Articles by Eugene Holley, Jr.

Profile

Introducing Pianist Sungtaek Choo

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
April 7, 2026

Toshiko Akiyoshi, Makoto Ozone, Hiromi and Helen Sung are but a few of the talented Asian pianists who have made their mark in jazz. The 30 year-old New York City-based, South Korean-born pianist Sungtaek Choo is a welcome addition to that illustrious list. Born in Daegu, South Korea on September 8, 1995, Choo started playing classical piano at the age of 5, and discovered jazz at 16, when he saw Chet Baker video on YouTube. “I got into ...

Album Review

Robert Glasper: Black Radio

Read "Black Radio" reviewed by Eugene Holley, Jr.

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
March 10, 2012

Depending on your age, Houston-born pianist/composer Robert Glasper is--like trumpeters Christian Scott and Ambrose Akinmusire, and bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding-either the herald of a new world a-comin' when jazz musicians will be heard on pop radio on a regular basis, or he's a throwback to the golden age of the seventies, when jazz stars, from Herbie Hancock to Donald Byrd, were played on African-American and pop stations.Blessed with a fleet-fingered, countrified approach to the piano that blends gospel, Thelonious ...

Album Review

Jack DeJohnette: Sound Travels

Read "Sound Travels" reviewed by Eugene Holley, Jr.

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
February 5, 2012

Drummer/pianist/composer/bandleader Jack DeJohnette turns seventy this year, and his longevity on the scene is only eclipsed by the astonishing variety of settings in which he's worked. Since emerging from his hometown Chicago, the ubiquitous drummer has played with important artists including saxophonist Charles Lloyd, trumpeter Miles Davis and pianists Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett (with whom he still works today). And then there are his wonderfully eclectic Special Edition groups--always on the cutting edge. Although anyone could hear his crisp ...

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Year in Review

Eugene Holley Jr.'s Best Releases of 2011

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
January 6, 2012

At a time when Hispanics are the dominant minority in the United States, The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has decided to eliminate the Latin Jazz category. This list is posted in solidarity with those who demand that the category be reinstated. Fabian Almazan Trio Possibilities (Biophilla/Palmetto) Michel Camilo Mano A Mano ...

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Live Review

Wynton Marsalis: Newark, Delaware, November 2, 2011

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
November 8, 2011

Wynton Marsalis: The Ballad of the American ArtsBob Carpenter CenterUniversity of DelawareNewark, DelawareNovember 2, 2011 A Wynton Marsalis gig is not particularly news. But his appearance at the Bob Carpenter Center was truly newsworthy, as evidenced by the appreciative, near-capacity crowd who came out to hear his stirring fifty-minute lecture/performance. “The Ballad of the American Arts" was his intimate, yet intense presentation that encompassed arts advocacy and education, plus American political, social, ...

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Album Review

Various Artists: Miles Espanol: New Sketches of Spain

Read "Miles Espanol: New Sketches of Spain" reviewed by Eugene Holley, Jr.

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
November 2, 2011

In the days of the so-called Young Lions jazz wave--which lasted roughly, from 1981 to 1992--instrumentalists and singers were all the rage. At the tail end of that period, South Carolina-born saxophonist Bob Belden was making waves for his comprehensive and compelling arranging chops. Over the last two decades, Belden has brilliantly re-imagined the music of Sting, Puccini, Stevie Wonder, and, most notably Miles Davis. Devotees of the Prince of Darkness also know that Belden is one of the world's ...

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Album Review

Randy Weston: Blue Moses

Read "Blue Moses" reviewed by Eugene Holley, Jr.

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
August 30, 2011

Brooklyn-born, six-foot-seven octogenarian pianist/composer Randy Weston has literally been a larger-than-life jazz force for six decades: his percussive pianism was forged from a distinguished keyboard continuum, ranging from Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk to John Lewis; his “Little Niles" and “Hi-Fly" are well-worn jazz standards; and the pianist may well be the greatest exponent of the African roots of America's classical music. Weston lived in Morocco in the 1960s and '70s, opened a jazz club there, and was virtually a ...

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Extended Analysis

Modern Jazz Quartet: The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings 1956-64

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
August 12, 2011

The Modern Jazz Quartet The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings of The Modern Jazz Quartet 1956-64 Mosaic Records 2011 They were diverse in talent and temperament. John Lewis, the quiet and determined westerner, who told sound stories with his linear and logical blues-based pianisms; Milt Bags" Jackson, the baggy eyed, Motor City vibraharp virtuoso; Percy Heath, the Philly bassist with deep, in-the-pocket basslines; Kenny Clarke, the bomb-dropping blacksmith of the beat from Pittsburgh; and Connie ...

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Book Review

Duke Ellington's America

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
October 20, 2010

Duke Ellington's AmericaHarvey G. CohenHardcover; 682 pagesISBN: 978-0-226-11263-3University of Chicago Press20010 Dozens of books in print about Duke Ellington portray him as the pre-eminent composer of the 20th century, who led his orchestra for an amazing 50 years and possessed a percussive, dark-clustered piano style that influenced everyone from Thelonious Monk to Randy Weston. This meticulously researched and elegantly written book, by British cultural historian Harvey Cohen, ...

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Film Review

Cachao: Uno Mas

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
September 21, 2010

Israel “Cachao" LopezCachao: Una MasDOC Film Institute2008 It's a cliché to say that any one man is largely responsible for a large part of modern music. But in the case of Israel Cachao" Lopez--the Cuban-born, Miami-based bassist, composer and bandleader, who died in 2007 at around the age of 90--that claim is true. Without the pioneering musicianship of this tanned, slightly hunched over, bowlegged musician, Latin music would not exist as it ...