Jazz Articles

Carole Nelson: Zen And The Art Of Music Making

by Ian Patterson
August 16, 2022

To what extent music is a product of nature versus nurture is impossible to qualify, but it is reasonable to assume that a musician's immediate environment plays into the music somehow. Difficult, certainly, to imagine bebop birthing anywhere other than in the hurly burly of 1940s New York, for example. For London-born, Ireland-based pianist Carole Nelson, the Carlow countryside and its varied landscape has exerted a profound effect on her music making. Since 2001 Nelson has lived in ...

Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Boiling Point

by Dan McClenaghan
August 16, 2022

Even if Gordon Grdina does not release another album in 2022, the year should be considered as the time when it all came together for the Vancouver-based guitarist and oud-ist. Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne, Night's Quietest Hour and Pathways, all on Attaboygirl Records, were released in the first six month of 2022--a productive time. Add to that Boiling Point, the second outing by Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio. Grdina's artistry is hard to pin down. Free ...

Sisters from Another Jazz Mother? Part 1

by Ludovico Granvassu
August 16, 2022

Music geekery is at the heart of this week's edition. Over the years, time and time again I have come across songs that left me thinking... “Wait... there's a melody in this chorus or this solo that really reminds me of another song... but I can't quite put my finger on it... “ And every time I'd play that song the same question would pop in my head at that same chorus or solo!I'm sure you're all familiar ...

Cecil Taylor: With (Exit) To Student Studies Revisited

by Mark Corroto
August 16, 2022

Documenting the evolution of Cecil Taylor is an undertaking that is way beyond the pay grade of most listeners. Just as in the study of homo sapiens (yes, us) where there is no critical moment (the missing link) that we can definitely pinpoint where our ancestors established language, art and importantly, abstract thought, Taylor's music can be thought of in similar terms. Obviously his approach didn't emerge fully formed. Or did it? No, that is an irrational thought, but a ...

Vince Abbracciante Trio At Summertime In Jazz 2022

by Danilo Codazzi
August 16, 2022

Wadada Leo Smith, Trio Xolo & Clean Feed Releases

by Maurice Hogue
August 15, 2022

This episode is loaded up with music from the summer batch of new releases by Clean Feed Records Tarbaby, Angles, Landaeus Trio and Ziv Taubenfeld's Full Sun) with more to come next week. The master trumpeter and endless source of creative, Wadada Leo Smith has a new 5-album box set featuring himself soloing with different drummers and there's a peek into that project. Adding to the mix, interesting music from English pianist Meg Morley & trio, saxophonist/poet Lewis Jordan, Trio ...

Frank Kimbrough: Frank Kimbrough 2003 - 2006

by Pierre Giroux
August 15, 2022

Frank Kimbrough, who died in December 2020, was a pianist of passionate originality, whose playing can be defined by an ease of technique coupled with a flow of ideas and meticulous execution. This current release, Frank Kimbrough 2003-2006, features newly mixed and remastered versions of the pianist's 2003 album Lullabluebye and the 2006 follow-up release Play. These albums were thought to be representative of a particularly productive period in his career. On Lullabluebye, Kimbrough is accompanied ...