Joshua Kaye began playing professionally as a jazz pianist at the age of fifteen. By the time he was twenty-one, he had held steady gigs in both the United States and England. Since moving to San Francisco in 1996 from the east coast, Joshua has led an active career as a pianist, composer, and bandleader in the Bay area, and can be heard almost daily performing either solo, with his trio, or with his quartet.
The recently released CD "The Joshua Kaye Quartet - Live" features bassist Robb Fisher, drummer Pete Riso, and bongo player Danilo Paiz. Both Fisher and Riso can be heard on several Cal Tjader and Art Pepper recordings. Paiz also played with Cal Tjader as well as Ray Baretto, Ruben Blades, Andy Narell, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Review from Steven Latessa at allaboutjazz.com:
It’s amazing how much vitality can be imparted to hoary old chestnuts like “Summertime” or “Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise” when additional percussion is supplied. Suddenly, those familiar old melodies open up and reveal unexpected currents of possibility. The Joshua Kaye Quartet's Live! features takes on a number of standards, including the two mentioned above, fortified with some kinetic Latin swing.
Bongo player Danilo Paiz, who has played with such luminaries as Cal Tjader and Dizzy Gillespie, is the defining element of the band’s sound. The presence of a percussionist in the role one would expect to be filled by a front line soloist pretty much ensures that the quartet is going to be primarily about grooves rather than individual statements. Thus, in the Kaye Quartet’s version of “Take Five,” bubbling undercurrents that are felt in the body rather than the head replace the airy ideas that Paul Desmond contributed to the original.
Based in San Francisco, the quartet features Joshua Kaye on piano, Robb Fisher on bass, Pete Riso on drums, and Paiz on bongos. The band is skilled at riding the grooves instead of cluttering the sound by working against the grain. These players sound like one organism working in complete harmony.
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