Jazz Articles
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Isrea Butler: Congo Lament
by Jack Bowers
After decades gigging as a sideman with some of the USA's most renowned big bands, trombonist Isrea Butler has finally recorded his debut album, Congo Lament, inviting tenor saxophonist and celebrated Count Basie Orchestra soloist Doug Lawrence to share the front line in his quintet. All but one of the album's seven numbers was introduced on tenor 0Ike Quebec's album Easy Living, recorded in 1962, which featured one of Florida-born Butler's musical exemplars, trombonist Bennie Green. The ...
Continue ReadingRachelle Ferrell, Kevin Mahogany, Christie Dashiell and More!
by Jua Howard
Welcome Music Family! It's time for another episode of the “First Instrument Jazz Show"! As usual, I've got a great show in store for you including music from Rachelle Ferrell, Kevin Mahogany, Christie Dashiell, Ernie Andrews, Kate McGarry, Benny Benack IIIand many more. Come get lost in the music with me!Playlist Intro 00:00 Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz Ensemble “On the Road to Find Out" from What to Wear in the Dark (Resilience Music Alliance) 2:39 Artemis “If ...
Continue ReadingImani-Grace Cooper and Her Vocal Art
by K. Shackelford
Imani-Grace Cooper is a vividly impressive vocal talent. Although she lends her voice to diverse musical genres, she has an ethereal execution of jazz that charmingly raises the eyebrow and puts a pleasurable smirk on her listener's face. Musicians dig her a lot. You can see them smiling when she's singing--she understands the idiom of jazz, inside and out, which rewards them with clever musical interplay. Several years ago, the Howard University graduate received praise from legendary artists ...
Continue ReadingBrad Shepik: Human Activity: Dream of the Possible
by Katchie Cartwright
Brad Shepik's Human Activity: Dream of the Possible, featuring Layale Chaker (violin), Amino Belyamani (piano), Sam Minaie (bass) and John Hadfield (drums), is the guitarist and multi-instrumentalist's second album to respond to climate change. Composed as a single 10-movement work, a “narrative of hope," it follows his Human Activity Suite: Sounding a Response to Climate Change (Songlines Recordings, 2007). Shepik's aim is broad: “to inspire people to take any action they can to preserve and adapt in a sustainable way ...
Continue ReadingTalking the Groove: Jazz Words from the Morning Star
by Duncan Heining
Talking the Groove: Jazz Words from the Morning Star Chris Searle (foreword by Mike Westbrook) 394 pages ISBN: #978-1-9163206-7-3 Jazz in Britain 2024 Talking the Groove collects Chris Searle's more recent reviews, articles and interviews from the British socialist daily paper, the Morning Star, acting as a follow-up to Red Groove from 2013. The sheer span of artists covered in this book is astonishing. From the U.S.A, older statespersons like Anthony Braxton, Archie ...
Continue ReadingZorn This Way, Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
Gems from the Book of Angels, Book of Heads, Song Project and more, in the second part of this tribute to John Zorn, the composer. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 David Krakauer, Kathleen Tagg “Parzial (Breath & Hammer Version)" Breath & Hammer (Table Pounding) 0:16 Host talks 6:14 PS3 Pietro Santangelo Trio “Tse'an" Clinamen (Emme) 8:16 Host talks 12:45 David Krakauer's Ancestral Groove “Tandal" Checkpoint ...
Continue ReadingIzumi Kimura / Barry Guy / Gerry Hemingway: Six Hands Open As One
by John Sharpe
Although dating back to at least Aesop's fables written in 500 BC, the saying that you can know someone by the company they keep remains as true as ever. While Irish-based Japanese pianist Izumi Kimura is the nominal leader, the egalitarian trio on Six Hands Open As One finds her in illustrious company. Bassist Barry Guy and drummer Gerry Hemingway have both led storied careers which defy concise summation, but Guy's affinity for the format is worth ...
Continue ReadingSidsel Endresen, Jan Bang, Erik Honoré: Punkt Live Remixes Vol.2
by Chris May
The person who ought to be reviewing this album is, of course, the longtime AAJ writer and editor John Kelman/Dave Binder. Dave attended Punkt festivals on behalf of AAJ from the mid 2000s to the late 2010s, when ill-health stopped him making the long-haul flights to Norway. He was fascinated by Punkt's live- remixes, reporting on them in detail on a daily basis during the festivals. Dave was probably the first North American-based jazz writer to latch on to the ...
Continue ReadingAt Monterey Jazz Festival 67, Jazz Gospel According to a New Head
by Josef Woodard
Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, CA September 27-29, 2024 Getting a semblance of a summarizing angle on a densely-programmed jazz festival, which the 67th Monterey Jazz Festival most certainly was, can be tricky business. The equation gets more complex with a festival geared towards covering many genre and sub-genre bases within the rubric of jazz. But to these ears, one of the strongest memories came near the very end of the weekend-long feast on the ...
Continue ReadingFlock: Flock II
by Chris May
Flock is composed of five of the most venturesome musicians in British jazz. Reeds and woodwind player Tamar Osborn, drummers and percussionists Bex Burch and Sarathy Korwar, and keyboard players Danalogue and Al MacSween. Separately and collaboratively, they have since the late 2010s given us landmark genre-crossing albums in bands including Emanative, The Comet Is Coming, Vula Viel, Collocutor, Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra, Upaj Collective and Kefaya. So the auguries look good for Flock's sophomore release, the ...
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