Yaron Gershovsky has more than made his mark already. He has performed with the likes of Dr. Lonnie Smith, Pharoah Sanders, Wayne Shorter, Abraham Laboriel, Steve Gadd, Richie Havens and so many more. For over 40 years, he has served as the musical director for the Manhattan Transfer, writing two Grammy-winning songs for them.

His solo albums include Personal Notes and State of Mind, both critically acclaimed and well worth the listening.

Now Gershovsky has released Transitions and it features some of the best players in Jazz. Joining Yaron on piano are bassists Will Lee and Boris Kozlov, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, drummers Cliff Almond, Clint de Gannon, and Ross Pederson, David Mann on alto flute, and the wonderful vocalist Aubrey Johnson.

Gershovsky is a remarkable pianist and an extraordinary composer. Both of those talents are highlighted on Transitions in addition to a lovely mixture of covers and featured artists.

In the original ballad Show Me the Way, for example, Yaron provides beautiful piano along with Alex Sipiagin’s wonderful muted trumpet. He is equally adept and at home with Simon & Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair wherein he is joined with the amazing Aubrey Johnson. I’ll confess: I am not a fan of Paul Simon but Yaron and Aubrey won me over to this tune. In fact, I was so taken with Aubrey’s talent that I immediately downloaded her album Unraveled.

Aubrey also appears on the cover track of Jobim’s So Danco Samba and the Gershwin tune I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’. On all three of those tracks, the great Boris Kozlov joins in on bass and Ross Pederson sits the drums for two of those. Put Kozlov and Pederson in the rhythm section and you can’t go wrong. And when it’s not Pederson it is Cliff Almond or Clint de Gannon on drums. And if not Kozlov, it is Will Lee at the bass. Nobody misses.

With all the attention to the supporting artists, the listener is never distracted from the brilliance of Gershovsky on the piano and keyboards. He is a marvel and worthy of all the attention and his compositions deserve the greater portion of the praise.
The album opens with Northern Lights, a trio number that swings tightly. Transitions is a cool number with a more modern feel, proving that Yaron can compose and play anything from Bop to Swing to Cool and Pop. What She Said is a gorgeous number dedicated to Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It is also a trio with Kozlov and Almond. It seems clear that—for this album at least—Yaron prefers the trio. And so do we.

Seven of the 13 tracks are Gershovsky originals with the remaining numbers by Sammy Fain (I’ll Be Seeing You and Secret Love), Simon & Garfunkel, Gershwin, Jobim, and a folk traditional tune (The Lonely Tree). However, Gershovsky masterfully makes each song his own. Everyone is familiar with I’ll Be Seeing You but Yaron puts his own indelible stamp on it.

Transitions is Yaron Gershovsky’s flag-planting of his territory in the Jazz world. As performer and as composer, Gershovsky belongs among the hallowed rolls of modern Jazz top-tier composers and arrangers.
Make room on your CD shelf for this man.
 
 
~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
​

Kenny Shanker is respected and admired Jazz saxophonist and pianist. As his four previous projects as a leader prove, he is also a brilliant composer and arranger. That assessment is reinforced with his 2022 release, Vortex.

Following quickly on the heels of his 2021 release Beautiful Things, Vortex is another step in the long musical quest begun by Shanker and his fellow artists on Josh Levinson’s 2009 recording Elevation wherein Mike Eckroth (piano) and Brian Fishler (drums) began their work with Shanker. That continued and saw the addition of Yoshi Waki on bass for Shanker’s 2011 album Steppin’ Up and Daisuke Abe on guitar in 2013’s Coalescence by the band of the same name.

The line-up of Shanker, Abe, Eckroth, Waki, and Fishler remained for every album of Shanker’s since 2014’s Action City and is what we get to hear for Vortex. And they just keep getting better.

In my review of Shanker’s 2021 Beautiful Things, I wrote: “Kenny Shanker’s Beautiful Things is something gorgeous. With echoes of the world and sound of Bebop, it is what we need to hear now. As ugliness seems to grow and encroach all about us, Shanker truly reminds us that we are surrounded by Beautiful Things.”

Vortex is a wonderful continuation of the thread begun with Beautiful Things. Seven of the ten tracks are written by Shanker himself with splendid covers of Lulu’s Back in Town by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, The Duke by Dave Brubeck, and the sweet Autumn Leaves by Johnny Mercer.

The covers are fantastic and worthy of attention but it is Shanker’s originals that grab you. And it all begins with the opening track, the title track Vortex. Cool piano lines from Eckroth set up Shanker’s alto sax incursions. Pay attention to Waki (bass) and Fishler (drums) throughout the track and, indeed, the whole album. Daisuke Abe lends his guitar to the piece and you soon realize that this line-up is as on fire as ever. Bill Mobley’s trumpet joins for this track and two others and is a fine addition to the proceedings.

Winter Song is one of the most lyrical numbers with wondrous piano from Eckroth. Shanker’s warm alto sax is salve for the soul. A good bass solo by Yoshi Waki is included. That is following by the energetic Hunter with its pursuit and elusion motif with all the artists involved. Great fun.

Ramble is a more andante stroll through cool transitions and phrases. Nightfall is a Jazz nocturne that is both reminiscent and melancholy in all the best ways. It is the one song that I kept playing on repeat.

The mood lightens with Dave Brubeck’s The Duke. Shanker’s rendition of the Paul Desmond sax parts is perfect. Dave Brubeck had this to say about The Duke: “The idea for The Duke came to me when I was in the car, taking my son Chris to nursery school. The original title was The Duke Meets Darius Milhaud. When I first wrote it, I didn’t understand how complex it was. It goes through all twelve keys in the first eight bars. It hits all the roots. It could be the first jazz tune that does that.” Shanker and the guys do complete justice to the great tune.

Cinnamon and Midnight Snack, both Shanker originals, are creative forays sees the addition of Mobley on trumpet for Cinnamon and Shanker picking up the soprano sax for Midnight Snack. The album closes with Johnny Mercer’s Autumn Leaves. Abe’s guitar opens the final track before Shanker joins with the cool alto sax. Abe and Shanker trade passages with spot on bass work from Waki.

Kenny Shanker’s Vortex is the inevitable next chapter in the continuing story of this collaboration of artists. These are the right players to give realization to Shanker’s musical vision. If this were a baseball team, the advice would be: “For God’s sake, don’t trade anybody!”
 
 
~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl