About Alan Pasqua

"I've always felt that the instrumentation of a piano trio presents a perfect musical balance," says pianist/composer Alan Pasqua speaking of his 1994 debut album as a leader, "so in Milagro I wanted to use that as a common thread, adding to it with a tenor sax and with a larger horn section where it fit the individual pieces of music. Some of the compositions, such as "Acoma" and "A Sleeping Child," are perfect as trios -- the piano, bass, and drums fill the whole canvas -- but in others the horns add a fuller, darker colored texture, giving the listeners a chance to hear a greater diversity of music."

On Milagro, the core trio consists of Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, as well as Pasqua. "Dave was the anchor of the trio," explains Pasqua, "while Jack was more of a free spirit, a color painter. Yet both of them allowed a lot of space -- space for me, space to draw the listeners into the music." They are joined by Michael Brecker on tenor sax on "Rio Grande," "The Law of Diminishing Returns," and "L'Inverno," and by five of New York's first-call brass and woodwind session players on "Rio Grande," "Twilight," "Milagro," and "Heartland." Together, they have created a disc that is both melodic and hard-driving, and that also, via the horn section, introduces Mr. Pasqua's profound arranging talents.

" 'Milagro' means 'miracle,' " notes Pasqua, "and much of this disc is really about the miracle of life and our natural environment." He started working on the compositions about two to three years earlier, after forming a working trio in Los Angeles with drummer Peter Erskine and bassist John Patitucci. "I began to have a strong desire to write and play original compositions, not just jazz standards," he continues, "and their interpretations of my music gave me further energy to do more."

"Dedications,"says Pasqua, turning to his 1996 CD, "is my way of paying tribute to the positive influences on my life. Art, music, spirituality, family . . . I draw upon all of these whenever I’m playing or composing."

"I wanted to take tradition and put my own stamp on it," he continues, describing how he approached the compositions. "I found myself going back to my roots in jazz, back to an earlier perspective on jazz, to the styles I grew up with musically, and then reshaping the traditions, embellishing them -- finding my own voice, making a more modern statement. It was like taking one step backward to take two steps forward."

On Dedications, Pasqua presents his compositions in trio, quartet, and quintet settings, the three small ensembles that most great jazz innovators have chosen for their explorations. Building from a core trio featuring bassist Dave Holland and drummer Paul Motian (who are rarely heard together on recordings) on four tunes, Pasqua adds Michael Brecker on seldom-heard soprano saxophone on "San Michele," and then creates two different quintets, with Michael Brecker (on tenor saxophone) and Randy Brecker (on trumpet) on "The Emergence," and with Randy Brecker and Gary Bartz (on alto saxophone) on "Homage," "Ellingtonia," and "Sha’ la ko’." "I am deeply grateful to all of these musicians," notes Pasqua, "because they not only played wonderfully but also put themselves into the music, creating deep and beautiful interpretations of my compositions."

"And the compositions themselves," Pasqua adds, "go a step beyond those on Milagro; they're conceptually very different." On Dedications, he covers the whole stylistic spectrum from swing and bebop through today's polytonality and modality, yet reveals his own voice throughout. "On 'Homage,' for example," Pasqua explains, "I've taken a late 50's kind of sound, but used different harmonic and rhythmic concepts, while on 'San Michele,' which was inspired by a visit to Igor Stravinsky's grave in Venice, I've combined a melodic classical feeling with modal influences. Similarly," he continues, "on 'Ellingtonia," the muted trumpet melody is my tip of the hat to the Duke, but on the solos we made our own statement."

A resident of Los Angeles, Pasqua began studying piano at the age of seven in his native New Jersey, playing both classical and jazz. He attended Indiana University and The New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Jaki Bayard, Thad Jones, George Russell, and Gunther Schuller.

In 1976, Pasqua, along with guitarist Alan Holdsworth, joined The New Tony Williams Lifetime; the two recordings that ensued (Believe It and Million Dollar Legs) have been critically acclaimed as cornerstones in the development of fusion. Since then, Pasqua has played with a broad spectrum of jazz musicians, including Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Gary Burton, James Moody, Gary Peacock, Ralph Simon, Eddie Daniels, Peter Erskine, Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci, Reggie Workman, Art Davis, The Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Sam Rivers, Sheila Jordan, Joe Williams, Frank Foster, Alphonso Johnson, Narada Michael Walden, Les MeCann, and Don Ellis -- as well, of course, as with the stellar lineup on Dedications. With Dedications, Pasqua has created a fitting successor to Milagro, which received much critical acclaim, including a 4 1/2-star review in Down Beat. From the lush, Ducal "Ellingtonia" through the ethereal, modal "San Michele," he accomplishes the challenging task of leaving his unique masterful imprint on this homage to the giants of the tradition. As he says, "it was a labor of love and joy."