Jazz Articles about Times 4

Times 4: Eclipse

by Glenn Astarita
November 28, 2010

San Francisco Bay Area quartet Times 4 finely tunes its compositional prowess on Eclipse. Sparked by snappy pulses, and memorable hooks, the unit attains an attractive balance between radio-friendly jazz and several instances of serious-minded improvisation. At times strutting its stuff, the quartet imparts a stylistic up-tempo rendition of sax great John Coltrane's timeless classic, “Naima."Times 4 transforms “Naima" into a peppery groove-centric piece that is not overly-technical or way out of line. Here, saxophonist Lincoln Adler's notes ...

Times 4: Eclipse

by Woodrow Wilkins
June 5, 2010

For some artists, there's a sense of defiance to classification. The members of Times 4 represent that contingent with their third release, Eclipse.Together for seven years, the group is comprised of two sets of San Francisco Bay-area friends who bring a mix of formal training and self teaching. Collectively, they count among their inspirations Grover Washington Jr., Bootsy Collins and Prince.The title song begins as an easygoing groove. The soprano sax leads the melody, piano and ...

Times 4: Relations

by Woodrow Wilkins
April 20, 2007

Math made simple. Put two and two together, and you get Times 4, a San Francisco-based jazz group that mixes the old with the new, and lots of stuff in between. Drummer Maurice Miles and bassist Kevin Lofton were friends and musical collaborators in high school. Likewise, saxophonist Lincoln Adler and keyboardist Greg Sankovich were musical friends as teens. Together, the two pairs of old friends form a quartet that is as diverse as it is original. The ...

Times 4: Relations

by John Kelman
February 17, 2007

It's a fine line between the contemporary jazz groups like the Yellowjackets make and the more programmatic smooth variety. Approachable grooves can define both spaces, but one expects greater emphasis on interaction and performance from bands that distance themselves from smooth jazz, where it seems to be all about avoiding confrontation and serving best as background music. San Francisco-based Times 4 veer a little closer to the smooth stuff than their Yellowjackets counterparts, but there's enough energy to keep them ...

Times 4: Relations

by Jim Santella
February 7, 2007

Saxophonist Lincoln Adler leads this contemporary jazz quartet from San Francisco in a program of originals that blow smoke all around the room. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and this band has plenty of it to share.

Adler has always been able to express himself on tenor and alto with a fluid charm that lends itself to soulful ballads and hip adventures. Here, he brings a light saxophone tone to each piece with a sensual articulation that speaks ...

Times 4: Seductivity

by Jim Santella
September 19, 2004

Progressive jazz keeps us fresh and aware of what's happening around us. As its hip rhythms get inside you, things start to happen. For one thing, you start to realize that you're not alone. This isn't grandfathers' music; but it certainly could be. It takes one to know one, and I do feel that I can call the music that Times 4 lays down on its debut album my music.

Just as traditional jazz spans generations, contemporary jazz ...