Jazz Articles
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Sheryl Bailey: For All Those Living
by Nic Jones
In the past, guitarist Sheryl Bailey has been an embodiment of versatility through her work with bassist Richard Bona, and with David Krakauer's klezmer ensemble. She now has another strain of music in her bag with this program of straight-ahead jazz guitar. Both Pat Martino and Wes Montgomery can be cited as reference points for this outing, but the fact remains that Bailey brings her own not inconsiderable character to bear. The featured quartet is Bailey's current working group, and ...
Continue Reading...George Stone / Fred Hess Big Band / Jamie Begian Big Band
by Jack Bowers
George StoneThe Real DealSelf Published2010 Every once in a while the stars align, the wheel of fortune spins precisely and listeners are the happy recipients of a big band album that is remarkably engaging and spectacular from start to finish; in other words, The Real Deal. This is one of those unique and memorable occasions, one in which leader George Stone has not only recruited a squadron of superlative sidemen (and ...
Continue Reading...Walter Beltrami: Paroxysmal Postural Vertigo
by Jerry D'Souza
Guitarist Walter Beltrami has good reason for calling this CD Paroxysmal Postural Vertigo. It's a disorder that emanates in the inner ear and results in a spinning sensation caused by changes in body posture. For him, it lasted six months and disappeared as suddenly as it came. Beltrami wrote many of the compositions on this record during that time. Whatever the causative factors, Beltrami's compositions are creative nuggets. He is not immune to drawing from several genres and ...
Continue Reading...Amy Briggs: Tangos for Piano
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Revisiting the tango can be one of the most daunting tasks for any musician performing and recording in music today. But that hardly seems to be the case for Amy Briggs, pianist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW ensemble. Briggs has an enviable reputation as one of the leading interpreters of living composers and has done significant work with composers such as Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, (who also worked with Wynton Marsalis), to name just of the many with whom ...
Continue Reading...Thomas Marriott: Constraints & Liberations
by Greg Simmons
Listening to Thomas Marriott's Constraints & Liberations, two things are abundantly clear: Marriott spent some serious time studying Miles Davis' second great quintet; and, his own voice on trumpet is developed well enough to make it sound like a strong, easily recognizable influence, but not plagiarism. Naturally, favorable comparison to the one of the greatest standing outfits in the history of jazz is intended as a compliment. The record has a moderate, ocean wave-like pace, but with ...
Continue Reading...Human Element: Human Element
by Ian Patterson
The supergroup sobriquet that label Abstract Logix has placed on Human Element is quite a billing to live up to, but keyboardist Scott Kinsey, bassist Matt Garrison, percussionist/vocalist Arto Tunçboyaciyan and drummer Gary Novak pool their individual talents and rise spectacularly to the challenge. Years of collective experience in the bands of keyboardists Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and guitarists John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth have doubtless shaped the musical vision of these four virtuosos of modern fusion. The ...
Continue Reading...Piirpauke: Espoo, Finland, April 27, 2011
by Anthony Shaw
PiirpaukeApril JazzEspoo FinlandApril 27, 2011 The first official evening of the annual spring festival in this distinctly first-rate suburb of Helsinki featured the principal imported star Bobby McFerrin and his VOCAbuLarieS show in the tented arena, while in the formal Tapiola Cultural Center, Piirpauke's much rougher concoction of global music was on display. Piirpauke is renowned, at least in Scandinavia, for having pioneered the integration of non-European musical traditions into a thoroughly western art ...
Continue Reading...Avery Sharpe: Running Man
by Bruce Lindsay
Avery Sharpe has an extensive history as a bandleader, a composer and a first-call bassist with musicians such as Yusef Lateef, and Pat Metheny. He was also McCoy Tyner's bassist for almost 20 years. No surprise, then, that Running Man is a rhythmically strong album of straight-ahead jazz tunes. The bassist's compositions move from funky, upbeat, tunes to gently lyrical ballads. Craig Handy's saxophone playing is key to the changing moods. “Running Man," dedicated to athlete Jesse ...
Continue Reading...Allman Brothers Band: The Beacon Theater, New York, March 2011
by C. Michael Bailey
The Allman Brothers Band The Beacon Theater, New York, March 2011Munckmix2011 The past number of years Phish and Gov't Mule have both made it a point to perform classic rock albums in their entirety during their respective Halloween concerts. Last year saw Phish covering Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus (Warner Bros., 1978) and Gov't Mule covering The Who's Who's Next (Polydor, 1971). From the perspective of nostalgic late-baby-boomers, these are nice ...
Continue Reading...George Benson: Beyond The Blue Horizon
by Dan Bilawsky
George Benson has worn many hats throughout his career, from jazz-pop vocal star to soulful six-stringer, but his guitar god persona is probably exhibited best by Beyond The Blue Horizon (CTI, 1971). This album arrived five full years before Benson's popularity would explode with Breezin' (Warner Bros., 1976), and it presents this powerful instrumental presence in a no-nonsense, small group setting. Benson worked briefly with the great Miles Davis, as a guest on Miles In The Sky ...
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