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Michel Petrucciani - So What (Best Of)
Title: So What (Best Of)
Leader Artist: Michel Petrucciani
Genre: Jazz Contemporaneo
Style: Mainstream,Bop,Hard Bop
Label: Dreyfus
Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
Original Release Date: June 8, 2004
Extractor: EAC 0.99 prebeta 3
Read Mode: Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache.
Codec: Flac 1.2.1; Level 8
Flac Single Track
Size Torrent: 399 Mb
Cover Included
Track List
1. Summertime (Gershwin)
2. Little Peace In C For U (Petrucciani)
3. Home (Petrucciani)
4. J’Aurais Tellement Voulu (Botton)
5. Chloe Meets Gershwin (Petrucciani)
6. Brazilian Like (Petrucciani)
7. So What (Davis)
8. Les Grelots (Louiss)
9. Looking Up (Petrucciani)
10. Besame Mucho (Velasquez)
11. Why (Petrucciani)
12. Michel’s Blues (Petrucciani) n
13. Pennys From Heaven (Burke/Johnson)
Personnel:
Michel Petrucciani,piano;
Eddy Louiss,organ;
Geoge Mraz,Anthony Jackson,bass;
Roy Haynes,Steve Gadd,drums;
Stephane Grappelli,violin;
Tony Petrucciani,guitar;
Bob Brookmeyer,trombone;
Flavio Boltro,trumpet;
Stefano Di Battista,saxophone;
Graffiti String Quartet
Music Sample
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,2921650,00.html
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=OrgcAtpR648
bio
Michel Petrucciani (December 28, 1962, Orange, France - January 6, 1999, Manhattan), was a French Jazz pianist. Michel Petrucciani came from an Italo-French family of a musical background. His father "Tony" played guitar and his brother Louis played bass. Michel was born with osteogenesis imperfecta which is a genetic condition that causes brittle bones and in his case short stature. It is also often linked to pulmonary ailments. In his early career his father and brother occasionally carried him, literally, because he could not walk far on his own unaided. In certain respects though he considered it an advantage as it got rid of distractions, like sports, that other boys tended to become involved in. At an early age he became enthusiastic about the works of Duke Ellington and wished to become a pianist like him. Although he trained for years as a classical pianist, jazz remained his interest. He had his first professional concert at 13. At this point in his life he was still quite fragile so had to be carried to and from the piano. In general his size meant that he required aids to reach the piano's pedals, but his hands were average in length. By age 18 he helped form a successful trio. He moved to the US in 1982. In the US he is credited with leading Charles Lloyd to resume playing actively and in 1986 he recorded a live album with Wayne Shorter and Jim Hall. He also played with diverse figures in the US jazz scene including Dizzy Gillespie. In 1994 he was granted a Légion d'honneur in Paris. His own style was initially influenced by Bill Evans although some compare him to Keith Jarrett. He is often deemed to be among the best jazz pianists to ever come from France. On the personal side he had three significant relationships. His first marriage to Italian pianist Gilda Buttà ended in divorce. He also fathered two children, one being a son named Alexandre. One of these children inherited his condition. He also had a stepson named Rachid Roperch. Michel Petrucciani died at 36 from a pulmonary infection. He was interred in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
review
Bill Evans wrote in the liner notes for his Grammy Award-winning album Alone that "to understand music most profoundly one only has to be listening well." If you listen to an Evans album and follow it with So What, you will understand well that Evans' music lived in the small but profound hands of Michel Petrucciani.
So What is a recorded odyssey of Petrucciani's work on Dreyfus Jazz; a compilation that shows a well-seasoned jazz pianist playing beautifully in the style of his influences like Evans, Ellington, Debussy, and Ravel. Throughout the album, Petrucciani's playing is so spirited and disciplined, like his piano predecessors, that a first-time listener would never know that he was afflicted with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as glass bone disease. The disease ultimately led to Petrucciani's death in 1999 when he was only 36, but it didn't stop him from becoming an accomplished musician who had a joie de vivre, as his French countrymen would say.
So What opens up with a Gershwin standard, "Summertime," featuring a duet with a long-time companion of Petrucciani, French jazz organist extraordonaire Eddy Louiss. Petrucciani solos on "Summertime" with a light swing, but he cascades across the keyboard very strongly with Tin Pan Alley stride. Louiss plays the warm, mellow tone of the organ in a stop-and-start bebop style while Petrucciani comps aggressively. "Summertime" and "Les Grelots" (also featuring a duet with Louiss) were originally taken from a three-night show at the Paris club Petit Journal Montparnasse.
"Home" and "So What," extracted from Petrucciani's Trio In Toyko, feature popular session drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Anthony Jackson. The trio's rendition of "So What" is energetic, even without front line horns. Petrucciani states the famous modal chorus and then breaks into a heavily classical influenced solo that sounds more like the Romantic pianist Debussy than Evans' original solo on Davis's "So What."
The rest of So What features live Petrucciani originals in Germany; a duet with Petrucciani's father, Tony, on guitar; and an all-star quartet featuring fellow French violinist Stephane Grappelli, bebop legend/drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist George Mraz. So What is an outstanding overview of the diverse, but well-grounded musical palette and channeled technique from which Petrucciani created vivid jazz piano improvisations.
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