Jazz Articles

like 320

David Binney: Aliso

by Dan Bilawsky
April 13, 2010

Finding musical parallels to David Binney's work is not always an easy task. As a composer, he has managed to create a distinctive sound, yet no single quality can properly define his work. Binney wears his influences on his sleeve throughout Aliso, choosing to touch on the work of Wayne Shorter, Sam Rivers, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, but his own writing for this album is often markedly different from the works of these icons. Melodic twists ...

like 214

Rale Micic: 3

by Jerry D'Souza
April 13, 2010

Guitarist Rale Micic, who was born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, moved to the United States after receiving a scholarship from the Berklee College of Music. He later made New York his base. Micic has recorded three CDs for CTA Records. The first, Bridges (2003), featured a quintet that included trumpeter Tom Harrell, followed by the quartet date, Serbia (2006). For his third venture 3--which stands for “rhythm, harmony and melody"--Micic has pared his band down to a trio. Drummer ...

like 381

David Binney: Aliso

by John Kelman
April 12, 2010

In a career now in its third decade, alto saxophonist David Binney's greatest accomplishment, despite being a player of no small worth, has been as a composer whose often knottily idiosyncratic tunes manage to remain not just accessible, but deeply compelling. From the earliest days of Lost Tribe through to last year's outstanding Third Occasion, Binney's distinctive compositional style has become a touchstone for players on the New York scene and beyond. It's not that he can't play ...

like 358

Thomson Kneeland: Mazurka For A Modern Man

by Dan Bilawsky
April 12, 2010

It wouldn't be unusual to think that the mastermind behind Mazurka For A Modern Man played trumpet or guitar. While bassist Thomson Kneeland wrote eight of these compositions, which touch on everything from Balkan folk music and klezmer, to chamber music and indie rock, he often lurks in the background while guitarist Nate Radley and trumpeter David Smith paint intriguing pictures and create a deep, and occasionally dark, musical universe in the foreground. Kneeland, as demonstrated throughout this album, is ...

like 764

Photographing the World's Best Jazz Scene

by Bruce Lindsay
April 12, 2010

JazzLife UK--a simple idea. I'll spend much of 2010 travelling around the United Kingdom photographing the jazz scene and asking some of its members what they think about the current state of UK jazz. I'll photograph musicians, venues, performances, rehearsals, sound checks, record label executives, promoters, agents, presenters, DJs and anyone or anything else that forms part of the UK scene. Then in 2011 there will be exhibitions and, with luck and good judgment, a project book. Simple.The ...

like 191

Marc Mommaas: Landmarc

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 12, 2010

If Marc Mommaas' tenor saxophone may be likened to the human voice, which is certainly the case on Landmarc, then he may be heard to “sing" several parts of an interconnected suite. Although each part has a specific English name, this belies the compound emotions that lie beneath each chart. However, a more rewarding way of listening would be to let the raw emotion of each melody invade the bare senses. A sudden recognition that there is interplay between emotion ...

like 575

Great Vibes: Nova NOLA and The Wee Trio

by J Hunter
April 12, 2010

Despite the current iteration of the “Jazz is Dead" riff, it is impossible to throw a rock without hitting one of the music's latest wave of horn players, reed players, keyboardists, bassists or drummers. The one area that lacks ground-breaking new personnel in 2010 is “mallets" (vibraphone and marimba), although every recent generation has had its champion--be it Gary Burton, Mike Mainieri or Stefon Harris.

The newest demographic, however, may have found its advocate in James Westfall. The Thelonious Monk ...

like 251

Alain Bradette: State of Mind

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 12, 2010

Contemporary: here today; now. However, in today's speed-of-light-is-too-slow world, that word is reminiscent of quantum physicists who, when viewing particles at subatomic levels, see activity that has already taken place. Ephemeral. Passé. Bland in essence, it has immediate and short-lived appeal. Such is the state sometimes with music categorized as “contemporary." While one might describe the efforts of saxophonist Alain Bradette and his musicians on State of Mind as contemporary, there are firm roots here in the ...

like 232

Dan Dean: 2 5 1

by Bruce Lindsay
April 12, 2010

Take four talented and creative keyboard players, one at a time. Select a few standards, plus one original tune. Pick up your electric bass and join in. Enjoy. The result is 2 5 1, an immediately accessible and inviting album of keyboard and bass duets from Dan Dean and his guests. Of course, the above plan only works if the bassist is as talented as his guest keyboard artists--thankfully, Dean meets that requirement. He's an experienced musician, ...

like 213

Tomasz Stanko: Dark Eyes

by David Adler
April 12, 2010

Much of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's output in the '00s featured the piano trio of countrymen Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz. Dark Eyes is a departure--the first recording to feature the Polish icon's new quintet with pianist Alexi Tuomarila, guitarist Jakob Bro, bassist Anders Christensen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori. Bit by bit, the band's seductive rapport and cagey dynamics are revealed: first the rubato portent and spaciousness of “So Nice," then a marked shift to a ...