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Shabaka Hutchings: Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
by Chris May
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes ... Since signing with with Impulse! in 2018, Shabaka Hutchings has become best known for his incendiary work on tenor saxophone with Sons Of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka & The Ancestors. Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace marks the start of a gentler, more instrospective phase in his music making. The trigger came during the pandemic, when Hutchings fell in love with the Japanese shakuhachi flute. The quietly spoken instrument first edged itself ...
Continue ReadingWhat Is Your Favorite Jazz Interpretation Of The Beatles?
by Ian Patterson
When The Beatles landed at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964, they were greeted by around three thousand fans. Two days later, when The Fab Four performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, the television audience topped 70 million. Popular music was never the same again. It was not long before jazz musicians followed the lead of countless pop acts in covering The Beatles' songs. The list is an incredibly long one and, some sixty years later, ...
Continue ReadingHakon Skogstad: 8 Concepts of Tango
by Jack Bowers
Any time an instrumental group includes a bandoneon in the lineup, that provides a pretty good idea as to where its sentiments lie. Norwegian-born pianist Hakon Skogstad includes not one but two bandoneons in his octet, and as if that were not enough in the way of a definitive clue, has named his latest album 8 Concepts of Tango. Skogstad, to state the obvious, is wedded to the tango, a conclusion to which his half-dozen earlier albums ...
Continue ReadingClaudio Fasoli & Antonio Faraò Duo at Milestone Piacenza
by Danilo Codazzi
A collection of photos from the Claudio Fasoli & Antonio Faraò Duo concert at Milestone in Piacenza on April 13, 2024 featuring Claudio Fasoli, and Antonio Faraò. ...
Continue ReadingChristian Marien Quartett: How Long Is Now
by Troy Dostert
Drummer Christian Marien represents the kind of omnivorous musical sensibility that is so valuable in an age in which conventional musical categories seem increasingly irrelevant. His undeniable reverence for the jazz tradition is evident through his work with I Am Three, in which he has teamed with saxophonist Silke Eberhard and trumpeter Nikolaus Neuser to offer marvelous re-interpretations of Charles Mingus, both on Mingus, Mingus, Mingus (Leo Records, 2016) and, joined by vocalist Maggie Nicols, Mingus' Sounds of Love (Leo ...
Continue ReadingPaul Dunmall: Bright Light A Joyous Celebration
by John Sharpe
While the opener suggests a blowing session from veteran British saxophonist Paul Dunmall, as good as that promises to be, the reality is better still. Joining him is a starry cast drawn from succeeding generations, with the addition of American drummer Hamid Drake. With the drummer touring in the UK. Dunmall took the opportunity to renew a friendship that stretches back almost two decades, one first heard on the fiery Peace And Joy (Slam, 2006). Alongside them in the studio ...
Continue ReadingHiromi's Sonicwonder At SFJAZZ
by Chuck Lenatti
Hiromi's SonicwonderSFJAZZ, Miner AuditoriumSan Francisco, CAApril 14, 2024 Hiromi and her merry band of simpatico sonic warriors concluded their San Francisco run at SFJAZZ's Miner Auditorium with an exhilarating jolt of electricity as they dove into their latest release, Sonicwonderland (Concord Records, 2023). The uniquely coiffed pianist wore a bright yellow dress over black tights and cute sneakers and was in perpetual motion throughout the show. “Sonic" is code for plugged in. “When ...
Continue ReadingThe Mosaic Records Story
by Michael Cuscuna
In memory of Mosaic Records co-founder Michael Cuscuna (1948-2024). Although Mosaic Records' first release came out in July of 1983, the seeds for the business were planted in 1970. As a journalist, radio show host and record producer, I began coming into contact with many musicians who had been major players in Blue Note's repertory company. Since Blue Note had always been my favorite label for its consistent quality, conversations would ultimately drift to those great days of ...
Continue ReadingRemy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows: Heartland Radio
by Dan Bilawsky
This ear-grabbing date from Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows--the band's third release, following its eponymous debut (in 2019) and Architecture of Storms (SoundSpore Records, 2021)--is a sonic mirror, reflecting the multihyphenate leader's recent travels in both life and sound. Influenced by an odyssey across inland America, sights encountered along the way, and the adventitious, airwaves-dictated soundtrack to the journey, Heartland Radio offers up a striking portrait of a Promethean artist with an unfettered imagination. Opening on ...
Continue ReadingDuke Ellington: Isfahan
by Ian Patterson
Part of Duke Ellington's Far East Suite (1967), “Isfahan" took its inspiration from a visit to the city of Isfahan, Iran, in 1963. Of the ancient city Ellington wrote: “everything is poetry," a sentiment transferred beautifully to this most moving of Strayhorn/Ellington compositions. Curious too, to see Ellington holding the sheet music for soloist Johnny Hodges. The same tour also took the Duke Ellington Orchestra to Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, among other stops. Will such an itinerary ever ...
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