Randy Napoleon - The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill (2024) [Hi-res]

Guitarist Randy Napoleon soars on this new collection of tunes by the prolific jazz composer Gregg Hill. The core of his ongoing band intact, their freedom to expand boundaries, surprise, or just lock into an unassailable swing is readily available to enjoy. In 2014, after more than a decade in New York City, and traveling the world with Freddie Cole, Michael Bublé and others, he found himself in the middle of the thriving jazz center that Lansing, Michigan had become since bassist Rodney Whitaker's arrival almost 25 years ago. Along with his bandmates, pianist Rick Roe, Whitaker, and drummer Quincy Davis, composer Gregg Hill has added an energized compositional voice to the scene, enticing Napoleon, Whitaker, Michael Dease, and others into inspired collaborations. Here, Napoleon is free to stretch, bend and expand on Hill's central themes, and the musical rapport he shares with visiting NY vocalist Aubrey Johnson over his last two albums has added a whole new dimension to his repertoire that will undoubtedly also seep into Hill's future works.

"...Johnson's often wordless vocalastics turn many of these songs into elliptical, unpredictable magical offerings that open out gloriously in dramatic episodes..."

Jazz Da Gama

Randy Napoleon - guitar
Aubrey Johnson - voice
Rick Roe - piano
Rodney Whitaker - bass (2,3,6,8,9)
Lucas Lafave - bass (1,4,5,7)
Quincy Davis - drums
Anthony Stanco - trumpet (2,3,4,8,9)
Walter Blanding - tenor saxophone (2,3,4,8,9)
Andrew Kim - trombone (2,3,4,8,9)