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Michael Rabinowitz: Next Chapter
by Jack Bowers
The title world's best jazz bassoonist" is akin to world's best tap dancer on hot coals," meaning there simply is not much competition for the honor. Even if there were, however, Michael Rabinowitz would no doubt outdistance any challengers and handily earn the blue ribbon for bassoon excellence. One reason is that, unlike others who have dabbled with the instrument, Rabinowitz is a full-time bassoonist who has spent years honing his craft, and a jazz musician who can improvise with ...
read moreReza Khan: Imaginary Road
by Jack Bowers
To impartially assess Imaginary Road, Bangladeshi-raised, New York-based guitarist Reza Khan's sixth album, it is best to lay aside as best one can his disposition for or against what could reasonably be labeled smooth jazz" and start from there. Is the music melodically and rhythmically likeable? Yes, it is. Are the musicians technically able? Yes, they are. Beyond that, what can be said? Well, the ten songs are essentially atmospheric, depicting the sort of aural landscapes that ...
read moreMike Neer: Steelonious
by C. Michael Bailey
Early in his musical career, pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was ordained the Hight Priest of Bebop." This sounds more like a disingenuous pronouncement by an overeager period critic than any credible music reportage. Monk's essential musical approach owed more to stride, blues, and swing than to Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's bebop. Monk's technical brilliance, if one could call it that, was not geared toward the technique" of rapid and complexly rendered chord changes. Monk's brilliance lay somewhere much ...
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