Jazz Articles

like 218

Sizhukong: Paper Eagle

by Ian Patterson
February 1, 2010

Jazz's first century has thrown up few examples of Chinese folk music which has found new voice in this idiom. Buck Clayton, in collaboration with Li Jinhui, spent two years in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, adapting Chinese folk music to ballroom jazz, but nothing was recorded. Jazz's second century should see a change in this situation, and leading the way is Taiwanese group Sizhukong, whose second CD is a stunning advertisement for the possibilities of Chinese folk music merged with ...

like 1,179

Sizhukong: It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Oon

by Ian Patterson
February 1, 2010

It is something of a paradox that the western world knows so relatively little about modern China, even as the awakening giant's influence in the world is increasing. Who knows exactly what music is fermenting in its endless metropolises and among its multitude of ethnicities? Who knows what musical experiments and innovations are exciting passions and inspiring its youth?

With something like 10 million people migrating every year to China's cities, it seems inevitable, though, that old musical ...

like 634

The Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra Meets Fred Sturm

by Jack Bowers
February 1, 2010

The Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra was onstage January 23, 2010 at the University of New Mexico's Woodward Hall for a concert featuring the compositions and arrangements of Fred Sturm, director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. The concert was a part of the New Mexico All-State Band Competition, which was being held at the university that weekend. Preceding the AJO's performance was a brief set by UNM's Jazz Band One directed by Glenn Kostur. Its three numbers included, ...

like 247

Dadi: Bem Aqui

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 1, 2010

Eduardo Magalhães de Carvalho, otherwise known as Dadi, has remained in the shadows of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) also called the Tropicalia Movement for much longer than others of his ilk. While Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque do Hollanda, Gal Costa, Bethânia and several other artists led from the front of various ensembles, Dadi appeared to be content to play his myriad instruments--including a riveting bass and intricate dancing guitar--behind the likes of Veloso, Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown and ...

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Jeff Dayton-Johnson's Best of 2009

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
February 1, 2010

Jazz Man of the Year honors go without a doubt to Rafael Gilbert of Spain, who attended a performance by Larry Ochs of the ROVA Saxophone Quartet at the Sigüenza Jazz Festival in December, and called the police to report that, whatever it was that Ochs was playing, it wasn't jazz. Ochs was asked to play for a Spanish cop, who agreed that it was decidedly not jazz. What's more, Gilbert complained that Ochs's music was in fact “contemporary composition," ...

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Worst Pop Band Ever: Dost Thou Believeth in Science?

by John Patten
February 1, 2010

The Worst Pop Band Ever may not live up to its name, but this Canadian combo is working hard to produce some innovative sounds melding jam-band jazz with sound effects, courtesy of turntablist Leo37, on Dost Thou Believeth in Science?. The release features nine original compositions and makes use of Leo37's skills to varying degrees. Bassist Drew Birston and drummer Tim Shia sets up the soloists--keyboardist Dafydd Hughes and saxophonist Chris Gale--admirably throughout; the band has been together for awhile, ...

like 429

Peter Brotzmann: Lost & Found

by Mark Corroto
February 1, 2010

Lost & Found finds iconic free jazz reedman Peter Brötzmann recording both solo and live for the first time ever. Throughout the 50-plus years of music-making, his live recordings are probably the best at capturing the essence of this great man's passion; and further, hearing him without accompaniment is a direct line into his thoughts. Previous solo efforts like this one are found on Free Music Production, a label he helped christen with Jost Gebers in 1969. ...

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RG Royal Sound Orchestra: Impact

by Robert J. Robbins
February 1, 2010

Take a group of A-List Miami-based musicians--many of whom are alumni of the big bands of Woody Herman,Maynard Ferguson, and Stan Kenton)--combine them with guitarists and percussionists from Madrid,Spain, and the result is the RG Royal Sound Orchestra, making its debut withexactly what the title promises. The arrangements integrate Afro-Cuban rhythms, Iberian romanticism, and North American swing and dance music into a repertoire covering French, Italian, British, and American standards in addition to the pop idioms of the 1960s through ...

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Ran Blake & Anthony Braxton: A Memory Of Vienna

by Troy Collins
January 31, 2010

On November 19, 1988, a few days before the Cool Noir music festival in Vienna, composer Franz Koglmann finished recording Orte Der Geometrie (Hatart) with his Pipetet a couple hours earlier than expected. A number of high profile artists and musicians were in attendance for the festival, so efforts were made to utilize the remaining pre-paid studio time. Pianist Ran Blake was on hand, as a special guest of the Pipetet, and composer/multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton had just stopped by the ...

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Margeaux Lampley in Paris

by Guy Zinger
January 31, 2010

Margeaux Lampley Café Universel, Paris January 16th, 2010

As a treat for my 40th birthday, I went for a weekend in Paris to hear Margeaux Lampley. And a treat it was... Margeaux Lampley, born in New York, raised in California and, after practicing law in the U.S., starting her second (artist's) life by coming to Paris, where she has studied and performed jazz for the last two years.

Lampley recorded her debut album Love ...