Jazz Articles
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Mark Masters Ensemble: Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!
by Jack Bowers
In 2023-24, the celebrated arranger Mark Masters led his superb southern California-based ensemble into studios to record a pair of tribute albums. The first, Sam Rivers 100, was dedicated to the music of the late saxophonist on the one hundredth anniversary of his birth; the second, Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!, to that of another renowned saxophonist, Billy Harper, who is not only very much alive at age eighty-two but serves as guest soloist on both recordings. Unlike ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra: Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (Sun Ra)
by John Sharpe
Discoveries of lost tapes are often trumpeted as legendary or revelatory, but in the case of the greatly expanded Nuits De La Fondation Maeght, the hype feels entirely warranted. The release offers a comprehensive view of a pivotal moment in Sun Ra's career. In 1970, Sun Ra was invited to play at the prestigious private museum, Fondation Maeght, in southern France. The event was part of a concert series that starred other icons of the jazz avant-garde, ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli Quintet: Follow A Very Heavy Person
by Mark Corroto
Time, as a concept, transforms into an endless playground in the hands of Sergio Armaroli. In Follow A Very Heavy Person, the quintet expands upon the foundations laid in Introducing A Very Heavy Person, delving deeper into the sonic and philosophical dimensions of John Cage and Kenneth Patchen's 1942 experimental radio play, The City Wears A Slouch Hat. Emerging from the same recording session, this second volume extends and reinvents its predecessor's exploration of simultaneity, improvisation and the ephemeral nature ...
Continue ReadingClaire Cope: Orchestrating Stories Of Brave Women
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, the Spotlight shines On British composer Claire Cope.Claire crafts music that combines the freedom of jazz with the precision of classical music, drawing inspiration from women whose stories are often overlooked in history books.Claire's new album Every Journey (Adhyâropa Records, 2025), dropped in March to coincide with International Women's Day. On it, she expanded her original septet to an 11-piece band, giving her more colors to paint with as she tells stories of female explorers ...
Continue ReadingLucia Cadotsch, Michala Østergaard-Nielsen, Andreas Schaerer, Patrick Zimmerli & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Modern-day sonic storytelling in a playlist characterized by tunes with a strong narrative trait.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Jim Funnell's Word Out “Asteroid B612" New Dream (Funnelljazz) 0:16 Host talks 6:23 Patrick Zimmerli “60 Morningside" Songs of Innocence (Emergence) 7:50 Host talks 14:09 Lucia Cadotsch “In the Zone" Does It Make You Love Your Life? (Heartcore) 16:01 Andreas Schaerer “Mr. More" Anthem For No Man's Land (ACT) ...
Continue ReadingHead Chart
by Mike Jurkovic
As rain falls on Gethsemane angels on the highway crew fix the roads in heaven Sing acapella big band Head chart Blue Trane Hoist a shot head for home Headlong into the headwinds Sans the dismal river The smoke dust sky The steady indictment of time ...
Continue ReadingMatthias Van den Brande: Fields of Color
by Artur Moral
A non-harmonic quartet raises unexpected questions Can an essentially orthodox musical effort accurately reflect the most unconventional art? Is a concept album more attractive than others, simply by being one? Can a written review meaningfully convey insights about a score inspired by the creations of painter Mark Rothko, whose canvases, in turn, were conceived to express the intense sensations that poetry and classical music, particularly Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, stirred in him? Indeed, we face a disc that provokes a multitude ...
Continue ReadingThe Jazz West Coast Style of Music: An Introduction
by Steven Cerra
I know it's hard to imagine with today's governmental overreach telling people what cars to drive, what bathrooms to use, and the highest personal, property and commercial taxes of any state in the nation, but California in the 1950s was a place of opportunities and possibilities. It's why my dad relocated the family from New England in the closing years of that decade and as a budding Jazz musician, I took full advantage of it. But ...
Continue ReadingShai Maestro At Barcelona El Molino
by Artur Moral
Shai Maestro El Molino Barcelona, Spain May 16, 2025 The Barcelöna Concert?The intense crimson decor of El Molino, once a café-concert hall devoted to revue and cabaret, now a splendidly renovated space dedicated to all genres of music--with a special emphasis on contemporary jazz--hosted a special night with Shai Maestro. This marked his first concert in Barcelona following the release of his latest solo piano album, Solo: Miniatures & Tales (Naïve, 2025), after settling in ...
Continue ReadingNils Kugelmann Trio: Life Score
by Neil Duggan
Life Score is the second album from the Nils Kugelmann Trio, following on from Stormy Beauty (ACT Music, 2022). That album (reviewed here) gestated during the pandemic, so there was little chance to test the pieces before going into the studio. This time around the tunes have been arranged and refined over numerous live appearances. Kugelmann is a German bassist with a strong storytelling aspect to his music, as he explains: “For me, making the connection between music ...
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