Jazz Articles

Camisetas: Camisetas

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
July 12, 2007

Camisetas, the album and the band, came about during a week-long residence at the Théâtre Pole Sud in Strasbourg, France, in September 2006. The resulting disc is very much a group improvisation, drawing upon the musical resources the players bring to the enterprise.As such, your response to this record will be a function of how you feel about three musical phenomena.First, whether you like the record depends upon how you feel about this kind of improvisational ...

Rockingchair: Rockingchair

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
July 11, 2007

The quirky and visionary Dogs of Great Indifference (Winter & Winter, 2006), by Jim Black's AlasNoAxis group, is among the most critically praised jazz records of recent years. But has this critical acclaim been matched by creative influence?Apparently, the answer is yes, and what's more, it turns out that Jim Black's musical progeny can be found in France. This début recording by Rockingchair, fronted by trumpeter Airelle Besson and multi-reed player Sylvain Rifflet, mines a groove ...

Camisetas w/ Jim Black: Camisetas

by Mark Corroto
July 9, 2007

Pulled from the “what the hell was that? files, the latest project from drummer Jim Black spins out of the digital information center. Jazz/rock doesn't begin to describe this music, nor does prog/rock, grunge, fusion, or fission. The American drummer teams up with a French cast to create music that patently rejects fusion for the tastier: collision.

Black--whose quirky percussion skills have been called upon in bands by Cuong Vu, Ben Monder, Satoko Fujii and Laurie Anderson-- was ...