Solo Piano at Wave Hill

Three live solo shows at Wave Hill in their 50th Anniversary “Night Lights” concert series.

Review: All About Jazz

“4.5 / 5 Stars! ‘Sky/Lift’ communicates all of the optimism, love of life and the sheer joy of making music. Everything about Ingram’s music is completely self-assured and big, creating extended aural landscapes that envelop and excite, soothe and invigorate. Matt Clohesy and Jochen Rueckert are superb; Mike Moreno must be singled out for special attention. On the tracks on which he plays, Moreno seems to be psychically connected to Ingram. Thrilling to hear.”
— Budd Kopman, All About Jazz

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Review: Expedition Audio

“‘Sky/Lift,’ the Sunnyside label debut of pianist Randy Ingram and most welcome and overdue successor to 2009s ‘The Road Ahead’ (Brooklyn Jazz Underground), announces itself immediately as an album of warmth, openness, buoyancy, thoughtfulness and optimism, and maintains a course reflective of these qualities in both clear-eyed and true fashion right through to its finish. The musicians–Mike Moreno (g); Matt Clohesy (b); Jochen Rueckert (d) and Mr. Ingram–reveal themselves to be both individualistically richly talented and a swinging, cohesive and communicative unit.

All compositions except pianist Bill Evans’ Time Remembered are the work of the Alaskan-born, SoCal raised and current Brooklyn, NY resident pianist and session leader, with the first four tracks alternating quartet and trio performances respectively. The disc’s first and title track takes off in suspended fashion, as if floating on air or contemplating the sky above, inexorably building, during and following solo turns from Mr. Ingram and Mr. Moreno, towards its exciting and uplifting conclusion. At 12:00 minutes in length, the longest cut on the album, 99 hews close to its underlying rhythmic essence throughout. Proceeding with more linearity than its musical companions do, it’s a work that’s both grippingly propelling and solidly anchored, often offering a near-mesmeric listening experience. The spotlight rests almost entirely squarely on Mr. Ingram for the album’s two trio tracks, Silent Cinema, a work of melodious, low-lit melodrama and the airier and brighter Time Remembered. Whether a name-checked salute to the Missourian city, a tribute to Mr. Armstrong, or something else entirely, ‘St. Louis’ is a winningly effervescent number, with Mr. Moreno and Mr. Ingram, in that order, contributing solos.

If interest has thus far been piqued, then rest assured the remaining three quartet tracks, The Sea, Late Romantic and the nakedly upbeat and concluding Nicky fulsomely maintain and extend the many and varied qualities described heretofore. Both Bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Jochen Rueckert contribute in sturdy and often suitably subtle fashion throughout.

It’s sometimes possible to listen to a jazz quartet and imagine it, whether through want or necessity, as a quintet or a sextet. In the case of this quartet, their sonic signature is so pleasing, exacting and precisely balanced as to render that imagined need or idea moot. In doubling the size of his leader discography, pianist Randy Ingram exponentially increases the listener’s need for more recordings, and the sooner the better.”
— Larry Isacson, Expedition Audio

Randy Ingram Quartet live on WBGO

The Randy Ingram Quartet had a great time recording a live session at WBGO’s The Checkout with Joshua Jackson, produced by Simon Rentner. Mark your calendars: the session will air on August 19 at 6:30pm! Here are some photos of the session, all taken by Tim Wilkins, WBGO. To become a member, visit wbgo.org and support one of the world’s top independent jazz radio stations.

Review: Jazz Weekly

“Here’s a pianist that has a touch on the ivories I could listen to for weeks. Randy Ingram leads a quartet with Mike Moreno/g, Matt Clohesy/b and Jochen Rueckert/dr for eight originals that have a sound all their own. I’m sure there are influences of icons gone by, but his thoughtful touch mixes melody and gentle passion in a way I haven’t heard in years.

“Except for the quirky and kinetic “St. Louis,” all of the pieces have a gentle tidal flow to them. “Silent Cinema” and “The Sea” feature Ingram delivering elegiac intros that almost wish that the accompaniment would never arrive, but when it does you’re in for an even better ride.

“The gentle empathy on these pieces and “Sky/Lift” have a genteel ambulation that lets each artist create a symbiotic texture, yet each artist gets his own chance to shine as well. Moreno’s lithe guitar bends and gently twists on “99” and the aforementioned “St. Louis,” while otherwise providing accompaniment to Ingram on the statements of the themes. Clohesy and Rueckert work like a hockey front line passing the puck before the final slap shot. This is a band that needs to get to the Best Coast. Encore!”
— George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

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Review: Jazz Magazine

“Lots of serenity and introspection are found with Randy Ingram, who played the role of Bill Evans in the biopic about Monica Zetterlund that opened last month: “Sky Lift” offers a chance to hear a young pianist who plays in a tight, narrative way, along the lines of Aaron Parks. Mike Moreno (guitar), Matt Clohesy (bass) and Jochen Rueckert (drums) lift this album to a high musical level.”
— Jazz Magazine (France)

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Review: Downbeat

““Pianist Randy Ingram’s core group here is a trio, with bassist Matt Clohsey and drummer Jochen Ruckert, and their starting point is Bill Evans, making an explicit nod to that piano god with his “Time Remembered”. As you might expect, there’s the requisite, Evans-like flowing lyricism and ensemble elasticity throughout the album. In fact, the inclusion of guitarist Mike Moreno on five tracks is evidently and acknowledgment of Evans’ collaboration with Jim Hall.

“But Ingram tends to think on a different scale than his hero. Take “Silent Cinema”, which is more rhapsodic than Evans’ tune-based pieces. And “99” (for the Occupy movement) is more in the post-rock mode of Brad Mehldau and Kurt Rosenwinkel.

“Moreno, meanwhile, articulates far more aggressively than Hall. All of these are good things, distinguishing the music as Ingram’s own. Especially appealing is the simpatico playing of Ingram and Moreno. Their unison melody lines punctuate the ascent of the title cut, and Ingram seems to take special pleasure in commenting on Moreno’s solos both rhythmically and harmonically, punching up the velocity with his chording or whispering quiet encouragement.

“In a different mood, the guitarist and pianist take turns skating over the very Evans-like glide of the triple-time “Late Romantic”. On “St. Louis”, the spiky, broken unison line of the theme, with Rueckert playing freely across his kit, recalls some long-lost Keith Jarrett/Sam Brown/Paul Motian collaboration of yore. And “Nicky”, for the late rock pianist Nicky Hopkins, is a kind of country-rock shuffle that allows everyone ,especially Moreno, to cut loose. It might make you forget all about Bill Evans. Which can also be a good thing.””
— Jon Garelick, Downbeat