After finishing up his May/June mini-tour with George Benson, our rez piano wizard David Witham is currently on tour with the Ernie Watts Quartet. (He has a cool blog about life as a touring artist, which you can check out on his MySpace page.)
David will make some local stops here in LA-LA Land during the dog dayze of August with an appearance with Our Fearless Leader Jeff Gauthier's Goatette at Alex Cline's Open Gate Concert Series (Sunday, Aug. 5) and a 3-night live-recording stint at the Jazz Bakery with Watts (Aug. 23-25). Check out the Crypto Tour Page for more dates from Crypto artists and their pals.
Last week, David was interviewed on The Jazz Session with David Crane. You can check it out here. In the meantime, here's some press that's come in about David recent album on Crypto, Spinning The Circle:
"Witham gives us a challenging, set that varies wildly in tempo, mood, and structure while maintaining a steady level of interest...With a crew of open-minded, seasoned pros assembled, Witham made a jazz record for sure, but often grafted in parts of other kinds of music. It makes for an eclectic mix, a mix that keeps the listener engaged and wondering what will happen next...Amazing how a guy barely known can still be so surprising, when you consider the crowd he runs with. But with a disc like Spinning The Circle, he's a guy whose music is something I wouldn't mind with getting much better acquainted." (Pico, Blogcritics)
"Spinning the Circle is not a just a platform for Witham’s playing abilities—which he clearly possesses—but also of his wide interests and resounding skills as a writer, arranger, and composer. These prismatic hues come together nicely in a recording that is intriguing from beginning to end." (Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz)
"David Witham may be best known for his collaborations with George Benson over the last few decades but Spinning The Circle, the pianist’s latest opus, reveals that he is a solid composer and bandleader in his own right, an artist who draws from a diverse and miraculously refreshing palette. Album opener “The Neon” recalls vintage (circa 1975) space jazz, “Afrobeat” offers just what it promise, while “Momentum” takes listeners on an appropriately long and fascinating journey. Witham also pays tender tribute to jazz’s roots with a nod to the music’s first city, New Orleans, via “N.O. Rising,” as beautiful and tender––and, alternately, stubborn and resolute––as any homage to the town could be. But it’s the gentle “Who Knows” that may be the album’s best track and the one that highlights Witham’s special charms as a pianist best. Joined by an impressive cast of players––including Nels Cline, Luis Conte and the ever-fascinating Greg Leisz––Witham has delivered one of the great jazz records of the year." (Jedd Beaudoin, Sea of Tranquility)
"When your resume ranges from being the musical director/pianist for George Benson for the past two decades to charter member with intrepid Cryptogramophone label head/violinist Jeff Gauthier’s Goatette, what do you do for your very first album as a leader? In the case of David Witham, it’s to collect friends from across the musical spectrum he’s worked in for his entire career and bring them together for a first meeting that’s as eclectic and unpredictable as one might expect...Spinning the Circle is a long-overdue debut from Witham, an artist who has spent a lifetime in the service of others; now it’s time for him to get some of the attention he so richly deserves." (John Kelman, All About Jazz)
"Los Angeles pianist and composer David Witham is most famously known as the musical director for George Benson, but his solo outing Spinning the Circle (2007) contains such a wide range of styles that any notion of pigeonholing is rendered obsolete. Eerie abstractions like “Momentuum” (showcasing Witham on accordion) sit comfortably alongside the drum ‘n bass workout of “The Neon” and reflective mood pieces like “Who Knows” and “Light and Life.” He’s joined by an impressive roster of guests, most notably the aforementioned Nels Cline (whose subtle comping practically steals the show on the Mwandishi-inflected “Afrobeat”) and the pedal steel of Greg Leisz, who adds exquisite shades of color to “Con Quien”." (J. Ben Leonard, Flood Watch Music)
