Articles by Fred Bouchard
Baristas: Ronnie Cuber, Roger Rosenberg & Reed's Bass Drum
by Fred Bouchard
Ronnie CuberRONNIESteepleChase2009 Roger RosenbergBaritonalitySunnyside2009 Reed's Bass DrumWhich is WhichSelf-produced2009 Do baritone saxophonists get insufficient respect? Worthy recordings by an elder master, a mid-career pro and a genial parvenu suggest they might deserve quite a bit more. Ronnie Cuber, who'll be 69 this Christmas ...
Continue ReadingNnenna Freelom: Homefree
by Fred Bouchard
Nnenna Freelon can be spotted miles off, like neon or a rainbow. The tall, rawboned, outspoken gal from Cambridge, MA via North Carolina owns a musical persona as unique as her name. She nails her ancient/modern, genre-jumping repertoire, embraces it, inhabits it organically and belts it with a hearty, emphatic attack. You can tell her from a phrase--even a note--as she goes merrily variegating vowels, taffy-pulling syllables, signifying scat sounds (gong-gong), sing-songing exit vamps; check her risqué ...
Continue ReadingBasoons: EA Silence; Patrick Bebelaar/Joe Fonda/Mike Rabinowitz; Katherine Young & Daniel Smith
by Fred Bouchard
EA SilenceCono di Ombra e LuceAmirani2009 Patrick Bebelaar/Joe Fonda/Mike RabinowitzThe Four O'Clock SessionDML2009 Katherine YoungFurther Secret OriginsPorter2009 Daniel SmithBlue BassoonSummit2009 Illinois Jacquet and Yusef Lateef have played and recorded on bassoon--that cantankerous double-reed beast--with swing and conviction. How's ...
Continue ReadingDick Oatts: Bridging the Gap & Saxology
by Fred Bouchard
Terell Stafford/Dick OattsBridging the GapPlanet Arts2010 Jerry Bergonzi/Dick OattsSaxologySteeplechase2009 You can't call Dick Oatts a 'fixture'--he's peripatetic and bouncy on his alto sax and ebullient, energetic and sprightly as a person--yet he's surely been a Gotham mainstay since arriving from the Midwest a mere 35 years ago, both as reedman (33 years as lead alto in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis > Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) ...
Continue ReadingGlobe Unity: France
by Fred Bouchard
European TV Brass TrioWunschklang Yolk2009 PassagesLes Fées du RhinSans Bruit2009 Gérard SiracusaDrums Immersion Signature/Radio France 2009 Seine scenes unfold as a brass trio marches along the quais of Paris, as funky and quirky in its way as a New Orleans street band. In and out, up ...
Continue ReadingBarranquijazz Festival
by Fred Bouchard
Barranquijazz FestivalBarranquilla, ColumbiaSeptember 9-13, 2009Who knows touristic Colombia? Precious few Americans and what a pity! Cartagena's Spanish fortress and charming old town make it a cruise circuit favorite and Bogota is its large, chilly Andean capital, but coastal metropolis Barranquilla falls below tour radar, except as an artsy launch-pad for world-class novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Barranquijazz, its torrid, savvy 13-year Latin Jazz Festival. Each September producers Antonio Caballero and Samuel Minski roll out an ...
Continue ReadingFlutes: Jeremy Steig, Krzysztof Popek & Anne Drummond
by Fred Bouchard
Jeremy SteigHowlin' for JudySolid State-Blue Note2009 Krzysztof PopekEstatePower Brothers2009 Anne DrummondLike WaterObliqsound2009 Full-time flutists don't get much respect in the male-dominated, hard-driving jazz culture (certain Latin leaders like Dave Valentin and Maraca Valle excepted). Truth to tell, two of the three flute specialists here don't exert ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Mariano: Silver Blue, The Door Is Open & The Great Concert
by Fred Bouchard
Charlie Mariano with Cholet-Kanzig-Papaux Trio Silver Blue Enja2008 Julian F. Thayer / Charlie Mariano / Klaus Suonsaari The Door Is Open KSJazz2008 Charlie Mariano with Philip Catherine & Jasper van't Hof The Great Concert: Stuttgart Enja2009 On what are likely some of Charlie Mariano's final dates ...
Continue ReadingGlobe Unity - Italy: Gianni Basso/Renato Sellani, Norberto Tamburrino & Giorgio Gaslini
by Fred Bouchard
Gianni Basso/Renato SellaniBody and SoulVenus2008 Norberto TamburrinoReflection(s) On Monk Philology2009 Giorgio GasliniFonte Funda Suite--La Notte Black Saint2009 After World War II's wave of adulation and imitation, it's clear that many Italian musicians have branded jazz with individual characteristics. To jazz, they bring a poetic sense of ...
Continue ReadingBass Clarinetists: Rudi Mahall, Matt Lavelle & Jacques Foschia
by Fred Bouchard
Aki Takase/Rudi MahallEvergreenIntakt2009 Matt LavelleThe Manifestation DramaKMB Jazz2009 Jacques Foschia/Mike Goyvaerts/Christoph Irmer/George WisselCanaries on the Pole #2Creative Sources2009 Three bass clarinetists have put forth albums in these hard times, aiming to earn respect for that dour, difficult instrument. Rudi Mahall especially earns praise. ...
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