Jazz Articles

like 418

Bobby Carcasses Brings His Afrojazz to The Jazz Gallery, NYC

by Tomas Pena
April 8, 2010

Bobby Carcasses Jazz Gallery New York, New York March 11, 2010

Afro-Cuban Jazz guru Bobby Carcasses made a rare New York appearance at New York's Jazz Gallery, an international cultural center and performance space located in downtown Manhattan. The elder statesman is celebrating 50 years in the music business and visited the Big Apple as part of a promotional tour for his most recent recording, De La Habana a Nueva York (Vero ...

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Libor Smoldas: In New York On Time

by Dan Bilawsky
April 8, 2010

Guitarist Libor Šmoldas is a known entity within the Prague jazz scene, but In New York On Time should help him to significantly expand his fan base beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. While Šmoldas has largely worked with Czech musicians in a variety of groups, including his trio and quartet which focus on his music, the Organic Quartet and vocalist Zeurítia's Brazilian project, he used a recent visit to New York to record with some of the finest ...

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Fabrizio Sotti: Inner Dance

by Larry Taylor
April 8, 2010

Guitarist and composer Fabrizio Sotti dedicates his album Inner Dance to two jazz greats, guitarist Wes Montgomery and organist Jimmy Smith. He presents a wide range of compositions, mostly in a low-key, mellow mood. He plays both acoustic and amplified guitars, and his main collaborator here is Sam Barsh on Hammond B-3 organ; their interplay is impeccable. With this record, the Italian-born Sotti comes back to jazz after an excursion the last few years into hip-hop, rock, ...

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Rufus Reid: Out Front

by Ken Dryden
April 8, 2010

Long a first-call bassist, Rufus Reid has played with numerous greats since arriving on the jazz scene in the early '70s, including Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, Art Farmer and Jimmy Heath, to name just a few, in addition to a number of dates as a leader. His fat tone and inventive lines add something to every record date and he is a capable composer and arranger as well. Out Front ...

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Madeleine Peyroux: Bare Bones

by Marcia Hillman
April 8, 2010

Bare Bones, is vocalist Madeleine Peyroux's third in the last four years and most personal, since she was involved in the writing of all 11 tracks and providing lyrics that are highly introspective. Peyroux also accompanies herself on acoustic guitar throughout. Her core band is Jim Beard (piano and Wurlitzer), Dean Parks (electric guitar), Larry Klein (bass) and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, with additional instrumentalists on some of the tracks, including Larry Goldings (both Hammond and Estey organs), Carla Kihlstedt (violin) ...

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Gato Loco: CocoNino

by Martin Longley
April 8, 2010

On their MySpace page, Gato Loco describes itself as Death-Danzon. Well, that's certainly a part of the group's pan-Latin mangling. Or how about “avant mambo"? Or “a giant tarantula dancing with a woman in slow motion"? Yes, of course. Stefan Zeniuk is the ringleader. A barely-controlled chaos is the sprawling combo's accustomed state and their pressing task for this album is to harness that raucous, celebratory atmosphere. At 35 minutes, it's a short blast, but eight tracks ...

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Sam Stephenson: A "Loft-y" Vision of Jazz

by Victor L. Schermer
April 7, 2010

When, in 1997, writer, scholar, and archivist Sam Stephenson serendipitously came across audio tapes, photographs and other documents involving jazz musicians congregating in photographer W. Eugene Smith's Manhattan loft in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was surprised as anyone. The wall of cartons had been unopened since before Smith's death in 1978. Stephenson and his cohorts spent several years studying the documents, including tapes in which one can hear jazz musicians conversing, brainstorming and playing in a relaxed, ...

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David Leonhardt Trio: Bach to the Blues

by C. Michael Bailey
April 7, 2010

Pianist David Leonhardt takes a right turn directly into Jacques Loussier territory with the release of Bach to the Blues. Loussier has made his career arranging jazz interpretations of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven. His arranging and playing are characterized by a crystalline precision while often sacrificing space for improvisation. Leonhardt loosens the laces a bit, allowing not only for more fertile solo ground, but also introduces whimsy into his arrangements.

Leonhardt also expands the classical-jazz repertoire with Aaron Copland's ...

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Paul Austerlitz Quintet at El Taller Latino Americano 3/06/10

by Tomas Pena
April 7, 2010

Paul Austerlitz QuintetEl Taller Latino AmericanoNew York, New YorkMarch 6, 2010

The Paul Austerlitz Quintet made a rare New York appearance at El Taller Latino Americano, a performance space and showcase for artistic talent on Manhattan's upper west side. The occasion marked the introduction of music based on Dominican rhythms and was sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and the Sundeman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College, where Austerlitz teaches ethnomusicology and Africana Studies. The ...

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Lars Danielsson: Signature Edition 3

by John Kelman
April 7, 2010

That Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson is a pliant, flexible player who's worked with American artists including John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, and David Liebman, and notable European names such as Eivind Aarset, Ulf Wakenius, and Nils Petter Molvær isn't much of a secret--at least, not to audiences on the east side of the Atlantic. In North America he's less of a proven entity, a status that deserves to change on the basis of Signature Edition 3, the third in ACT's series ...