New York Standards Quartet - Power of 10 (CD) |

New York Standards Quartet's 'Power of 10' is their second release for Whirlwind and a tribute to their ten years of performing together. The band is made up of three of New York's busiest jazz players: Tim Armacost is a Grammy nominated tenor saxophonist who has performed with Kenny Barron, Bob Hurst and Ray Drummond among many others, and is the group's founder. Gene Jackson, a drumming powerhouse well-known from his nine years in the Herbie Hancock trio as well as his performances with Dave Holland, the Mingus Band and Wayne Shorter. David Berkman, a fiery pianist who is both rooted in the jazz tradition and a harmonically adventurous improviser and composer, is a 30+ year NYC veteran of many bands including Tom Harrell, The Vanguard Orchestra and countless others. Berkman, who writes much of the band's repertoire, has a distinctive flair for re-casting well-known jazz standards in new and unexpected settings. On 'Power of 10', songs like "Deep High Wide Sky" and "Hidden Fondness" are melodies based on the chord progressions of "How Deep is the Ocean" and a reharmonised, "Secret Love". In the band's hands, his arrangement of the well-worn standard "All of Me" becomes a daring, harmonically tense vehicle for Armacost's mighty soprano playing and Jackson's powerful drumming. Armacost's arrangement of "Lush Life" brings a new perspective to this classic Strayhorn ballad and his "Green Doll's Phone" is a playful treatment of "On Green Dolphin Street", written to showcase the brilliant technical prowess of bassist Michael Janisch who joined them for this recording. "The exciting New York Standards Quartet, a group devoted to the radical reinvention of famous pop songs and Broadway show tunes...(is) a collective class act, and a delightful surprise...Playing jazz standards their way." - The Guardian Personnel: Tim Armacost (saxophones), David Berkman (piano), Michael Janisch (double bass), Gene Jackson (drums)

• Format Detail: CD Digipack
• Format: CD
• Label: Whirlwind Recordings
• Catalog Number: CD-WWR-4680