Jazz Articles
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Camille Bertault Quintet at the Jazz Forum
by Scott Lichtman
Camille Bertault Quintet The Jazz Forum Tarrytown, NY January 11, 2025 How do you tell the difference between a rising star and a demonstrable phenomenon in the world of jazz vocalists? French-born Camille Bertault has proven her depth as a chanteuse, vocal innovator and composer with five albums to her name, touring Europe, Latin America and beyond, and picking up a coveted Victoires du Jazz award for best French vocalist 2023. As most of ...
Continue ReadingRoberto Magris: Freedom Is Peace
by Edward Blanco
In 1998 international recording artist Roberto Magris formed a quintet of talented European musicians and called them his Europlane band which performed actively throughout Europe until 2003. More than twenty years later, the pianist assembles a new Europlane group and presents their first recording with Freedom is Peace, a powerful and captivating session of jazz with a soul-searching social conscious message reflective of the turbulent times we live in today and affirming that jazz can be a political statement which ...
Continue ReadingThe Heavy Hitters: That's What's Up!
by Pierre Giroux
Mike LeDonne and Eric Alexander head up a band called Heavy Hitters, which features a stellar cast of New York's jazz elite, including trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Kenny Washington. They have released That's What's Up!, a live recording from Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver, British Columbia in December 2023 that captures the authenticity, spontaneity, and emotive power of a band firing on all cylinders. The set list is an artful blend of ...
Continue ReadingJamie Baum: Redefining Jazz with Poetry and Global Sounds
by Steven Roby
When Jamie Baum steps onto the stage, flute in hand, she transforms into a storyteller, weaving melodies and rhythms that feel like a conversation with the world. Her latest album, What Times Are These, is more than music; it's an exploration of poetry, culture, and the human condition. As a guest on the Backstage Bay Area podcast, Baum shared her creative process, career highlights, and the upcoming performances that have jazz fans buzzing.Baum is no stranger to the ...
Continue ReadingWorks—The Brooklyn Trio Finding Freedom in Space
by Lawrence Peryer
"I want to play music with these guys right now!" pianist Daniel Kelly exclaims midway through discussing Scouring for the Elements (Connection Works Records, 2024), the album from Brooklyn trio Works. Works is Kelly, flutist Michel Gentile, and drummer Rob Garcia and Scouring for the Elements is only their second recording in seventeen years. In that time, they have been plenty busy, Works is a vibrant working outfit, with over 250 concerts through their nonprofit Connection Works, collaborations ...
Continue ReadingSullivan Fortner Trio at Blues Alley
by Robert Bellafiore
Sullivan Fortner Trio Blues Alley Washington, DC January 14, 2025 There are two sides to pianist Sullivan Fortner's playing, at least. There's Fortner the neo-traditionalist, bringing stride piano into the 21st century and taking more inspiration from old giants like Willie “The Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson than, say, Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett. So far, his discography as a leader has tended to showcase the elegance and whimsy of Fortner No. 1--for example, ...
Continue ReadingBill Evans: Explorations
by Richard J Salvucci
It is not easy to review a masterpiece. The celebrated American intellectual historian Perry Miller was once reduced to muttering something like “What am I supposed to say about the damn thing?" The damn thing in question being Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Professor Miller, meet pianist Bill Evans. Trying to say something intelligent about Bill Evans after so much has been written and said in the now nearly fifty years after his death defines a Fool's Errand. So why ...
Continue ReadingThe Verge: The Verge
by Glenn Astarita
The Verge, a Scandinavian jazz-rock band from Norway, has carved a distinct niche with its self-titled debut album. Featuring Emil Storløkken Åse on guitar, Aksel Rønning on saxophone and flute, Alf Høines on bass guitar, and Ingvald André Vassbø on drums, this quartet delivers a compelling fusion of fiery jazz improvisation and rock influences that demands attention. The album commences with “Nessesse," a track that bursts through the speakers with a galloping beat and psychedelic tones. It creates ...
Continue ReadingZakir Hussain, Billy Mohler & Random Pickin’s
by Maurice Hogue
This is the second 3-hour holiday joint with music selected from newer releases back to some archival stuff and lots in between. Sampled new releases include music from bassist Billy Mohler and a new quartet featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, Italy's BSDE 4Tet, Finnish pianist Joona Toivanen's trio, and some archival music from Minneapolis/Los Angeles bassist and radio host Richard Paske. There's also a humble tribute to the recently passed tabla master and huge musical influence, Zakir Hussain. I've had the ...
Continue ReadingLarge Ensemble Releases By Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra and Allison Miller & One O'Clock Lab Band
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra and Allison Miller & One O'Clock Lab Band, with birthday shoutouts to Ingrid Jensen, Mina Agossi, Christine Tobin, Michelle Walker, Sandy Denny (Who Knows Where The Time Goes), and Georgia Mancio, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, provoke, inspire and remind the world that A Woman's Place Is In the Groove.
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