Jazz Articles

like 119

Tobias Gebb and Unit 7: free at last

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 29, 2010

Like a bird uncaged, drummer Tobias Gebb expresses himself without restraint on free at last, recorded with Unit 7. The collection is a mix of original songs and covers. Gebb is a freelance musician on the New York scene. Having appeared on recordings with Lenny Kravitz and Donald Fagen, Gebb has also served as a leader with the piano-bass-drums group Trio West, and a larger ensemble known as Unit 7. For free at last, Unit 7 is actually ...

like 1,192

Tomasz Stanko: Dark Eyes

by Warren Allen
March 29, 2010

Since he first caught listeners' ears in pianist and composer Krzysztof Komeda's Polish quintets of the 1960s, Tomasz Stanko has grown to be recognized as one of the most sophisticated and distinctive trumpet players in the world. His dark-hued sound and brassy screams hearken to the souls of Miles Davis and Chet Baker, while the context of his playing and his own modal compositions are especially personal. This approach has graced settings ranging from blasting electro-funk fusion bands to large-scale ...

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Jean-Michel Pilc: A Portrait & True Story

by Dan Bilawsky
March 28, 2010

If pianist Jean-Michel Pilc hadn't become a musician, he might have had a brilliant career as a philosopher or historian. Throughout John McCormick's film, Jean-Michel Pilc: A Portrait, which highlights Pilc's music and his thoughts on music and art, Pilc doles out grains of truth that are brilliant in their simplicity and speak directly to his manner of performing and composing. Pilc explains that he has never drawn a distinction between different styles or labels, like “classical" or “jazz," and ...

like 313

Adriano Santos: In Session

by Dan Bilawsky
March 28, 2010

Drummer Adriano Santos brings the rhythms of Brazil to the Big Apple when he performs. Santos, originally from São Paulo, has been an essential part of the jazz scene in New York since he moved there in 1995. His crisp, authentic and creative grooves have made him a first call drummer for Hendrik Meurkens, Vinicius Cantuaria, Claudio Roditi and many others. While Santos seemed content to live solely in the drummer-as-sideman role for many years, thankfully this has changed. In ...

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Various Artists: Django’s Spirit. A Tribute To Django Reinhardt

by Nic Jones
March 28, 2010

Any tribute to a musician as phenomenal as Django Reinhardt leaves itself open to criticism, so all embracing was the guitar icon's ability to push at the boundaries, still felt to this day. Django's Spirit. A Tribute To Django Reinhardt isn't so much in Reinhardt's spirit as it is an attempt at bringing his work up to date, an exercise which might be considered pointless, given the timeless nature of his music.

While the spirit does, indeed, move through G. ...

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Another Timbre completes Piano Series

by John Eyles
March 28, 2010

These three releases complete the Another Timbre label's Piano Series alongside pianist John Tilbury's and electronicist Sebastian Lexer's Lost Daylight (2010). Taken together, the four very different releases in the series pose questions about the modern role of the piano, particularly when the instrument is prepared in increasingly complex ways, and combined with electronics in the preparations or elsewhere. As well as posing questions, the albums also illuminate possible answers and avenues which would be fruitful--and interesting--to explore. Most of ...

like 132

Ben Goldberg: Go Home

by Dan McClenaghan
March 28, 2010

This disc rocks, which is not something normally said about sets led by a clarinetist. But it doesn't begin that way. The sound of Go Home, from clarinetist/composer Ben Goldberg, croons to life with a smooth and creamy licorice stick/cornet unison interlude on “TGO," with the dark wood-wielding leader joined by brass man Ron Miles for a duo introduction. Then, thirty seconds in, the crunch and slam rock element rears its head, pushed to the surface by 7-String guitar ace ...

like 462

The Best Music Writing 2009

by C. Michael Bailey
March 28, 2010

The Best Music Writing 2009 Greil Marcus, Guest Editor; Daphne Carr, Series Editor Trade Paperback; 384 pages ISBN: 0306817829 Da Capo Press 2009

What are the goals of good music writing? At the very least, it should educate the reader about the music and integrate that information into a perspective encompassing the surrounding music, art and history. Tall order though it is, the best music writing provides the reader these ...

like 189

Dan Weiss: Timshel

by Raul d'Gama Rose
March 28, 2010

"Timshel," one of the most empowering words from Biblical times, has also become of late one of its most misunderstood, thanks to distortions in its translation from the Hebrew into languages of Greek and Latin roots. Artistically, it was the author John Steinbeck who, in his epic, semi-autobiographical and allegorical tale, East of Eden, set things right for artists who would take note. In the context of his main character setting about to redeem himself, he receives the empowerment with ...

like 194

Gia Notte: Shades

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 28, 2010

A glance at the set list for Gia Notte's Shades might initially elicit concern about another album of standards. However, fresh arrangements, a solid band, and a charming voice can make a tremendous difference between a ho-hum effort and something that warrants attention. Notte, born Margie but using the nickname Gia, began with piano and voice training at 12. She later developed a taste for performing in various genres. Her debut release, Just You, Just Me, and Friends-- ...