[1/2004]
From All About Jazz
G. F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz' JzC105
"Pianist G. F. Mlely was
starting to make quite a name for himself in the 1980s, with a
successful touring career and a recording, Trio, that was among
the top ten jazz albums being played on US radio, when a series of
personal circumstances caused him to drop out for nearly two decades.
Returning to the scene with two solo piano outings, 2001's Re-Entry
and 2002's 88 Keys and Counting, with the release of his
first new trio recording in over twenty years, A Little Night
Waltz, Mlely is, quite simply, back, and with a vengeance.
"While he sits firmly in the
mainstream jazz category, he has literally created his own harmonic
language, called the '8-Tone Quarto-Modes Concept,' that looks
at even the most common changes from a very different perspective,
resulting in a more contemporary take. Mlely's sound is uniquely
his own; on a programme of seven original compositions, he demonstrates
a style that may have, at one time, come from Evans and Tyner, but
the references are now completely subsumed into his own personal
approach.
"Los Angeles-based bassist
Bill Markus and percussionist GeneStone know exactly what Mlely is
talking about; they understand his style, navigating through some
difficult waters and keeping up with a concept that, while tonal, never
quite goes where one would expect.
"There's a predilection with
the jazz waltz; from the brighter, uptempo title track to the darker
"Thornbird," Mlely and the trio explore the different possibilities
within that sub genre; Markus and Stone provide solid support
throughout. On the uptempo swinger, "It's Not The End," they both
get to demonstrate their capabilities as soloists; Markus is lyrical,
while Stone is a powerhouse.
"While most of the session
was actually recorded in 1993, the solo piece, "Invention 2 In The
8-Tone Quarto-Modes," was recorded in 2003, and most clearly
demonstrates the maturity and singularity of Mlely's vision. With
stunning chordal passages and staggering arpeggios, he works his way
through the piece with astounding virtuosity.
"A Little Night Waltz
is an important new recording from a pianist who has already gained the
attention of the critics; now it's time for him to reach a broader
listening audience, and this release is just the ticket."
John Kelman,
All
About Jazz
|
[2/2004]
From JazzReview.com
G. F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz' JzC105
Review: “A Little Night Waltz” is a confidently
sculpted piece of music. Pianist G.F. Mlely plays in a style that is
reminiscent of Lennie Tristano, bold and slightly off-kilter. His
match is his partner, Bill Markus, on doublebass. Their dialogue
is intriguing: sometimes they are in agreement, sometimes debating.
The general theatricality of the music is consistently stunning.
Mlely states
that many of the titles are part of an unstaged jazz theater piece.
Taken as such, the pieces are tales of haunted journeys filled
with whimsical characters and odd places.
While Mlely shows his virtuosity in the bright but
manic ‘A Little Night Waltz,’ Markus reacts by playing a slow mantra
that is dark and ominous. Whenever Mlely tries to persuade you
with do something, Markus is there warning you not to go. Don’t
venture down that twisted road that Mlely is offering. It’s may be
stranger than you imagine. It is nonetheless a brilliant way to
start an adventure.
Mlely writes that ‘Words We Say’ is about
homelessness. It is a slower, more graceful piece than ‘Night Waltz.’
Mania is replaced by respect and ultimately sorrow. This time Markus
plays along as
if nodding in solemn, eerie agreement.
‘It’s Not the End’ is a sprightly affair in which
the narrator
Mlely seemingly spins a yarn. At different junctures, Mlely is racing
to
tell the story that is either passionately enhanced or strongly
contradicted by Markus and percussionist Gene Stone. No one tells the
story quite right. That’s why there are slight interruptions and
emphatic points of contention.
“A Little Night Waltz” is a fascinating work that
bears repeated listening. It is challenging, but there are elements of
beauty and allure. Mlely gives one a glimpse of a strange, magical
world.
The music feels like the elusive memory of an old and marvelous
carnival show that slowly fades into a dense fog.
John Doll, JazzReview.com
|
[1/04]
From All About
Jazz
G. F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz'
JzC105
"It's difficult enough keeping
up with the many new jazz piano trio offerings. So, when you come
across G. F. Mlely, who has a recording history going back to 1979,
it's a bit puzzling that someone so prolific has been so unknown.
As a jazz composer and pianist, avant-garde choral composer,
author of
essays on jazz writing and both student and instructor of jazz
composition and theory, this resident of Honolulu, Hawaii has a busy
agenda.
"The bulk of this album was
recorded in 1991 with West Coast musicians Markus and Stone.
Mlely's "Invention 2 in the 8-Tone Quarto-Modes" was taped last
year as a solo example of his advanced sense of composition. This
is his third album for JazCraft and the 2001 Re-Entry session
marked his return to the studio after ten years due to a health problem
relating to an accident. In consideration of the age of these
tracks, it's a shame that they're only coming to light at this time.
"Mlely devotes a fair amount
of writing
here in a jazz waltz mode. The title tune is played brightly and
coupled
with 'Words We Say' and the more somber 'Thornbird' present him as
someone
influenced by the modal school of piano jazz like Bill Evans and Herbie
Hancock
and give drummer Gene Stone an opportunity for some nifty brush work.
The
straightforward uptempo tunes 'Berkeley Sprung' and 'It's Not The End"'
are
played more as 'set closers' and give the fleet fingered Bill Markus
some
solo opportunities. Throughout, G. F. Mlely proves to be an
interesting
composer, supremely confident jazz pianist who is comfortable in
several
mainstream settings and someone who is ready to take on the big bucks
piano
guys.
Michael P. Gladstonr All
About Jazz
|
[11/2003]
From All Music Guide
G.F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz' JzC105
G. F. Mlely made a strong
impression as a pianist in the 1980s. In The years since,
he spent a long period outside of music due to the need to
raise his son, and he had some physical problems that fortunately
seem to finally be in the past. Mlely has re-emerged in
the 21st century with his musical vision unimpaired. "A Little
Night Waltz" was recorded in 1991 (except for a solo piece
from 2003) but the music has never been released before.
Mlely, a deep thinker, has
developed "The 8-Tone Quarto-Modes Concept" which he features as his
piano solo. Otherwise, the music (all originals) is performed
with bassist Bill Markus and drummer Gene Stone with nearly half of
the songs being in 3/4 time.
Mlely displays a virtuosic
style that is strikingly original, particularly in his chord voicings.
He romps through most of the complex tunes and, while his playing
is tonal, it is quite unpredictable.
It's Not The End is the hardest swinging (and most
conventional) piece while the waltzes (the title cut, the relatively
laidback Words We Say and Thornbird) show just how
inventive a player he can be. Owing little to the usual
influences (McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk), Mlely
displays his own fresh voice. He deserves to be much better
known.
Scott Yanow, All
Music Guide and The LA Jazz Scene
(periodical)
|
[[11/2003]
From MusicDish
G. F. Mlely Trio
A Little Night Waltz
JzC105
"Jazcraft is a label with, so
far, one purpose: to produce and market the music of G. F. Mlely.
Last year, in an aritcle, "G. F. Mlely, A
Trail
Of Endurance," I traced some of the unusual circumstances attending
this musician's career and life. A pianist and composer, he was
on
a professional rise in the early 80s when family obligation and
subsequent injury removed him, except for some composing and
songwriting, for nearly two decades from the music scene.
"A Little Night Waltz" is
the third CD, in as many years, in JazCraft's effort
to bring Mlely's work to greater public attention. This
is the first of the three to feature him in a trio format, with
double bassist Bill Markus, and percussionist Gene Stone. "Night
Waltz" contains 7 tracks, all of them Mlely originals, 6 recorded in
'91 in Los Angeles, and the 7th, the only solo piano piece, in '03 in
Hawaii.
And original they are
indeed, especially if understood that originality is to
mean performance that reveals little to no copying - copping,
it used to be called - of any other known style.
Of course, there is the homage,
such as Village Scene (a piece he wrote in '62!), a bit
'Monkish," which Mlely himself is fast to point out, 'the
Thelonious' having been an influential force early on with Mlely. Scene
also features bassist Bill Markus quite nicely, quick fingering through
a complex of
chromatic chord changes.
