Jazz Articles

Myra Melford + Ben Goldberg: Dialogue

by Mark F. Turner
January 20, 2016

In their first duo release Dialogue avant-garde jazz pianist Myra Melford and clarinetist Ben Goldberg's two instruments move in tandem yet independently, complimenting one another while exhibiting distinct qualities. At the forefront of open-minded music, the two have worked together in other ensembles yet performed sporadically as a duo since 2008. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, Melford is a fearless improviser and bandleader of several groups with exceptional recordings The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12, 2010) and Snowy Egret(Yellobird,2015). A consummate ...

Tin Hat Trio: Book of Silk

by Kurt Gottschalk
October 2, 2004

The Tin Hat Trio has made itself a supergroup of sorts, with Willie Nelson and Tom Waits guesting on its recordings and with a variety of individual projects outside the band. Carla Kihlstedt and Rob Burger have both released discs on John Zorn's Tzadik label, Kihlstedt is also a member of the avant rock outfit Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Mark Orton has toured with Bill Frisell, the Lounge Lizards and Mr. Bungle. The trio has established a reputation as a ...

Tin Hat Trio: Book of Silk

by Alex K. Fong
September 24, 2004

When an individual crosses America by starting on either coast to later arrive upon the other, that intrepid explorer will notice the vast expanses of land and open skies that divide the many bustling cities. And should this person listen to the native music along the way, he or she will notice a similar spaciousness in the nation's dusty folk songs, rustic boogies, and cosmopolitan jazz. The Tin Hat Trio's approach to American music on their new album, Book of ...

Tin Hat Trio: The Rodeo Eroded

by Celeste Sunderland
September 10, 2002

The Tin Hat Trio held two people captive one recent evening on New York State's Taconic Parkway. An orange crescent moon in the western sky followed the rental car, while the chug of a dobro and the sad lament of violin mingled with accordion drifted around the air-conditioned interior. The road was long, but the evergreens were endless, and the city seemed an eternity away.

The San Francisco group's third release The Rodeo Eroded is a tangle of seductive Eastern ...