Jazz Articles
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Westgaard / Hernandez / Strid: The Knapsack, The Hat, and The Horn
by Glenn Astarita
The Knapsack, The Hat, and The Horn is a compelling exploration of free improvisation and acoustic sounds. The album, recorded in a single day in Gävle, Sweden, features Hein Westgaard on acoustic steel string guitar, Katt Hernandez on violin and Raymond Strid on drums. It dives into a rich soundscape that merges elements of hypnotic folk motifs, chamber music and abstract sonic territories, creating a unique listening experience that feels both adventurous and deeply personal.The music draws inspiration ...
read moreManeri / Kalmanovitch / Jacobson / Osgood: Variations On No Particular Theme - Part 1
by Mark Corroto
This free improvisation chamber quartet is an interesting study in bold, yet even-tempered music making. Tomo Jacobson, the Polish-born bassist now making Copenhagen his home, assembled this Europe-meets-North American cast for what appears to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Jacobson is joined by Danish drummer Kresten Osgood and two violists, the Canadian Tanya Kalmanovitch and American Mat Maneri. Jacobson and Osgood are members of the septet Moonbow, and the drummer released Tzokth Songs (Isula Jazz, 2016) along with ...
read moreIl Sogno: Graduation
by Dan McClenaghan
The group Il Sogno, a piano trio that employs a Wurlitzer piano along with an OB-6 synthesizer, steps back and forth over the line of melodic pop sensibilities into accessible jazz and soundtrack atmospherics to orchestral and sweeping soundscaping, presenting long and winding accompaniments to a surreal dreams—pretty in one tune, challenging and out there on the next. Birthday (Gotta Let It Out, 2017) is the band's first album. The follow-up—the disc in hand—is Graduation. The Polish-Danish-Italian trio—that ...
read moreCasper Nyvang Rask's "Slow Evolution Ensemble": Slow Evolution Ensemble
by Dan McClenaghan
Artists presenting their debut album usually draw heavily on their influences, and end up sounding like them, in a watered down way. Danish bassist Casper Nyvang Rask takes a different tangent, assembling his “Slow Evolution Ensemble"—five reeds, two drummers, and two double bass players—to create a unique and personal sound of an engaging avant-garde variety. On the personal side, three of the six original compositions explore the intricacies of Rask's experience of the stroke suffered by his father. ...
read moreNikita Rafaelov: Spirit of Gaia
by Dan McClenaghan
Russia-born pianist Nikita Rafaelov adopted Finland as his homeland, and music as his passion. He began with the classics at an early age before the inspirations of Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and John Coltrane came his way. His jazz recording debut on Copenhagen, Denmark's Gotta Let it Out Records, Spirit of Gaia, is described as: ..."a different kind of solo piano album." Rafaelov, not yet thirty years old at this writing, creates his art with an original voice, ...
read moreWilliam Parker: Lake of Light: Compositions for AquaSonics
by Hrayr Attarian
Bassist and composer William Parker is a tireless innovator whose entire oeuvre is filled with singular moments of brilliance and artistic exploration. However, Lake of Light: Compositions for AquaSonics is his boldest and most unique work to date. A variation on Richard Waters' waterphone, the aquasonic consists of tone rods and contains a small amount of water. When the rods are percussed or bowed, it produces an eerie, haunting sound. Drummer Jackson Krall custom-built Parker's own version of ...
read moreWilliam Parker: Lake of Light: Compositions for AquaSonics
by Dan McClenaghan
William Parker, who plays multiple instruments, is best known for his work as a jazz bassist, leaning to the avant-garde side of the spectrum, with albums including Stan's Hat Flapping in the Wind (Century, 2016) and the marvelous 2016 offering Meditation/Resurrection (AUM Fidelity). Always an adventurous soul--he began early in his career playing with pianist Cecil Taylor--Parker puts his bass down and flies further out with Lake of Light: Compositions for Aquasonics. “Aquasonics" are sounds created by the ...
read moreWilliam Parker: Lake of Light: Compositions for AquaSonics
by Jakob Baekgaard
William Parker is known as a bassist, composer, poet, writer, educator and philosopher, but all these words just cover one term: musician. This is important to understand one of the latest releases from the prolific Parker: the alluringly titled Lake of Light, with the subtitle Compositions for AquaSonics. A musician in Parker's sense is not just someone who plays an instrument, but it is a way of being in touch with life itself: the tone world. This tone world takes ...
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