A UNIQUE BLEND OF WRITTEN AND IMPROVISED CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CONCEPTS
Jazz and classical music often seem irreconcilable.
Listeners are frequently divided between the two, and rarely attend each other's concerts. Yet, both sides often express interest in the "other's" music. Gay Pearson's music is unique in that it she seamlessly combines both styles in all her pieces, which make both her individual works, and entire concerts, of interest to both. And this is an important step forward in the history of both musics. Gay's music really points the way towards a serious unification of both.
So often, classical composers who attempt "jazz"--and vice versa--do an uninformed job, and the result does not live up to their other works. Gay has lived fully in both worlds, and both her arrangements of jazz standards--pithy, and very classical in nature--and her original works--classically based yet swinging--fully show this. I find her concerts to be some of the most refreshing from this standpoint, as they stimulate the listener's need for high organization that exists in classical music, yet they swing like jazz.
--Gregory Hall (and Gay Pearson)
So often, classical composers who attempt "jazz"--and vice versa--do an uninformed job, and the result does not live up to their other works. Gay has lived fully in both worlds, and both her arrangements of jazz standards--pithy, and very classical in nature--and her original works--classically based yet swinging--fully show this. I find her concerts to be some of the most refreshing from this standpoint, as they stimulate the listener's need for high organization that exists in classical music, yet they swing like jazz.
--Gregory Hall (and Gay Pearson)