 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||
Jazz Pianist Dan Wall Joins Faculty Jazz pianist, composer, and recording artist Dan Wall joined Oberlin's faculty in February as visiting teacher of jazz piano. Wall has been a member of the John Abercrombie Trio since 1991, playing the Hammond B-3 organ. The trio received critical acclaim for its first two recordings, While We're Young and Speak of the Devil, and the Los Angeles Village View praised the group saying, "When it comes to sheer musicality, you'd be hard pressed to find a better band than Abercrombie's trio." Tactics, recorded live at the New York club Visiones for ECM Records, includes compositions by Wall alongside jazz standards and Abercrombie classics. At the age of 17, Wall won Down Beat magazine's Hall of Fame Scholarship; since then he has frequently been selected for their International Critics' Poll. Wall cultivated a reputation as a jazz pianist during the 1970s and 1980s by playing and recording with such artists as Joe Chambers, Al Cohn, Steve Grossman, Eddie Gomez, Eddie Harris, Sheila Jordan, Lee Konitz, Charlie Rouse, and Jeremy Steig. He has also performed or recorded with Steve Gadd, Tom Harrell, Billy Hart (Oberlin assistant professor of jazz percussion), Henry Mancini, and Bernard Purdie. His compositions have been recorded by Eddie Gomez and Chick Corea, among others. Open Land, Wall's most recent release with the John Abercrombie Trio, recorded for ECM, features guest artists Joe Lovano, Mark Feldman, and Kenny Wheeler. His first album as an organ player in his own right is Off the Wall for Enja Records, on which he is joined by Karl Ratzer, Adam Nussbaum, and Ingrid Jensen. Wall's discography also includes a piano album on the Audiophile label and four CDs with tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi for Double Time Records. His most recent release as a leader (on the Hammond B-3) is also with Double Time--On the Inside Looking In. -Marci Janas '91 |
|||||||||||
