Jazz Articles
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Stefano Tanzi: Wrong Together
by Konstantin N. Rega
Stefano Tanzi is an up-and-coming Italian guitarist with a knack for smooth playing. His debut as leader, Wrong Together, is essentially a tribute to jazz legend Steve Swallow, but it also communicates so much more. With the assistance of Emanuele di Teodoro on bass and Fabio Colella on drums, the trio works with sleek skill. The music is gentle, the tunes are delicate, and yet the sound does not slip away unnoticed. Tanzi moves with grace but remembers to give ...
Continue ReadingAltin Sencalar: Unleashed
by C. Andrew Hovan
Often overshadowed by other solo instruments, the trombone boasts a rich history in jazz--one so vast it could fill volumes. New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, also gave rise to Kid Ory, a pioneer of the “tailgate" style of trombone playing. In the early 1900s, bandleaders often promoted their shows by parading through town on horse-drawn wagons. Trombonists, needing space to extend their instrument's slide, would sit at the back on the open tailgate, projecting their bold, brassy sound into ...
Continue ReadingHunter Noack: Grand Piano & Grander Landscapes
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, the Spotlight shines On naturalist and classical pianist Hunter Noack. Redefining what a concert hall can be, Hunter Noack hauls a nine-foot Steinway grand piano to mountaintops, forests, and beaches for his series “In a Landscape: Classical Music in the Wild." Hunter grew up in Central Oregon, where his love for music and nature took root. His concert series gives audiences wireless headphones and encourages them to wander through stunning settings while the music plays. ...
Continue ReadingEmil Brandqvist Trio: Poems For Travellers
by Neil Duggan
With over 50 million streams across global digital platforms, the Emil Brandqvist Trio has established itself as one of the most compelling trios in Europe. The Scandinavian band's previous release, Layers of Life (Skip Records, 2023), demonstrated the trio's rising international appeal, securing the No. 2 position on the German jazz charts and setting the stage for their follow-up, Poems for Travellers. This is the trio's seventh album, and throughout their journey, the line-up has remained unchanged, occasionally ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner Legends Piacenza Jazz Fest 2025
by Danilo Codazzi
A collection of photos from the McCoy Tyner Legends “A musical tribute to the legacy of McCoy Tyner" concert at Piacenza Jazz Fest 2025 in Piacenza on April 12, 2025 featuring Avery Sharpe, Azar Lawrence, Chico Freeman, Antonio Faraò and Yoron Israel. ...
Continue ReadingCharles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts
by Pierre Giroux
The Charles Mingus ensemble that arrived in Argentina in 1977 for the Buenos Aires concerts remains one of the lesser-known yet musically potent groups in the bassist-composer's storied history. These concerts are now presented in this first authorized release as a 2-CD set under the title Mingus In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts, offered in a deluxe package that includes detailed notes from Mingus biographer Brian Priestley, recollections from the concerts by Argentinian writer Claudio Parisi, and new interviews with ...
Continue ReadingJason Moran at The Apollo Theater
by Paul Reynolds
Jason Moran Apollo Theater “Ellington in Focus" New York, NY April 11, 2025 The works of jazz's greatest composer, played brilliantly by a current master, alone at a concert grand piano. Jason Moran's solo tribute to Duke Ellington last Friday could have triumphed on any stage or in any context. “Ellington in Focus" gained special resonance, though, with the presence at the event of two other cultural touchstones. Looming over Moran as ...
Continue ReadingHow Two Stars Revived Their Careers at Concord Records
by Joan Merrill
From 1996 to 2002 I produced 15 shows--mostly on vocalists--or NPR's Jazz Profiles. I was fortunate to have as subjects two legendary vocalists--Ernestine Anderson and Rosemary Clooney--both of whom I interviewed in their homes in Seattle and Beverly Hills. In learning about their lives, I was struck by how they had seemed to be following similar paths. They were both born in 1928 and left home in their teens to tour with big bands. Both became hugely popular ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Herskedal: Movements of Air
by Geno Thackara
Quick--when you think of instruments that sound airy, what comes to mind? Piccolo, mandolin, some kind of synthesizer or possibly the theremin? Most of us would take quite some time before guessing the tuba. It takes some imagination to look past its conventional low lines and thumps, but Daniel Herskedal is just that kind of thinker. Even if the tuba's role in jazz commonly involves features or solos, it is rare to hear any player handle it with such gentleness ...
Continue ReadingLucy Southern: Lucy Southern
by Dan McClenaghan
California-born Lucy Southern, now based in France, is on a jazz journey that took her to Poland for the Seifert Competition. A wee-hours party ensued, a good time that rolled to the break of day. At one point, Southern and Michal Urbaniak, the Polish violinist, convened one-on-one to talk music. Urbaniak told Southern that he liked it when people just played, with no pretense of B.S. involved. He said that Southern was one of those 'just play' musicians and that ...
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