Jazz Articles
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Felipe Salles: Camera Obscura
by Katchie Cartwright
"I've been wanting to do a project like this for decades," Amherst-based Brazilian composer and multi-reedist Felipe Salles writes of Camera Obscura. The album combines jazz and classical quartets in a program of original music inspired by a phenomenon that has intrigued artists and thinkers worldwide since the Stone Age. A camera obscura is created when light passes through a pinhole into a dark chamber, projecting an upside-down-and-backwards image onto an inside wall. In translating this visual circumstance into a ...
Continue ReadingThe Song Poetry of Torhild Ostad and Kazzrie Jaxen
by Jakob Baekgaard
While many singers interpret songs, few elevate them into song poetry--a fusion of lyricism and phrasing that transcends genre. This rare quality emerges when voice, words, and musical interplay coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. It is a phenomenon found in the recent albums by Norwegian vocalist Torhild Ostad and pianist-singer Kazzrie Jaxen, each supported by bassists who intuitively tune into the emotional and structural nuances of the music. Torhild Ostad / Carsten ...
Continue ReadingKathy Sanborn: Romance Language
by Richard J Salvucci
Over 60 years ago, the original television series, The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling, CBS, 1959-64), had an unusually memorable episode. Called “Passage for a Trumpet," it featured Jack Klugman, alcoholic, down on his luck and suicidal. A trumpet player named Joey Crown uttered the memorable line, “This horn is half my language." OK. No spoiler. It is a spectacular performance, and now Kathy Sanborn has, in a way, produced an album based on it. The player for the episode was ...
Continue ReadingInterpreting the Lennon/McCartney Songbook, Part 3: Sgt. Pepper
by Larry Slater
It's really no surprise that the tunes from The Beatles still attract jazz musicians, much as the music of Gershwin, Kern or Cole Porter does. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club was a defining musical moment of the 1960s. Released in 1967, the album is one of a kind and included songs that have appealed to jazz artists: “She's Leaving Home," “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds," “With A Little Help From My Friends" and “A Day In The Life." Featured ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Hill, Ralph Burns, Joe Henderson
by David Brown
In the set I'd like to remember jazz pianist/composer Andrew Hill who was born 94 years ago on June 30, 1931. Hill's music defied categorization for over four decades with its enigmatic and sophisticated musical style. Tracks include two Hill works, a cover by drummer Chad Taylor and a collaboration with pianist Jason Moran. New releases will follow from Julian Shore, Amina Claudine Myers, Eric Reed, James Brandon Lewis, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer and Tessa Souter. Then, some ...
Continue ReadingSomething Blue: In The Beginning
by Michael Ambrosino
Jazz is powered by many things. Perhaps most notably, the expansive variety of independent record labels representing some of the more inspiring aspirations of the idiom. Reflecting the grit, passion and often sheer audacity to exist within an industry that makes little room for jazz, independent labels have established an expanse of music that exemplifies the very essence of the art form. For the past 30 years, Posi-Tone Records has championed this independent spirit, shining a light on a rich ...
Continue ReadingThe Plaintive Sigh of a Sonic Doppelgänger: Why are Minor Chords Perceived as “Sad”? Part 3
by Kurt Ellenberger
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sad Song Survey Why Minor Chords and Minor Keys are Sad: Meet the Sonic Phantoms in the EtherTo begin our investigation into the hidden cause of our peculiar perception of minor chords and keys, we will listen to a trombone quartet playing a C minor chord. We might describe the sound as “rich" or “full" or some other adjective, but what exactly is it rich with or full of? ...
Continue ReadingSeveral Worthwhile Releases from the Last Few Months
by Jerome Wilson
Despite what is said about physical media going away, a steady supply of new jazz releases keeps showing up every week. Here are some worthy if underappreciated albums from the first half of 2025. Tobias Meinhart Sonic River Self Produced 2025 “Sonic River" is a good description for what German-born saxophonist Tobias Meinhart and his band do here. Their music flows easily like a river, sweeping folk and classical influences along ...
Continue ReadingTim Boniface: Psalter: Themes for Peace
by Neil Duggan
Tim Boniface is a jazz saxophonist and composer. He is also an ordained priest in the Church of England and Chaplain at Girton College, University of Cambridge. As Artistic Director of Girton Jazz, his work involves organising concerts and workshops at the college. In addition, he leads his own ensembles and collaborates with many renowned jazz musicians on the UK scene. Psalter: Themes For Peace bridges the worlds of jazz and deep spirituality in an unexpectedly accessible way. ...
Continue ReadingMisha Mengelberg / Sabu Toyozumi: The Analects Of Confucius
by Mark Corroto
Come for the music of Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, and stay for Sabu Toyozumi. Or perhaps you are here for the Japanese drummer--the first non-American invited into the ranks of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM)--and are thrilled to hear him engage in a distinctly Japanese take on the New Dutch Swing. Either way, The Analects of Confucius, a newly unearthed gem from NoBusiness Records, offers a compelling document of creative improvisation at its finest.
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