FOOTPRINTS - solo jazz piano 
"Luke Gillespie's solo CD "Footprints" incorporates
some of the most clever adaptations of standard material that I have
heard."
- David Liebman, jazz saxophonist / leader
"I really like the "Haiku" pieces,
and what Gillespie did with "Giant Steps", and "Round
Midnight".
Gillespie has a beautiful touch on the instrument, and continues to expand
boundaries of what's possible in jazz."
- Geoffrey Keezer, jazz pianist / composer
"This CD is a magnet for the
ears. It has poetry and an inner fullness. It has a magical, almost
mystical resonance, and curative power. Gillespie's touch combined
with his subtle
sense of rhythm are so engaging that I had to drop what I was doing
and listen to the CD over and over. Gillespie's "inner" breathing
and his use of pedal punctuate his ideas in an amazing way. I enjoyed
the little allusions to classical pieces here and there, yet I was
also moved by Gillespie's own ideas. Gillespie's own introspection
made me
introspective."
- Emile Naoumoff, classical pianist / composer
"Known to Central Indiana jazz fans as the pianist with the Buselli
Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, Luke Gillespie is a classy, learned, yet incisive
purveyor of original thoughts at the keyboard. Though most of these pieces
are by others, Gillespie thinks like a composer in "Footprints," which
is named for his arresting version of the Wayne Shorter tune of the same
name.
This unaccompanied album has been issued on a Japanese
label [RIAX records]. Because he was raised in Japan, Gillespie has
a more than superficial
acquaintance with that country, and he honors the link by bookending
his program with two versions of "Haiku," an original
that follows the Japanese poetic form's structure in using a sketchy
melody
based on successive phrases of five, seven and five notes.
Gillespie
refreshingly takes the self-pity out of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush
Life," making piquant harmonic changes and tweaking the
meter to a 5/4 lilt.
His bitonal version of John Coltrane's "Giant
Steps" really
hops, spiced by aggressive dissonance. "Round Midnight," on
the other hand, is fetchingly Chopinesque, while his treatment
of "Blue
in Green," Bill Evans' slow-turning kaleidoscope of pastel
harmonies, draws inspiration from J.S. Bach.
Informative, concise
program notes
jog the memories of jazz-piano fans toward Bud Powell's self-revealing "Un
Poco Loco" as the basis of a jarring arrangement of "What
Is This Thing Called Love."
With Valentine's Day in the
not-too-distant past, the grinding perplexity woven into
Gillespie's interpretation
may strike familiar chords in listeners who recall Cole
Porter's plaintive
lyrics."
- Jay Harvey,
Staff Writer, Indianapolis Star, Feb 22, 2004
»Back to Top
HAPPENSTANCE
Buselli-Wallarab
Jazz Orchestra (1999)
"Almost every year,
it seems, a marvelous new big band comes out of nowhere to bowl me
over and leave an irrepressible smile on my face. As the new
millennium dawns I'm smiling rhapsodically again, and the impetus this
time is the sharp and swinging Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra from Indianapolis,
IN... This is a band that doesn't have to scream to press home its musical
ideas... every one of the soloists is first-rate, especially Luke Gillespie
(featured on "Jovian Comets")... The enterprising rhythm section
is another strong point... Happenstance [is the] early front-runner in
the Best Big-Band Jazz Album of the Year sweepstakes."
- review by Jack
Bowers, allaboutjazz.com
"From standards to originals, the writing on Happenstance
covers the gamut of big band possibilities. Extensive use of doublings
for woodwinds enriches the overall sound of the arrangements and all
the soloists excel. Just as the original territory bands from the
Mid-West influenced early jazz, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra
promises to do the same now. Highly recommended!!"
- David Liebman, jazz saxophonist / educator
"The opinion here is that the Buselli-Wallarab
Jazz Orchestra has produced one ot he most remarkable Big Band albums
in recent memory... impeccably designed compositions...each chart
a lavish storehouse of radiant light and elusive shadow."
- Jazz Improv magazine, 2001
"This is a marvelous band with exceptional soloists
and some of the most creative and satisfying writing I've heard in
a long time. Among the wealth of new recordings that come out almost
daily, this is truly a standout!"
- J. J. Johnson, jazz trombonist
"Stellar musicianship, amazing soloists, and great
writing. What a band!"
- Buddy DeFranco, jazz clarinetist
"Electrifying...remarkable arrangements and composition...a
flat-out marvelous ensemble...won the heart of this reviewer."
- Cadence Magazine
"One of the premier Big Bands in contemporary
jazz...among the best in the business."
- David Baker, Pre-eminent Jazz Educator Director, Smithsonian
Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
"A truly unique ensemble."
- Voted best Big Band in Indianapolis by Nuvo Newskeely
"Quality in abundance. A contemporary big band of
the highest standard."
- Mainly Big Bands, United Kingdom Big Band Jazz Review
"'Jovian Comets' [2nd track] features the sparkling
playing of pianist Luke Gillespie who handles the solo chores with
great imagination
and amazing technique. [On] 'Cottontail', Gillespie digs in, delivering
a burning piano solo."
- David Baker, jazz educator/composer
"Clearly
an outrageous stand-out
orchestra not to miss. It carries and delivers the bite and beauty of jazz
with persuasive good taste and unabashed emotions."
- Dr. Herb Wong, JAZZ
TIMES jazz critic
»Back to Top
HEART & SOUL - The Music of Hoagy Carmichael
The Buselli / Wallarab Jazz Orchestra (BWJO)
"The second album by the superb Indianapolis-based Buselli-Wallarab
Jazz
Orchestra is comprised entirely of compositions by Hoagy Carmichael... "Jubilee" is
an effusive swinger with solos to match by Buselli and the BWJOs outstanding
pianist, Luke Gillespie... Every world-class orchestra needs a reliable engine
to keep it in gear, and the BWJO has a solid and resourceful power plant in
Gillespie, bassist Jack Helsley and drummer Deno Sanders. Gillespie's a marvel,
and Helsley
and Sanders can play in that league too... So what we have here is a great
big band playing great music by a great composer. Sound enticing? You bet it
does.
If jazz reviewers were inclined to listen to big bands (my guess is that no
more than a handful of them do), HEART AND SOUL would no doubt appear on many
a Top
Ten list at the end of this year."
- Jack Bowers, allaboutjazz.com
|
