Articles by Joel Roberts
The Parisian Jazz Chronicles
by Joel Roberts
The Parisian Jazz Chronicles: An Improvisational MemoirBy Mike Zwerin Yale University PressISBN: 0300108060240 pages2005 The Parisian Jazz Chronicles is an irreverent and highly revealing tour through the Parisian and European jazz scenes of the '80-90s in the company of musician/writer/hipster expatriate Mike Zwerin, who played trombone on Miles Davis' landmark Birth of the Cool sessions as a teenager and later became a respected jazz critic for the ...
Continue ReadingSonny Rollins, Live at NJPAC
by Joel Roberts
Sonny RollinsNew Jersey Performing Arts CenterNewark, NJMay 13, 2011 The expectations for a Sonny Rollins concert have always been extraordinarily high. One anticipates waves of awe-inspiring solos and jaw-dropping feats of musical dexterity from the saxophone colossus, and more often than not, he delivers. But in recent years, something else has begun to happen when Rollins performs. As he ambled onto the stage at NJPAC in Newark, a stooped 80-year-old man with ...
Continue ReadingGeri Allen: Solo and Quartet
by Joel Roberts
Geri Allen Flying Toward The Sound Motema Music2010 Geri Allen & TimelineLiveMotema Music2010 One of the most accomplished jazz pianists of her generation, Geri Allen has long made music that combines the traditional and the avant-garde, the cerebral and the soulful, the restrained and the raucous. Her impressive resume includes '80s collaborations with Steve ...
Continue ReadingHank Jones: With Oliver Jones & the Great Jazz Trio
by Joel Roberts
Oliver Jones and Hank JonesPleased to Meet YouJustin Time2010 The Great Jazz TrioMoreoverTest of Time2010 Hank Jones continues his remarkable late-in-life surge of activity with this new release documenting his first-ever recorded encounter with Canadian piano mainstay Oliver Jones. Hank Jones was 90 when Pleased to Meet You was recorded two years ago in ...
Continue ReadingJean-Michel Pilc: True Story
by Joel Roberts
Paris-born pianist Jean-Michel Pilc continues his impressive series of Dreyfus Jazz releases with True Story, his first album since 2006's New Dreams and the debut effort for his exciting new trio featuring respected veteran drummer Billy Hart and talented Russian-born bassist Boris Kozlov. The 49-year-old Pilc, a resident of New York for the past 15 years, is a self-taught musician whose varied experience includes playing with masters like Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker and Dave Liebman, among many others, as well ...
Continue ReadingPosi-Tone Saxophones
by Joel Roberts
Ralph BowenDue ReverencePosi-Tone2010 Mike DiRubboRepercussionPosi-Tone2009 Sean NowellThe SeekerPosi-Tone2009 Giving underappreciated jazz artists their due is one of the perks (and responsibilities) of writing about the music. The frustrating thing is the sheer number of outstanding musicians flying under the radar of most listeners. These three saxophonists, all ...
Continue ReadingRalph Lalama: The Audience
by Joel Roberts
Tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama is a respected jazz journeyman probably best known for his more than 25-year tenure with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He's also played and recorded with the Joe Lovano Nonet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and drummer Joe Morello's group, among others. But he's had relatively few opportunities to record as a leader. His 2008 release, the well-received Energy Fields (Mighty Quinn), was his first in over a decade and his first ever for a US label. ...
Continue ReadingPeter Zak: Blues on the Corner: The Music of McCoy Tyner
by Joel Roberts
McCoy Tyner has justifiably been heralded as one of the most important jazz pianists of the past 50 years, both for his seminal work with the classic John Coltrane Quartet in the 1960s and for the four decades of consistently exhilarating work as a leader that followed. But while his heavily percussive style, unique chord voicings and the sheer emotional force of his playing have influenced countless followers, he has seldom been appreciated for his contributions as a composer. That's ...
Continue ReadingTwo Tributes to Bille Holiday: Dee Dee Bridgewater and Stepanie Nakasian
by Joel Roberts
Dee Dee Bridgewater Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee Emarcy 2010 Stephanie Nakasian Billie Remembered: The Classic Songs of Billie Holiday Inner City 2010 Dee Dee Bridgewater, one of the premier singers of her generation, as well as an acclaimed actress and radio personality, has had an extremely close relationship ...
Continue ReadingDavid Sanborn: Only Everything
by Joel Roberts
Only Everything is alto saxophonist David Sanborn's second straight release paying homage to one of his greatest and earliest influences, Ray Charles. While some jazz purists may dismiss Sanborn as a slick TV personality and practitioner of smooth or pop jazz, he's always had firm roots in bluesy, R&B-based jazz, dating to his early days playing with the likes of Albert King and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. And along with his more commercially calculated recordings, he's released some excellent ...
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