REVIEWS: (Read what the critics say).
The CD "I'll Close My Eyes" with Ed Bennett on bass and Tim Rap on drums featuring several original compositions as well as time honored standards has been praised by jazz critic Dick Bogle as "Fresh and riveting from beginning to end" and "Representative of his (Tony Pacini) maturity and immense skills."
Tim Duroche of Willamette Week describes the recording "Girl Talk" as: "The cream of Portland's bebop crop-featuring fleet, Phineas Newborn-esque pianist Tony Pacini."
George Fendel writes in "Jazz Scene" (Oct. 2000) "Tony hits the bulls eye with a varied program of standards and originals" and "I've been waiting a long time for Tony to document Portland's swingingest piano on this long overdue but worth the wait CD".
Pianist Pacini debuts CD Friday, January 5, 2001 By LYNN DARROCH, special to The Oregonian (Read below):
"It's easy to understand why
drummer Mel Brown employs Tony Pacini as
his pianist and musical director.
Guitarist Dan Faehnle, formerly touring
with Diana Krall, regularly used Pacini
in his group, too, as did the late great
bassist Leroy Vinnegar.
Like his
star employers, the Portland native is a
swinging, straight-ahead player with an
affinity for the blues. At times
recalling the late Gene Harris, Pacini's
debut CD, "I'll Close My
Eyes," documents his place among
the first rank of regional pianists
operating deep within the jazz
tradition.
It's a skill he's
honed night after night on the bandstand
in the company of other top
instrumentalists, spinning out
variations on familiar themes that
include jazz standards such as
"Line for Lyons" and the
vintage pop of "This Could Be the
Start of Something Big," which
appear on this CD.
But such
ballads as "Chelsea Bridge"
and several of the album's five
originals reveal another side to Pacini.
His "Pastel for Two," for
instance, draws from the impressionistic
Bill Evans' tradition with its pretty,
flowing figures in the right hand. His
stately, restrained rendition of Michel
Legrand's "You Must Believe in
Spring" also exhibits his taste for
lush chords and quiet beauty. And
Pacini's "Song for Marci" may
be the prettiest melody in the
collection.
The beauty never
interferes with the beat, though, nor
does a more abstract, inventive version
of "I'll Remember April" stop
the syncopated propulsion at the heart
of the straight-ahead tradition. For the
most part Pacini ornaments rather than
deconstructs familiar melodies, lending
freshness with twists in time and new
melodic lines.
A well-schooled
player, Pacini attended Boston's Berklee
College of Music and has worked with a
variety of great musicians. Here he
displays that wide range to showcase his
many talents. His true colors emerge in
"Blues Medley," which contains
the hard bop of Lee Morgan's
"Speedball" (complete with a
couple of Gene Harris licks), in the
soul-jazz of "Mr. B.T." and in
the album's lead song, "Time to
Swing," where he rides the big,
round tones of Ed Bennett's bass and Tim
Rap's tasty drums. Bennett is featured
often, but the album belongs to Pacini,
whose performance demonstrates why he
has become another jewel in Portland's
mainstream jazz crown."
-LYNN
DARROCH, The Oregonian.