Jazz Articles
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Mark Prince: Fraction of Infinity
by Edward Blanco
Since early 1995, Mark Prince has been pounding the drums on scores of tour dates and hundreds of recording sessions as a sideman, honing his skills and widening his musical horizons. Fraction of Infinity is his long awaited debut as a leader, and what a first offering it is. A versatile drummer, adept at playing styles ranging from hip-hop and R&B to contemporary and straight-ahead jazz, Prince contributes ten new and creative originals, covering jazz from the straight-ahead to the ...
read moreRuth Naomi Floyd: Root to the Fruit
by Chris M. Slawecki
Along with her sidework with instrumentalists Charles Fambrough, Uri Caine and other jazzmen of note, composer/vocalist Ruth Naomi Floyd gives voice to her own muse through her own label, Contour Records. Her fifth release continues her longstanding collaboration with pianist James Weidman, known for his accompaniment for vocalists Abbey Lincoln and Cassandra Wilson. It also features James Newton on flute, saxophonist Gary Thomas, and rhythm section aces Reggie Washington (bass) and Ralph Peterson (drums).
Root to the Fruit ...
read moreRuth Naomi Floyd: Root to the Fruit
by C. Michael Bailey
Over the course of her two previous recordings, Walk and not be Faint and Fan into Flame, vocalist Ruth Naomi Floyd has directly approached Christian spiritual themes in jazz, with better success than other artists in other genres. On Root to the Fruit, Floyd continues her journey in earnest, exploring jazz modes of delivery as divergent as field chants and Archie Shepp solos.
No Hiding Place opens the disc with conga riffs settling into a walking rhythm. Floyd ...
read moreRuth Naomi Floyd: Root to the Fruit
by Jim Santella
Jazz and gospel come together on Ruth Naomi Floyd's Root to the Fruit, where she sings original material with a theatrical delivery. She works with a stellar jazz ensemble that includes flutist James Newton, tenor saxophonist Gary Thomas, bassist Reggie Washington and pianist James Weidman in feature roles, emphasizing the freedom that jazz can add to a setting. They improvise alongside the vocalist and help to relate a message of spiritual faith and understanding.
Floyd's strong voice fills ...
read moreJef Neve Trio: It's Gone
by AAJ Staff
From Belgium comes Jef Neve, an explosively gifted young pianist whose second album, It's Gone, is without question one of the best I've heard in 2005. It's an exhilarating ride through a varied program of Neve's creative original compositions, offset by a standard and a brace of tunes by Neve's bassist, Piet Verbist. The music is consistently excellent, a joyous and very swinging tour through the unexpected.
Neve's improvisations often seem to burst forth in a shower of ...
read moreBen Sluijs/Hendrik Braeckman/Piet Verbist: Ancesthree
by AAJ Staff
Ancesthree is a live recording by three estimable Belgian jazz musicians. This is music of the deepest intimacy, a three-way conversation of tangible substance, and one that dances forward with sturdy, lilting swing. With their seemingly casual brilliance, these musicians have created a genuinely great jazz record.
Ben Sluijs plays alto saxophone on Ancesthree. At times, his long, spiraling lines might recall Lee Konitz. But Sluijs plays with a robust, slightly jagged sweet-and-sour tone that is quite unlike ...
read moreRuth Naomi Floyd: Fan Into Flame
by C. Michael Bailey
In the Spirit?Ruth Naomi Floyd begins her new recording Fan Into Flame where she left off with her last, Walk and Not Be Faint . That would be with the sleek, swinging delivery of the Good News using jazz as the chariot. Ms. Floyd mines the contemporary (Duke Ellington's In the Beginning God") and not so recent (Mahalia Jackson's Lord Don't Move That Mountain") and sprinkles these jewels among her and pianist James Weidman's fresh compositions. ...
read moreRuth Naomi Floyd: Walk And Not Be Faint
by C. Michael Bailey
Spiritual Jazz. Ruth Naomi Floyd’s jazz is decidedly spiritual. No wonder as she was raised in the Church, daughter of prominent Philadelphia, PA minister, the Reverend Melvin Floyd. She covers the familiar modern hymn “We are one in the Spirit” with enough smart swing to cause the walls to tumble. Smart is the key operative. Floyd’s arrangements and phrasing are carefully crafted tomes tastefully conceived and executed. Her mezzo voice is pliant and cooperative, very pleasing, exuding her spiritual music ...
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