|
Event
Meldavian Third Stream Jazz w/ Dave Fox Trio
In his career, the inventive keyboardist-composer Dave Fox has created a distinctive and appealing musical personality along with more than his share
of memorable music. He is easily recognizable whether playing modern mainstream jazz, avant-garde explorations, rock or original classical
pieces.
Dave first became interested in becoming a jazz musician when he heard Chick Corea on one of the early Return To Forever albums. He earned a Masters
Degree in piano, and since 1996 has taught at Greensboro College. He received his Ed.D in Music Education from Teacher's College, Columbia University, in 2007.
One of Dave's earliest recordings is as a sideman on The Greg Hyslop Trio, a set from 2000 that mostly consists of inventive versions of standards. Around that time, Dave became very interested in the concept of free improvisation. "I realized that improvisation is more than just learning licks, scales and chords. It is a mindset, a musical philosophy. I began to make up music on the spot and looked for other musicians who were into that concept." Forming a quartet, Dave recorded Gatewalk, a powerful set of avant-garde jazz. Playing electric keyboards, Dave Fox led his group through a dozen free improvisations that utilized sparse and minimalistic melodies.
His next recording was the solo keyboard album Dedication Suite which found Dave utilizing some stronger melodies, even while taking startling
improvisations worthy of Cecil Taylor.
In 2004, Dave Fox began an association with the innovative guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, premiering Dave's composition "Sonata For Banjo And Piano," recording a live duet album (Foxbourne Chronicles) and touring France. Next, in 2006 he recorded passionate free form music with a quartet on ORM. But he was starting to search for something else. "I began to feel a need to explore more melodic music without completely abandoning the free jazz
influences. I become very interested in improvising chordal jazz, reworking standards in an original way." 2007's quartet CD If These Songs Could Talk
features Dave alternating standards. His creative renditions of such familiar material as "Cherokee," "Going Out Of My Head" and "I'm In The Mood For Love" made the songs sound fresh and brand new. One of Dave's best received recordings is 2008's Home Again. Teamed with guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil, Dave plays a variety of inventive solos on such colorful titles as "Of All The Tapas Bars In The World," "The Well-Prepared Suitcase" and "An Encounter With A Street Troll." This memorable set was picked up by the German Konnex label and received some critical success in avante-garde circles.
Dave has since explored a wide variety of musical genres, consistently stretching himself and growing as an improviser. Recently, he has been working with a new group of piano, guitar, and drums. The group boasts Chip Newton on guitar, who has played with Dave in The Dave Fox Group, and Kenny Soule of Nantucket fame, who was the touring drummer for Dave's group The Meldavians. The music is termed "Meldavian Third-Stream Jazz", and reflects the pianist's current eclectical blending of Classical, Jazz, Americana, and Rock styles.
|
|
 |
LocationSharp Nine Gallery (View)
4608-L Industry Lane
Durham, NC 27713
United States
Categories
Contact
|
