Articles by Matthew Wuethrich

Warp!: One Note Stories

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 25, 2005

More than most other instruments, the jazz vocal tradition has resisted change. Some vocalists, like Kurt Elling, Cassandra Wilson, Phil Minton, and Irene Abei with Steve Lacy, have expanded the technique and repertory of the voice, but they are a minority. The songbook for vocalists, comprised mostly of popular standards, and vocal technique, like scat solos and an emphasis on blues phrasing, still dominate the art. On One Note Stories, its debut album, Warp! makes an attempt to invigorate the ...

Mark Solborg 4: Smash the Tomatoes

by Matthew Wuethrich
September 10, 2004

Peruse the links on Mark Solborg's website and you will begin to understand how the Danish guitarist finally mixes his ideas. Björk, Waits, Frith, Mingus, Bowie, György Ligeti--all have gathered into their sound scraps and fragments of different musics. It is to Solborg's credit that his music sounds nothing like any of the above artists. Maybe his graphic arts work gives him balance, and his experience crafting music for plays prevents excess.

On Smash the Tomatoes, Solborg's fifth, ...

Trumpeter Jarkko Hakala

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 8, 2004

Jarkko Hakala speaks like he plays trumpet. Concise, sometimes witty phrases spring forth fully formed from thoughtful silence. The phrases’depth then further impregnates the inevitable pauses with more meaning. These long pauses in conversation show Hakala to be very much from Finland, a country where silence is welcomed, and one does not speak unless one has something meaningful to say. Hakala might attribute the speech pauses to, in his evaluation, his sub-par English, and he might evaluate his own playing ...

Moller/Balke/Lund: Trialogue

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 7, 2004

Jon Balke has risen to attention with his large ensemble albums for ECM. His Magnetic North Orchestra and Oslo 13 bristle with a provocative mix of percussion, punchy brass sections, electronic textures and placid piano interludes. This trio date, with Danish tenor saxophonist Lars Moller and drummer Morten Lund, distills those large ensembles into a stripped down form, while losing none of the intrigue. Recorded in 1999 but not released until 2003, Trialogue documents the trio’s improvised studio meeting. The ...

Bob Brookmeyer: Stay Out of the Sun

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 7, 2004

In valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer's biography, one can trace the map of jazz's history, both musical and personal. Brookmeyer has spent time in many of jazz's major ensembles, including Basie, Thornhill, Ellington and Lewis, and small groups, playing with Mulligan, Getz, Giuffre and Mingus. Along the way he has taken part in and contributed to the music's orchestral and instrumental innovations. He has also unfortunately experienced one of jazz's major tragedies: substance addiction, a disease that nearly cost him everything.

Bevort: My Shop

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 6, 2004

Pernille Bevort’s fifth album as a leader, My Shop, demonstrates the tenor saxophonist’s range of talents. She not only takes all the saxophone solos, but has composed, arranged and written the lyrics. Bevort writes the kind of accessible art songs Kurt Weill did so well, except she updates them for a modern audience with dirty guitars and touches of improvisation.

Bevort calls Denmark home, but her Special Edition octet hails from around Scandinavia and Europe. The horn section ...

Bentzon Brotherhood: Godzilla des Groove

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 5, 2004

The Bentzon Brotherhood hearkens back to the heyday of '70s jazz rock. The group's live recording Godzilla des Groove is soaked in the trappings of the period: ringing Fender Rhodes, ornate yet still funky electric bass lines, mechanically precise drumming, spiraling horn solos and blissed out bridges. Culled from concerts in its native Denmark, the double disc draws on material from the group's previous five albums and offers nine new pieces.

The Brotherhood gets its name from ...

Harri Ihanus: Eye Opener

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 5, 2004

Swedish-Finnish guitarist Harri Ihanus took the backward route of discovery that many guitar players have. Sparked by rock and blues, he soon fell under the grandiose spell of McLaughlin, Metheny and Coryell, then naturally turned to Pass, Burrell, and horn players like Parker and Coltrane—the roots. And that's where he has stayed. His Imogena debut, Eye Opener, features nine original compositions. They are modest, loose structures that favor relaxed tempos and leave ample space for soloing.

Ihanus’ quartet ...

Robert Nordmark: In Motion

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 4, 2004

At the heart of the jazz listening experience lies a paradox. Jazz is a music built on the live interplay of musicians, material and self, but we experience the music mostly through the record, or as Andre Millard calls it, in his book America on Record, ”the primary experience.” Millard also extends this notion to the musicians: ”Recorded sound was the great educator, attracting generations of performers into musical careers and schooling them in styles of music which were not ...

Martina Almgren Quartet: Unden

by Matthew Wuethrich
July 4, 2004

Swedish drummer Martina Almgren declares that she wants to combine strong rhythms with ”expressive melodies.” On Unden, with a quartet of sensitive musicians, she achieves that goal. She has also been a flutist, and while she plays it here on only one tune, its influence is felt on all twelve of the album’s pieces, most of which are Almgren’s. The beats are typically light and Latin-tinged, and the melodies are clearly stated, usually by saxophonist Björn Almgren.

The ...