Jazz Articles
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Jazz: An Origin Story
by Karl Ackermann
In 2020, I published A Map of Jazz: Crossroads of Music and Human Rights (WS Publishing), a book that looks at the culture of jazz on a timeline with cultures of the world. At more than 500 pages, the book is incomplete by necessity; there is no well-marked path, and the history is sometimes nebulous. However, as a map and as jazz music, it leads to unfamiliar places. The series Backstories will dive deeper into people and places along the ...
Continue ReadingFelipe Senna & Câmaranóva: Overture
by Katchie Cartwright
Felipe Senna's expansive oeuvre defies genre, encompassing popular, classical, jazz, folkloric, abstract and narrative elements. Music, as he put it, “needs no excuses to thrill and move us...that's why I believe genre and style are not an end--they're just tools with which we take music to wherever we want it to go." Overture is the second release by the composer and pianist's Câmaranóva, a superb chamber orchestra that aims to expand the repertoire and audience for music of ...
Continue ReadingRichard Bona: Exploring Roots, Freedom, and Global Sounds
by Steven Roby
Richard Bona, the Grammy-winning bassist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist affectionately known as “The African Sting," brings his unparalleled artistry to Yoshi's in Oakland this January. With his Asante Trio--featuring Cuban pianist Jesus Pupo and drummer Ludwig Afonso--Bona promises an Afro-Cuban musical feast. But his Yoshi's performances are only the beginning of an exciting year, packed with a new single, a European tour, and his ongoing advocacy for independent artists. In this week's Backstage Bay Area podcast, host Steven Roby sat down ...
Continue ReadingBley School: Where?
by John Sharpe
Punningly recalling beloved British children's TV programme Play School, the name Bley School neatly encapsulates what is afoot on this album, representing an open-minded and irreverent fondness for tunes, especially those associated with the groundbreaking Canadian pianist Paul Bley. Responsible for this is the threesome of pianist Pat Thomas, bassist Dominic Lash and drummer Tony Orrell. Captured live at north London's Cafe Oto in 2022, Where? constitutes the band's second album following its eponymous 2019 debut also issued by Brooklyn's ...
Continue ReadingEmily Remler, Asher Gamedze, Marco Ullstein, Sliders & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy this playlist featuring a recently discovered live performance by Emily Remler, a live re-imagining of the music of The Headhunters, a trio of trombonists, the Sliders, two emerging vibraphonists, Simon Moullier and Marco Ullstein, as well as the socially engaged compelling music of Asher Gamedze.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Mama Terra “Chameleon" Chameleons: Live Interpretations of Herbie Hancock (Acid Jazz) 0:16 Host talks 3:01 Marco Ullstein ...
Continue ReadingRay Russell, Cecil Taylor, And More
by Bob Osborne
Featured albums are recent re-releases of albums from Ray Russell, capturing late '60s UK jazz at its' best, and Cecil Taylor with two live performances from 1987 which are unique and memorable. In between a selection of newer releases from around the wide World of Jazz.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 The Steve Sandberg Trio “Karma Yoga" from Live At Soapbox Gallery (Self Released) 00:29 Enrique Peña “Mimin" from Laberinto (ears&eyes) 06:57 The Ray Russell Quartet “Spontaneous Event" from The ...
Continue ReadingVicente Archer: 150 Albums, Grammys And An Unrelenting Pursuit of Music
by K. Shackelford
An instrument created in the 1500s, the acoustic bass has become a medium of harmonic and rhythmic sonority for bassist Vicente Archer. Over the past 30 years, he has bellowed out numerous melodic and harmonic narratives through the colossal instrument--gracing each improvisational moment with imagination and curation of timbre. Elicited by top names in music, Archer finds himself on approximately 150 albums, and 15 as the sole bassist to date. Even with these massive accomplishments, when ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Lackner: Spindrift
by Jack Kenny
Benjamin Lackner has a vision and his album is a coherent statement of his ideas: a radical statement of lyricism, gentleness, restraint and understatement. It was a long-time dream. For some time, Benjamin Lackner has had a wish to record with ECM. In an interview, he outlined his attempts to produce music that would impress ECM's Manfred Eicher. Benny Lackner became Benjamin. He experimented with different formats, eventually achieving his ambition with Last Decade (2022), his first album ...
Continue ReadingLibero Farnè's Best Jazz Albums Of 2024
by Libero Farnè
The list I have compiled does not follow any order of preference. The albums are organized alphabetically by artist. In my opinion, every album on this list is of great interest. I decided to include a few U.S. albums, though I had to leave out many other deserving ones, as well as three Italian albums that I believe deserve greater international recognition. Gato Barbieri Standards Lost and Found 1 Red Records
Continue ReadingKris Davis: Run the Gauntlet
by John Sharpe
While Kris Davis hews close to the hallowed piano trio format on Run The Gauntlet, her first return to the set-up since Waiting For You To Grow (Clean Feed, 2014), she inevitably gives it a few intriguing twists. By recruiting bassist Robert Hurst, alumni of Tony Williams, Steve Coleman and Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and drummer Johnathan Blake, a Blue Note leader also to be heard with Kenny Barron, Ravi Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, she ensures a driving beat which ...
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