Jazz Articles
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Mitch Towne: Refuge
by Kyle Simpler
After organ trios came to prominence during the 1950s, jazz groove has never been the same. Performers like Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and most notably Jimmy Smith introduced a new level of soul to jazz music. With Refuge, organist Mitch Towne makes a compelling debut as a leader, adding his name to a who's who of groovemakers. Towne's work as a sideman gives him the ethos to warrant serious attention. His resume includes work with everyone ...
Continue ReadingDeborah Silver: Deborah Silver with the Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks!
by Jack Bowers
Basie Rocks! A great idea? One best left on the cutting-room floor? Or perhaps a little of both? There are reasonable arguments to be made on all sides of the equation. On the one hand, this is the one and only Count Basie Orchestra, swinging in its own exceptional way. On the other, the orchestra has joined forces on every number with Mississippi-bred pop-rock singer Deborah Silver, the latest in a series of acclaimed guest vocalists that includes Ella Fitzgerald, ...
Continue ReadingOmar Thomas, Mark Masters, Billy Strayhorn
by David Brown
This week showcases large band music from composer/arrangers Omar Thomas, Gerry Mulligan and Maria Schneider. Bandleader Mark Masters is next with a pair of new albums. With Sam Rivers 100, Masters honors the centenary of the avant-garde jazz pioneer, while on Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance! Masters explores the music of spiritual jazz legend Billy Harper. Bird themes will follow with the David Murray Quartet's new release Birdy Serenade and Rahsaan Roland Kirk 's classic “Serenade to Cuckoo." Next is a ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins: Song Unconditional
by Mark Corroto
Heraclitus once said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." That may be true for most of us, but it does not quite apply to the music of pianist Alexander Hawkins. Despite navigating many musical rivers--trios, quartets, large ensembles, and collaborations with visionaries like Nicole Mitchell, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton and Louis Moholo-Moholo --Hawkins remains unmistakably himself. His identity as an artist holds steady, even as ...
Continue ReadingMusic From Jarrett, Perelman, Bloom, Salles, & More
by Bob Osborne
On this show live music from Keith Jarrett, who recently reached his 80th year, plus a treasure trove of Ivo Perelman, both old and new recordings, also a selection of brand new releases.Playlist Keith Jarrett “New Vienna Part IV" from New Vienna (ECM) 00:00 Shamek Farrah “Umoja Suite" from First Impressions (Strata East/Mack Avenue) 05:30 Jane Ira Bloom “Cry Without An Alphabet" from Songs In Space (Outline) 12:39 Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris “Wee Hours" from Blue (Leo Records) ...
Continue ReadingFreedom Art Quartet, Tyreek McDole, Noah Haidu, Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap and more
by Benjamin Boddie
Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Freedom Art Quartet, Peter Anderson & Will Anderson, Mike Thompson, Tyreek McDole, Noah Haidu, Marcello Carelli, Ron Rieder, Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap, Isaiah J.Thompson V., Joe Kennedy, Eric Scott Reed, Danny Grissett, Dave Bass, Ben Sidran, Dena DeRose, Gabriel Latchin Trio, Reid Hoyson, Diva Jazz Orchestra, Carrie Jackson, Cyrus Chestnut, CCCN Jazz Orchestra & Hendrik Meurkens, Entre Amigos, Jennifer Lee, Marina Pacowski, Naama, Kristina Koller, and more. Playlist Freedom Art ...
Continue ReadingChapter Three: The Uncle and the Ghost
by Alan Bryson
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 The back room of Dirk's record shop had become more than just a place for Django to occasionally crash; it was a sanctuary, a classroom, and the crucible where his new musical identity was being forged. Stacks of LPs formed precarious towers ...
Continue ReadingLucian Ban: Following Bartók's Trail Through the Transylvanian Villages
by Dean Nardi
It is hard to re-invent where jazz can go. Players can eschew all the conventional methods they want, but a wheel is still a wheel. This is a reason why pianist Lucian Ban's efforts to bring to light the Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist Bela Bartók's works as a field collector of folk music in 21st-century terms are so important and riveting. Ban expands on these recordings, which were stored on notebooks and wax cylinders, with ancillary writings and photos ...
Continue ReadingPeter & Will Anderson: The Best of Berlin
by Jack Bowers
Brothers Peter and Will Anderson's latest album, The Best of Berlin, has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with memorable music. The Berlin referenced here has a forename, Irving, a Berlin who happens to be one of the foremost writers of popular songs in the 20th century. Using skillfulness and style, the Anderson brothers breathe new life into a baker's dozen of Berlin's radiant and indelible songs, renovating one superlative theme after another. Not ...
Continue ReadingThe Counterfictionals: An Incomplete Encyclopedia of Gentle Emotions
by Geno Thackara
Any hardcore film buff will tell you that plot is not really what is important--or as the estimable critic Roger Ebert often said, the thing is “not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it." This is a lesson Kristoffer Rosing-Schow and The Counterfictionals have indeed taken to heart. Their pieces are mostly modeled after inspirations from the world of cinema, but those specific sources are only jumping-off spots. The point of each piece is not which ...
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