Jazz Articles

like 258

Teddy Presberg: Outcries From A Sea Of Red

by Glenn Astarita
March 7, 2010

Guitarist Teddy Presberg's brand of jazz, funk, and infusion of psychedelic wah-wah guitar parts, offers a stylistic amalgamation that hints at the past and aligns with a modernistic ideology, coupled with memorable hooks. Outcries From A Sea Of Red is an extension of previous roads traversed and features saxophonist Jim Stevens with other guest artists.

Presberg wraps relatively simple, yet catchy melody lines into bluesy struts and medium-tempo funk grooves, all tinged with his resonating guitar licks. The ...

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Take Five With Samir Fejzic

by AAJ Staff
March 7, 2010

Meet Samir Fejzic:Samir Fejzic, composer and pianist, born in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), studied composition at Music Academy in Sarajevo, where he graduated in 1998. Currently he teaches renaissance and baroque counterpoint at Secondary Music School in Sarajevo. His work is characterized by different influences, a variety of styles and the constant effort of assimilation of classical vocal styles, traditional folk music and contemporary techniques into his compositions under the personal perspective. His interest for vocal ...

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Roberto Magris & The Europlane Orchestra: Current Views

by Edward Blanco
March 7, 2010

Italian pianist Roberto Magris--originally from Trieste--has been a busy artist of late, having both recorded and produced seven albums in the past five years, including Current Views , a selection of live recordings made in Italy from 2001 to 2003. This album finds Magris with The Europlane Orchestra, a group he founded in 1998 as a central European venture and with whom he recorded two previous discs for the Soul Note label. The core Europlane Orchestra is augmented to a ...

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Ralph Lalama: The Audience

by Joel Roberts
March 7, 2010

Tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama is a respected jazz journeyman probably best known for his more than 25-year tenure with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He's also played and recorded with the Joe Lovano Nonet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and drummer Joe Morello's group, among others. But he's had relatively few opportunities to record as a leader. His 2008 release, the well-received Energy Fields (Mighty Quinn), was his first in over a decade and his first ever for a US label. ...

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Kenny Burrell: Prime: Live at the Downtown Room

by Graham L. Flanagan
March 7, 2010

Guitarist Kenny Burrell remains one of the few living jazz giants to emerge from the hard bop movement of the mid-1950s. Set to turn 79 this summer [2010], Burrell still occasionally performs, when he isn't too busy with his position as Head of Jazz Studies at UCLA, including a week at Yoshi's that was culled into 75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2006). Prime: Live at the Downtown Room showcases six straight-ahead cuts recorded live at a Buffalo club in ...

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Joe Locke: For the Love of You

by Ken Dryden
March 7, 2010

Over the past decade Joe Locke has become one of the most heralded vibraphonists on the jazz scene. For this CD, Locke is joined by pianist Geoffrey Keezer, bassist George Mraz, drummer Clarence Penn and vocalist Kenny Washington, who is featured generously throughout. Locke heard Washington performing at Half Moon Bay in California and invited him to join his band for a set at Dizzy's Club in 2007, an event that has since taken place annually. Washington ...

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Matthew Shipp at Cafe Oto, London

by John Sharpe
March 6, 2010

Matthew Shipp/Paul Dunmall/John Edwards/Mark Sanders Cafe Oto London February 12, 2010

At first glance the opening night of New York City-based pianist Matthew Shipp's three-day residency at north London's Cafe Oto promised a fire music spectacular. Lined up to appear alongside him were three of the UK's leading improvisors in reedman Paul Dunmall, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Mark Sanders, all of whom are eminently comfortable at the burning pole of the improvised ...

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Sheryl Bailey: A New Promise

by Mark F. Turner
March 6, 2010

A New Promise by Sheryl Bailey is an outstanding work from a guitarist (and a rare release from a female jazz guitarist) who can run with the big dogs, in this case a big band ensemble. While her confident and stylish chops might suggest the phraseology of Kenny Burrell or Pat Metheny, she has a unique voice which is probably more closely influenced by forerunner guitarist Emily Remler, to whom Bailey dedicates this release. This is a ...

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Assaf Hakimi: Some Other Day

by Eyal Hareuveni
March 6, 2010

Bassist Assaf Hakimi recorded Some Other Day at the end of a seven-year stint in New York, just prior to his return to Israel. During that time he studied at the New School with such esteemed teachers as Junior Mance, Doug Weiss, Jane Ira Bloom and Billy Harper. For his debut, Hakimi summons some of his elite Israeli jazz comrades who split their time between New York and Israel--saxophonist Eli Degibri, trombonist Jonathan Voltzok and pianist Alon Yavnai.

Hakimi, who ...

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Lin McPhillips: My Shining Hour

by C. Michael Bailey
March 6, 2010

San Francisco jazz singer Lin McPhillips throws elbows and says, “I'm here now" on My Shining Hour, her self-produced recording debut. McPhillips returns to performing after a nearly 20-year hiatus, following in the creative footsteps of other notable West Coast jazz musicians (Art Pepper, Frank Morgan, Ed Reed, and Hadley Caliman), without the attendant harrowing reasons for the absence. No, McPhillips took time off to care for herself and family during which she taught jazz singing. With life issues winding ...