Jazz Articles

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The Mark Kleinhaut Trio: Holding the Center

by Jerry D'Souza
May 20, 2006

Mark Kleinhaut is back with longtime bandmates Jim Lyden (bass) and Les Harris, Jr. (drums), extending the parameters with excursions into electronica, rock and Latin music. The results on Holding the Center are emphatically convincing.

Kleinhaut has a full-bodied, well-rounded tone. His guitar is an eloquent messenger, filled with melody, bounce, swing and looping patterns that are fed through a Boss looper and GT-6 processor. He uses them on “Holding the Center. The initial impact, however, comes from the bowed ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio: Holding the Center

by Dan McClenaghan
May 10, 2006

It was time for this to happen. Guitarist Mark Kleinhaut has put out five CDs of original material, but his last two efforts, both on Invisible Music--A Balance of Light (2003) and Chasing Tales (2001)--showcased guest artists in front of the trio: alto saxophonist Bobby Watson and trumpeter Tiger Okoshi, respectively. Both were fine outings, but they focused on the hornmen. With Holding the Center, we've got the Mark Kleihnhaut Trio in the limelight.From apparent influences of Wes ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio: Holding the Center

by C. Michael Bailey
May 9, 2006

Maine guitarist Mark Kleinhaut expands his impressive discography with Holding the Center, a progressive, contemporary outing. On his previous two recordings, A Balance of Light and Chasing Tales, Kleinhaut employed trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, respectively. Here the guitarist displays his own considerable talent in the more intimate trio format.

Kleinhaut employs a guitar style best described as unhurried swing on the thirteen original compositions on Holding the Center. His tone is warm, round, and ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Bobby Watson: A Balance of Light

by C. Michael Bailey
April 25, 2006

Mark Kleinhaut's previous trio recording, Chasing Tales (Invisible Music, 2002), employed trumpeter Tiger Okoshi to great effect. The guitarist follows it up with alto saxophonist Bobby Watson on A Balance of Light. Kleinhaut's taut trio serves as a perfect foil to the sleek Watson as the group navigates eight of Kleinhaut's original compositions.

The disc opens with the Spanish-tinged “Ferdinand and Isabelle, providing a perfect vehicle for Watson's Latin inclinations. The style may best be termed upbeat neo-bop. ...

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Steve Grover Trio: Breath

by Norman Weinstein
November 25, 2003

Drummer Steve Grover may or may not be a practicing Buddhist, but he plays drums with a lightness and clarity that my friends doing daily Buddhist meditation might well envy. The title cut on this engaging album is a strikingly original Grover composition where the trio members sound like they are breathing together with a kind of musical and spiritual unity rarely heard in studios or concert stages. Pianist Frank Carlberg, while sounding influenced at times by Keith Jarrett or ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Bobby Watson: A Balance of Light

by Jerry D'Souza
October 8, 2003

One of the most eloquent voices on the alto sax returns, and it is no small measure that Mark Kleinhaut was responsible for bringing Bobby Watson back on record. Kleinhaut wanted to write songs particularly for Watson, and again to his credit, he realized that any music would be the starting point for their dialogue. How right he was! Watson slips right in and, in consonance with the others, turns in a stimulating outing.

It matters little what ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Bobby Watson: A Balance of Light

by Dan McClenaghan
October 4, 2003

Guitarist/Composer Mark Kleinhaut could make a career of this: getting together with different horn men and backing them with his trio for yearly CD releases. Last year it was trumpeter Tiger Okkoshi on Chasing Tales. This time out Klienhaut has enlisted alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, the #1 alto saxophonist in Downbeat Magazine's Critics' Poll, 1989-92; an Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers/George Coleman Octet alum; and leader of his own groups that have launched the careers of the likes of ...

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Scott Oakley Trio: Jazz For The Holidays

by Jim Santella
December 19, 2002

Straight-ahead jazz should be creative enough to fire the imagination with music above and beyond the tried and true formula that’s brought to us year in and year out. And yet the tradition must be maintained. These holiday songs simply cannot be turned into playthings for the avant-gardist to toy with. Scott Oakley and his two veteran partners recognize this necessary quality and apply creative colors to each of these holiday staples. The pianist mixes tone clusters and splashes of ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Tiger Okoshi: Chasing Tales

by C. Michael Bailey
March 1, 2002

Mark Kleinhaut and Charles Ives have a number of things in common. Both are from New England, both are musicians, and both had other careers, Ives in insurance and Kleinhaut in banking. Both also advocated composing unapologetic, genre-destroying, unflinchingly original music. Kleinhaut follows his most recent trio recordings with a quartet outing with brass aficionado Tiger Okoshi. The results are perplexingly deceptive. Kleinhaut's music is a paradox in the respect that it is composed with a certain complexity that makes ...

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Mark Kleinhaut Trio: Chasing Tales

by Jim Santella
March 1, 2002

All originals, the tales that Mark Kleinhaut and his trio chase, leave lasting impressions. Audio samples are available from www.invisiblemusicrecords.com . The song titles describe a few aspects of what you're getting with each cool romp. Trumpeter Tiger Okoshi joins the trio for this session. Kleinhaut and Okoshi prefer mellow sounds. However, their music does not lack excitement. These original compositions offer lyrical melodies and surreal landscapes. From warm, summer breezes in the country to brassy, mechanical tours of urban ...