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The Seven Rays

"I've been fortunate to have performed with so many wonderful musicians in the past but I live in the present and it hasn't stopped. I certainly enjoy what I'm doing these days." The consistently intriguing Seven Rays is yet another accomplishment in Jerry Bergonzi's productive and significant career. It finds the great saxophonist reveling in jagged, tightly coiled phrases and steeped in remote harmonic progressions. His angular riffs, unexpected silences and big, barreling low pitches continue to underline how personal Bergonzi’s approach to jazz is. Yet the charismatic nature of his delivery and the steely brilliance of his tone proves so compelling that his art speaks eloquently to both the esoteric theoreticians and the most casual of listeners.

JERRY BERGONZI, tenor saxophone

Phil Grenadier, trumpet

Carl Winther, piano

Johnny Aman, bass

Anders Mogensen, drums

TRACKS: 1st Ray: Intention • 2nd Ray: Magnetism • 3rd Ray: Creation • 4th Ray: Harmony • 5th Ray: Knowledge • 6th Ray: Devotion • 7th Ray: Order • Sun Worship Ritual

Savant SCD 2170

Tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi is an internationally recognized jazz performer, composer, author, and educator.

Bergonzi has performed throughout the world at all the major jazz festivals and jazz venues, with his own ensembles as well as with numerous jazz greats. His music is renowned for its innovation, mastery, and integrity. His discography includes more than 60 recordings, notably Standard Gonz with the Jerry Bergonzi Quartet on the Blue Note label; he also has 60 recorded song titles registered with ASCAP.

As a clinician Bergonzi has taught at conservatories and music schools throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is the author of a series of instructional books with play-along CDs and videos, entitled Inside Improvisation, published by Advance Music (seven volumes: Melodic Structures, Pentatonics, Jazz Line, Melodic Rhythms, Thesaurus of Intervallic Melodies, Developing a Jazz Language, and Hexatonics), as well as the book/CD set Sound Advice. The Inside Improvisation series is now available in French, German, and Italian translations.

Bergonzi is a three-time NEA grant recipient.

B.A., music education, University of Lowell. Founder of Not Fat records (six releases to date). Recordings on Blue Note, Red, Not Fat, Concord, Atlantic, Label Bleu, Enja, Columbia, Deux Z, Denon, Canyon, Cadence, Musidisc, Ram, Ninety One, Freelance. Private instruction for 30 years.

Release Date: April 12, 2019
Episode #167
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