Jazz Articles
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Patricia Brennan: Breaking Stretch
by Dan McClenaghan
On her first two albums, vibraphonist Patricia Brennan worked with a quartet comprised of three percussion instruments, herself on vibes and marimba, joined by percussionist Mauricio Herrera and drummer Marcus Gilmore, with a bassist Kim Cass. Momentum in large part, is the name of the game. For Breaking Stretch she expands her musical universe, adding trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and saxophonists Mark Shim and Jon Irabagon. This proved a good move; her musical universe in this septet setting has an energy ...
Continue ReadingTracy Yang, Enrico Pieranunzi, Sarah Hanahan, Olli Ahvenlahti & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
The compelling debuts of Tracy Yang's Jazz Orchestra and Sarah Hanahan, the new albums of jazz piano veterans Enrico Pieranunzi and Olli Ahvenlahti are just some of the highlights of another edition of Mondo Jazz packed with new great releases.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Josh Lawrence “A Tragic Tango Comedy" Measured Response (Posi-Tone) 0:16 Host talks 5:12 Enrico Pieranunzi “B.Y.O.H. (Bring Your Own Heart)" Hindsight (CAM) 6:53 ...
Continue ReadingBob Brookmeyer: Live at Sandy’s
by Sam Sherry
What if a tree fell in the woods, and no-one heard? More to the point, what if, for one weekend, four Guys With Ties wrote the book about how play jazz that balances drive with subtlety, improvisational joy with compositional intelligence, self-awareness with musical wit--and what if the record was released on the You'll Never Hear About It label? Well, that happened this time. For better and for worse, decades later this disc still is news. It's an ...
Continue ReadingKolida Babo: Spirits Of Mauronoros
by Chris May
Here is some strange and magical music. A synthesis of global electro-acoustic modal jazz and the hermetic folk music of Epirus, a remote mountain region in northwestern Greece. It is played on traditional Balkan instruments--duduk and kaval double-reed woodwinds, qanun zither and gaida bagpipes--together with soprano and baritone saxophones and Moog, Roland and Farfisa synths and keyboards. The music is simultaneously ancient and modern, roots and futuristic. Generis does not come more sui than this. Kolida Babo ...
Continue ReadingUmbria Jazz Festival 2024
by Giulia Bianchi
Umbria Jazz FestivalVarious VenuePerugia, Italy July 14-20, 2024 Nestled in the picturesque city of Perugia, Umbria Jazz has become renowned for showcasing extraordinary talent and musicianship. For more than 50 years, the festival has preserved its vibrant spirit and tradition of hosting historic performances by some of jazz's most iconic figures, such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman, to name just a handful. The 51st edition of ...
Continue ReadingDorothy Ashby: Afro-Harping Deluxe Edition
by Chris May
There are certain instruments that struggled for attention in the years when the jazz ecology was an overwhelmingly male preserve--or rather, when many men perceived jazz to be a male preserve, and a heterosexual, alpha male one at that. Exhibit A, the flute, was described by one leading male alto saxophonist, a near contemporary of Charlie Parker who passed in the 2010s, as “a faggot instrument." He was not alone in his opinion. Exhibit B, the harp, was, and continues ...
Continue ReadingPhil Schaap: Talking Technology and More
by Marshall D Katzman
This article was transcribed from a March 21, 2021 interview on the Mister Radio Podcast . Marshall Katzman: You're listening to Mister Radio, and I'm your host, Marshall. Today's guest has won six Grammy Awards and eight Grammy nominations, including an award for Best Album Notes for Bird, the complete Charlie Parker on Verve. Frank Foster has called him a walking jazz history book. Early in his career, he managed the Basie alumni band, The Countsmen, and for ...
Continue ReadingEyal Vilner Big Band: Swingin' Uptown
by Jack Bowers
Even though he was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, composer, saxophonist and educator Eyal Vilner is well-versed in the origins and history of American jazz, especially as they pertain to the Swing Era, big bands and the largely black jazz experience in Harlem and elsewhere. Those interests converge on Swingin' Uptown, on which Vilner's excellent big band swings its way through sixteen impressive charts, several of which were inspired by Harlem's remarkble jazz narrative. Besides ...
Continue ReadingRufus Cappadocia, Sheila Anozier, Hermeto Pascoal, Søren Skov & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Mondo Jazz #300! To celebrate this milestone, a playlist featuring the global sounds which Mondo Jazz listeners have come to expect. Here's to 300 more episodes!Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Tranpe “Lan Gran Chimen" Twa Fey, Twa Rasin (Self-produced) 0:16 Host talks 3:39 Søren Skov Orbit “Naration" Adrift (Frederiksberg) 5:37 Host talks 11:18 Melinda Sullivan, Larry Goldings “Sin Zapatos" Big Foot (Colorfield) 13:40 Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo ...
Continue ReadingOve Volquartz, Claude Parle, Makoto Sato, Yoko Miura: Chasing the Wild Goose
by John Eyles
The quartet of German saxophonist and clarinetist Ove Volquartz, French accordion player Claude Parle, Paris-based Japanese drummer Makoto Satoand Japanese pianist and melodica player Yoko Miura is not long-standing even though there were connections between members before the foursome formed. Parle and Sato had both been members of the Linda Sharrock Network which recorded They Begin To Speak and Live, Vol. 1: Bab-llo (both Improving Beings, 2016) as well as being members of Le Grand Fou Band which recorded Au ...
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