Monday, May 23, 2016

Jon Crowley - I Walk Amongst The Humans (2016)


Genre: Modern Jazz Creative
GAB's Rating: ★★★★★



Bio: Brooklyn-based Trumpet/Composer/Bandleader Jon Crowley is one of the most fearless and original musicians of his generation. His various projects and groups have combined broad ranging influences from Satie, Death Cab for Cutie, Philip Glass, Chopin, to Miles Davis, showing him to be a musician who will not be bound by a single genre and one that is always looking for new possibilities. One thing that carries through everything he touches is his melodic and individual approach to the trumpet, that has been described as 'Highly personal; masculine, yet sensitive in timbre'.

Jon has three records out as a leader on Lonely Crow Records; Connections(2009), At the Edge(2011) and The Rehumanization EP(2014).  The title track from his debut album won the prestigious 'ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award' in 2010 and his sophomore release made many critics' "Best of 2011" lists.  Jon has played and toured up and down the east coast at places such as 'Chris Jazz Cafe' and 'World Cafe Live(philly), Twins(DC), The Garage(VA) as well as The Blue Note, Lincoln Center and Smalls (NYC) with people such as Chris Potter, Joe Lovano, Ralph Alessi, mark Shim and Dave Pietro. Recently Crowley's band 'Heart of Darkness' was featured in Dave Douglas' FONT Festival that happens each year at venues around New York City

Crowley also has a BA in Music from Muhlenberg College and an MA in Jazz Performance and Composition from NYU, where he studied with Laurie Frink, John Scofield, Kenny Werner and many more. He has also taught privately since 2007(including as an Adjunct Faculty member at NYU) and has worked with Jazz at Lincoln Center's WeBop early education program since 2010.

Trumpeter Jon Crowley continues to forge a highly personal repertoire and career path with his first album on Destiny Records, I Walk Amongst The Humans. The music reflects on the human condition–what it means to be human–empathy, vulnerability, and the emotions we feel towards others in complex relationships. Influenced by the northwest alternative-rock sound of the early 2000s, the compositions and arrangements use rock-inspired phrasing and form, upending the typical melody-solo-melody concept one might expect from looking at this quintet line-up on paper. Crowley is joined by John Beaty on alto saxophone, Noah Berman on guitar, Brad Whiteley on piano and Fender Rhodes, Ben Thomas on bass, and Max Maples on drums.


1. Still Here 05:58
2. Other Lives 05:18
3. I Disappear 04:57
4. Dark Center 04:45
5. A Little Poison 04:42
6. In Dreams 08:12
7. On A Park Bench 06:19


Jon Crowley - Trumpet
John Beaty - Alto Sax
Noah Berman - Electric Guitar, Effects
Brad Whiteley - Piano, Fender Rhodes
Ben Thomas - Upright Bass
Max Maples - Drums 



 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-walk-amongst-the-humans/id1075920830