Randy Klein at the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Gala Honoring Larry Rosen and Dave Grusin
Photo: Dr. James Gandre, President of Manhattan School of Music and Randy Klein
Photo: Debra Kinzler of Manhattan School of Music and Randy Klein
Photo: Randy Klein at the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Gala 2013
MWE3.com Reviews Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” w/Alex Skolnick and Boris Kozlov
Jazz duo albums can sometimes be a hit and miss affair yet one that completely hits the bullseye is What’s Next? by jazz pianist Randy Klein. For the 12 track, hour long What’s Next? Randy teams with guitar virtuoso Alex Skolnick and bassist Boris Kozlov and the results are a delicate yet sonically durable outing that puts Klein’s sumptuous grand piano skills in a very favorable light. Both Skolnick and Kozlov are fine players to compliment Klein’s sensitive sounding, jazzy piano tracks. What’s Next? is actually the second CD of Randy Klein’s Two Duos album series from the pianist, the first one being 2010’s Sunday Morning, featuring Klein with trombonist Chris Washburne and saxophonist Oleg Kireyev. Guitar fans will note Skolnick’s tasteful fretboard work on What’s Next? and indeed Skolnick’s deft touch sounds quite well suited to Klein’s jazzy piano. Commenting on working with Skolnick and Kozlov on What’s Next? Klein adds, ‘These are top notch players! And when you play with players who are on this level, it really becomes a dream come true.’ Jazz fans who appreciate sensitive, varied, acoustic piano-based albums are truly well served by this album, while music fans should keep their ears open for more releases from the soon to be acclaimed series of CD releases from Randy Klein’s Two Duos on Jazzheads - the record label started by Klein back in 1992.
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, 
and 
Randy Klein’s Two Duos: What’s Next? is the Ringer of the Week on Jazz Weekly!
I’ve always been a sucker for jazz duets. Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Jim Hall & Pat Metheny…the list could go on forever. There’s nowhere to hide, and if you’re posing, it’s going to come out. This disc with pianist Randy Klein has him in duo setting with either guitarist Alex Skolnick or bassist Boris Kozlov, and the result is one of the most lyrical, melodic yet incisively swinging releases to come out in many moons. Klein’s got a flowing touch with an inherent sense of pulse, flow and timing, making these tunes come off like intriguing conversations between longtime friends. Skolnick’s warm guitar embraces sonatas like “Exalted Kingdom” and the luxurious “In The Twilight Hours” with delicacy while he can also give it all he’s got, yet without shouting, on the fun loving ”No.” Kozlov’s elastic and electric 6 string bass dances around “Dear Charles Mingus” with exciting fingerwork while his sensitivity is spotlighted on the lilting “Inner Voice.” All throughout, Klein keeps the mood serene yet without somnambulism. Gently gliding like a spring brook, this music is refreshing to the soul.
JazzWeekly.com - George W. Harris
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, and
Rochester City Newspaper Reviews Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” w/Alex Skolnick and Boris Kozlov
Rochester City Newspaper
Normally, if I were to write that the songs on a particular album have a repetitive quality to them, that would not be a compliment. But repetition is a central positive ingredient in the compositional style of Randy Klein, and his new album, “What’s Next,” is engaging from start to finish. From Bach-like variations, repeated phrases you might hear in serial music, all the way to pop hooks, Klein’s tunes grab you and won’t let go.
Klein is actually no stranger to pop music. He’s written songs for prominent R&B artists like Millie Jackson, Candy Staton, Sarah Dash and even rapper Lil’ Kim, and among his numerous career credits are tunes for Sesame Street. But “What’s Next” is the latest of his 10 jazz albums and the second in his “Two Duos” series. The premise is simple; chose two accomplished musicians with distinctive sounds and record half an album with each.
“What’s Next” features duets with guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Boris Kozlov. Skolnick is the former heavy metal guitarist (for Testament) turned jazz improviser. His vibrant guitar style is the perfect complement to Klein’s spritely playing. Kozlov is a highly melodic, six-string electric bass player whose bass sometimes enters hybrid guitar territory.
