jazz respond to her music. Arriale’s blissful embrace of easily hummable music continues to win her admirers. It also makes her something of a rarity. She is a serious player who combines intelligence and technical ability with a welcoming sensibility”

The Boston Herald

“There’s great innovation in this group! The trio revealed its unmistakable class as a chamber ensemble. She proved with great talent, how to let the sound ring, as if listening into its core. Her fingers sing soundscapes of perfect beauty. A true virtuoso.”

Passauer Neue Presse

“Lynne Arriale fronts an impressive power trio. She pinpoints a song’s power, majesty, and soul simultaneously.”

Jazz Week

“Arriale’s ascent to front-runner status is surely achieved. One of the most intuitive pianists combining head with heart, her improvisations are tethered to a tangible, hugely melodic treasury. Their three-way communion is a model of rapport and their solos disarmingly superb. They are hands down winners and serve as a template for jazz piano trios. Arriale has indeed arrived!”

IAJE Journal

“Her original compositions will blow you away”

Celebrity Cafe

Lynne Arriale’s candid approach to piano playing speaks volumes. Everything here is in equal proportion: uniformly smooth and penetrating tone, technique galore, and a harmonic sense that’s sophisticated.

Keyboard Magazine

“…unrivalled emotional depth!”

Jazzzeitung, Munich

“Lynne Arriale is dynamite!”

The Oakland Tribune

“The finest American trio on the loose at the moment. …Arriale’s eye for unusual material keeps it dazzingly fresh, while the original numbers are no less seductive.”

The Sunday Times – London

“A new star shines on the jazz firmament. Lynne Arriale is an exceptional talent whose luminous tone and superlative melodic flair combine with her own musical vision informing the frequent creative surprise of her work. An ebullient performance and a miraculous flow of ideas from Arriale, this is a great album.”

BBC Music Magazine

“Few recordings touch the soul. Lynne Arriale’s keen sense of melody renders her music far more passionate than most. Stunning piano work – the trio has obviously attained the level of communication paramount to all great threesomes. While her technique is expert, it never dilutes the emotional impact of her music.”

JAZZIZ

“A superb performer and one of the most lyrical new players in the Bill Evans – Keith Jarrett tradition, she is one of the genuinely creative pianists in jazz. Her trio is now more than a match for Jarrett’s.”

The London Times

“Lynne Arriale Trio touches the heart and excites the soul. She also burns and offers solos filled with complexity and surprises. “Arise” was heartfelt and magical. Compared to the legendary McCoy Tyner and the abstract Danilo Perez by patrons, she turned out to be the most accessible of them all.”

AMG Review/Jeff Tamarkin
12-12-2006
Review by Jeff Tamarkin

Lynne Arriale’s second live album, like 2000’s Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, brings out the best in her trio’s playing. Long established as one of the most creative and thoughtful pianists in jazz, Arriale’s nimble-fingered, graceful excursions display both technique and heart. Though she rarely veers far from the melody at a song’s core, she’s not finished with a piece until she’s explored all its possibilities. Performed here at the 2005 Burghausen Jazz Week in Germany, Arriale deconstructs and reconstructs the Beatles’ “Come Together” and the New Orleans standard “Iko Iko” in a most inventive manner. Both originals, “Braziliana” and “Flamenco” are bold statements, the former a rhythmic tour-de-force and the latter a stunning example of Arriale’s seamless fusing of classical and jazz elements. The trio’s take on Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain Of The Night” remains absorbing even after 11-plus minutes without so much as a tempo change, and the set-closing take on Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” leaves little doubt that these musicians are more than willing to venture into deep and difficult waters.

JAZZ TIMES
December 2006 issue
REVIEWS Eighty-Eights
Thomas Conrad
LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO
Live (Motema)

I did not “get” Lynne Arriale until I saw her live, in the optimum setting of Duc des Lombards in Paris. She achieves a special, deep connection with her audience, and the energy flows both ways. LIVE provides this visual as well as a sonic experience. Arriale is gorgeous in Technicolor, with flaming red curls and startling blue eyes, and she presides over the piano with the grace of a princess. Drummer, Steve Davis, pirouettes around the drum kit like a ballet danseur.

Her trio, therefore, is an especially appropriate subject for a DVD. Live is a CD/DVD double album, recorded at the Burghausen Jazzwoche festival in April of 2005. The vivid video and 5.1-channel audio imagery is by BR-Alpha Television, Germany’s PBS counterpart.

Arriale’s emotional authenticity and the discipline of her creative process allow her audience to feel and think along with her. An important element of her communicative clarity is her imaginative retention of a song’s melodic thread, even through her freest variations. Her choices of material are characteristically intelligent, and she rises to their challenges: the incantatory, profound simplicity of Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night”; the twisted wit of Monk’s “Bemsha Swing.” Most notably, she smokes on “Come Together” with a re-syncopated melody, new harmonies and a left-hand hook that knocks you down.

Arriale is underrated as a composer. “Home” is a ballad with pristine chords and poignant resolutions. “Arise” is one of the most affecting of all the jazz tunes written for 9/11. At Burghausen, far from New York (just as when I heard her play it at Duc des Lombards), it creates a chill because Arriale and her audience participate together in its universal human suffering.
Jazz & Blues Report
December 2006 – Issue 289
Nancy Ann Lee
LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO
Lynne Arriale Trio Live
MOTEMA MUSIC DVD/CD SET

Pianist Lynne Arriale performs with her trio in this spectacular 2005 performance recorded live in Germany. This DVD/CD set is her tenth recording as leader. Although she didn’t begin playing jazz until her mid-twenties, Arriale has evolved into a dramatic player whose approach is full of passion and creative spirit. There are hints of Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, and McCoy Tyner in her playing and she loves the Beatles’ music, but Arriale has a style her own that’s full of striking melodies and unexpected harmonic touches, artfully supported here by Anderson and Davis.

