Search - Rik Wright Quintet :: After the Storm

On his fifth release as a bandleader, Rik Wright embarks on a new direction. Wright proceeded to completely drown himself in the history of jazz guitar, amassing a collection of hundreds of documents of just about every known player ever recorded. He also studied the architecture of the tone of the instrument, the famous builders of the guitars themselves like John D'Angelico and James D'Aquisto, the technique of infamous players like Johnny Smith, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall, the regional stylings of West Coast Cool Jazz, Chicago Blues Jazz and New York Post-Bop. Wright took this research into rehearsals for a new CD with his long-standing quintet of James Dejoie on baritone and alto saxophones, Tony Grasso on trumpet, Walter White on electric fretless bass and Jeremy Jones on drums, along with a guest appearance from Zen Tornado alumnus Alicia Allen on violin. The resulting CD is a document of original jazz in a classical context, featuring compositions from Grasso, DeJoie and Wright himself as well as a few lesser-known jazz standards. "Each of the standards on this recording have a specific purpose." says Wright. " I wanted to capture the diversity of our live shows - not just the full band tunes, but the duets and more intimate tunes we often play as well." "After the Storm" is perhaps Wright's most focused and passionate recording to date, and gives the listener a very palatable taste of the ensemble's invigorating live performances.