Will Vinson track premiere ‘Love Letters’ – from stellar piano summit album Four Forty One
Mike Flynn
Friday, December 20, 2019
The acclaimed ex-pat altoist releases his new album featuring several leading pianists including Gerald Clayton and Tigran Hamasyan
It's been a milestone year for alto saxophonist Will Vinson, with 2019 the 20th anniversary of his relocation to New York from his native London. Immersing himself in the heart of that city’s legendary scene, where jazz tradition and the avant-garde intersect, his seven records as leader have confirmed his stature.
Now, for his debut on Whirlwind Recordings, Four Forty One, he features five of today’s contemporary jazz piano greats. These include Sullivan Fortner, Tigran Hamasyan, Gerald Clayton, Fred Hersch, and long-time associate Gonzalo Rubalcaba with each joined by their respective bass and drum teams of Matt Brewer and Obed Calvaire, Matt Penman and Billy Hart, Matt Brewer and Clarence Penn, Rick Rosato and Jochen Rueckert, and Larry Grenadier and Eric Harland, resulting in a set featuring five dream trios for Vinson to play off “as a bystander and participant at the same time”.
Speaking about the album Vinson said: “At heart, I am a frustrated pianist. It may be on the saxophone that I’ve found a voice, but it’s the piano that has captivated, inspired, and eluded me my whole life. This project is a dream come true – my chance to make music with five of the greatest exponents of the instrument the world of Jazz (and let’s face it, the rest of the world too) has ever seen. On this record, you’ll listen to a lot of me, it’s true. But what you’ll hear more abundantly than anything else is the sound of my reveling in the presence of 10 of the greatest hands currently in the business of coaxing genius out of 88-keys. The honor I felt recording this material in the company of these artists (as well as the earth-shattering rhythm section players, all magicians in their own right) is impossible to overstate, so I’ll leave it to your ears to process, and hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did, as a bystander and participant at the same time.”
Four Forty One is released on 31 January, Will Vinson tours the UK in March 2020 – listen to the track ‘Love Letters’ below - for more info visit www.willvinson.bandcamp.com/