 Dave Stanoch © Andrea Canter "Lease is an artist of subtlety and grace." - Pamela Espeland
Drummer Dave Stanoch described the March (2008) CD release of the Ellen Lease/Pat Moriarty Quintet as “hot fun in the dead of winter.” One of the most interesting, innovative jazz ensembles in the Twin Cities, the March release of Chance, Love, Logic (Innova) was indeed a celebration, filling the small Studio Z space in St. Paul with an event that would have fit perfectly at such New York venues as the Stone, Jazz Gallery or 55 Bar. Again, Twin Citians can enjoy these five Manhattan-worthy musicians without Big Apple traffic and two-drink minimum, at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul on Wednesday, September 17th. In addition to Stanoch, the band includes leaders Ellen Lease (piano) and Pat Moriarty (sax and other “aerophones”), trumpeter Kelly Rossum and bassist Chris Bates.
The quintet has been working together for over ten years, leading critics to describe the ensemble as the “best unrecorded band out there.” Noted Avant Music News, “Through the consistency of personnel and a stable but expanding repertoire, the quintet has developed a high level of group interplay and risk-taking within the structures of the tunes. Although comparisons to the musics of Steve Lacy, Charles Mingus, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago are well taken, this band definitely has its own sound and conception.”
A graduate of University of Minnesota School of Music, Ellen Lease has received both McKnight and Bush Fellowships. Performing across classical and jazz idioms, she has co-led the Ellen Ellen Lease/Pat Moriarty Quintet for more than a decade, as well as appearing throughout the Twin Cities with many jazz and new music groups, and had the honor of accompanying Jean Pierre Rampal at his Twin Cities master class.
 Chris Bates © Andrea Canter
Trumpeter Kelly Rossum has an eclectic background, earning a doctorate in Baroque Trumpet at the U of M and heading jazz studies at the MacPhail Center for Music. He’s performed in mainstream settings with a number of area bands and stretches the boundaries of straight-ahead with his work with Pete Whitman’s X-Tet, Jazz Is Now! “Nownet” and the Out to Lunch Quintet, as well as with his own acclaimed Quartet. He released his fourth CD, Family (612 Sides), in August (CD release party coming to the AQ September 26-27).
 Kelly Rossum © Andrea Canter
Dave Stanoch has handled the trapset for a multitude of diverse artists, including Jack McDuff, Ben Sidran, Herb Ellis, Stanley Jordan, Anthony Cox, Shirley Jones, Robert Goulet, Joan Rivers, and Shari Lewis, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra and the Empire Brass. He’s studied with such giants as Max Roach, Jeff Hamilton, Marv Dahlgren and Ignacio Berroa, and has taught at MacNally Smith for over a decade. He’s a founding member of the trio Triplicate.
Of Chance, Love, Logic, Dave Stanoch notes that the sessions, “highlighting the original and interesting compositions of Ellen and Pat, were relaxed and inspired and the music promises to be compelling, elastic and provocative.” Indeed, this is creative music spiked with fun.
The Artists Quarter is located at 408 St. Peter Street in the lower level of the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul; www.artistsquarter.com ; 651-292-1359. |
Twin Cities, MN 
Thursday, 29 July 2010
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