Jazz Articles about Fight the Big Bull

Fight The Big Bull: All Is Gladness In The Kingdom

by Martin Longley
June 10, 2010

Such an unwieldy band name and album title is almost perversely suitable for the ambitious music contained herein. Fight The Big Bull (FTBB) is, doubtless, dominant on the Richmond, Virginia alternative jazz scene, but possesses the powers to be equally noticeable on the much larger stage of, let's say, New York City. From this very place, trumpeter Steven Bernstein made the pilgrimage by car, invited to be an artist-in-residence. He okayed a heavy schedule, but did he really realize how ...

Fight the Big Bull: Dying Will Be Easy

by Troy Collins
November 4, 2008

Based in Richmond, Virginia, guitarist Matt White's Fight the Big Bull is a prime example of how the information age has leveled the playing field for artists outside major metropolitan areas. Originally a self-released demo, Dying Will Be Easy is now available from the illustrious Portuguese label Clean Feed. One listen to the ensemble's debut and it's easy to see why they've garnered so much attention; Fight the Big Bull has great potential.

With informative liner notes by ...

Fight the Big Bull: Dying Will Be Easy

by Dean Christesen
September 10, 2008

Fight the Big Bull's debut record begins darkly, with a fear brooding in the growl of a distorted trombone, unsettling bass and haunting shakers. It ends in a similar, yet tweaked tone, with an epic chorus making way for one last statement of defeat (or is it victory?). Amidst the rest of the work emerges a big band heavy on the slop--like jazz found in the back woods, blues from dirt road nomads and hymns from the swamps of the ...

Fight The Big Bull: Dying Will Be Easy

by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
September 10, 2008

Fight the Big Bull describes itself on MySpace as “champions of curiosity." This candid qualifier is doubly introspective because it denotes both the whimsy and the intellectual maturity of Dying Will Be Easy. The Richmond-based nonet, who played at New York City's Issue Project Room Aug. 6, 2008, is led by guitarist Matt White, who also composed the album's four tracks, which span a little more than half an hour. It is a wholly remarkable feat that an album with ...