Jazz Articles

like 344

Carol Sudhalter: The Octave Tunes

by Jack Bowers
April 2, 2010

The title of this album, according to leader/woodwind specialist Carol Sudhalter, refers to the fact that each of its thirteen tunes begins on the interval of an octave. Ten of The Octave Tunes' songs are standards, including a pair of holiday favorites, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and “The Christmas Song." Of the three originals, two were written by Sudhalter's guests, organist Vito Di Modugno ("Pancake Blues") and precocious teen-age pianist Carlo Barile ("Cheeseburger Blue"), who accompanies Sudhalter on ...

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Ben Goldberg: Go Home

by Troy Collins
April 2, 2010

From the debut of his seminal New Klezmer Trio two decades ago to his current membership in the inimitable collective Tin Hat, clarinetist Ben Goldberg has gradually worked his way from the outer fringes of the avant-garde to the accessible center of the new jazz underground. Go Home is the inaugural release of his own label, BAG Production, and the premier of his most approachable band.

Aided by guitarist Charlie Hunter, drummer Scott Amendola and cornetist Ron Miles, ...

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Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 2, 2010

Danish composer/guitarist Torben Waldorff has crafted a plainly titled but memorable album in American Rock Beauty. Waldorff is an articulate and lyrical musician, which counts for a lot on an instrument that is prone to be used with effects that mask its organic beauty. American Rock Beauty is a sophisticated blend of American and European streams of music, from rollicking folk dance to the swing and swagger of jazz melded with burnished impressionism. Throughout, Waldorff shows himself to be a ...

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April 2010

by Mr. P.C.
April 1, 2010

Dear Mr. P.C.:What is the bassist trying to tell the rest of the band when he sits on the tonic for, like, three choruses in a row? Is it oh-so-clever “I'm so on top of the harmony, nobody but me knows what's going on," or “I'm bored, please stop taking those extra choruses"? (Or maybe “I'm lost but can get away with it cuz I'm the bassist" or “OK, time for a drum solo"?) - Steve, Middletown CT ...

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The DIVA Jazz Trio: Never Never Land

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2010

About the nicest compliment one can pay the DIVA Jazz Trio's debut recording, Never Never Land, is that the threesome's irrepressible enthusiasm and energy (not to mention their consonance and artistry) are reminiscent of the great Oscar Peterson's classic trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen. Pianist Tomoko Ohno isn't Peterson, nor does she try to be, but she dwells in the same exalted realm, while bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Sherrie Maricle offer stalwart impressions of Brown ...

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Anthony Jackson / Yiorgos Fanakas: Interspirit

by John Kelman
April 1, 2010

He's performed with a seemingly countless array of artists--from Roberta Flack and Steely Dan to Chick Corea, John Scofield, and Steve Khan--but electric contrabassist Anthony Jackson, now approaching 60, is that rare consummate sideman who has never released an album as a leader/co-leader. Until now. Interspirit teams the inveterate bassist with Greek bassist Yiorgos Fakanas for an ambitious album of high power fusion and funk that may be bass heavy, but never loses sight of the larger musical perspective.

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Nils Okland: Monograph

by David McLean
April 1, 2010

With now over a thousand releases, ECM has become as identifiable for its pristine sound production as its sumptuous design aesthetic. Each release since its 1969 inception has been adorned with beautiful photography and abstract art that has become as inherently important as the music contained within. A testament to this, Norwegian Hardanger fiddler Nils Økland's Monograph's cover could just as easily appear to be the pipes of a grand church organ, enhancing the albums liturgical quality, or a winter ...

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Bob Downes: Electric City

by Roger Farbey
April 1, 2010

Despite this 1970 album having been previously reissued on CD in Germany and Japan, this is the first time it has received such an accolade in the United Kingdom, its country of origin. Bob Downes is a talented multi-instrumentalist and composer and this album was one of his incursions into the world of jazz-rock, although he was equally at home playing in a free jazz context with his acoustic Open Music trio. Originally released on Polygram's Vertigo label, Electric City ...

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New CD Promises Jazz from Beyond

by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
April 1, 2010

David Gurnitz is excited. The president of the North Jersey Paranormal Association, and an ardent jazz fan, has captured yet another of what he believes to be proof of some of the greatest names in jazz history jamming from the “other side." “Listen," he says, turning on a small digital recorder that had recently spent an entire night recording in an otherwise empty nightclub in Bayonne, “hear that? That's Benny Goodman. He played there in ...

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Pablo Menendez & Mezcla: I'll See You in Cuba

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 1, 2010

I'll See You in Cuba is an extraordinary celebration of Cuba's dance and song. It is a fiercely vivid account of a culture infused with the most electrifying elements of Afro-Caribbean heritage. As a musical odyssey it holds its own with the very best of Irakere and the Buena Vista Social Club. Pablo Menéndez and the wonderful musicians of Mezcla set the world alight with a ravishing blend of blues, soul, and jazz idioms that collide with the “son," “guaracha," ...