Jazz Articles

like 359

Italian Jazz: Peppe Merolla

by Nick Catalano
March 26, 2010

The international jazz scene has been a major focus in recent editions of this column. This month we turn to Italy. The emergence of Italian jazz has long been felt in the U.S. primarily through the word-of-mouth exchanges that emanate from American musicians who have worked in Italian jazz festivals such as those in Umbria, Pisa and Siena. But there has long been a steady club circuit for visiting American stars, who are able to utilize the growing talent in ...

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John Hiatt and The Combo: Live at The Lebanon Opera House

by Doug Collette
March 26, 2010

John Hiatt and The Combo Lebanon Opera House Lebanon, New Hampshire March 9, 2010

John Hiatt and The Combo played an absolutely brilliant two-and-a-half hour set at the Lebanon Opera House on March 9th. In contrast to so many de rigeur returns for encores, these performers fully deserved the stomping cheering demand for more, and obliged with another thirty minutes of music. This came only after the bandleader graciously thanked the enthusiastic audience for ...

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Harris Simon: The Mastery of Passion

by Larry Taylor
March 26, 2010

Discovering gold in reissues going 30 years back is always a pleasure. Such is the case with Harris Simon's The Mastery of Passion, featuring selections from CDs first released on Japan's Pony Canyon label--New York Connection (1978) and Swish (1980).

Simon was in his early twenties at the time of these dates, fast gaining recognition as a pianist and composer. He was approached by producers George Klabin and Jeff Kaufman to assemble a topnotch group, and gathered several stars-to-be: tenor ...

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Mark Weinstein: Timbasa

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 26, 2010

First came the transition from trombonist to flutist. Then came the transition to Latin jazz. For Mark Weinstein, a confluence of worlds has become modus operandi. Brooklyn-born Weinstein's experience has included a fusion of post-bebop music with traditional Afro-Cuban drumming. As a trombonist, he worked with Chick Corea, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, Maynard Ferguson, Herbie Mann, and many others. Since he began playing the flute, Weinstein has performed in a variety of settings, covering several styles including Afro-Caribbean, ...

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Travis & Fripp: Live at Coventry Cathedral

by John Kelman
March 26, 2010

Despite King Crimson being on permanent hiatus--at least officially, though momentum continues with its ongoing 40th Anniversary Series of newly remixed/remastered back catalog--its remaining co-founder, guitarist Robert Fripp, doesn't appear to be slowing down as he approaches 65. A hotly anticipated new recording teams the intrepid guitarist/soundscapist with guitarist Jakko M. Jakszyk and '70s Crimson alum/saxophonist/flautist Mel Collins; but with über-bassist Tony Levin and drummer Gavin Harrison also involved it's beginning to sound a lot like the next in Crimson's ...

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Ulrich Krieger: Bringing Metal Machine Music to Life

by John Eyles
March 25, 2010

Lou Reed's 1975 release Metal Machine Music--often referred to as “MMM"--is one of the most notorious and misunderstood albums in rock history. Its four sides of guitar feedback were not well received by Reed fans used to songs and vocals. The album was critically panned and withdrawn three weeks after release. Many who bought it returned their copies.

In the years that followed, the album gradually acquired cult status, as others listened to the album at length and digested its ...

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Francois Couturier: Un jour si blanc

by John Kelman
March 25, 2010

For forty years, ECM has created a fertile landscape for the solo piano recital. The list of illustrious pianists who have contributed to this pantheon is as stylistically broad as it is internationally inclusive. Paul Bley, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Marilyn Crispell, Jon Balke, Misha Alperin, Vassilis Tsabropoulos--all these pianists have placed their individual stamps on a style of solo improvisation that, with Manfred Eicher's attention to transparency and clarity, have become touchstones to which other labels and artists aspire. ...

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Sabir Mateen: URDLA XXX

by John Sharpe
March 25, 2010

It must have been some surprise when Sabir Mateen, already playing, strode into the centre of URDLA, the Parisian engraving workshop where a hundred guests were convened for a celebration of its 30th anniversary. Mateen had been commissioned as a special guest to appear on the stroke of midnight. Solo concerts are not the rite of passage they were for a saxophonist back in the 1970s test bed of free jazz creativity, and their infrequency means it still takes a ...

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Iridium Double Bill: E.J. Strickland and Kendrick Scott

by David Miller
March 25, 2010

E.J. Strickland Quintet & Kendrick Scott OracleThe IridiumNew York, New YorkMarch 3, 2010 This article will not be about the music. The music was great, as is to be expected from the two bands on the bill at the Iridium on this night. Group 1: E.J. Strickland (leader), Marcus Strickland, Tim Green, Luis Perdomo, Ben Williams. Killer. Group 2: Kendrick Scott (leader), Ben Wendel, Mike Moreno, Aaron Parks, Harish Ragavan. Spacey, but equally killer. MVP ...

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Blues Speak: The Best of the Original Chicago Blues Annual

by Chris May
March 25, 2010

Blues Speak: The Best of the Original Chicago Blues Annual Lincoln T. Beauchamp Jr. (editor) 192 pages ISBN: 978-0-252-03440-4 cloth ISBN: 978-0-252-07692-3 paper University of Illinois Press 2010

Launched at the 1989 Chicago Blues Festival, Original Chicago Blues Annual was the brainchild of writer and blues musician Lincoln T. Beauchamp. Also known as Chicago Beau, a name he was given as a teenager by ...