Although the majority of the tunes are up-tempo, there is also a more subtle and gorgeous side of Klein’s writing. One of the most beautiful examples is his (and Skolnick’s) treatment of “In The Twilight Hours.” The bottom line: when Klein and his two collaborators use their considerable skills on his excellent tunes the results are magical.
Ron Netsky - Rochester City Newspaper
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, and
Avaxhome Reviews Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” w/Alex Skolnick and Boris Kozlov
Randy Klein’s Two Duos - What’s Next? (2012)
Randy Klein launched his Two Duos series with Sunday Morning (Jazzheads, 2010), pairing the pianist up with trombonist Chris Washburne and tenor saxophonist Oleg Kireyev, but he leaves the horns behind for this follow-up. This time around, Klein turns to two different, but equally skilled string men. Guitarist Alex Skolnick, reborn as a jazz guitarist but best-known as a heavy metal icon thanks to his work with Testament, and bassist Boris Kozlov, who anchors the Mingus Big Band with his acoustic axe but wields his electric here, carry the torch passed along by the horns.
The concept hasn’t changed at all from the first record, as both albums are all-original affairs that contain a dozen tracks programmed in back-and-forth fashion, but the end result differs a bit. The horns usually stood apart from Klein’s piano, and each other, in terms of sound and intent; Skolnick’s guitar and Kozlov’s bass do not. Both men blend well with Klein and occupy a similar space in the music. This is a plus, in that Klein is able to create a more consistent state of mood and tone throughout, but it has a slight downside in that a sense of sameness becomes a bit too prevalent in the middle of the program.
Things start off in stellar fashion, with Klein and Skolnick working through “Exalted Kingdom,” which could be mistaken for a McCoy Tyner tune if the tempo were ratcheted up and percussive force was added to the mixture; of course, it sounds great without those musical additives and alterations. Hints of Chick Corea surface on the Latin-tinged title track, which introduces the Klein-Kozlov combination, and things move along without a hitch from then on. Klein delivers some lighthearted piano work during “Dear Charles Mingus,” turns reflective on the waltzing “Tea For Three,” and brings out the tenderness with some help from Kozlov on “Inner Voice” and Skolnick on “In The Twilight Hours”. Clarity is ever-present throughout, as Skolnick’s clean-toned lines ride comfortably over or within Klein’s piano work and Kozlov’s warm and occasionally guitar- like bass work adds a bit of weight to the proceedings.
Klein’s Two Duos dates are, thus far, about one-plus-one rapport and intimacy, and both albums deserve high marks in these areas. It will be interesting to see what Klein does to change things up again for the third volume of the series. Perhaps vibraphone and piano partners will fit the bill for the next one.
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, and
Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” is Pick of the Week on eMusic!
Randy Klein, What’s Next?: This makes now the second straight duos album by pianist Klein, this time trading notes individually with guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Boris Kozlov. These are stripped down tunes, no matter which of the artists Klein pairs up with, but the music doesn’t possess a sparse atmosphere. Much how Bill Frisell is able to seemingly fill space with a dearth of notes, Klein dictates an amicable chatter to the conversation, even though few words are actually traded. A lovely album, and my Pick of the Week.
