By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Give Me the Simple Life
Joe Alterman, born in 1988,
is a pianist whose style is a throwback to the 1950s. He was born and
raised in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to New York City in ’07, to study
music. He graduated from New York University just this year, and now is
working on a master’s degree.
Considering his youth, and
the limited time he’s had to impress his fellow musicians, Alterman already has
made a considerable impact. He has gained attention from icons such as Marian
McPartland, Bill Charlap and Houston Person, and has performed at famous jazz
venues in the United States and Europe. Person was impressed sufficiently
to participate in this album.
You’ll notice immediately
that Alterman is both a talented pianist and a “happy” one; the joy in his
playing is quite evident. It’s also clear that he loves the music that has
been a mainstay of jazz for decades: the standards that were key to many of us
for the second half of the 20th century.
Most of the tunes included
in this set fall into that category; they include “Georgia on my Mind,” “Give Me the Simple Life” and “Pure Imagination.” Although
some of these tunes originally were done as ballads, they’re presented here at
swinging tempos that will get your feet and fingers moving ... and make you
want to dance. Two charts — “The First Night Home” and “Biscuits” — demonstrate Alterman’s talents as a composer.
His quartet features the
aforementioned Person on tenor sax, James Cammack on bass, and Herlin Riley on
drums. Person, at almost 80, remains a master of his instrument; he still
possess that smooth-as-silk tone for which he’s so deservedly famous.
This is a neat,
swinging group, and Alterman shows a lot of promise.
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