The Craig Hlady Group

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Craig Hlady, originally from Chicago, is a talented guitarist, composer and arranger. Well versed in a variety of musical styles, he has played on and produced hundreds of studio recording sessions, and has toured the U.S.to New Zealand as a sideman and with his own groups. He currently performs jazz in and around the Boston area with The Craig Hlady Quartet, and and with blues/R&B band The Part Time Lovers .
In addition, Craig owns and operates Tower Production and Recording, a studio specializing in artist music production, and music for film and TV in a variety of styles including Pop, Rock, Country, Jazz, a Blues Electronic and orchestral . Craig iwas also a faculty member at the renowned Berklee College of Music, where he was a Professor of Guitar and endorses D'Addario guitar Strings and Celestial Effects pedals.

CD Recording Reviews

The DEDHAM JAZZ PROJECT
After listening to music this good, it's a wonderment why there aren't more local clubs supporting it. Jazz guitarist Craig Hlady is a contemporary six- stringer that maintains much of the roots and traditions that influenced him. On his latest release, The Dedham Jazz Project, Hlady teams up with a venerable collection of who's who on the Boston Jazz scene. What's especially cool is that all 15 songs are originals penned by Hlady, drummer Matt Gordy, so from song to song you get a real good feel of Hlady and the band's compositional style and arranging skills. It's truly top shelf stuff and a CD you'll have to make a point of checking out for yourself. Outstanding!
Reviewer: Douglas Sloan - Metronome Magazine Boston

The DEDHAM JAZZ PROJECT
With a lineup of Boston area musicians including numerous Berklee faculty members past and present, as well as other experienced recording artists, The Dedham Jazz Project sets some high standards. Luckily, Craig Hlady and Friends do not disappoint, and the band’s new album is a solid collection of traditional small combo jazz.
Many of the numbers are in a typical laidback lounge style, featuring simple but memorable heads, expanded upon by solo improvisations that are impressive without resorting to inappropriate pyrotechnics. In keeping with the best of the tradition, the songs establish moods evocative of their titles without the benefit of lyrics. The very opening of the album provides three solid examples of this in 6:04 p.m, Strollin Down the Avenue, and Beautiful Silence.
Instrumentation varies throughout the album, at times providing subtle textural variations and at others creating more disparate sounds. Still, the variations fit well within a cohesive whole; The Dedham Jazz Project plays like an album and not like a compilation.
Take the Wes Bound Lane departs only slightly from the preceding tracks with the inclusion of the Hammond B3 organ, creating a slightly more modern edge, appropriate to the title. It is followed by the more obviously dissimilar Snowflakes on my Windowsill, the sole vocal track, on which Rebecca Parris is absolutely captivating, exercising an easy command of her throaty, velvet voice. Other notable variations include Enchanted Forest, in which Hlady’s acoustic guitar almost sounds like a mandolin as it intertwines with the cello, and Fourway Street, which has a noisier feel, replete with disjointed rhythm work and more aggressive soloing, especially Les Arbuckle’s tenor sax.
Craig Hlady and Friends deliver the goods; there is not a bad track on The Dedham Jazz Project. An eminently enjoyable listening experience.
Northeast Performer Magazine by Brian McGrath

Craig Hlady Quartet
Twisted
(TPR Records) Craig Hlady is a skilled and versatile jazz guitarist who sounds equally at home in several styles. He has spent much of his career as a sideman, a record producer, and as a faculty member at Berklee, but he has also led his own groups in the Boston area.

On Twisted, Hlady performs nine of his originals in a quartet/quintet with pianist Dave Ramsay, bassist Oscar Stagnaro, drummer Alan Hall and, on two of the numbers, percussionist Ricardo Monzon. While the songs sometime utilize complex chord changes, Hlady easily sails over the music. His playing, which occasionally displays touches of Pat Metheny, Larry Carlton and electric blues guitarists, is mostly quite original and his ideas are expressed in his own voice Ramsay is also a strong soloist while Stagnaro, Hall and Monzon keep the post-bop music grooving behind the lead voices.

After a tricky melody on the opening “It’s A Pedal Still,” Hlady takes a solo that starts quietly but soon becomes quite fiery. “Happy Blue Year” (a medium-tempo jazz waltz) and the straight ahead “Baby Blues” are the most straight ahead performances, inspiring some colorful improvisations. “Twisted,” which is as eccentric as its title (and has no relationship to the Annie Ross classic), has a quirky melody with a rockish section along with a heated piano solo. In contrast to the more passionate pieces, “Steppin’ Out” sets an easy-listening groove and is quite soothing.

“When Fred Fled” is an inventive swinger while “Top Cat” is more relaxing but filled with subtle creativity. Hlady’s guitar on the latter at one point has a country twang and elsewhere hints more at Gabor Szabo. “One Sunday Morning” effectively alternates vamps and swing sections and includes some surprises along the way as the rhythm keeps on changing. The closer, “Four Way Strut,” is the freest and most electric performance, featuring Hlady and his sidemen at their most explorative.

Twisted holds one’s interest throughout and contains plenty of variety in moods and grooves. It is an impressive effort from Craig Hlady that is available from CDbaby and the iTunes store.

Scott Yanow  http://www.lajazzscene.buzz/waxing.html