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Jazz Articles about Caili O'Doherty
New Faces: New Sounds
by Dan Bilawsky
While established forces typically radiate clout and currency, it's the new faces, beaming with hope and the promise for what's to come, that tend to shine brightest. Posi-Tone Records, not surprisingly, supports that line of thinking. Promoting emerging artists has long been a mission for the label, which prides itself on seeking out and nurturing burgeoning talent, and this aptly named project, launched with one group of individuals on 2018's Straight Forward and carried to tremendous heights with different personnel ...
read moreCaili O'Doherty: Quarantine Dream
by Kyle Simpler
The pandemic affected people in many different ways. For some, it raised new levels of awareness about health and prevention, but for others it also became a means of artistic discovery. This latter point is certainly the case for pianist Caili O'Doherty. In spite of being careful and taking precautions, she ultimately contracted COVID. While dealing with the illness, she found herself in a dreamlike state as she tried to get over it. During her ordeal, she used music as ...
read moreSimona Smirnova: Bird Language
by Giulia Bianchi
Simona Smirnova is a Lithuanian-born and New York-based vocalist, composer, and classically trained kanklės (a Lithuanian chordophone folk instrument belonging to the Baltic zither family) virtuoso. After obtaining her BA in jazz vocal performance from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, she moved to the USA to study contemporary writing and production at Berklee College of Music. There is an aura of mystique to Smirnova's Bird Language, a stunning blend of Baltic folklore, jazz, pop, and rock, ...
read moreNew Faces: New Sounds
by David A. Orthmann
What to listen for in a recording curated by a veteran producer that features a group of young, up-and-coming musicians with skillsets rooted in the bop, hard bop and modal continuum? When the styles are familiar, it's best to start with the material. If the tunes routinely sound like they're made of parts lifted from the classic and near classic jazz repertoire, it sets a negative tone for the rest of the record, sometimes even offsetting the strength of the ...
read moreNew Faces: New Sounds
by Kyle Simpler
It's refreshing to see younger artists gaining recognition in jazz circles. The energy and performances of such players often adds a sense of vitality to the music, and Posi-Tone Records has been at the forefront of bringing many of these emerging artists to the mainstream. In 2017, for example, Marc Free, the owner and producer of Posi-Tone, assembled a group of young musicians to showcase on the album New Faces: Straight Forward. This turned out to be a successful venture, ...
read moreCaili O'Doherty: Padme
by Hrayr Attarian
On her intriguing debut Padme pianist Caili O'Doherty showcases her superb skills as a composer, an improviser and a bandleader. The individual musicians' spontaneous expressions are integrated within the harmonic construct of her nine originals that comprise the album. As such the solos sound as natural extensions of the prewritten music making O'Doherty's freshman effort dynamically modern and vibrantly organic.O'Doherty elegantly choreographs her band mates on the cinematic The Promise of Old Panama City." An exciting melee of ...
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