Jazz Articles

Dick Hyman & Ken Peplowski: ...Live At The Kitano

by Dan Bilawsky
July 28, 2013

If musical knowledge and taste were currency, pianist Dick Hyman and clarinetist Ken Peplowski would be two of the wealthiest men around. Hyman, an octogenarian legend with killer technique and near-unparalleled knowledge about virtually every style of jazz, and Peplowski, the witty woodwind wonder who stands tall as one of the clarinet kingpins on the scene today, make for a perfect match. Both men have deep respect for the tradition(s) of this music, but neither one looks at jazz as ...

Jim Manley: Brass Poison Too

by Nicholas F. Mondello
February 14, 2012

Trumpet players who dwell in the altissimo range of the instrument face multiple dilemmas: they must maneuver the purely physical demands of playing in that extreme register (challenging), perform impeccably (difficult) and display musical grace and ease in doing so (incredibly difficult). Complicating matters, there are always the ghosts of Maynard Ferguson, Bill Chase and others lurking to offer the opportunity for fair or unfair comparisons. With Brass Poison Too, Jim Manley again demonstrates that he is ...

Jim Manley: Brass Poison

by Nicholas F. Mondello
July 14, 2010

Mythology and its partners--history and literature--are replete with accounts of poisonings of all kinds; romantic, political, and those unfortunately accidental. Most of these tales culminate with unhappy, tragic endings. Someone usually “gets it" in the end. With Brass Poison, star trumpeter Jim Manley shrewdly plays title tongue-in-cheek, and delivers a supremely enjoyable and seductively cooking rocktail. Following up on his fine Eight (Victoria, 2008), Manley and his St. Louis- based crew grab hold of a handful of ...

Larry Johnson: Circles

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 27, 2010

Circles are infinitely symbolic in their geometric design and interpretation--no beginning and no end, directionally ambiguous, enclosing an extended infinite inner dimensional space. In Circles, his first CD as a leader, tenor saxophonist Larry Johnson steps up to deliver a dozen fine selections displaying that he's definitely no musical square. He sounds as if he knows where he's headed musically --and that direction will not be going around endlessly in a never-ending artistic circle.

Long a presence on the St. ...

Jim Manley: Eight

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 21, 2008

St. Louis has generously given the music world some of its all-time great jazz musicians (OK, and great ballplayers too!)--from Miles Davis, and Clark “Mumbles" Terry to two Olivers (Nelson and Lake), and many others. It could be said that the city gave these stars lovingly. With Eight, the jazz world gets yet another gift from St. Louis (in addition to baseball's Stan), who can also be respectfully and accurately designated as “the man." And, here Jim Manley demonstrates why ...

Dick Hyman/Chris Hopkins: Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands

by Graham L. Flanagan
June 14, 2008

We have yet to reach the halfway point in 2008, but a top contender for Best Jazz Piano Album of the Year has already emerged. Jazz institution Dick Hyman and Chris Hopkins celebrate the legendary Teddy Wilson with this duet release, recorded in late 2006. The release contains seventeen selections, most of which are tunes that Wilson recorded when he was a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra (and smaller Goodman-led combos) in the 1930s. All but ...

Jim Manley: Splendor in the Brass 2

by Jack Bowers
January 20, 2007

It's not often that a sequel matches the prototype on which it was based, and even less likely that a followup may actually surpass that forerunner. But here we have one of those rare cases, wherein trumpeter Jim Manley's Splendor in the Brass 2 easily outdistances its namesake and role model (which was pretty good, by the way) as it gives the listener almost a full hour of invigorating big band jazz--and more.

There are several reasons for the improvement. ...