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, and
The Buffalo News Reviews Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” w/Alex Skolnick and Boris Kozlov
Pianist-composer Randy Klein is a kind of jazz composer who couldn’t have existed 60 years ago – a preternaturally gifted composer and performer of chamber jazz who created his own jazz label and is now into the second disc of a series in which he’ll play piano with two entirely separate musicians in chamber duos. On this one, he plays with Boris Kozlov, who plays one of Charles Mingus’ own upright basses in the Mingus Big Band but duets here on electric bass, where he has a lot of the lyrical authority of Steve Swallow. And on the rest, he plays with guitarist Alex Skolnick, known for something like heavy metal guitar in the groups Testament and, yes, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but a musician of formidable sensitivity and delicacy here. There’s nothing searing here to singe one’s brain pan but it’s music by that part of the New York musical community that writes music for documentary films, isn’t afraid of making jokes on disc and avoids playing in clubs. When Klein and Kozlov play Klein’s “Dear Charles Mingus,” you’ll swear they were trying to get the great bassist/composer’s attention in the great beyond with a version of “Cocktails for Two.” ∆∆∆
“What’s Next?” available on JAZZHEADS, and
Alex Skolnick on guitar with Randy Klein on piano performing ‘Casa China’ at the Jazzheads Jazz Festival in May 2012. ‘Casa China’ is a composition from Randy Klein’s Two Duos series which features pieces composed specifically by Randy Klein for an improvising duet. Check out the solo by Alex Skolnick!!!
New Release: Randy Klein’s Two Duos “What’s Next?” w/Alex Skolnick and Boris Kozlov
Pianist-Composer Randy Klein Releases Second Two Duos Project “What’s Next?” Featuring Bassist Boris Kozlov and Guitarist Alex Skolnick.
For the second in his series of Two Duos recordings, pianist-composer, Randy Klein engages in musical conversation on What’s Next?, featuring electric bass guitarist virtuoso Boris Kozlov and guitarist Alex Skolnick. What’s Next?, is the followup to his 2010 acclaimed CD, Sunday Morning, which showcased Klein in duets with trombonist, Chris Washburne and Russian saxophonist, Oleg Kireyev. This outing summons up the delicate interaction of pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Jim Hall on their classic 1962 encounter, Undercurrent, and the crystalline duets over time between Chick Corea and Gary Burton. Alternating tracks with Boris Kozlov, the Russian-born bassist, the longstanding anchor of the Mingus Big Band, and Alex Skolnick , the heavy metal turned jazz guitarist (of Testament and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Klein establishes an indelible hookup in the studio with his versatile duet partners.
Randy Klein’s Music on KPFA 94.1 FM
The radio show Early Morning Music with Eddy Pay on KPFA 94.1 FM radio station in Berkeley, CA continues to feature Randy Klein’s compositions: Sunday Morning and Her Beautiful Soul from CD ‘Sunday Morning’ (Jazzheads, 2010), and Inner Voice from CD ‘Love Notes From The Bass’ (Jazzheads, 1996). Thanks again, KPFA!
Mastering ‘What’s Next?’
Putting on the finishing touches. Recording and mixing engineer, Daryl Bornstein, mastering engineer, Gene Paul and pianist/composer, Randy Klein mastering What’s Next?, the new CD featuring Alex Skolnick on guitar, Boris Kozlov on electric bass guitar and Randy Klein on piano. The CD is scheduled for release on Jazzheads this October 2012.
Randy Klein’s Two Duos concert at the University of Kansas School of Music featuring Randy Klein on piano, Ole Mathisen on saxophone and Chris Washburne on trombone.
Charles Mingus, the great bassist and composer, was one of my musical heroes. He was extreme in everything he did. There is a story I heard, that he took an axe (not his!) to a really bad piano in a club. I totally relate to this. He also had a grand sense of humor and it came out in his music. Cocktails For Two from the album Charles Mingus & His Quintet Featuring Eric Dolphy - I love this track! Here are Charles Mingus LPs from my collection:
I composed a piece, Dear Charles Mingus, dedicated to him which I recorded with the esteemed bassist Harvie S on the CD, Love Notes From The Bass (Jazzheads 1994).
There are no out of tune pianos in heaven. Happy Birthday Charles Mingus!
Two Duos Rehearsal: Randy Klein and Nik Munson
Randy Klein’s Two Duos project with vocalist Nik Munson rehearsing for the upcoming Jazzheads Jazz Festival on May 4-5, 2012.
Two Duos Rehearsal: Randy Klein and Alex Skolnick
Randy Klein’s Two Duos project with guitarist Alex Skolnick rehearsing for the upcoming Jazzheads Jazz Festival on May 4-5, 2012.
