Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet - Jersey (MOTEMA MUSIC 2017)

As both leader and collaborator, the versatile drummer Mark Guiliana spends much of his time exploring jazz’s fascinating fringes, producing some of his best music in the place where EDM and free-improv intersect.

He first rose to prominence as a member of bassist Avishai Cohen’s trio, in which he contributed deft yet highly emotive drum work to acclaimed albums such as Lyla (2003) and Gently Disturbed (2008). Later, as the leader of the jazz trio Heernt, Guiliana released Locked In The Basement, which found him pivoting toward a style he called “experimental-garage-jazz.”

With 2010’s Beat Music, Guiliana honed in on a crisp and intelligent electro-jazz sound that would become an integral facet of his jazz identity, one that he would develop further alongside pianist Brad Mehldau on 2014’s Mehliana: Taming The Dragon. And in 2016, he famously served as the drummer for the backing band on David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, in a combo led by tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin.

With his latest album, Guiliana returns home—in more ways than one. Due out Sept. 29 on the Motéma label, Jersey finds the drummer at the helm of a straightahead jazz quartet featuring saxophonist Jason Rigby, pianist Fabian Almazan and bassist Chris Morrissey. What’s more, the program presents original music by Guiliana and his collaborators in an entirely acoustic environment, a tactic that, for Guiliana, presented both opportunities and obstacles.

“For the band, this lineup presents the challenge: How creative can we be inside this box?” said Guiliana in a press statement. “How much freedom and experimentation can we find? ... I have to say that it’s always so exciting to hear the guys play this music in ways I never could have imagined.”

The album is also a tribute Guiliana’s geographical roots. Born and raised in 1980 in Florham Park, New Jersey, Guiliana first discovered jazz in high school through his first drum teacher Joe Bergamini, and later graduated from William Paterson University in Wayne. He held longtime residences in Jersey City and Hoboken, and now resides in Madison with his wife, singer Gretchen Parlato, and their toddler son.

On Jersey, the acoustic setting serves as an incubator for Guiliana’s rhythmic creativity and technical facility. Case in point is the title track, which DownBeat is premiering below. Listen with careful attention to the tenor saxophone solo by Rigby, and notice how Guiliana’s skittering snare work and punchy toms add an almost phosphorescent sheen: READ MORE...

1. inter-are 04:35

2. Jersey 06:18

3. Our Lady 06:21

4. BP 03:07

5. Rate 00:52

6. September 04:15

7. Big Rig Jones 06:07

8. The Mayor Of Rotterdam 06:49

9. Where Are We Now? 08:30

Released September 29, 2017 

Jason Rigby - Tenor Saxophone 

Fabian Almazan - Piano 

Chris Morrissey - Bass 

Mark Guiliana - Drums 

Vocals on "Where Are We Now?": Gretchen Parlato, Jeff Taylor, Jason Rigby, Fabian Almazan, Chris Morrissey, Mark Guiliana & Marley Guiliana 

Produced by Mark Guiliana 

Recorded October 27-28, 2016 at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, NY 

Recording Engineer: John Davis 

Assistant Engineer: Nolan Thies 

Mixed by John Davis 

Mastered by Alex DeTurk at Strange Weather Recording Studio, Brooklyn, NY 

“Jersey,” “Rate,” “September” and “Big Rig Jones” written by Mark Guiliana (HEERNT Music, BMI) 

“inter-are” written by Mark Guiliana (HEERNT Music, BMI) and Gretchen Parlato (Gretchen Parlato Music, ASCAP) 

“Our Lady” and “The Mayor of Rotterdam” written by Chris Morrissey (BMI) 

“BP” written by Rich Hinman (ASCAP) 

“Where Are We Now?” written by David Bowie (Nipple Music, BMI, administered by RZO Music, Inc.)