Jazz Articles

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Jazzhus Montmartre: The Legend Continues

by Jakob Baekgaard
May 13, 2010

To jazz listeners around the world, the word “Montmartre" has a very special meaning. It is a word that conjures an image, not of French cafés and bohemian painters, as one might expect, but of an intimate little jazz venue in the middle of Copenhagen which once attracted some of the very best jazz musicians in the world. This was the place that became the second home of Brew Moore, Ben Webster, Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Drew, ...

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Dhafer Youssef: Abu Nawas Rhapsody

by John Kelman
May 12, 2010

After two albums exploring the nexus of ages-old Middle Eastern harmony and modernistic electronics, Tunisian-born oudist/vocalist Dhafer Youssef turns to a stripped-down, completely acoustic environs for Abu Nawas Rhapsody. Despite leaving Oslo behind--where, on Digital Prophecy (Enja, 2003) and Divine Shadows (Jazzland, 2006), he collaborated with some of Norway's more intrepid musicians including guitarist Eivind Aarset, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft and trumpeter Arve Henriksen begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting--the Vienna-based Youssef remains associated with the Norwegian scene through his release of the disc on Wesseltoft's ...

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Wadada Leo Smith: A Vital Life Force

by Lyn Horton
May 12, 2010

“To teach and create and not expect or demand anything in return."--Wadada Leo Smith, quoted in an article printed in The Houston Chronicle, November 4, 2006

On the nine-by-eleven inch cover of the February, 2010, issue of Wire magazine is a full-page photo of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Only the upper half of his body is pictured. He is wearing a dark blue, nearly black, Mandarin collar jacket, which stands out against the dimly lit, grey stucco wall that acts ...

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Alper Yilmaz: Over The Clouds

by Mark F. Turner
May 12, 2010

If Alper Yilmaz's 2007 debut Clashes (Kayique Records) was a precursor, then his sophomore release Over The Clouds solidifies the Turkish-born bassist as a force to be reckoned with. With an electric bass as his axe of choice, he delivers muscularity and ingenuity in the vein of the great Jaco Pastorius and present day players like Matthew Garrison with timing, improvisation, and elasticity that allows his band the freedom to explore. His progressive compositions are elevated by ...

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Wadada Leo Smith: Spirit Catcher

by Clifford Allen
May 12, 2010

Wadada Leo Smith Spirit Catcher Nessa Records 2009

Certainly, composition in jazz has gone well beyond head arrangements that bracket solos and group playing--sometimes approaching areas that sound so open as to seem free-form. Multi-instrumentalist, trumpeter and composer Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is one of a number of figures in this music whose work has long sought to explore and expand the blurred lines between composition and improvisation; one of the structural/notational ...

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Sarah Manning: Dandelion Clock

by Bruce Lindsay
May 12, 2010

The cover of Dandelion Clock, Sarah Manning's third album as leader, shows the saxophonist in soft focus, lying on a bed of fallen autumn leaves and lightly cradling her alto. It's standard smooth jazz cover art--but appearances can be deceptive, for Manning is one of the hardest-blowing and intense of musicians while her talents as a composer result in some fine original tunes. Manning's distinctively hard-edged, even aggressive, tone dominates this album from the opening bars of ...

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Bare Bones Improvisation: A Challenge Rewarded

by Mark Corroto
May 12, 2010

Mood, ambiance and atmosphere are the basic building blocks of music making. Taken at its essence, music is made up of these three components. In generating sound--especially experimental, improvised sound--getting to the essence is a major victory for musicians. And, although it may appeal only to the adventurous listener, there is an importance to bare bones improvising that bears witnessing.

Christian Pruvost Ipteravox Circum-Disc 2009

French trumpeter Christian ...

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Brad Mehldau: Highway Rider

by Karl Ackermann
May 12, 2010

As a classically trained teen, Brad Mehldau was introduced to the music of Keith Jarrett setting him on the road to jazz. He did not abandon the classical genre and those influences were powerfully present in his first solo release Elegiac Cycle (1999). He has since written pieces for the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France and Carnegie Hall commissions for Anne Sofie von Otter and Renée Fleming respectively. Highway Rider is a two disc showcase of Mehldau's growth as both a composer ...

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Brandon Wright: Boiling Point

by Woodrow Wilkins
May 12, 2010

It's never a bad thing when an artist emerges with a collection of more original music than remakes of standards. And when the covers are unique arrangements, or of songs not copied ad nauseam, so much the better, as is the case with saxophonist Brandon Wright's Boiling Point. Wright, originally from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, leads his own quartet in the New York City area. He has played with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Chico O'Farrill Latin Big ...

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Jean-Michel Pilc: True Story

by Joel Roberts
May 12, 2010

Paris-born pianist Jean-Michel Pilc continues his impressive series of Dreyfus Jazz releases with True Story, his first album since 2006's New Dreams and the debut effort for his exciting new trio featuring respected veteran drummer Billy Hart and talented Russian-born bassist Boris Kozlov. The 49-year-old Pilc, a resident of New York for the past 15 years, is a self-taught musician whose varied experience includes playing with masters like Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker and Dave Liebman, among many others, as well ...