Jim Gailloreto's Jazz String Quintet offers a perfect blend of classical music and jazz: structure and spontaneity. Inspired by sources as diverse as the horn quintets of Mozart and Corky Siegel's "Chamber Blues," Gailloreto interweaves his own soprano saxophone with skilled modernist writing for string quartet. Through a grant from Chamber Music America's New Works Program, Gailloreto presents here his new suite "American Complex" along with a collection of jazz standards arranged for the quintet, and two works by and featuring vocalist/pianist Patricia Barber. "...the intricacy, detail and innovation of Gailloreto's writing evoked the sense of a chamber orchestra." -Chicago Tribune.

TRACK LISTING:

1 All The Things You Are 8:30 (Jerome Kern)
2 Well You Needn’t 4:46 (Thelonious Monk)
3 Honeysuckle Rose 4:07 (Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller)
4 Spring Song 6:11 (Patricia Barber)
AMERICAN COMPLEX (Jim Gailloreto)
5 i Soliloquy 4:27
6 ii Lullaby 13:46
7 iii Incantation 4:34
8 iv Sermon 6:25
9 ’Round Midnight 6:07 (Thelonious Monk)
10 Wind Song 5:27 (Patricia Barber)
11 Bad Clowns 8:55 (Jim Gailloreto)

MUSICIANS:

Jim Gailloreto- soprano saxophone
Katherine Hughes- violin
Carol Kalvonjian- violin
Benton Wedge- viola
Jill Kaeding- cello
Patricia Barber- vocals & piano (4,10)
John Mc Lean- guitar (2)

PRODUCTION:

Double True Stereo Recording by Ken Christianson, Pro Musica Chicago(Special Thanks to Tony Miccolis and Columbia College Chicago)
Recorded at First United Church of Oak Park, IL, March 11 & 12, 2009
Recorded 24/96 to Nagra VI Digital - Mixed & Mastered in Wavelab 6
Assisted by Zach Medearis, Tyrel Williams - www.truestereo.net
Artist photography by Jai Girard
Instrument photography by Chad McCullough
Liner notes by Neil Tesser
Cover design by John Bishop

REVIEWS:

Audiofile Audition
By John Henry

There are a number of new albums coming out recently with a more thoughtful approach to the “crossover” style than we usually have, and with more musical interest than most of the Third Stream works produced and recorded in the 60s and 70s. The idea of a jazz improviser on a solo instrument plus a string quartet or string orchestra is not a new one by any means. The Charlie Parker With Strings sessions were a milestone in jazz.

For this album Jim Gailloreto wanted classically-trained musicians to provide a springboard for his own playing. The album title comes from a four-movement original composition which Gailloreto calls the cornerstone of the album. The four movements refer to expressions of the human voice: Soliloquy, Lullaby, Incantation, and Sermon. They encompass a swath of Americana, from the Shaker simplicity of the first movement to Gailloreto’s ethereal soprano solo on Sermon. Lullaby is not going to put you to sleep.

The six-minute version of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight is one of the most touching I’ve ever heard. Other big name sources here are Jerome Kern and Fats Waller. I’m not a fan of Patricia Barber, but Gailloreto has worked with her and included her on two tracks, of which I found Wind Song quite convincing. Two of the tracks are duos, with only a cello (Gailloreto's wife) and soprano sax in Honeysuckle Rose, and violin and sax in “Round Midnight. Gailloreto - who did all the arranging - moves far beyond the usual string quartet backing of a jazz soloist. These are fully-integrated compositions with layering-on of phrases and often a feeling approaching that of a chamber orchestra. The soprano sax also seems to fit in better with the quartet than the usual alto or tenor sax.

This CD doesn’t quite come up to the standards of my personal favorite in this genre - Stan Getz and Eddie Sauter’s masterful Focus, but it comes close. An element that puts this album far ahead of Charlie Parker’s is that Gailloreto’s string quartet all play in perfect tune, which Parker certainly didn’t have.

Adam Greenberg
Allmusic.com

For his sophomore effort with the Chicago-based HAWK string quartet in tow, Jim Gailloreto's skill in composition and arrangement for a string quartet has increased notably. Instead of forcing the quartet into a gypsy-jazz romp, Gailloreto keeps the players in their comfort zone -- free from improvisation, and showcasing technical mastery and careful collaboration without sacrificing an austerity of sorts. Over the top of the quartet, though, he plays a soprano sax lightly and without the woody tone normally reserved for it. He becomes a strong melodic player suddenly, wandering over a core of scoring. Here, it's Gailloreto's new compositions that win the day -- the American Complex series provides a progression of vocal forms as represented by the sax and quartet in remarkable clarity while staying fresh, and is easily the primary reason to give the album a listen. In the covers (from Monk to Fats Waller), the group performs ably but without the same mark of emotion as the originals. It's proficient but unable to stand up to those who have made the same applications before (such as the Kronos Quartet's albums Monk Suite and Music of Bill Evans). It's all interesting, but the real raison d'etre is in the title series.