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Steve Heckman & Matt Clark: Some Other Time/Slow Café
by Dan Bilawsky
Back in the summer of 2004, saxophonist Steve Heckman and pianist Matt Clark took to the studio to lay down some duo tracks. Those recordings have now finally found their way into the world through Some Other Time/Slow Café, an album presenting a dozen pieces that speak with casual and reflective charm while highlighting the rapport that these two men have with one another. The straightforward sensibility of this pair is front and center across this entire ...
read moreSteve Heckman Quartet: Live at Yoshi's
by John Kelman
What separates a good jazz artist from a great one? Clearly, you've got to have certain essentials to be a credible player: good time, a strong command of the language, the ability to navigate changes, and a good set of ears in order to be a responsive improviser. But to be a great player you've got transcend common denominators. It might be through innovation (pushing the boundaries of convention) or something subtler: finding new things to say within the context ...
read moreSteve Heckman Quartet: Live at Yoshi's
by Michael P. Gladstone
Saxophonist Steve Heckman's second album is a continuation of his pursuit of John Coltrane. The middle period referred to on these eight tracks spans the late 1950s (from recordings on Prestige and Atlantic). Having not heard Heckman's debut, this is a pleasure to listen to, among the several Coltrane homages over the past few years. Heckman is originally from Brooklyn and came from the same neighborhood as hornmen Steve Grossman, Bob Berg, and Dave Liebman. Now relocated in the San ...
read moreSteve Heckman Quartet: Live at Yoshi's
by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Steve Heckman's debut recording, With John in Mind (World City Music, '03), referenced the classic John Coltrane sound. Live at Yoshi's blows back into the same territory in a reverent exploration of Trane Land, the Atlantic and Impulse! geographies.As a teenager, Heckman listened to A Love Supreme for two years from start to finish, every day, absorbing the then-groundbreaking, now classic spirit of the sound. His devotion is obvious fom the very first notes of the opening ...
read moreSteve Heckman: With John in Mind
by Ken Hohman
With John In Mind, Oakland-based multi-saxophonist Steve Heckman's debut, pays heartfelt homage to his foremost influence ' John Coltrane ' with exceptionally played originals and pair of standards. It probably wasn't a wise decision to invite comparisons to the most influential saxophonist in recent jazz history with his opening salvo, but Heckman's genuine feeling toward Coltrane's music and his obvious talents quickly erase any preconceptions.
In contrast to his primary influence, Heckman's real strength on this debut release ...
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