Michigan jazz shines on trombonist Michael Dease's swinging 2023 album, The Other Shoe: The Music of Gregg Hill. A native of Georgia, Dease honed his skills as one of the inaugural members of the Juilliard jazz studies program. There, he studied with a who's-who of the modern trombone including Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Vincent Gardner, and Joseph Alessi. Since graduating, he has carried forward those lessons, literally teaching on the faculty of Queens College CUNY, The New School, and Northeastern University, as well ...
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Michigan jazz shines on trombonist Michael Dease's swinging 2023 album, The Other Shoe: The Music of Gregg Hill. A native of Georgia, Dease honed his skills as one of the inaugural members of the Juilliard jazz studies program. There, he studied with a who's-who of the modern trombone including Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Vincent Gardner, and Joseph Alessi. Since graduating, he has carried forward those lessons, literally teaching on the faculty of Queens College CUNY, The New School, and Northeastern University, as well as releasing a string of well-regarded albums that showcase his big, warm tone and vibrant harmonic lines. Since at least 2018, he's held the position of Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone at Michigan State University, a job that brought him into the purview of Michigan jazz composer Gregg Hill. On The Other Shoe, Dease spotlights Hill's swinging, contrapuntal works. Joining the trombonist is a stellar lineup including pianist Geoffrey Keezer, pianist/Fender Rhodes player Luther Allison, bassist Liany Mateo, clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, drummer Colleen Clark, trombonist Joel Perez, percussionist Kevin Jones, and Dease's wife, percussionist and fellow MSU professor Gwendolyn Dease. There's also a guest appearance by bassist and MSU Director of Jazz Studies Rodney Whitaker. While there isn't really a conceptual throughline to the album, as a composer Hill has a kinetic style that brings to mind the urbane work of Duke Ellington crossed with the zany cartoon music of Carl Stalling. There's an evocative quality to Hill's songs, with titles that seem to tell a story when paired with the music. The opening "Wake Up Call" has an off-kilter piano, drum, and horn riff that sounds like someone banging on a door or honking a car horn to get someone's attention. Conversely, "The Sleeper," with its languid, harmonically dense melody played with fuzzy warmth by Dease feels like it's spilling over from someone's dream. Equally expressive vibes pop up elsewhere as on "Hello Blues," a slow-moving, bluesy caravan of a song featuring swaggering and woody solos from Whitaker and Dease, all of which bring to mind the '60s work of Charles Mingus. Notably, Whitaker also recorded two albums of Hill's compositions himself, 2021's Outrospection (also featuring Dease) and 2022's Oasis, and Dease's The Other Shoe is a nice companion album to round out that trilogy. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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