Maybe Steps

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Product Description Saxophonist Patrick Cornelius keeps moving forward along new avenues with his latest release "Maybe Steps." This exciting musical program features Cornelius' brilliant original compositions presented by an amazing group of players, including celebrated pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Peter Slavov, the ever bombastic Kendrick Scott on drums, and a guest appearance from guitar wizard Miles Okazaki and pianist Assen Doykin. Critical listeners will agree that Cornelius' compositions and performances clearly demonstrate both his command of the saxophone and his functional mastery of the jazz idiom. With a delicate balance of modernity and classic aesthetics, "Maybe Steps" is insightfully straight ahead, steadily swinging, and refreshingly melodic enough to evoke a wide assortment of bright moments to discerning jazz fans everywhere. Review If you haven't heard of Patrick Cornelius before, it's probably because the man has been too busy building himself one the most impressive academic resumes I've seen to date. Originally from San Antonio, Cornelius played in the Texas' All State Jazz Band during high school alongside Kendrick Scott and Mike Moreno. He then earned himself a degree at the prestigious Berklee College of Music before moving to NYC to enroll in the Master's degree program at The Manhattan School of Music. There he played in an ensemble with Berklee classmate Walter Smith III, trumpet phenom Ambrose Akinmusire, and future band-mate Gerald Clayton. If that wasn't enough, Cornelius then continued on to Juilliard for post-graduate studies. The American Society of Composers and Performers awarded Cornelius their Young Jazz Composer Award three years in a row, which incited him to record his debut Lucid Dream featuring Kendrick Scott on drums, Aaron Parks on piano, Sean Conly on bass and Nick Vayenas on trombone, along with a cameo by vocalist Gretchen Parlato. This was followed by Fierce in 2010, a trio album with London-based Michael Janisch on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums. Nextbop and Posi-Tone Records are proud to unveil Cornelius' latest creation, Maybe Steps, one day prior to its September 20th release. On this record, which combines old and new works into a deeply introspective tone poem, the saxophonist is reunited with former acolytes Kendrick Scott and Gerald Clayton but has also enlisted new band members Peter Slavov on bass and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The album features nine originals as well as Kurt Weil and George Gershwin s My Ship and George Shearing s Conception . --Next BopMaybe Steps is alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius' third album, and his first for the excellent Los Angeles-based Posi-Tone Records. He's joined by the talented rhythm section of pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Peter Slavov and drummer Kendrick Scott in a graceful and melodically strong performance, mostly of his original tunes. Cornelius' compositions swing gracefully, with seemingly effortless ease on the part of all of the musicians. "Maybe Steps" typifies this relaxed groove; the tune also appears on Cornelius' second album, Fierce (Whirlwind Recordings, 2010) where it was characterized by a brighter sound and Michael Janisch's tough bass line. This new version is more effective, the subtle playing of Clayton, Slavov and Scott providing a perfectly judged backdrop to Cornelius' warm alto. On "Echoes of Summer," Cornelius is joined by guitarist Miles Okazaki, the two instruments complementing each other sonically and giving added depth to its melody. Ispired by Cornelius' baby daughter, "Bella's Dreaming" is a lovely ballad that displays the saxophonist's masterful control of his instrument. "Brother Gabriel," which Cornelius first recorded with the Transatlantic Collective on Travelling Song (Woodville Records, 2009), gets its inspiration from singer/songwriter Peter Gabriel's reflective and downbeat "Here Comes The Flood." Once again, Cornelius produces a beautifully controlled performance, this time on a tune that is a touch more intense than most in this collection. "Le Rendez-vous Final" swings gently, thanks especially to Scott's drumming, and yet it carries an air of sadness that is somehow at odds with this rhythm. Pianist Asen Doykin duets with Cornelius on an understated and delicate performance of Kurt Weill's melancholic "My Ship"; slow, measured and emotive, it's a superb interpretation of this classic song. Sir George Shearing's "Conception" is more upbeat, driven by Scott's percussion and given added depth, once again, by Okazaki's deft guitar work. Cornelius' star continues to rise. Maybe Steps is his strongest outing yet, demonstrating his all-too-rare ability to combine the writing of memorable and accessible tunes with a performance that engages with, and enhances, their beauty and emotional connection. --Bruce Lindsay, All About JazzThe big deal about this album is that Gerald Clayton s on it. Getting one of the most innovative pianists in jazz right now confers instant cred on alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius latest effort, Maybe Steps. And it doesn t disappoint as melodic jazz goes, it s a consistently surprising, often understatedly intense ride. There s a lot of depth here, diverse and sometimes divergent ideas and emotional tones within a single piece along with the occasional offhand classic riff reference. What makes this such a hard album to shut off is that the band never hits anything exactly head-on: they keep you waiting and keep you guessing. Cornelius plays with a misty, opaque tone alongside Clayton with Peter Slavov on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, with Miles Okazaki on guitar and Assen Doykin on piano on one track. The opening track is a triplet tune with subtle modal shifts, rises and falls. As he does later on here, a lot, Cornelius goes bright against a somewhat tense background but then follows Clayton into moodier and then memorably choppier territory. The title track - a Trane pun swings til it hits an eerie bump in the road that Clayton pulls out of with bluesy allusions. But when Cornelius hits it, he lets the darkness settle for awhile before bringing the lights up again. Bella s Dreaming, a brief nocturne, is a clever remake of One for My Baby. Brother Gabriel, with its attractive, syncopated pulse, serves as a showcase for a suspensefully spacious solo from Clayton, working his way out of the murk only to hint that he d like to go back there. They pick up the pace with the briskly catchy, biting Shiver Song, Cornelius deadpan and blithe over the melody s edgy acidity, Clayton spiraling nimbly after him. Into the Stars, a ballad, contrasts a blippy Okazaki excursion with boomy, tensely tiptoeing bass. The strongest songs out of the whole bunch are the casually bittersweet A Day Like No Other and the Jackie McLean-ish Echoes of Summer, Cornelius keeping his triumphant solo casual and close to the vest. The album winds up with a purist, glimmering piano-sax version of Kurt Weill s My Ship, an almost frantically swinging cover of George Shearing s Conception and the potent concluding cut, a brooding tango, Cornelius evading resolution (and that pink slip, DFA notice or wave of the girl s hand) at every turn. Count this as one of the most consistently interesting and tuneful jazz releases of 2011, out now on Posi-Tone. --Lucid Culture