Jazz Articles
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Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe
by Steve Plever
A glance through the track list--with covers of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and two swing-era vocal standards--could give you the wrong impression. Yes, this is a very accessible and soulful album, but it is serious and heartfelt jazz, with Orrin Evans' personal stamp making it work. Blues, soul and gospel sounds share the stage here with swing, straight-ahead and avant-garde influences--no surprise given Evans' decade of playing with the Mingus Big Band. Evans' piano sets the tone ...
Continue ReadingThomas Marriott: Screen Time
by Paul Rauch
Seattle-based trumpeter Thomas Marriott has been producing notable jazz recordings for more than a quarter century now with remarkable consistency in terms of both musicianship and composition of original works. After a decade in New York as a young musician, following his winning of the prestigious Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition, Marriott settled back in Seattle and produced a litany of albums featuring top Northwest musicians. At one time or another he engaged with all of his upper-left colleagues, ...
Continue ReadingCaleb Wheeler Curtis: The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Deluxe Edition)
by Paul Rauch
Caleb Wheeler Curtis is one of the more daring musicians in jazz today, not only in his approach to playing the saxophone, but in his fearless dedication to his own musical conceptions, expressed clearly in his original compositions. That daring and dedication can be equally attributed to many of the shakers and movers of modern jazz, including one Thelonious Sphere Monk. On his double album release, The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Imani, 2024), Curtis ...
Continue ReadingCaleb Wheeler Curtis: The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Deluxe Edition)
by Troy Dostert
There has always been room in jazz for those creative minds who can bridge the gap between the heart of tradition and the leading edge of change. In the world of saxophonists, Thomas Chapin, Arthur Blythe, Julius Hemphill or David Murray easily come to mind. Multi-instrumentalist Caleb Wheeler Curtis has similarly explored this terrain for years, and like his forebears, he often does his best work in a trio format. His August in March (Imani Records, 2023) was an imaginative ...
Continue ReadingThomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome
by Paul Rauch
A “heat dome" is created when an area of high pressure hovers over an area for days or weeks, trapping warm air underneath. The meteorological phenomena is much like a lid on a boiling pot. In late June of 2021, residents of the Pacific Northwest became plainly aware of what a heat dome is by experiencing three days of severe heat topping 108 degrees, in an area more accustomed to temperatures in the low to mid seventies. The three days ...
Continue ReadingThomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome
by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Thomas Marriott settled into his groove on the Seattle-based Origin Records. He released more than a dozen discs under his own name there, including the gorgeous Romance Language (2020), a striking ballad set, and Trumpet Ship (2018), a high-energy bop workout. And then there was Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson (Origin Records, 2008), described as having “a distinctly modern and often brash tone." And “Favoring some serious musical adventurousness." With Live From The Heat Dome that ...
Continue ReadingCaleb Wheeler Curtis: Ain't No Storm
by Paul Rauch
Caleb Wheeler Curtis is a noted voice in the modern world of alto saxophone, in large part due to his association with fellow artists. Most significantly, his work with Philadelphia-based pianist Orrin Evans and the “village" of creative participants within has put a spotlight on his style which attaches itself to tradition while exhibiting a willingness to explore new territory. On his most recent release Ain't No Storm, he presents eleven original compositions that feature fellow Evans bandmates Mark Whitfield ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans: The Trio Live In Jackson, Mississippi
by Edward Zucker
Orrin Evans has recorded for the Criss Cross and Palmetto labels, but he always seems to venture back to Imani Records, his own label. This is where Evans convenes his musicians and material of choice, whether working with his “funk-fusion-R&B-electric band Luvpark, in a piano trio setting, or with a larger acoustic group, as on Live at Widener University (Imani, 2005). This independent streak has resulted in Evans failing to receive the public acclaim he is due, but it has ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans/The Band: Live at Widener University
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Live At Widener University, a two-disc set by The Band, led by pianist and educator Orrin Evans, exemplifies cohesiveness, and shows just how exciting jazz can be when a gathering of stellar musicians step up to the plate and knock it out of the park. “Two Faces of Nasheet," composed by drummer Nasheet Waits' father, Freddie, opens with a straight-up theme, then quickly branches off into what Evans likes to call “structured confusion." Tenor man J.D. Allen, Waits ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans Trio: Deja Vu
by Mark Corroto
Pianist Orrin Evans has always been (what am I saying? He was in high school in the early 1990s) a kind of undiscovered favorite of piano jazz fans. His recordings for the Dutch label Criss Cross have shown a maturity in playing and composing beyond his tender years. Like his stablemate at Criss Cross records Bill Charlap, expect Evans to break out soon with a major US exposure.
It may sound a bit odd that the yet-to-be-famous Evans would reissue ...
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