Harry Skoler - Jazz Musician (original) (raw)
It's been a long time since I enjoyed a jazz clarinet player as much as here … Certainly news of this album has already flown the home coop among those of us keen to find meaningful jazz emerging out there like a speck on the horizon coming in from a road less travelled but finding itself slap bang in the middle of a somehow sought after destination against all odds. The word is out.
SGMarlbank
If clarinet might seem like a questionable instrument to lead a Mingus tribute, Skoler casts aside any doubt in the opening moments of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat."
Shanley on Music
This is such a lovely album. It's an honor to play it.
Chris HeimKMUW Wichita, KS
The album is powerful and I wouldn't be surprised if we see it among the Grammy nominees, or maybe it will bring the Golden Gramophone itself to its creators.
Leonid AuskernJazz-Quad Magazine
Skoler speaks confidently with a poignantly transparent and vibrant sound.
Dr. Chuck BergJazzTimes
…the richness of his tone, somewhere between romance and melancholia, draws you into the music.
Frank-John HadleyDownBeat
No need to be so humble, the album is freaking great.
Jerry GordonWPRB, Princeton University
I appreciate your gratitude, but you should thank yourself. Your fine work demands exposure, and it's my privilege to provide it.
Jack HopkeWWNO New Orleans, Louisiana
Skoler’s warm and woody stick works wonders…
George W. HarrisJazz Weekly
Red Brick Hill is a powerful story told with empathy and creativity by Skoler and the various musicians who assembled for this recording. Needless to say, it’s also powerful music! BOTTOM LINE: How does clarinetist Harry Skoler overcome a trauma he experienced as a youth? With heartfelt original music performed by a group of exceptional musicians who understand how best to tell Skoler’s story in a moving and heartfelt manner. The music will move you as well.
Abe GoldsteinPAPATAMUS REDUX
Living in Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus, was a warmly incantatory concerto-like setting for clarinetist virtuoso Skoler and orchestra…
Kevin Lynch Culture Currents
The clarinetist's original "Underdog" wraps things up with a free moving piece that leans into the duality of its inspiration, both turbulent and gentle at the same time.
Shanley on Music
Argue … takes “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” into interesting territory with an arrangement that straddles the lush and spare, one that Skoler navigates beautifully in his lead, with tones of respect for the composer Mingus most admired.
Jim HynesMaking a Scene
This album is a thing of beauty and one can only thank Harry Skoler for digging Mingus enough to drop this.
New-Jointz
Everything sounds great, the music swings and the ensemble has real command of the charts, of shifting moods and especially fine modulations of dynamics.
The New York City Jazz Record
He plays with a muscular tone that gets to the heart of the piece … like Mingus, the album offers new discoveries with each listen.
Shanley on Music
Great release! Glad to share it with my listening audiences as we celebrate the Centennial.
Mr. JazzWRIR, Richmond, VA
… currently listening to the Track BLUE, MOSTLY… avantgarde at its best.
Lajos DudasInternationally renowned jazz clarinetist
It's a tremendous album, Harry! In the tradition of Jimmy Giuffre and just as great!
Jerry GordonWPRV Villanova, PA
Throughout this strikingly evocative project, the clarinet virtuoso — a Mingus obsessive since his teens — offers efflorescent improvisations through arrangements of nine Mingus compositions by Ambrose Akinmusire, Fabian Almazan and Darcy James Argue, with a to-die-for rhythm section of Kenny Barron, Christian McBride and Johnathan Blake, joined on various tracks by trumpet titan Nicholas Payton, vocalist Jazzmeia Horn and a string quartet.
Ted PankenJazziz
The most important thing for jazz musicians is if they can be recognized after a few notes. Skoler is clearly recognizable!
Lajos DudasJazzpodium
Harry Skoler plays with a melancholy but hopeful tone that adds a poignancy … His clarinet sound has a deep, rich quality…
Mike NeelyAllAboutJazz
The arrangements make excellent use of instrumental color and put Mingus’ themes into the context of extended, complex harmonies…this is good music well played, it feels good as it goes down…Skoler’s own “Underdog”…convincing, with flashes of complex, unresolved emotions and ideas—Mingus.
The New York City Jazz Record
Harry Skoler is a clarinetist who employs this difficult instrument with a gentle and loving touch … Skoler's sound is elegantly supple …
Patricia MyersJazzTimes
Such a treat to share with our listeners.
Todd Matthew SteedWUOT Knoxville, Tennessee
If this disc doesn't get a Grammy nomination, then I don't know who, and for what!
Lajos DudasJazzpodium
…Skoler lays back, letting his clarinet seduce with purring trills that stretch the limits of human hearing.
