Jazz Articles
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Andrew Hill Sextet Plus Ten: A Beautiful Day, Revisited
by Dan McClenaghan
The heyday of pianist Andrew Hill (1931-2007) happened during his hang with Blue Note Records, where he released ten albums between 1963 and 1970, including 1964's Black Fire, a splendid quartet session featuring saxophonist Joe Henderson; 1964's Point Of Departure), that featured a freewheeling sextet that included Henderson, multiple reedist Eric Dolphy and trumpeter Kenny Dorham; to Passing Ships (1969), with an exuberant multi-horn group that included trumpeter Woody Shaw, trombonist Julian Priester and flutist Joe Farrell. For those with ...
Continue ReadingThe Blues According To Rory Block
by C. Michael Bailey
Being a household name depends as much on the household as it does the name. Not all reading this will know who Rory Block is, but in the households with fans of the rural blues, slide guitar and innovative women in music, to not know would be criminal. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Block grew up in Manhattan where her father had Allan Block's Sandal Shop on Positively 4th Street in Greenwich Village. Block grew up hanging out ...
Continue ReadingMike Chillingworth: Friday The Thirteenth
by Neil Duggan
London-based saxophonist and composer Mike Chillingworth is a frequent performer in many group formats in the UK and internationally. He has a distinctive and original style and is frequently found in the company of other like-minded musicians who like to expand boundaries and push through perceived barriers. The inspiration behind the album came in a strange way. Devoted educator Chillingworth was traveling with 50 teenagers on a multi- day bus tour (perhaps not an experience he would like ...
Continue ReadingJan Hammer, Mark Lettieri, Jeff Berlin, Paolo Vinaccia and Aurora Clara
by Len Davis
Jan Hammer, Mark Lettieri, bassist Jeff Berlin, and Hungarian guitarist Mike Gotthard. The late drummer Paolo Vinaccia, Indonesian drummer Dimas Pradipta, and Scottish drummer Graham Costello. Italian band Electric Arc with violinist Carlo Cantini and Spanish band Aurora Clara. Playlist Jan Hammer “April" from Seasons PT 1 (Red Gate) 00:00 Mark Lettieri “Magnetar" from Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol 2 (Leopard) Time Marker Jeff Berlin “Joe Frazier Round 3" from Joe Frazier Round 3 (JBMGl) Time Marker Mike ...
Continue ReadingPedro Molina: À Procura
by Glenn Astarita
Pedro Molina's debut album, À Procura (translated as “In Search Of"), is a captivating odyssey through his refined musical vision. Released in 2024 under the Carimbo Porta-Jazz label, the album not only displays Molina's formidable bass guitar prowess but also his proficient skill as a composer and bandleader. Originally hailing from Murcia, Spain and now based in Porto, Portugal, Molina has long been a fixture in the jazz scene as a double bassist. However, À Procura marks a ...
Continue ReadingCharlie Parker, Jim Self, Quincy Jones & John Fedchock
by Joe Dimino
Welcome to the 876th episode of Neon Jazz, where we kick things off in style with legendary trombonist John Fedchock live from Indianapolis. We start with his rendition of “Say When," a tribute to the iconic J.J. Johnson, celebrating what would have been the trombone master's 100th birthday. From there, we dive into fresh Charlie Parker material, captured live in Kansas City. Next, we turn to a seasoned veteran of the KC jazz scene, Frank Smith, with selections from his ...
Continue ReadingEric Jacobson: Heading Home
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Wisconsin trumpeter, composer-arranger, educator and author Eric Jacobson and his team deliver Heading Home, his third album as leader. Offering eight Jacobson originals played by Chicago heavyweights and a New Yorker guest, all Jacobson regulars, the album, a hard bop retrospective, is arguably--if not definitively--the trumpeter's finest outing to date. “Survival" opens in a speedball frenzy with trumpet and tenor, the classic hard bop front line configuration, stating the melody before saxophonist Geof Bradfield blisters off, soloing ...
Continue ReadingLonnie Davis: Lighting Up Charlotte with Jazz
by K. Shackelford
In the '90s, fierce jazz curator, flutist, and educator Lonnie Davis found herself as the only female in The University of New Orleans jazz program. Prior to that, she studied under jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis while a high school student at the highly selective and musically rigorous New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. The brilliant music program would matriculate a coterie of modern jazz greats such as Terrence Blanchard, Jon Batiste, Wynton and Branford Marsalis and Christian Scott. (Think about ...
Continue ReadingMarcos Valle: Túnel Acústico
by Katchie Cartwright
In Túnel Acústico (Acoustic Tunnel), Marcos Valle digs back into the late 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule and he was living in California, working with the likes of Sarah Vaughan and such fellow Brazilian expats as Eumir Deodato and Airto Moreira. Valle grew up in Rio de Janeiro, part of a second generation of bossa nova musicians who had to invent their way through a difficult political climate. He traveled to the US for a tour with Sergio ...
Continue ReadingShawn Mativetsky: A Tabla Adventure Through Temporal Waves
by Lawrence Peryer
The renowned Canadian percussionist, tabla player, and educator discusses his lifelong embrace of Indian musical traditions and the fusion with synthesized textures that inspires his project Temporal Waves (People Places Records). ...
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