The DVD contains 10 tunes (the CD, nine) and features pop/jazz standards and Arriale originals. The added DVD performance, a haunting version of “Alone Together,” finds Arriale in a true Jarrett-mode, stretching to the outside edge. After bass and drum solos, Arriale brings the tune full circle to the melody head. It’s one of the best tracks on the album. Other renderings include the African-themed “Iko Iko,” Arriale originals such as the sonorous “Home,” and the lively “Braziliana.” The trio also delivers refreshing takes on the John Lennon/ Paul McCartney classic “Come Together” and a percolating version of Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing.”

DVD production quality is first rate. Camera operators and production crews seem to know jazz and add significantly to making this an exciting viewing experience. Extras on the DVD include an engrossing 25-minute PBS video “Profile of a Performing Artist” which features Arriale expressing her thoughts on jazz and performing with her trio; an interview with Woomy Schmidt; and band bios. Coupled with the main performance, the DVD extras make the project an example of how to do things right. This first-rate DVD/CD project could become a benchmark performance for the piano trios.

IAJE JOURNAL
DECEMBER 2006
Lynne Arriale Trio
Live
Motéma Music

Accolades for pianist Lynne Arriale and her trio have become rather predictable. Consistent high quality music stimulates consistent praise. Arriale’s ascendancy to pace-setting status has been assured at this point of her growth and development. She is surely one of the most intuitive pianists on the scene with a smooth integration of her head and heartful passion. Her new CD portrays her strengths once again with the cohesive unity achieved with the inspired collaboration of her bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis. The organic fourth party augmenting the trio is the emotive audience–documenting this uplifting “live” performance at Germany’s premiere jazz festival at Burghausen. Besides jazz classics (with strong melodic lines) by Victor Feldman (“Seven Steps to Heaven’), Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night,” and Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing,” and a sampling of her inviting originals, the slate in total is a wide arc of literature expressing the trio’s personality and outlook. This CD gem adds to the collection on her crown. And you can dig the spectacular concert on DVD.

PITTSBURG POST GAZETTE
11-30-2006
Bob Protzman

So many superlatives have been heaped upon pianist Lynne Arriale that it is difficult to describe her and her trio’s brilliance without repeating some of them. Simply and directly, Arriale (ARE-e-all) and her trio (Jay Anderson, bass; Steve Davis, drums) are the equal of any piano trio recording today, and superior to many.

This likely is news to many, since Arriale never has recorded with a major label since beginning her career as a leader after she won the 1993 International Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Yet this is her 10th album.

There is the choice of material. On “Live’’ (recorded in Germany), we have songs all worth hearing, a heady mix of originals by the leader, and pieces by a diverse list from Miles Davis to Thelonious Monk to South African Abdullah Ibrahim to the Beatles.

Many of the arrangements are stunningly and entertainingly original. Arriale is a sensitive ballad player, as well as composer and interpreter of romantic, deeply emotional music; she’s also a dynamo, a hard-swinging bopper who plays swift, beautifully articulated lines. On dramatic, non- straight-ahead pieces, she is forceful, with a robust, two-handed attack.

“Arise,” her 9/11 remembrance, is sad yet uplifting — like a well-written hymn. Her song “Home’’ evokes every imaginable good feeling associated with where we live. Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night’’ is a simple melody evoking an inner peace mixed with joy.

Arriale, however, also loves to rumble around in the low register, as she does on the vamp in “Iko Iko,’’ a catchy, African-derived children’s song. She and the trio do an original hard-driving samba-esque “Braziliana,’’ and a staccato-filled, bluesy version of Lennon/McCartney’s “Come Together.’’

The trio’s treatment of Miles’ “Seven Steps to Heaven’’ and Monk’s “Bemsha Swing’’ is as fresh as it gets, highly inventive and unconventional, even for those two iconoclasts.

Finally, this is a true trio. Anderson and Davis are as creatively involved — in the ensemble and as soloists — as is possible without being the leader.

CD Hot List Review
11-10-2006

Pianist and composer Lynne Arriale, along with her trio, really shines on this live set, recorded in Germany in early 2005. (The package includes a DVD with live footage from the same concert along with a PBS documentary on Arriale.) She shows off her impressive versatility, tackling New Orleans R&B “Iko Iko,” her original Brazilian samba “Braziliana,” and off-kilter bebop “Bemsha Swing,” which she twists to her own rhythmic ends) with equal aplomb. And Jay Anderson plays some of the only interesting bass solos you’re ever likely to hear. Then there are her originals… (RA)

JAZZ IMPROV
NOVEMBER 2006
Dave Miele
New York Jazz Guide
Live-Produced by Frank Kleischmidt and Suzi Reynolds for IN +OUT Records. Personnel: Lynne Arriale, piano; Jay Anderson, bass; Steve Davis, drums.

Lynne Arriale is a most interesting and unique composer/pianist. Her style is modern and interactive with a decidedly “free” atmosphere to the music. Trio format is the perfect vehicle for Arriale; she thrives in the intimate setting with the level of personal interaction her music requires. Bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis do a wonderful job complimenting her style on Lynne Arriale Trio Live, an engaging collection of nearly all-original compositions. This band has a wonderful rapport and they pull of their complex style, which demands much of each player, with finesse and grace.

“Iko Iko”is the first of several arrangements of others’ material on which Arriale shows her ability to rework existing material in a fresh and interesting manner. Anderson and Davis share lively interactions through each twist and turn in Arriale’s solo, and both men also take fine solos of their own. The second tune is an Arriale original entitled “Home,” a pop-influenced ballad with an electric straight eighth note feel. Another original, “Braziliana,” is an up-tempo, energetic samba-esque tune, which also employs Afro-Cuban Latin rhythms. Davis negotiates the rhythmic shifts masterfully behind Arriale’s solo and also takes a perfectly styled mallet solo. “ Arise” is an original spare and haunting ballad. Strutting her arranging stuff once again, Arriale harmonically and rhythmically reworks John Lennon and Paul McCarthy’s “Come Together.”

