GREG UTECH: Press

Joe Henry on Greg's 3rd disc "Concrete Jungles"

"'Jungles' is a wild ride...bent grooves and beautifully fractured melodies just waiting for someone to build a movie around them." -joe henry

Though Joe Henry has recently been busier as a producer (for the Grammy-winning Solomon Burke, a well-received collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, and Henry's own collaboration with Loudon Wainwright III), his first recording of his own material in four years reminds that he has few peers among contemporary singer-songwriters. Joe takes time in his busy day to write a few kind words.....

Acid Jazz magazine
interview for November issue.
Translated from; Italian to English

Greg Utech

Nu metropolitan Jazz

Reaching to the electronics, the city sonorous cacophonies and the immense patrimony soul-jazz of Detroit, the composer and polistrumentista American return with a third album loaded with rhythms experience them. Light and cerebral music that opens new horizons.

Electronic pulsations, city distortion of radio waves natched in the ether, rhythms and then a sweeping avalanche and being involved of atmospheres nu jazz. This, shortly, the musical world modeled with visceral passion from Greg Utech, songwriter and polistrumentista grown between album of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner and Stevie Wonder, in order to only cite some of its points of reference. It has been above all its city born them, Detroit, to project it towards those atmospheres underground particularly legacies to the tradition soul-jazz. Those metropoli, are known, have been one forge of great artists thanks to the Motown label and have continued sfornare talents, like Amp Fiddler and Dwele. Encircled from this cultural ferment, Utech, also leaving from these influences, an artistic distance has elaborated originates them in which the past it melts with the present and the warm sound, authentic, harmonious of instruments which sax, bugle, bottom and keyboards amalgam with sonorous voices and synthetic constructions. In these vent' years, passed also to realize teatrali productions, it has tried to find an own formula where to be able to make to cohabit and to converse soul, jazz and experimentations of vanguard natched from the pioneering jobs of the istrionico Brian Eno. Ambitious objective that ours it is trying to realize as it proposes its album. Sin from the debut with Shortwave (2000) has forged sonorous acclimatizations loaded of innovation, of rhythms techno and sonorità jazzy. A style that appears more compiutamente elaborated with recent Concrete Jungles (2006), where the noises of the giungla metropolitan comes attenuated from the warm harmonies of stamp soul. Coadiuvato from a team of valid musicians, between which Rick Matle (guitar), Walt Szymanski (bugle) and Dennis Sheridan (percussions, berimbau), Greg Utech confirmation the versatilità like arranger, composer and polistrumentista (sax, keyboards, bugle, percussions, bottom, guitar), thanks to a job musically more elaborated regarding the previous ones, as same it has emphasized. “With Concrete Jungles I have intentional to ahead complete an ulterior step regarding Spank, my according to disc. Task that is easier to produce the successive job, since the ideas turn out clearer. Every new plan is always and however a challenge. My third party I have conceived cd it like rising of concept album, formed from several traces, but in the entirety oriented towards an only direction. And in my way to compose the fluidity of the rhythm it is always centers them”. Like songwriter, s' it inspires beyond that to the turbinio metropolitan, also to the creative world of the art. “Loving the painting, every time that I compose I try to imagine and to construct a tavolozza colorful of sounds. With Concrete Jungles, I have tried sedurre the listener with I interlace of several musical shadings that I have reached from travel documentary, but also from the distortions of the frequencies radio. From here the title it that it reveals a melting pot not only sonorous. This passion final of the UK Songwriting Contest), wrapped from the warmth sussulti of the sax.manifesta through the places setting some of mine cd. I have many friends who work in the field of the visual limbs and try to be involved them in my musical plans. The artwork it is always in simbiosi with the mood total of the disc”. Distributed from the label from created same he, the Soundbite Records, Concrete Jungles Sheila Landis sees the participation of the talentosa vocalist, than with its timbriche abilities to jazzistico stamp impreziosisce “Fever”. Between the more representative traces we signal “City to City”, charming connubio of melodia and rhythms jazz, selected not to case like sample for ours compilation, and the brano omonimo to the disc (arrived among other things in seeds

Awarded to

Greg Utech

for the song

Concrete Jungles This is to certify that "Concrete Jungles" was a Semi Finalist in the Jazz/Blues category in the UK Songwriting Contest 2007. This song was carefully examined by panels of expert judges from the UK music industry and they have awarded the songwriter Greg Utech this certificate for participating in the contest in 2007 and for contributing to its continued success as a leading international annual songwriting event.

The UK Songwriting Contest is held annually in association with The BRIT Trust, The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, The Guild of International Songwriters and Composers, BBC Radio, The World Music Foundation, Music Aid UK and other music industry bodies.

Opened my show with "Butterfly Wings" Last night, I also enjoy "The Crossing" But realy the whole CD is excellent...
Ralph Valdez WDET fm in Detroit.

"It really is a fine cd with a great line up of local talent".

Wdet Program host Ralph Valdez.

On Gregs first cd Shortwave

"Your music really fits in what I enjoy playing on my station. "SPANK" has been the standout of the tracks Iv,e heard to date"

"Very Cool Cd..."

Utech's speciality is large
abstract painting using "smooth blends" or "large pourings" of paint.

Journalist Erika Miller