Reviews

Downbeat Brass School Woodshed Master Class Article
By Wayne Wallace April 2012

59th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll
Wayne Wallace, Trombone, august 2011

2011 Latin Jazz Corner Best Of The Year Awards! 
Wayne Wins 2011 Latin Jazz Trombonist Of The Year !

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet - ¡Bien Bien! - Patois Records
For Latin jazz newcomers, Patois has been kind enough to indicate on the song titles the genre of Latin jazz being covered.

AUDIOPHILE AUDITION
Published on October 12, 2009
— Jeff Krow 

As the light on Post Street slowly started to dim, a quick glance at the San Jose Jazz Festival’s Latin Stage would have revealed a few of the same faces from John Calloway’s set earlier in the day. But the similarities between that band and Wayne Wallace’s Latin Jazz Quintet pretty much stop there. Bringing a heavy clave beat and a funky attitude, Wallace’s band made it clear from the first note that they were here to get down. NOW.

Wallace’s quintet is like an elite commando unit: lean, mean and packing some serious heat. Drummer Paul Van Wageningen, percussionist Michael Spiro and bassist Dave Belove locked together in an impenetrable wall of rhythm, with a bass thump loud enough to be felt in the granite and steel columns of the surrounding buildings. Wallace surfed over all this with a pan-Caribbean fluidity — part Cuba and part New Orleans, speaking of both the music’s African roots and its 21st century urban reality.
When the band suddenly shifted from dance grooves to the introduction of “A Love Supreme,” then segued through a low, swamp-creep version of “So What” and into “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,” the whole thing seemed perfectly natural. And when somewhere in the middle of it all, unnanounced guest Steve Turre suddenly appeared on stage and began to play, nobody batted an eyelash. Bay Area audiences know to expect something special when Wayne Wallace is on stage.

Turre and Wallace took a gorgeous plunger-mute duet on “In a Sentimental Mood” that hushed the large crowd, then Doug Beavers showed up, trombone in hand, and two became three for an all-star jam session that would have raised the roof, had there been one.

Later, Wallace mentioned that a version of the Latin Jazz Quintet “on steroids” is scheduled to appear at the Monterey Jazz Festival next month. Mark your calendars now folks, and hold on to your hats.

#2 for two weeks in a row!

"Infinity" Debut record for The Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet JAZZ WEEK WORLD MUSIC TOP 50 CHARTS

 

#1 for two weeks in a row! 

"The Nature of the Beat" JAZZ WEEK WORLD MUSIC TOP 50 CHARTS


THE RECKLESS SEARCH FOR BEAUTY

" ...it's a wonder he hasn't had a street or bridge named for him..."
Mark Keresman, East Bay Express - Music

" Wayne's...search seems more steeped in dedication than recklessness...displays a method behind his reckless search for musical beauty."
Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com

Search' completes a circle
By Andrew Gilbert, Times Correspondent

" ...entirely engaging...authentic and original...really cooks."
Paul Freeman, Palo Alto Daily News

" Wayne Wallace establishes himself ... as an impressive composer and topflight improviser and bandleader."
Ron Wynn, Nashville City Paper - Riffs

Wayne 'The Doctor' Wallace draws jazz blood this weekend at LCT
By Matt Kramer, Pacific Sun, Arts and Entertainment

 

February 23, 2007

Trombonist Takes Long View of History, Jazz
By David Rubien, SF Chronicle Staff Writer


A Music of Pain, Pleasure and Soul
By Andrew Gilbert, JazzWest.com

January 2007

Wayne Wallace - a musical pioneer
Artist Interview by Asha Brodie, Jazz Review

 

December 2006

Dedication CD Review of Wayne Wallace
Reviewed by Asha Brodie, Jazz Review