Lynne Arriale is a wonderful pianist with a clear approach and a mature compositional sense. She is also a strong arranger who breathes new life into old tunes and adapts unorthodox tunes into her modern and interactive style. Anderson and Davis do their jobs wonderfully and compliment Arriale and her style magnificently. Lynne Trio Live is definitely a CD/DVD worth getting and one that demands the listener’s attention

JAZZ IMPROV MAGAZINE
Noteworthy Performances
November 2006
Lynne Arriale
Kitano: Fri & Sat 11/3 & 11/4

Lynne Arriale has developed a singular voice as a composer, leader and pianist, through her compelling originals, known for their heartfelt, folkloric quality & her reinventions of pop classics. Her trio is reaching jazz & mainstream audiences around the world with their emotionally stirring performances. Her latest release on Motéma Music is entitled Lynne Arriale Trio: Live.

Rochester City News
10-25-2006
Ron Netsky
ROCHESTER CITY NEWS
OCTOBER 25, 2006
Lynne Arriale Trio: Live
In &Out Records

The new live CD/DVD by the Lynne Arriale Trio may be the wave of the future. Along with the live concert disc, the package contains a DVD of the same concert. If this sounds redundant, think of it as a choice. I’ve listened to the CD many times. When I was ready, I took out the DVD and vicariously experienced the concert in a more involved way. The video footage is beautifully filmed and the DVD also contains a mini-documentary on Arriale and an interview with her. Arriale, who was a hit at the 2005 Rochester International Jazz Festival, is among the finest pianists playing today. She is a superb composer of ballads, two of which — “Home” and “Arise” — are included here. But her tour-de-force composition (and performance) is an evocative up-tempo classic, “Braziliana.” Her choices of other writers’ tunes are excellent. She begins the album with a fresh take on “Iko Iko,” but rather than imitate Dr. John’s Marti Gras approach, Arriale slows it down, emphasizing the bluesy intrigue of the song. A Beatles cover, “Come Together,” is nicely recast rhythmically and re-harmonized. But perhaps best among her choices is Abdullah Ibrahim’s great “Mountains of the Night.” The DVD-only tune, “Alone Together,” is a wonderful showcase for the trio with bassist Jay Anderson playing a particularly melodic interlude and drummer Steve Davis putting down his brushes for a subtle, yet dynamic, hand-drum solo.

Bradenton Herald
10-22-2006
Wade Tatangelo
Pianist Lynne Arriale makes her fingers ‘sing’

Lynne Arriale’s auburn locks fly back as she leans into the ivory keys beneath her fingertips. It’s the look of a musician at one with her muse, composing in the moment. It’s the face of a jazz artist, eyes closed, flirting with our expectations, maintaining the melody while also taking the listener around unforeseen bends to tap a myriad of emotions.

Yes, Arriale is a sight to behold on her new DVD/CD “Trio Live” CD/DVD set that was taped last year in Germany.

The woman with the gorgeous fireball of hair is a master of the 88’s who regularly performs across Europe and Japan. When her piano takes the stage, observant concertgoers will notice that Arriale’s lips occasionally move while she performs.

“I try to have the singing come through my fingertips,” she said during a recent phone interview. “And take the audience on a journey.”

The acclaimed pianist was in Jacksonville last week preparing to teach a class at the University of North Florida. Although Arriale has no plans to add vocalist to her resume, she sang the notes over the phone to explain how she teaches her students improvisation. “An idea and an answer, that’s music,” she said after giving this reporter an informative and interesting demonstration on how she instructs her students to put their personal stamp on a 12-bar blues number without losing the melody. Arriale started learning the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach at the age of 4. She continued her studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where she graduated with a master’s degree in 1991. But an epiphany the following year led the Milwaukee-native to the world of jazz and recordings by piano greats such as Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock.

“It was kind of a fluke thing,” Arriale said. “I just followed my intuition.”

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
10-20-2006
John Kelman
Lynne Arriale Trio | Motema Music

Lyricism and empathy provide the focus for pianist Lynne Arriale’s Live. There’s nothing wrong with reaching out to an audience with catchy melodies and accessible rhythms, as this trio makes clear. Arriale is supported by bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis–veteran players who, despite busy schedules, have made Arriale a priority since joining her on her debut, The Eyes Have It (DMP, 1993).

As is evident on Live, an audience that’s properly engaged can be led almost anywhere. The trio’s reading of “Bemsha Swing” begins in a free fashion that might, were this to be the main emphasis, scare them off. But by the time the musicians get to this classic tune toward the end of the set, they’ve already won over the audience at this 2005 performance in Germany. The trio moves synchronously between defined rhythms and temporal elasticity–the clear result of working together regularly.

But for the most part Arriale’s set on this CD/DVD combo focuses on an elegant simplicity that belies greater skill. The traditional “Iko Iko” opens the set with a broken up kind of funk, and Arriale takes the familiar melody just the slightest bit out. Revolving around a three-note pulse, the piece provides a relaxed way for the trio and audience to warm up. The trio takes similar liberties with the Beatles’ classic “Come Together,” which features understated but impressive solos from Anderson and Davis.

The set also includes Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night” and Victor Feldman’s “Seven Steps to Heaven.” But Arriale’s own material seems surprisingly familiar, even when heard for the first time. “Flamenco” and “Braziliana” both reflect the titular references. On the latter, the set’s most muscular and up-tempo tune, Arriale shows that she’s capable of greater virtuosity when necessary, but never at the expense of the song itself.

The DVD component of Live contains a concert video of the same set, with the added standard “Alone Together,” making the trio’s intuitive camaraderie more tangible. It also features a 25-minute PBS documentary, Lynne Arriale: Portrait of a Performing Artist that, along with additional performance footage, also sheds light on Arriale’s musical philosophy and thoughts on improvisation and composition. A fifteen-minute interview rounds out the picture.

With its combination of aural and visual concert footage, plus the added interview/documentary, Live provides a comprehensive look at Arriale. She’s able to create thoroughly enjoyable music, which never sacrifices substance for accessibility. In her commitment to musical conversation, she treats the audience as the “fourth” member of her trio.

