Hopping Back on the Quatrane

Written by Suzy Berkowitz on 6 October 2011

Jazz quartet Quatrane, comprised of former and current New Paltz students, recently released their first full-length album Night Trip. The band is made up of four members: Vince Tampio (trumpet), Chris “Catfish” Dayton (guitar), Michael Kadner (drums) and Ben Basile (bass). Quatrane began performing jazz standards after playing together for two years, and later wrote originals. Eventually, the band decided to record an album compiled of six tunes written and selected carefully by both Dayton and Tampio.

“We got together and assembled a set of six tunes that best described us as a band, and that related well together,” said Tampio. The tracks were recorded at Bottoms Up Recording Studios in Pleasant Valley, NY. The recording only took one session to complete, a five-hour-long process in total. Basile attributes the short amount of time the recording took to the band’s lengthy experience performing.

“Since we had been playing together for the last two years, we were able to do all the tunes in just two or three takes,” said Basile. “Everything came out great.” Though Quatrane is a jazz quartet, it is difficult to classify the tracks recorded on the album as strictly jazz tunes. “It’s got several different styles,” Basile said. “Everything from swing, latin, funk, rock and jazz. It is a very eclectic album, but it could be loosely categorized under jazz fusion.”

One of the tracks, “Poop,” starts off very mellow, incorporating a constant bass line and laser sound effects, transitioning its jazzy feel to a more contemporary one. “Vyn,” another track on the album, contains a greater emphasis on the trumpet and drums, while maintaining the mellow feel. “Night Trip” was a more upbeat tune, maintaining a jazzy melody and incorporating a plethora of instruments equally. The members of Quatrane said they agree the release of their album will do nothing but good for their careers as musicians. It not only showcases their skills and experience playing as a group, but as individuals. The tracks accurately represent the band, and help convey to the audience their progression over the years.

“[The album] covers the broad array of compositional and performance-based techniques we have employed live. We are a jazz quartet, but what we do with our four members and our influence varies from track to track,” Tampio said. Quatrane plans to distribute and promote their album online and at their shows. As far as proceeding on tour is concerned, all members agree that it would be ideal for exposure and experience, however, coordinating their schedules is the biggest obstacle in their way.

For now, each band member is busy with their own work. Dayton and Tampio are pursuing graduate degrees, Kadner has taken to teaching private drum and piano lessons in his hometown and Basile currently plays with several bands. The quartet still maintains their success by performing together as often as possible, which, considering their conflicting schedules, is difficult. While Tampio attends graduate school in Philadelphia, Dayton, Kadner and Basile often play as a trio, but are still glad to be given the opportunity to perform and progress. Quatrane prides themselves on modernizing and pushing the limits of jazz.

“[We are] offering [our] own approach to the music,” said Tampio. Quatrane will be having a CD-release show at Oasis Café in New Paltz on Nov. 1 at 10 p.m. 

For the original article, click here.