Great News for Tierra

In the mail last week I opened my NARAS Ballot. I have been a voting member since 2002. Every year since then, I open that ballot and look to see one of our projects on it. Well what do you know? I went to the voting site and found that the Larry Slezak album “No Worries” is up for nomination for the Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group. I dug a bit deeper and read that both Larry Slezak and Jose Miguel-Yamal had both received a nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Soloist for the song ‘You’ve Changed” from the Slezak album. If that’s not enough, I made it through the first round in the production category for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

It was truly a thrill for me to cut this album. The entire album was made up of musicians from the local AFM 65-699. What a great testament to the fine musicianship found here in Houston, Texas.

Wish us luck in the Grammy process. Please go to itunes and download this great record or go to www.larryslezak.com and hit the “buy it now” link.

The link below is just a glimpse of what you will find on this fine album.

Cheers,
Glenn Wheeler, engineer

You’ve Changed
You’ve Changed Download

Music from this unfamiliar artist results in a welcome surprise. Wow! Where has this musician been hiding? New York born and bred saxophonist/educator Larry Slezak, who delivers his very first album as leader with No Worries, and what an album it is. With a dynamic selection of standards—from Neal Hefti’s oft-recorded “Girl Talk,” Carl Fischer’s love ballad, “You’ve Changed,” to a riveting treatment of Jose Feliciano’s “Chico and the Man,” the theme song from the old television series with Jack Albertson and Freddie Prinze. The vibrant music here, clearly sustains a good measure of swing, superbly bolstered by dicey hard-driving charts and a striking performance from the leader and extended cast. A longtime resident of Houston, Texas, Slezak, is the premiere Jazz saxophonist in the Houston Jazz community who also performs with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, as well as serving as the Director of Jazz Ensembles at Rice University. For this first effort, Slezak records with a core quintet comprised of guitarist Clayton Dyess, bassist Thomas Helton, Jose-Miguel Yamal on Hammond B-3 organ and piano, and son Joe Slezak on drums. There are two orchestral pieces (sixteen-piece string orchestra on four cuts,), straight ahead and some bluesy sounds here. This is an impressive beginning for a truly outstanding musician.

It does keep inching up on the Roots Music Report Jazz Chart. Right now it’s sitting at number 18 on the chart. That’s up from number 31 a couple months ago.

In other news, KGLT jazz radio in Bozeman, Montana is still ranking No Worries within the top 10 of popular artists! Right now it’s number 7 on the station’s list.

Jazz flourished and expanded out of many cities in America during its ‘birth’, Houston, Texas, being one of them. The tradition continues today and Larry Slezak is one of Houston’s premier saxophonists. After working in many bands he has finally made the jump to being bandleader himself and recorded his debut album, No Worries. Working essentially as a five piece band, but with extra musicians and a string section added on certain tracks, No Worries is a muscular type of album, honking sax to the fore – you can almost smell the club ambience and cigarette smoke oozing from each track. The main musicians are Clayton Dyess on guitar, Thomas Helton on bass, Jose-Miguel Yamal on piano and a very funky Hammond B3, Joe Slezak on drums, with Larry Slezak playing tenor and soprano sax. The twelve tracks are a mixture of classics like How About You, Girl Talk, Wee Small Hours, Cry Me A River [both with engaging vocals by Sheri Lavo], Secret Love and the self-composed No Worries, which bounces along like a sleek panther. There’s something very ‘old school’ about this album, and that is both its vibe and the sense of musical fun being had by the musicians and the listeners of the CD. No Worries is an album that follows its own advice and just offers some good old fashioned jazz virtues of melody and virtuosity and a good time. I half expect Sinatra to pop in on some of the ballads to sing a verse or two. Definitely one of the best jazz albums I’ve heard this year.

