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Dial and DeRosa: Keep Swingin'

By Jack Bowers
March 30, 2024
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Keep Swingin', a splendid new album from pianist

Garry Dial

piano
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Garry Dial and drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Rich DeRosa, features "the music of Charlie Banacos." Charlie who? you may ask. And the answer is, there are jazz educators, and then there was Charlie Banacos, whose talent and ingenuity in the classroom influenced and inspired countless jazz musicians for more than fifty years. During that time, he designed more than a hundred courses of study and wrote half a dozen books on composition and improvisation.

Banacos' innovative courses ranged from "Intervallics" to "Tetratonics," "Superimpositions" to "Bitonal Pendulums," all years ahead of their time, and all cornerstones of jazz education today in schools from coast to coast and around the world. Besides teaching, Banacos was a composer, arranger and pianist. Now—fourteen years after Banacos' passing in 2009—Dial, one of his former students, and DeRosa have teamed to arrange and reimagine ten of Banacos' impressive compositions for groups whose sizes are mostly in double figures but not quite as large as a full-fledged big band.

Several of Banacos' former students were able to sit in, including Dial, trumpeter

Nick Marchione

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Nick Marchione, alto saxophonist

Andrew Gould

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Gould, tenor saxophonist

Jerry Bergonzi

saxophone, tenor
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Jerry Bergonzi, guitarists

Wayne Krantz

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Krantz and

Mike Stern

guitar
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Stern and bassists

Jeff Berlin

bass, electric
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Berlin and

Joe Hubbard

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Hubbard. And there may be others, as a complete list is not given. The five- member Keep Swingin' horn section—amplified by guest flutist

Anne Drummond

flute

" data-original-title="" title="">Anne Drummond—performs on every number alongside featured soloists and guest band members.

The studio date opens, appropriately enough, with "Keep Swingin,'" a temperate blues whose soloists are Dial, alto

Dick Oatts

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Dick Oatts and guest trumpeter

Terell Stafford

trumpet
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Terell Stafford. While it may move more deliberately than expected, "Keep Swingin'" achieves its goal, as do Banacos' other charts, starting with the hip and spasmodic "Great Awakening," with solos by Hubbard on electric bass and Krantz on electric guitar. The breezy "Bat Cave" features two pianos—Dial and

Gerard D'Angelo

piano
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerard D'Angelo—

Jay Anderson

bass
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Jay Anderson's walking bass,

John Riley

drums
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">John Riley's forceful drums and

Gary Smulyan

saxophone, baritone
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Smulyan's muscular baritone sax, after which the even-tempered "Pine Needles" brings to the fore Dial's eloquent piano and Stern's electric guitar.

The smooth-flowing "Mummy's Curse" showcases Bergonzi's quintet (trumpeter

Phil Grenadier

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Phil Grenadier, pianist

Plamen Karadonev

piano
b.1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Plamen Karadonev, bassist Matt Stavrakis, drummer

Luther Gray

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Luther Gray, which leads to the high-spirited "Bernie Burnola" (solos by Drummond, pianist

Helio Alves

piano
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Helio Alves, soprano Paul Levi, drummer

Mauricio Zottarelli

drums
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Mauricio Zottarelli) and well-grooved "A-440" (showcasing Berlin's electric bass and piano.) Dial and Anderson are out front on the charming "Nero," Oatts (soprano), Drummond, Zottarelli and

Victor Provost

drums, steel

" data-original-title="" title="">Victor Provost (piano, steel pans) on the bright and innovative "Pluto Language." The album closes with "Pelaghia," an eloquent and earnest anthem for unaccompanied pianists whose names are Margaret and Barbara Banacos.

This is a sparkling—and swinging—tribute to a man who wasn't as well-known as many of the musicians he tutored but was a giant among those in his chosen field. It is good to know that, thanks largely to Garry Dial and Rich DeRosa, Charlie Banacos' music will Keep Swingin' for years to come even though he is no longer here to surprise and enlighten us. As a bonus, the album is accompanied by a 100- page book containing his students' anecdotes along with photos, artistic renderings and more, with corresponding QR codes per tune, per chapter.

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Track Listing

Keep Swingin��; Great Awakening; Bat Cave; Pine Needles; Mummy��s Curse; Bernie Burnola; A- 440; Nero; Pluto Language; Pelaghia.

Personnel

Garry Dial

piano

Rich DeRosa

arranger

Terell Stafford

trumpet

Phil Grenadier

trumpet

Nick Marchione

trumpet

Paolo Levi

saxophone, soprano

Andrew Gould

saxophone

Chris Oatts

saxophone, alto

Jerry Bergonzi

saxophone, tenor

Gary Smulyan

saxophone, baritone

Ryan Keberle

trombone

Anne Drummond

flute

Wayne Krantz

guitar, electric

Mike Stern

guitar

Paul Meyers

guitar

Gerard D'Angelo

piano

Plamen Karadonev

piano

Helio Alves

piano

Margaret Banacos

piano

Barbara Banacos

piano

Additional Instrumentation

David Witham: keyboards; Jay Anderson, Matt Stavrikas: bass; Joe Hubbard, Itaiguara Brandao: electric bass; Jeff Berlin: electric bass, piano; Victor Provost: steel pan, piano; Tom Brechtlein, John Riley, Luther Gray: drums; Mauricio Zottarelli: drums, percussion.

Album information

Title: Keep Swingin' | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Outside in Music

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