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Page 1 of 2 Last time he was in the Twin Cities was with Tom Harrell's quintet at the old AQ. Now as a leader Greg Tardy was smoking' at the Artists' Quarter on Friday, April 30th in a hot session with a local rhythm section. After only a couple of hours to go over his charts the group quickly formed a cohesive unit as they plowed through the hard bop material. Greg began the first set with an original, "Forgiveness" from his debut CD "Serendipity", he worked his way up to Coltrane's "Giant Steps" and blew us away working through the changes. The second set began with a fresh interpretation of Miles Davis' modal classic "So What", then Tardy's earthy vibrato tone was displayed on his beautiful ballad "Changing Seasons".
His sound is big and soulful and his technique is superlative. This young man plays from the heart and has spent years perfecting his craft. There is no showboating in his performances, just solid musicianship at the top level.
On Sunday night the the band was even tighter and more familiar with Tardy's tunes. Sunday night is typically when you see many local jazz musicians in the house, and many were on hand to check out this tenor monster.
Here is what the critics are saying:
Tenor saxman GREG TARDY has been hailed by New York Magazine for his:
”big sound, deep-seated feel for the blues, and cerebral, avant-garde
chops.”
"Passionate, talented and hard-working, saxophonist-clarinetist-composer
Greg Tardy doesn't want his work to be categorized, he just wants it to
have integrity, to be personal and to reach people... the music always
needs practitioners who approach the art with fresh, expansive
imaginations, allowing both the artist and the form to grow in subtle,
unique, often indiscernible ways."
Zan Stewart, Contributor Los Angeles Times, Down Beat, Stereophile
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