Jazz Articles

like 349

Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra: The Definitive Thad Jones

by George Kanzler
February 7, 2010

Recorded in 1988, over two decades after the creation of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and a decade after Jones left the band, this is also its last recording under Lewis' helm (he died two years later, 20 years ago in February, 2010). As such, it reflects Lewis' concept as well as his and the band's adaptations of Jones' charts. The instrumentation is also different than both the early incarnation and today's Vanguard Jazz Orchestra--the brass including two bass ...

like 385

Peter Banks: Two Sides of Peter Banks

by John Kelman
February 7, 2010

Pity poor Peter Banks. Unceremoniously ousted from the group he co-founded, on the cusp of greater success, the guitarist went on to relative obscurity after a quick run with Flash, while his band mates in Yes became megastars with hits like “Roundabout" and albums like Close to the Edge (Atlantic, 1972). He may not have possessed the instantaneous charisma and stunning virtuosity of his replacement, Steve Howe, but he was a fine guitarist, as this remastered edition of his solo ...

like 277

Antonio Ciacca: Lagos Blues

by J Hunter
February 6, 2010

Four decades ago, Miles Davis called then-burgeoning saxophonist Steve Grossman “an important voice in this music." One of the people who heard that voice was pianist Antonio Ciacca. Lagos Blues, Ciacca's second disc for Motema, not only shows Grossman's influence as Ciacca's former teacher; it also includes the now-legendary tenor player's direct influence, as he joins Ciacca's regular quartet for the date.

Ciacca says Grossman once compared his former student's writing style to Horace Silver and Benny Golson. That assertion ...

like 637

Svend Asmussen

by Ken Dryden
February 6, 2010

Svend Asmussen is the last of the great swing violinists who emerged during the '30s. The “Fiddling Viking" turns 94 on Feb. 28th, splitting time between his native Denmark and Sarasota, Florida. Recently the violinist performed at the Second Annual Arbors Records Invitational Jazz Party and released new CDs, one a compilation on Storyville (Rhythm Is Our Business) of his '50s Danish quintet recordings and the other made just last year for Arbors, Makin´ Whoopee...and Music!. There is also a ...

like 444

Three Jazz Poems

by Gordon Marshall
February 6, 2010

Dolphy

What I hear is gone, playpens clattering

with rattles like drums, hum of heater on the floor--

I remember this as I tap the tones out of the

bass clarinet bell. I yell, Hell! I can tell

the past that steers the turnstile giving me gate

at the Village Gate or Vanguard, swapping ...

like 336

Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty

by Jakob Baekgaard
February 6, 2010

A record's title can be useful in giving a hint of the kind of music that can be found on the album. In the case of guitarist Torben Waldorff, American Rock Beauty reveals itself as a title that brings forth an entire musical poetic conversation. If the album is like a river flowing in many different directions, the water is the aesthetic and approach of rock. Even though there's no doubt that Waldorff is a jazz guitarist, ...

like 402

Don Cherry: Hear And Now

by Chris May
February 6, 2010

That multi-instrumentalist and world jazz pioneer Don Cherry was able to adopt such a beatific countenance for the cover shot of Hear And Now says much for the power of yoga, given the horrors that follow. The disc has now been reissued as part of Warner Jazz's Atlantic Masters series. But non-yogis should heed this warning: if you only acquire one Don Cherry album in your life, don't acquire this one.

Recorded in December 1976, Hear And Now ...

like 308

In Love With Voices: A Jazz Memoir

by Ken Dryden
February 6, 2010

In Love With Voices: A Jazz Memoir Brian Torff Softcover; 236 pages ISBN: 1440112851 iUniverse 2009

Brian Torff is a widely experienced jazz bassist who has recorded and played with numerous greats, including violinist Stephane Grappelli, clarinetist Benny Goodman, singers Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme, and pianists George Shearing, Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams and Erroll Garner. He has also recorded as a leader and is active in jazz education. ...

like 3,280

Amarelo Manga: Verso Preso

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 6, 2010

The spectacularly revolutionary nature of the Tropicalismo Movement in Brazil and its undying quality is what makes this recording, Verso Preso by Amarelo Manga a truly significant one. The group pivots around the vocalastic emotion of Lilian Raquel and the music of Cláudio César Ribeiro, who just happens to be a fine guitarist, whether playing acoustic or -electric guitar. The music is deeply rooted in the skippety-skip and fibrillation of maracatu and other dancing rhythms of Pernambuco in the Northeast ...

like 429

Piano and Saxophone Duets: Untying The Standard, A Memory Of Vienna & Live At Saint Stephens

by John Sharpe
February 6, 2010

Joel Press & Kyle Aho Untying The Standard Cadence Jazz Records 2008 Joel Press & Kyle Aho Ran Blake & Anthony Braxton A Memory of Vienna hatOLOGY Records 2009 Charles Evans & Neil Shah Live at Saint Stephens Hot Cup Records 2009

Whittled ...