AAJLA Review (Los Angeles)
10-20-2006
George W. Harris
Lynne Arriale Trio
Live – Motéma Music

Where has this lady been? This is my first exposure to this trio, and I feel immediately out of the loop as far as new talent. This lovely lithe redhead has put together a trio that creates masterful readings of astonishing originals, as well as intriguing interpretations of jazz and rock standards. The abundance of masterful technique and creative soloing from someone relatively unknown is embarrassingly over-whelming. You can’t help but feel like the manager of the Knights when Robert Redford tries out for the team in “The Natural”: what have we been missing?!?

Her full bodied tone is matched with the able bodied support of Steve Davis (drums) and Jay Anderson (bass) on the gospel drenched “Iko Iko” as well as the joyful “Braziliana”, which features intriguing chord progressions. Her reading of The Beatles’ “Come Together” turns into a logically constructed vehicle for creative soloing and interplay between the musicians. “Seven Steps To Heaven” has the band going through several clever tempo changes. Every song is brimming with more ideas than can be absorbed in one listening. This is as close to a musical Mensa seminar as you might get, and a lot more fun! The tone, attack and ideas from this lady are all original and intriguing. Money back guarantee on this one!

HARTFORD COURANT REVIEW
10-17-2006
OWEN MCNALLY
LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO LIVE
CD/DVD Set – Motema Music

Steeped in clarity and eloquence, pianist Lynne Arriale’s lyrical, passionate performance at Germany’s Burghausen Jazz Week festival last year is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Arriale is a poet with soul, as shown in “Iko Iko,” her foot-stomping rendition of a song whose roots go all the way back to the chants of slaves in New Orleans’ Congo Square. A heady mix of grit and gravitas, her free-flowing lines and implied narrative always seem on the edge of revealing some transcendent truth lurking under the song’s smoky sensuousness.

With her compatible collaborators, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis, the pianist, in an evocative homage, pays tribute to the heroic first responders who lost their lives on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. On an exciting sprint through “Seven Steps to Heaven,” Victor Feldman’s classic for Miles Davis, Arriale creates resonating whirlpools of sound while bounding up Feldman’s heavenly steps faster than Rocky Balboa makes his famous run up the steep steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Whether Arriale is reconstructing a Beatles’ tune or a mood piece like “Flamenco,” her melodic phrases unfold with an organically logical sense, sounding not merely perfectly placed but also deeply moving. A DVD, which accompanies the CD, offers a front row seat at the concert, plus a portrait of the artist and an interview with this quite modest seeming person of quite immodest talent.

The Buffalo News
10-15-2006
Jeff Simon
THE BUFFALO NEWS
Entertainment
Listening Post – Brief reviews of select releases
Lynne Arriale Trio, “Live” (Motema, disc plus DVD). She’s certainly beautiful enough. Her left hand can be as bombastic as McCoy Tyner’s. Nor will you catch her suffering from too much Bill Evans worship or lyric introversion. Anyone smart enough to play Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night” and to make such a creative abstraction out of Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” deserves your attention.

The Toledo Blade
10-15-2006
TOM HENRY
THE TOLEDO BLADE
LYNNE ARRIALE TRIO LIVE Lynne Arriale Trio (Motema)

Arriale offers a cool jazz version of Lennon-McCartney’s “Come Together” and an even cooler, stripped-down, and laid-back jazz version of the New Orleans standard, “Iko Iko.” But the best part of this awesome disc is how Arriale and her trio play from the heart. They strike a great balance between fury and sensitivity for a truly gorgeous sound.

Recorded live at Burghausen Jazz Week, Germany’s oldest and most prestigious jazz festival, this is top shelf all the way, the kind of thing that fans of jazz piano yearn to hear. Included is a DVD with performances and interviews.

L.A. Weekly
April 29, 2005

The Lynne Arriale Trio: A great, organic trio, beautiful and muscular like Jarrett’s but without all that, uh, singing.

Some Herbie’s in there too: Lynne Arriale kicks off her latest CD with a positively funky “Come Together” that ranks with Mehldau’s “Blackbird” for rendering the Beatles into pure jazz. Hell, just imagine Bill Evans feeling really good for once and just getting down…And the venue only adds to the coolness.

DAGOGO
COME TOGETHER
The Lynne Arriale Trio
September 8, 2004

A jazz band that draws inspiration and leadership from a female musician has always been a rarity; but the world has never seen the likes of the Lynne Arriale Trio. I found Motema’s sparkling perspectives on music capturing my aspiration on Come Together, conjuring up a feeling I’ve not encountered in years.

Lynne plays the piano with such creativity, decisiveness, energy and zeal, it would’ve been mistaken as the playing of a man had her occasional, sumptuous “lipstick” whispery touch not been simmering softly through.

Despite the fact that only a piano, bass and drums are present in each track, there is expertly music-making permeating throughout the CD to impart an expansiveness many trio‘s failed to attain. And when the playing starts, Ms. Arriale leads bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis on an impromptu of camaraderie and inspiration. They support Lynne throughout the stops and surges with momentary spontaneity, short of dashing ahead of her. As a result, each track is never entirely cuddled in sanctuary bliss; but is artfully spiced with degrees of risk-taking that gives the playing a beautiful, otherworldly flavor.

Take, for example, the breathtakingly spirited playing in “Flamenco” (track 6), in which the guys are in overdrive in adding necessary atmosphere to the pianist‘s lead. Just as the men finish an interim passage, Lynne injects energy and ensures continuity with one of her own unique sequences.

Of the entire CD, six tracks are Arriale’s own creation of high originality, so much so that I was enticed to playback the whole disc again. And even if you have listened to it more than once already, you’ll find playing it in your car a wonderful idea. The Trio’s recreation of the title track, “Come Together” has enough lyricism to usher me into a world of its own. Each track is permeated with resounding purposefulness, while traversing in a tranquil and yet forward momentum that embraces and carries the listener almost subliminally.

In terms of sound quality, the mild richness in upper bass to upper midrange polishes the CD’s overall sound and makes the choice of using either solid-state or tube amplification equally rewarding. Nicely mastered, the sound endows the trio with lively intimacy and sophisticated tonal layers, transcending an experience beyond what three mere instruments usually produce.

