Articles by Michael McCaw

William Parker: Corn Meal Dance

by Michael McCaw
December 14, 2007

Steeped in the bedrock of the blues, hearkening back to sounds of Charles Mingus' Blues and Roots jazz, and featuring one of the more compelling and soulful voices in music today, Corn Meal Dance by bassist William Parker, is a complete package even if it takes a few listens to hear.With a few exceptions, lyrics in jazz are often straight forward and leave little to interpretation. And upon first listen here one might feel that the lyrics are ...

Michael Blake's Blake Tartare: More Like Us

by Michael McCaw
November 14, 2006

Blake Tartare More Like Us Stunt Records 2006

Listen Includes full performance of “Something In The Water"

Michael Blake has long been on the cusp of being more-well known among jazz fans, but like his former employer John Lurie, often seems to be looking in. Regularly recording on fellow Jazz Composer Collective projects like with Ben Allison, he shines when given the opportunity without fail. Yet, the larger light of the jazz ...

Greg Burk: The Way In

by Michael McCaw
October 31, 2006

Greg Burk The Way In 482 Music 2006

Listen

In an interview published last November by Paul Olson, pianist/composer/improviser Greg Burk revealed a very telling musical approach. In the interview Burk states that he does not view improvisation as a manner of instantaneous composition the way many people often propose. He elaborated that the key to improvisation for him “is the tension between the improviser and his or her material. So if that relationship ...

Quadro Nuevo & Tango Crash: Two Takes on Tango

by Michael McCaw
January 14, 2006

One old and one new, Justin Time has released two records attempting to deal with tango music at its core with varying degrees of success. Neither approaches the music in the same manner as, say, Astor Piazzolla, but through either acoustic or electronic instruments, they attempt to communicate with the same soul.

Quadro Nuevo Luna Rossa Justin Time Records 2005

A reissue of their debut album and opening with a lilting and ...

Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked

by Michael McCaw
January 13, 2006

Various Artists Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked Impulse! 2005

Remix projects in general have more than their fair share of naysayers. And where often the crux of their arguments center around the issue of taking an established piece of art and adding unneeded elements or simply implying these projects are only available because of materialistic gains; there is the often overlooked fact that these reconstructions or remixes are created out of respect for the originals ...

Jim Hall in Duet with Enrico Pieranunzi & Geoff Keezer: Duologues and Free Association

by Michael McCaw
January 13, 2006

It's becoming well-documented how Jim Hall has and is exploring the art of the duo in depth, whether with Pat Metheny, Bill Evans, or more recent associations with Enrico Pieranunzi and Geoffrey Keezer. And as classic as albums such as Undercurrent (Blue Note, 1963) or Jim Hall and Basses (Telarc, 2001) are, these more recent duo efforts find Hall continually pushing himself and his partners in ways that build off the past but embrace more modern aspects of jazz without ...

Brad Mehldau: Day Is Done

by Michael McCaw
January 10, 2006

Seldom do musicians rise beyond their peers into a more rarefied air, transversing the ground between player and interpreter to influence standards and the direction where the next steps will go. Rarely, if ever, is this transition actually recorded. Nonetheless, one thing is easily identifiable with Day Is Done: Brad Mehldau has begun the transformation from musician of merit to icon.Without doubt, there is an argument to be made on both sides--and to be sure the pianist himself ...

Electric Masada: At The Mountains of Madness

by Michael McCaw
January 9, 2006

You could come close to identifying the music on this incredibly lively and vibrant, yet draining release by imagining Buckethead's Monsters and Robots combined with John Zorn's Bar Kokhba Sextet. Identified by Zorn's Tzadik label as an amalgamation of the agitated pacing of Naked City, the immediacy and “improvisational edge of Cobra, and the lyrical qualities of the Masada songbook, Electric Masada is a hulking beast of an octet, adept and pliable with firepower and grace. And where Volume 4 ...

Gerry Hemingway: The Whimbler

by Michael McCaw
January 8, 2006

For those who may approach Gerry Hemingway as an acolyte of Anthony Braxton and thus shy away from the often dense musical milieu put forth by Braxton and his ilk, The Whimbler is cause for intrigue and celebration. And for those who approach Hemmingway for exactly this association, don't turn away because the compositions aren't mathematical equations.Working with the pliable and flexible combo of Ellery Eskelin (tenor), Herb Robertson (trumpet), and Mark Helias (basses), Hemmingway has crafted nine ...

Jonas Kullhammar: Snake City North

by Michael McCaw
November 23, 2005

There is nothing quite like the muscular sound of a big band that is busting at the seams with energy while disposing of the all-too-common brassy clichés of big band recordings. Fronted by tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar and his quartet with pianist Torbjörn Gulz, acoustic bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg, and drummer Jonas Holgersson, the Norrbotten Big Band provides top-notch music filled with fire and soul, not far removed from the Mingus Big Band in its vitality and richness.Snake City ...