Hymns & Things (Introspection & Reflection)

'Other than being a most proficient master of his instrument, Sharp Radway has knowledge far exceeding notes and chords.' ~ Benny Golson (Internationally Renowned Tenor Saxophonist, Composer, and Arranger) At a time when modernity is all-too-often defined by complexity and challenge, there's something particularly refreshing about the arrival of an artist who values substance over style, and humility over hubris. Sharp Radway may be debuting as a leader with Hymns and Things, and will more than likely be a name new to most, but he's been establishing his jazz cred as a pianist/composer/arranger since moving to New York City eight years ago from his hometown of Hartford, CT. The author of Musicianship 101 (What They Don't Teach You In School) (Outskirts Press, 2010) caught the ear of some significant names almost immediately upon arriving in The Big Apple, a remarkable achievement for a pianist who has come relatively late to jazz. Saxophonist/clarinetist Greg Tardy met Radway during his first week in New York and saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding soon after, and their guest appearance on two of Hymns and Things' tracks suggests they were as quickly attracted to the pianist's ongoing dedication to honing his craft as they were his gentle manner, giving nature and affable demeanor. 'Greg Tardy was the first guy I met,' Radway recalls. 'I met him the first night after I moved to New York. I'd just finished unpacking, and decided I wanted to go hear some jazz; I ran out to this little place and ran into Greg. He had a gig that night, and we hit it off.' Radway's first encounter with Spaulding seemed innocuous enough, the kind of thing that happens regularly amongst musicians in the New York club scene, though the pianist couldn't have predicted how it would ultimately play out. 'I was doing a gig at a club in Brooklyn called Sista's Place, and James knew the drummer that I was working with,' says Radway. 'He'd been working with him previously, and he came in and heard me play. I asked if I could take a photo with him, we made some small talk, and he took my number. A year later I get a phone call and it was like, 'Hey, Sharp! You want to go over to Portugal?' I said, 'Yeah, man, who's this?' and he said, 'James Spaulding, man!' James Spaulding? I thought it was a joke, but it turns out it was no joke, and we've been playing together ever since.' For a self-taught musician who has, in addition to Tardy and Spaulding, worked with jazz legends like Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller, considers Onaje Allan Gumbs to be 'like a big brother,' and is currently the musical director for The Celebration of Lionel Hampton Big Band, it's been a rapid rise, but the idea for Hymns and Things dates back to before Radway was even ready to play jazz. 'I grew up playing in the church,' Radway explains, 'I played drums for about four or five years, I played alto sax, and, of course, I played piano. But when I started playing piano, I only played three chords - C major, D minor and E minor - on every song [chuckles]. But my roots can be found in the church, and the songs on this record are part of the original standard repertoire, if you will, of what I was dealing with as a musician. I always wanted to do a gospel jazz record, before I even knew what jazz was, or what it would entail. 'I used to hang out and practice at this music school in Hartford,' Radway continues, 'and I ran into a bass player, a good friend of mine, Steve Porter. He was in class, so I walked straight into the classroom and said, 'Hey, man, I want to start a gospel jazz band,' and he was down for it, he was ready; so he helped me call a rehearsal. We sat down and were ready to get to business, and it took all of about thirty seconds for them to realize I didn't know the slightest thing about jazz. That was about ten years ago.' Radway tends to downplay his evolution from 'three-chord wonder' to the mature player heard on Hymns and Things. 'It's been pretty much an organic experience. I always just hung around musicians who were better than me, and I read a couple of referen