Jazz Articles

like 666

Gov't. Mule at Gothic Theater in Denver

by Geoff Anderson
February 24, 2010

Gov't. Mule Gothic Theater/Fillmore Denver, CO February 12-13, 2010

OK, I know what you're thinking: “Oh for cryin' out loud, Anderson went to see Gov't. Mule again!" Actually, it's worse than that; I went to see Gov't. Mule, twice! Friday night the Mule played the (relatively) intimate Gothic and Saturday night they played the somewhat more spacious Fillmore with the North Mississippi Allstars opening. The Mule keeps me coming back through a combination ...

like 335

John Warren: Following On

by Nic Jones
February 24, 2010

John Warren was fortunate in having the services of a cross-section of British jazz talent in the realization of Following On. Their talents and his writing and arranging meld nicely here, the overall feeling being that of friends coming together, with a view towards mutual cooperation.

There are, however, negative implications. There are times when it's hard to get behind the surface elegance and urbanity of the music. An effortlessness in Warren's work makes this inevitable, perhaps, but is often ...

like 537

Willow Neilson Quartet at JZ Club in Shanghai

by Jenn Chan Lyman
February 24, 2010

Willow Neilson Quartet JZ ClubShanghai February 22, 2010 Shanghai's jazz haven JZ Club was fairly full for a Monday night in anticipation of Willow Neilson's Lightbulb Lives, a performance based on original works and inspired by Neilson's varied musical background (from the rainforests of Terrania to the mountains of Yunnan). Neilson has been a stalwart of the Shanghai jazz scene from as far back as 2003 and hails from Australia. In Lightbulb Lives, Neilson intertwined Shanghai's soundscape ...

like 252

Jeff Campbell: A Declaration of Optimism

by Mark F. Turner
February 24, 2010

Bassist Jeff Campbell's A Declaration of Optimism's underlying theme of positivity is channeled into an engaging trio recording. An associate professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music, Campbell divides his many duties between family, teaching, and performances with notables across the globe. When a good thing works, it's best to stick with it. Campbell reenlists two first callers and assured leaders--drummer John Hollenbeck and saxophonist John Wojciechowski, who both appeared on ...

like 331

Jens Wendelboe's Big Crazy Energy New York Band: Inspirations, Vol. 1

by Jakob Baekgaard
February 24, 2010

Whenever Norwegian-born trombonist, composer, and arranger Jens Wendelboe starts working with his Big Crazy Energy New York Band, there's a rock-solid guarantee that it won't be boring. With uncompromising energy and an impeccable flair for picking tunes that will make his band swing like mad cats on the prowl, Wendelboe serves up his very own funkified version of contemporary big band jazz on Inspirations, Vol. 1. Billy Cobham's “Pleasant Pheasant" is an invitation to the dance floor ...

like 234

Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty

by Jerry D'Souza
February 24, 2010

Guitarist Torben Waldorff does not shy away from a challenge. He channels the unknown for germane ideas that he plumbs with resolute imagination. And it does not matter if inspiration comes on the path to invention or flies from the written note.

Waldorff's wrote the music for this CD with his band in mind. Having played together, he knew just where they could take the written note. Their communication is fertile and the end result is persuasive in ...

like 630

Jaga Jazzist: One-Armed Bandit

by John Kelman
February 23, 2010

After a five-year break from recording, Jaga Jazzist is back. The Norwegian group's Molde Jazz 2009 performance—its first in four years, barring a single 2007 date in Singapore—provided clear evidence that the touchstones defining this sibling-run group remain intact (multi-instrumentalist Lars Horntveth writes all the music; percussionist Martin Horntveth is the onstage spokesperson for the band; and sister Line Horntveth, in addition to tuba, flute and vocals, acts as the publicity face for the group). But there have been some ...

like 1,375

Komeda Project: Bringing New Life to a Legend

by Bruce Lindsay
February 23, 2010

Komeda Project is dedicated to the music of the great Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda. Komeda died young--days before his 38th birthday. During his relatively short life, he composed numerous film scores and jazz tunes and was responsible for the seminal album Astigmatic (Muza Records, 1965)--one of Jazzwise Magazine's “100 Jazz Albums that Shook the World." It is unsurprising, then, that a band would wish to pay tribute to such a musician, and tribute bands and tribute recordings are common enough ...

like 856

Seven Steps to Soul

by Chris M. Slawecki
February 23, 2010

In a narrow view, soul music is a style of rhythm and blues in which the object of affection is most often a lover who's either in view or long been out of sight. But from a wider perspective, soul music can also tell the story of a nation's memories and dreams, and articulate the spirit of an entire people. Both perspectives are explored in the following recent titles.

Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls Seize the Time ...

like 275

Johnny Butler: Solo

by Mark F. Turner
February 23, 2010

On any street corner or venue it's possible to hear a musician playing solo saxophone, its reed-song beckoning down thoroughfares to anyone that will listen. But by putting a spin on things, it's quite another matter to hear and see that horn wired into a laptop computer, as it provides multiphonic voices and looped patterns, fed back into music that is familiar yet ethereal. Enter saxophonist Johnny Butler's Solo. For Butler, a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory ...