Jazz Articles

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Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead

by Dan McClenaghan
February 9, 2010

Seattle-based tenor saxophonist, Hadley Caliman took a thirty year hiatus from recording before he released Gratitude (Origin Records, 2008). It was an exceptional mainstream set that displayed Caliman's John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and Joe Henderson influences, in hints and brief whispers, and reintroduced the saxophonist's own distinctive, full-of-life voicings.With Straight Ahead, he steps out further into that territory, with a group of Origin Records all-stars on board to give a modern tinge to a tried-and-true format.The ...

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The Red Earth Collective featuring Soothsayers Horns: Red Earth Dub

by Chris May
February 8, 2010

London's Red Earth Collective and the associated band, Soothsayers, have much in common with New York's Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble. Both aggregations mix Afrobeat, dub and jazz to create a modern urban style. Both have included veteran Jamaican musicians on their albums--Red Earth / Soothsayers featured singers Johnny Clarke and Linval Thompson on its previous disc, One More Reason (Red Earth, 2009), and Akoya featured the great tenor saxophonist Cedric Im Brooks on its most recent set, P.D.P. President Dey Pass ...

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Polar Bear: Raw and Spontaneous

by Bruce Lindsay
February 8, 2010

During the six or seven years since its formation, British quintet Polar Bear has garnered extensive praise from critics, fans and fellow musicians. Most famously, perhaps, the band was described by music critic Paul Morley as “dream jazz"--high praise, indeed. The band's second album, Held On The Tips Of Fingers (Babel, 2005), was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The band has a great reputation as a live act, attracting audience members from the jazz world and beyond. On the ...

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Christian Wallumrod Ensemble: Fabula Suite Lugano

by John Kelman
February 8, 2010

With The Zoo is Far (ECM, 2007), Norwegian pianist Christian Wallumrød introduced a group that expanded on the unique sonorities of his other, same-titled Christian Wallumrød Ensemble. That other Ensemble--the quartet responsible for A Year From Easter (ECM, 2005), and which gave an equally nuanced performance at Molde Jazz 2009--explored the nexus of improvisation and composition, rooted in traditional Norwegian folk music, and Wallumrød's personal synchronism of contemporary and Baroque classicism. The six-piece Ensemble of The Zoo began a fundamental ...

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The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me

by C. Michael Bailey
February 8, 2010

The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me George Nichopoulos / Rose Clayton Phillips Hardcover; 256 pages ISBN 1595551719 Thomas Nelson 2010

Dr. Conrad Murray, singer Michael Jackson's personal physician, is (in February 2010) under scrutiny for his part in Jackson's October 2009 death, for allegedly providing Jackson with the drugs that contributed to his end. Between 1977 and 1980, Memphis internist Dr. George ...

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Steve Kaldestad: Blow-Up

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 8, 2010

The continued ignoring of Canadian musicians in “Jazz Central, South of the Border" ought to have been a thing of the past a long time ago. Thankfully Canadian record labels such as Montreal-based Justin Time and Effendi Records, Toronto-based Alma Records, and now Vancouver's wonderful Cellar Live are hopefully fast-changing that. Blow-Up, from saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, recorded live at the Cellar Night Club and released on the club's label, is another exemplary testament to the jazz idiom from a quintet ...

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Tobias Gebb & Unit 7: free at last

by Dan Bilawsky
February 8, 2010

New York-based drummer Tobias Gebb assembled a stellar cast for free at last. The format of Unit 7 follows the instrumentation tradition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The three-horn frontline and three-man rhythm section allows this group to sound bigger than it is at times, while also having the flexibility to make things more intimate. Gebb covers plenty of stylistic ground over the course of these eight songs and he wastes no time getting started.“Blues for Drazen" begins ...

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Pablo Menendez & Mezcla: I'll See You In Cuba

by Jerry D'Souza
February 8, 2010

Guitarist/vocalist Pablo Menéndez makes a two-pronged point with the title of this CD. He alludes to what could happen if visitors from the United States were permitted to travel to Cuba, and adds a slight twist on the Irving Berlin's “I'll See You in C.U.B.A.," which he sings with zest and verve. Menéndez brings in a blend of several genres in his schematic vision on I'll See You In Cuba and, along with his band Mezcla, consistently captures and develops ...

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Miles Okazaki: Generations

by Wilbur MacKenzie
February 8, 2010

Generations, Miles Okazaki's second CD, displays the ornate structural latticework and solid foundation of a highly skilled conceptual architect. As a guitarist his tone is taut and balanced across the full range of the instrument, full of rhythmic and melodic nuance. Okazaki also shows thoughtfulness and creativity as a composer and bandleader, assembling a close-knit group of skilled colleagues and providing a conceptual and thematic framework that elicits exquisite contributions from all the players. This music resides at the crossroads ...

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Henry Threadgill: This Brings Us To, Vol. 1

by Russ Musto
February 8, 2010

Henry Threadgill's This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 marks the return of the iconoclastic saxophonist/flautist's Zooid ensemble, his primary public performance vehicle for the past decade. The quintet, although having undergone some significant changes since its previous disc, with bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi and multi-instrumentalist Elliot Humberto Kavee replacing cellist/trombonist Dana Leong and drummer Dafnis Prieto, the group remains a cohesive unit with a unified sound, in no small part due to the continued presence of longtime band members, guitarist ...