Jazz Articles
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Ocean Eddie: Ocean Eddie
by Troy Dostert
Taking their inspiration from whirlpools and countercurrents, the three Belgians who comprise Ocean Eddie allow their individual voices to merge and diverge in pursuit of a deeper level of communication. Accordionist Stan Maris, pianist Andreas Bral and saxophonist Viktor Perdieus create a compelling chamber aesthetic which exudes fragility and vulnerability, with more than a little beauty along the way. The album's eleven pieces take on different modes, from well-demarcated tunes to much more abstract explorations of sound and ...
read moreSeppe Gebruers: Playing With Standards
by Mark Corroto
Pianist Seppe Gebruers with his Playing With Standards follows in the footsteps of visual artists who work in xerography, a type of Situationists' détournement that construct art via a photocopier. While the 42 tracks presented over three discs reproduce jazz and pop standards, Gebruers' 'copies' are not reproductions as much as they are the products of multiple passes through his mental photocopier. This process is similar to the art xerography, where copying of a photocopy repeatedly creates a completely new ...
read moreKobe Van Cauwenberghe: Plays Anthony Braxton
by John Sharpe
Works by Anthony Braxton appear occasionally in the repertoire of others, but it is exceptional for entire albums to be devoted to them. That is especially true for some of his later works. But Belgian guitarist Kobe Van Cauwenberghe looks to rectify that. He already has one such outing under his belt—Ghost Trance Solos (ATD, 2020)—but his ambition propels him even further on Ghost Trance Septet Plays Anthony Braxton, where his assembled crew gets to grips with four of Braxton's ...
read moreKobe Van Cauwenherghe’s Ghost Trance Septet: Plays Anthony Braxton
by Mark Corroto
Why is it that we remember the past but not the future? That is a question which theoretical physicists are continually fascinated by. Think about it for a moment, we rely on our flawed individual observations to make judgements about the world. A few hundred years ago, Earth was definitely flat and, by further inspection, the sun most certainly revolved around said Earth. It required some distance, say a spaceship, to get a clear perspective. The same can be said ...
read moreRaf Vertessen Quartet: LOI
by John Sharpe
Belgian drummer Raf Vertessen's quartet unites a mouth-watering array of talent, and he keeps them busy on his leadership debut LOI. Since arriving in Brooklyn, in 2016, Vertessen has dug in deep, enlisting saxophonist Anna Webber, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and bassist Nick Dunston, all acclaimed leaders in their own right, to realize his charts in a way which allows them full expression while at the same time respecting compositional boundaries drawn largely from the free jazz vernacular. ...
read moreRaf Vertessen: LOI
by Glenn Astarita
Since relocating from his native Belgium to New York City, superb drummer and wily composer Raf Vertessen has ingratiated his talents into the region's always burgeoning improv and avant-garde musicscape, performing with upper-echelon musicians, evidenced on this first-rate debut as a leader. Here, the drummer cites influences from the dynamic international contingent of 1960s free/progressive jazz performers who turned conventional jazz frameworks upside down. The drummer's works include budding layers of sound, by using building blocks amid blossoming ...
read moreJozef Dumoulin & Lidbloj: Live in Neerpelt
by Glenn Astarita
Belgian keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin incorporates some oddball and magical innuendoes with his Fender Rhodes and electronics implementations, and is an inventive improviser who comingles a flock of emotive voicings into his work. On this outing he leads an international outfit, featuring Clean Feed Records artist Lynn Cassiers who harmonizes with the instrumentalists via her angelic vocals, while also incorporating electronics into the grand schema, following suit with her band-mates. The musicians project lucid imagery throughout this live offering ...
read moreLotz Of Music: Live At JazzCase
by Troy Dostert
With an upbringing that involved living in Thailand, Germany and Uganda, it was perhaps inevitable that flautist Mark Alban Lotz would take a global approach to his craft as a musician. His substantial recorded output (over a dozen releases to his name, to date) bears ample witness to his restless quest for new forms of expression, while always remaining at least tangentially rooted in the jazz tradition. On his latest release, a live recording from JazzCase in Dommelhof, Belgium, Lotz ...
read moreDuo Periculoso: Non é Prohibito
by Ian Patterson
The collaboration between violinist Gunda Gottschalk and bassist Peter Jacquemyn dates back to 1995, with the duo expanding to a trio in the live arena with the addition of accordionist Ute Völker. Non é Prohibito (el NEGOCITO Records, 2017) is only the duo's second recording and comes eighteen years after E Pericoloso Sporgersi (Valve Records, 1999). It's undoubtedly a hefty gap, although both musicians are busy in multiple settings -Jacquemyn most frequently in ensembles with alto saxophonist/bandoneon player André Goudbeek, ...
read moreCharles Gayle/Giovani Barcella/Manolo Cabras: Live In Belgium
by Mark Corroto
Picking up any recording by the saxophonist (sometimes pianist) Charles Gayle always reminds me of the quote by actress Bette Davis' from the the film All About Eve (1950). After downing her martini in one gulp, Davis walks away, turns, and announces “fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride." Not bumpy as in uneven or rutted here, but strident and earth-shaking music. Live In Belgium is no exception to that narrative. By now, the story ...
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