Pianist Jeff Colella and bassist Putter Smith will be playing music from their highly acclaimed duo CD, Lotus Blossom. Hoson House offers a rare opportunity to hear two acclaimed jazz masters in an intimate setting.
"This is the kind of album that should be heard from start to finish. It's a work of finesse and focus that deserves and rewards attentive, uninterrupted listening." ALL ABOUT JAZZ
On Lotus Blossom, two veteran stylists, pianist Jeff Colella and bassist Putter Smith, communicate in muted tones that nonetheless pack a punch. Receiving wide national jazz radio airplay and stellar notices, Downbeat said of Lotus Blossom, “the playing is exquisite and atmospheric throughout, without a single misstep or moment of hesitation.”
Blending exquisite readings of choice standards and jazz originals, Lotus Blossom reasserts the timeless power of spontaneous music-making that places invention above virtuosity, empathy above individual showboating. As imaginative as it is expressive, Lotus Blossom can take its place with such piano-and-bass masterpieces as Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden's Jasmine, Haden and Hank Jones's Steal Away, and the vaunted duo recordings of Jimmy Rowles and Ray Brown.
According to JAZZed Magazine, “Colella and Smith are frugal minded virtuosos who intuitively comprehend each other’s deepest artistic intentions. There’s not a wasted note here, not a superfluous phrase, not a spotlight-grabbing run. Making music, achieved by the mysterious interaction of two like-minded artists, rather than the prowess of the individual musician, is the exalted goal.”
One of LA’s busiest jazz pianists, Jeff Colella has released three trio recordings, two on the Sea Breeze Jazz record label, “Letting Go” and “Alone Together,” as well as the independently released “So Tender”. He has toured worldwide with his own trio, with the Jazz Tap Ensemble, and with the late, legendary Lou Rawls, for whom he served as musical director and accompanist for 16 years. He has performed and/or recorded with numerous artists, including Brian Stokes Mitchell, The Bill Holman Big Band, Terry Gibbs, Jack Jones, Anita O’Day, Bob Sheppard, Stacy Rowles, Larry Koonse, Tom Scott, Diane Schuur, Judy Wexler, and Sheila Jordan, to name a few. Jeff is presently on the faculty of the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.
Putter Smith is a jazz legend who has worked with great artists such as Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, Warne Marsh, Alan Broadbent, Bob Brookmeyer, Billy Eckstine, Diane Schuur, Lee Konitz, Michael Kanan, Jackie and Roy, Carmen McRae, Gary Foster, Art Farmer, Blue Mitchell, Art Pepper, Shelly Manne, Ray Charles and many more. He performs regularly in Los Angeles and New York.
Copies of Lotus Blossom will be available at the performance.
