Jazz Articles
Daily articles including interviews, profiles, live reviews, film reviews and more... all carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our future articles page. Read our daily album reviews.
Angelika Niescier & Alexander Hawkins: Soul In Plain Sight
by John Sharpe
Some of pianist British Alexander Hawkins' most potent outings have been in the intimate duo setting. Think, for example, of Leaps In Leicester (Clean Feed, 2016) with Evan Parker or Shards And Constellations (Intakt, 2020) with cellist Tomeka Reid. To that list can be added this richly-detailed double act with the Polish-born, German-resident saxophonist Angelika Niescier. The set had its genesis in a meeting at the 2016 Berlin Jazz Festival where Hawkins had performed with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and ...
read moreAngelika Niescier: Soul In Plain Sight
by Glenn Astarita
Saxophonist Angelika Niescier (Poland) and pianist Alexander Hawkins (UK) share mutual admiration amid a meeting at the Berlin Jazz Fest. As we fast forward to this duet outing by these increasingly prominent Euro improvisers who recast their respective goods here, think of Language A communicating with Language B, simply using the emotive aspects and non-verbal interactions with their instruments. Here, the output solidifies into a spiritual union of rapid interpretations, cunning contrasts, and orbital characteristics where spoken word really wouldn't ...
read moreAngelika Niescier / Alexander Hawkins: Soul In Plain Sight
by Mark Corroto
Some pairings were just meant to be. Exhibit one, Soul In Plain Sight by the duo of Angelika Niescier and Alexander Hawkins. Niescier, the Polish-born Germany-based saxophonist, met the British pianist Hawkins at the Berlin Jazzfest. Their mutual admiration led to a brief tour and this recording. The music succeeds here because of the musicians' balanced approach and compatible natures. Opening with the cleanse and purge of the improvised “Brawls And Squabbles," the pair spar with push/pull jabs. Hawkins hammers ...
read moreAngelika Niescier - Christopher Tordini - Gerald Cleaver (feat. Jonathan Finlayson): New York Trio
by Troy Dostert
After alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier's masterful live disc from 2018, Berlin Concert (Intakt), she decided to head into the studio to document her continually evolving compositions. It's a somewhat altered line-up from the earlier album. Niescier's go-to bassist, Christopher Tordini remains. However, instead of Tyshawn Sorey we have Gerald Cleaver occupying the drum kit; and we are also treated on a few of the cuts to trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, who adds another dimension to Niescier's pieces. With more of an ...
read moreAngelika Niescier - Christopher Tordini - Tyshawn Sorey: The Berlin Concert
by Troy Dostert
For almost twenty years, German saxophonist Angelika Niescier has been creating forward-thinking jazz that expertly straddles the line between intricate structure and freewheeling energy. Nowhere was this aesthetic vision realized more acutely than on NYC Five (Intakt Records, 2016), her quintet album co-led with pianist Florian Weber. A delightful and infectious release, it signaled Niescier's rise to prominence among the front ranks of contemporary jazz musicians, a status further solidified the following year when she won the Albert Mangelsdorff Prize, ...
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