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Pony Boy All-Star Big Band: This Is Now
by Jack Bowers
This Is Now is a venturous and engaging concert date by the Pony Boy All-Star Big Band, taped in May 2024 at Boxley's jazz club in North Bend, Washington. Pony Boy refers to the band's label, Pony Boy Records, while the term All-Star is, as always, in the eye (and ear) of the beholder. Clearly, there are some stars in this firmament, not least of which is drummer and music director Greg Williamson. Trumpeter Jay Thomas has long been a ...
Continue ReadingJim Knapp Orchestra: It's Not Business, It's Personal
by Jack Bowers
The Jim Knapp Orchestra's CD It's Not Business, It's Personal, recorded in February 2009, was set to be released on November 19, 2021—six days after Knapp died at age eighty-two in Kirkland, Washington. Apart from his role as bandleader, Knapp was a trumpeter, composer, arranger and longtime faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Described by Grammy-winning composer/pianist Jim McNeely as “a brilliant musician, great teacher and a humble, sweet [and] generous man," Knapp was widely recognized ...
Continue ReadingPhil Parisot: Inventions
by Jack Bowers
Even at a time when jazz has broadened its horizons to encompass music from a wide variety of sources, it is not often that one happens upon a jazz album inspired by the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach. However, that is the premise animating drummer Phil Parisot's sunlit Inventions, an astute post-bop session wherein Bach's muse may be present but whose point of view, exemplified by Parisot's stylish compositions, is decidedly contemporary. The truth is, if ...
Continue ReadingRyan Burns: Postponed Parade
by Dan McClenaghan
Keyboardist Ryan Burns' Postponed Parade happened, in large part, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The vexing virus that hit us in 2020 made getting together difficult and dangerous--for music-making or anything else. So here is what Burns did: During Covid-19 times he recorded and released a single tune each month, from May to October 2020. These sessions took place in his contributing musicians' houses, with the exception of “Shoreline," recorded in a studio, but with everyone in a separate room. ...
Continue ReadingSteve Treseler Group: Center Song
by Vincenzo Roggero
Sono due direzioni molto diverse tra loro a contrassegnare (in base alle intenzioni espresse dall'autore nelle note di copertina) Center Song, secondo album a proprio nome del sassofonista e clarinettista Steve Treseler. Da una parte la scena alternative rock e grunge di Seattle--città nella quale il leader di questo gruppo è cresciuto--omaggiata con il brano dei Sunny Day Real Estate “Days Were Golden," dall'altra la frequentazione del New England Conservatory con infatuazione per la musica di Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh ...
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