Trey  Wright
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Trey Wright

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"Squat Press Quotes:"

Squat Press quotes:

“We should all count ourselves lucky to have a hometown combo this cool!”
- Atlanta Journal and Constitution

“Athens best jazz band!”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta

“Some of the most eloquently funky and wildly energetic jazz and improv music”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“Local favorite Squat (is) one of Athens most innovative bands”
- The Bell Ringer, Augusta GA

“Squat pulls off everything from straight ahead swing to gospel and makes it speak with authority”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA

“outstanding musicians doing something they love, and that feeling comes across to the crowd”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“young and capable ensemble has dazzled crowds around town and around the country”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“Athens fusion torchbearers”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“eclectic and versatile Athens ensemble .. . the best jazz band in Athens. They haul ass, switch instruments, take risks, and easily shrug off mistakes”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“a rarity and treat for those who like adventurous instrumental music …. Solid musicianship and musical inventiveness”
- Macon Telegraph, Macon, GA

“surprisingly groovy jazz”
- Stomp and Stammer, Atlanta, GA

“both hard core jazz fans and the young newly initiated find this quirky band worth listening to, a melting pot of new and old jazz sounds”
- Asheville Citizen Times, Asheville, NC

“jazzy, funky, unpredictable talented local combo mixing elements of funk, Caribbean, and hip hop with bits of hardbop, Latin Afro-Cuban, and rock. Squat regularly ventures into a broad field of musical experience”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“Squat has been cooking up some of the most eloquently funky and wildly energetic jazz music in the local scene since forming in 1994 … they are all technically skilled players open minds and sharp ears”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA

“Athens jazz fusion heavyweights”
- Red and Black, Athens, GA

“Squat’s concerts usually results in more than one audience member being moved by the band’s wealth of talent”
- Red and Black, Athens, GA

Squat is “a work of post modern musical architecture. Exploded forms of bossa nova are bolted to gospel throw downs. Cyclical trip hop phrasing gets squeezed between syncopated layers of Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and all these disparate wings are anchored by an armature of jazz”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA

“seasoned Latin-infected jazz combo”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA

- Various


"Where I'm Calling From"

Squat guitarist Trey Wright would almost certainly take it as a compliment if someone mistook the beginning of Where I’m Calling From for the opening strains of the Miles Davis landmark album Kind of Blue. While Wright makes music that is quite different from songs found on the classic modal jazz experimental LP, the lead-off track “You Should Know By Now” has a familiar wide-eyed depressed city dweller ambiance that will catch the ear of the typical music fan who won’t listen to a jazz album recorded after 1972.

That would be their loss, as Wright’s album bristles with the kind of boundless imagination that turned the authorities against jazz in the first place. Wright is assisted by Marlon Patton on drums, Scott Smith on upright bass, E.J. Hughs on tenor sax, Mace Hibbard on alto sax, Kevin Hyde on trombone, and Carl Lindberg on Djembe. The whole thing may in the end be his show, but his collaborators fill in each space until the song is practically vibrating with color and energy.

“Muse” is an appropriately inspiring tune. Starting off with a cheery, vaguely Salsa opening that soon leads into the more difficult and less lively passages. Like many other of the songs on Where I’m Calling From, “Muse” requires a good deal of patience from the listener, even if the immediacy of the music is truly captivating. Trey Wright has an excellent grasp of just what makes jazz music seductive, eerie, and narcotically blissful all at once. The ordinary thing for a musician with these influences in modern times is to channel them through something more contemporary. Wright apparently doesn’t care if Where I’m Calling From sounds dated to the average listener. He realizes that the music will naturally appeal to specific tastes regardless of its undeniable quality. (Namaste Records)
- Southeastern Performer


"Where I'm Calling From"

Atlanta guitarist Trey Wright is quickly becoming one of the most interesting guitarists on the scene today. A longtime member of the modern jazz outfit, Squat, Wright’s debut album Where I’m Calling From, proves that he can also make great jazz as a leader as well as a sideman.

The playing and writing on this album are more reminiscent of the east coast vibe of the late ‘90s and early 2000s than of what one would expect from a group residing in the American south. The music is edgy, energetic, and will keep you glued to your speakers throughout. Of particular note is the performance of E.J. Hughes on tenor sax. Hughes has the control to play a slow-moving gripping solo full of melodies and motives as well as turn out a burning, intense solo, and he knows exactly when to play the right notes with the right emotional context.

The tunes were all written by Wright except for Nick Drake’s “River Man,” a tune often played by pianist Brad Mehldau, whom Wright cites as one of his biggest influences. Each tune sounds like a composition, not just a vehicle for blowing on. As well, the diversity of each tune allows the album to grow on the listener and not become stagnant or repetitive.

I would highly recommend this album to any fan of jazz guitar, especially those who are into the more modern players like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Adam Rogers and Ben Monder. Though it is easy to group Wright in with these great guitarists, his sound and writing put him in a category of his own.

Review by Matthew Warnock

Just Jazz Guitar November 2006

- Just Jazz Guitar Magazine


"ABC Pick: Trey Wright Trio"

Trey Wright Trio

Flicker Theatre & Bar, Friday, February 17

Trey Wright

It’s always nice to have options when exploring a song, and the versatility to take advantage of those options is the hallmark of a talented performer and composer. Jazz guitarist Trey Wright is one of those guys who takes an opportunity when he sees it, as evidenced on his new album Where I’m Calling From, recorded at his home studio in Decatur and self-released this week. Most of the songs - inspired by, among others, Brad Mehldau, Jim Hall and Bill Evans - were written on a recent trip to Oregon, though some come from Wright’s graduate recital for his master’s degree from Georgia State University. Says Wright, “I typically write on the piano, but all of these songs were written on the guitar first. I find it easier to write when I am traveling and away from my comfort zone.”

