GRAMMY<\/b>\u24c7<\/b> Nominated Pianist, Composer and Arranger Bill O\u2019Connell Announces the Release of <\/b>A Change Is Gonna Come<\/i><\/b>, A Jazz Luminary\u2019s Musings on a Fraught World, Out January 28, 2022 via Savant Records<\/b><\/p>\n
Savant Records<\/b> is pleased to announce the<\/span> January 28, 2022<\/b> release of <\/span>A Change is Gonna Come<\/i><\/b>, the powerful new release from esteemed pianist, composer, arranger and newly-minted GRAMMY<\/span>\u24c7<\/b> nominee <\/span>Bill O\u2019Connell<\/b>. This particular moment in history is a fraught one;<\/span> A Change Is Gonna Come <\/i><\/b>brings that point home with impassioned music reacting to the rampant racial and political injustice and pandemic-fueled turmoil of the present moment. <\/span>A Change is Gonna Come<\/i><\/b> features O\u2019Connell alongside bassist <\/span>Lincoln Goines<\/b>, drummer <\/span>Steve Jordan<\/b>, percussionist <\/span>Pedrito Martinez<\/b>, and special guest <\/span>Craig Handy <\/b>tenor and soprano saxophone.<\/span><\/p>\n Lauded for his boundless, uncompromising prowess in the realm of Latin jazz, O\u2019Connell\u2019s fruitful musical journey began in 1977 when O\u2019Connell began his tenure as the keyboardist for the legendary Mongo Santamaria\u2019s Latin jazz band. A departure from the clav\u00e9-driven Latin jazz pocket that so often permeates O\u2019Connell\u2019s work, the pianist is heard here displaying his remarkable facility in the straight-ahead jazz idiom. The release of <\/span>A Change is Gonna Come <\/i><\/b>comes as O\u2019Connell is fresh off the heels of his thrilling GRAMMY<\/span>\u24c7<\/b> nomination for \u2018Best Arrangement (Instrumental or A Capella)\u2019 for the song \u201cChopsticks\u201d on Richard Barratta\u2019s album <\/span>Music in Film: The Reel Deal.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This impassioned release is intrinsically tied to the unique and trying times in which it was created. O\u2019Connell remarks: \u201cI look at recordings this way: each one is a snapshot of how I\u2019m feeling at this particular time in my life… Each song reflects a different feeling at a particular moment.\u201d The pianist and composer channels his frustration, anger and grief for the medical, racial, economic and political turmoil that plagues our country into electrifying compositions that feature the masterful interplay of this tightly-knit outfit of jazz notables.<\/span><\/p>\n It was while performing with Sonny Rollins that the pianist first crossed paths with renowned drummer Steve Jordan. \u201cWe had an immediate chemistry going, but it was short-lived\u2014about a month. Ever since then we\u2019ve been trying to get together on a project. I finally called him up and I said, \u2018Steve, I think it\u2019s time.\u2019 So he was into it, and we finally got it together to do this, so I\u2019m very pleased that he\u2019s on the record,\u201d O\u2019Connell notes. Jordan, who recently joined <\/span>The Rolling Stones<\/b> in place of the late Charlie Watts, is the album’s co-producer.<\/span><\/p>\n A more frequent presence on O\u2019Connell\u2019s dates is bassist Lincoln Goines, with whom he spent some thirty-odd years in flutist Dave Valentin\u2019s rhythm section\u2014before he became the pianist\u2019s go-to bassist. \u201cLincoln and I have a long musical relationship, and I can\u2019t say enough about what he brings to my music,\u201d he says. \u201cI love what he does on both acoustic and electric bass.\u201d Guest saxophonist Craig Handy puts rich veins of both adventure and soul into O\u2019Connell\u2019s compositions, <\/span>A Change is Gonna Come<\/i><\/b> is the third album of O\u2019Connell\u2019s that features Handy. The pair first worked together in trombonist Conrad Herwig\u2019s Latin Side big band\u2026 which is where O\u2019Connell first encountered Pedrito Martinez, the record\u2019s other guest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Connell stirs the grey-matter with thoughtful original compositions such as \u201c<\/span>A Prayer For Us<\/b>\u201d. The piece is a vulnerable, gospel-inspired number. \u201cI didn\u2019t write it out this way, but you could also think of it as \u2018A Prayer for U.S.,\u2019\u201d O\u2019Connell muses, looking back on episodes of turmoil that fell through his country like dominoes. His improvising on the tune\u2019s gentle swing has a bittersweet cast; one isn\u2019t sure whether to be sad or hopeful. Perhaps that\u2019s appropriate, too. \u201c<\/span>Covid Blues<\/b>\u201d is a B-flat blues with a plaintive soprano line that captures the anxiety, the ennui, the claustrophobia we\u2019ve all been cycling through. Yet in its playful three-way duel between O\u2019Connell, Handy, and Jordan, it also has a glimmer of hope. \u201cWe have to remain optimistic in the crazy time we\u2019re going through,\u201d says O\u2019Connell. \u201c<\/span>Sun For Sonny<\/b>\u201d is a tip-of-the-hat to the great Sonny Rollins who once employed each member of the trio. The calypso groove and \u201cSt. Thomas\u201d quote in O\u2019Connell\u2019s melody was your answer. It\u2019s also suitably (for a Rollins tribute) percussive\u2014with Martinez returning and Goines switching to the electric bass\u2014and suitably sunny and danceable. After Handy and O\u2019Connell reinforce that feeling in their solos, Goines and Martinez double down on it with two rounds of upbeat funk.<\/span><\/p>\n