Search - Leslie Pintchik :: True North

"Getting lost in this music is simply a joy. If 2016 has a more pleasurable listen to offer than True North, this writer hasn't heard it yet. (4 1/2 stars)" -- AllAboutJazz.com

"Pintchik's music is fresh, full of light and instantly invigorating (4 stars)." -- Downbeat Magazine

"...enormous gifts as a composer, arranger and pianist." -- All Music Guide

"The strength of Pintchik's original compositions lends her music great depth and beauty...." -- Jazz Inside Magazine

"...achingly beautiful...a level of intimacy that is rare today in jazz." -- JazzWax.com

A profoundly expressive pianist, Pintchik plays with both subtlety and power, often in the same musical phrase. Her ballads achieve their drama and beauty with a fierce, stripped-down simplicity, with no wasted notes for cloud cover. Up-tempo grooves and solos sit beautifully within the time. Her signature warmth is present, but so is the bite in her tone on her wonderfully playful original Just Sayin', which Pintchik characterizes as a "feisty little tune with sharp elbows."

True North features a stellar band, with Steve Wilson (soprano and alto sax), Ron Horton (trumpet and flugelhorn), Scott Hardy (bass), Michael Sarin (drums), and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion). About the long-time members of her band, Pintchik had this to say: "I like to cook, and my inner chef had a small musical/gastronomic epiphany of sorts in the recording studio, when it occurred to me that these marvelous musicians -- so quick to respond to the feeling and character of each tune -- worked their magic, in part, like salt in cooking: they amplified the flavor of each tune in so many brilliant and unexpected ways with their artistry. "As a composer," she adds, "I couldn't have asked for more; they all brought their 'A' game, the only game they've got!"