Sketches of You

sketches of you
by john ambrosini

part i – ‘prelude in Bb’
the main motif is introduced on trumpet accompanied by tight, lush harmonies; alto sax joins and the quintet evokes a serene orchestral ambience

part ii – ‘inventions’
a bebop influenced atonal theme is announced by the alto sax supported by a driving multitonal swing vamp

part iii – ‘hejira’
a cascade of melodic figures are traded off by trumpet, sax, and piano underpinned by a bass passage that changes tonal center alternating between major and minor chords.

part iv – ‘the lover and the beloved’
a 22 beat figure provides a vehicle for the drums to improvise; a plaintive and haunting melody played by both trumpet and bass follows; the 22/8 figure returns

part v – ‘promised’
the piano begins with a repetitive rhythmic motif reminiscent of steve reich, the bass and drums create a driving ostinato, and the horns play a bebop influenced fanfare

part vi -‘impractical dream’
trumpet and alto sax play a simple melodic theme over harmonic chords that create unusual tensions through polytonality and a polyrhythmic boss nova

part vii – ‘in no strange land’
the motif used in part i is restated by the trumpet; sax, and piano add thematic material that reflects musical moments found in all seven sections.

The Band
dave binney – saxophones
brad mason – trumpet
massimo biolcati – acoustic bass
ferenc nemeth – drums
john ambrosini – piano & composer

Production
This world premier was recorded “live” on November 8, 2012 from Trinity Church in NYC.
This recording was engineered and mixed by Rich Lamb.

john ambrosini
pianist/composer/singer john ambrosini writes, performs, and teaches in the nyc area and has collaborated with a wide variety of jazz and pop musicians.
john’s discography includes ‘storybook’, ‘soul making’, ‘be as you are’, and ‘nine stories’ – these and others can be heard on www.johnambrosini.com & www.cdbaby.com/jmoore. his compositions have been heard on radio and television and his song ‘homeless’ was featured and performed at the kennedy center, washington, d.c., by the harlem school of the arts choir.
like charles ives and alexander borodin – who were known as ‘sunday composers’ – john has a successful 2nd career in commercial real estate and engineering yet has consistently composed music prolifically. this is his seventh recording as a composer and player and his creative output consists of a wide variety of styles: from vocal-based pop and jazz-influenced rock to children’s music and jazz.
while attending the merchant marine academy at ft schuyler where he studied electrical and marine engineering, john travelled into nyc to study piano with fred hersch and joanne bracken. later, he continued his piano technique and interpretation studies with kenny werner and jean michel pilc. his music theory, arranging, and compositional techniques were learned while working with bill holland in massapequa, long island. in 2001 john received his ma in international politics and economic development at fordham university, rose hill campus.
huntington, long island is where john and lorraine call home; and, they share life with their two children alexondra and john and their dogs ‘roodles’, ‘scout’, and ‘laika’.

brad mason (trumpet)
was born in england on july 24, 1973. when only 5 years old, he began trumpet lessons with his father, barry. at 9, he began piano lessons and played both instruments at school and outside recitals. by 14, he was performing three to four times a week in dance halls, theaters, clubs, and pubs. though his repertoire included a variety of musical styles, the young musician was drawn early to jazz and improvisation. mason’s recent career includes performances with eric clapton, jessica simpson, alicia keys, natalie cole, willie nelson, bernie williams, christian mcbride, mike stern, john scofield, gary burton, randy brecker, chico o’farrel’s latin jazz band, the mingus big band, joe zawinul, gary husband, lionel loueke, antonio sanchez, scott coley, dave kikoski, lionel hampton, bill pierce, hiram bullock, claudio roditi, dave liebman, ronny jordan, vincent herring, abe laboriel, and lenny white.
in january 2007, mason joined the john mayer band for a 2 1/2 year stint of touring and recording worldwide. while performing and traveling mason continues to co-lead the mason brothers quintet with his brother, elliot.

massimo biolcati, bassist
is a new york-based musician who has since the mid 1990s, played, recorded and toured with some of the most acclaimed jazz artists, including terence blanchard, lizz wright, ravi coltrane, paquito d’rivera, and lionel loueke. his most consistent activities has been with his berklee college collaborators, lionel loueke and ferenc nemeth in the formats of the lionel loueke trio and gilfema. his 2008 debut album on obliqsound,‘persona’ featured the likes of loueke, gretchen parlato, jeff ballard, lizz wright and peter rende and was awarded best jazz album in the independent music awards the following year.
in addition to his musical pursuits, biolcati is an internet entrepreneur and app developer having created the ireal b app for musicians and students.

ferenc nemeth
is an accomplished and versatile musician who continues to push the boundaries of jazz drumming and composition. nemeth has since the early days of his career, been one of the most sought after drummers both, in his native hungary as well as in the united states. coming from a musical family, his unique dynamism and versatility was fostered from a very early age. an exciting performer and imaginative collaborator, nemeth is well regarded for his work with the lionel loueke trio and gilfema and has also travelled, performed and collaborated extensively as a bandleader, co-leader, sideman and educator as well as initiating creative projects of his own. nemeth has worked with herbie hancock, wayne shorter, terence blanchard, the billy childs trio, john patitucci, lionel loueke, dave samuels, mark turner, eddie henderson, kenny wheeler, omer avital, kenny werner and most recently ilaiyaraaja. nemeth has also established his own label; dreamer’s collective records and in 2007, released his debut album of original compositions, night songs to much accolade. his awards include the iaje awards, (2000, 2002, 2006, 2008), the prestigious “50 most successful young hungarians award” (2004), the gramofon hungarian jazz award (2007) and finalist at the independent music award (2008, 2012)

david binney
born in miami fl, raised in ventura, calif and has lived in nyc for many years.
his credits include 20 highly critically acclaimed albums under his own name. including his latest two, graylen epicenter (feat: gretchen parlato, ambrose akinmusire, brian blade, wayne krantz, chris potter,et al..) and barefooted town.
both of which have been on many “top 10” lists of last year.
his upcoming records will include an album of songs with louis and genevieve, a quartet record that features craig taborn, eivind opsvik and tyshawn sorey and a string orchestra recording.
he has also recorded on more than 200 recordings as a sideman. including the latest by wayne krantz and the new antonio sanchez recording.
he is also very active as a producer. recently producing donny mccaslin’s newest record on greenleaf records. (also including donny’s previous 4 albums). he produced scott colley’s “architect of the silent moment”.