There is a lot of shifting of
tonal centers in Mlely's compositional work, which can not be
easy for any bassist to master in short order. But Markus
does a splendid job of it. The title tune, A
Little Night Waltz, a fast-moving waltz, moves in extraordinary
ways through a maze of shifting tonal centers. Despite that,
the players make it sound and feel easy, with Markus doing interesting
chromatic soloing in the upper registers of his double bass. Night
Waltz has several minor third root shifts in its chord sequence,
enhanced by Markus sliding up and down in the lower registerst behind
the piano.
Night Waltz is one of
three titles in the album in 3/4 time. Words We Say
and Thornbird, more relaxed than Night Waltz, are
equally as complex in their harmonic sequences. Words
utilizes chords based on 11 of the 12 tones possible in the chormatic
system, but does not move along chromatically.
There's a timelessness to much
of Mlely's music. I'm listening to Thornbird.
It is unlike any other piece I can think of. It
has a blend of intensity and calmness, an inwardness that makes
me feel as if I were eves-dropping. A chord Mlely symbolizes
as 'oM,' features in the sequence, which, in his theoretical treatise,
'The 8-Tone Quarto-Modes Concept," he proves out as the
'diminished-major.' The only 'piano alone' piece, Invention 2
In The 8-Tone Quarto-Modes, features the'oM'
throughout. It also has a catchy rhythmic pulse.
The waltzes highlight Mlely's
inventiveness, both in their composition and pianistic performance.
There is nothing borrowed from elsewhere that one can pint a
finger at. It used to be that that was what distingished the
great from all the others - accomplishment that stood on its own, that
made a contributing difference.
The more straight-ahead
pieces, Berkeley Sprung and It's Not The End -
'inentionally retro,' Mlely writes in the liner notes - swing in a more
mainstream way. I like the former best. End
had Mlely rushing the time in places, a big no-no in jazz, but then, so
did Oscar Peterson on occasion. These two titles also feature some
excellent solo percussion work from Gene Stone,
who has that quality, rare in a drummer, of percussive restraint that
works so well in a trio setting.
Kudos to JazCraft.
Nathan
Gold MusicDish.com
|
[8/2003]
From eJazzNews
G.F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz' JzC105
Well, it's obvious G.F. has
been around awhile, exemplified by the personal interpretation of his
own wonderful original piece, 'Words [We Say].'
I will say too, this jazz trio also
'comes to play' as it were!
There is no non-originality
in Mlely's
style. On the contrary, one might say that jazz pianists could
certainly
draw inspiration from the authenticity of his nouveau keyboard
refinement.
If jazz depends on invention
for its very life, then Mlely succeeds in displaying (musically) his
personal conceptions and ideas assimilated visa/vie the influences he
has undergone.
I don't say this to take
anything away from his pianistic artistry, only to suggest that he
expresses his craft with more than a modicum of artistic conscience.
Nothing is obtained without some effort. Mlely's efforts
are reconciled in the music he creates.
Good stuff G.F.
George
W. Carroll, The Musicians' Ombudsman eJazzNews
|
[9/2003]
From SkyJazz Internet Radio
G.F. Mlely Trio
'A Little Night Waltz' JzC105
"The beauty of Jazz is that
it can be transformed by talented players. Proof of
this is the wonderful and unique approach taken by G.F. Mlely
in his CD 'A Little Night Waltz'. At once it inspires thought
while taking the listener on a pure, jazzy adventure. Jazz fans
will be amazed and pianists will be envious."
Mike Smith
SkyJazz Internet Radio
|
|
Pianist and composer
G. F. MLELY is recipient of acclamations from around the
world. "If I had a short list
of records to put in my collection . . . this would be one of
the piano albums I would choose." So wrote John Sutton, Jazz
Excursion Show Program Director, of Mlely's previous 88 Keys
And Counting. Mlely is also credited for
starting the nation's first songwriting workshop as an accredited
subject
in a secondary school in Hawaii. 
