Search - Randy Ingram :: The Road Ahead

Randy Ingram The Road Ahead (BJUR 010): Randy Ingram is among the vanguard of young jazz pianists on the New York scene. He plays with finesse, thoughtfulness and passion. - Fred Hersch. On his brilliant debut album the incredible pianist (composer George Russell) Randy Ingram comes flying out of the gate with Rock Song #3, a modal tour-de-force for the trio, or the result of what the pianist chalks up to when Zeppelin comes up on shuffle too often on one's iPhone. But I think we convey the best sense of what it means to rock out a bit. As for the title, it s pure Rothko. Ingram s take on Lennon/McCartney s For No One follows, revealing his long time Beatles addiction. He delivers pure beauty here and shows that when a song is meaningful to you, then you can make it your own and really make it work. I used the original bass line from the bridge of the tune as an intro; just pretend my left hand and Matt's bass are really a Rickenbacker! I think as a trio we really capture the spirit of this tune - a great ballad vibe but still a good bit of energy underneath, said Ingram. Originally from Laguna Beach, CA, and a recipient of the 2007 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer's award, Ingram has received scholarships to the University of Southern California (where he apprenticed with Tierney Sutton, Joe LaBarbera and the great Billy Higgins), and the New England Conservatory, where he studied with his two mentors, Fred Hersch and Danilo Perez, and received his Masters. Ingram moved to Brooklyn in the Fall of 2003 and has since become a much in demand sideman and a creative force on the scene, working with Ben Monder, Joel Frahm, Joe Locke, Mike Moreno, Kendrick Scott and many others. These artists compositional influence is evident on Ingram s Dream Song , which is meant to evoke surrealism and the nocturnal side of NYC, musically speaking , said the pianist. After regretfully missing Wayne Shorter s 70th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall, Ingram nonetheless awoke the next morning with a weighty optimism in his heart, and the title track, The Road Ahead , at his fingertips, pretty much written in his sleep. Ingram explains further, Wayne has always been pretty much my biggest influence compositionally (especially harmonically), and I think this tune reflects that. I feel like the melody lends itself to a certain sense of optimism and feels like a bit of an anthem, so it makes a lot of sense to me that it is the musical representation of the phrase the road ahead - my arrival on the scene as a bandleader and composer, and in a sense it serves as the soundtrack to my journey going forward. The Road Ahead is the first recorded offering from a pianist with boundless talent, and the wisdom to use it to the listener s benefit. Ingram is a thoughtful, versatile young pianist, composer and improviser. Many players have chops to spare; Ingram s are laced with an expressive touch and a keen imagination. The heavenliness that he conjures up, whether playing his own compositions or those by Monk (Think Of One), Ornette Coleman (Round Trip) or Cole Porter (So In Love), can remind us why jazz is so loved around the world, and why its present and future is so bright in the hands of this gifted artist and his contemporaries. The Road Ahead features Randy Ingram (piano), Matt Clohesy (bass), Jochen Rueckert (drums), John Ellis (tenor & soprano saxophones).