[audio=http://www.wglt.org/podcasts/jazz_next/audio/090610_slezak.mp3,Jazz Next episode on Larry Slezak]

Click here to learn more about the show:

GLT Music Director and Jazz Host Jon Norton and Arts Editor and Jazz Host Laura Kennedy share their jazz picks in this weekly podcast. Listen for up-and-coming artists and tunes deserving a bit more attention. You’ll also learn a little about the artist and with this weekly podcast, you’ll stay on top of what’s happening in jazz.

“No Worries” may be Larry Slezak’s first CD as a leader, but it’s clear that this guy has been playing a long time.

Slezak’s a purist.

The interaction between the musicians tells me that this CD was pretty much recorded “studio live”, bringing out the spontaneity and energy that a jazz recording should. This ensemble is comfortable playing together and it shows.

The horns on the title track, “No Worries” are beautifully in tune, and Jose-Miguel Yamal is as comfortable on a B-3 as he is on the grand piano – which is something I don’t hear that often. In fact, the intonation for all the players throughout the recording is impeccable.

“Maybe By Tomorrow” (Tom Cummings) is relaxed and swings just right – giving Slezak nice room to explore on Soprano, Clayton Dyess playing as smooth as guitar can be, Yamal builds a wonderful solo on the B-3. Drummer Joe Slezak and Bassist Thomas Helton lay down a subtle and consistent groove, and I would guess this was a “first-take” track.

On Arthur Hamilton’s beautiful ballad, “Cry Me a River”, vocalist Sheri Lavo sings this song like she damn well means it. Further, Bernie Hatch did a wonderful job with the string arrangements throughout the four tracks that are lucky enough to have his touch.

Thomas Helton knows his role as a bassist, and his performance on “Secret Love” (Fain/Webster) makes it so. Both Joe Slezak (drums) & bassist Thomas Helton lay a consistent groove for this ensemble to swing hard and relaxed throughout their new “No Worries” CD.

I tend not to review every single song on a CD, but highlight what stands out for me overall with a recording. “No Worries” is very nicely recorded, mixed and executed.

I highly recommend this CD for the music lover who likes a nice mix of vocals, strings and beautifully arranged standards.

Personal:
Larry Slezak: ensemble leader, Tenor, Soprano Sax
Clayton Dyess: Guitar
Thomas Helton: Bass
Jose-Miguel Yamal: Grand Piano & Hammond B-3
Joe Slezak: Drums
Sheri Lavo: Vocalist
Dennis Dotson: Trumpet
Fernando Ledesma: Percussion
Thomas Bacon: French Horn
Tristan Smith: English Horn

Producer/Conductor: Dr. Robert Linder
Concertmistress: Rodica Gonazles
Engineer: Glenn Wheeler
Asst. Engineers: Tracy Hatch, William Murphy
Mastering: Doug Sax, Sunny Nam

Go here to read the review, and here’s an excerpt:

With years of experience and a talent for distinctly crafted saxophone grooves, Slezak offers a combination of innovation and nature with the composition of these works. Composing with a sense of purpose, Slezak takes new and old songs that allow him to re-invent the melodies in his own voice. In so doing, Slezak builds a memorial of sound blistered with intrinsic fortitude.

Performed with fingers that seem to be built for a saxophone’s neck, Slezak’s offering should provide would-be listeners with nothing to worry about and a lot to enjoy and absorb.

Here’s what he had to say:

Jazz reed player Larry Slezak is a pleasant surprise. I’ve never even heard of this dude, and in to my reviewing life he pops with his enormous sax delivery………….smokin’ chops……………and lovely musical ideas from the American Songbook with Larry interfacing viably with both small group jazz, and strings/jazz trio, etc. I might add as well his propensity to associate with great players to make his project ”happen” as it were. I must assert that this is both a jazz musician and group that come to play with all their intuitions and panache to stroke our musical sensibilities. The positive consequence of this is the fact that we his listeners become more informed about the idiom we all love by default. There’s a big difference between being an artist and an entertainer. I don’t have any problems making the distinction that what Larry Slezak does definitely falls into the artistic category. We his audience are more the better for it. Burn on guy!