You might hear Jay Rodriguez and wonder, "Is there anything you can't do?" The fact is, it might be tough to track down something along Jay's musical continuum that he hasn't done. In fact, he may be one of the busiest men in jazz, and one of the few playing most all the reeds as a leader and sideman with a wildly diverse cadre of musicians, synthesizing these experiences within his own projects.
Rodriguez's original work is daring, groovy, breathtaking and soulful, sometimes all at once. Your Sound: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, captures all of that exhilarating rawness in real time. It is loose and lovely, with both rough and smooth edges and flourishes that reflect his ample international experience. Songs like the opener, "Ghost Dancer, " kick off forcefully, with a propulsive bass and a frisky tropical feel, while on the flip side, Rodriguez lays into romance, with a flute tour de force on "When the Stars Fell." The record closes with a bold cover of "Kiss and Say Goodbye."
Accompanied by Billy Harper on tenor sax, Larry Willis on piano, Eric Wheeler (also on Greg Murphy's Summer Breeze) on bass, JT Lewis on drums, and percussionist Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin & Wood), Rodriguez frees himself up to showcase his work on saxes, flutes, and bass clarinet. The result is magical. Over his career, Rodriguez has tackled composition, arranging, accompanying, and leading. It is high time for the world to hear all the wonderful things Jay Rodriguez—musician, personality, iconoclast, and innovator—has to offer.
A versatile bandleader, with flute, clarinet and saxophone chops, the Colombia-born, New York City-bred musician is profoundly talented and incredibly prolific. He graduated with the highest honors from New York City's renowned High School for the Performing Arts and continued his studies at Manhattan School of Music and The New School's School of Jazz.
Since then he has had musical adventures in salsa with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Paquito D'Rivera, pop/hip-hop with Prince, Guru, the Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Premier and Groove Collective, straight-ahead with Doc Cheatham, Mingus Big Band, Chucho Valdes, David Murray, Craig Harris, Jason Miles and Miles Davis. He has played alongside Joe Lovano, Gil Evans, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Bernie Worrell and Joan Osborne, to name a few. Awards follow that kind of pedigree, and so should your attention. Rodriguez is quite simply a giant talent and Your Sound is just the beginning of his story.
Prolific. Prodigal. Profound. That is Jay Rodriguez. Sometimes the sound is explosive, wild and full of fury, other times his music aches with a passion that’s painful and bare. Always modest and reverent, Rodriguez harnesses the unbridled audacity of youth and melds it with the uncanny discipline of a hardened New York jazz veteran. Married to the song while sleeping with the groove, his sound sings of commitment to an ideal—it is spontaneity, culturally untethered and unpretentious, the excitement of far flung love at all costs. It is perfectionism kissed by chaos.
– THE NEW YORKER
He could be breathy and insinuating on a ballad, brawny and extroverted in an uptempo…
– THE NEW YORK TIMES
Fleet-fingered saxophonist Jay Rodriguez has played it all in New York: salsa with Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, hip-hop with DJ Premier and Groove Collective, straight-ahead with Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Barron and Doc Cheatham. His new band, SEVEN, pays homage to a recent discovery: the free jazz of saxophonist Ornette Coleman. “I felt like one of those folks who just learned the earth is round,” he says. Rodriguez took a deep dive into Coleman’s repertoire and came up with a brass and string ensemble inspired by the legend’s 1960s double quartets performING Coleman-inspired originals like “Your Sound,” as well as Coleman classics like “Lonely Woman,” at Winter Jazzfest.
– NPR
Mr. Rodriguez is more than a musician. He is a visionary. Jay Rodriguez is the Latin American Answer to James Carter and a true light to hear and see.
– Arnie Lawrence, Founder of THE NEW SCHOOL for Jazz and Contemporary Music
Havana International Jazz Festival Reedman / Saxophonist Jay Rodriguez, down from New Y0rk for the festival says, ‘I have admiration for the people and the culture and the way they persevere and are educated, in general culturally and musically. They are supportive of their own musicians, and the young musicians are skilled and well trained.’
– JAZZTIMES
His work is defined with versatility, humor and heart. His jazz playing is full of blues and soul. It is one of those voices that are hard to describe with words, and that is much closer to the spirit.
– EL HERALDO, Colombia
01. Ghost Dancer
02. Golden Earring
03. Clouds
04. Silk Stockings: All of You: All of You
05. Your Sound
06. When the Stars Fell
07. Spirits
08. Inolvidable
09. Love me Tonight: Lover: Lover
10. Kiss and Say Goodbye: Let's Just Kiss and Say Goodbye
