Jazz Articles
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse
by Jack Kenny
Few figures in jazz history have embodied the word original quite like Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Sightless from infancy, yet bursting with boundless vision, he turned live performance into theatre, ritual and revelation. On stage, he appeared as a commanding silhouette festooned with flutes, whistles, tenor saxophone, clarinet, bells, harmonica and his self-fashioned instruments--the manzello and stritch. Before a note was played, the spectacle alone promised something extraordinary. When the music began, it revealed what Kirk himself called Black Classical Music: ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Vibrations In The Village: Live At The Village Gate
by Joshua Weiner
Thankfully, fans of classic jazz rarely have long to wait before another wonderful, previously unreleased treasure drops from the indefatigable producer Zev Feldman and the folks at Resonance Records. A pair of live releases by multi-instrumentalist, showman, and musical conjuror Rahsaan Roland Kirk join the limited-edition vinyl lineup for Record Store Day's Black Friday 2025 event, with a standard CD release one week later. Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse (Resonance Records, 2025) documents 1967 performances, while ...
Continue ReadingRahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen: Live At The Penthouse
by Dan McClenaghan
Most jazz fans are likely familiar with the visual images that are usually tagged onto the music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935 -1977)--photos of a man in black sunglasses with three (or more) reed instruments around his neck and/or in his mouth. That these optics often precede the experience of the music is ironic, since Kirk himself was blind. But Kirk was a showman. These images caught the attention. And he did indeed play three (maybe only two; maybe the ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Rouse: Cinnamon Flower : The Expanded Version
by Pierre Giroux
Cinnamon Flower: The Expanded Edition is a reissue of The Charlie Rouse Band's 1977 Brazilian-inspired album originally released by Douglas Records. Now, nearly 50 years later, Resonance Records presents a deluxe, definitive edition of the album featuring previously unreleased versions of the songs from the original release. Recorded during a prolific period in Rouse's post-Thelonious Monk career, this project reveals a rarely heard side of the tenor saxophonist: a rhythmic sensuality and melodic elegance inspired by Brazil's vibrant music scene. ...
Continue ReadingCharles Mingus: Mingus in Argentina
by Jack Kenny
This latter-day Charles Mingus group is ripe for reassessment. The new guys, Ricky Ford, Robert Neloms and Jack Walrath carried a heavy burden as they toured South America. The two-CD collection is a great feast of Mingus played by a band that, as yet, has never had real recognition. Much of the music was written for the Atlantic albums in the 1970s. According to Sue Mingus, the tour of South America was concerning. She wrote in her book ...
Continue ReadingCharles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts
by Thierry De Clemensat
Resonance Records specializes in the release of such sonic documents, serving both the history of jazz and the sheer pleasure that albums of this kind offer to collectors. It is, therefore, with immense delight that we rediscover in this recording Charles Mingus (bass and piano), Ricky Ford (tenor saxophone), Jack Walrath (trumpet;), Robert Neloms (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums), and immerse ourselves in the year 1977, when this album was recorded. The era's unmistakable imprint lingers in the sound, though the ...
Continue ReadingFreddie Hubbard: On Fire: Live From The Blue Morocco
by Pierre Giroux
Freddie Hubbard was never one to play it safe. Even at a time when jazz was bending in myriad directions--from the structural freedom of Ornette Coleman's harmolodics to the modal explorations of Miles Davis--Hubbard maintained a singular focus on the power of his horn. In the newly unearthed performance On Fire: Live from Blue Morocco, Resonance Records, in conjunction with Record Store Day, has released a deluxe 2CD package that includes new interviews with Bennie Maupin and Kenny Barron, notes ...
Continue ReadingKenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco
by Jack Kenny
The vagaries of the jazz life are all over this release. Why Kenny Dorham should be underappreciated is a mystery. For the gig at the Blue Morocco he had assembled a great super group with a deep well of experience. Drummer Denis Charles had worked with Cecil Taylor. Kenny Dorham had accompanied Charlie Parker, at Parker's peak. Bassist Paul Chambers had supported both Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. Pianist Cedar Walton had been in the Jazz Messengers. alto sax man ...
Continue ReadingFreddie Hubbard: On Fire--Live From The Blue Morocco
by Jack Kenny
Freddie Hubbard is a conundrum. His style has varied significantly over the years, as though he were unsure of himself at a deep level. There were the Blue Note years, then the funk years, where he gained money and lost credibility. The all-encompassing technique was displayed in so many contexts, with Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. Hubbard's casting around indicates an unresolved idea of what to do with his gifts. He was, after all, born at ...
Continue ReadingKenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco
by Thierry De Clemensat
Another remarkable chapter in contemporary music comes to life once again, thanks to Resonance Records. It was from 1967 that Blue Bossa In The Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco emerged, an unreleased performance by the legendary jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham, recorded live at the Blue Morocco jazz club in the Bronx, NY. The session features Sonny Red, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers and Denis Charles. Transferred from the original tape reels captured by the renowned engineer Bernard Drayton, ...
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