Jazz Articles

like 389

Sade: Soldier Of Love

by Jeff Winbush
February 27, 2010

The best thing about Sade Adu is also the worst thing about Sade Adu: her near fanatical commitment to consistency. There's no difference between vintage Sade and contemporary Sade. She's the antithesis of the snowfall cliché: with Sade you always know exactly what you're going to get. Soldier of Love is Sade's first album in a decade, and only the sixth by the group in 25 years. Flooding the market with material is not a crime Adu can ...

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Rodrigo Amado: Motion Trio

by Clifford Allen
February 26, 2010

Abstraction is too often both separated from and associated with improvised music. Either sounds are divorced from meaning outside themselves, or expected to tell some sort of story. Neither euphemism really works that well. But image is a central fact of Portuguese improviser Rodrigo Amado's work, whether referring to the representational or nonrepresentational--after all, in addition to being a tenor and baritone saxophonist, he's an accomplished photographer whose work takes on the angularity of Stephen Shore (see his Surface (European ...

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Whitney James: The Nature Of Love

by Bruce Lindsay
February 26, 2010

The Nature Of Love is singer Whitney James' debut, although the maturity and sophistication of her performance makes this hard to believe. Across an intriguing set of songs James demonstrates an impressive vocal range and a command of phrasing and intonation that usually come only with years of experience. James' voice is expressive and sensual, and apart from its range it also has real strength and power. At times, when James is singing in her upper register, ...

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Take Five With Mathias Claus

by AAJ Staff
February 26, 2010

Meet Mathias Claus:Jazz pianist Mathias Claus, born 1956 in Waiblingen nearby Stuttgart, Germany. Education as jazz pianist at Musikhochschule Hamburg, diploma with excellence in 1989. Further studies at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, plus classical studies with Shigeko Takeya and others.

Mathias Claus started collaborating on recordings with musicians of the young cyber jazz scene worldwide. He contributed as guest player on numerous artists' CDs worldwide, working with artists including Peggy Morris, ...

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Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band: Tell It Like It Is

by C. Michael Bailey
February 26, 2010

Australian pianist Mark Isaacs has been recording forward-thinking progressive jazz for the past 25 years. His new millennium recordings have garnered popular response, including Closer (Naxos, 2000), Keeping the Standards (Vorticity Music, 2003), Visions (Vorticity Music, 2006), and Resurgence (ABC, 2007). During the last decade, Isaacs has been approaching a new assertive sound that unifies the more scripted elements of adult contemporary jazz with the improvisatory elements of the music's first 100 years.

Tell It Like It is was recorded ...

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Take Five With Connie Lansberg

by AAJ Staff
February 26, 2010

Meet Connie Lansberg: Connie Lansberg is a singer/songwriter who performs original folk/pop-jazz and smooth jazz. She is a vocal interpreter of the wonderful stories told by the American Songbook and beyond. She uses her voice in such a way as to reveal and tease out even the most subtle of nuances that define these beautiful songs. Reminiscent of Blossom Dearie and June Christy, but with the modern edge of Everything But the Girl and Sting, Connie Lansberg creates ...

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Dave Sharp's Secret Seven: 7

by Glenn Astarita
February 26, 2010

Bassist Dave Sharp and his Secret Seven ensemble interconnect an expansive jazz layout with New Orleans swamp-funk, world-beat rhythm structures, and variable components of Eastern and Western fare. They propagate a cheery panorama via these sustainable compositions, often highlighted by memorable hooks and edgy soloing ventures by multi-reedman Chris Kaercher and others. Variety looms as a significant positive, where the band abides by a festive disposition throughout.

Sharp lays down a fluid and at times, monstrous bottom-end on ...

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Big Crazy Energy New York Band: Inspirations Vol. 1

by Woodrow Wilkins
February 26, 2010

The Big Crazy Energy New York Band isn't a name to be taken lightly. This hard-charging group of musicians fuses big band depth to a selection of pop and jazz songs on Inspiration. The band is led by composer/producer/trombonist Jens Wendelboe, who toured with Blood, Sweat and Tears, was musical director for Donna Summer and scored music for the television series The Guiding Light. Several luminaries comprise this diverse ensemble, including Michael Migliore (Maynard Ferguson), Joey Berkley (Funkasaurus ...

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Vinson Valega: Biophilia

by Vinson Valega
February 26, 2010

Biophilia We are in love with life and can't get enough of it! Life forms fascinate us and nature beckons with its mind-blowing “Wow!" factor as we experience first-hand its every possible shape, size, color, smell, and feel. We contribute money to preserve it and we even watch it on TV. This elemental human phenomenon was described eloquently in a 1984 book by the great socio-biologist, E.O. Wilson, entitled “Biophilia," where he details our “innate tendency to focus on life ...

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Polar Bear: Peepers

by Bruce Lindsay
February 25, 2010

Polar Bear, led by Scottish percussionist and composer Seb Rochford, has been a major creative force since its formation in 2003. The band has extended its popularity beyond the narrow borders of the jazz scene, has been a strong influence on the new wave of young British jazz musicians, and has journalists reaching enthusiastically for categories into which it can be neatly slotted. Readily defying attempts to be pigeonholed, Peepers--the band's fourth album--is a stunningly enjoyable collection by one of ...