Jazz Articles
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Steve Smith and Vital Information: Time Flies
by Scott Gudell
As with so many prolific drummers, this guy is lean, energized, crisp and knows when to add the snap. Drummer/percussionist Steve Smith's early professional musical explorations were often in the world of jazz as he teamed up with fusion violinist Jean Luc Ponty and the progressive jazz/rock Dutch band Focus for about a year in the late 1970s. He took a call in 1978 from a soon-to-be arena rock band out of San Francisco that went by the name of ...
read moreYusef Lateef: Ten Years Hence
by Bert Bailey
This 2008 release of a live 1975 performance at San Francisco's Keystone Korner may appeal to Lateef completists, but those still new to him or curious about his fame might consider starting elsewhere.The first of Ten Years Hence's five long numbers is Bob Cunningham's three-part Samba De Amor," which begins with the bassist bowing and plucking alongside the sound of cowbells, horns, whoops and other vocalizations, and Lateef on transverse flute. Fully five minutes on, a light but ...
read moreDon Ellis: Don Ellis at Fillmore
by Jim Santella
What a memorable album. I guess I grew up on this one. That was back when my hair still had color, my knees both worked quite well, and I still had that fresh out of college" attitude that took me off in many directions at once.
Don Ellis takes you off on a whirlwind ride, using electronic trumpet, complex meters, superb big band arrangements, and a cast of experienced sidemen who blow the walls down. Lest you've forgotten ...
read moreDon Ellis: Tears of Joy
by Jim Santella
Recorded at San Francisco's Basin Street West in 1971, Tears of Joy marked a subtle change in the Don Ellis big band. The trumpeter was gradually drifting toward popular music, and he was beginning to use the new electronic technology to its best advantage. However, he continued to load each arrangement with the kinds of musical features that have always left their unique stamp on his undertakings. Ellis and his other soloists stretch out with virtuosity while complex rhythms and ...
read moreDon Ellis: Connection
by Jim Santella
In the early 1970s, Don Ellis reshaped his big band, dropping the three acoustic basses and substituted one Fender bass. His guitarist added echoplex effects and wah-wah sensations, taking the group away from its straight-ahead big band sound and plunging it into the electronic decade. The band got connected to pop culture.
Ellis made a few changes from the standpoint of his trumpet leadership, too. His bright post bop technique, with its fluid syncopation, continued to lead with ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin: Music Spoken Here
by Walter Kolosky
Finally available from Wounded Bird Records, 1982's Music Spoken Here features the same line-up as the previous year’s Belo Horizonte. MSH is a little rougher around the edges than the earlier effort. This may be seen as an improvement to some, as the music is a bit wilder. But to others, the compositions may seem a bit weaker. However, make no mistake about it: this is a fine album with much to offer. David" is the highlight of ...
read moreMahavishnu: Mahavishnu
by Walter Kolosky
1984's Mahavishnu was supposed to mark the return of drummer Billy Cobham to John McLaughlin's side, in an attempt to recreate the spirit of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra. Although business disagreements led to the reunion ending badly behind the scenes, the record did manage to display some of the historic interplay these musicians had shared in the past. The album does suffer from a lack of focus that should be blamed on McLaughlin's new guitar synthesizer, which he ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin: Belo Horizonte
by Walter Kolosky
Shame, shame, shame on Warner Brothers for not releasing 1981's Belo Horizonte on CD until more than 18 years after it went out of print! Belo's original claim to fame was that McLaughlin played acoustic and the rest of the band played electric--apparently a new technological breakthrough! (The fact was announced loudly by a big sticker on the outside of the record cover). Ironically, this claim remains actually quite dubious, as throughout much of the album everyone plays acoustic anyway!
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