Home » Jazz Articles » George Colligan
Jazz Articles about George Colligan
Kerry Politzer: Alternate Route
by Dan McClenaghan
A first impression as pianist Kerry Politzer's ninth album spins: This is an artist adept at bringing a band together for a one-day studio outing to play a bunch of her forward-leaning compositions to turn out a vibrant, crisp-sounding set. Obvious also, on tune # 1--"Before It's Too Late"--is that guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has a special genius for pairings with pianists. He proved that with his contribution to Jo-Yu Chen's Stranger (Okeh Records, 2014), and he is in the mix ...
Continue ReadingKerry Politzer: Alternate Route
by Paul Rauch
Pianist Kerry Politzer had released eight albums before Alternate Route (Whirlwind, 2025), though to many jazz listeners they essentially flew under the radar. Politzer is a Portland, Oregon-based musician on the faculty at the esteemed jazz studies program at Portland State. With this, her ninth offering, more attention and accolades are bound to come her way. The album of ten original compositions not only lends a strong focus on her adept compositional and instrumental skills, it also welcomes in a ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Porter: Cipher
by Paul Rauch
Trumpeter Charlie Porter's Cipher (PHP, 2025) carries with it a concept that provides clues to a treasure hunt and cash money--an interesting and different idea not broached here. Instead, the focus becomes the music contained within this, his eighth release as a leader. Porter, having spent time in both Portland and New York, has enjoyed fine musical friendships that manifest in this session. The trumpeter / composer has long been acclaimed for his large and lyrical sound that interfaces with ...
Continue ReadingDave Redmond: All In Motion
by Ian Patterson
There is not too much down time for your average hard-working musician. Between scuffling for gigs wherever and whenever they fall, studio sessions and the inevitable teaching bag, it is often a struggle to keep all the balls in the air. Irish bassist Dave Redmond has managed better than many since the turn of the millennium. A bass teacher at Dublin City University, Redmond is first-call bassist for Kevin Brady, Tommy Halferty and the late Larry Coryell--with whom he recorded ...
Continue ReadingNick Biello: New America
by Paul Rauch
Upon listening to alto saxophone virtuoso Nick Biello, a quote attributed to Charles Mingus may come to mind: “If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats." “Slow down," you might say, “Biello is not Bird, not even close--nobody is." But the quote relates to Biello in that he is far from a Parker or Cannonball Adderley copycat, but he sure as heck is a gunslinger. Throughout New America, this becomes a known to the ...
Continue ReadingNick Biello: New America
by Jack Bowers
Alto saxophonist Nick Biello's New America covers a diverse and colorful landscape, one over which his able quintet glides, springs and dances with ease and assurance. Respectfully, they unravel a half-dozen of the leader's elaborate yet accessible compositions and arrangements. Biello, whose upbringing in a music-centered household exposed him to every genre from jazz and classical to rock, r&b, world music and opera, took those credits with him as he studied at New Haven, Connecticut's Hartt School ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Colligan: Live At The Jazz Standard
by Carl Medsker
During its relatively brief life, the Jazz Standard hosted many wonderful evenings of creative music. Artists performing in the basement beneath the barbecue restaurant ranged from Houston Person to Roy Haynes to Wadada Leo Smith. The Mingus Big Band held forth on most Monday evenings. Sadly, the club succumbed in 2021 to the economic pain caused by the pandemic. In memorium, we now have a robustly recorded live set from 2014 by the George Colligan trio. It is ...
Continue Reading
