American expatriate trombonist Jerry Tilitz in various small group settings on the German label Belaphon which include the legendary pianist Horace Parlan, Adam Nussbaum, Bill Mays, Ray Drummond, Frank Wunsch and Jimmi Roger Pedersen. Highly recommended for collectors and discriminating listeners. ------- Jerry Tilitz is an american trombonist,vocalist and composer from New York City. In the course of his career Mr. Tilitz has performed and recorded with many exceptional artists including Gerry Mulligan, Horace Parlan, Hank Jones, Roy Eldridge, Benny Golson, Herb Geller, Tommy Flanagan, Al Foster, Tete Montoliu, Danny Moss, Randy Sandke, Tom Harrell, Benny Bailey, Bill Mays, Randy Brecker and others. After studying with Jazz luminaries Lennie Tristano and the influencial trombonist Curtis Fuller, Jerry began his professional career with Billy Taylor's Jazzmobile Big Band program. In addition to becoming involved in New York City's vibrant club and studio scene he taught jazz theory and analysis at Queensboro College and received a grant for composition and performance from the prestigious U.S. National Endowment for the Arts. More recently Mr.Tilitz has hosted his own radio program in Germany called An American In Hamburg, played in musical productions including Cats, Chorus Line, 42nd Street and Ain’t Misbehavin’ and written for publications such as the well regarded Jazz Journal International. He has produced several recordings for his own label Both Feet Records including The Dance Of The Living Room Sofas (BF 1002-2) featuring Don Braden, Lonnie Plaxico, Cecil Brooks III and Michael Cochrane and Jerry Tilitz/The New York Tapes (BF 1001-2), a CD sampler of his New York City period which includes his bands featuring Tom Harrell, Arnie Lawrence, Jim McNeely, Bob Moses, Harold Danko, Jerome Harris, Gary Smulyan and Billy Hart. Also available is a recording released on the german label Bellaphon, Tales Of Two Cities (CDLR 45035) with Horace Parlan, Adam Nussbaum, Ray Drummond, and Bill Mays and the new CD Back To Back, the latest addition to his discography on the Nagel Heyer label. These days Jerry appears with his trio and quartet, as a guest soloist and tries to find time to write for his 4 trombone latin group Raging Bones and The Swing Composers’ Orchestra which features original compositions and arrangements from leading arrangers and composers. -------- Jerry's personal website: www.jerrytilitz.com For a complete listing of Jerry Tilitz CDs on CD Baby go to www.cdbaby.com/all/jerrytilitz -------- Jazz Journal International Magazine "My first encounter with the Hamburg-based New Yorker Jerry Tilitz was when I received an advance tape of Randy Sandke's Buck Clayton Tribute album (now released on Hans Nagel-Heyer's enterprising new label). I was very impressed with Jerry's playing in that mainstream context but his debut CD as leader is a revelation. His basic style derives from J.J. Johnson and his former teacher Curtis Fuller but with a fruitier tone reminiscent of Bennie Green. His virtuosity is such that he can range convincingly across the whole jazz trombone tradition from Kid Ory growls and slurs (Basin Street Blues) to the musical acrobatics of Albert Mangelsdorf (Portrait of Lennie). Yet every note is played with great taste, inventiveness and swing and his formidable technique is beautifully controlled. Jerry's talents are not merely instrumental. He is a composer of quality tunes (the ballads Reninscence and Nancy's Waltz being especially attractive) and he sings his own lyric to J.J. Johnson's Lament with engaging sensitivity. A whole CD of only trombone and rhythm can be a risky enterprise but Jerry ups the stakes by using just bass on Basin Street, piano on the slow ballad treatment of Mack The Knife, and playing unaccompanied in exuberant Rollins style on the calyso, Sing It. His skill, imagination and careful preparation win over any doubts. This is an exciting showcase album proclaiming the arrival of a new jazz star." Bob Weir ------- Jazz Podium Magazine Reveiw (Germany's leading Jazz publication) " Luckily you don't have to search for any clues - "Tales Of Two Cities" (L+R 45035) is not in any way a reference to Charles Dickens. The title simply refers to the fact that two of the sessions on this CD were recorded in Hamburg, Germany and the third in New York City. And with great success. Tilitz is a trombone virtuoso in a class by himself. His instrument growls ("Basin Street Blues"), swings ("Blues In The Closet") and tells a story ("Mack The Knife") at the highest level of technical playing. Both hot and very cool, Jerry moves effortlessly between Kid Ory, JJ Johnson (on whose "Lament" sings a few of his own verses) and Mangelsdorff. Particularily successful is his interaction with pianists Bill Mays, Frank Wunsch and on three tunes Horace Parlan, especially when trombone and piano play unison lines together. This recording is never boring, no tricks or cliches appear and there is no effort to be trendy. This is an extremely thrilling CD that you can hear again and again while discovering fine new details with each listening." Thomas Wörtche The above review in the original Deutsche... Glücklicherweise kann man sich sparen, nach Hinweisen zu suchen, ob denn nun "Tales Of Two Cities" irgendeinen Bezug zu Charles Dickens haben könnte. Der Title bezieht sich schlicht auf die Tatsache, daß zwei der drei Sessions in Hamburg und eine in New York eingespielt wurden. Mit großartigem Erfolg. Tilitz ist ein Posaunenvirtuose dere Extraklasse. Sein Instrument knurrt ("Basin Street Blues"), swingt ("Blues In The Closet") und erzählt ("Mack The Knife") auf höchsten spieltechnischen Niveau, hot und very cool ("A Portrait Of Lennie"), stilistisch mühelos zwischen Kid Ory, JJ Johnson, (zu dessen "Lament" Tilitz ein paar Verse singt) und Mangelsdorff. Besonders glückt die Interaktion mit den jeweiligen Pianisten (Bill Mays, Frank Wunsch und bei drei Titeln Horace Parlan), vor allem dann, wenn Posaune und Piano zu Unisono-Miniaturen zusammenkommen. Da wird nichts langweilig, die Tricks und gezeitgeistelt wird auch nicht. Eine extrem spannende CD, die man wieder und wieder hören kann und jedesmal neue Feinheiten entdeckt. Thomas Wörtche Jazz Podium Magazine ------ Hamburger MorgenPost "Posaunisten müssen dreimal so gut sein wie Tenorsaxophonisten, um Beachtung und Anerkennung zufinden. So sagt man jedenfalls unter Musikern. JerryTilitz gehört zu diesen dreimal so guten Posaunisten. geborn 1945 in New York City hat er bei Lennie Tristano und Curtis Fuller studiert, um später selbst ein Lehramt am Queensboro College in New York zu übernehmen. Die Liste der Musiker mit denen er in der neuen und alten Welt aufgetreten ist, enthält so illustre Namen wie Woody Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Tommy Flanagan, Warren Vache, Benny Golson und viele andere. Bei aller technischen Brillanz, die ihm eine Spitzenposition unter den heutigen Posaunisten sichert, verfügt er bei allere Technik über die Mittel, die den Jazz nunmehr etwa hundert Jahre frish gehalten und ihn zur wichtigsten Quelle der populären Musik gemacht haben. Jerry hat Swing, Punch and Feeling." Herbert Richers -------