Jazz Articles about Bobby Naughton

About Bobby Naughton

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Constellations and Hemispheres

Read "Constellations and Hemispheres" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2026

The listener is easily startled by Wadada Leo Smith. The man has an aura about him that emanates from some other place, some other time, when the rule of law was set in stone. A time not too long ago when collective aspiration held us all enthralled. And the man who carried that stone is none other than the trumpeter himself. Smith's presence also has a mythical essence that, in and of itself, is hardly breaking news. But ...

Album Review

Bobby Naughton: Housatonic Rumble - Live at Charlie's Tap

Read "Housatonic Rumble - Live at Charlie's Tap" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 14, 2026

Vibraphonist Bobby Naughton helms a finely attuned trio on Housatonic Rumble, a 1985 live recording drawn from previously unissued tapes discovered in his archive. Although he worked extensively with edge-loving adventurers such as Anthony Braxton and Wadada Leo Smith, and co-founded the Connecticut-based Creative Musicians' Improvisers Forum, this live set affirms a commitment to accessibility which does not constrain group interaction. Drawn from two performances at Charlie's Tap in Cambridge MA, the program showcases bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Randy ...

Album Review

Bobby Naughton Trio: Live at Charlie's Tap

Read "Live at Charlie's Tap" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 22, 2026

Today, a number of drummers, including Ches Smith and Kenny Wollesen, also double on vibraphone, underscoring the instrument's fundamentally percussive nature. In the hands of Bobby Naughton, however, the vibraphone functioned as something more expansive: a reimagined piano, capable of both harmonic depth and rhythmic propulsion. Naughton began studying piano at the age of eight, performing classical repertoire before moving on to rock 'n' roll and the organ. It was only after encountering free jazz that he migrated ...

Album Review

Bobby Naughton: Solo Vibraphone Hartford

Read "Solo Vibraphone Hartford" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 25, 2019

Nearly all adventurous jazz connoisseurs are familiar with Joe McPhee's landmark recording Tenor (Hat Hut Records, 1977), the release that put Werner X. Uehlinger's label on the map. Certainly its rerelease twenty-two years later as Tenor & Fallen Angels (hatOLOGY, 2000} accomplished that task. Recorded in a cabin in Switzerland on a cassette recorder, McPhee's essence and genius were laid bare. The same can be said of a 1978 recording by vibraphonist Bobby Naughton, except this one took more than ...