Lynne Arriale
Biography Lynne Arriale
Lynne Arriale
is sparking the imaginations and stealing the hearts of critics and audiences around the world. “It’s always thrilling when a new star shines in the jazz firmament,” writes BBC Music Magazine’s Ian Carr. “[Her] piano persona puts her on the short list of today’s noteworthy jazz keyboardists,” declares the Chicago Reader. “...One of the most intellectual, introspective and insightful swingers on the current scene. She brings a flawless touch, an impeccable sense of complex rhythms and a harmonic curiosity to everything she attempts,” reports JazzTimes.
The Lynne Arriale Trio routinely draws standing ovations, as it did at the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams “Women in Jazz” Festival (2002). The Washington Post praised the trio’s “...crisscrossing genre lines with impunity, elegantly juxtaposing and harmonically refreshing the music of Bernstein, Ellington, Lennon/McCartney, Bacharach and Monk.” Beginning her musical studies at age 4, Arriale went on to earn a master’s degree in classical composition. In her 20s, she discovered improvisation and turned to jazz, soon developing her own sound. “My classical years had a great influence on me,” explains Arriale, “Teachers used to tell me: ‘You have to sing this line.’...It took me years to teach my fingers how to sing.” But sing they do, and beautifully so. In a 2002 profile, Billboard called Arriale one of “Jazz’s most valuable young players.” And DownBeat hailed her as “a powerhouse...a singular voice as a pianist and as a leader.”
Raised by adoptive parents, Arriale learned later in life that her birth mother had been a professional jazz singer. Lynne states, “It was a revelation. I'd always wondered where my passion for melody and improvisation had come from.” Perhaps her background also contributes to the distinctly vocal quality of her style, cultivated through singing the melody when composing and practicing in order to maintain 'a strong heart connection.”
Often compared to the great trio traditions of Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, Arriale is distinguished from her peers by her exclusive devotion to playing in the trio format. “[Her trio] has attained a level of communication paramount to all great threesomes,” writes JAZZIZ. Grammy award- winning jazz critic Bob Blumenthal declares that Arriale, along with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis play with “a shared metabolism [as] one of the most empathetic threesomes in jazz.”
“Steve and I have been playing together for over 10 years,” explains Arriale. Davis, who has more than 70 recordings to his credit, has also played and recorded with David Liebman, Bill Evans and Richie Bierach, among others. “Steve’s broad experience has shaped his vision of music and given him great flexibility. The many different grooves he’s developed have helped create our signature sound,” explains Arriale. Bassist, composer Jay Anderson has also been a regular member in the bands of Toots Thielman, Michael Franks and Joe Sample, to name a few, and has won numerous awards for both jazz and classical performance. “Jay’s playing is so melodic. Sometimes when he plays a solo, I wish I could stop playing and just listen,” says Arriale.
Arriale personally challenges herself to connect with each note she plays and devotes equal passion to choosing repertoire. The selections on ARISE span many styles, weaving a common thread through the social consciousness of several generations. The album’s title sprang from Lynne’s emotional response to our uncertain times.
