Jazz Articles

Gebhard Ullmann: Trad Corrosion

by Budd Kopman
October 12, 2007

With nineteen tracks taking up but forty-eight minutes, the tracks that make up Trad Corrosion place a premium on subtlety, conciseness and low volume. Together with bandmates drummer Phil Haynes, who first appeared with Ullmann on Basement Research (Soul Note,1995) and long-time collaborator guitartist Andreas Willers, multi-instrumentalist Gebhard Ullmann has created a work that looks both forward and backward. Since Ta Lam (99 Records, 1993), Ullmann had been concentrating on his own music, so playing Willers' compositions ...

Gebhard Ullmann: Suite Noire

by Budd Kopman
October 2, 2007

Suite Noire is essentially the last recording of what could be called “early Ullmann," which however, contains some of the seeds that will flower later. Once again partnering with Andreas Willers, multi-reedman Gebhard Ullmann has created an atmospheric and, for the most part, dark work that will surely intrigue. One of the seeds is the first track, “Tapping The Foot, Tapping The Brain," which opens with both melody and accompaniment overdubbed, producing many parts, by Ullmann on ...

Gebhard Ullmann: Per Dee Doo

by Budd Kopman
September 30, 2007

Musicians are like all of us, in that who they are now is the sum total of their life experience up to that point. For a musician like multi-reedman Gebhard Ullmann, who has worked to create his own musical world, the past is still part of him and hence an album like Per-Dee-Doo is the understandable desire to express the past in the present.The tunes chosen will be familiar to most listeners and come from many different eras. ...

Gebhard Ullmann: Ullmann - Rava - Willers - Lillich - Schauble

by Budd Kopman
September 23, 2007

On the very fine Ullmann-Rava-Willers-Lillich-Schäuble, reedman Gebhard Ullmann combines his longstanding trio (guitarist Andreas Willers and drummer Nikolas Schäuble) with bassist Martin Lillich and renowned trumpeter Enrico Rava. By the time of this recording, Rava was fifty years old and had been recording for more than twenty years. Despite being a stylistic chameleon, whose playing can range from the romantic to the avant-garde, his sound is immediately recognizable. Thus, he can fit right in with a tight, ...

Gebhard Ullmann: Out To Lunch

by Budd Kopman
September 19, 2007

The intense and quite strong Out To Lunch is just about the earliest recording available on which multi-reedman Gebhard Ullmann is the leader, with his discography listing the LP, Playful (Biber, 1985), a duo with guitarist Andreas Willers. That this release almost shares its title with the acclaimed Eric Dolphy album Out To Lunch! (Blue Note, 1964) is an indication of Ullmann's fondness for the album in particular and Dolphy in general. Musically the relationship to the ...

Richie Beirach & Laurie Antonioli: The Duo Session

by Jim Santella
December 7, 2005

Recorded in 1992 in San Francisco, this session of piano/vocal duets features a silky-smooth singer in performance with an expressive pianist. Their warm, endearing approach brings you into their circle with open arms and a heartfelt embrace. Together, the two artists interpret moody standards, hip reflections, and searing originals with candor.

Laurie Antonioli's clear alto voice and extensive vocal range allow her to express ideas and emotions freely and accurately. What she's thinking is what comes out naturally. ...

Laurie Antonioli: Foreign Affair

by Nenad Georgievski
December 2, 2005

Foreign Affair is Laurie Antonioli's debut as a solo artist, although she has appeared on record with artists such as George Cables and Joe Bonner. Antonioli is a musical singer gifted with a flexible, darkish voice and soulful, natural phrasing--and as witnessed on this record, she has surrounded her attractive vocal stylings with fairly interesting, though at times restrained and minimalistic arrangements. Throughout this record Antonioli's vocals direct and steer the musings of the supporting band, which ...

Laurie Antonioli: Foreign Affair

by Stephen Latessa
April 11, 2005

The title of this album is particularly apt in that it was recorded in Slovenia, finding San Francisco native Laurie Antonioli performing with a Serbian bassist (Nenad Vasilic), an Albanian guitarist (Armend Xhaferi), a German saxophonist (Johannes Enders), and a drummer from New York (John Hollenbeck). From this multinational band comes a program that is equally widespread, featuring compositions by Joe Henderson and Keith Jarrett, as well as original works that draw on classic pop, Eastern European, and Balkan traditions. ...