CD/LP/Track Review

Of all nature's wonders, the river is the one that can most readily encapsulate the passage of time in very human terms. In just a few miles a river moves from the first tentative steps of childhood to the brash, energetic, movements of youth and the meanderings of middle age before it disappears in its old ...

It's been a banner year for tenor saxophone trios. Not the most common lineup, this challenging ensemble has seen some terrific releases from musicians both famous and unsung, veterans and newcomers alike. Now Philadelphia saxophonist Odean Pope adds his superb contribution with Odean's Three.

It might not be fair to judge any jazz musician by the ...

The new generation of Norwegian tuba players keep challenging this under-rated instrument. Two years ago it was the trio of Martin Taxt, Kristoffer Lo and Robin Hayward who investigated the timbre characteristics of the tuba on microtub (Sofa Music, 2011) and last year Lo explored the tuba as a sound source for dark and intense soundscapes ...

It is tempting to consider Chet Baker hommages like Jeff Baker's excellent Baker Sings Chet (OA2, 2004) or John Proulx's sublime Baker's dozen: Remembering Chet Baker (MAXJAZZ, 2009) superior to the real item. So fractured is our picture of Baker that our full appreciation of him is clouded by his extra-musical proclivities. But it is not ...

One of today's foremost jazz musicians and composers Terence Blanchard's achievements have soared since his formative days in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers to a trajectory of successful bands, recordings and award winning film scores such as 2007's A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note). He's still pursuing new challenges with the upcoming ...

How does a band introduce freedom to its music? Does the band play free jazz or, to paraphrase saxophonist Joe Lovano, does it play its jazz free? Danish Drummer and leader of the Danish-German quartet FUSK, Kasper Tom Christiansen's, answer to this question is simple: “Who cares?" FUSK defines its own freedom, between contrapuntal springboard melodies, ...

The island of Ireland has a long and impressive history of great blues singers--Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, Phil Lynott all brought a raw, bluesy, intensity to their performances. Singer and guitarist Nigel Mooney has been on the Irish blues scene since the '80s and his jazz-inflected take on the genre is shown to enjoyable effect on ...

It's been six years since Mat Maneri last appeared on ECM, collaborating with singer Robin Williamson on the British traditionalist's exploratory The Iron Stone (2007); even longer since the violist shared a marquee for the German label, on 2004's Angles of Repose, with his now-deceased father, microtonal reed player Joe Maneri, and bassist Barre Phillips; even ...

Los Angeles pianist/arranger/composer David Arnay releases his third recording as a leader in the theme-minded 8. Eight signifies both the number of selections on the disc as well as the sequential sum of instruments added to each performance, from solo to octet performance. So, the premise is Arnay adds one instrument to each piece as he ...

It's been four years since a recorded peep has been heard from pianist Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio, despite continuing to perform a few select dates each year. But even its last few ECM releases--2009's Yesterdays, 2007's My Foolish Heart and 2004's The Out-of-Towners--were all culled from a clearly fruitful 2001, making it well over a decade ...

Melbourne jazz singer Lisa Young has been a mainstay of the Australian jazz scene for over two decades, whether leading quartets or as a member of Coco's Lunch, the award winning a cappella group she co-founded in the mid-1990s. The Eternal Pulse--her fourth album as leader--marries konnakol with Young's personal take on vocal improvisation in an ...

Guitarist Larry Corban keeps a picture of Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) on the wall of his practice room. The Belgium-born Gypsy guitarist/swing pioneer was a master of tripping from single note melodies to crisp chords--and keeping it all swinging in his collaborations with violinist Stephane Grappelli. Corban takes his Django inspiration well on the opener of The ...

Musicians create bands for many things: To gather like-minded artists together, or to achieve some grand artistic vision; Christian McBride created Inside Straight to get a gig. It seems Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon loved McBride but wouldn't book him with his regular, fusion-heavy outfit--or, as Gordon put it, “that rock 'n' roll band." Necessity is ...

Such is the strength and conviction with which the Sudo Quartet performs that thoughts immediately turn to how they developed such a cohesive group sound. With no liners and no information on the web, the genesis of the unit remains a mystery, though the same foursome feature on four tracks on bassist Joelle Leandre's At the ...