• Home
  • About
    • Doug Ramsey
    • Rifftides
    • Contact
  • Purchase Doug’s Books
    • Poodie James
    • Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond
    • Jazz Matters
    • Other Works
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal
  • rss

Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Monday Recommendation: Chris Ziemba

Chris Ziemba, Manhattan Lullaby (Outside in Music)

Chris ZiembaHis abilities honed by studies at the Eastman School of Music and Juilliard, 29-year-old pianist Chris Ziemba is in demand on the New York scene. His debut recording as a leader discloses a varied compositional sense and a canny choice of sidemen. Ziemba, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Jimmy MacBride are a keenly interactive trio. Michael Thomas joins them on alto saxophone for Ziemba’s evocative “The Road Less Traveled” and his boppish “Little T,” and on bass clarinet in the reflective title tune. “Escher’s Loops” seems to concern itself with symmetrical aspects of the work of the Dutch artist M.C. Escher. Ziemba’s keyboard touch and harmonies support the concept. The only piece not by Ziemba is Harry Warren’s 1945 classic “I Wish I Knew.” Ziemba’s arrangement incorporates a bass line leading to a solo in which Glawischnig is simultaneously incisive and relaxed.

Related

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

Subscribe to RiffTides by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Rob D on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • W. Royal Stokes on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Larry on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Lucille Dolab on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Donna Birchard on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside