How Hip Can You Be About "You"? The latest by Giacomo Gates.

You : Giacomo Gates : Savant SCD 2189

Baritone vocalist Giacomo Gates has just released his latest album You on the Savant label with an accomplished backing trio that includes the pianist Tim Ray, the bassist John Lockwood and the drummer Jim Lattini. Gates trained ear allows him to reinterpret music often overlooked or underappreciated by others. His inherent musicality and a unique hip approach to vocalizing lyrics allow this vocalist/storyteller to mine the hidden gold in the songs he chooses to sing. 

Gates has previously released albums that follow a theme, like his The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott-Heron from 2011, Miles Tones: Giacomo Gates Sings the Music of Miles Davis from 2013, and What Time Is It from 2017. In each case Gates’ keen intuition to reimagine the thematic music shows how a tuned-in artist can expand one’s perception of the meaning of these classic compositions.  

On You, Gates has chosen eighteen different compositions, most under three minutes in duration, to weave the thematic essence of this album- songs that emphasize someone else, someone whose significance is animated by the singer’s delivery, someone who is familiar, one who the listener knows, or even someone like You.

Gates baritone is a warm, resonant instrument that he employs with an unpretentious sense of cool. His voice engulfs you with a revelation that this is a  knowing person. He has perceived wisdom in his voice that seems to come from a place where life has been lived and foibles have been experienced. Like a wizened sage who has been there and done that.

Gates sings the words of telling stories penned by songwriting team artists like Bob Russell and Duke Ellington, Ned Washington and Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Van Heusen, Coleman Hawkins and Thelonius Monk, and even Lucky Thompson to name just a few. These are all well-worn compositions that have been visited by others before, but Gates’ delivery and the banter he creates inside this music offers a fresh perspective, a clarity to the listener about the nuances embedded in this music. Listen to Giacomo Gates singing and you're taking a course in life with Socrates or maybe more likely Lenny Bruce. To this, Gates vocal approach is a passing of the musical baton that he carries from some of his vocalist heroes like Babs Gonzales, Jon Henricks, Mark Murphy, and Eddie Jefferson.

Giacomo Gates (photo by R. Miriello)

The album opens with a swinging “Exactly Like You” and Gates weaves multiple songs into the jazz pastiche he creates including elements of Ellington’s “Take the A Train,” Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens,” and even Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema.” Only a musical history student like Gates can skillfully link into being these disparate approaches so seamlessly?

Storytelling is what this music is all about and Gates expertly personalizes his delivery on his improvised intro to “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” worth the price of admission by itself.

Check out the hip “With Plenty of Money and You” and dig the walking bass line from John Lockwood. There is always a knowing commentary in Gates' delivery, with his tongue-in-cheek humor that puts a smile on your face, he relates how bright love could be if only he had money.

The Ellingtonian “I Didn’t Know About You” is a classic torch ballad that Gates brands with his own brand of soul. Just wonderful to hear this song so well brought to life with just the right amount of sincerity.

If you appreciate the judiciously used skill of scatting (using the voice to imitate an improvising instrument like a saxophone) then check out Gates’ on “The Nearness of You.”  His voice flows like a slick skiff’s hull through a calm sea, seamless.

Another delight on this wonderful album is Billy Eckstine’s luscious “I Want to Talk About You,” with a beautiful piano solo by Tim Ray. The sensitive “PS I Love You” is a classic Johnny Mercer torch song that demonstrates just how deep Gates’ understanding is of the meaning behind the words of this love song. The swinging “Are You Havin' Any Fun” is just joyous fun. Mercer’s “I Remember You” is a Gates must hear, with some of the trio’s best in the groove moments, and don’t forget drummer Lattini’s deft use of the rim on this one. Don’t’ miss “Everything But You” and allow yourself to be transported to a Harlem nightclub back in jazzes hey day.  

“You’ve Changed” is the perfect vehicle for the raconteur Giacomo to speak to his audience, captivate them with his smoky voice, and relate an unspeakable intimacy that almost grabs you by the shoulders through the speakers. Listening to Giacomo is like sitting at a bar with him while he sings to you about his life’s woes. As personal as it gets. Don’t miss the whole band on “I’ve Got News for You” or some of Gates’ best blues on Lucky Thompson’s “You Never Miss the Water ‘Till the Well Runs Dry.”

I have to admit I am a big fan of Giacomo Gates. No other singer on the scene today comes close to him in his milieu. Like a cool breeze on your face as you stroll on a warm sandy beach, Gates singing on You is one of those treasures that epitomizes the simple but finer things in life. The compositions are classic, the delivery is hip, the sensitivity is poignant, or just plain fun. So sit back, put up your feet and enjoy this musical journey.

Celebrate International Jazz Day April 30th This Wednesday with Giacomo Gates & Trio at the Stamford Palace Theatre

Giacomo Gates and Ed Howard photo by Ralph A. Miriello 2013

In Novemeber 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

officially designated April 30th as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role in uniting people in all corners of the globe.

Jazz has a long history of successfully bridging the gap between various cultural and ideological differences. The United States, through its State Department, has sponsored jazz artists to tour foreign countries as good will ambassadors. The music has been an invaluable vehicle for sending positive images of our national intentions to other countries.  Jazz artist like Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie and most famously Louis Armstrong have all been instrumental in improving relations  with other countries through the positive vibes offered through the performances of their music abroad. The artists sent strong  messages of peace, friendship and goodwill through the all the powerful medium of their music. Jazz has proven to be an international language that accepts no political or geographic boundaries. This year in Osaka, Japan a stellar line-up of top jazz musicians will celebrate this special day with an All Star Global Concert from the Osaka Castle Park in Japan.

In keeping with this celebratory and spiritual undertaking of uniting people around the globe through jazz, I have been working with the creative and receptive people at the Stamford Center of the Arts  to introduce a regular jazz series to the Palace Theatre in Stamford.  The people at SCA have graciously received this notion as one that is keeping with their mission to provide artistic performances to the community. To that end and in celebration of International Jazz Day, the SCA will present  an evening of jazz this Wednesday April 30, 2014 at 8pm at the Palace.  The evening will feature the great jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates and his trio. Mr. Gates is a Connecticut native and longtime resident of Bridgeport. He is a frequent nominee in both the Jazz Journalist Association and Downbeat  magazine annual awards for best male jazz vocalist.

Gates has a smoky baritone that resonates in the ears like a fine glass of single malt smoothly tantalizes the mouth.  He is a master of the art of vocalese and scat and is a direct descendant of the great Eddie Jefferson, whom he credits as one of his influences. More than anything else Gates is a master storyteller who engages his audience with a nonchalant appeal. His delivery has a cool, hip cadence that somehow draws you into the story he is telling, and oh what stories! Gates repertoire is filled with nuggets that lay just outside the great American songbook. His most recent albums, both critically acclaimed, include the Revolution Will Be Jazz the Music of Gil Scott Heron and Milestones the Music of Miles Davis. Giacomo Gates, a cat who lies just outside the boundaries of what you might expect, and that, along with his wonderfully resonant voice, is what makes his performances unpredictable and so appealing. And the cat can swing, no lie.

I will be holding an impromptu Q & A session with Gates at intermission, so be sure to come and see a true jazz master and maybe ask him a question or two. Get into his head. It will be a trip for sure.Join us in celebration of great music on International Jazz Day, Jazz Appreciation Month and the return of real jazz to Stamford, CT at the Palace Theatre this Wednesday at 8pm. You can get your tickets by linking here. 

Here is a sample of Gates recent music and if you want to read more about Giacomo Gates see my recent interview with him by linking here, See you at the Palace.

An Interview with the Jazz Singer Giacomo Gates Part 1 of 2

With the recent release of his latest album MilesTones, Giacomo Gates sings the music of Miles Davis, I thought it would be timely to do a interview with Jazz Singer, which he graciously conducted with me on March 14, 2013 at his home in Bridgeport, CT

PART 1 

NOJ : You are now a CT resident.  Have you been raised and born here?

GG: Yes I was born and raised right here in Bridgeport and lived here until I was about 24 or 25 year old, when I went to Alaska to work construction for what I originally thought was going to be a year.

NOJ :Let’s get back to your early childhood though. You have said in past interviews that your Dad played violin and was a pretty good whistler. Was he your musical influence?

GG: In some ways…he played classical violin and gypsy violin, but not for a living. When he would sing, he kind of sang like Cab Calloway. He was born in Italy and brought here at a very young age, grew up in West Haven, CT. A talented guy….between music, he started out repairing cars and then ended up building sport racing cars, eventually doing metal sculpture. He only made it through the fifth grade but he ended up lecturing at Yale on torch metal sculpture. He eventually moved to California in 1966 and continued with metal sculpture full-time.

NOJ :Getting back to his musical tastes. What did your Dad listen to that influenced you?

GG: He used to listen to big bands. Of course Basie, Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway and with that music, I heard singers like Jimmy Rushing, Cab, and later Joe Williams. I took guitar lessons and started playing when I was eight, so I was around the music early on. When I was sixteen I would play weddings, but back then the music (expected at weddings) was

the (Great American) songbook. So I got hip to this music even though it was not the music of my time. I used to get hollered at by the other band members, because I would mess up the chord changes because I’d be distracted by the words and lost my place. I thought the lyrics were interesting, they were attractive to me.

NOJ :So you played guitar. Did you sing in those early wedding bands?

GG: No. I did sing, but not in the wedding bands. I’d sing standards; I’d sing do-wop on the corner with four or five guys. I grew up around the ( music of) the Stylistics, the Temptations, Smokey, Marvin Gaye and James Brown, but my

friends would were listening to the Rolling Stones and the Doors, and so was I too, but at the same time I was also listening to Dexter Gordon, Thelonious Monk and Count Basie and Sinatra, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross…. so that‘s what I really dug.

Of course when you’re a kid and you’re hanging out, you listen to what everybody else is into.

NOJ : Having played guitar has it influenced you with the kind of players you’ve had play on your albums? Good Players like Vic Juris, Tony Lombardozzi and lately Dave Stryker three stylistically different players have all played on your records?

GG: I hope I have an ear for good musicians whether it be guitar, piano or whatever it may be. When I walk down the street I hear a rhythm section in my head anyway. I can’t help it.

NOJ : I read someplace that you went to mechanical engineering school for a little bit. Was that something your father encouraged you to do? 

   

GG: When I went to high school, you’re supposed to go on to college. My father didn’t care if I went to college or not. He was not a fan of education, but I was encouraged by my mother.

I liked English, I liked grammar, I liked journalism, I liked writing, I liked photography, I liked art but I was terrible at math. So what do I do… I go to engineering school…..because nobody said to me you better have a math background. So the first year I go to engineering school I’m getting physics, chemistry, algebra, trigonometry, I was struggling.

I dropped out of school and got a job in CT in construction, starting as a laborer. I started driving trucks. I started running loaders and dozers and driving tractor trailers and it was fun. I liked the outdoors and I still like the outdoors. But around here it was all reconstruction, dig up road, reshape it repave it, and that was the kind of construction I was familiar with. Then I heard about the Alaskan pipeline and I thought there was a real adventure that’s some real construction.  I gathered up some work clothes and about three hundred dollars and bought a plane ticket. People told me you can’t do that. You don’t know anybody and you don’t have a job.  I spent eleven months kicking around Fairbanks before I got the job I was looking for. I was going to give it a year and I got a job out of the (union) hall, building a road…. and they flew us to the job and we had to build our way out. It was the real deal. And that was the beginning.

NOJ : How did you make that transition from Giacomo Gates machine operator to Giacomo Gates singer?

GG: I never made a transition. I always dabbled in music. You know my father played the violin, but he always said, “Learn a trade, learn how to do something and do music, but do it for fun.” And I did, I sang for fun, I played the guitar for fun, I played in a couple of bands. When I got up to Alaska I played guitar and I’d sit-in somewhere. I wasn't expected to play like Joe Pass, not even close. I could play the blues, played a little chromatic harmonic and sang a little and I did it for fun.

"When it starts to become a job, and I know what’s going to happen, I’m gone."

NOJ : Did your fellow construction workers hear you sing and encourage you to try it full time?

GG: I can remember a couple of superintendents hearing me playing  guitar or singing and I was maybe thirty years old at the time and they were maybe fifty, and they said to me.. “…where did you get that music from, that’s not your generation?” They got a kick out of me playing and being interested in songs written 1939 or 1941.   I finally got involved in a festival in Fairbanks. The festival they had was a two week festival of classes. So whether you were a singer or instrumentalist or an ice skater or photographer or graphics artists, they taught all kind of art. I got involved in a vocal course that was taught by Chris Calloway, Cab’s daughter.  Usually, I was somewhere remote; I worked all over the state, in construction camps. I was up on the coast, dam jobs, landing strips, etc. 

I happened to be in town talking with a girl I knew and she knew I sang.  When I say I fooled around with music, I mean I took it seriously but I wasn't going to do anything with it. Then I got involved with this festival and I sang with a couple of small ensembles and some of the instructors said to me…"You've got your own sound, but you’re not going to get heard up here.   I said  “I’m not trying to get heard up here, I live up here.”  But at the same time I been a couple of places, I was in Washington state for a year, I lived in Arizona for a year, I went to Lake Charles, Louisiana for a time. And then I went back to Alaska to work.

NOJ : Did you sing in all those locations? 

GG: Yeah I would sit in.  I had kind of gotten my belly full of the adventure part the work was pretty much gone….the Pipeline was built….a lot of the roads were in.  When it starts to become a job, and I know what’s going to happen, I’m gone.

I decided to leave there and come back to Connecticut.  When I came back in the late eighties, early nineties, there was a scene. You know Philadelphia, Hartford, New York City, Boston, Rhode Island, New Jersey, there were things happening. After I got myself working locally I tried to get myself working regionally.

I caught the tail end of it where I could get in my car and go to New York and Philly, then to Pittsburgh, and Toledo, Ohio and then to Cincinnati and like that…. and it was fun. 

       

NOJ : So what do you consider to be your first big break?

GG:  My first big break, I’m still waiting for. (Laughter)

I don’t know… probably the first large festival that I did locally was the New Haven Jazz festival, probably about fifteen to twenty thousand people. 

In early 1990’s, maybe 1993, One of the first travel gigs I did was the Clearwater Jazz Festival in Florida. I had a cassette, remember those, and I sent the cassette to the cat and I remember him ‘cause I still speak with him once in a while, a guy named Frank Spena. He used to run Clearwater Jazz Festival, so I sent this cassette and low and behold my phone rings. He says “ Hey man, I like what your doing….wanna do the gig?” Next thing I know I’m on a plane and I m looking around and I see Randy Brecker, Ramsey Lewis, sat across the aisle from Dennis Irwin and I’m thinking, “Wow, a lot of cats are on this plane.” I guess that was the first real travel gig that was an important date to me.

NOJ : So in order to get these gigs you have to self-promote. You have to send audition tapes so to speak? 

GG: Yeah, but I had been a fan of this music ever since I was a kid. For me, the way to make this happen was to come back here, get some experience on the bandstand, learn a repertoire, polish my craft, get some ink, get a bit of a reputation, get some experience, get some gigs, maybe get a recording or two and then be able to approach a manager or an agent and say here’s what I have, I’m kind of established, can we make something happen?

  

In other words I thought the way to make it happen was to grow through and with the music, and then from there if somebody says  “Ah you got a foothold, your doing it right or you doing it correctly” whatever. But the way to do it is to first establish a business plan, then get your self out there and learn on the scene, learn on the best stages in the world, which is not the way I still believe is the way it happens, not for me it doesn’t.

NOJ : Are you disappointed in the way it has happened for you?

GG: No I did it the way that I felt that I needed to do it.

NOJ : Would you recommend that method for other people coming up?

GG: I would recommend becoming a computer wizard. (Laughter)

I guess, I mean, I think that in order for you to show up, you better be able to bring something to the table. So, you know, I love the music, so I mean if something happens, solid. But my whole picture of it was…. when I went to New York in 1990, I knew Thelonious Monk wasn't walking around, but I was hoping I’d bump into him.

NOJ : Well you did bump into some people because you have played with Max Roach, Lou Donaldson, Billy Taylor, Richie Cole. How did those type of gigs come about where you actually got into playing with these kind of people?

GG: Yeah well, funny stories. You know interesting ways that it happened. You can’t plan it. Richie Cole had a gig in a little club in the south end of Bridgeport the first year I came back here . I’m sure you’re hip to Eddie Jefferson. Wow, Richie Cole… let’s go down and listen to him. I know some people in there,

One guy’s an alto saxophone player and he walks up to Richie after the gig and says, “Hey man, I got a friend here who does a lot of Eddie Jefferson material.”   So Richie comes over to me and says, “Hey man, you should have come on up.”

  

Well I know that most musicians are not that fond of somebody sitting in, especially a singer, because they don’t know what is going to happen. So I didn’t do that, but after a while, I found out that I had to do that.  Because if you want to get up on the bandstand with them, you have to let them know that your interested.

I met Max Roach at a workshop up in Amherst, Mass. I got into an ensemble that was being led by Max. You know,  “Good afternoon Mr. Roach, my name is…” and going through  my head is,  “Wow, Max Roach.” Well he says “ OK what are you going to do?,” and I had to sing something with this quintet so I said I’ll do, “Lady Be Good” and I sang the head. The instrumentalists take their solos then I come back in and I start to sing the Charlie Parker solo with lyrics by Eddie Jefferson. Now Max is running this quintet  and when I start to sing that, Max pulls the drummer out of the seat and sits down to play. And I’m singing and thinking  “ Wow Max Roach is playing drums, while I’m singing! “ When its over Max says to me, I’ll leave out the expletive, “Hey man, I ‘aint heard that ___ in a long time!”     I got encouragement from him and he says, “What else you got?”

      

So some of the people that I have looked up to, and have their LP’s, you know…. I’m 16 years old.  Lou Donaldson…. got LP’s of his and end up meeting him and he let me sing a tune. Now I go to listen to him and he says “Hey Gates you want to sit in?”  Finally I had to tell him “I came for a lesson, I didn’t really come to sing. I know who you are and I respect what you’ve done” And he says “Never mind that, you want to sing or not.”

So I’m knocked at some of the folks that I listened to as a young kid on records... and was accepted by them. A lot of them have since left….I’m gassed to be accepted, because I’m from a whole ‘nother generation, a different era. I guess they were glad to see somebody who still singing that stuff.

This concludes part one of my two part interview.  In the next part we will find out about Giacomo’s musical influences, his love of storytellers and discuss his latest release MilesTones, Giacomo Gates sings the music of Miles Davis
You can read part two of the interview by linking here.

The Revolution Will Be Jazz : Giacomo Gates Celebration of the Music of Gil Scott-Heron

SAVANT SCD-2116

The musician/poet/troubadour Gil Scott-Heron, who in the early seventies was influential to scores of people who heard his cool brand of hip music and absorbed the pithy observational wit of his lyrics, was being rediscovered recently when he released a new album "I'm New Here" in February of 2010.  His rediscovery was crushingly cut short when Mr. Scott-Heron unexpectedly died in May of this year at the age of 62.

I was strongly influenced by the messages that Mr. Scott-Heron offered in his raspy, baritone voice that spoke with an inner wisdom that was somehow lost to many around him. His music shared a jazz and blues sensibility that I was prone to like to be sure, but it was his lyrics that were poignant and unforgettable. He spoke of things that others would only think and he did so in a beguiling manner that transcended time. I was not alone in my admiration. Producer Mark Ruffin, who is the program director of the Sirius/Xm Satellite channel Real Jazz, as well as a jazz journalist himself, was similarly struck by the music and lyrics of Mr. Scott Heron. Ruffin envisioned an album of the poet's music as a homage to the man whose later years were filled with drug related hardships and conflicts. Mr. Ruffin controversially chose the jazz baritone Giacomo Gates for the project and was anxiously waiting to present the finalized version to Scott -Heron when the singer suddenly died.If anyone had trepidations about Ruffin's choice for this project, Mr.Gates grasp of the music and his performance here has certainly  put all doubts to rest.

Giacomo Gates is an authentic jazz vocalist and student of the jazz tradition. He has studied the works of the  vocalists like Jon Hendricks and  Eddie Jefferson and has absorbed and broadened some of their techniques including scatting, vocalese and mimicking instruments with his voice. Gates has a smoky, slightly gravelly baritone voice and he has an unerring sense of swing. He is a master storyteller, often choosing music that offers some comic relief . It is precisely Mr. Gates storytelling ability that makes him so well suited to the music of Mr. Scott-Heron. Gates wisely chose from Mr. Scott-Heron's repertoire those songs that tell a story, songs that spoke to him. 

Giacomo Gates

The opening number is a swinging case in point, "Show Business"  certainly speaks to Mr. Gates. He has been plying his trade for some time and knows the sentiments of the song that Scott-Heron sardonically wrote about..."show business.... got you hanging out in places you got no business" . The song cooks with pianist John Di Martino tinkling his keys in deft accompaniment and guitarist Tony Lombardozzi offering a tasty solo.

Gil Scott- Heron's hopeful "This is a Prayer for Everybody to be Free" is sung  by Gates in a sauntering, heartfelt and earnest way. Claire Daly's baritone sax solo is deep and raspy and compliments Mr. Gates scatting brilliantly.

Mr. Gates vocal interpretation of "Lady Day and John Coltrane" steals the show. Lonnie Plaxico's plangent bass lines carry the tune beautifully as drummer Vincent Ector holds the rhythm down.Mr. Gates is at top form here as he seems in his element with the inherent flow of this song. Pianist Di Martino intersperses Latin influenced rhythms in his fluid solo.The coda finds Mr. Gates quietly whispering the last of the lyrics.

Another inspired performance is  "Legend In His Own Mind". Gates is superlative when he has a story to tell and what better lyrics to work than lines like "...he has more romances than Beverly has Hills." Gates loves to embellish on the story line as he does on this one and the group simply gets off on grooving behind him. This group of veteran players offers top notch accompaniment throughout as Mr. Gates ends the song in a beautifully expressive  rising coda.

Seemingly plucked from the scripts of the series Mad Men, "Madison Avenue" is one of those stealthy Scott-Heron songs that lamented about the way American business manipulates people to consume through clever advertisements. With lines like they can "...they can sell tuna to the Chicken of the Sea." its not hard to see why Gates chose this one. His soulful baritone takes this bluesy rendition to the limit with his hip insider take on the sentiment as the band pushes the song nicely.

With Tony Lombardozzi starting the song with a funky guitar line that could have been a lead in for James Brown, Gates relishes the lyrics of Scott-Heron's "Gun". He paces the song beautifully letting the funk seep into the pours of the song while still maintaining his cool delivery of the potent lyrics. You can feel the band having fun with the infectious funky groove.

 

One my favorite Gil Scott-Heron song's is his great "Winter in America" . Perhaps because the original is so close to my heart I can't bear to hear it played anyway but the way its seared into my consciousness. Gates chooses to slow the song to a crawl which  I find a little unsettling.Claire Daly adds some nice flute to the mix.

Lonnie Plaxico's walking bass line leads us into "Is That Jazz",  a song that is tailor made for Mr. Gates sensibilities as he swings with ease and does his most adventurous foray into vocalese on the album.Gates loves to speak of his jazz heroes. He has been influenced, by his own admission, by horn players like Dexter Gordon, Lou Donaldson and  Lester Young, When he uses his voice as an instrument it is clear he has a horn player's  mindset. Lombardozzi's guitar accompaniment is especially tasteful as is his solo work.

"New York City"  was Scott-Heron's slightly sarcastic homage  from someone who loved it the city warts and all. Gates sings it like he too loves the Big Apple. He makes it into a slow love ballad that breaks occasionally into a more frenetic section that is symbolic of the City's own schizophrenic nature."NYC  I don't know why I love you, but its real."

On the finale, the uplifting "It's Your World" , Mr. Gates sings with his own sense of promise and sincerity..

"The Revolution Will Be Jazz" is certainly a noble homage to Mr. Scott-Heron and his work. Mr. Ruffin should be proud of the results. With this album Mr. Gates has successfully ventured into new ground. Taking a step back from the classic American songbook that has been his staple and expanding his repertoire-in essence creating a statement of what is to be included in the new  American songbook. I for one agree with his choices.

Musicians: Giacomo Gates, vocals; John Di Martino, piano; Tony Lombardozzi, guitar; Lonnie Plaxico, bass; Vincent Ector, drums; Claire Daly, baritone saxophone and flute.

Recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY Nov 2010-January 2011

The Giacomo Gates Trio at the Kitano January 18, 2011

On a cold Wednesday night in New York City I ventured into the mecca of jazz to have dinner with a friend in from Atlanta. Trying to kill two birds with one stone I convinced him to join me after dinner and make our way to the Kitano hotel where the jazz singer Giacomo Gates and his trio were performing. Weekday treks into the city are not regular events for me as my day job has me up at the crack of dawn, but when I make the effort I am usually pleasantly rewarded. So was the case on this evening.

I confess to being a fan of Mr. Gates, who I have seen before and who sings and talks in a warm baritone that belies a genuine hipster sensibility. There is no affectation here, he is the real deal. With his craggy looks and his command of the hipster vernacular, he is the consummate entertainer. He is a singer who has studied the quirky side of the American songbook. He has an astounding command of his voice and is a storyteller par excellence who can enthrall his audience.

The Kitano is a first rate hotel on Park Ave at 38th Street and they have been featuring top notch jazz shows in their lounge for some time now. A short few steps up from the elegant lobby, the comfortable lounge seats about thirty  with a large bar area. It offers as intimate and comfortable a setting as any jazz venue in New York.

On this night Mr. Gates was joined by the pianist John DiMartino and the bassist Neal Miner. Both  musicians have extensive experience backing vocalists. Mr. Di Martino has worked with the late Billy Eckstine, Freddy Cole and Diane Schuur and Mr. Minor with Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross and Jane Monheit. Needless to say they worked superbly with Mr. Gates.

Mr. Di Martino and Mr. Miner started the set off with the standard "Yesterdays" where Mr. Di Martino's superb touch and inventive creativity started the evening on a immediate high note. The duo demonstrated a fluidity and grace that was masterful.

Mr. Gates started his set with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's  composition "Four",. where the singer's breathy delivery was complimented by his deft use of modulating his sound by varying the positioning of his microphone. Mr. DiMartino is a particularly complimentary accompanist who seems to have a sixth sense of what to play and when to play it.

Miles Davis' modal masterpiece "Milestones" is a Gates staple that the singer has written lyrics for and which showcases his formidable vocal fluidity . Mr. DiMartino is well versed with the jazz tradition and his playing echoed some sounds from Gil Evans at times. Mr. Gates and Mr. DiMartino's rapport on this number was especially in sync.

On "Lady Be Good" Mr. Gates mimics both a walking bass (which at first somewhat confounded Mr. Miner) and vocalizes a quick paced improvisation that he  transposed, note for note, from a Charlie Parker solo. Mr. Gates is at his best as a storyteller, like on his wonderfully jocular take on Bobby Troup's "I'm a Hungry Man", where he has the audience wrapped around his finger as he tells of the gastronomical adventures of the song's protagonist. He was also engaging on the raucous Oscar Brown Jr. tune "Hazel's Hips".

Mr. Gates has recently been in the studio on a project that involves the music of Gil Scott Heron. On this night he gave us a taste of what to expect when he did a masterful version of the poet/singer's song
"Show Business" . Mr. Gates doesn't try to imitate Mr. Heron but sings it with his own sense of grit and savvy. It was good to hear someone bravely tackle Mr. Heron's music which deserves wider recognition.

Mr. Gates and his trio ended the set with the Charlie Parker tune "Buzzin'" where Gates can scat with the best of them and the Gershwin classic "Summertime", both done in Mr. Gates inimitable style, ending a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Mr. Gates is a class act not to be missed. My friend from Atlanta, who is not particularly a jazz fan, was a convert to Mr. Gates and his music by the end of the evening. I found myself happily discovering the Kitano as yet another fine venue for top notch jazz in New York City.

Friends of Santa Fe Jazz presents Giacomo Gates at La Posada

Giacomo Gates live at La Posada June 20, 2010

 Friends of Santa Fe Jazz is an organization, since its inception in 2006, dedicated to preserving and supporting live jazz in Santa Fe, New Mexico.. Billed as "a group of jazz soul mates" and co-chaired by one time President of the prestigious Berklee School of Music, Lee Berk and his wife Susan, the non-profit group organizes and presents top- notch jazz entertainment in intimate venues around the Santa Fe area.

By sheer coincidence, or shall I say synchronicity, I was at the Jazz Journalist Association yearly awards last week in New York City and had the privilege of sitting with several musicians and singers who were up for award consideration. One of these happened to be the fine singer Giacomo Gates who had been nominated as "Best Male Vocalist of the Year" by my fellow members of the JJA. While we were enjoying the proceedings, which included many fine performances by some notables like the Marc Cary Focus Trio, The Tia Fuller  Quartet and the Bobby Sanabria Big Band, I asked Giacomo where he would be gigging next. Much to my surprise he told me that he would be playing  in Santa Fe, New Mexico next week for the Friends of Santa Fe Jazz.  As life would have it, I too would be in Santa Fe that weekend and so I told him I would make the effort to get to see him perform there.

On a perfectly sunny Santa Fe afternoon, Giacomo Gates was performing in a splendidly outfitted open-aired banquet hall of the La Posada Inn and Spa. The room seated approximately one hundred and twenty patrons at twelve tables. The mostly middle-aged crowd came for an afternoon of jazz and brunch, with the music being provided  by the beguiling Mr. Gates backed by a local group, the John Trentacosta Trio, which included the drummer John Trentacosta, the bassist Michael Olivola and the keyboard artist Brian Bennett.

Mr. Gates is a tall, gangly man with large, strangely comforting features that give you a glimpse into a life that wasn't always spent singing in front of  sophisticated admirers in posh settings. By his own admission, he has spent years running bulldozers and doing other construction related  jobs-at one time running off to find adventure in the wilds of Alaska during the construction of the pipeline in the mid-seventies. With a traditional upbringing that stressed a love of music as an avocation but never as a profession, it is to his credit that he was able to eventually follow his heart and let his unique vocal talents flourish to the benefit of all.

With a warm, distinctive baritone voice that has the deep coffee tones of a dark roast, he is as disarming a troubadour as they come.  His set featured many songs from his latest release Luminosity. His delivery is smooth, confident and conversational with no traces of  arrogance. He is an endearing storyteller, as was on display by his tongue-in-cheek take on the old standard "Pennies from Heaven". Mr. Gates cleverly portrays a cuckolded soldier who returns from a three year stint in the service only to find his wife presenting him with a newborn son. Her explanation "Bennie's from Heaven".  His silky baritone is particularly adept at ballads like his slow, sensual take on "You Go To My Head"  or his hip rendering of the Gershwin classic "Summertime".

Like one of his influences, the late Eddie Jefferson, he is a master of the art of vocalese and scatting , studying instrumentalist solos from the likes of Chet Baker (on "But Not For Me" )  and Charlie Parker (on "Lady Be Good" ), precisely duplicating them with his voice in all their labyrinthine complexities.  Several times during the set he vocally mimicked instrument sounds. He voiced solos on bass, trombone and flute much to the surprise of the audience as well as the amusement of his band members- the highlight being his trombone solo on Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To".  He was equally adept at taking the bossa sound of Horace Silver's "Song for My Father" , a especially relevant song on this Father's Day, and inserting percussive accents making it his own.

Mr. Gates was ably accompanied by the fine work
of the bassist Michael Olivola who was particularly  sympathetic on the duet  " But Not For Me".
Mr. Trentacosta  unfailingly kept the pulse of the session while Mr. Bennett's electric keyboard solos filled the spaces with thoughtful comps and probing solos. The band instantaneously responded  to
Mr. Gates who directed the starts and stops of
the program with the ease of an accomplished conductor. 

Mr. Gates is a true treasure that should not be missed in "live" performance, where his warm personality adds another endearing element to his considerable vocal talents. His performance at La Posada was a tour de force and was undoubtedly the jewel of the season for the Friends of Santa Fe Jazz 2010 concert series.