Jazz Articles
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YANG: Rejoice!
by Glenn Astarita
YANG, the post-rock outfit led by French guitarist Frédéric L'Épée continues to expand their sonic landscape with Rejoice. L'Épée, a seasoned figure in the progressive rock realm and former member of avant-garde bands Shylock and Philharmonie, infuses YANG's sound with his signature precision and emotional weight. Since their inception in the mid-2000s, YANG has crafted a distinct blend of post-rock, progressive rock, and classical elements, creating sweeping instrumental compositions that are as intricate as they are evocative. Known for their ...
Continue ReadingJanel & Anthony: New Moon In The Evil Age
by Glenn Astarita
The married duo of cellist Janel Leppin and guitarist Anthony Pirog are no strangers to pushing boundaries. Their collaborative work under the Janel & Anthony moniker has long been admired for its innovative blend of genres, and 2024 proves to be a particularly fruitful year for the duo. New Moon in the Evil Age arrives alongside Leppin's exploration with the larger Ensemble Volcanic Ash on To March is to Love (Cuneiform), highlighting the depth and versatility of her artistic vision. ...
Continue ReadingJanel Leppin, Ensemble Volcanic Ash: To March Is To Love
by Glenn Astarita
Janel Leppin, a multi-instrumentalist and composer known for her innovative approach to music, leads her Ensemble Volcanic Ash in their latest release, To March Is To Love. Her debut album, Ensemble Volcanic Ash, released in 2022, garnered widespread acclaim. Now, with her follow-up, Leppin continues to push boundaries and explore new sonic landscapes. This project, recorded live in the studio, features a stellar sextet. Her versatility and creative vision have made her a distinctive voice in contemporary music. Notably, Leppin ...
Continue ReadingTomeka Reid Quartet: 3+3
by Chris May
Jazz cello has come a long way since Fred Katz's pioneering work with Chico Hamilton in the 1950s. Back then, the instrument was looked on as a novelty turn. In 2024, while still relatively avant-garde, its presence in a lineup is less exceptional. A pivotal point was American cellist Adbul Wadud's By Myself (Bishara, 1977), an album Tomeka Reid has acknowledged as an inspiration, and which may have played a part in her transition from classical music to jazz around ...
Continue ReadingSoft Machine: The Dutch Lesson
by Mark Sullivan
Soft Machine had played in Rotterdam several times before this 1973 show in the small theater De Lantaren. But this version of the band was relatively new. One of the earliest shows by the quartet of electric bassist Roy Babbington, Karl Jenkins (on multiple horns and electric piano), keyboardist Mike Ratledge and drummer John Marshall was documented on NDR Jazz Workshop--Hamburg, Germany, May 17, 1973 (Cuneiform Records, 2010). By late October the band had become a potent live force. They ...
Continue ReadingThe Muffins: Baker's Dozen
by Mark Sullivan
The Muffins were a Washington, D.C. area progressive rock band who were active from 1974-81 and then again (with their best-known line-up still intact) from 1993-2015. It is rare for any group to reform after more than a decade apart, and still rarer for them to resume their creative life rather than indulge in nostalgia. But this was not just any band: progressive rock pioneer Fred Frith declared them “the finest progressive band that America produced," and they served as ...
Continue ReadingRoger Clark Miller: Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble
by Mark Sullivan
Roger Clark Miller (who has simply been “Roger Miler" on many prior recordings) has a hell of a resume. He is best known for his guitar-playing in the experimental rock band Mission of Burma, which he co-founded in 1979. But he has also made piano-based music with Maximum Electric Piano, The Binary System and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble represents a unique approach to solo electric guitar. Inspired by his prepared piano experiments, ...
Continue ReadingGhost Rhythms: Spectral Music
by Mark Sullivan
After the self-produced Imaginary Mountains (2020) French experimental collective Ghost Rhythms returns to Cuneiform Records with a sequel to Live At Yoshiwara (Cuneiform Records, 2019). With roughly ten pieces, it is a band with a wide range of tonal colors; the band's leaders, drummer Xavier Gélard and keyboardist Camille Petit, have resumed their compositional role (with a bit of input from other band members). “Parapente/Paraglider" opens the album with a minimal keyboard groove and voices, joined by the rhythm section ...
Continue ReadingI.P.A.: Bashing Mushrooms
by Troy Dostert
Comprised of an impressive roster of Scandinavian all-stars, I.P.A. might only need a better name if the group is to break through to wider notice. Harnessing its commitment to post-bop freedom to thoughtful tunecraft, the band's music is both accessible and tough-edged, cerebral and hard-grooving in equal measure. The quintet's first Cuneiform release, I Just Did Say Something was a highlight of 2016, and its follow-up on the venerable label, Bashing Mushrooms, is another winner, albeit with somewhat more muted ...
Continue ReadingRay Russell: Fluid Architecture
by Mark Sullivan
Veteran British guitarist and composer Ray Russell has been active in free jazz, fusion and as a session player. His whole range of experience finds a voice in the opener “Escaping The Six String Cage," as he and synthesist Eric Baldwin explore a wide range of guitar sounds. Slide guitar gives way to lyrical volume pedal swells, followed by rhythmic loops leading into free playing. Lyrical delay evolves into an abstract soundscape, finally returning to slide. Several tracks ...
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