Guitarist Peter Bernstein Stays Loose and Relaxed with
All Star Quartet on Smoke Sessions Records
Debut, Let Loose - AVAILABLE NOW
Album Release Celebration Now
Through
Sunday, May 8 at Village Vanguard
"The guitarist Peter Bernstein has a new album, 'Let Loose,'
that confirms his gift for soulful ease in an articulate
hard-bop dialect.
-
The New York Times
Guitarist Peter Bernstein is justly renowned as an
interpreter of other people's music. His unerring, relaxed swing, his
stunning gift for crafting and developing sophisticated melodies, the
un-showy but absorbing narrative arc of his solos, the just plain
rightness of his in-the-moment choices -- all of these account for his
well-established status as one of the most in-demand musicians on the
New York jazz scene.
Let Loose, Bernstein's debut release for Smoke Sessions Records,
shifts the focus to Bernstein the composer. Five of the album's nine
tracks stem from the guitarist's pen, each of them fulfilling the
essential criterion that he sets forth for a worthwhile composition:
"The tune has to be fun to play." It's a mantra that Bernstein has
rehearsed regularly at the club that gives the label its name -- even
before it had that name. He's been a regular at Smoke since the days
when it was Augie's, and continues to be a regular presence on its
stage.
Available now, Let Loose
features a quartet of artists who are equally well versed in tradition
and innovation, who can breathe ecstatic life into these pieces while
simultaneously anchoring them with deep roots. Bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Bill Stewart
are longtime collaborators stretching back nearly three decades to
their time together with Bernstein at William Paterson College. Gerald Clayton
is the newcomer to the fold but brings along a reputation as one of the
most respected pianists of his generation. The quartet found their
opportunity to flesh out a sound on one of the most revered stages in
all of jazz during a weeklong stint at the Village Vanguard, where they
quickly forged their collective voice.
The spirit of the session is pithily captured in the title of the album: Let Loose,
another case of simplicity masking complexity. The surface meaning
suggests an unbridling of passion, an opening of the floodgates of
expression that definitely characterizes the playing of all four members
of the quartet. But there's also the suggestion of the need to allow
oneself to be loose, free, open to whatever may come -- a guiding
principle on the stage as well as off.
"That's the only
way to get through life," Bernstein says, "to be loose and relaxed, to
let things happen. The only way to truly improvise is to deal with the
situation at hand and do your best with what's in front of you."
That
attitude may help to explain why Bernstein can surface in so many
vastly different contexts, always retaining his profoundly individual
voice while fitting so ideally into whatever situation he finds himself.
From his earliest experiences with saxophone giant Lou Donaldson,
Bernstein has gone on to work with countless legends, including Sonny
Rollins, Lee Konitz, and Jimmy Cobb, forming a particularly lasting and
significant bond with organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith. At the same time,
he's worked with a broadly diverse swath of his peers, including Brad
Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, Eric Alexander, and a two-year
stint with Diana Krall.
The ability to shift so
effortlessly from one style to the next has made him in many listeners'
minds the epitome of the New York musician, and it's a quality he shares
with his band mates. Clayton is a second-generation jazz star, the son
of bassist John Clayton and nephew of saxophonist Jeff Clayton. He's
become an integral member of their Clayton Brothers band and also spent
time on the road and in the studio with Diana Krall; in addition to
leading his own bands he's worked with Roy Hargrove, Ambrose Akinmusire,
and Charles Lloyd; he was recently tapped to represent the Monterey
Jazz Festival as part of an all-star touring ensemble alongside Nicholas
Payton, Ravi Coltrane, and Raul Midón.
Weiss has formed
rhythm section partnerships with an eclectic roster of drummers, from Al
Foster to Brian Blade to Billy Drummond, and anchored bands led by Brad
Mehldau, Eddie Henderson, and Marc Copland. The ever-versatile Stewart
has worked with everyone from John Scofield to Maceo Parker to Jim Hall,
placing his own stamp on the music whether it's swinging or funky or
modernist.
Let Loose is
centered on four new originals written by Bernstein that both seemed of a
piece and complementary to one another. The pairing of Bobby Hutcherson
and McCoy Tyner wasn't far from Bernstein's mind when he wrote the
title track, and traces of the two legends' barbed soulfulness are
evident throughout. Bernstein's solo rides its roiling momentum with
bold, stinging lines, followed by Clayton's sharp-elbowed harmonic
convolutions.
"Let Loose" was recorded live in New York at Sear Sound's Studio A
on a Neve 8038 custom console at 96KHz/24bit and mixed to ½" analog tape
using a Studer mastering deck. Available in audiophile HD format.
Peter Bernstein · Let Loose
Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: May 6, 2016
For more information on Peter Bernstein, please visit PeterBernsteinMusic.com
For more information on Smoke Sessions Records,
please visit SmokeSessionsRecords.com
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DL Media · 610-667-0501
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