This is a highly listenable jazz music created in the hands and soul of a female. Maybe that’s what we’ve been needing in this age of colliding cultures and moralities: female leaders. It is a good feeling listening to music performed by such a competent pianist, especially in Jazz, whose unique touch will hopefully catch the attention of today’s standard jazz scene for something so brightened with excitement and originality.

Come Together is Lynne Arriale Trio’s second release under the Motema label, and the trio’s ninth studio production. With two if its previous CD s, Inspiration (2002) and Arise (2003), selected by The New Yorker and The Economist in their top-ten lists, LAT also debuted at #17 on Billboard in 2003. PBS-TV is will also broadcast “Profiles of a Performing Artist” on the Lynne Arriale Trio this year.
Kalamazoo Gazette

“Her music is instantly engaging and accessible… one of the most intellectual, introspective and insightful players on the current scene, bringing a flawless touch, an impeccable sense of complex rhythms and a harmonic curiosity to everything she attempts. In the best sense, she is a popularizer, playing with a subtle but insistent urgency that gathers power. It draws you in and catches you.”

JazzTimes

“A superb talent with an imaginative gift for improvisation, she seems completely at one with the stream of ideas that flow through her fingers. The seemingly nonstop abundance of Arriale’s imagination, exquisite touch and an understated but pro-pulsive drive were distinct evidence of a major talent.”

Los Angeles Times

“If you take Wayne Shorter’s tunes, or Herbie Hancock’s, those are great melodies. They stand alone. So do the originals on Arriale’s newest album.”

Irish Times

“This sound comes straight from the spirit. Arriale displays a devotion to melodic and harmonic nuances that many artists today ignore. After she proves that a beautiful melody can stand alone, she adds layers, twisting and turning lines as if reflected through a prism. Arriale holds the audience spellbound”

Jazz Improv Magazine

“The musicians seemed to be inventing out of a shared metabolism … Keith Jarrett minus the angst.”

The Boston Globe

“Can you really teach jazz? In the space of three hours, Arriale laid my mind to rest. She possesses that rare gift of reducing complex and intangible issues to inspirational basics.”

The London Times

A consummate educator, Arriale conducts workshops and master classes internationally and has been appointed Visiting Professor of Jazz Studies at The University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Articles

Trio Plays With a Shared Metabolism

Boston Globe

“Some piano trios are all about the individual virtuosity of their members or focus on complex, iconoclastic arrangements. Lynne Arriale’s trio gives primary place to group empathy. The communication she shares with longtime drummer Steve Davis and frequent bassist Jay Anderson produces interpretations of familiar themes that glow with a sense of proportion and coherence that is all the more effective for being so uncommon.

“Time and again during the trio’s opening set at Scullers, one sensed shaping hands that valued complete statements over momentary flourishes. Tempos and dynamics evolved organically, choruses swelled and settled, yet a strong rhythmic pulse ensured constant strength and momentum. At times the music seemed to be played in the air without ever suggesting directionless drift. The musicians had worked together enough to sense where spontaneous accents would fall and seemed to be inventing out of a shared metabolism.

“Arriale’s style is thoughtful and lean. She coaxed ideas from the keyboard rather than attacking it, and sustained contrast by moving from brisk, quizzical patterns to terse rhythmic variations. While her faster solos mined a familiar vernacular, the phrases were inevitably well placed, and her ballad readings of ”Estate” and ”The Nearness of You” were awash in thoughtfully conceived melody. Anderson and Davis, superb musicians who suggested the capacity to dazzle with virtuosity had they so chosen, each took a more selfless approach. The bassist turned in excellent solos, with just enough technique to spice his warm, melodic conception and never played two notes in support where one would suffice. Davis employed a quiet physicality that made each stroke a visual experience and extracted every conceivable texture from his kit.

“What stood out more than individual contributions was the way Arriale’s trio sculpted each tune into a distinctive entity. Chick Corea’s ”Tones for Joan’s Bones” was stated in alternating arcs of swing and lyricism, Bobby Scott’s ”Feelin’ Good” became a quietly intent African processional, and Thelonious Monk’s ”Bemsha Swing” surrounded a funky underlying beat with passages of playful free-form. Most intruiging of all were the vamp endings that allowed Arriale, Anderson, and Davis to extend ”Feelin’ Good,” ”Estate,” and ”Beautiful Love.” These were seductive reveries that served the music rather than calling attention to themselves – Keith Jarrett minus the angst and the sense that a good thing had been taken to wearying extremes. Then again, knowing just how much is enough may be Arriale’s greatest strength.” Bob Blumenthal, The Boston Globe

The London Times – Saturday, March 15, 2003

FIRST NIGHT

Jazz – Lynne Arriale

Duc des Lombards, Paris

Clive Davis

LYNNE ARRIALE creates difficulties for reviewers: how to find fresh superlatives for a pianist who maintains such extraordinarily high standards?

There is a handful of jazz pianists that I would gladly listen to all night long. Those master craftsmen Ahmad Jamal and John Bunch immediately come to mind. Arriale makes three. Somehow, even after a decade-long run of outstanding trio albums, the flamed-haired American improviser still tends to be overshadowed by the more fashionable New York names. British audiences are warming to her nevertheless, and she will be returning to the UK this year for the London Jazz Festival.

Her Paris show, which kick-started another European tour, was an opportunity to eavesdrop on her new album, Arise, released towards the end of this month. Having signed to an innovative new label, Motéma, Arriale continues to blend thoughtfully sculpted original tunes with an ingenious sprinkling of cover versions. As ever, her delicate touch and unabashed love of melodic lines turns them into her own private property.

In the past I have made the mistake of underestimating her ever-assertive drummer Steve Davis. At the Duc des Lombards, a smallish nightspot near Les Halles, the drum kit perched just a few feet from my seat, there was no ignoring the inventiveness of his playing with a scarcely a bebop cliché to be heard. With Larry Kohut punctuating the dialogue with spare bass lines, the conversation never flagged.

