11/06 - Saturday :: John Stetch

John's Website

John Stetch (Piano)

Joe Martin (Bass)

Greg Ritchie (Drums)

“Canadian John Stetch is one of the most brilliant and underrated jazz pianists working today. In a perfect world he would be more famous than Wynton Marsalis.” - Alain Druot, Clavier

Since relocating to New York City in 1993 John Stetch became a decade-long sideman with Rufus Reid, and has performed around the world at some of the most prestigious jazz venues. He has recorded and/or performed with Seamus Blake, Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Jorge Rossi, Charlie Haden, Victor Lewis, Hank Roberts, Ben Street, Billy Hart and others. Stetch has received numerous awards, commissions and grants and was recently hired to compose a piece for the CBC Radio Orchestra’s farewell concert after 70 years.

Stetch is one of a handful of jazz artists to have recorded a solo piano trilogy, and with this he received unanimous praise, including Down Beat calling the debut trilogy release, Ukrainiainsim, "one of the best solo piano recordings in recent years". Standards and Exponentially Monk, also part of this series, brought in equally glowing reviews, consistently attesting to Stetch’s originality and virtuosity. Now with 10 CDs under his own name, Utne Reader called his music "bold and vital jazz for the 21st century”. A Steinway Artist, Stetch has been featured on several NPR shows: "Piano Jazz", with Marian McPartland, "Jazz Set" with Branford Marsalis, "Weekend Edition" with Leanne Hansen, and “Listen Here!” with Neil Tesser and Mark Ruffin. Since the release of Bruxin’, Stetch has brought his own music to such highly regarded venues as The Monterey, Saratoga, and Tanglewood Jazz Festivals, The Gilmore Keyboard Festival, The Chautauqua Institution, The Jazz Standard, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Eastman’s School of Music, Sculler’, and many others.

MySpace

Enter The Rhodes: Derek Daunicht, Nick Imperial, Rob Sciortino, David Laviola. Rather than emulate later-day, post-Sgt. Pepper Beatles, the Rhodes aim for the first few fab-four albums, with impressive results. They’ve certainly done their homework, from the sparkling “When Your Baby’s Gone,” with fabulous harmonies; the yearning “She Had To Leave,” with clever vocal call-backs; the bright “Shady Lady,” featuring a killer drum part; to the back-beat driven “Shakedown,” where the Rhodes go for the throat. Catchy melodies, sharp, concise arrangements, glimmering guitars and, above all, stellar harmonies, The Rhodes can sure barrel down the highway.