Jazz Articles

Thomson Kneeland: Mazurka For A Modern Man

by Jerry D'Souza
October 15, 2010

Thomson Kneeland makes a creative surge on Mazurka For A Common Man, with wide-ranging music that captures the bassist's skills as a writer--a trait in evidence right from his first CD, The Voice of Blood (Weltschmerz Records, 2001). He went on to record three more albums with his band, Kakalla--documenting, in tandem, Kneeland's ability to write for a quartet/quintet lineup in several idioms and his skills as a bassist. Kakalla was his band for eight years before, Kneeland moved to ...

Thomson Kneeland: Mazurka For A Modern Man

by Bruce Lindsay
June 5, 2010

Bassist Thomson Kneeland leads an impressive array of musicians on Mazurka For A Modern Man. It's a strong collection of tunes, characterised by Kneeland's lively bass rhythms and by the gorgeous melodies that emanate from David Smith's trumpet and Nate Radley's guitar. Kneeland's liner notes make it clear that this album is dedicated to his band mate and friend, the drummer Take Toriyama, who took his own life barely 2 weeks after recording was completed in 2007. ...

Thomson Kneeland: Mazurka for the Modern Man

by Woodrow Wilkins
May 16, 2010

It is unfortunate when a person dies prematurely, and even more so when the death is by suicide. It makes for a bittersweet experience when listening to Mazurka for a Modern Man, by acoustic bassist Thomson Kneeland. Drummer Take Toriyama had been working with Kneeland almost weekly for ten years. He ended his life two weeks after recording the songs on this release. For Kneeland, the tragedy was immeasurable.

The core group on the recording consists of Kneeland, Toriyama, guitarist ...

Thomson Kneeland: Mazurka For A Modern Man

by Dan Bilawsky
April 12, 2010

It wouldn't be unusual to think that the mastermind behind Mazurka For A Modern Man played trumpet or guitar. While bassist Thomson Kneeland wrote eight of these compositions, which touch on everything from Balkan folk music and klezmer, to chamber music and indie rock, he often lurks in the background while guitarist Nate Radley and trumpeter David Smith paint intriguing pictures and create a deep, and occasionally dark, musical universe in the foreground. Kneeland, as demonstrated throughout this album, is ...

Kakalla: The Seeds of Analog Rebellion

by Florence Wetzel
May 5, 2005

The Seeds of Analog Rebellion is the outstanding new CD by Kakalla, a Massachusetts-based quartet that successfully blends jazz and electronics. And not only: Kakalla's influences include traditional and modern Bulgarian music, Greek rembetika, Albanian folk music, and rock n' roll. Kakalla incorporates these apparently disparate genres into music that's thoroughly original and genuinely exciting. A good example of how Kakalla seamlessly combines its influences is “Maleficient Oblations to a God of Benevolence (composer Thomson Kneeland's gift with ...

Kakalla: The Seeds of Analog Rebellion

by Jerry D'Souza
March 2, 2005

Mixing ingredients in a cauldron and coming up with the appetizing can yield a work of art. Thomson Kneeland, the leader and bassist of Kakalla, succeeds admirably in bringing together chamber music, European music, and a bit of rock with a compact jazz sensibility into a remarkable whole that at once grabs attention and draws the listener into its core. Kneeland has pursued this over the course of three albums with Kakalla, tweaking the lineup between a quartet and a ...

Kakalla: The Voice Of Blood

by AAJ Staff
July 1, 2001

Perhaps the open-mindedness of jazz at the beginning of the millennium and its absorption of a massive number of influences are the music's most notable elements. While the thirties were known for swing, the forties for bebop, the fifties for cool jazz, the late sixties and early seventies for fusion and the eighties for neo-conservatism, the late nineties and early “two thousands" may become recognized for multi-cultural awareness.Of course, such open-mindedness creates a conflict with the preservation, or ...