The Jazz Gallery Presents: Ralph Alessi

Ralph Alessi

This Friday, August 13, The Jazz Gallery is pleased to welcome trumpeter Ralph Alessi back to our stage. As a composer, Alessi is fond of discursive forms that give the band space to explore ranges of color. In a previous interview with Jazz Speaks, Alessi described the growing emphasis on timbral variety in his own playing:

I’m more mindful of how I create sound than I used to be. It’s something that I’m very drawn to with different players. As I’ve played more and more, and as I’ve taught more and more, it’s become one of those things that I’m constantly thinking about. I find it’s really common for people to stuck in this Western classical idea of what are appropriate sounds. In the jazz tradition, a lot of the sounds that come out of it are not the sounds you learn in school. I find those other sounds to be really expressive and an essential part of the music.I really try to push myself, as I hear players on the trumpet who are very, very good at producing a variety of expressive sounds. I aspire to that.

While Alessi's most recent album as a leader featured his quintet This Against That, he will be convening a quartet configuration at the Gallery, in the vein of his first two ECM releases, Baida and Quiver. The show (and both records) feature the long-running rhythm team of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits, while the piano chair for this evening will be held by Craig Taborn, completing a group of hard-to-pin-down improvisers.The Ralph Alessi Baida Quartet plays The Jazz Gallery on Friday, August 13, 2021. The group features Mr. Alessi on trumpet, Craig Taborn on piano, Drew Gress on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved table seating ($20 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.