"Loft Glow" is the confident, disciplined first statement by
Nashville drummer and composer
John Alvey, who formulated an
approach for the album that connects to the bop tradition and
reflects Alvey's contemporary sensibility. Originals by the leader,
trombonist Roland Barber, and alto
saxophonist Jovan Quallo combine
easily with standards by jazz masters Ron
Carter, John Stubblefield,
and Benny Golson (to whom the album
is dedicated).
RICHMOND, Calif., July 16,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Drummer John Alvey
announces his formidable presence to the jazz world with the
August 23 release of "Loft Glow" on
Jazz Music City Records. Alvey's recording debut presents a
remarkably assured, but also risk-taking set of straight-ahead
postbop jazz, joined by a killer sextet of stalwarts from the
increasingly hot Nashville jazz
scene: trombonist Roland Barber,
tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm, alto
saxophonist Jovan Quallo, pianist
Matt Endahl, and bassist
Jacob Jezioro.
A small studio apartment south of
Nashville was my home for a few
years about ten years ago. This album is a reflection on that time
and place, with an emphasis on the solitary, undistracted listening
experiences I had there every evening.
Alvey is a native of Nashville,
the son of pianist and former Opryland USA conductor Michael
Alvey. He grew up, studied, apprenticed, listened, and honed
his craft all in the environs of Music City. "Loft Glow" is a nod
to that immersion. "A small studio apartment south of Nashville was my home for a few years about
ten years ago," Alvey recalls. "It was a peaceful period of
practicing and listening, a relaxed, focused, and transitional time
in my life. This album is a reflection on that time and place, with
an emphasis on the solitary, undistracted listening experiences I
had there every evening."
The album title refers directly to those experiences: "the many
lamps I kept on late at night, aglow in the window as seen from the
street below my apartment."
We can hear how that intensive work paid off on "Loft Glow"'s
combination of band originals and covers of tunes by Alvey's
musical heroes Ron Carter,
Benny Golson, and John Stubblefield. The drummer drives the
stately suspenseful interpretation of Stubblefield's "Baby Man" and adds depth, shading, and a Latin
tinge to Golson's "Terminal 1," giving sharp-eared empathy to smart
solos by Endahl, Barber, and Frahm and making his own thoughtful,
curiously colored statement on Golson's tune. Alvey takes a more
subtle, but still defining role on Carter's fun, gospel-inflected
"Blues for D.P."
Alvey brings the same level of respect and sensitivity to the
album's original tunes. His deft treatments of Barber's sweet
"Winslow Nocturne" and Quallo's introspective "June 23" beautifully maintain the balance—so
often neglected on drummer-led albums—of firmly outlining the
rhythmic shapes while also giving his bandmates maximal room to
express themselves. Even on his own tune, the harder-driving
"Azure," Alvey proves himself a careful drummer, injecting the
performance with the required energy but never getting carried away
(as his dazzling but punctilious solo demonstrates).
In short, it's Alvey's remarkable discipline behind the kit that
helps elevate "Loft Glow" to the polished, eminently pleasurable
record that it is. It augurs well for the leader's, and the
music's, future.
John Alvey was born February 3, 1985, in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of noted jazz
pianist, conductor, and educator Michael
Alvey. While growing up in the suburbs of the country music
capital of the world, Alvey the younger was nonetheless first drawn
to rock music. It was the energy of those artists and songs that
led him to the drums, forsaking his father's piano for them at nine
years old.
But if country music surrounded him and rock inspired him, it
was jazz—in the guise of his father's influence—that guided him. He
taught his son how to play drum rolls, encouraged him to check out
the great jazz albums, and jammed with him at home. Eventually,
they played a gig together, which led to seven years of John's
presence in Michael's established piano trio at a Nashville restaurant.
That, in turn, led Alvey to find work with fellow Nashvillians
Barber (as well as his saxophonist twin brother Rahsaan),
Joel Frahm, and Rod McGaha, and with musicians like Taj Mahal and Sherman
Holmes. He's also been an active freelancer on Nashville's rich circuit of country,
bluegrass, and Americana music, playing with Rob Ickes & Trey
Hensley and Sierra Hull. Each
was a valuable educational and artistic experience that worked
along with those late-night practice and listening sessions to feed
the creation of his debut album, "Loft Glow."
Media Contact
Terri Hinte, Terri Hinte Public
Relations, +15102348781, hudba@sbcglobal.net,
http://www.terrihinte.com
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SOURCE John Alvey