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Marion Brown: Three For Shepp To Gesprachsfetzen Revisited
by Chris May
"It is often those we hear the least that we should listen to the most." So wrote the Guadeloupean pianist Jonathan Jurion on the release of his album Le Temps Fou: The Music Of Marion Brown (Komos, 2019). Just why Marion Brown has become such a rarely acknowledged figure is unclear. He possessed all the qualifications needed to go large plus a few extras for good measure. He was a good-looking man. He dressed well (telling Dave ...
read moreGiusto Chamber Orchestra: 3 Works For Strings
by Glenn Astarita
Nikolaus Gerszewski's journey in music is characterized by a deep engagement with the fundamentals of sound and silence, often drawing on minimalist aesthetics to create compositions that challenge and expand the listener's perception of time and space within music. His approach to composition frequently involves the deconstruction of traditional harmonic and melodic development, instead favoring processes that highlight repetition, texture and the physical properties of sound. 3 Works for Strings as performed by the Giusto Chamber Orchestra offers ...
read moreCharles Mingus: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus To Pre Bird Revisited
by Chris May
In his liner notes for Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus To Pre Bird Revisited, Bill Shoemaker sets out the context in which the two featured albums should be considered. He observes that so enormous was Charles Mingus' artistic vision that no two (or perhaps three) albums can encompass its totality. How true that is, even of the pairing of two Mingus albums that are as different as could be: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid, 1960) and Pre Bird (Mercury, ...
read moreChristoph Gallio, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders: Live at Café Oto London
by John Eyles
Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio has been playing with the trio DAY & TAXI for over three decades during which time he has been the only ever-present member, and the trio has released twelve albums. Early in July 2022, Gallio arrived in jny: London at the beginning of a six-month sabbatical stay at the London Atelier of the Kanton Aargau. This was not a new experience as he had previously stayed in the Berlin Atelier, in 2009, and in the Buenos ...
read moreBill Evans: The Legendary Trio At Birdland 1960 Revisited
by Glenn Astarita
Bill Evans' The Legendary Trio at Birdland 1960 is a seminal recording that captures a fleeting moment of jazz brilliance, immortalizing the profound synergy of Evans with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. Recorded live at the iconic Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, this album is a vivid snapshot of a group at the peak of its creative powers, navigating the complexities of jazz standards and original compositions with unparalleled grace and fluidity. The trio's ...
read moreBill Evans: The Legendary Trio At Birdland 1960 Revisited
by John Eyles
Keen-eyed Bill Evans aficionados will know that this album is the pianist's third in the Revisited series by ezz-thetics, following At The Village Vanguard 1961 Revisited and the double-CD Duos with Jim Hall & Trios '64 & '65 Revisited, both released in 2023. The Legendary Trio" refers to the threesome of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, the same group that recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961. The Legendary Trio was brought to a tragic end ten ...
read moreSatoko Inoue: Presents Jo Kondo's Works For Piano 2015-2020
by Chris May
Jo Kondo is a composer unto himself, but for ready reference he can be filed in the proximity of John Cage and Morton Feldman, both of whom he got to know in 1978 in New York while in the city on a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Satoko Inoue is a concert pianist specializing in modern music. Presents Jo Kondo's Works For Piano 2015-2020 is her second album of Kondo's music for the ezz-thetics label, following Presents Jo Kondo's New ...
read moreSimon Lucaciu Trio: STRG+X
by Glenn Astarita
Simon Lucaciu's German-based trio's STRG + X is an enthralling odyssey through the realms of modern jazz. Moreover, it is a testament to the trio's collective virtuosity, offering a dissimilar yet cohesive musical landscape which captivates the senses. They challenge the norm with a distinct and compelling approach to conventional or free-form piano trio. Otherwise, the cryptic album title refers to a computer keyboard cut-and-paste sequence.From the start, the album commands attention, with its opening track umrisS" with ...
read moreAlan Shorter: Mephistopholes To Orgasm Revisited
by Chris May
It is often said of a musician, be they alive or no longer with us, that they deserve to be better known. This is emphatically true of the wayward trumpeter and composer Alan Shorter, who was overshadowed during his lifetime by his brother, Wayne Shorter, and who continues to be passed over today in 2024. Some responsibility for his obscurity lies with Alan Shorter himself. Known as Doc Strange to his teenage schoolmates in Newark, New Jersey, ...
read moreSergio Armaroli & Evan Parker: Dialog
by John Eyles
In 2022, Italian-born vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and British-born saxophonist Evan Parker were scheduled to tour Italy together, and go into a recording studio together to record a set of freely improvised music in real time. However, the plan fell apart because Parker became unable to leave Britain (maybe for Covid-related reasons?) Although Parker cancelled the tour and the recording session, Armaroli was keen to consider alternatives. At the time, technology did not allow musicians in distant locations to record together ...
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