Jazz Articles
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Patty Ascher: Bossa, Jazz 'n' Samba
by Dan Bilawsky
In addition to serving as an album title, Bossa, Jazz 'n' Samba could also serve as the defining mantra for a good portion of the albums on the Zoho Music label. While that company has released a wide variety of discs, covering Afro-Cuban cookers (Arturo O'Farrill), rock-solid blues (Ike Turner), and updated takes on the tango tradition (Pablo Aslan and {{Pablo Ziegler), Brazilian music of all shapes and sizes also makes up a significant part of its catalog. One side ...
Continue Reading...Eldar Djangirov: Three Stories
by Matt Marshall
Since emerging on the worldwide jazz scene in 2004, pianist Eldar Djangirov has been touted for the classical skill he brings to standard jazz and original material alike. With Three Stories, Eldar attacks the classical repertoire itself, mixing a pair of Bach pieces, and one from Alexander Scriabin, with standards by the likes of Sammy Cahn, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and George Gershwin, plus a few originals. The three stories--classical, standards (or popular music--he also covers a Dave Matthews tune) ...
Continue Reading...Leslie Pintchik: We're Here To Listen
by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
Pianist Leslie Pintchik's Quartets (Ambient , 2007) featured two innovations on the piano trio format. On half the tracks, the basic trio of Pintchik, bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Mark Dodge, was joined by saxophonist Steve Wilson, and on the other half by percussionist Satoshi Takeishi. The saxophone being what it is, the Wilson tracks tended to stand out. But the Takeishi tracks have arguably held more lasting interest. This is, after all, the instrumentation chosen by Herbie Hancock on ...
Continue Reading...Mark Weinstein: Jazz Brasil
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Mark Weinstein has quietly established himself as one of the most wildly inventive flutists in modern memory. He is also one of the finest virtuoso players in the entire spectrum of 20th and 21st century music. His only rivals may well be the late Eric Dolphy, the Canadians, Jane Bunnett and Bill McBirnie, and, of course, the great James Galway. Weinstein is radically different from Dolphy, who imparted a speech-like quality to his flute, inspiring the mighty John Coltrane in ...
Continue Reading...Cuong Vu 4-Tet: Leaps of Faith
by Stephen Wood
Cuong Vu's Leaps of Faith is one of the most creative and thoughtful jazz recordings released so far this year, suggesting that jazz remains alive and thriving. Like the best of contemporary jazz, it's mixture of worlds is both atonal and melodic; free, but following form; complex, while also accessible. This record is rich in musical experiences, beginning with a free-flowing interpretation of the classic “Body and Soul," that drifts along on Vu's tender trumpet lines. Another ...
Continue Reading...Larry Fine: Larry Fine Meets Stuff Smith: Fine Stuff
by Ken Dryden
Larry Fine was often shown playing the violin in various The Three Stooges shorts, but what many fans don't realize is that he really played the instrument. Fortunately, he was also interested in jazz and an admirer of Stuff Smith. This long forgotten radio broadcast likely originated from a Hollywood club during one of the recording bans put in place by James J. Petrillo in the 1940s. It was so obscure that even Anthony Barnett, Stuff Smith discographer and owner ...
Continue Reading...Elton John & Lady Gaga: New Horizons
by Ken Dryden
With over 40 albums to his credit, numerous hit songs, and having co-written a successful Broadway musical, Elton John continues to sell out arenas in his fifth decade as a performer. Lady Gaga doesn't have his extensive résumé, but she has attracted a lot of attention with outrageous stunts and costumes as wild as some of those John donned earlier in his career. After a duo piano/vocal meeting at the Grammy Awards in 2010, the two musicians decided to get ...
Continue Reading...Max Wild: Tamba
by Chris M. Slawecki
Alto saxophonist Max Wild's Tamba, his ObliqSound debut, combines classic musical themes and devices from Zimbabwe and South Africa with illuminating arrangements and improvisations from contemporary jazz. “My connection to Zimbabwean music defines me. Once I stopped trying to sound like a 'jazz' musician and let my inspiration come out freely, I was able to let my diverse influences create something that was personal to me. My music," Wild once reflected. “It's up to the critics what they want to ...
Continue Reading...Teens Turn to Jazz As Popular Music Continues to Suck
by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
If you were one of the many surprised by Esperanza Spalding's upset of teen sensation Justin Bieber for Best New Artist at the most recent Grammy Awards, then you may be missing out on one of the most promising developments in Jazz since the advent of the Flapper. Turns out that modern teenagers, sick of cloying Auto-Tuned “singing" and repetitive “uhn-chik uhn-chik uhn-chik" dance rhythms, are increasingly turning to Jazz as a remedy to the bland, soulless pop they're being ...
Continue Reading...John Medeski, Mellotrons and A Mountain of Majoun
by Chris May
Club D'ElfElectric Moroccoland / So BelowFace Pelt Records2011 Boston-based Club D'Elf describes itself as a “Moroccan-dosed psychedelic dub and jazz collective." It is the sort of band that gives self-medication a good name, and it will reconfigure your synapses, in a good way, if you let it. Founded by bassist Mike Rivard in 1998, the group has a rolling line-up of jazz, avant rock and Moroccan trance players ...
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