Arriale herself is not afraid of unfurling simple, hymn-like melodies that, in the wrong hands, might sound sentimental. Arise, inspired by the events of 9/11, possesses a fragile beauty. Her sunny but never lightweight cover of the Beatles’ tune, Blackbird, is said to have made an impression on Paul McCartney himself.

The Sunday Times (UK)

Culture

Sunday March 23, 2003

Lynne Arriale Trio

Arise

Motema MTM 71372

3 stars

Something of a latecomer to jazz – classical piano studies consumed her energies at first – Lynne Arriale has never made any secret of her debt to Keith Jarrett. It says something for her gifts as a lyrical improviser that her music – taut, melodic and self-disciplined – regularly puts his Standards Trio in the shade. Arise is another winner. Arriale’s eye for unusual material keeps repetition at bay: American Woman and Egberto Gismonti’s Frévo are both dazzingly fresh, while the original numbers, including the exhilarating Esperanza and Upswing, are no less seductive. The indefatigable Steve Davis on drums and bassist Jay Anderson complete what is, for my money, the finest American trio on the loose at the moment.

UPI Review

By Ken Franckling

United Press International

From the Life & Mind Desk

Published 4/1/2003 10:49 AM

Pianist Lynne Arriale has just released her newest — and perhaps finest — CD. It’s a trio session called “Arise” that showcases the chemistry of her decade-old group with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis.

She is a wonderful player and arranger who wrote four of the nine tunes for the project, which is filled with the sparkling clarity that graces her music.

It also is a perfect fit for the new San Francisco-based Motema Music label. In Lingala, a language from Congo and Zaire in central Africa, “motema” means “heart.”

The CD has much to offer in the breadth and range of material. The title track, “Arise,” is an uplifting ballad of hope and promise.

Arriale, interviewed during the final leg of a month-long European tour that began in Paris and zigzagged through Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland, said she originally called the tune “For the Heroes” after Sept. 11, 2001.

“But I extended it in my mind to everyday heroes, who go the extra mile, who stay open despite the challenges in this new world,” she told United Press International.

Tunes very much related to the CD theme include her own Spanish-tinged “Esparanza,” which means hope, “Upswing” and “The Fallen,” which has a very somber melody.

Her other gems include reconstructions of Egberto Gismonti’s “Frevo,” Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” and the old Guess Who hit, “American Woman,” which originally was a war protest tune — if you listened closely to the pop lyrics rather than the catchy melody.

Arriale’s rearrangement of the latter tune is so artful it is not apparent what the tune is until she’s nearly done with it.

“The melody stays the same, but the grating, raunchy bass line changes the feel,” she said.

As an explorer of music and a writer of songs, the Indiana-based Arriale has one overriding principle.

“Music is an international language that transcends boundaries and cultures, ” she said. “I want to find music that transcends boundaries on a heart level.”

Arriale was the 1993 winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Her trio will bring its music to South Carolina and Charleston’s acclaimed Spoleto Arts Festival. Additional performances will be in: Iowa; Bloomington, Ind.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; St. Paul, Minn.; Louisville, Ky.; New York; California; Boston and Montreal on spring and summer tours.

“There are full houses every where we play. Everyone is coming out to hear music,” she said. “We’re really happy that we’re reaching audiences.

“I was lucky to meet Steve and Jay. If you experience life together, it just deepens over time. We play music without boundaries, without category. No matter whether it’s Herbie Hancock, Monk, Bernstein or Sting, people resonate to melody. It stays in our tune choices.

“Every day, every performance is different. Everything is constantly changing because of life’s influences. The light switch is always turned on. These guys give 100 percent, and are immersed and engaged in the music. It is something beyond musical competence. There’s an energy and color the audience can pick up on,” Arriale said.

Arriale feels right at home at her new label, Motema. Her manager, New Yorker Suzi Reynolds, is head of Artists and Repertoire for the new venture. Its founder, San Francisco-based singer Jana Herzen, calls her venture an “artist-driven label.”

“At a time record companies are not doing well, or suffering economically, they are doing something special,” Arriale said.

Motema signed Arriale after Herzen first heard her perform at the MIDEM international music conference in Cannes, France, in January 2001.

“Though she played the piano and not a sound came from her lips, I had the distinct impression that I was watching a singer,” Herzen said.

Herzen chooses her artists the same way Arriale selects the songs she plays and writes. It depends whether they come from the heart and affect her deeply.

New York Times

“Lynne Arriale’s, brilliant musicianship and bandstand instincts place her among the top jazz pianists of the day. Even though there are hundreds of superb pianists residing today in the jazz world, the major recording labels would like you to believe that only a handful really matter. In recent years the high-profile publicity and marketing campaigns trumpeting thirty-something ivoryists Brad Mehldau and Jacky Terrasson, for example, has effectively shadowed the work of many of their peers, and detrimentally so. After all, the traditions and vanguards of jazz are actually carried on the backs of many, and not just a few, artists, regardless of the notions that Ken Burns and others proffer.

“One of the sparkling entities to be found in the penumbra of the chosen few is Lynne Arriale, whose brilliant musicianship, ebullience and bandstand instincts certainly place her among the top instrumentalists of the day. Like so many jazz musicians, though, her talents and accomplishments are grossly under-appreciated here in the United States. Being a woman (and not a singer, still a drawback in the genre even in our so-called enlightened, post-feminist age), a nomadic existence by trade and the lack of major label support all contribute in obscuring her merits as an artist.

“Arriale’s CD, Live at Montreux, is a real treasure and ample proof that she is worth regarding closely. Listening to Live at Montreux it occurred to me there was no overall thematic framework or gimmick attached to the music. It wasn’t a songbook collection either; and there were no special guest stars flown (or phoned) in to lay down solos. It’s just a wholly enjoyable album that finds an artist in the spotlight with a carefully chosen program of music. Take from the album what you will–consciously or not, this is what seems to be the ethos here, which, in my mind, is always the best compliment an artist can give an audience. The last song on Live at Montreux, the show’s encore, is a rendition of “An Affair to Remember,” which Arriale plays as a riveting solo that could work as the soundtrack for a breaking heart.” NY Times

Irish Times – Thursday, March 20, 2003

Lynne Arriale Trio

Review by Ray Comiskey

Coach House – Dublin Castle

According to a doubtless tongue-in-cheek Oscar Wilde, consistency is the infirmity of lesser minds. When the Lynne Arriale Trio opened their Music Network Irish tour at the Coach House on Wednesday, they demonstrated, yet again, that consistency is one of their virtues, and that it’s not accompanied by infirmity or any evidence of diminished mental faculties. Poised, polished and professional, they offered the kind of bop-influenced mainstream piano trio music that, in the hands of musicians as good as this, wears its age well.

