tony pancella

Music:

Member Since: 6/24/2007
Band Website: tonypancella.com
Band Members: MILES GRIFFITH & TONY PANCELLA TRIO
LARRY WILLIS - TONY PANCELLA PIANO DUET
TONY PANCELLA - BEPI D’AMATO DUET "Monk’s Songbook"
TONY PANCELLA TRIO

Larry Willis - Tony Pancella Piano Duet

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Phil Woods & Tony Pancella Trio

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Influences: Art Tatum, Errol Garner, Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, Al Haig, Dodo Marmarosa, Duke Jordan, Mary Lou Williams, Wynton Kelly, Red Garland, Bill Evans, Phineas Newborn Jr., Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock. Chick Corea, Gene Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Chris Anderson, Mal Waldron, Jimmy Rowles, Sir Roland Hanna, Jaki Byard, Horace Parlan, Kenny Drew, Ahmad Jamal, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Hank Jones, George Shearing, McCoy Tyner, Ray Bryant, Bobby Timmons, Ronnie Mathews, Walter Davis Jr, Walter Norris, Larry Willis, Cedar Walton, Geri Allen, Rodney Kendrick, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams, Donald Brown, Harold Mabern, John Hicks, Monty Alexander, Billy Childs, Martial Solal, Franco D'Andrea, Enrico Pieranunzi........ just to name a few pianists! Plus all the great music I grew up with: classical, jazz, pop, soul, funk...... no matter how you name it, there's only GOOD music and OTHER music as Duke Ellington said!

Sounds Like: ...LATEST REVIEWS:

Two pianos – one vision. Tony Pancella and Larry Willis have released a duo album titled Alter Ego and with their flow and beautiful lines, it is hard sometimes to see when they do alter, and that’s what makes this album superb. Dipping into the Miles Davis catalogue for "Blue in Green," Pancella and Willis are almost two Bill Evanses playing together with a touch of Wynton Kelly. The Willis-penned "To Wisdom, The Prize" is seven minutes of great counter play between the two. No one here takes the lead and now on here just follows. With duo albums it is sometimes clear who leads and who follows. Duke Ellington’s "Single Petal of a Rose" is not played in the Ellington standard. While Ellington could have played this with a flair of swing or stride, Willis and Pancella give it their own rendition – if The Duke were alive today and had a chance to hear this version, I am assuming he would be fully appreciative and give his blessing. The real core strength of this album is the Pancella and Willis-penned songs. From "Just Wait and See" to "Annika’s Lullabye," this duo is spot on. They do a wonderful version of "Alone Together" and for that, they really are and it could be possibly the best way. There are no alter egos on this album and as far as another collaboration, it will be welcomed, we will just have to wait and see.
Brenton Plourde (JAZZREVIEWS.COM)

(...) Willis does a different kind of playing and listening on the beautifully recorded Mapleshade disc ALTER EGO, actually led by the Italian pianist Tony Pancella. This set seems to be a hymn to the rhapsodic as two virtuosos play a handful of tunes that lend themselves to lush, melodic interplay: songs from the standard repertoire plus a few from the artists and one by the late pianist James Williams.
The tone of the session is set from the start on the Williams title tune. It flows forward in increasing beauty and if at first it’s disconcerting to not know who’s playing what, as the tune takes up momentum, it becomes clear that it’s about invention and sound and not a cutting contest. Pancella studied with Willis and so their work together here has a sense of joyous teacher/student exchange. Except that it ceases really to matter which is the student and which is the teacher — both players assume different roles at different times. It’s when they get to the standards that these men display just how much listening they’ve done and still do, from Ellington’s “Single Petal of a Rose” to a “Don’t Blame Me” that suggests Monk as done by players with classical training.
Every such connection on this lovely album bears fruit.
Donald Elfman (ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM)

Larry Willis is the more widely known quantity on Alter Ego, a piano duo recording with Italian Tony Pancella, who will be new to most American listeners despite his growing reputation throughout Europe. Pancella studied with Willis 15 years ago in New York City before returning to his native land, and the two remained in contact, beginning their two-piano partnership in Europe during 2003.
Like many piano collaborations, the music can be delicate and lovely, and it can be intensely swinging. After opening with the title track, a James Williams tune, the keyboardists move on to “Annika’s Lullabye” and “To Wisdom, the Prize,” compositions by Willis, and “Just Wait and See” by Pancella, then settle into three standards before closing with the Miles Davis-Bill Evans classic “Blue in Green.” While the original tunes tend to be pianistically busy and dense, “Don’t Blame Me” and Duke Ellington’s always beautiful “Single Petal of a Rose,” in particular, and “Alone Together,” offer the relaxed openness that is needed. The bookend pieces, “Alter Ego” and “Blue in Green,” as well as “Single Petal of a Rose,” are enough to recommend this collection, but there are plenty of other moments that will bring joy to jazz piano fans.
-Will Smith (JAZZTIMES Magazine)

"ALTER EGO" ”Duo pianists who really listen to one another”Tony Pancella Duo - Alter Ego (Larry Willis & Tony Pancella,pianos) Mapleshade Productions 11432, 51:01 ****:
"I'm automatically predisposed toward two-piano jazz, and a duo would have to be pretty bad to get me to knock it, but this one is A-1 material all the way! Larry Willis has made a number of recordings for Mapleshade and produced many others. Tony Pancella was born in Italy, has appeared on a dozen CDs, and after spending time on the New York jazz scene and studying with Larry Willis now teaches and performs in Europe. The two reunited at an Italian jazz festival and in 2003 toured Italy as a duo. This disc is the latest edition of eight of their musical conversations. Unlike jazz improvisers who are thrown together for the first time in the studio for a duo album, Willis and Pancella have an intimate feeling for each other's approach to the keyboard, which comes out in these smooth and swinging improvisations. There are two Willis originals, one by Pancella, an Ellington classic, and the closer is Miles Davis' hit Blue In Green."
- John Henry (AUDIOPHILE AUDITION Magazine www.audaud.com)

"SMILE AGAIN" "In the vein of notable names such as Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau and Kurt Elling, jazz vocalist Miles Griffith has a resounding presence filled with earthiness and panache. For his second release, Smile Again, Italian jazz pianist Tony Pancella and his trio/quartet join him for a rousing venture of traditional and modern compositions. Griffith's developing art form has been witnessed on recordings by Jimmy Heath and Wynton Marsalis, and most recently on Nick Russo's Ro. But his distinct scatting and vocalizations, which have been described as “scatolicious” and likened to “Satchmo on steroids,” really make him stand out as he entertains and exhibits a tremendous level of improvised technique. Covering the sounds of mainstream and modern jazz, the album literally takes flight with “Arioso (Take Flight And Be Free),” where Griffith provides warm and colorful lyrics, and the band swings divinely. From the urban/rural reflections of “Life in The City” to the dark clouds of “Here's That Rainy Day,” the vocals and the music cover a broad area of moods. The band is also tight, as on “Domingo,” where Pancella’s trio delivers impeccable timing and solos, and Griffith provides his own vocal instrument. The time-weathered classic “Autumn In New York” and the earthy ballad “Smile Again” are both warmly inviting, but there are also free exploits on “What Is That Beautiful Sound?” and ”Too High,” where Griffith mixes strange vocal sounds and the band offers dissonant lines. The recording closes with the spirit-lifting “Something Special,” which lends a warm glow to the set. Griffith is definitely one to watch and listen for, and this aptly titled release may indeed give listeners something to smile about.
"Mark F. Turner (ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM)
Record Label: Mapleshade Records; YVP Music; Philology;
Type of Label: Indie