As a tenor sax player myself, I’m always on the hunt for some new guy who has an Old School sound but isn’t locked into the past. I think I’ve found someone in Vito Dieterle, who’s got me excited by these two diverse releases. Check them out!
The first one has Dieterle in a quartet setting with the humming Hammond of Ben Paterson, the clean guitar of Kris Kaiser and grooving pulse of Aaron Seeber’s drums. Dieterle’s tone is warm and foggy, floating over the samba’d “Dream Dancing” and floating like a fog on “Chelsea Bridge”. It’s fitting that he does a Stanley Turrentine tune (“Minor Chant”) as his tone and texture have that same feel, nimble here as well as on Tommy Turrentine’s bluesy “You Said It”. The rhythm team sizzles on the playful read of Thelonious Monk’s “Work” while the leader goes bel canto on the aria of “Lush Life”. Put this in a bottle and sell it for as a muscle relaxer!
Dieterle then gives a real tribute to Thelonious Monk, even giving homage to one of his famous album covers, doing a series of duets of Spherical material and self-composed inspirations with pianist Joel Forrester. He sighs with a more Coltranesque tone on the swaying “Crepuscule With Nellie” and bounces with joy on “Let’s Call This”. He plays with a Monk tune and renames it on the clever “Don’t Ask Me Now” and bops with joy on his own “The Comeback”. A rich haze of tone is a nice contrast to Forrester’s nimble fingers on “Ruby My Deary” and the reflective “Requiem For Aunt Honey” while the team is kinetic on “Let’s Call This”. Someone come up with the fare to fly him for some So Cal gigs!!!