Aliens & Wizards by Spike Wilner Trio
The first release in a collaboration between Smalls Live & Cellar Music led by NY jazz impresario & pianist Spike Wilner.
Michael "Spike" Wilner, was born in the city of Manhattan, New York. Spike was inspired to play ragtime piano at a young age. Spike entered into the first class of the, now legendary, New School For Social Research's Jazz and Contemporary Music Program, then led by the late Arnie Lawrence.
Spike performed with and has led many bands in New York City at many famous, now closed, jazz clubs including The Village Gate, The Angry Squire, Visiones, Augies, The West End Gate and The Village Corner. Spike also toured with The Artie Shaw Big Band, The Glen Miller Orchestra, Maynard Furgeson & Lennie Cuje.
In 1994, Spike began to work a regular gig at Smalls Jazz Club. This became his permanent musical home and led to his current position as partner and manager of the club. Spike now spends most of his time at Smalls making sure that it keeps on running. Each Tuesday he performs with his group.
Spike's company SmallsLIVE LLC is a digital media company with the purpose of distributing live recorded music from Smalls Jazz Club. SmallsLIVE currently has a catalog of 40 HD titles, broadcasts live shows every night on the internet via www.smallslive.com. SmallsLIVE has also documented every show at Smalls Jazz Club since September of 2007. The audio/video archive now has more than 7000 recordings and represents from than 550 prominent jazz artists.
"Aliens & Wizards" is the follow up to the 2017 Trio album "Odalisque" and the first release in a joint venture between Smalls and Cellar. It’s fitting that the first release – in what we hope will be one of many – is a date led by Spike himself. Recorded at the height of the pandemic in New York City, the music is raw, poignant and beautiful. This is as much of a working trio as you can get these days, and their camaraderie and musical kinship is obvious from the first downbeat.
Tracklist
| 1. | Righty-O! | 3:54 |
| 2. | Non Troppo | 6:55 |
| 3. | Adagio | 6:31 |
| 4. | Mindset | 4:36 |
| 5. | Blue Gardenia | 4:22 |
| 6. | Stella By Starlight | 4:34 |
| 7. | Aliens & Wizards | 3:18 |
| 8. | Prayers For Peace | 6:09 |
| 9. | Trick Baby | 5:45 |
Credits
Spike Wilner – piano
Tyler Mitchell – bass
Anthony Pinciotti - drums
Executive Producer: Cory Weeds, Spike Wilner
Produced by Spike Wilner
Recorded at GB’s Juke Joint, Astoria, NY on August 16th and 22nd, 2020
Engineered by Colin Mohnacs
Mixed and mastered by Glen Forrest
Photography by Spike Wilner
Design and layout by John Sellards
project was funded by a grant from The SmallsLIVE Foundation, a not-for-profit arts foundation with the mission of supporting the artists and subsidizing the expense of operating Smalls Jazz Club & Mezzrow. The SmallsLIVE Foundation is dedicated to the creation and propagation of jazz music in New York City through recording, live streaming, archiving, educational initiatives and live performances. We are grateful to partner with Cory Weeds and The Cellar Music Group on presenting artist projects commissioned by the SmallsLIVE Foundation. Direct inquires please email foundation@smallslive.com or visit our website, www.smallslive.com.
License
All rights reserved.
Michael "Spike" Wilner, is a born and bred New Yorker. He was inspired to play ragtime piano at a young age. He has performed with and led many bands in NYC at many famous jazz clubs including The Village Gate, Mezzrow, Smalls, The West End Gate and The Village Corner. He has toured with The Artie Shaw Big Band, The Glen Miller Orchestra, Maynard Furgeson & Lennie Cuje.