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UMass Jazz Faculty Quartet ‘HGTS’ Releases New CD
Instrumental jazz faculty members Jeff Holmes (piano/trumpet), Tom Giampietro (drums), Fumi Tomita (bass) and Felipe Salles (saxophones) have released a new CD of their original music on Summit Records titled “…and then they played…” For this release, the group has called themselves “HGTS,” an acronym of their last names, and the CD’s title is taken from a tune of the same name by Jeff Holmes. This is the first CD that the four have recorded together, although they have been playing together as colleagues for years.
The CD includes nine original tunes by the four artists: “Not at All,” “…and then they played…,” and “Thornbush” by Jeff Holmes; “Again Says Julia” and “Faith Rewarded” by Tom Giampietro; “Rowley Street” and “Minnesota in Montana” by Fumi Tomita and “Unintentional Hipness” and “Arrival” by Felipe Salles.
Multi-Grammy winner and legendary jazz, fusion and popular musician Randy Brecker wrote that the recording “is just a first-class endeavor, with wonderfully melodic yet some complex original compositions in different ‘bags’ by all, and great playing no matter what ‘bag’ they are in!” Grammy-winning saxophonist/composer Jeff Coffin wrote about the CD, “This is a group of friends making music together. You can hear that their stories are intertwined, and this makes the music come alive in a particular way. There is no substitute for familiarity…”
More information and reviews, along with samples and purchase options, are available at the Summit Records release page.