Articles by Frederick Bernas

Christian Scott: Breaking Boundaries, Crossing Lines

by Frederick Bernas
March 9, 2010

Christian Scott is lounging on a black leather couch, easy and relaxed before taking to the stage at a Moscow jazz club. The cold, gloomy Russian capital hosted the New Orleans trumpeter's quintet for a trio of gigs in February 2009--including a show at the US ambassador's cushy residence, in front of an elite audience of officials and dignitaries.

Diplomatic functions do not represent a major part of the group's touring schedule. Maybe Scott was a slightly surprising choice for ...

Tim Garland: Libra

by Frederick Bernas
January 23, 2009

The adventurous two-disc Libra features saxophonist Tim Garland heavily entrenched in trio territory. He is joined by rising star Gwilym Simcock on piano and versatile percussionist Asaf Sirkis, with guest appearances from zany guitarist Paul Bollenback and London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Expansive, well-structured pieces are the record's mainstay, with a tasteful sprinkling of standards. Known for sideman work with names including Chick Corea, Joe Locke, Bill Bruford, and many of the UK's finest, Garland here speaks an advanced compositional language ...

Moscow City Jazz Festival 2008

by Frederick Bernas
December 21, 2008

City Jazz Festival December 4-5, 2008 16 Tons Moscow, RussiaErik Truffaz December 4 Swiss trumpeter Erik Truffaz, a moderately well-known figure on the international tour circuit, surely counts Russia as a favorite gigging destination. This concert, in a popular pub-cum-music-club called 16 Tons, saw him welcomed by a highly enthusiastic young crowd--a far cry from the standard demographic at most similar events in the UK. Despite lengthy delays in reaching ...

London Jazz Festival 2008

by Frederick Bernas
December 2, 2008

London Jazz Festival 2008 London, England Nov. 14-23, 2008

Ken Vandermark, Barry Guy, Mark SandersThe VortexNovember 14

In a meticulously unplanned concert, the music often seemed like a sonic battle between these three renowned improvisers. Sporting a black fitted tee and a hairstyle that could be straight from the Police Academy films, Vandermark was the dominant voice. On tenor saxophone and occasionally clarinet, his signature wailing, guttural, distorted screams interchanged with lithely melodic ...

Manuel Mengis: Freedom First, History Later

by Frederick Bernas
November 24, 2008

Jazz is insurmountable. Hundreds of CDs are reviewed by All About Jazz every year, but how many names are recognized? It is endlessly fascinating, yet frustrating--while reveling in the evidence that such a high quantity of music exists, the realization dawns that there aren't enough hours in the day to hear it all. Each name represents an artistic vision, a creative statement, a person or group with something to say, communicating with and through jazz. It's impossible for ...

Avishai Cohen: Gently Disturbed

by Frederick Bernas
August 27, 2008

With this release on his own Razdaz Recordz, Avishai Cohen firmly entrenches himself as a frontrunning innovator in the piano trio medium. The Israeli bassist is joined by Mark Guiliana on drums and countryman Shai Maestro on piano--the latter a change in personnel from Continuo (Razdaz, 2006) and Live At The Blue Note (Razdaz, 2007). “Seattle" represents a slightly ponderous start, with a lyrical bass solo from Cohen over meandering chordal piano vamps, but it is not ...

North Sea Jazz Festival 2008, Day 1-3

by Frederick Bernas
July 31, 2008

North Sea Jazz Festival Ahoy, Rotterdam July 11-13, 2008Introduction

The 33rd North Sea Jazz Festival was a showcase of epic proportions. 15 different stages in the Ahoy Centre played host to 200 artists; venues varied in size from large concert halls like the Amazon, Darling and Hudson to smaller, more intimate spaces and cavernous stadiumesque acoustic settings. With so much talent and variety on offer, it was very difficult deciding what to see: ...

James Carter: Present Tense

by Frederick Bernas
May 24, 2008

James Carter may not yet be forty, but he possesses a degree of instrumental mastery which could easily be a lifetime's work. At different stages of this record, the versatile multi-instrumentalist plays tenor, soprano and baritone saxophones as well as flute and bass clarinet, all with equal power and precision.

This diverse approach to instrumental voicing is reflected in the range of material selected for Present Tense, Carter's first outing as a leader since 2005. From pacey post-bop inflections to ...

Acoustic Ladyland at Vortex, London

by Frederick Bernas
April 25, 2008

Acoustic Ladyland Vortex Jazz Club London, England March 28, 2008

As the act which opened the new Vortex in 2005, Acoustic Ladyland holds a special place in the hearts of many club regulars. The band returned on March 28 to a full house of over 100 people, with the usual table layout abandoned to create an entirely different atmosphere.

A standing audience pushed the quartet to perform at its highest level. Saxophonist-turned-singer Pete Wareham ...

Robert Mitchell & Omar Puente at St. Cyprian's, London

by Frederick Bernas
April 23, 2008

Robert Mitchell & Omar Puente St. Cyprian's Church London, England April 1, 2008

This unlikely duo of acoustic piano and electric violin allows Robert Mitchell and Omar Puente to stretch their considerable abilities beyond the confines of a conventional jazz group. Perhaps more unconventional was the venue, literally a Church of Jazz, tucked away near Baker Street in central London.

This was the perfect acoustic for such a performance. Mitchell and Puente played a ...