Articles by Dan McClenaghan
Henry Threadgill Zooid: Cut You Where You Was
by Dan McClenaghan
In 2001, Seth Rosner resurrected reed man Henry Threadgill's career by establishing Pi Recordings, initially for the sole purpose of releasing Threadgill recordings. Threadgill wanted to put out two albums simultaneously. Rosner said he would have agreed to four if that was what the artist requested. But two it was: Up Popped Two Lips by Henry Threadgill's Zooid and Everybody's Mouth's a Book, by Henry Threadgill & Make A Move. This was a move of genius on Rosner's part. Since ...
Continue Reading...Todd DelGiudice: Mas Alto
by Dan McClenaghan
It seems that every saxophonist at some point in their career decides to pare the music down to its essentials. It is hard to pare down beyond the sax, bass, and drums trio. The history of this musical setup is long. Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Lee Konitz and Joe Lovano (and so many more) tried the trio mode out with great success. There is always the feeling with this type of recording (studio or live) that things leaned ...
Continue Reading...Rich Halley 4: A Distant Land
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Rich Halley's music has, from the very beginning, exuded a steroid-like vibe. The sounds he makes may be able to move the Earth. It may incite a landslide. His tenor sax is as brawny as Sonny Rollins' sound, or Dexter Gordon's. And when he brings powerhouse trombonist reformist Michael Vlatkovich into the fold--a group tagged as the Rich Halley 4--the level of seismic output rises a few notches. A Distant Land, the group's eighth recording, stays in ...
Continue Reading...Kevin Sun: Kevin Sun, I.
by Dan McClenaghan
New York-based saxophonist Kevin Sun went deep into the concept of memory in his The Sustain of Memory (2020) and The Depths of Memory (2023), both on his Endectopmorph Records. The first half of his 2026 project, Kevin Sun, I goes deep into...Kevin Sun? Sun takes his inspiration from seemingly everywhere: video games, sitting on hold waiting for service from the IRS phone system (track 6, “Hold Music"), John Coltrane ( track 1, “Go In"), Ryuichi Sakamoto, heavy ...
Continue Reading...Geof Bradfield / Myra Melford / Ben Goldberg / Dana Hall: Open Or Close
by Dan McClenaghan
Ornette Coleman may come to mind at the beginning of the spin of Open Or Close. This is understandable. The title song, which opens the set, is from Coleman's pen. Additionally, the jazz collective at work here--reedmen Geof Bradfield and Ben Goldberg, pianist Myra Melford and drummer Dana Hall play loose and free, à la Ornette, with a lot of seat-of-the-pants energy. The sound has a common thread strung out between Coleman's 1968 Blue Note Records album New York Is ...
Continue Reading...Yeon Ji Lee: The End of a Tunnel
by Dan McClenaghan
Yeon Ji Lee is at the beginning of her career, so a web search reveals little about her. She is Korean-born and now New York-based. She graduated from the Aaron Copland School Of Music at Queens College. 2026 sees the release of her debut album, The End of a Tunnel, a piano trio affair with the pianist joined by bassist Joe Martin and drummer Adam Cruz. Comparison with past masters of the trio way of working can be ...
Continue Reading...Denny Zeitlin: Odyssey
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Denny Zeitlin takes a trip into his archival book on the first half of Odyssey. He has always mixed eloquence and beauty with adventurousness. That is up front here. A close comparison to his style of playing can be found in the artistry of Bill Evans. And it should be noted that Evans adopted one of Zeitlin's most touching, gorgeously placid compositions, “Quiet Now," into his concert and recording songbook. Odyssey is not a deep archival dive--Zeitlin ...
Continue Reading...Arman Sangalang: Waypoints
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Arman Sangalang released his debut record, Quartet (Calligram Records) in 2023. It was a smoldering sax-and-a-rhythm-section quartet outing that sounded surprisingly fresh for a first recording effort. His follow-up, Waypoints, employs the same format, switching out bassist Matt Ulery for Ethan Philion, while keeping guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Devin Drobka. The sophomore effort careens toward expanded freedom, boldly. “I wanted to give them [his quartet cohorts] the freedom to do what they wanted with the music," ...
Continue Reading...Randy Ingram: Sound Within
by Dan McClenaghan
Everybody digs Bill Evans. Beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Evans revolutionized the piano trio format, bringing a near equality of input of the three instruments into the mix. However, the piano itself was still the main voice. Bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian were his running mates. Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside Records, 1961) and Waltz For Debby (Riverside Records, 1962) served as the shots across the bow for the change in the trio approach. ...
Continue Reading...Joe Lovano: Paramount Quartet
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Joe Lovano built a formidable recorded legacy on Blue Note Records, beginning with 1990s Landmarks, running through 1999's 57th Street Themes and 2013's Soundprints --among many other albums on the famed label. But a side outlet for his artistry emerged on ECM Records, beginning with his side man slot on drummer Paul Motian's Psalm (1982). Though he boasts dozens of other side man appearances on ECM Records, he did not release an album under his own name for the ...
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