Jazz Articles
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Peter DiCarlo: The Other Side
by Jack Bowers
The Other Side is the second album by New York City-bred alto saxophonist Peter DiCarlo who now lives and works in Izmir, Turkey. Unlike the first, which was emphatically straight-ahead, this one blends elements of fusion and traces of a Turkish accent within DiCarlo's usual plain- spoken approach. Even so, the album's seven numbers--six written and all arranged by DiCarlo--would not be out of place in any anthology of contemporary straight-ahead jazz, as he seems unable to ...
read moreChris Rottmayer: Being
by Jack Bowers
On Being, his fourth album as leader, Wisconsin-based pianist Chris Rottmayer has chosen to appraise the music of pianist Mulgrew Miller, as written for and performed by the Woody Shaw Quintet. Russ Johnson sits in for Shaw on trumpet and flugelhorn, while the celebrated bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Matt Endres round out the quartet's capable rhythm section. Half of the album's ten numbers arose from Rottmayer's study of Miller's work with Shaw; the other five are ...
read moreChris Rottmayer: Being
by Troy Dostert
Pianist Chris Rottmayer has been a valued presence in the Madison, Wisconsin jazz scene for some time, both as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin and as the leader of a couple of well-conceived albums. His Sunday at Pilars (Pilars, 2019) and So in Love (self-released, 2020) reveal a self-assured musician who can handle classic repertoire with authority. But his latest effort, Being, ups the ante by offering a collection of his own compositions, in this instance animated ...
read moreMarcel Bonfim: Farewell/Despedida
by Troy Dostert
Although he has spent most of his life in his native Brazil, bassist Marcel Bonfim has resided in Chicago since 2015, when he began pursuing advanced jazz studies at DePaul University. Having been immersed in two distinctive musical environments has lent a wide perspective to his vision, and his debut release, Farewell/Despedida bears that out, with a variety of jazz styles on display, all given their due by Bonfim and his well-chosen colleagues. The bouncy opener, “Casa Forte/Zanzibar," ...
read moreTima Volozh: Jubilee
by Katchie Cartwright
Jubilee is the excellent debut release of Russian-born New York-based drummer Tima Volozh. The group was formed in March 2022, assembled for a benefit performance in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The rhythm section features bassist Jerome Harris and guitarist Brad Shepik, both of whom are known for their work with drummer Paul Motian, among notable others. Volozh met them while researching Motian's music for his master's degree thesis at New York University. Canadian pianist and composer Noah Franche-Nolan ...
read moreJC Sanford with Anthony Cox and Michael Cain: New Past
by Troy Dostert
Although he has shown himself to be adept in crafting big-band releases such as Views from the Inside (Whirlwind, 2014), trombonist JC Sanford usually works in a pared-down setting, such as his quartet release Keratoconus (Shifting Paradigm, 2019) or, more recently, the two volumes of his trio-based Imminent Standards (Shifting Paradigm, 2021 and 2022). Here he continues this trend, joining with two veterans, pianist Michael Cain and bassist Anthony Cox, for a mix of Sanford's own compositions and a couple ...
read moreDavid Whitman: Ode To Joe
by Jack Bowers
While West Coast drummer David Whitman's Ode to Joe [Henderson] is a rather brief one at less than thirty-three minutes, it is otherwise admirable for what is enclosed within its concise parameters. Whitman leads a well-schooled septet whose makeup is freshened by rotating tenor saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Rob Lockart and guitarists Bruce Forman and Chris Montgomery. Whitman and trumpeter Andrew Neesley share composer credits, and Neesley handles the arrangements, awakening warm memories of the Golden Age ...
read morePaul Dietrich: 5+4
by Jack Bowers
The concept for this latest album by Wisconsin-based trumpeter, composer and educator Paul Dietrich, his fourth as leader, can be found in its title, 5+4, wherein he employs a jazz quintet and four-member string section. It is to Dietrich's credit that neither one outshines the other; the quintet takes the lead on six of the album's eight numbers (all written by Dietrich), the strings on the others ("Out Here," “A Separation"). Indeed, the two components mesh so ...
read morePrecarious Towers: Ten Stories
by Jack Bowers
Precarious Towers is a Midwestern-based quintet whose second recording, Ten Stories, is as bare-bones an album as one could imagine: a plain CD (without name or artwork) resting in a pale-blue jacket (no tray or protective sleeve) that includes a list of songs, composers and personnel plus recording details. That's it. From a reviewer's point of view, however, such cosmetic details are irrelevant, as the only component that matters is the music itself. Judged solely on that ...
read moreDavid Whitman: Ode To Joe
by Richard J Salvucci
Dipping into this fine recording is, to mix metaphors a bit, like opening a time capsule. That capsule is called One For All (A&M, 1990), perhaps the final studio recording of Art Blakey with The Jazz Messengers. It was not a perfect outing, but it was a memorable one. The lines got into the head and stayed there, just waiting for a chance to be reawakened. Well, now is the time with Ode to Joe. A convenient link between the ...
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