Jazz Articles
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David Sneider: Introducing David Sneider
by Jack Bowers
What better way to introduce young trumpeter David Sneider than with one of his half-dozen buoyant new compositions, “Marvelous-Lee," the opening number on Sneider's congenial debut recording. That delightful salute to fellow trumpeter Lee Morgan also introduces one of Sneider's two front-line partners, tenor saxophonist Jacob Chung, and the ensemble's able rhythm section: pianist Tyler Henderson, bassist Joey Ranieri and drummer Willie Bowman. Sneider, who placed first in the 2021 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition, is ...
Continue ReadingGrant Stewart: Next Spring
by Pierre Giroux
Grant Stewart's Next Spring reaffirms his position as a leading figure in the current mainstream jazz scene. With his strong tone and deeply swinging phrasing, Stewart again channels the legacies of Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, and Joe Henderson, yet his voice remains distinctly his own. Recorded at the iconic Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and supported by his longtime collaborators pianist Tardo Hammer, bassist Paul Sikivie, and drummer Phil Stewart, he crafts a set that feels both fresh ...
Continue ReadingGrant Stewart: Next Spring
by Jack Bowers
There aren't many jazz saxophonists who can hold the floor and the listener's ear through an entire album without ever sounding banal or redundant. Here is one who can. Next Spring is renowned tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart's fifth recording for Cory Weeds' Cellar Music Group, and if it includes any moments that are less than engaging, they are all but impossible to discern. Stewart's personal ingredient is consistency, an ability to conceive and convey fresh ideas in ...
Continue ReadingJames Danderfer: If Not Now
by Pierre Giroux
Clarinetist James Danderfer's If Not Now showcases warmth and craftsmanship. It is the kind of album that affirms jazz's enduring ability to blend tradition with personal expression. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Englewood Cliffs studio on November 4, 2024, the album features a select group including Steve Davis on trombone, Cory Weeds on tenor saxophone, Atley King on vibraphone, Miki Yamanaka on piano, Tyrone Allen II on bass, and drummer Kush Abadey. All nine compositions are by Danderfer, forming ...
Continue ReadingBrandon Suarez: Introducing
by Pierre Giroux
Tenor saxophonist Brandon Suarez's Introducing showcases his vision of blending timeless elegance with youthful vitality. Inspired by jazz legends such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Suarez approaches the Great American Songbook as both a guardian and a creative interpreter. His aim was to craft a classic vocal jazz atmosphere, full of warmth and immediacy, supported by the tenor saxophone and complemented by an energetic young rhythm section featuring pianist Tyler Henderson, ...
Continue ReadingChris Smith: Jazz Grunge
by Jack Bowers
"Grunge," according to Webster's, denotes “one that [who] is grungy." As for “grungy," the word meets one of several definitions, none of them flattering: dirty, filthy, stained, nasty, muddy, smudged...you get the idea. “Grunge" also has a second meaning: “rock music incorporating elements of punk rock and heavy metal," which is the one that New York City-based drummer and educator Chris Smith has singled out for replay on his debut recording, Jazz Grunge. While that may seem ...
Continue ReadingJerry Weldon: The Summit
by Jack Bowers
"Keep it swinging." That is the concise credo of veteran tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon who talks the talk and walks the walk on this galvanic concert date recorded in November 2024 at the New Brunswick (New Jersey) Performing Arts Center. The Summit is the name Weldon has bestowed on his able-bodied sextet, which he formed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-22. The ensemble is in splendid form here, sprinting breezily through a pair of ...
Continue ReadingMike LeDonne's Groover Quartet: Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor
by Pierre Giroux
For over twenty-five years, Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet has been a shining example of consistency and authenticity in the organ-jazz scene. The latest double-disc release, Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor, captures the group at two different moments in time: 2024 at the Sidedoor Jazz Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and 2004 at Vancouver's Cellar Jazz Club. These two recordings offer an intriguing glimpse into a band that has never aimed to reinvent itself, only to refine its sound, ...
Continue ReadingJamile with Miki Yamanaka and her trio plus Steve Wilson: Pursuit of a Pulse
by Katchie Cartwright
Jamile Staevie Ayres, who goes professionally by her first name, was born and raised in Cachoeira do Sul, a midsize city located a couple of hours from Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, and the heart of its gaúcho culture. Growing up, she gravitated toward música popular brasileira (MPB) and Black popular music of the US. Gal Costa and Aretha Franklin were her two big vocal heroines. She took her undergraduate degree in Brazil ...
Continue ReadingRin Seo: City Suite
by Jack Bowers
There is no doubting which metropolis Korean-born composer Rin Seo had in mind when writing City Suite, the panoramic opening salvo and centerpiece on the debut recording by her fourteen-member Rin Seo Collective, as the suite's first movement is titled “The Big Apple." Seo moved to New York City, her present home, after coming to America to study jazz performance and composition at Boston's Berklee College of Music. The suite's three movements are thematic, and Seo's portrayal ...
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