Jazz Articles

like 438

John Hebert: Spiritual Lover

by Stuart Broomer
June 4, 2010

John Hébert's skills as a bassist have been amply apparent for several years, in projects that have called on rock-solid tone, time and pitch to imaginative free improvisation. But Byzantine Monkey (Clean Feed, 2009) demonstrated his substantial talents as a composer and bandleader, fronting a quintet/sextet dense in reeds and percussion. On Spiritual Lover he's taken a different tack, leading a trio with French pianist Benoît Delbecq (adding clavinet and analogue synth) and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Hébert ...

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Frank Kimbrough: Rumors

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
June 4, 2010

As a leader, pianist Frank Kimbrough's primary means of expression has been the trio format and a refined casualness permeates Rumors. Never harried, his ideas spill from the keys to be absorbed and distilled by bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Jeff Hirshfield. The trio's affinity is manifest in the broad communication heard within the music. They subtly ease into the slow-building opener, “Six," the only non-Kimbrough composition; he evinces a delicate touch that Kamaguchi responds to with ...

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Tim Sparks: Little Princess

by Elliott Simon
June 4, 2010

The Klezmer revival began in earnest in the '80s, when the repertoires of clarinetists Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras were rediscovered by a new generation of jazz, avant-garde and folk musicians. Instrumentalists, primarily violinists and clarinetists, tried to sound like these two giants while also integrating other more rhythmically complex musics. At one point the last thing anyone needed was another version of Brandwein's “Firn Di Mekhutonim Aheym." Finger-picking acoustic guitarist Tim Sparks comes at all this, ...

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Billy Childs at the Douglas Beach House

by Bill Leikam
June 4, 2010

Billy Childs Jazz Chamber EnsembleDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CAMay 2, 2010 The packed Douglas Beach House was a testament to the Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble's reputation, and moreover the performance confirmed that he and the band were well within the groove despite the group's not playing together for the preceding eight months. Childs brought with him what proprietor Pete Douglas called a band with a scary depth of talent. This afternoon on ...

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George Cotsirilos: Past Present

by Bruce Lindsay
June 3, 2010

Guitarist George Cotsirilos has nearly thirty years experience as a musician, working with acts as diverse as Etta James and Pharoah Sanders. He was also, with bassist Robb Fisher, a founding member of the San Francisco Nighthawks. Past Present is the second album from the Cotsirilos Trio, following On The Rebop (OA2 Records, 2005), and it's a graceful and sophisticated mix of standards and Cotsirilos originals. Cotsirilos' playing is characterized above all by its warmth. Coupled with ...

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Jeff Campbell Trio: A Declaration of Optimism

by Alexander M. Stern
June 3, 2010

Bassist Jeff Campbell's A Declaration of Optimism is a beautiful album with a lot to say, and manages to say it all in a very quiet way.

Beginning with the title track, Campbell's piano-less trio, also featuring tenor saxophonist John Wojciechowski = 15550}}, and drummer John Hollenbeck, establishes an intimate connection between the three instrumental voices. Appropriately, Campbell's voice is dominant, setting the tone on each track. Wojciechowski's ebullient tenor saxophone occupies the foreground, but it's always clear that Campbell ...

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Rob McConnell: Boss of Bosses

by Jack Bowers
June 3, 2010

Even though largely unknown to most of us south of the border, a number of world-class big bands have made their home in Canada over the years. For nearly three decades, however, there was one whose name and influence rose conspicuously above the others. That band was, of course, the incomparable Boss Brass, and the reason for its singular record of achievement can be summed up in two words: Rob McConnell. More than a superb composer, arranger and valve trombonist, ...

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Phil Woods / Stan Kenton / The Les Hooper Band

by Jack Bowers
June 3, 2010

Phil Woods / DePaul University Jazz Ensemble Solitude Jazzed Media 2010

Not to underplay the title, but Solitude, from alto saxophone master Phil Woods and the splendid DePaul University Jazz Ensemble, embodies far more than the sort of serenity it implies. In fact, Woods is as animated and inventive as ever, swinging lustily and full of vim and vigor at age 78, while director Bob Lark's enterprising undergrads urge him on with ...

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Erika: Obsession

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 3, 2010

Young vocalist Erika springs a surprise on herself with Obsession. Japanese by birth and schooled relatively recently in jazz, she is not only pitch-perfect while singing in English, but negotiates Brazilian charts in Portuguese with near perfect emotion (if not always perfect diction). The biggest surprise of all is the Japanese repertoire, with which she rounds off her wonderful album.

Using her voice as an instrument, Erika exudes a deep passion for song. She is able, therefore, to dive deep ...

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Wayne Brasel: If You Would Dance

by Edward Blanco
June 3, 2010

Jazz guitarist Wayne Brasel was born and bred in California, and while currently living in Europe--where he teaches at the University of Stavanger in Norway--the west coast rhythms that tug his heart strings are alive and well in If You Would Dance, a collection of warm and inviting original compositions of relaxing light jazz. Except for the beautiful acoustic work on the soft and lovely “Oleo De Mujer Con Sombrero," and the finale piece “The Hermit," Brasel prefers the electric ...