For those unaware, Garry Dial & Rich DeRosa offer a heartfelt tribute to the late Jazz genius Charlie Banacos with their new album and book Keep Swingin’, out January 19th, 2024 (via Outside in Music).

That’s right, the vibrantly-hued Keep Swingin’, a collaborative new project spearheaded by renowned pianist Garry Dial and stalwart arranger-drummer Rich DeRosa, is a tribute to the great jazz educator Charlie Banacos, whose pedagogy has influenced legions of jazz musicians over the past 50 years.

Keep Swingin’ will be released as a 10-track collection of Banacos’ music, reimagined and re-arranged by Dial and DeRosa. It is performed by some of Banacos’ most accomplished devotees,and friends including Mike Stern, Jeff Berlin, Jerry Bergonzi, Wayne Krantz, and many more.

Complimenting the album is a stunning 100-page book of Charlie’s students’ personal anecdotes, photographs, artistic renderings, and more. The book features corresponding QR codes per tune, per chapter.

It’s no understatement to call Charlie Banacos a Jedi Master of jazz. He was a pianist, composer, author, and educator — but he was far more than the sum of those parts.

1. Keep Swingin’ (feat. Garry Dial, Terell Stafford and Dick Oatts)
2. Great Awakening (feat. Wayne Krantz and Joe Hubbard)
3. The Bat Cave (feat. Gerard D’Angelo, Garry Dial, Gary Smulyan and John Riley)
4. Pine Needles (feat. Mike Stern and Garry Dial)
5. Mummy’s Curse (feat. Jerry Bergonzi)
6. Bernie Burnola (feat. Helio Alves, Anne Drummond, Paulo Levi, Mauricio Zottarelli)
7. A-440 (feat. Jeff Berlin)
8. Nero (feat. Garry Dial and Jay Anderson)
9. Pluto Language (feat. Dick Oatts, Victor Provost, Anne Drummond, Mauricio Zottarelli)
10. Pelaghia (feat. Margaret and Barbara Banacos)

This excitingly sculpted new recording opens on both alto saxophonist Dick Oatts and trumpeter Terell Stafford coming to the fore on the lushly grooved, titular Keep Swingin’ and then comes the combo of electric bassist Joe Hubbard and electric guitarist Wayne Krantz on the infectious Great Awakening, and they are followed by the The Bat Cave (featuring soloists in pianists Gerard D’Angelo, Garry Dial, baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan, and drummer John Riley), the warm embrace that guitarist Mike Stern brings to Pine Needles, and then we get brought forth the talents of tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi and his quintet on the deliciously rhythmic The Mummy’s Curse.

Along next is the soulful blues found within Bernie Burnola, and which features Helio Alves, Anne Drummond, Paulo Levi, and Mauricio Zottarelli) and that is backed by my own personal favorite, the dutifully hued A-440, which itself has on board bass great Jeff Berlin, and they are in turn backed by the engaging Nero (featuring Garry Dial and Jay Anderson), the album rounding out on the uniquely-grooved Pluto Language (which utilizes a 3/4 rhythm called Mazouka (or Mazouk), a creolized version of the European Mazurka, adapted by enslaved Africans on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique), closing on the two-piano classical piece Pelaghia (featuring Margaret and Barbara Banacos).

Garry Dial curated Keep Swingin’ along with arranger Rich DeRosa — and it turned out to be a lavish, multimedia tribute to this unquestionable titan. Both in print and on record, Keep Swingin’ features a handpicked selection of 10 Banacos tunes, from “Great Awakening” to “Bernie Burnola” to “Pluto Language.”

The album features a horn section consisting of trumpeter and flugelhornist Nick Marchione, alto saxophonist and flutist Andrew Gould, tenor saxophonist and flutist Chris Oatts, trombonist Ryan Keberle, and baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan.

“There are nine different keyboardists, five bassists, five drummers, three guitarists, six saxophonists, three trumpeters, and three flute players,” Dial explains in the book. “Please keep in mind that each track is quite different because each artist is unique.” With that, he encourages the listener to soak in the program, where you hear “all these great jazz musicians being themselves.”

www.garrydial.com