vinniecutro.com: Press

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT-The STAR-LEDGER
Give me Liberty - and give me jazz

"Among the aces were Cutro with a sizzling sound and inventive line flow"

Vinnie Cutro – a powerhouse musician of vigor and invention – shines on Sakura, his fifth CD.
Here – working with an ace crew of tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, trombonist Bob Ferrel, pianists Charles Blenzig and Mitch Schechter, bassist Jay Anderson, and drummer Billy Hart – Cutro offers six vibrant originals, three reworked jazz standards, and a vital interpretation of a Japanese folk song.
The trumpeter – whose inspirations include Woody Shaw and Lee Morgan – talks about the improvisational and compositional concepts heard on Sakura. “While I always keep the basic elements of structure and swing, I’m experimenting more with intervals, like 4ths, 5ths, major sevenths,” he says. “Those challenging intervals create a more open, more modern sound.”
Indeed, Sakura is packed with engaging, potent music, music that mixes rich melodic warmth with the bristling excitement of adventurous ideas. Among the many gems: the anthem-like title track; the surging waltz, “Three for Me”; the riveting ballad, “Willow Weep for Me”; the open-minded, funky “Big Chief”; the driving “What is This Thing?”
This dynamic recording should give Vinnie Cutro the wider recognition he clearly deserves.

Philip Elwood,critic for THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER called Cutro's playing
"...hot,cool,sweet and tart.He follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest modern jazz trumpeters."

Owen Cordle of JAZZ TIMES wrote "The name Vinnie Cutro must have slipped through the cracks.How could we have missed this fiery trumpet and fluglehorn player who has performed with Horace Silver and Lionel Hampton ? His forte is hard bop,his chops fashioned after Freedie Hubbard and Lee Morgan and his arrangements reminiscent of Silver."

Peter Vasher,writing in Great Britain's JAZZ EXPRESS called Cutro's
"Lionel Hampton's most memorable soloist."