Jazz Articles

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Brandon Wright: Boiling Point

by C. Michael Bailey
April 24, 2010

The first thing conspicuous about Brandon Wright's recording Boiling Point is his rhythm section, composed of pianist David Kikoski, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Matt Wilson. A second curiosity is exactly who this precocious young saxophonist is to have such a rhythm section. Wright, the 2009 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer award recipient originally from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, was educated at the Universities of Michigan and Miami, and of late, a member of or appeared in the Maria Schneider ...

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The Nels Cline Singers: Initiate

by Mark Corroto
April 24, 2010

The release of the Nels Cline Singers 2-disc Initiate, a two hour-and-fifteen minute behemoth of sound, calls to mind a similar effort of 30 years ago, entitled Sandinista! (Epic, 1980) by the influential punk band turned prophets, The Clash. Like Mick Jones and Joe Strummer's 3-LP project, Cline's vision is too big to be encapsulated into a single genre or sound-byte blurb.

The guitarist Nels Cline, now famous as 'the sound' behind the rock band Wilco, was a ...

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Brilliant Corners

by Wayne Wolfson
April 24, 2010

The last words of his hero still echoed in his ear but they brought no inspiration as there was a fear he had misinterpreted them. I met myself ten years from now on the Rue Grand Augustin. He did not have the patience to answer questions that he thought unimportant. Rolling his eyes at me; yes, I still hated throwing a hat away no matter how worn out it was. Looking at his watch he cut ...

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Jim Gailloreto: American Complex

by Hrayr Attarian
April 24, 2010

Chamber jazz or third stream--or whatever the amalgamation of western classical music and jazz is called--has had a handful of talented proponents sprinkled throughout the history of music. They have ranged from the more structured compositions of Igor Stravinsky to the looser improvisations of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Soprano saxophonist Jim Gailloreto has recently joined the ranks of these musicians. On American Complex, Gailloreto is in the company of a traditional string quartet, a guitarist on one ...

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Emma Larsson: Let It Go

by C. Michael Bailey
April 23, 2010

Among the many sub-genres of jazz, none is more congested than that of female vocalists. So clotted is this particular marketplace that it is almost impossible to separate the signal (exceptional releases) from the noise (everything else). There are precious few ways for an artist to set herself apart from the merely good vocalists as a truly great one. Standards collections are no vehicle. Anyone and everyone can release a disc of standards. Only the very best singers can draw ...

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Susie Ibarra: Drum Sketches

by Karl Ackermann
April 23, 2010

When some of jazz music's more adventurous drummers want to showcase their talents, they usually do so in tandem with another player who, ideally, has enough brand equity to generate collateral interest. Solo percussion recordings rarely generate a queue on release--in large part due to the absence of melody and the almost ubiquitous presence of discordant beating, white noise and/or industrial clatter. It is not that the less traditional sounds don't create a narrative, but that the narrative is not ...

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Marian Anderson Award Gala Honors Bill Cosby with Jazz and More

by Victor L. Schermer
April 23, 2010

11th Annual Marian Anderson Award GalaBill Cosby, Honoree Kimmel Center for the Performing ArtsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaApril 6, 2010 The Marian Anderson Award is given each year to a personage who has used his or her “talents for personal artistic expression coupled with a deep commitment to the betterment of society." No one deserves such an award more than this year's recipient, Bill Cosby, whose comedy scenarios and TV programs have themselves communicated a message ...

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John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension: To The One

by Ian Patterson
April 23, 2010

John McLaughlin and The 4th Dimension To The One Abstract Logix 2010 It's seems like a while since John McLaughlin recorded in such a stripped down context with a working band. Recordings such as Industrial Zen(Verve, 2006) and Floating Point (Abstract Logix, 2008) found the English guitarist in rich compositional form and displaying outstanding chops, but neither project led to the formation of a live band. McLaughlin has been ...

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Mark Weinstein: Timbasa

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 23, 2010

It would seem that there is no stopping flutist, Mark Weinstein. While the composer and instrumentalist extraordinaire may not have trumped his awe-inspiring expedition into the realm of improvisation, Tales From The Earth (Ota Records, 2009) his album, Timbasa has certainly turned out to be an alchemist's dream. Who would ever have imagined that Miles Davis' languorous performance of “Milestones" could be regenerated as an extravagant and masterful Afro-Cuban adventure? And yet, between percussion colorist, Pedrito Martinez and Weinstein that ...

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Little Women: Throat

by Nic Jones
April 23, 2010

Little Women spans the divide between the primitive and the sophisticated in a manner that's true of so few. For this, its second release, it's useful to offer pointers such as Albert Ayler and Peter Brotzmann (whose “Machine Gun" is particularly pertinent in terms of sonic assault), but they serve merely to place what this quartet does. This is, in short, statically visceral music with an agenda of its own.

In view of the band's assertion that this is a ...