Articles by Brian P. Lonergan

Ted Nash and Still Evolved: In the Loop

by Brian P. Lonergan
October 24, 2006

Ted Nash and his Still Evolved quintet's thoroughly appealing In the Loop opens with a strong whiff of the early to mid-'60s Blue Note era, as if the wind which filled the sails of Maiden Voyage stirred again to nudge Nash's embarkation. The opening original “Kensington High, with its misty atmosphere of cymbals and snare rolls and its minor key modal feel, features an appropriately contemplative solo by pianist Frank Kimbrough and the first evidence of Nash's robust, firm and ...

The Gauci Trio: We're Comin' Just One Time

by Brian P. Lonergan
October 14, 2006

This trio recording led by tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci comes across as a fifty-minute suite of nearly free jazz, rather than eight tracks with their own distinct personalities. Gauci's self-penned liner notes are a good reflection of the music--esoteric and a bit circular, conveying some interesting perspectives on the nature of freedom and form in improvisation, honest in their attempt to communicate, though probably not embraceable by more than a niche audience. In those liners Gauci distinguishes ...

Kris Davis: The Slightest Shift

by Brian P. Lonergan
October 13, 2006

The adjective that comes to mind again and again when listening to this quartet recording by pianist and composer Kris Davis is “refreshing. Much of The Slightest Shift sounds close to free improvisation, but there is also a recurring sense that one is listening to a modern chamber music ensemble. And the initial impression of at times decentralized free play belies a group working in close coordination within definite compositional frameworks. Along with Davis, Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Eivind Opsvik ...

Ulf Wakenius: Notes from the Heart

by Brian P. Lonergan
September 17, 2006

In the liner notes to Notes from the Heart, Ulf Wakenius' tribute to the compositions of Keith Jarrett, the Swedish guitarist states, “It's impossible to recreate his music--you can only approach it from a totally different angle. But rather than a radical reworking of Jarrett's music or a reproduction of his far-ranging solo trips, Wakenius has distilled many of Jarrett's signature shorter compositions to their essence, presenting them in respectful arrangements (mostly around the four-minute mark) that fans of Jarrett's ...

Pharoah Sanders and Don Cherry: Elevation and Where Is Brooklyn?

by Brian P. Lonergan
September 9, 2006

Pharoah Sanders Elevation Impulse-Verve 2006 Don Cherry Where is Brooklyn? Blue Note 2006

Pharoah Sanders' Elevation was recorded in 1973, three years after Sanders' appearance on Alice Coltrane's Journey in Satchidananda, and shares much of the ambiance and sonic palette of that classic album. The similarity stems from the instrumentation, which ...

Django Reinhardt New York Festival Live at Birdland 2004

by Brian P. Lonergan
August 6, 2006

Various Artists Django Reinhardt New York Festival Live at Birdland 2004 2006

The producers of the annual Django Reinhardt New York Festival have followed up the superlative CD drawn from the Festival's 2002 run with a DVD from the 2004 concerts at Birdland. While the DVD leaves a bit to be desired in terms of camera work and general production quality, like its CD predecessor it spotlights Reinhardt's enduring appeal, contemporary masters ...

Sebastian Noelle: Across the River

by Brian P. Lonergan
August 5, 2006

Warm, relaxed yet energetic original compositions dominate guitarist Sebastian Noelle's inviting album Across the River. Much of that warmth and relaxation comes from Noelle's fuzzy, rich harmonies and melodies that ring out with slight reverb and distortion. Much of the energy comes from some of the most exciting players on the New York scene today: Ari Hoenig (drums) and Ben Street (bass), with Donny McCaslin (tenor, soprano) and Javier Vercher (tenor) splitting saxophone duties. A slow, measured ...

Toru Dodo: Dodo 3

by Brian P. Lonergan
July 18, 2006

Toru Dodo's name may not be at the top of people's lists of riveting jazz pianists--yet--but with recordings like Dodo3, such recognition could come soon enough. The album is full of catchy compositions that showcase Dodo's individual, unique and modern voice; his acrobatic trio mates--Joseph Lepore on bass and Rodney Green on drums--fly around complicated structures and rhythms with energy and precision. The standout composition “NYUCS (New York Underground Car Service), for example, could be mistaken in ...

Keyboard Fantasy: Orientation and Solo

by Brian P. Lonergan
June 4, 2006

Greg Murphy Orientation Murphasaurus 2006 Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo Blue Note 2006

Pianist Greg Murphy's Orientation contains attractive original tunes delivered by a top-notch mainstream quintet. It opens with a bang with his kinetic, latin- flavored “Triple Dipple which tumbles along in 6/8, driven by a simple but appealing melody in Lawrence ...

Fred Hersch: In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis

by Brian P. Lonergan
May 20, 2006

This live recording offers an exquisite sixty minutes of solo piano. In a mix of originals and standards, Fred Hersch's relaxed and loose approach (he didn't know he was being recorded) yields tunes that feel comfortably deconstructed--the ballads especially have a spacious air to them--and freshly re-imagined. Hersch's own voice is always paramount. It's as if, to give one example, he weren't playing the Hoagy Carmichael standard “The Nearness of You, but one of his own ballads that happened to ...