Gian Tornatore

Gian Tornatore: Fall

by Woodrow Wilkins
May 23, 2009

He was just 16 when he had his first major performance. Now, saxophonist Gian Tornatore is making his mark in jazz, releasing his third album as a band leader. And he does it in a style apart from what the mainstream expects of this instrument. From performing for the rock band Heart to the Monterey Jazz Festival, Tornatore is recognized by several major publications, and in 2008, he was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone ...

Gian Tornatore: Sink Or Swim

by Stephen Latessa
April 14, 2005

Sink Or Swim is the debut album by saxophonist Gian Tornatore. He and his band, featuring Jon Anderson on piano and Fender Rhodes, Zack Wallmark on bass, and David Christian on drums, create music rife with exploratory brooding. Particularly with the pulses of the Fender Rhodes in the mix, the album calls to mind the late period recordings of the second Miles Davis Quintet.

Tornatore composed six of the album's eight tracks (the two covers are “Nardis by ...

Gian Tornatore: Sink or Swim

by Florence Wetzel
March 26, 2005

Sink or Swim features saxophonist Gian Tornatore's fine tenor and soprano saxophone work along with excellent support from Jon Anderson on piano and Fender Rhodes, Zach Wallmark on bass, and David Christian on drums. Tornatore's tone is clear as a bell and his compositions display a quiet intelligence that's refreshing to behold.The CD is composed of six songs by Tornatore, plus Miles Davis' “Nardis" and--why not?--Chopin's Prelude in C Minor (Op. 28, No. 20). The highlights include Tornatore's ...

Gian Tornatore: Sink or Swim

by Mark F. Turner
April 8, 2004

The development of jazz as an art form can be expressed in terms of study, technique, and application, but the real proof in the pudding is whether the music moves the listener. Saxophonist Gian Tornatore's debut recording, Sink or Swim, exhibits these qualities in an impressive fashion.

On the academic end Tornatore is a graduate from Berklee, and has studied with saxophonists Joe Lovano, and George Garzone. The fact that his first major gig at the age of 16 was ...