Best known around Athens for his work in jazz-fusion combo Squat, Wright recorded his new album with a group of musicians centered around the trio of Wright, drummer Marlon Patton and upright bassist Scott Smith. “Playing with a trio allows more room for space… During most of last winter and spring, Marlon and I would go to Scott’s house for a weekly session of playing through standards and charts. When I decided to make a record under my name, it made sense to use them. Both of them are extremely sensitive players that really know how to bring out the dynamics of each song.”

Where I’m Calling From comes across as both dramatic and precise; Carl Lindberg and Kevin Hyde, familiar names in local jazz, also contributed to the album, which includes a jazz interpretation of Nick Drake’s “River Man.” The Trio performing at Flicker tonight at 8:30 p.m. will include Wright, Patton and bassist Chris Enghauser.

Chris Hassiotis
- Flagpole Magazine


"Squat's Trey Wright Releases Solo CD"


Squat's Trey Wright releases solo CD

By S. Blanco | Correspondent | Story updated at 12:42 AM on Thursday, February 16, 2006

While Trey Wright's first solo album is titled "Where I'm Coming From," the record tries to explain where he has been.

Wright is a jazz guitarist who wears many hats: He plays in Squat, teaches at LaGrange College, Kennesaw State University, the Atlanta Institute of Music, is a Jazz Artist in Residence at the University of Georgia and has a book coming out this year.

His busy schedule still allows for travel, and that's where inspiration strikes.

"For me, I have to completely get out of my environment to write," Wright says. "Nothing inspires me more than travel. The CD for me is a chance to explore what we don't with Squat. The birth of (this album) started with me doing a side project while I lived in Athens (in 1999) and hoping to create minimalist sounds. I think this CD does a pretty good job of capturing who I am and what I want in a CD. I'm really happy with it."

The album was recorded in July, 2005, at Wright's home in Decatur. He has played with Squat since co-founding the band in 1994 and this is his first solo record. In 2000-2001, he went back to Georgia State University for a master's degree in Jazz Studies. While there, he says, he started writing music that was too moody for Squat. Shortly thereafter, he took a trip to Eugene, Oregon where he wrote the majority of music on "Where I'm Coming From."

Wright says his travels to Europe and India also influenced the CD. In his solo music he is interested in creating moods, such as the feeling of driving through Utah and seeing the different layers of the sediment popping up all over the landscape.

"A song like "In The Open," for me, refers to my wife and I driving out west, spending 12 to 14 hours in the car, driving all night," he says.

"Where I'm Coming From" includes one cover song, a version of Nick Drake's "River Man," which Wright says made an impression on him not only because of the "bizarre" original with "these baroque arrangements in the background" but also because of Brad Mehldau's version of the song, which to Wright, attempts to create a mood rather than impress people. Wright even named one of his original songs "Drake" because he likes Drake's style so much.

"One thing I think, as jazz musicians, we tend to get locked into the jazz traditions, we forget to look beyond the borders," he says. "It seems like a simple and honest expression, when I listen to (Drake's) records. And that's the impression I want to give as well."

Wright's book "Intro to Jazz Harmony for the Guitar" will be released by Mel Bay later this year.

HEAD:Trey Wright Trio

CD release party for Wright's 'Where I'm Coming From'

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17

Where: Flicker Theatre and Bar, 263 W. Washington St.

Cost: $6

Call: (706) 546-0039


Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 021606

- Athens Banner Herald


Discography

2006 Trey Wright Where I'm Calling From
2005 Bousfield The Seed
2004 Squat Recycled
2003 Dan Gardner More Than Life
2002 Squat Gruelash
2000 Squat Athfest Compilation
1999 Squat Placebo
1997 Squat Tales From the Side of the Road
1995 Squat Cycles

Photos

Bio

Trey Wright began playing guitar at age 15. Initially inspired by the blues, Trey was exposed to jazz early in his development by a private instructor. While studying Sociology at the University of Georgia, Wright furthered his study of jazz improvisation with pianist and composer Steve Dancz. In 1994, he co-founded the Athens/Atlanta based jazz band Squat. The group is a four time winner of the Best Jazz Award at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards and has been a featured artist at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Twilight Athens Jazz Festival, Harvest Midtown, and has performed with Medeski, Martin, and Wood; the B-52’s; Maceo Parker; Maynard Ferguson; the Squirrel Nut Zippers; and the Charlie Hunter Trio. Along with managing Squat and producing five independent CD releases, Trey plays guitar and piano with the group touring throughout the Southeast.

Trey also plays freelance in the Athens and Atlanta area and has performed with upright and electric bassist John Patitucci, Jimmy Haslip, Grammy winning saxophonist Joe Lovano, and Mel Bay guitarist Corey Christiansen. With the Steve Dancz Quartet and the UGA Jazz Band, Trey has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz A Vienne, and the World Sacred Music Festival in Bangalore, India. As a solo guitarist and with his trio, Trey has been a featured performer at the Athens Music and Arts Festival, the Lake Oconee Jazz Festival, and the Atlanta Jazz Festival, as well as residencies at Gylands, Last Call, and AMF in Athens, GA and Loco’s Pub and the Five Spot in Atlanta, GA. Trey’s solo guitar style is a unique blend of Americana, Jazz, Brazilian, gospel, and world music.

In December of 2002, Trey completed a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies at Georgia State University, and he currently is on faculty at LaGrange College, Kennesaw State University, the Atlanta Institute of Music, and is a Visiting Guest Artist at the University of Georgia. In February of 2006, Trey will be releasing his first solo CD, Where I'm Calling From and putting the finishing touches on his first book Comping the Blues: An Introduction to Jazz Harmony for the Guitar, to be published in late 2006.