Jazz Articles
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Ben Stapp: Uzmic Ro’Samg (Live Solo Tuba)
by Mark Corroto
A little-known historic fact: before subwoofers existed, Roman chariots were supposedly outfitted with tubas to supply the low- end rumble as they charged into battle against the Carthaginians. Modern proof of that kind of sonic power might be found in the music of Ben Stapp, whose tuba playing can shake the air as much as it can mesmerize the mind. Stapp's career has spanned a wide and exploratory range. His earlier recordings include Ecstasis (Uqbar Music, 2008) with ...
Continue ReadingPat Thomas: This is Trick Step
by Mark Corroto
Where to begin with the music of Pat Thomas? The London-born pianist began his journey in classical music before a televised performance by Oscar Peterson led him down the path of jazz and free improvisation. Over the past forty-plus years, Thomas has forged a singular voice in the avant-garde, contributing to groundbreaking ensembles such as the About Group, Black Top, the London Improvisers Orchestra, اسم (ism), and the critically acclaimed quartet أحمد (Ahmed) with Antonin Gerbal, Seymour Wright, and Joel ...
Continue ReadingPaul Dunmall New Quartet: World Without
by John Sharpe
Amid the torrent of recordings that mark British saxophone legend Paul Dunmall's prolific creative output, World Without might have slipped beneath the radar. Recorded in 2021, the album bypasses preambles entirely: no themes, no heads, just immediate immersion into two expansive studio explorations that unfold with the confidence of deep familiarity. Dunmall has long cultivated the art of intuitive interplay, and here he is joined by a unit that thrives on exactly that. Regular collaborators Irish bassist Dave ...
Continue ReadingStephen Davis Unit: The Gleaming World
by Ian Patterson
Belfast-based drummer-percussionist Stephen Davis' debut album for 577 Records takes its name from a line in a Seamus Heaney poem. The Irish Nobel laureate drew deeply on his rural surroundings, and, as these song titles suggest, so too has Davis. In late 2023, Davis spent time as a musician-in-residence at The Courthouse, Tinahely, in County Wicklow--an Improvised Music Company scheme that provides musicians with the support, time and space necessary to follow their artistic muse. Davis tapped into the natural ...
Continue ReadingBley School: Where?
by John Sharpe
Punningly recalling beloved British children's TV programme Play School, the name Bley School neatly encapsulates what is afoot on this album, representing an open-minded and irreverent fondness for tunes, especially those associated with the groundbreaking Canadian pianist Paul Bley. Responsible for this is the threesome of pianist Pat Thomas, bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Tony Orrell. Captured live at north London's Cafe Oto in 2022, Where? constitutes the band's second album following its eponymous 2019 debut also issued by Brooklyn's ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Carter / Adriano Camacho / Federico Ughi: Trabajadores De Energia
by John Sharpe
Jazz must be one of the most cosmopolitan art forms going. A case in point would be American multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter and Brooklyn-based Italian drummer Federico Ughi, the twin founders of NYC's esteemed 577 Records imprint, met with Mexican bassist Adriana Camacho in Italy in Spring 2023. The title of the resultant Trabajadores De Energia, “Power Workers" in English perhaps, might suggest a needle-in-the-red blow-out, but Carter does not lean that way anymore. After a tenure in such fire-breathing outfits ...
Continue ReadingLeo Genovese: Forward
by Mike Jurkovic
Even after who-knows-how-many-years and who-knows-how-many-piano players, it is still outright amazing how each player approaches his/her instrument. Each has their own history, memory and/or love affair that somehow needs telling. Recorded in 2024 at the New York Forward Festival in Brooklyn, Grammy winning ("Best Improvised Jazz Solo," 2023) pianist Leo Genovese--his passions on his sleeve--takes his bench. He begins as many do: on a dreamy hunt and peck. A note here, a note there, looking for the elusive ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Carter, Matthew Putman, Federico Ughi: Stream of a Dream
by Mike Jurkovic
Whether the listener accepts a certain definition of logistics as set in scriptural stone or they do not, does not really faze the the logics of saxophone colossus Daniel Carter, pianist Matthew Putman, and drummer Federico Ughi when they report to the stage and cavort with the muse. At the core of the whole 577 Records rogue legend and the beating heart of The Telepathic Band, Carter, Potter and Ughi have covered this territory before but not like ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Carter: Telepathic Mysteries, Vol. 2
by Mike Jurkovic
Do we ever run out of music? Do the fanboy and girl ever forget their first song? Do composers, and players of every stripe (though the court is out on most pop mavens and mistresses), ever come upon their very last note? Saxophonist, multi-reedist and free-jazz icon Daniel Carter certainly has not. And Telepathic Mysteries Vol. 2 may just be Carter's key witness. For more often than not, the rhizome-like symbiotic crusade that the album embarks upon is a music ...
Continue ReadingJohn Butcher / Pat Thomas / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble: Fathom
by John Sharpe
Finely judged sounds studded in space. Bursts of incipient rhythm. Wafts of fire music energy. Those are just some of the fruitful products of the British foursome of saxophonist John Butcher, pianist Pat Thomas, bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Steve Noble. A spider's web of alliances connects them, notably tangled given their time on the promiscuous UK free scene, so it is all the more surprising that Fathom documents their first meeting as a group, in north London's Cafe Oto ...
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