www.myspace.com/donalfoxprojects
Donal Fox
Composer - Pianist
Donal Fox
Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project
2008 Tanglewood Jazz Festival
"'Firefly' was driving and forceful from the beginning, with Fox demonstrating how fast and flexible his piano playing is. It switched to some 4/4 swing before Wolff--a fast and fleet improviser with single mallets- -played a bluesy solo that built in intensity. Scott was in good form, bold and brassy with occasional burning be-bop runs. The music showed the dexterity and virtuosity of the musicians, as well as Fox's ability to meld musical themes into a powerful overall statement that holds interest throughout."
--All About Jazz
"Fox's set stretched to about 90 minutes, as the audience clamored for one of the weekend's few encores. They got it—and it was worth it—as 'Italian Concerto Blues' married Bach to a New Orleans bamboola rhythm."
-- JazzTimes
"Saturday night's bill opened with Donal Fox: Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project with trumpeter Christian Scott. The set was brilliant. Intellectual beyond my comprehension, but fascinating. There is no way to passively listen to Fox."
-- Broadway World
Donal Fox
Monk and Bach project
Jazz at Lincoln Center
"The Monk part of the project this evening was 'Misterioso,' given a happy, caribbean flavor and featuing a shy Nash solo. The trio took a restrained final chorus on this tune, and set the stage beautifully for a simple and moving rendition of Bach's Air on a G String. Nash brought out his brushes and Mraz provided a clear underscoring to Fox's unadorned, heartrending playing."
--MJ Territo, Jazz Improv Magazine, Feb. 2006
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"Fox, equally steeped in jazz and classical, utilizes Monk and Bach as mere samples of his cross-genre The spontaneity in the improvisational-based performances framed by Fox's understanding and virtuosity in both idioms allowed him naturally to incorporate and explore themes of each on moment's notice, resulting in a personal combination of the two."
--All About Jazz, New York, Jan. 2006
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"Fox's band has the Modern Jazz Quartet's poise and John Coltrane Quartet's power"
Composer/pianist Donal Fox has forged a unique amalgam of jazz, Latin American, and classical music. Past projects have focused on Johann Sebastian Bach, but the centerpiece of Saturday night's Regattabar performance was a jazz suite incorporating the music of Domenico Scarlatti.
-- Kevin Lowenthal, Boston Globe, Jun. 2006
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Donal Fox
Ugly Beauty (Evidence)
"Pianist/composer Donal Fox, has an extensive classical background, which contributes a formal breadth to his duo with the ubiquitous tenorman David Murray on Ugly Beauty. He pulls orchestral maneuvers from the piano on 'Hope Scope,' caresses Monk's title song with impressionistic arpeggios and harmonic insinuations, and builds his own 'Vamping with T.T.' on winding chromatic figures (kicked along by a soupcon of stride). Murray counters with some of his most abstract, unconventional playing yet. A stimulating, surprising date."
--Art Lange, Pulse! Magazine
"His music is unlike that of anyone else, while at the same time it
evokes McCoy Tyner, Art Tatum, the intensity of Coltrane and of the
blues, shades of Bach and Cuban music. In other words, his
compositions have an inherent solidity, not like music which
fluctuates to fit current fashions."
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--Jean Szlamowicz, Jazz Hot Magazine
Pianist Donal Fox yearns to knock down the walls between jazz and classics,
mere rumble-strips in other cultures.
"Jazz is following a condensed chronology of classical development; notation
is to the forefront schools teach it; Gunther Schuller and Wynton Marsalis
play jazz as classical repertory, imitating past recordings to the letter,"
Fox says. "Players who say it's harder to play jazz can't hack the classical
technique; classical players who say jazz players don't play in tune can't
swing."
Full Story Here
--Fred Bouchard, Downbeat Magazine
"Pianist Fox has an uncanny way of drawing out the best from Murray on tenor
sax and bass clarinet. . . . Fox thinks quickly, moves readily between
chordal and 'free' frames of reference, and has a sharp improvisational
intelligence that might be as rooted in Scriabin as in Tatum. . . . the most
apt partnership since Murray's duets with Randy Weston . . . "
--Norman Weinstein, Boston Phoenix
". . . the two instruments (piano and tenor) come flying out of the gate in a
sensational flurry of improvisation."
--The Vancouver Sun
". . . a scintillating set of duos ranging from a poignant version of the
Monk title track [Ugly Beauty] to some free jazz vamping and experiments with
ostinatos, arranged piano and minimalism."
--Denver Post
". . . [Fox] often hammering the keys to surprisingly melodic effect in a
manner that recalls both Don Pullen and early Cecil Taylor."
--Stereo Review
"This collaborative venture is brimming with supple intelligence over arching
romanticism and the rare art of surprise."
--Nicky Baxter, Option Magazine
"If you're bored with the meandering of pattern bebop players; check in on
Fox and Murray."
--Gene Hayhoe, Capital Times