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Will Slater

Will Slater, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, is an in-demand bassist, performing regularly in New York and New England.

In addition to teaching students of all levels.

Will has performed with Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Peter Bernstein, Anthony Wonsey, Bruce Barth, Kenny Werner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Dayna Stephens, David Schnitter, Jeb Patton, Tommy Campbell, Joe Hunt, Bob Moses, Kimberly Thompson, Mark Guiliana, Yoron Israel, Rudy Royston, Jeff Hershfield, Tim Miller, Vardan Ovsepian,

Joe Magnerelli, Phil Grenadier, Rob Schniederman, Greg Hopkins, Jason Palmer, Greg Osby, Leo Genovese, Yoko Miwa, Gabriel Guerrero, and many other artists.

He has performed at such venues as the Blue Note, Birdland, 55 Bar, Smalls, Minton's, Mezzrow, Cornelia Street Café, Scullers, the Regatta Bar, the Beehive, Wally’s, Jordan Hall, the Ryles Jazz Cub and the Lily Pad.

He has recorded with Jerry Bergonzi, the Kim Thompson Quartet, the Phil Grenadier trio, the Yoko Miwa trio, and the Joe Delaney trio. In 2009 he was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk competition. Will has also appeared internationally at such festivals as the Panama and Aspen jazz festivals and has toured in Japan, Colombia, and Eastern Europe in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

He is currently teaching at Umass Boston and enjoys teaching and sharing ideas with students in both the Boston and New York City areas.

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20
Album Review

Gabriel Guerrero & Quantum: Equilibrio

Read "Equilibrio" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Colombian-born, New York City-based pianist/composer Gabriel Guerrero plays and writes quite well, and is effectively supported by an able-bodied trio on Equilibrio--even though drummer Felix Lecaros sometimes overplays his hand. Guerrero's themes--he wrote every one of the album's eleven numbers--are by and large slow-to medium-tempo pleasant, which suits the ensemble well but runs the risk of trying a listener's patience. The lone variations take place on Track 9, “Permanent Divsersion Part II," with the use of Fung ...

10
Album Review

Yoko Miwa Trio: Songs Of Joy

Read "Songs Of Joy" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


A steady gig must be a Godsend to any jazz musician. The chance to work on stage and on schedule can be the cornerstone to artistic development and a melding of the ensemble mind. For pianist Yoko Miwa, that steady job was, for a decade and a half, at Les Zygomates Wine Bar and Bistro in Boston. Then the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 hit, and those doors closed, limiting Miwa's ability to publicly shape and present her music.

7
Album Review

Anishana: Corners of the Sky

Read "Corners of the Sky" reviewed by Jack Bowers


What a pleasant surprise. When a group named Anishana records an album built around Native American themes and concepts, the inclination is to withhold judgment while preparing for the worst. Yes, Anishana is an Algonquin-derived term meaning “where do you come from?" And yes, Anishana loosely bases the music in Corners of the Sky on Native American customs and beliefs. The good news is that those indigenous Americans evidently had jazz chops no one suspected and swung like plumage in ...

Album Review

Yoko Miwa: Keep Talkin'

Read "Keep Talkin'" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Tra le jazz ladies giapponesi che operano negli Stati Uniti (ad esempio Satoko Fujii e Miho Hazama), Yoko Miwa è la meno nota al pubblico italiano ed è un peccato visto l'alto valore di questo disco e dei sette già realizzati. Nata a Kobe 49 anni fa, Yoko ha studiato pianoforte nel suo Paese dall'età di quattro anni e ha proseguito al conservatorio e con Minoru Ozone, organista jazz e padre di Makoto Ozone. Nel 1997 ha vinto ...

3
Album Review

Yoko Miwa Trio: Keep Talkin'

Read "Keep Talkin'" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pianist Yoko Miwa was born in Japan, but she has set up shop in Boston, where she teaches at Berklee College of Music. She has also—beginning in 2003 with Fadeless Flower (Polystar Records)—previously released seven CDs. The superb Keep Talkin' brings that number of recorded offerings from Miwa to eight. The music of Keep Talkin' says that Miwa has fully embraced an American state of mind, beginning with the title tune, a Miwa original that sounds like something ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Equilibrio

Origin Records
2023

buy

Songs Of Joy

Ubuntu Music
2021

buy

Corners of the Sky

Riverview Productions
2019

buy

Keep Talkin'

Ocean Blue Tear Music
2019

buy

Present Moment

From: Equilibrio
By Will Slater

The Lonely Hours

From: Songs Of Joy
By Will Slater

Arapaho Ghost Dance

From: Corners of the Sky
By Will Slater

Blackfoot Blueprint, Greg Snedeker

From: Corners of the Sky
By Will Slater

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