Home » Jazz Articles » Steve Cardenas
Jazz Articles about Steve Cardenas
Steve Million: What I Meant to Say
by Richard J Salvucci
Steve Million, thoughtful, well established, and prolific, has recorded another elegant outing to complement his Jazz Words (Origin, 2021). No vocalist this time, but some old friends from his Kansas City days who combine to produce a wonderfully reflective entry. Million's compositions--and they are all his--are stylish and distinctive. Open the Book" is an appropriate title for a sonorous and thoughtful entrance, although named for his daughter Peige, at the time of writing, a year old, ...
read moreBen Allison: Moments Inside
by Angelo Leonardi
Delizioso. Le sempre cantabili composizioni di Ben Allison, i raffinati intrecci dei chitarristi Steve Cardenas e Chico Pinheiro, l'insinuante apporto ritmico del leader e di Allan Mednard, fanno di questo 14° album del bassista un'altra gemma. Per timore di essere equivocati non usiamo il termine cool ma in senso ampio quell'estetica è viva, accanto ad aromi soulful, nostalgici echi di Brasile e bossa nova (c'è tutta la grazia di Gilberto e Jobim), più melodie cristalline che si ...
read moreSteve Million: What I Meant to Say
by Jack Bowers
A word that springs to mind when listening to pianist Steve Million's quartet is tasteful." If the music sounds congenial as well, that is probably because four friends" are performing it. Two of them (guitarist Steve Cardenas, drummer Ron Vincent) were among the Kansas City-based friends who comprised Million's quartet in that city before he moved to New York in 1981; the new friend" is bassist John Sims who started gigging with the group shortly before What I Meant to ...
read moreSteve Cardenas: Blue Has A Range
by Angelo Leonardi
Espressi con uno stile del tutto personale, ritroviamo in Steve Cardenas la ricchezza di accenti, le sfumature cromatiche e il patrimonio di sottigliezze melodiche e ritmiche che hanno caratterizzato -da prospettive diverse-chitarristi ben più noti di lui: ad esempio Jimmy Raney, Jim Hall e Pat Metheny. Il chitarrista è tanto significativo quanto riservato e resta per questo poco noto al grande pubblico; eppure ha fatto parte dell'Electric Bebop Band di Paul Motian, del quintetto di Steve Swallow, della ...
read moreJoachim Mencel: Brooklyn Eye
by Dan Bilawsky
Growing up under the weight of communism in Poland in the late '60s and early '70s, Joachim Mencel dreamed of the freedoms and wonders of America. Stateside relatives sent food parcels, offering him his first tastes of Hershey's chocolate and the inviting aromas of Maxwell House coffee; and Polish public radio station Trójka filled his ears with jazz, gifting the sounds of Miles Davis, among other greats. By the time Mencel first travelled to America, to take part in the ...
read moreSteve Cardenas: Blue Has A Range
by Friedrich Kunzmann
It's not easy to pin New York guitarist Steve Cardenas down to a few main attributes. His playing is unassuming, his compositions are equally subtle and his persona possessed of an even more humble nature, leaving him somewhat hidden in the shadows of the contemporary jazz world. Yet the veteran guitarist has been going at it now for over a quarter century, recording and playing with some of the finest international jazz heavy-weights of today, yesterday and tomorrow. Between Adam ...
read moreSteve Cardenas, Cory Weeds, Zoot Sims and More
by Joe Dimino
Neon Jazz continues to focus on the new music coming out during this global pandemic. This week we focus on a Kansas City-native, New York City jazz guitarist Steve Cardenas, who has just released a great new album. We also feature songs from Duchess, Florian Arbenz, Cory Weeds, Steve Slagle and Ambrose Akinmusire. Enjoy the jazz, my friends. Playlist Steve Cardenas Lost and Found" Blue Has a Range (Cardenas) 00:00 Host talks 6:41 Florian Arbenz Ambar" Convergence (Florian ...
read more