mark shilansky
Somerville, Massachusetts, United States
Music
Press
In 2007, a jazz album that starts with “Take 5” promises to be a mainstream snooze, but
Boston-based pianist Shilansky knows how to make every moment engage. His band do
the usually cool Desmond/Brubeck chestnut with a barroom swagger, especially when tenor
Donny McCaslin starts hurtling through those thumping fives. And despite the hoary
standards (“Misty” is here too), Shilansky also knows how to sequence and arrange, and he
has the all-important jazz instinct for the weird cover. So the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” is taken
as a slow salsa, and the Latin treatment of “Alone Together” segues into the Turtles’ “Happy
Together.” His own “Friends with Benefits” criss-crosses multiple horns and wordless
vocals on a buoyant theme, breaking for solos before turning into “Just Friends.” In his own
playing, Shilansky doesn’t merely fire off pyrotechnic patterns — a long-time singers’
accompanist, he’s always intent on long arcs of melody as he works through the chord
changes. Representing two studio sessions with different bands (McCaslin, singer Kim
Nazarian, bassist Fernando Huergo, and drummer Bertram Lehmann, among them), this
“club” is one anyone would be happy to join.
Mark Shilansky | Scullers, DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, 400 Soldiers Field Road, Boston
| October 23 | 617.562.4111
- Boston Phoenix
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Currently at a loss for words...
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