Big George One for All

• 1 Chainsaw 06:59
• 2 In the Lead 06:20
• 3 Edgerly 05:32
• 4 Oscar Winner 08:41
• 5 My Foolish Heart 07:02
• 6 This I Dig of You 06:39
• 7 Cove Island Breeze 06:07
• 8 The Nearness of You 05:53
• 9 Leemo 05:59
• Total Runtime 59:12

Info for Big George

Acclaimed sextet One for All makes its much-anticipated return with BIG GEORGE, its first release in seven years and its 17th. The album reunites Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, David Hazeltine, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth, who are joined on three tracks by a very special guest saxophonist, their mentor and hero, NEA Jazz Master George Coleman.

Called “New York’s premier hard-bop supergroup” by JAZZTIMES, One for All has evolved over the course of its quarter-century history from a sextet of young torchbearers to an assemblage of the music’s most revered traditionalists. Just how in-demand these six artists have become can be traced by the span of time that elapses between albums. 2016’s THE THIRD DECADE followed its predecessor by five years; seven years of that decade have now passed before the band’s long-awaited follow-up, BIG GEORGE.

It once again features the unparalleled line-up of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist David Hazeltine, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth. This time around the group has invited a very special guest for the proceedings – tenor sax legend George Coleman. This album will also be released as a limited edition 6-track vinyl edition.

While the title of BIG GEORGE is a nod to Coleman, the session is not a “tribute album” in the traditional sense. The tip of the hat is more an acknowledgment of the giants who still walk among us – a list that has grown distressingly (if inevitably) shorter over the sextet’s 27-year lifetime. Coleman is a living legend with an emphasis on the “living,” and his vital presence on three of the album’s nine tracks is less about paying homage than an opportunity to breathe fire alongside one of the greatest to ever do it.

BIG GEORGE is also One for All’s second release for Smoke Sessions, a natural fit for the band given the role that Smoke Jazz Club has played in its history. One for All largely honed its sound on the stage at Augie’s, the club that formerly occupied the space now known as Smoke. The renowned club has remained a home for the band – and for Coleman, who traditionally celebrates his birthday on its stage every March.

The album’s release date comes one week after Coleman celebrates his 89th birthday on March 8. The Memphis native grew up amidst a stunning group of future trailblazers, including Charles Lloyd, Hank Crawford, Booker Little, and Smoke patron saint Harold Mabern. After serving apprenticeships with icons like Ray Charles and B.B. King, Coleman went on to play with many of jazz’ most influential names, including Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Slide Hampton, Chet Baker, Ahmad Jamal, Elvin Jones, and a notable stint in the Miles Davis Quintet.

Alexander explains, “I thought it was spectacular. His appearance makes it a little different from one of our typical dates because we crafted some head arrangements in the studio around what he was doing. That is a component that hasn’t really been shown on our recordings thus far.”

Jim Rotondi, trumpet
Eric Alexander, tenor & alto saxophones
Steve Davis, trombone
David Hazeltine, piano
John Webber, bass
Joe Farnsworth, drums
Special guest:
George Coleman, tenor saxophone

One for All
a cooperative sextet featuring Jim Rotondi, Eric Alexander, Steve Davis, David Hazeltine, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth--is known for hard-swinging, straight-ahead modern jazz. Their distinctive sound assimilates from the great traditions of Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, and the Jazztet with a 21st-century perspective.

Jim Rotondi
has been a major figure in the world of jazz for over 30 years, both in New York and on the international scene. His sound, soul, and sense of swing have been in demand as leader and sideman all over the world.

A Montana native raised in a musical family, Jim started with the piano at eight years old and switched to trumpet at age twelve. Two years later Jim heard a recording of Clifford Brown and he was on his way. A product of the prestigious music program at the University of North Texas, Jim won first place in the International Trumpet Guild’s Jazz Trumpet Competition in 1984.

After relocating to New York, Jim toured and recorded with a host of jazz luminaries, including the big bands of Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Grammy-winner Toshiko Akiyoshi, Bob Mintzer, and the small groups of Charles Earland, Lou Donaldson, Curtis Fuller and Joe Chambers. Jim currently leads two of his own groups, a quintet featuring vibraphonist Joe Locke in the front line, as well as an electric group, Full House, which also features pianist David Hazeltine. He is also a founding member of the collective sextet One For All, which features a front line of saxophonist Eric Alexander and trombonist Steve Davis, as well as the aforementioned Hazeltine, drummer Joe Farnsworth and bassist John Webber in the rhythm section. This all-star group is featured in the June 2009 issue of Jazztimes magazine.

Jim’s extensive recording experience most recently includes the 2016 release of his first date as a leader for the Smoke Sessions label, titled “Dark Blue”, featuring Joe Locke and David Hazeltine, following a host of successful releases on various labels. “Dark Blue” was very well received in the jazz world, receiving a 4-star review from Downbeat magazine and spending 3 weeks at #1 on the jazzradio.com international radio playlist. Having appeared on some 80 CD’s as a sideman, he can also be heard on several of Charles Earland’s Highnote Records releases, alongside saxophonist Eric Alexander, with whom Jim made his recording debut on Eric’s Delmark release “Straight Up.” Other recordings include saxophonist George Coleman’s Octet, featuring Harold Mabern, as well as drummer Ray Appleton’s Sextet, which features Slide Hampton, Charles McPherson, and John Hicks. The aforementioned One For All, whose Sharp Nine Records releases ”Too Soon To Tell” and “Optimism” received critical acclaim from Cadence and The Detroit Free Press, also have 18 CD’s to their credit. ​

Jim currently resides in Graz, Austria, where he is Professor of Jazz Trumpet at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts, after having been active professionally in the New York City area for 25 years. He has given clinics at Emory University in Atlanta, the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop and served on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop in Palo Alto, California, Seminari Jazz Internazionali in Orsara, Italy, as well as having been Jazz Trumpet Professor at Rutgers University, and an affiliate faculty member at the State University of New York in Purchase.

This album contains no booklet.