Michael Pedicin
As It Should Be: Ballads 2, the 14th album of tenor and soprano saxophonist Michael Pedicin’s prolific career, is in many ways akin to his acclaimed 2011 CD, Ballads… searching for peace. Ballads showcasing the exquisitely lyrical aspects of Pedicin’s playing are again the focus, but with a difference. Other than the John Coltrane classic “Crescent” and an especially tender treatment of Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (a tune rarely performed in a jazz context), eight of the disc’s 10 songs were composed as ballads by the saxophonist’s longtime collaborator, guitarist Johnnie Valentino. Several of them, however, were treated to somewhat brighter grooves than had been originally intended after the musicians got to the recording studio, particularly “From Afar,” which was double-timed at a bossa-nova-like clip by drummer Justin Faulkner and percussionist Alex Acuña.
The themes of Ballads…searching for peace and As It Should Be both reflect Pedicin’s abiding concern with issues of peace and justice. “I’m one of those diehard Sixties kids that grew up concerned about peace and togetherness and acceptance,” he explains. “I think about that every day of my life. We’re all one. This is probably a necessary component in our world more than ever, at least more than ever in my lifetime. I believe that we’re all human beings more than anything else: race, ethnicity, nationality.”
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Album Review
- As It Should Be: Ballads 2 by Dan Bilawsky
Interview
Album Review
- Why Stop Now/Ubuntu by Dan Bilawsky
- Live @ The Loft by Dan Bilawsky
- Ballads...Searching For Peace by Dan Bilawsky
- Everything Starts Now... by J Hunter
March 20, 2017
Tenor Saxophonist Michael Pedicin To Release "As It Should Be: Ballads...
April 19, 2014
Saxophonist Michael Pedicin In Media On Wed. May 21st!
August 13, 2013
"Why Stop Now ... Ubuntu," 12th CD By Tenor Saxophonist Michael...
July 01, 2012
Tenor Saxophonist Michael Pedicin's New CD Features His Working Band...
September 14, 2011
Saxophonist Michael Pedicin's New Ballads CD Due Oct. 18
September 06, 2010
Jazz Bridge Presents Saxophonist Michael Pedicin Jr. at Palombaro Club...
May 12, 2008
Michael Pedicin's Sax Had Them from the Start
April 22, 2008
Saxophonist Michael Pedicin Launches New Website
April 08, 2008
Michael Pedicin's "Everything Starts Now" on Jazz Hut Records
Michael Pedicin Jr. tempered the soft-focus lyricism that the quartet’s saxophone chair has demanded with some discreet John Coltrane devices and an attractive sense of spacing and drama. —The New York Times
Michael Pedicin Jr. seems more dedicated to his art than to radioplay. —Downbeat Magazine
Pedicin stretches on tenor in a Breckeresque fashion. —Downbeat Magazine
Primary Instrument
Saxophone, tenor
Location
Philadelphia
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Saxophone instructor at University of the Arts, 1974-2000.
Senior lecturer at University of the Arts, jazz studies.
Director of jazz studies, Temple University, 1981-1988.
Currently associate professor of music/coordinator of jazz studies.....Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Photos
Albums
Blame It On Your Heart
From: Ballads... Searching For PeaceBy Michael Pedicin
You Dont Know What Love Is
From: Downtown FoundBy Michael Pedicin
Pelican
From: Everything Starts Now...By Michael Pedicin