Michael BieberJazziz
Harry Skoler, who put this joint together, plays clarinet and eases you into the Lester Young tune so sweetly that you wonder why the instrument isn’t more popular.
New-Jointz
Focusing on Skoler's radiant clarinet, all the arrangements … exalt the melodic charm of the themes, highlighting their restlessness with scores rich in internal contrasts and dissonances.
Angelo LeonardiAllAboutJazz
Thank you for the great music!
Bobtaintradio.org
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Radio Airplay
Red Brick Hill
Red Brick Hill Cracked the Top 20 NACC North American College Chart moving up from 22 to 20 - 8/1/24
WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radio Jazz Charts #6 - 7/30/24
Red Brick Hill DEBUTS #22
NACC Top 30 Jazz Charts - 7/23/24
NACC Tied for #2 Top 5 Jazz Adds 7/16/24
JazzWeek #6 Most Added 7/22/24
Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus
Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus is #87 on the 2022 Francis Davis Jazz Poll
Dec 16, 2022 - Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus at #72 on JazzWeek Top 100 Jazz Radio Release for 2022
June 27, 2022 - Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus #9 in the Top Ten on JazzWeek
May 3, 2022 - Living In Sound is also on NACC's Top Ten at #2!
News
"Red Brick Hill" is now available!
July 12, 2024
You can now purchase Red Brick Hill on Bandcamp, Apple Music or listen on all major streaming services.
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star review of Red Brick Hill
July, 2024
Paris Move awards Red Brick Hill with their top honor, "A must/Indispensable".
Announcing the New Album Red Brick Hill
May, 2024
Things of beauty can come from the release of one’s traumas. Harry Skoler experienced the loss of a friend as a teenager, a passing that deeply impacted the clarinetist/composer and left an indelible mark on his person. On his new recording, Red Brick Hill, Skoler revisits the past and delivers the story instrumentally with an incredible array of musicians in an effort to cleanse his soul, keep his friend’s legacy alive, and to, hopefully, help others with such burdens through the gift of music.
Music
Gallery
Story of how Harry’s life was influenced by Charles Mingus - Artwork by Dave Chisholm
About
Jazz clarinetist Harry Skoler is Professor of Woodwinds at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee, and a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory, where he studied with legendary jazz great Jimmy Giuffre. His recordings include Conversations in the Language of Jazz, Reflections on the Art of Swing - A Tribute to Benny Goodman, A Work of Heart on Brownstone Recordings, and Two Ones on Soliloquy Records. His latest recording is Living In Sound: The Music of Charles Mingus on Sunnyside Records. He has authored articles on jazz education, including a "Pro-Workshop" article in DownBeat magazine, and has been included with a biography and philosophy of artistry in Gianluca Campagnolo's Volume 10 Method Book for Clarinet, which features bios and tips from many prominent clarinetists. Harry contributed to a clarinet method book by Vandoren and published by Carl Fischer entitled The Vandoren Etude & Exercise Book for Clarinet - The Secrets of Ten Master Clarinetists and a jazz saxophone method book by Vandoren and published by Carl Fischer entitled the vandojazz ETUDE AND EXERCISE BOOK FOR SAXOPHONE - THE SECRETS OF TEN MASTER SAXOPHONISTS. He has garnered numerous national and international reviews, including reviews in JazzTimes, DownBeat, and Jazziz among others. Cover features include Strictly Jazz, Jazz Quarterly, Northeast Performer, and Jazz Now magazines, and bio/reviews in AMG's All Music Guide to Jazz. He has been included in articles in JazzTimes, Jazziz and DownBeat Magazines. He has been charted for national radio airplay on JazzWeek and Gavin Magazine, and charted at #8 on Jazziz magazine's Top 40 "Radioactive" chart. Performances include national jazz clubs and festivals, including the Blue Note in NYC, Regattabar and Scullers in Boston, International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in Baton Rouge, Cape May Jazz Festival and tours in Costa Rica, Japan, Mexico and Norway. Harry as a clinician has conducted master classes nationally and internationally, including Costa Rica, Japan, Mexico and Australia. He has participated as a judge for Vandoren’s Emerging Artist Competition, and has been a member of Berklee College of Music’s “Audition & Interview” team, auditioning applicants to the college, traveling nationally and internationally since 2007. Harry has been featured on many national radio interviews and on the nationally televised BET program “Jazz Discovery”. In addition to touring with his group, Harry has given concerts/clinics for young people with the educational ensemble "Adventures With Jazz". Endorsements include Buffet Crampon and Vandoren. He lives in Bradford, MA with his wife Joanne.
Endorsements
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