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Desmond White

Bassist and composer Desmond White is rapidly becoming one of New York City’s most in-demand sidemen, as well as leading his own group performing his original material drawing influence from the worlds of jazz, pop/rock and folk music. Originally from Perth, Western Australia, he is a graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He has performed with some of Australia’s leading jazz artists including Joe Chindamo, Jamie Oehlers, Rumberos, Los Cabrones, Julien Wilson, Mark Fitzgibbon, Stephen Magnusson, James Muller, Zac Hurren, Scott Tinkler and many others. He was a founding member of the ARIA winning pop/rock group Washington, touring extensively with this band to major festivals around the country. After building a successful career in Australia, he relocated to NYC in 2009 to pursue his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance on a full scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music.

He now performs regularly with New York-based artists including Gilad Hekselman, Nir Felder, Camila Meza, Shai Maestro, Ari Hoenig, Matt Wilson, Marko Djordevic, Barney McCall, Sean Wayland and numerous others. He is arecipient of the ArtsWA Creative Development Fellowhip, the Australia Council’s Skills and Development grant and the PPCA Performers Trust Fellowship. He was a finalist in the National Jazz Awards at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 2008. Recently he was awarded the prestigious ArtsStart grant from the Australia Council, to further develop his composition and publishing business. His 2008 release “Open Land” showcased his unique compositional style, and was critically acclaimed by press and radio in Australia.

­­He recently released the cross-over album “Short Stories” on Biophilia Records in the US,to critical acclaim. The record marks a culmination of over 2 years of Desmond’s writing, production, multi-instrumental performing and singing, straddling Jazz, Indie Rock and Folk genres.

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Album Review

Alex LoRe & Weirdear: Evening Will Find Itself

Read "Evening Will Find Itself" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Attraverso questo CD, gli appassionati italiani di jazz potranno conoscere e apprezzare Alex LoRe, uno dei più talentuosi sassofonisti emergenti dell'area newyorkese. Ispirato ai grandi modelli della grande tradizione jazzistica degli anni Sessanta, Evening Will Find Itself propone una musica ben costruita, interpretata col giusto pathos. Armonicamente e ritmicamente complesse, le dieci tracce del CD ed in particolare l'evocativo “Face Unseen" attualizzano la sontuosa lezione shorteriana, facendo leva sulle fantasiose doti improvvisative del quartetto. Oltre al ...

3
Album Review

Jay Rattman: In the Towns

Read "In the Towns" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Jay Rattman may not exactly be a household name to some jazz listeners and saxophone hounds. Perhaps he should be. Busy, literate, and creative, Rattman is that rare player who makes one think. In a juxtaposition of styles, genres, and horns, New York-based Rattman, could be accused of what was termed “formalism" in the good old days of Josef Stalin and the USSR. Formalism, some brave soul observed, sotto voce, was music not immediately understood upon first hearing. And so ...

4
Album Review

Lucas Pino's No Net Nonet: That's a Computer

Read "That's a Computer" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Lucas Pino is a New York-based tenor saxophonist who leads the No Net Nonet, a band that fits snugly into the jazz tradition but displays its own style of creativity. Despite what this CD's title suggests, this group's music is full of emotion and warmth. That is evident from the outset with “Antiquity," written by alto saxophonist Alex LoRe; this is a floating melody that meshes undulating lines of tenor, piano and guitar together within a cocoon of ...

Album Review

Lucas Pino: That's a Computer

Read "That's a Computer" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Dal 2013 il sassofonista e compositore Lucas Pino dirige il suo “No Net Nonet" esibendosi tutti i mesi allo Smalls Jazz Club di New York, senza trascurare altre scritture. L'organico è nato nel 2009, da allora ha cambiato solo un componente e la regolarità del rapporto spiega la coesione e l'equilibrio evidenziati in questo terzo album. Recentemente il look di Pino è molto cambiato: il giovanotto modello anni cinquanta, con capelli corti ben pettinati, occhiali alla Cary ...

6
Album Review

Lucas Pino: That's a Computer

Read "That's a Computer" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


Lucas Pino's No Net Nonet has claimed a piece of turf within the vast, sprawling, crowded field of the jazz mainstream. Its brilliantly conceived and executed efforts resist additional stylistic distinctions. Teamwork, mutually reinforcing concerns and a spirit of adventure infuse the seven tracks of That's A Computer. The compositions and arrangements by the leader, as well as one apiece by alto saxophonist Alex LoRe and guitarist Rafal Sarnecki, are bold, invigorating and rife with details that linger in memory. ...

3
Album Review

Lucas Pino's No Net Nonet: That's a Computer

Read "That's a Computer" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Saxophonist Lucas Pino's adventurous New York-based No Net Nonet is on record for the third time with That's a Computer (yes, there's a story behind that but it's too lengthy to recount here), which underscores Pino's usual flair for anomalous compositions and arrangements. Except for drummer Jimmy Macbride, who came on board in 2017, every member of Pino's group has been there from the start, eight years earlier, and that's a nice harbor from which to set sail, as everyone ...

5
Album Review

Desmond White: Short Stories

Read "Short Stories" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Size and substance are not reflective of one another. Some people mistakenly assume that grand-scale productions automatically deserve grand-scale receptions and small- scale artistry deserves to exist on the fringe. That makes about as much sense as holding a belief that novels, by their very nature, are of greater importance than short stories, but some people foolishly see it that way. They miss the point that it's the quality of the work, be it written, aural, or otherwise, that matters ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

In the Towns

Self Produced
2023

buy

Evening Will Find...

Whirlwind Recordings
2023

buy

That's a Computer

Outside in Music
2018

buy

Short Stories

Biophilia Records
2013

buy

Antiquity

From: That's a Computer
By Desmond White

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