Articles by Bill Milkowski
Michael Waldrop: Native Son
by Bill Milkowski
Following two successful big band projects--the swinging and swaggering Time Within Itself and Origin Suite--drummer-composer-bandleader Michael Waldrop has brought things down to a more intimate level on Native Son. In some ways a return to his first album as a leader, 2002's Triangularity, a sterling piano trio outing which he reissued in 2019, Native Son finds Waldrop in an interactive piano trio setting, augmented by veteran percussionists Brad Dutz and former Weather Reporter Jose Rossy. Together, the percussive ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space - The Music of Gregg Hill
by Bill Milkowski
The title itself is revealing. A clever play on words of the old '60s sci-fi show Lost in Space, it immediately suggests an irreverent wit and slightly twisted perspective; qualities that also permeate the unique music of prolific Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill. How this fairly obscure presence on the national music scene has managed to garner such a fervent following remains a mystery to those of us outside the Great Lakes State. Converts include bassist-educator Rodney Whitaker, Director ...
Continue ReadingJohn Basile: Heatin' Up
by Bill Milkowski
John Basile's warm tone and impeccable articulation on Heatin' Up at first may trigger memories of the late, great Pat Martino, an iconic guitarist whom Basile obviously admires. But listen closer to the elegant phrasing, the confident use of space and “less is more" approach he applies to tunes like Cy Coleman's “See Saw," the oft-covered standard “For All We Know" or his own gorgeous ballad “Countenance," and another influence comes to mind. As Basile put it, “There's no stronger ...
Continue ReadingFrank Kohl: Pacific
by Bill Milkowski
An old adage maintains that New York City is the Jazz capital of the world. While that may still ring true, there are fertile jazz scenes scattered all over the country where plenty of potent players have been flying under the radar. Seattle guitarist Frank Kohl, who has been quietly going about the business of making beautiful music for four decades, is one such prodigious talent deserving of wider recognition. An accomplished player who sites Wes Montgomery, {{Pat Martino, George ...
Continue ReadingRavita Jazz: Oriana
by Bill Milkowski
On his second outing as a leader, bassist-composer Phil Ravita recruited a close-knit crew of musicians that he's worked with in the Mid-Atlantic region since their time together in grad school at the University of Maryland, College Park. “We've known each other since 2007," he said of bandmates Greg Small on piano and Nucleo Vega on drums. Since then, they've done gigs in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore and a myriad of Maryland towns and cities. The group's ...
Continue ReadingOde to a Tenor Titan
by Bill Milkowski
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 8, “Going Solo, The Pittbull and The EWI" from Bill Milkowski's Ode to a Tenor Titan: The Life and Times and Music of Michael Brecker (Backbeat Books, 2022). By early 1986, Michael began formulating plans for his long-overdue solo debut. He was 37, a universally respected figure and acknowledged 'monster' player admired by fellow musicians from the pop, rock and jazz worlds. He had ridden to fame through the '70s ...
Continue ReadingKurt Rosenwinkel
by Bill Milkowski
It's a pleasant Saturday afternoon at Brooklyn Recording in the charming, gentrified neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, the third day of sessions with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Eric Harland. They've been at it all day, flowing from take to take with wide-open abandon. It's a green light session--there are no mistakes, they just go, trusting their instincts along the way. As they dive headlong into Joe Henderson's “Inner Urge," Rosenwinkel's fluid, warm-toned lines cascade effortlessly over the ...
Continue ReadingGregg Bendian
by Bill Milkowski
Since the early '90s, drummer Gregg Bendian has distinguished himself as an adventurous and accomplished player-composer through his sideman work with the likes of Derek Bailey, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Zorn, Peter Brotzmann and Pat Metheny while also leading his own Interzone Quartet and Trio Pianissimo. His most recent recording is the startlingly virtuosic solo drum project Research, on his own Aggregate Music label. But Bendian's most passionate undertaking in recent years has been his Mahavishnu Project (MP), the ...
Continue ReadingJaco Pastorius: Woodchuck and the Upper Hand (1969-1972)
by Bill Milkowski
This article appears in Chapter 3 of Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius by Bill Milkwoski (Backbeat Books, 2005). By the fall 1969, Jaco would find out what it was like to run his own band after forming his first group as a leader, an R&B organ trio called Woodchuck. With his good friend Bob Herzog on drums and vocals and local sensation Billy Burke on Hammond B-3 organ, Jaco had put together a ...
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