It was also, as anyone who knows Arriale’s music, highly melodic and suffused with concern for structured development. It’s based on a repertoire of familiar standards, laced with some not so familiar, one or two jazz staples, some originals by the leader and even a Lennon/McCartney song, Blackbird. And the group’s emotional range extended from beautifully played ballads, on which it was possible to savour the pianist’s exquisite touch and sense of note placement, to almost euphoric Latin pieces and uncompromisingly driven up-tempo performances.

The music was also carefully and thoughtfully structured; just how much is not altogether easy to say, because the kind of empathy displayed by the leader, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis was breathtaking at times. And they have also developed little cues which they use individually to tip off the others about solo endings and arranged passages.

The first set was notable for the trio’s impressively nuanced control of dynamics, especially on the out choruses. Standouts included a rapturous performance of the gorgeous Estate, a savoury exploration of the seldom played Beautiful Love, an ingratiatingly witty It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing, and a deceptively simple, heartfelt exposition of her own ballad, Arise, whose lovely harmonies sounded like they were suggested by the melody, not the other way round, as too often happens with jazz originals.

The best, however, was reserved for the second set. Thelonious Monk’s Bemsha Swing had an exhilarating sense of discovery about it as they shook some seasoning of their own over this thoroughly idiosyncratic composition; and despite what they added to it, the original flavour stubbornly refused to go away – a compliment to both the piece and the trio’s inventiveness and sensitivity.

But if anything caught another dimension of the group – the sheer poetry that Arriale and her colleagues are capable of – it was a moving exploration of The Nearness Of You, with one of Anderson’s best solos of the night. Arriale, following on, gave a classic example of her ability to use motivic development to sustain a solo which was, in effect, a gorgeous piece of storytelling with a beginning, middle and end. One to savour.

Piano Trios and All That Jazz

Irish Times

Although trained in classical music, pianist Lynne Arriale was seduced by jazz in her 20s. Now, for her and her trio, the melody comes first, writes Ray Comiskey.

Finding melodies is the biggest challenge of all,” says Lynne Arriale. She was speaking of her engagement with the art and craft of composition, but she might also have been describing her own work as a jazz pianist. As one of the most melodic players around, she’s emphatic about the importance and primacy of melody.

It’s one of the qualities that distinguishes her in a diverse, high-calibre field. Jazz piano, where abundant technique and acute harmonic knowledge are merely tools to start the job with, is not for the faint-hearted. A penchant for innovation or the radical may help, sooner or later, to attract attention; for the long haul, however, you have to match it with musical substance.

Yet it’s more difficult to express individuality by working, as she does, within the accepted conventions of bop and the related elements of post-bop piano. It calls for a patient, diligent refinement of the craft, rather than any grand gestures. Behind it is the hope or, if you’re lucky, the confidence, that you’ll find your own voice, as she has done.

En route, she has been often compared to one of the greatest of all jazz pianists, the late Bill Evans, but it’s difficult to detect any sign of this in her playing; she has said that her lines were never like his at any stage. In fact, detecting any jazz pianist’s influences in her work is hard.

Was this because she was classically trained, didn’t go near jazz until she abruptly switched in her 20s, and therefore brought no jazz baggage with her? “Well, actually that might be part of the situation,” she agrees, “but when I first started out, the first five years I sounded like I was imitating Cedar Walton – you don’t hear that now – and Gene Harris for a while, and then Thelonious Monk a little bit.

“And later Keith Jarrett was an influence, but more than listening and saying, ‘Oh, God, what is that?’ Because with Keith, I mean, his melodies are so – there’s such a purity, he doesn’t play clichés. On a conceptual level, he’s a great influence because you never hear him doing the same thing. So I thought to myself , ‘Oh, my God, that’s a whole different way of approaching it’.”

Jarrett is notorious for singing as he solos. It can be heard on just about every piano recording he’s done; and though Arriale can plead not guilty here, it gave her an idea she has used ever since, even with her students .. Convinced the originality of his lines comes from singing, she started singing away from the piano during practice time.

It’s not an outlandish idea. In scat singing – wordless, improvised vocals of the great Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie – the phrases they create are vocal clones of their trumpet playing, stamped with the unique fingerprints of their creative personalities.

“When you sit and sing a solo away from your instrument,” she explains, “it cuts through everything you may have practised. Now, you’ve got to practise, obviously, but when you sing I think it takes you to your unconscious mind much more readily. And then when you play, all of a sudden you’re playing things that you didn’t even practise – and where does that come from?” Another huge influence is pianist Richie Beirach, whom she calls a mentor, teacher and friend. “What’s been most influential is his explaining to me about motivic development, taking an idea like” – she hums the famous opening to Beethoven’s Fifth – “and learning how to develop it.

“And I still continue to work very hard at that, because the motivic continuity, of taking a seed and letting it sprout and grow, and developing it musically, is a tremendous challenge. It’s not just about playing like, you know, long lines and lots of licks. It’s about telling a story, beginning, middle and end.”

Her own musical story began when she was four. Classically trained, she got a degree in piano performance at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music before being suddenly seduced by jazz in her early 20s. And that demanding, show-me-what-you-can-do world sat up and took notice when she won the International Great American Jazz Competition in Jacksonville, Florida 10 years ago.

Although she has worked on various projects since then, her natural home is the piano trio. That seems unlikely to change. She likes its capacity to combine intimacy and flexibility, to have an orchestral sound and yet be capable of quick changes of direction. “The extent to which we stretch the music is just only limited by your own imagination,” she says.

