PASQUALE GRASSO DEBUTS NEW ALBUM “BE-BOP!”
We are excited to announce the release of Pasquale Grasso’s new album, Be-Bop!, a brilliant new tribute to be-bop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker – available now.
Be-Bop! kicks off in exhilarating fashion with Dizzy’s quintessential composition, “A Night in Tunisia,” originally composed in 1942 when he was a member of Benny Carter’s band and which marked the beginning of Gillespie’s unique blending of Afro-Cuban rhythms with American jazz. Grasso achieves an astonishing balance of technical wizardry and swing, sounding like two guitarists coming out of the gate on the challenging head on top of the syncopated Latin rhythm. And his fleet-fingered solo break at the 1:03 mark is in the breathtaking tradition of Charlie Parker’s famous alto sax break from his 1946 Dial recording of the tune. Pasquale’s stream of single notes that follows for the next two minutes in his solo is even more astounding, brimming with rare facility and abandon to match his fertile imagination. Roland also turns in an animated bowed bass solo here while drummer Keith Balla engages in some slick trades with the leader near the end of the piece. Finally, catch Grasso’s brief dazzling quote from one of Paganini’s Caprices (the extremely difficult No. 24 in A minor) in the coda.
Backed by his working trio of bassist Ari Roland and drummer Keith Balla, the trio is in sync through super-up-tempo, challenging fare like “Groovin’ High,” “Cheryl,” “Ornithology,” “Be-bop” and “Shaw ‘Nuff.” “Dizzy’s tune ‘Shaw ‘Nuff’ reminds me of all the hours I would spend listening to Bird and Diz, growing up in my home town in Italy,” Grasso says. “It’s based on Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm,’ possibly the most common set of chord changes we jazz musicians love to play over.” Listen here.
The trio settles into a more relaxed vibe on Thelonious Monk’s gorgeous ballad “Ruby, My Dear” and on Parker’s “Quasimodo,” which features superb octave playing by Grasso and a brilliant bowed solo by Roland, and the trio takes its time on the lush “Lamento Della Campagnia,” based on the Billie Holiday torch song “Some Other Spring.” As the 33-year-old Grasso explained, “I had a tough time last year and Billie’s version of ‘Some Other Spring’ got me through some hard times, so I decided to record it.”
Special guest vocalist Samara Joy, who has been collaborating with Pasquale since 2020, appears on one track, the jivey mid-tempo swinger “I’m in a Mess” (originally sung by Joe Carroll on Gillespie’s 1951 album, School Days). “She’s incredibly talented and I’m happy to perform with her night after night,” Grasso said. “We’re having a lot of fun together.”
In support of the new album, fans can catch Pasquale Grasso on tour in several US and European markets both as a headliner and as a featured guest artist in Samara Joy’s band, including upcoming stops at Keystone Korner in Baltimore (June 17-19), the Montreal International Jazz Festival (July 2), the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia (July 9-17), Jazz in Marciac (July 23), New York’s Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola (August 22), Blues Alley in Washington, DC (August 24-25), the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival (August 28) and the Monterey Jazz Festival (September 23).
BE-BOP!
TRACKLIST –
1. A Night in Tunisia
2. Be-Bop
3. Ruby, My Dear
4. Shaw ‘Nuff
5. I’m in a Mess – featuring Samara Joy
6. Cheryl
7. Ornithology
8. Quasimodo
9. Lamento Della Campagnia
10. Groovin’ High
TOUR DATES
June, 2022
17 Baltimore, MD, USA / Keystone Korner *
18 Baltimore, MD, USA / Keystone Korner *
19 Baltimore, MD, USA / Keystone Korner *
20 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
22 Rochester, NY, USA / Rochester Jazz Festival *
23 Buffalo, NY, USA / Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (JazzBuffalo Benefit Concert) *
24 Buffalo, NY, USA / Seneca One Tower *
25 Minneapolis, MN, USA / The Dakota *
26 Portland, OR, USA / The Old Church Concert Hall *
27 Seattle, WA, USA / Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley *
29 Victoria, BC, CANADA / Victoria Jazz Society *
30 Vancouver, BC, CANADA / Performance Works (Vancouver Jazz Festival) *
* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)
July, 2022
2 Montreal, QC, CANADA / Montreal International Jazz Festival *
4 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
7 Tabor, CZECH REPUBLIC / Divadlo Oskara Nedbala *
9-17 Perugia, ITALY / Umbria Jazz Festival *
19 Nice, FRANCE / Nice Jazz Festival *
20 St. Moritz, SWITZERLAND / Dracula Club *
22 Diersbach, AUSTRIA / INNtöne Jazz Festival *
23 Marciac, FRANCE / Jazz in Marciac Festival *
25 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
29 Washington, CT, USA / Tisch Auditorium (Litchfield Jazz Festival) *
30 Newport, RI, USA / Newport Jazz Festival *
* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)
August, 2022
1 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
2 Vail, CO, USA / Vail Square (Samara Joy/Pasquale Grasso Duo)
4 Vail, CO, USA / Vail Square *
5 Aspen, CO, USA / Dazzle *
6 Tulsa, OK, USA / Lowdown *
7 New York, NY, USA / Jazz at Lincoln Center
8 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
10 New York, NY, USA / Little Island *
15 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
19 Aspen, CO, USA / JAS at Aspen Art Museum *
22 New York, NY, USA / Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola
24 Washington, DC, USA / Blues Alley *
25 Washington, DC, USA / Blues Alley *
26 Atlanta, GA, USA / Callanwolde Fine Arts Center *
27 Charlotte, NC, USA / Middle C *
28 New York, NY, USA / Tompkins Square Park (Charlie Parker Jazz Festival)
29 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)
September, 2022
5 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
19 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
20 San Francisco, CA, USA / Freight & Salvage *
22 Paso Robles, CA, USA / AMSTRDM
23 Monterey, CA, USA / Monterey Jazz Festival *
24 Chicago, IL, USA / Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Samara Joy/Pasquale Grasso Duo)
* Samara Joy (featuring Pasquale Grasso)
October, 2022
10 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
17 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
24 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
31 New York, NY, USA / Mezzrow
For full tour dates and ticketing information, please visit HERE.
For more information on Pasquale Grasso,please visit:
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Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.
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