Vibes, Piano, Marimba & Drums

Coming from the “four mallet school,” Ed Saindon has developed and continues to refine a pianistic approach to mallet playing which involves a consistent utilization of all four mallets along with a variety of dampening techniques. Saindon has absorbed and transferred the influences from the piano lineage that stretches from Waller and Tatum up to the present. Originally a drummer, Saindon began playing the vibraphone along with piano while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1972-1976.

Ed Saindon's previously released recordings include Key Play with pianist Kenny Werner, Swing on the Sunnyside with trumpeter Herb Pomeroy and clarinetist D*** Johnson and The Great American Songbook with clarinetist Ken Peplowski, cornetist Warren Vache and trombonist Dan Barrett. His recent recording from World Improvised Music is Depth of Emotion which features Dave Liebman on soprano and Saindon on vibes, marimba and piano along Mark Walker on drums and David Clark on acoustic bass. From the CD liner notes:

Depth in Emotion features the blend of Dave Liebman’s soprano along with Ed Saindon’s vibes, piano and marimba. The quartet’s focus is on group dialogue, improvisation, and spontaneity played with an extreme dynamic range. The repertoire focuses on original compositions that evoke a wide range of emotions for the listener. The music can best be described as contemporary jazz that ranges from delicate lyricism to intense, virtuosic displays played with abandon.

“The aspect of this recording that impressed me the most is the incredible uniformity of the compositions; yet within each tune, there are different sets of musical challenges especially in the harmonic realm. The combination of the vibes with the soprano is a lovely texture that I had never before explored. Ed’s music is very listenable, and at the same time quite sophisticated.” Dave Liebman

As a concert artist, Saindon has traveled throughout the U.S., Europe, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. He has played and or recorded with Dave Liebman, Ken Peplowski, Warren Vache, Kenny Werner, Mick Goodrick, Fred Hersch, Peter Erskine, Jeff Hamilton, Louie Bellson, Howard Alden, Herb Pomeroy, D*** Johnson, Dave McKenna, Ed Thigpen, John Scofield, Marvin Stamm, George Masso, Michael Moore and others.

In addition to performing, Saindon’s other passion is music education. He is a Professor at Berklee where he has been teaching since 1976. He is also active in the field of music education as a clinician and author. Saindon is a clinician for Yamaha and Vic Firth giving clinics and residencies on vibraphone, marimba, piano, drums, jazz theory and harmony, composition and improvisation. Berklee Press has published his book Berklee Practice Method: Vibraphone and German publisher Advance Music recently issued his new book Exploration in Rhythm, Volume 1, Rhythmic Phrasing in Improvisation.

In addition to writing books, Saindon has authored many articles on music education, jazz theory and improvisation. He is currently the vibraphone and jazz mallet editor for the International Percussive Arts Society’s magazine Percussive Notes. His articles have appeared in many publications including Downbeat, Percussive Notes, and Percussioner International.


CD Review Excerpts:

“a master of the four mallet technique” Jazz Times

“a marvelous technician” CD Review

"an astounding solo performance" Jazz Journal (UK)

"virtuosic playing" Penguin Guide to Jazz

“exquisite touch of a world-class musician” Jazziz

“elegant, pianistic, four mallet vibist” All Music Guide

“Ed Saindon and Kenny Werner complement each other so well that at times it becomes difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins.” JazzReview.com

"Ed Saindon's piano playing is a blend between Bill Evans and Richie Bierach." Weekend Jazz (Japan)

“an original approach to the vibraphone...Saindon has adapted and developed his self- styled pianistic approach.” Down Beat

“over the years, Saindon has developed his “piano style” vibraphone technique…a wonderful tribute to the potential of the vibraphone.” Percussive Notes

News Update

I'll be in Chicago, Illinois for a clinic hosted by Ed Harrison on Friday, April 11th at Roosevelt University from 12-2.

I'll be in Vienna, Austria on Saturday, May 10th for a clinic at the Viennese Music Conservatory. Details are being finalized for a clinic at the Jazz School in Zurich, Switzerland.

For more information on the above clinics, please email me at esaindon@berklee.edu

I'll be playing music from Depth of Emotion at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, MA on Wednesday, April 2nd as part of Percussion Week at Berklee College of Music. The band will include Mark Walker on drums, David Clark on bass, Rick Dimuzio on soprano sax and myself on vibes, marimba and piano.

I'll be teaching at the Berklee Percussion Festival in Boston from June 23-27. The curriculum will include clinics, concerts, classes and ensembles for mallet players, drummers and percussionists.

The February issue of Berklee Today features an article I wrote titled "Got Rhythm?" which is based on my book Exploration in Rhythm, Rhythmic Phrasing in Improvisation published by Advance Music.

The February issue of the Percussive Arts Society's magazine Percussive Notes features an article I wrote titled The Art of Composition" which includes a lead sheet of "The Last Goodbye", the lead track on Depth of Emotion.

Videos of trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist David Clark and me have been added to YouTube. Also, videos of pianist D*** Whittington and myself on vibes performing at the JazzSchool in Berkeley, California have also been added.

Depth of Emotion

Copies of Depth of Emotion have been shipped to jazz trade magazines, jazz critics, internet sites and radio stations in the U.S., Japan, Europe, Canada and South America. Some of the stations playing Depth of Emotion include:

JazzRadio247.com, BRF1 Jazz Time - Brussels, Belgium, WDIY - Pennsylvania, WTEB - North Carolina, WAER - New York, WSHA, North Carolina, WCPN - Ohio, KUSP - California, WVPR Vermont, WXBC - New York, WVTF - Virginia, WGBH - Boston, WUOT - Tennessee, WFPK - Kentucky, WEMU - Michigan, WPSU - Pennsylvania, WKPR - Kansas, KZSU - California, WICN - Massachusetts, WWUH - Connecticut, WRIR - Virginia, KNTU - Texas, WCVE - Virginia, WCLV - Ohio, WKPS Pennsylvania, KSDS - San Diego, WWSP Wisconsin, WVIA - Pennsylvania, elclubdejazz.com - Spain, WQLN - Pennsylvania, KVLU - Texas, WTJU - Virginia, WBCX - Georgia, KSVY - California, KRFC - Colorado, SkyJazz internet radio, KCSM - California, KRQQ - Arizona, WNMC - Michigan, KUSP - California, KMUW - Kansas, WRIR - Virginia, WCLV - Ohio, WDNA - Florida, WRTI - Pennsylvania, KPLU - Washington, Sirius Radio, WHRV - Virginia, WRUV - Vermont, 3-D Radio - Australia, CKUW - Winnipeg, Canada, Uptown Jazz Network - North Carolina and Jim Wilke's KPLU -Washington syndicated show Jazz After Hours.

Depth of Emotion's lead track, "The Last Goodbye" can be downloaded at All About Jazz. I wrote the composition as a tribute to legendary educator and trumpeter Herb Pomeroy who passed away. I had the privilege of playing with Herb for many years in a duo format. Herb is sadly missed by everyone who knew and shared the bandstand with him. The lead sheet of "The Last Goodbye" can be downloaded here.

All About Jazz News Release: Liebman/Saindon's Depth of Emotion Hits UK Jazz Audience

Reviews

Ejazznews

Crafting a unique blend of contemporary jazz, pianist Ed Saindon and saxophonist Dave Liebman offer a session of cutting edge music with intelligent charts and spontaneous improvisation to produce a quality recording with "Depth of Emotion." Saindon, who not only plays piano, but is also a four mallet vibist and plays the marimba as well, is featured as co-leader with Liebman who performs on the soprano sax. The duo are accompanied by bassist David Clark and Mark Walker on the drums forming one tight quartet.

Except for two standards provided fresh interpretations here, Saindon provides all original compositions. The quartet opens the music with the melancholy "The Last Goodbye" paying homage to the late Herb Pomeroy with whom Saindon performed for many years. On this tune Liebman introduces the music with his soprano voice eventually giving way to Saindon on the vibes then reengages to finish out a somber mood.

The group performs a light hearted rendition of the Kaper/Washington standard "Green Dolphin Street" where Liebman delivers some of his best solos of the album. Saindon provides an exquisite piano solo on one of the very best renditions of the Mancini/Mercer classic, "Moon River" I've ever heard as the saxophonist and pianist play off each other quite well.

Saindon leads off on the piano on "Tokyo Nights," later engaged by Liebman who together deliver another beautiful harmony in one of the best tunes here. The album ends featuring the pianist performing several short vignettes on the piano titled "Piano Solo Reflections."

This is one of those new 2008 releases containing a repertoire of refreshing new music that critics and the average jazz audiences will love. Assembling a unique combo, with Depth of Emotion, Ed Saindon and Dave Liebman chart a new course in modern jazz that deserves serious attention.

Ed Blanco - Ejazznews jazz critic and host of Miami's jazz station WDNA


VortexJazz (UK)

Depth of Emotion is a quartet featuring soprano saxophonist/flautist Dave Liebman, vibes/piano/marimba player Ed Saindon, bassist David Clark and drummer Mark Walker, and this album contains nine band tracks and five solo piano pieces.

A teacher at the Berklee School of Music who began his musical career as a drummer, Saindon has made previous recordings with the late Herb Pomeroy (to whom this album's opening track, 'The Last Goodbye' is dedicated), Ken Peplowski and Warren Vaché, and (in a duo) with pianist Kenny Werner; he provides the originals on this album, and they run the stylistic and emotional gamut from the above-mentioned threnody, in which Liebman's characterful soprano snakes above Saindon's glowing vibes, to latin-inflected ('Sao Paulo') and gently wafting ('The Healing'), but whatever the mood or style (there are also visits to familiar pieces such as 'Green Dolphin Street' and 'Moon River'), the quartet play intelligently balanced, dynamic, vigorous but relaxed and informal music (the whole session took just three hours to record, and thus has the air of a meeting of sympathetic, like minds). Saindon's vibes and marimba playing is tasteful but powerfully expressive, his piano pieces more quietly reflective; overall, this album provides an enjoyably representative sample of his considerable compositional and instrumental skills.

Chris Parker

Distritojazz.com (Spain)

En este disco se conjugan, a la vez y sin colisionar (fusión para este caso no sería el término más apropiado) la mirada descriptiva de la música romántica y la improvisación del jazz. Por un lado están las composiciones del vibrafonista/pianista Ed Saindon, auténtico protagonista del disco, que evocan tiempos (“Alpine sunset”); lugares (“Tokio nights”, “Sao Paulo”), y personas (“Giorgios’s theme”, “The last goodbye” –dedicado a Herb Pomeroy, trompetista fallecido en agosto del 2007); y por otro, las interpretaciones, donde la libertad de Dave Liebman se muestra a sus anchas, seguido muy de cerca por el resto de los miembros de la banda.

El disco se divide en dos partes claramente diferenciadas; en la primera –las nueve primeras canciones- están tocadas por el cuarteto, que suena compacto en todo momento; mientras que los cinco restantes están interpretadas a piano sólo por Ed Saindon. Estas últimas son piezas breves, casi apuntes, que remiten a compositores como Satie o Chopin. A pesar de la diversidad de sensaciones, a lo largo de toda la escucha se mantiene un claro sentido de la uniformidad y homogeneidad. No hay grandes saltos entre un tema y otro.

La totalidad del disco se grabó en tres horas, y en este sentido se podría decir que es casi un falso directo. Esa inmediatez se trasluce en las sensaciones que produce el cedé, un trabajo con una acusada tendencia a una mirada interior, tanto del compositor, como de los músicos y, por supuesto, del oyente. No es un álbum de relajación, es una música que puede acompañar a lo largo de cualquier momento del día. Y esa es una de sus grandezas.

Por último hay que señalar que quienes disfruten del aterciopelado y frágil sonido del vibráfono podrán disfrutar en este disco de todo el esplendor de ese instrumento. Si no conocen a Ed Saindon es un buen momento para hacerlo. Y este “Depth of emotion” (“Profunda emoción”) no les defraudará.

José Manuel Pérez Rey


All Music Guide

Comfortable with both inside and outside playing, soprano saxman Dave Liebman has shown himself to be admirably flexible over the years. Liebman has appeared in avant-garde settings at times, but he has been equally successful on very straight-ahead albums, and his performances are definitely straight-ahead on Depth of Emotion, a 2006 date he co-leads with vibist/pianist/marimba player Ed Saindon.

This 72-minute CD (which includes a few standards but is dominated by Saindon's compositions) obviously called for Liebman to emphasize his more lyrical side, and he does exactly that on thoughtful, reflective Saindon pieces such as "The Last Goodbye," "Giorgio's Theme," and the Brazilian-influenced "São Paolo." That is not to say that Depth of Emotion does not have its cerebral moments; the standard "On Green Dolphin Street," for example, is given a decidedly angular treatment from Saindon and Liebman (who form an acoustic quartet with bassist David Clark and drummer Mark Walker). And their interpretation of "Moon River," although melodic, isn't nearly as sentimental as other recordings of the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer favorite. Listeners who associate "Moon River" with the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's (starring Audrey Hepburn) will have one of two reactions to the Saindon/Liebman version: either they will long for something more sentimental, or they will applaud Saindon and Liebman for taking the song in a different direction, and if a listener has the second reaction, you will know that he/she really understands what makes many post-bop musicians tick. But Depth of Emotion is, on the whole, a lyrical and fairly accessible session for Saindon and Liebman, who are in equally strong form on this memorable disc.