Her present trio, formed in 1999 with bassist Jay Anderson and long-time colleague, drummer Steve Davis, is probably her finest yet. She compares it to a relationship that has gone on a long time, where the chemistry is present and the relationship has therefore, inevitably, deepened. So how do they keep staleness at bay? “If you look deeply into the eyes of the person that you love,” she answers, expanding on the relationship comparison, “and you just are kind of quiet in your own mind, and just look at them and listen to the sound of their voice, and listen to them speaking and what they’re saying, it cannot become stale. If you are truly present with each other I don’t think you have to come up with ways of keeping things fresh, because every person on the planet is constantly changing, moving and growing. “And it’s the exact same thing in music. Yes, I bring new material to the group, and we’re always adding things, but by the same token, musicians have a way of saying – in fact I’ve heard Jay and Steve say this about each other – Steve will say, ‘yes, Jay is always here to play’, and Jay will say the same thing about Steve ‘he’s always a 100 per cent present and accounted for and right there’.

“In other words, he’s not distracted. He is completely at one with the music and tuned in to the other members of the group. It’s like we’re just locked up. It’s like the laser beam just kind of connected us all. And if that happens there’s no way it can go stale.”

Piano trios with a chemistry like hers have been likened to musical conversations. Typically, she has her own slant on the analogy which, she says, is so often taken to mean a conversation of straightforward statement and response, or question and answer. “It’s not like that in our trio, because if we’re waiting for the response we’re not in the flow of the music.

“I’m going to change the analogy,” she adds. “You have three people looking out of a window at a beautiful setting. One person says, ‘Oh, my God, these trees are absolutely gorgeous’, and another person’s saying, ‘Yeah, look at those leaves, the beautiful shading of those leaves’.

“Now, they are listening to one another, but also reacting to the scene. These people are actually absorbed in it, so they’re kind of hearing the person talk, but they’re also just so absorbed in it that they’re having their own response at the same time. And there’s this kind of cloudy thing going on where you’re not just fixated on the object. You’re hearing what the other people are saying, peripherally almost, and you’re responding to it.”

It’s a perfect description of the way her own trio – and similarly inclined groups, no matter how radically different they might be in other ways – works. What it doesn’t say is the rigorous craft, won the hard way, that supports the chemistry and the creativity.

And Arriale works at it. Apart from her distinctive approach to playing, for her as a composer the melody comes first.

She doesn’t fall into the trap – that so many jazz musicians do – of hitting on a chord sequence that might be attractive to improvise over and then finding some kind of original line to lay on top of it to serve as a tune. The pieces that result generally lack real character.

“They couldn’t stand alone,” she agrees. “However, if you take Wayne Shorter’s tunes, or Herbie Hancock’s, those are great melodies. They stand alone.” So do the originals on her newest album, Arise, which were written in response to 9/11. But we will probably be able to confirm that, and much else besides, when she opens her tour in Dublin next Tuesday.

New Yorker Magazine

Best Jazz Albums of 2002

Issue of 2003-01-13

Posted 2003-01-06

What keeps a song in a jazz musician’s heart these days is anyone’s guess. The past few years have seen the major labels all but turn their backs on the genre: the high-profile buzz of Ken Burns’s 2001 documentary never translated into solid sales increases, nor has the hunger for all things American spread to our own classical music. Yet jazz has weathered slumps before (older players still remember the pop-infested sixties and seventies with a shudder). For the most stolid of contemporary jazzmen and women, judging from some of the finer recordings released this year, solace seems to reside in the bedrock of melody.

Lynne Arriale, “Inspiration” (TCB)ÑThe pianist Arriale, who forthrightly titled a 1999 album “Melody,” knows the value of something that’s too often overlooked by improvisation-worshipping jazz fans: a great tune. This lyrical player and her sharp-eared trio embrace the songcraft that links Keith Jarrett’s “So Tender” to Burt Bacharach’s “A House Is Not a Home,” and Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Mountain of the Night” to Lennon and McCartney’s “Blackbird.”

Female Musician – March 2003

www.femalemusician.com

Lynne Arriale Arise:

Talk about a lady whose got chops! Check her out! Lynne Arriale has her keys under passionate control. Arise follows her cd , Inspiration, which hit #1 on U.S Jazz Radio in 2002. From traditional covers to new compositions, Lynne’s trio is a complete compact jazz package. Familiar melodies blend into swirls of variated themes, leaving one saying “I know this song,…….. but do I?”. Emotions pour as Lynne treats her best friend, the piano, to a meticulously arranged song selection. Bassist Jay Anderson captures a great bass tone and shows off his personality in the rock classic, American Women, when he breaks into a playful solo. Drummer, Steve Davis, displays tasty breathing space in every tune. Break open the wine , cook your favorite meal, set the tone for a romantic evening, and make sure the Lynne Arriale Trio is spinning in your disc player.

The Celebrity Café

3/3/03

http://thecelebritycafe.com/cd/full_review/398.html

Lynne Arriale: Arise

Lynne Arriale – Arise

Lynne plays piano so well it’s a sin she’s not more widely known. There’s a difference between playing the piano like it’s Muzak and by playing it interpretively. Her original compositions will blow you away, while her version of “Lean on Me” is unique, innovative and creative. This is the perfect album for relaxing and driving or for a romantic dinner.

The Lady Can Play!

On previous releases, jazz pianist Lynne Arriale has earned comparisons to Ahmad Jamal and Keith Jarrett, among others, and her trio’s eighth disc showcases her expressive style, sharp sense of melody and the group’s masterful approach to complex rhythms.

Together with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis, Arriale turns in some very tasty work, starting with the opening “Frevo,” and moving through the soft and soothing title track and the rapid-fire “Upswing.”

The music is very accessible, and Arriale aims to entice even non-jazz fans with her most intriguing selection of material. It’s been a long time since anyone made the traditional “Kum Ba Ya,” sound contemporary, but the trio pulls it off. And the disc’s biggest surprise – a deliciously reworked version of The Guess Who’s “American Woman” – is dark, but deeply alluring.

The Republican