Jazz Articles
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Hristo Vitchev: Of Light and Shadows
by Tyran Grillo
Guitarist Hristo Vitchev reconvenes his synergistic quartet with pianist Jasnam Daya Singh, bassist Dan Robbins and drummer Mike Shannon for a set of nine originals, each deeper than the last. It's the kind of session that happens perhaps once in a decade, where every detail dovetails into the next without the merest hint of force. The title track is a joyous opener, practicing what it preaches by virtue of its gradations. It exudes passionate musical ideas and exposition. ...
read moreMason Razavi & Bennett Roth-Newell: After You
by Tyran Grillo
Guitarist Mason Razavi and pianist Bennett Roth-Newell place years of collaborative experience under the microscope in this studio album. The performances, as wide-ranging as they are intimate, comprise a generous handful of original dough with a few familiar tunes thrown in for leavening. In the latter vein, we are treated to three slices of optimism, starting with Clifford Brown's “Joy Spring." In addition to setting the tone for a set of sometimes-whimsical crosstalk, it showcases the duo's ability to unravel ...
read moreHristo Vitchev: Of Light and Shadows
by Phillip Woolever
Vitchev's latest effort is another jewel in his growing catalogue of widespread genres. Given Vitchev's warmly ambitious range of projects, he may soon be able to center his own multi-themed festival. This presents his current, contemporary style quartet in an impressive showcase. The SF bay area group's core has played together in various ensembles for years, and their cohesive evolution is demonstrated throughout. Vitchev gives his band mates plenty of room to groove from the opening track on, ...
read moreJackie Gage: Siren Songs
by James Nadal
It is an era of difficult choices for young vocalists, but the ones that follow their heart are certainly the better for it. Jackie Gage is a determined singer who self-produced Siren Songs as a commitment toward her career in jazz. The production features a refined string quartet, augmenting the rhythm section, but the highlight is Gage's genuinely gifted vocals.The title track is a brief instrumental introduction with soft vocal texture joining the marimba in a luring invitation, ...
read moreHristo Vitchev Quartet: In Search of Wonders
by Mark Sullivan
Bulgarian-born San Franciscan jazz guitarist/composer Hristo Vitchev leads an experienced quartet on this double-CD collection of attractive modern jazz. This is his seventh release as a leader, and the third with this quartet (allowing for a change in the drum chair), following Familiar Fields (First Orbit Sounds Music, 2013) and Song For Messsambria (First Orbit Sounds Music, 2009). His influences are eclectic, but the chamber jazz sound of tracks like the piano solo “Stay (Prelude)" and the guitar/piano duet “We ...
read moreHristo Vitchev Quartet: In Search of Wonders
by Edward Blanco
Marking his seventh project as a leader, internationally-renowned impressionistic guitarist Hristo Vitchev presents In Search of Wonders, his first double album of original world-tinged modern jazz delivered in the same creatively unique style this guitarist, is known for. One thing remains the same, the music is intellectual, soul-searching, harmonically-rich and thoroughly enchanting. With a double album containing a total of fifteen new pieces, Vitchev offers plenty more of wonders to sample than he has in the past. Performing ...
read moreHristo Vitchev Quartet: In Search of Wonders
by Roger Farbey
With six previous albums already to his name, guitarist Hristo Vitchev has now released a double album of his own compositions, benefitting from the inclusion of three exceptionally talented musicians constituting his quartet. Vitchev's dextrously lithe playing is evident from the start on the (initially) pastoral opener “The Transitory Nature," recalling the styles and fluidity of John Abercrombie and Bill Frisell. After a short tranquil piano-led opening statement “It May Backfire," the longest track at nearly fourteen minutes, ...
read moreHristo Vitchev Quartet: In Search of Wonders
by Karl Ackermann
Only in his mid-thirties, Hristo Vitchev has led or co-led eight releases; three previous albums with the core of this quartet. With each outing representing a creative and additive progression that should rightfully place him in the class of guitarist/composers that span skill sets from Jim Hall to Pat Metheny, Vitchev is overdue in finding a wider audience. More importantly, as an artist (and his quartet, as a group) has documented each collection has contributing to a style that has ...
read moreMason Razavi/Bennett Roth-Newell: After You
by Dan Bilawsky
While guitarist Mason Razavi and pianist Bennett Roth-Newell have had plenty of opportunities to connect musically in Razavi's Quartet, his expanded Quartet Plus, and elsewhere, this marks the first time that this pair has pared things down to record as a duo. Over the course of eight songs--five originals, two jazz standards, and an album-ending take on a classic from The Beatles--Razavi and Roth-Newell manage to establish themselves as centrists with a shared belief in the powers ...
read moreErrol Rackipov Group: Pictures from a Train Window
by Edward Blanco
Composer and educator Errol Rackipov--who currently teaches at several South Florida Universities including Florida International University, Florida Memorial and Broward College--is a master of the vibraphone and marimba where as the leader on Pictures from a Train Window, ably displays his talents in providing a distinct modern/fusion sound where jazz is but one element in a palette of classical chamber and European folk rhythms. As the vibraphonist himself explains, this album is the culmination of a “journey started ...
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