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Kenny Wollesen
A founding member of the New Klezmer Trio, Wollesen is also all over N.Y.C.'s downtown jazz and avant-garde musicians' recordings, and has been so active as to tour with Bill Frisell and Myra Melford in the same month. �" Joslyn Layne Source: All Music Guide
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Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by John Sharpe
Even though pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen on hand for Chimaera, the six-piece band is a long way from being merely the storied threesome, which made Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014), D'Agala (Intakt, 2018) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), plus added guests. As she explains in the liners, the music was originally commissioned for the 2021 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris and was inspired by the surreal works of French Symbolist artist ...
read moreSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by Troy Dostert
It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...
read moreJohn Zorn: Gnosis: The Inner Light
by Nenad Georgievski
John Zorn's album Gnosis: The Inner Light serves as a poignant memorial and homage to the creative genius of one of modern music's most visionary composers, Ennio Morricone, who played a vital role in shaping Zorn's musical path. Decades ago, Zorn captivated audiences with The Big Gundown (Nonesuch, 1986), a groundbreaking release that boldly reimagined Morricone's compositions. Now, with Gnosis: The Inner Light, Zorn once again pays tribute to the maestro's enduring influence, delving into mystical realms and creating a ...
read moreSteph Richards: Supersense
by Mike Jurkovic
With all the threatening weirdness and desperate surrealism that has become life in the USA, it makes absolute sense that Supersense, daring trumpeter/composer Steph Richards' third full length album, starts out like an encroaching invasion of ants, or microbes, or a disruptive, divisive, myopic political movement. As with such forward seeking rebels as Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and Yoko Ono, Richards' modus operandi is chiseled in the very foundations of the music itself. Never ...
read moreSylvie Courvoisier Trio: Free Hoops
by Troy Dostert
With her idiosyncratic mixture of mystery and mirth, and a seamless conjoining of jazz and classical musical vocabularies, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has carved an enviable niche for herself. She not only possesses impeccable technique, but her voice as a composer is just as formidable, whether in partnerships with fellow mavericks like Mary Halvorson, Evan Parker, or Mark Feldman, or in her blue-chip trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Their D'Agala (Intakt) was a widely hailed highlight of ...
read moreMark Murphy, Folk Artist: Hiding Place
by C. Michael Bailey
Mark Murphy's 2018 release Pocketful of Rainbows (Self Produced, 2018) was a surprise stand-out recording that year. Now, this Mark Murphy is not that Mark Murphy (1932 -2015), icon of jazz vocals. This Mark Murphy is a singer/songwriter whose 2016 release, Slip Away (Mini Movie) scored points for one of Downbeat Magazine's recordings of that year. Murphy returns with Hiding Place, a slim collection of seven songs, originals mixed with imaginative covers, in keeping with his previous offerings.
read moreBill Frisell: Unspeakable
by John Kelman
Some artists spend an entire lifetime within a narrow genre, honing their skill and working at stretching the boundaries of that style, while others transcend all definitions and labels, creating a music that defies categorization. Such is the case with guitarist Bill Frisell, who over a twenty-five year career has contributed to everything from the Nordic cool of Jan Garbarek's quartet to the downtown edge of John Zorn's Naked City. On his own records he has explored diverse landscapes including ...
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Music
Tropicalia
From: RETRO TrilogyBy Kenny Wollesen
The Wind
From: RETRO TrilogyBy Kenny Wollesen
Supersense
From: SupersenseBy Kenny Wollesen
Lonely Hearts
From: Another Way HomeBy Kenny Wollesen