RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND
AVAILABLE ONLINE
This album features nine new Gertz originals, played by an all-star quintet: Tenor- Saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist-keyboardist Lawrence Fields, drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith, and guitarist Vic Juris who sadly passed seven months after the recording, making this one of Juris’s last stamps of his live musicianship. The title is inspired by Gertz’s experience about learning that his phone’s speed was compromised due to apps running in the background. He found this to be a metaphor for life and how so many important issues, globally and personally, take a turn at being the focal point while they are all 'running in the background.’
Label
Open Mind Jazz
Released
2020
Bruce Gertz's compositions utilize chord changes and modern harmonies that inspire inventive solos and alert interplay. The superior musicians are certainly up to the challenge and the recorded results grow in interest with each listen. In fact, one could spend a rewarding hour just concentrating on the playing and interplay of Gertz and Smitty Smith behind the lead voices... Running In The Background is one of Bruce Gertz's finest recordings.
- Scott Yanow, 2020
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