Nick & Gayle Bisesi

"To have your own sound and style is magic, that's what Gayle and Nick have... It's just happenin'!"

- - Jazz legend, Composer, and Pianist

"A very talented and experienced singer, Gayle really knows what she is doing up there!"

- - Founder - Newport Jazz Festival, #1 International Jazz Impressario, NEA Jazz Master

"Nick can't help but infuse the music with throaty emotion." - - Chicago Reader Critic's Choice

"I have listened and am hooked... the real deal!" - - WGN Radio Host

"I Love this CD!" - Music Director KSJS-FM San Jose

"Just listen to "Skylark" and you will hear the talent this vocalist has! Gayle states Ella Fitzgerald as her "idol." Ella would be proud. Gayle is a fantastic vocalist!!!" - Host of Jazz Therapy on City Sounds Radio

Gayle Bisesi - Child Eyes (Bisesi Music)
Gayle Bisesi is an enthusiastic singer who displays a great deal of joy in her singing. Her choice of notes is sophisticated and she knows what her voice can do.

Child Eyes is a delightful set of new music that sounds both traditional and fresh. It is impressive and fun, available at www.gaylebisesi.com.

On Child Eyes, she stretches herself constantly. Other than Charlie Parker’s “Another Hair-Do,” “Speak Low” and “Skylark,” all of the music was written by Gayle and her husband Nick Bisesi with lyrics by Gayle.

This is very much a jazz date with the singer’s insightful, philosophical and sometimes crazy lyrics (her words to “Another Hair-Do” are both humorous and autobiographical) perfectly matching the music. Some of the other numbers deal with fighting through life (“Day After Day”), looking for the purpose of one’s existence (“Awaken”), a dead-end job (“5 Ft. Under”) and youthful spirit (“Child Eyes”).

Background vocalists add to the excitement on a few numbers, particularly Awaken” and “I Am Grateful.” Nick Bisesi plays tenor or flute on many of the songs (a major asset) with the backup band also including guitarist Neal Alger, organist Ben Lewis, bassist Patrick Williams, drummer Eric Montzka and Kara Kesselring on accordion.

Scott Yanow
- May 2008 issue of the Los Angeles Jazz Scene

On Monday, March 10, 2008 we had the pleasure of having Gayle & Nick Bisesi and their band “Bisesi” do two performances in our auditorium as part of our annual “Fine Arts Week” at York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.

The band was superb and brought a wealth of professional playing experience to the stage. They included a creative mix of both original music and covers at the two periods of assembly concert they did for us. Through the strong emotions and power of their music they had no problem gaining and keeping the interest of our audiences.

I worked with Gayle as far as the scheduling and setting up of their performances at York and she was professional, prompt and efficient in all of my dealings with her. Based on the success of their performances at York, I plan to place “Bisesi” in the “highly recommended” file for future FAW events.

Curt Merrill
Fine Arts Week Comm. Chair
Music Dept.
York Community High School
Elmhurst, IL
- Fine Arts Week Comm. Chair, York Community High School, Elmhurst, IL - March 2008

Saxophonist Nick Bisesi’s Gemini is as warm and inviting as the subdued, brown hues that adorn its artwork. An all original program, save for the Johnny Mercer closer, Bisesi’s music has a Ballads-era Coltrane vibe in two lovely pieces, “Waltz for Gayle” and “Undercurrents,” and he shares a few devices of phrasing with the master. But his expressionistic depth, both as a player and a composer, lifts him far above imitator status. Tracks like “The Garden,” with its turn-on-a-dime ensemble play, and “Organic Combustion,” which juxtaposes a late Coltrane-ish opening riff against an amiable, airy landscape for tenor and guitar solos, are more out of a post-1970’s bag harmonically, while “Secret Agent of Change” bases its shifting arrangement around a welcome reggae beat (Bisesi overdubs wood flutes here very tastefully as well).

Bassist Patrick Williams and drummer Eric Montzka are on point throughout, but guitarist Neal Alger should be singled out for his consistently imaginative work. He and the leader share space and ideas like they’ve played together for years. And check out the surprise, unlisted track at the end of the disc, where Bisesi overdubs himself on saxophones and flutes for a quick but impressive minute.
- Review of Gemini

Listening to Nick Bisesi's second recording as a l...
Listening to Nick Bisesi's second recording as a leader, one would hardly suspect that the saxophonist recently switched to tenor after years as an altoist. He sounds every bit the seasoned tenorman, with a tone, mannerisms and overall conception that evoke aural images of, say, Michael Brecker and other post-Coltrane tenorists. But his polished sound and technique, combined with a fine ear and a lively imagination, make him a formidable player in his own right.

Except for the standard "I Remember You," Bisesi also "wrote" all the compositions on the album except "A Short Visit," which evolved as a collective free improvisation. In spite of that track's free construction, however, it and its companions exhibit mostly postbop concepts of melody and rhythm, as do the excellent improvisations by the leader and the other frontline soloist, Neal Alger, who varies his guitar sound from acoustic to electric to electronic tastefully. Alger is especially effective in his duo interplay with the tenorist on "I Remember You." Bassist Patrick Williams and drummer Eric Montzka meld with Alger to function as a well-integrated rhythm section that displays an acute sense of the requirements of this highly stimulating and satisfying music. -David Franklin

- -David Franklin