Released on Sunnyside Records March 14th 2025
New York City Jazz Record
Hayes Greenfield has worn many hats during his long jazz career: alto saxophonist, composer, arranger, educator, filmmaker and more. But this digital-only release, Gravity Unplugged, is a departure from his past recordings, with Greenfield using EFX pedals with his saxophone in a free-spirited session with Ariel De La Portilla (bass) and either Todd Turkisher or Chuck Palmer (drums). The musicians create improvised music that sometimes leads into a familiar melody, while there are also stand-alone free improvisations. With the deft use of pedals, the electronic accents take the music into new territory, as the leader mimics a variety of different instruments.
“En Route To Nardis” takes an extended, twisted path into the timeless Miles Davis modal masterpiece, incorporating exotic rhythms and voice-like effects. Greenfield’s treatment of Thelonious Monk’s “Monk’s Dream” brings out the composer’s humorous side in a different way: the EFX pedal adds a loopy electronic echoing unison line to his alto sound. “Shorty, Gravity and Beyond” is a trio improvisation, a slowly evolving piece with an ominous air. It’s impossible to avoid smiling when hearing the blues “Blooz Snooze”, which stretches well beyond the traditional sounds of the genre. The wildest track is the madcap mashup of “While Bud and Chi Chi’s Honeysuckle Rose Scrappled with the Apple”, launched with Monk’s “In Walked Bud” at a fast tempo, retaining its chord structure while taking a few liberties with it using a hilarious selection of electronic effects. De La Portilla provides a spacious rhythmic line and Palmer’s light brushwork keeps the energy level high. The tempo slows for a long, zany segue that finally evolves into a light-hearted rendition of Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose”, then almost an immediate switch to a bop favorite, Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple from the Apple”, which utilizes the chord progression of Waller’s masterpiece, before reverting back to the former tune.
Concluding the album is a musically fascinating journey that finally reaches its destination with a suitably offbeat interpretation of Monk’s long-time theme song, “Epistrophy” (co-written with drummer Kenny Clarke in the ’40s). The trio darts in and out of the bop anthem, stretching far beyond listener expectations with its variety of rhythm and electronic seasoning. For more info visit sunnysiderecords.com.
Ken Dryden
Released on Sunnyside Records November 15th 2023
A particularly fine album, “Lover to You” by alto saxophonist Hayes Greenfield and double bassist Dean Johnson… Greenfield is a great composer and he has an extremely catchy sound in his saxophone playing, … “I can't make you love me like I wish I could” is one of the highlights on this album with its wonderful swing. Dean and Hayes rock out, great. The title track “Lover to You” closes the album in a brilliant way, an emotional ballad that hits the listener straight to the heart! In short, this album is a big surprise.
Jan van Leersum - Rootstime.BE
Ancient Victories Newsletter
Thank goodness for this CD. The duo work of Hayes Greenfield, alto sax and Dean Johnson, bass, was long overdue for this kind of aural documentation. They mesh, they soar, they anticipate and egg-on one another…What struck me most is the CD did not get stale and that these are great lyrical artists. They are both very much like skilled vocalists who take a song and make it their own with nuances of phrasing and inflection. This is what you will hear throughout.
Jon Block
New York City Jazz Record
Greenfield’s “The music Never Dies” is a solid opener, the saxophonist utilizing the full scope of his horn; Johnson’s creative accompaniment and brilliant solo suggest milt Hinton’s humor and percussive effects. The extended exploration of Thelonious monk’s “Ask me Now” makes great use of space, and the musicians take the tune into unexpected places. “Secret Love”, a song long part of their live repertoire, is thoroughly reworked beginning with a staccato introduction and continuing with creative solos, the performance has a sassiness rarely present in interpretations of this standard. Their playful setting of Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” showcases the duo’s humor: Greenfield’s veiled song quotes elicit whimsical responses from Johnson. The saxophonist’s “I Can’t make You Love me Like I Wish I Could” has a tongue-in-cheek air, while his bittersweet ballad “Lover to You” conveys heartbreak without a lyric.
Ken Dryden
Independent Jazz Writers
Hi Hayes,
Yes, I did receive it. Thanks! You and Dean have a lovely chemistry together. I dug your intimate interpretations of those Monk and Fats tunes. Very sweet!
Bill Milkowski
Hi Hayes, I'm listening to Lover to You on Bandcamp, and want to commend you and Dean on a very enjoyable duet recording. You both sound completely at ease, and you are fluid, full of playfulness, mostly buoyant (occasionally plaintive) with virtuosically juicy full tone. The originals' melodies make an impression, without strain. An album of jazz that's right for anybody-everybody. Fun and cool. thanks for it!
Howard Mandel