Jazz critic Alex Henderson


Music on the Web: Jazz CD Reviews (UK)

Ed Saindon is indisputably a virtuoso 4 mallet vibe player. Brilliant playing...Dave Liebman's soprano sax is beautifully in tune, and anyone who has chartered the progress of that intrinsically temperamental instrument must appreciate the skill and artistry on this disc. Always technically splendid, the expressive qualities of the musicians' intentions come at the listener with love and care. If you think the final piano tracks are "fillers", just listen and enjoy without thinking you have been short-changed by the rest of the gang, because these solos are in their own way, little gems. This is a, "listen to a lot" CD, and if your friends have different tastes, you can always play it at a discreet level, but someone will discover how rewarding it is to really get immersed in such stuff.

Adrienne Fox


The Northern Echo (UK)

I'd previously heard Saindon on vibes in a mainstream session with Warren Vache, but here he adds marimba and piano on a more modern quartet session also featuring soprano saxophonist (and flautist) Liebman. There's a touching tribute to his Berklee colleague Herb Pomeroy and other originals interspersed with Green Dolphin Street and Moon River, plus five attractive 'piano solo reflections'.

Jazz critic Peter Bevan


Depth of Emotion - pick of the week on the show Jazz Jury, broadcast by The Jazz, UK's leading jazz station

Presenter Tim Lihoreau was joined by two drummers - quintet leader Dylan Howe and former Yes star and Earthworks leader Bill Bruford - to choose Depth Of Emotion's self-titled album as their pick of the week.
Depth of Emotion is a quartet featuring the pianist and vibes player Ed Saindon and the soprano sax player Dave Liebman, focusing on “group dialogue, improvisation and spontaneity”. Of the 14 tracks, 12 are originals written by Saindon, while the remaining two tracks are covers of Green Dolphin Street and Moon River.

Here's what our latest panelists thought of the album Depth Of Emotion by Depth Of Emotion:

Bill: "I kind of came prepared not to particularly like this, soprano (sax) and vibraphone not being my favourite two instruments in the world, and I was completely won round by this music of staggering ability. This is some serious music. Ed Saindon's solo was just terrific and I loved Liebman's stuff at the front, his lovely soft soprano sound. The vibes also had quite a soft sound to them, but then they really started to motor. I loved it, loved it. Now I'm going to go and cry!"

Dylan: "It was a (vibes) solo that just seemed to edge on and on. It just opened up and everybody's happening on there."

Ed Saindon Links:

Ed Saindon's Official Website

Information on Ed Saindon's recordings, books, latest news, concert schedule, lessons... Recently added to the website: MP3 downloads, Ed's latest article "The Art of Composition" written for the February issue of the Percussive Arts Society magazine Percussive Notes, 10 original compositions (from Key Play with Kenny Werner and Depth of Emotion with Dave Liebman) available for download in a PDF format.

Depth of Emotion

Page on Ed Saindon's latest recording which includes full track downloads, sample soundclips, liner notes, CD one sheet and a list of sites where to purchase or download the recording.

Exploration in Rhythm, Volume 1 - Rhythmic Phrasing in Improvisation

Information on Ed Saindon's recent book (for all instruments) published by Advance Music. The book focuses on playing "over the bar line" rhythms and long melodic phrases based upon rhythmic cycles that stretch over multiple measures.

Endorsements:

"Finally, a comprehensive and organized approach to getting out of the eighth note rut - valuable advice from Ed Saindon on how to vary one's rhythmic approach." Dave Liebman

"Ed Saindon gives us a new book, Exploration in Rhythm, containing tons of useful information and great ideas to work on. This is a great resource for enhancing one's rhythmic facility and expression..." Dave Douglas

"Contemporary rhythmic tool box. A "must have" for the modern improvisor." Hal Crook

Ed Saindon's Vic Firth Artist Page

Artist page featuring video excerpts from Ed Saindon's Percussive Arts Society 2006 clinic at the International Convention in Austin, Texas. Video footage includes solo performances of "Black Orpheus", "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?" and "Body & Soul". Page also includes sound clips of Ed Saindon's recording Key Play featuring pianist Kenny Werner and Ed Saindon on vibes in a duo format.

Ed Saindon's YouTube Page
Large selection of footage featuring Ed Saindon in solo, duo and group performances. Recently added video footage includes selections from a concert at Berklee College of Music (featuring trumpeter Herb Pomeroy and guitarist Mick Goodrick) and a vibes and piano duo performance at the JazzSchool in Berkeley, California with pianist D*** Whittington.

Ed Saindon's Yamaha Artist Page