Jazz Articles

like 524

Martyna: Oh Butterfly

by Bruce Lindsay
February 10, 2010

Oh Butterfly, the first release from British singer and songwriter Martyna, is a brief but impressive debut. Her voice is light and expressive while the songs, all self-penned, herald the arrival of a talented composer--and one of these songs has the potential to become a bona fide standard. It's important not to give the young singer all the credit for Oh Butterfly. Pianist John Bowman's arrangements work exceptionally well, enabling the musicians to showcase their own talents ...

like 237

Kat Parra & Sephardic Music Experience: Dos Amantes

by Woodrow Wilkins
February 10, 2010

Some music defies categorization. In the case of Dos Amantes, by Kat Parra & The Seraphic Experience, it's the blending of several styles that make genre assignment a challenge; to place it in one area would be to omit others. Parra played piano as a child and later studied flute. After marrying at 18, becoming a mother and later a divorcee, she continued her music studies, this time focusing on the voice. Under the tutelage of Patti Cathcart, ...

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Kenny Davis: Kenny Davis

by John Kelman
February 9, 2010

He's had an illustrious career since moving to New York in the mid-1980s and hitching a gig with drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. and contemporary mainstreamers Out of the Blue (OTB), but he's waited until now to release an album under his own name. An impressive résumé includes work with M-Base collective saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements; performing--and, on one song, arranging--credits on singer Cassandra Wilson's Grammy Award-winning Blue Light 'Til Dawn (Blue Note, 1993); and subsequent work with artists ranging ...

like 932

Chris Jentsch: Cycles and Reflecting on the Journey

by Ludwig vanTrikt
February 9, 2010

John Coltrane once said, “Let the music speak for itself." The guitarist/composer and band leader Christopher Jentsch adds an interesting twist on that subject by opting to describe himself when asked about the broader subject of how to capture his music in his own words. “I think of myself as a composer/guitarist working with contemporary improvisational forms on the fringe of jazz, but jazz that is inclusive of rock/pop, world music and classical genres. I also strive generally for a ...

like 536

February 2010

by Mr. P.C.
February 9, 2010

Dear Mr. P.C.:So, like, sometimes I hang out with my friends and listen to jazz at this happy hour thing where the waiters are really cute, and my friends can, you know, come up with all these cool songs to call out when the band asks for requests.I feel so totally insecure and stuff 'cause I can never request anything that will impress the band AND the cute waiters. I mean, come on, when you listen ...

like 380

Marbin: Marbin

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 9, 2010

There is an almost Zen-like quality to Marbin, saxophonist Danny Markovitch and guitarist Dani Rabin's debut as a duo. However, the quiet nature and perfectly still life of the music belies the poignant emotional underbelly that simmers constantly throughout the set. That this emotion is deeply personal is evident from the meditative--almost ponderous--nature of much of the music, but the conundrum is further heightened by the fact that what connects Marbin to their music is also a seemingly universal longing ...

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Who Owns Music?

by Jakob Baekgaard
February 9, 2010

Who Owns Music? William Parker Soft cover; 140 pages ISBN: 978-3-00-020141-7 Buddy's Knife 2007

Spirituality runs deep in the music and thinking of bassist William Parker. Those who have looked at the sleeves of his albums will have noticed that he not only expresses his philosophy in sound, but also through words, often including writings that are closer to poetry than the descriptions of music usually contained in liner notes. ...

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Paquito Hechavarria: Frankly

by Dan Bilawsky
February 9, 2010

Pianist Francisco “Paquito" Hechavarría might be best known for his work on Gloria Estefan's “Conga," but that record barely scratches the surface in showing what he's capable of playing. Smoking tumbao-based patterns seem to be embedded in his musical DNA: Hechavarría grew up in pre-Castro Cuba and soaked up the rhythms and sounds of his native land. He spent some time as the director and pianist of Orquesta Riverside, and even had the opportunity to record with Mongo Santamaría when ...

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Take Five With Rick Stone

by AAJ Staff
February 9, 2010

Meet Rick Stone: I've been teaching and performing in the New York area since 1982 and have had the good fortune to perform with musicians like Kenny Barron, Barry Harris, Junior Cook, Ralph Lalama, Dennis Irwin, Vernel Fournier, Eric Alexander, Peter Leitch, Sam Yahel, Mark Elf, Roni Ben-Hur, Peter Bernstein, Matt Wilson, and many, many others. Instrument(s): Guitar and bass (also piano, but just enough to get into trouble) Teachers and/or ...

like 330

Soren Moller / Dick Oatts: The Clouds Above

by C. Michael Bailey
February 9, 2010

The Clouds Above is the continuation of a duet project that pianist Soren Moller and saxophonist Dick Oatts began with Storytelling (Audial, 2005). Like that release, The Clouds Above brags all originals save for one classical adaptation, in this case Sergei Prokofiev's Balcony Scene from his 1935 ballet, Romeo and Juliet, here captured lyrically by Moller's most restrained pianism. Oatts plays alto on the piece, weaving in and out of the scaffolding erected by Moller. The effect is one of ...