Jazz Articles

like 569

Thelonious Monk / John Coltrane / Art Pepper / Dave Brubeck: Remastered Classics

by Chris May
May 17, 2010

An extension of the Original Jazz Classics series launched in 1982, the OJC Remasters strand applies the sonic benefits of modern remastering to albums in the OJC catalogue which were released on compact disc before 24-bit technology was available. On the first batch of Remasters, engineer Joe Tarantino's work adds new depth and presence to the original CD releases, producing a sound that all but diehard analogue loyalists will relish.

The first five discs, released in March 2010, are pianist ...

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The Golden Age Of Steam: Raspberry Tongue

by Bruce Lindsay
May 17, 2010

The musicians who combine to make The Golden Age Of Steam are part of an energetic and vibrant community of young British jazz players who work together in a seemingly endless series of collaborations and collectives. All three are already BBC Jazz Award winners--reed player James Allsopp and drummer Tim Giles winning the 2008 award for Innovation for their band Fraud and keyboard player Kit Downes gaining the 2008 Rising Star award. Raspberry Tongue is the debut album for the ...

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Take Five With Antoinette Montague

by AAJ Staff
May 17, 2010

Meet Antoinette Montague:Antoinette Montague likes to say she simply sings “people music." Make no mistake about it, she is a jazz singer through and through, but one who pushes the genre's boundaries. On her new recording, Behind the Smile, Montague sings classic jazz standards (new and old), resurrects lovely-but-obscure melodies, blends in blues and gospel through her vocal shadings, and puts entirely new jazz arrangements to material from other genres such as R&B, classic soul and pop.

Working ...

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Christmann / Gustafsson / Lovens: Tr!o

by Mark Corroto
May 17, 2010

The first meeting (and there have been many more since) of this trio is a cause for a celebration that asks: “What took you so long?" Recorded live in 1994, this stellar document should not have taken sixteen years to surface.

Wrong righted, it celebrates the introduction of Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson (then age 30) with two improvisers twenty years his elder: cellist/trombonist Gunter Christmann and percussionist Paul Lovens. Gustafsson had already collaborated on the first-rate discs Mouth ...

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The Britton Brothers: Uncertain Living

by Woodrow Wilkins
May 17, 2010

They're not the Brecker Brothers, and don't try to be. However, the comparison is inevitable as brothers John and Ben Britton lead a band playing the trumpet and tenor sax, respectively. The Brittons both started playing piano as children and learned to love jazz as teenagers. Combined, they've performed a variety of prestigious venues, including Lincoln Center and Telluride Jazz Festival, and have shared the stage with such artists as Frank Mantooth and Peter Erskine. For their debut ...

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Claudio Scolari: Colors Of Red Island

by Bruce Lindsay
May 16, 2010

Colors Of Red Island is a percussion-driven album--unsurprisingly, given that Claudio Scolari and his collaborator Daniele Cavalca are both drummers and percussionists of some considerable talent. Scolari and Cavalca are also talented composers, with a sophisticated ability to blend acoustic and electronic sounds in ways that emphasize the beauty of each and never risk the album becoming percussion-heavy. The result is a recording that contains funky, danceable rhythms, reflective soundscapes, and driving, up-tempo grooves. Scolari is an ...

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Justin Janer: Following Signs

by Dan Bilawsky
May 16, 2010

While people might want to pigeonhole alto saxophonist Justin Janer as a Latin jazz player, Following Signs paints him as a musician and composer with a broad outlook that goes past generic stylistic markers. Janer occupied the lead alto chair when percussionist Bobby Sanabria delivered the goods with the Manhattan School of Music's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra on Kenya Revisited Live!!! (Jazzheads Records, 2009). Janer's work on that project--ranging from explosive soloing to a more measured approach--resulted in his being named ...

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Brad Mehldau & Joshua Redman Live at The Flynn Center

by Doug Collette
May 16, 2010

Brad Mehldau & Joshua Redman Flynn Center for The Performing Arts Burlington, VT April 28, 2010

Brad Mehldau is such a commanding presence as a musician, he overshadowed saxophonist Joshua Redman virtually throughout the duo's ninety-minute performance on Vermont's Flynn Performing Arts Center MainStage on April 28th. The most intense moment of the ninety-minute set arose directly from the depth of passion and detail in the pianist's playing and while his counterpart rose to ...

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Justin Janer: Following Signs

by Mark Corroto
May 16, 2010

If jazz radio had a hit singles chart, then “Bright New Day" from alto saxophonist Justin Janer's debut album, Following Signs, would be climbing towards number one with a bullet. The infectious opening track, penned by Janer, is a honeyed melody that ladles mellowed bop over a gorgeous harmony. Janer's saxophone is braided with trumpet sensation Ambrose Akinmusire's horn to form music that is, indeed, infectiously easy on the ears.

This majestic session by the 25 year-old West ...

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Joonatan Rautio Trio: Commitment

by Chris Mosey
May 16, 2010

This is that exceedingly rare item: a Finnish jazz record intended for the wider world. Ever since 1926, when the SS Andania famously put into Helsinki harbor with its “hot" band, The Andania Yankees, jazz has been part of musical life in this small country on the outer fringes of Europe. However, local jazzers, it must be said, have failed to make much of a mark internationally. Why? Well, it must also be said that originality has ...