Articles by John Chacona
Lorne Lofsky: Steward of the Canadian Guitar Tradition
by John Chacona
Guitarist Lorne Lofsky rocketed to fame when It Could Happen To You (Pablo Records, 1981), his debut release as a leader, was produced by fellow Canadian Oscar Peterson. Lofsky has since toured and recorded with a wide range of musicians from all around the world, including Peterson, but his hometown of jny: Toronto has been his base for more than 40 years. In that time he has witnessed many changes in the scene of that dynamic, cosmopolitan city, and has ...
read moreYotam Silberstein: Never Let Me Go
by John Chacona
In his heyday, tenor saxophonist George Coleman bulled through the changes with the single-minded muscularity of heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier bearing down on an opponent. When Big George was on, the changes didn't stand a chance. He's slowed down a bit, but like many distinguished predecessors, what Coleman has lost--or abandoned--at racehorse tempos is more than compensated by the grandeur of his playing on ballads. “Never Let Me Go" seems to be a favorite of his, and guitarist ...
read moreHilary Gardner: On the Trail With the Lonesome Pines
by John Chacona
It might be hard for the young'uns to believe, but there was a time when movie houses and television screens were filled with westerns. Tales of cowpokes and their trusty horses, outlaws, dogies and tumblin' tumbleweeds were so popular that various sub-genres of westerns flourished as brand extensions. One of these featured the singing cowboy trope, and elevated such figures as Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and most notably, Gene Autry, to stardom. The songs they sang were western-ish, ...
read moreKen Vandermark’s Edition Redux at BOP STOP at The Music Settlement
by John Chacona
Ken Vandermark's Edition Redux BOP STOP at The Music Settlement Cleveland, OH February 27, 2024 Every jazz concert brings an experience that you've never had before and likely weren't expecting. In the case of the jny: Cleveland concert by protean saxophonist Ken Vandermark's Edition Redux, the source was a new Apple Watch that helpfully issued a dangerous sound level warning when the volume inside BOP STOP hit 97 decibels. The concert was the ...
read moreGiorgi Mikadze Trio: Same Garden
by John Chacona
Your assignment for today is to name the composer of “Same Garden" (no fair looking!). Could it be a Jerome Kern deep cut? A rarity by Cole Porter? Wait! Victor Young, right? All good guesses for this tuneful, 32-bar AABA line, but the prize goes to the sharp-eared listener who named Shota Milorava, a composer of film scores from the Republic of Georgia. Crazy, eh? Not if you know that Giorgi Mikadze, on whose recording Face ...
read moreElan Mehler: Trouble In Mind
by John Chacona
There's a scene in Michael Cimino's 1978 film The Deer Hunter where five friends celebrate a successful hunt at the bar owned by their older companion. The mood is celebratory, but as John (George Dzundza), the bar's owner, sits down at the piano to play Chopin's G-Minor Nocturne, the room grows quiet. Three of the younger men are shipping out to Vietnam, and while they don't know what the future holds, the music hints at the cataclysm to come.
read moreHilario Durán and his Latin Jazz Big Band: Cry Me A River
by John Chacona
Believe it or not, people were writing kiss-off songs long before Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake. This one was made famous by the unjustly neglected Julie London in 1955, but you've never heard it done like this before. jny: Havana-born pianist Hilario Duran arranged this title song from a 2023 recording on his own Alma Records label as a roaring son montuno for big band. Thanks to a fervent lead vocal and searing violin solo from Elizabeth Rodriguez, this venerable ...
read moreMike Reed / The Separatist Party: A Low Frequency Nightmare
by John Chacona
In 2021, the jny: Chicago instrumental drone trio Bitchin Bajas dropped Switched on Ra (Drag City), a collection of Sun Ra covers for synthesizers. Drummer, bandleader and scenemaker Mike Reed probably heard the cassette-only release and he almost certainly heard the band's October 2021 performance of that material at his Hungry Brain venue. They must have made an impression on Reed who brought the Bajas into the studio three months later to record The Separatist Party (Astral Spirits/We Jazz, 2023). ...
read moreYuhan Su: Naked Swimmer
by John Chacona
For Liberated Gesture, her fourth release, Taiwan-born, New York vibraphonist Yuhan Su assembled a band of saxophonist Caroline Davis, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Marty Kenney and drummer Dan Weiss, all of whom play at their usual exalted level. That's fast company, but Su holds her own, moving smoothly in and out of taut ensemble passages and soloing with the clarity and subtle color of tinted quartz. Still, she makes her most impressive contribution on Liberated Gesture with her pen, not ...
read moreEthan Philion: Gnosis
by John Chacona
When it comes to making memorable entrances, Ethan Philion is on a par with Seinfeld's Kramer. The jny: Chicago bassist burst into the scene with Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside Records, 2022), an audacious debut recording on which he arranged familiar selections and deep cuts from the towering jazz bassist Charles Mingus. On Gnosis, the forces are smaller and perhaps so is the ambition of Philion's concept. Yet from the very first notes of “The Boot," which begins with a shriek ...
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