account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill

Randy Napoleon

The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill

Format: CD
Label: OA2 Records
UPC: 0805552222425
Catnr: OA2 22224
Release date: 17 January 2025
Notify when available
1 CD
Notify when available
 
Label
OA2 Records
UPC
0805552222425
Catalogue number
OA2 22224
Release date
17 January 2025
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

Guitarist Randy Napoleon soars on this new collection of tunes by the prolific jazz composer Gregg Hill. The core of his ongoing band intact, their freedom to expand boundaries, surprise, or just lock into an unassailable swing is readily available to enjoy. In 2014, after more than a decade in New York City, and traveling the world with Freddie Cole, Michael Bublé and others, he found himself in the middle of the thriving jazz center that Lansing, Michigan had become since bassist Rodney Whitaker's arrival almost 25 years ago. Along with his bandmates, pianist Rick Roe, Whitaker, and drummer Quincy Davis, composer Gregg Hill has added an energized compositional voice to the scene, enticing Napoleon, Whitaker, Michael Dease, and others into inspired collaborations. Here, Napoleon is free to stretch, bend and expand on Hill's central themes, and the musical rapport he shares with visiting NY vocalist Aubrey Johnson over his last two albums has added a whole new dimension to his repertoire that will undoubtedly also seep into Hill's future works.
Der Gitarrist Randy Napoleon erhebt sich auf dieser neuen Sammlung von Stücken des vielseitigen Jazzkomponisten Gregg Hill. Der Kern seiner Band ist intakt, ihre Freiheit, Grenzen zu erweitern, zu überraschen oder einfach nur in einem unangreifbaren Swing zu verharren, ist ohne weiteres zu genießen. Nach mehr als einem Jahrzehnt in New York City und Reisen um die Welt mit Freddie Cole, Michael Bublé und anderen fand er sich 2014 inmitten des blühenden Jazzzentrums wieder, zu dem Lansing, Michigan, seit der Ankunft des Bassisten Rodney Whitaker vor fast 25 Jahren geworden war. Zusammen mit seinen Bandkollegen, dem Pianisten Rick Roe, Whitaker und dem Schlagzeuger Quincy Davis, hat der Komponist Gregg Hill der Szene eine energiegeladene kompositorische Stimme verliehen und Napoleon, Whitaker, Michael Dease und andere zu inspirierten Kollaborationen verführt. Hier ist Napoleon frei, Hills zentrale Themen zu dehnen, zu biegen und zu erweitern, und die musikalische Beziehung, die er mit dem New Yorker Sänger Aubrey Johnson, der ihn auf seinen letzten beiden Alben besucht hat, teilt, hat seinem Repertoire eine ganz neue Dimension hinzugefügt, die zweifellos auch in Hills zukünftige Werke einfließen wird.

Artist(s)

Randy Napoleon (guitar)

Known as a forward-thinking musician with a passion for the jazz tradition, guitarist Randy Napoleon is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University. He is currently touring as a leader after twenty years of road apprenticeship with some of the most celebrated musicians and groups of our time.  Napoleon cut his teeth touring with pianist Benny Green, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Michael Bublé, and a thirteen year tenure with Freddy Cole. He has also performed with artists across the jazz spectrum such as Bill Charlap, Natalie Cole, Monty Alexander, Rodney Whitaker and John Pizzarelli.  Napoleon has performed or arranged on over seventy records. He arranged as well as performed on Freddy Cole's seven most recent records including the Grammy-nominated releases, Freddy Cole...
more
Known as a forward-thinking musician with a passion for the jazz tradition, guitarist Randy Napoleon is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University. He is currently touring as a leader after twenty years of road apprenticeship with some of the most celebrated musicians and groups of our time. Napoleon cut his teeth touring with pianist Benny Green, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Michael Bublé, and a thirteen year tenure with Freddy Cole. He has also performed with artists across the jazz spectrum such as Bill Charlap, Natalie Cole, Monty Alexander, Rodney Whitaker and John Pizzarelli. Napoleon has performed or arranged on over seventy records. He arranged as well as performed on Freddy Cole's seven most recent records including the Grammy-nominated releases, Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B and My Mood Is You. He performed on The Clayton Hamilton Orchestra: Live at MCG. Napoleon is featured on Bublé's Grammy-nominated CD/DVD Caught in the Act.
Napoleon has played on The Tonight Show, Late Night With David Letterman, The View, The Today Show, and The Ellen DeGeneres show as well as TV shows in South America, Europe and Asia. He has performed across the globe at notable venues including Royal Albert Hall, The Sydney Opera House, The Hollywood Bowl, and Lincoln Center.
Guitarist George Benson calls Napoleon "sensational." Detroit Free Press critic Mark Stryker says Napoleon "plays with a gentle, purring tone that makes you lean in close to hear its range of color and articulation." Washington Post critic Mike Joyce praises his "exceptionally nimble finger-style technique." Comparing him to Wes Montgomery, music critic Michael G. Nastos says, "he displays an even balance of swing, soul, and single-line or chord elements that mark an emerging voice dedicated to tradition and universally accessible jazz values." The Door is Open marks Napoleon's eighth record as a bandleader and his second to feature music by the prolific jazz composer Gregg Hill.

less

Composer(s)

Press

Play album Play album

You might also like..

Stanco's Time
Anthony Stanco
Bicoastal Collective: Chapter Six
Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington
Heartbeat
Ben Winkelman
Vibes on a Breath
Ted Piltzecker
Circular Motion
Francesco Crosara
Pacific
Frank Kohl
Anchor Points
Russell Kranes | Alex Levine | Sam Weber | Jay Sawyer
Road to Nowhere
Stephen Jones & Ben Haugland
Destiny Calling
Charlie Apicella & Iron City meet The Griots Speak
Shaw's Groove
Jason Keiser
Thousands of Ways
Susan Reed
Space Bugs
Wil Swindler's Elevenet