Hollistic MusicWorks is proud to present “Tone Twister”, the first new album in over ten years from renowned pianist/composer Rob Schneiderman. With his music informed by his unique dual career as both a world-class jazz pianist and a distinguished mathematician, Rob Schneiderman is considered one of the most accomplished and distinctive “straight-ahead” pianists on the contemporary jazz scene. In the 1980’s, Schneiderman rose in the ranks with a number of musical tenures including stints with Eddie Harris, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Clifford Jordan, Art Farmer, and the TanaReid quintet co-led by drummer Akira Tana and bassist Rufus Reid. In addition, Schneiderman released a series of recordings for the Reservoir label in formats ranging from trio to sextet. This series of critically acclaimed albums featured iconic musicians such as alto saxophonist Charles McPherson and drummer Billy Higgins as well as peers such as trumpeter Brian Lynch and tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore, who have reunited with Schneiderman on “Tone Twister”. Simultaneously, Schneiderman built a tremenduous career as a mathematician. Starting from scratch by teaching himself the basics of serious math from texts picked up from street vendors, Rob worked through the undergraduate mathematics canon at the City University Of New York and eventually gained acceptance into the UC-Berkeley Mathematics PhD program. Necessitating a move to Berkeley from NYC, Rob conducted his doctoral study while enjoying being part of the vibrant Bay Area jazz community. After being granted his doctorate, Schneiderman began an enduring association with the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, and after postdoctoral stints at NYU’s Courant Institute and UPenn, he returned to NYC for good in 2006 to assume a position as a mathematics professor at Lehman College CUNY in the Bronx. Since his return to New York City, Rob has picked up where he left off as one of the stalwarts of the scene. He’s a valued presence in top NYC clubs with such musical grandees as tenor saxophonist Tad Shull and bassist Todd Coolman, as well with his own combinations. Of particular note in the last few years his work recording and touring with Brian Lynch’s Unsung Heroes project, performing on festival stages in Indonesia and Brazil as well as in venues across the US. Rob’s long musical and personal friendship with Lynch, going back to their days in San Diego playing with Charles McPherson in the early 1980s, shows to great advantage in the rock solid, personally inflected work of Schneiderman in the Unsung Heroes band. Lynch returns the favor on Tone Twister, not only contributing his typically absorbing trumpet and flugelhorn work on the recording, but also producing the album for his Hollistic MusicWorks label. The rest of the quintet Rob has assembled for Tone Twister is similarly distinguished and rewarding to listen to. Jazz fans worldwide have cause to rejoice for “Tone Twister” heralds the return to the scene of the magnificent tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore. Ralph’s celebrated tenures with Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, J.J. Johnson, and most notably Cedar Walton’s Eastern Rebellion, along with his own solo work on the Criss Cross, Reservoir, Denon, and Savoy labels, cements him in place as one of the most important voices on his instrument of the last 35 years. After a lengthy hiatus from touring during his time as saxophonist in the Jay Leno era Tonight Show band, and time off to study and reflect, Ralph Moore is back in full throated cry, and “Tone Twister” is proof positive of his resurgent and healing powers as a saxophone sorcerer. The rhythm section on “Tone Twister” brings out the full promise of Schneiderman’s organically eloquent (and catchy) compositions. Radiating from the core of this music is bassist Gerald Cannon’s fat sound, seriously buoyant groove and infectious optimism. Gerald’s resume features stints with many of the iconic figures in Jazz ranging from Elvin Jones to Roy Hargrove, including his current position as musical director for piano icon McCoy Tyner, as well as being a talented bandleader and composer in his own right. Drummer Pete Van Nostrand’s creative pulse runs right through the center of the recording. Well-established in the New York jazz scene, Pete has worked with Rob in Brian Lynch’s “Unsung Heroes” project, as well as working with such luminaries as Kenny Barron. Schneiderman’s own pithy explanations provide a window into the allure of the “Tone Twister” music: “Footloose Freestyle is a funky Latin-tinged blues with shout choruses and a call-and-response tag. A laid-back strolling groove under the lyrical classic Unforgettable inspires a launch into the multi-textured group composition Distant Memory (straddling the tune Left Coast Lullaby on the CD, with the original full medley included as an extra track on the digital version). Pacific coast beats and themes lie at the heart of Left Coast Lullaby (which is really an un-lullaby), and you can imagine looping/remixing the intro and out-tro hook off into the sunset… The stomp is on throughout the dance-inspired 4-on-the-floor Slapdance-Tapstick, which climaxes into improvised counterpoint and then a percussion out-chorus. The final phrase of the lilting melodic waltz, Windblown, provides the melodic germ that develops over the course of several variations into the sometimes-smooth-sometimes-jagged exploration Tailspin (with the original medley appearing as an extra digital track, and the two tunes straddling the title tune on the CD). A tippin' blues with some subtle harmonic twists, Tone Twister features swinging solos punctuated by 2-bar send-offs and plenty of foot-tapping. Closer The Lion’s Tale is a churning 3/4 minor blues, with stretching out encouraged by an ascending variation in the turn-around that also shows up as a final dramatic coda.”