Jazz Articles

like 229

John Fedchock NY Sextet: Live at the Red Sea Jazz Festival

by Edward Blanco
May 7, 2010

Whenever another musical project from Grammy-nominated trombonist/arranger John Fedchock is announced, what most likely comes to mind is another large ensemble album with his renowned New York Big Band. Not so this time, as The John Fedchock NY Sextet presents its hard-driving recording debut, from a 2008 live performance at the Red Sea Jazz Festival held in the City of Eilat, Israel--described as an oasis in the southern Negev Desert located on the northern part of the Red Sea. After ...

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Brandon Wright: Boiling Point

by Gina Vodegel
May 7, 2010

Determining the order of tracks on an album can be as significant as gathering the right ensemble of musicians for a project. On both accounts, saxophonist Brandon Wright has succeeded very well on his debut, Boiling Point, for which he penned five of the eight compositions. The opening “Free Man" grabs hold at once, with the piano/bass/drums rhythm section paving the way, in just a few beats, for a strong melodic entrance by Wright and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin (Mingus Big ...

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Andrea Fultz: The German Projekt German Songs from the Twenties and Thirties

by Andrew Velez
May 7, 2010

Since its origins in the turbulent 1920s-'30s, and with the occasional exception of a vocalist-cum-chanteuse like Ute Lemper, the authoritative renditions by Marlene Dietrich and Lotte Lenya have pretty much held title to this music, which might be called the Great German Songbook. Which makes it all the more impressive that Munich-born Andrea Fultz, who has worked with a variety of bands with material ranging from American Songbook to electronica and bossa nova, makes so impressive an impact with this ...

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Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Volume 4: The Art History Project

by Jeff Stockton
May 7, 2010

In her liner notes to Volume IV of the Art History Project, Art Pepper's widow describes him as a self-hating, alcoholic sex addict who turned to heroin in order to suppress these tendencies. Second only to Charlie Parker in the DownBeat polls of the day, nobody played alto saxophone as smooth and cool as Art Pepper. Unreleased Art, a three-disc set comprised of two-thirds never-before released material, traces Pepper's life in music from his golden era in the '50s through ...

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Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra: Live at Jazz Standard

by Ken Dryden
May 7, 2010

Fred Hersch has amassed an impressive discography since his arrival on the jazz scene in the '70s. In addition to stints with Stan Getz, Art Farmer and Toots Thielemans, and numerous appearances as a sideman, the pianist has recorded over two dozen albums as a leader, co-leader or solo performer, as well as composing extensively. Hersch, who revealed his HIV-positive status as a gay man sometime ago, has also been active in AIDS education, though the past few years have ...

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Wallace Roney: If Only for One Night

by John Kelman
May 6, 2010

Wallace Roney's six-year association with HighNote--beginning with Prototype (2004), followed by Mystikal (2005), and culminating with Jazz (2007)--has allowed the trumpeter to amass a body of work far more indicative of where he's always wanted to be than his largely mainstream run with Muse in the early 1990s. If Only for One Night--culled from a four-night run at New York's Iridium--continues to paint a broader picture of an artist for whom the lifelong arc of Miles Davis remains an influence, ...

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Michele Giuliani: Widespread Roots

by Achille Brunazzi
May 6, 2010

Pianist Michele Giuliani--born in Baritone--is one of the emerging talents of the Italian jazz scene.

After years of constant experimentation--from progressive rock music to funk and jazz--the 34 year-old completed Roots (Zeitgeist, 2009), the sum total of all his musical experiences, named for the diversity of influences and cultures featured in Giuliani's music.

Giuliani was, at first, a self-educated musician, playing and taking lessons from different professional artists and learning about different geographical contexts like Ethiopia, Rome, Paris, ...

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Luis Munoz: Invisible

by Raul d'Gama Rose
May 6, 2010

Luis Munoz Invisible Pelin Music 2010

Keyboardist and percussionist Luis Muñoz thinks with an open palette of sound. His aural vision embraces a wide spectrum of color and tone texture, from the sophisticated rough and tumble of trance-like Afro-centric ritual music to the delightful swing of idiomatic phrases that spring from the joyous spirit of jazz. He also draws from habanera, calypso, tangos and rondos, and from European ecclesiastical music and the heartfelt emotion ...

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Ken Greves: The Face Of My Love

by Raul d'Gama Rose
May 6, 2010

On The Face of My Love, countertenor Ken Greves answers what could well be an eternal question: Why make another album about love? And he does so emphatically: Because there may be a more complete way to tackle its rainbow of moods and feelings. It is very possible that no one in recent memory has gotten into character to perform the role of lover with such majesty and fire as Greves plays out the myriad shades of sadness and joy ...

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The State of The Piano Trio 2010 (Pt.1): Helge Lien Trio and Trichotomy

by C. Michael Bailey
May 6, 2010

The piano trio is a durable and fertile format for musical expression. It is the jazz equivalent of classical chamber music--that is, music produced by a small number of instruments, small enough to be accommodated in close confines. While the piano trio can come in many flavors, the typical one is piano, bass and drums (aka the “rhythm section" in larger lineups).

If the piano trio format has an imagination, it has been ruled by Bill Evans since he recorded ...