Jazz Articles

like 943

Dan Koentopp: Chicago Manual of Style

by Jack Huntley
January 19, 2010

Within minutes of talking to Chicago guitar builder and DK Custom Guitars founder Dan Koentopp, it becomes readily apparent what lights him up: this guy is all about getting it right. His knowledge of stringed instrument-making is vast and his conversation flows effortlessly from the Amati violins of Renaissance Italy, to modern tool-making, to the need to understand customer playing styles, to the built-in acoustic limitations of factory made guitars. As with the masters he so admires, Koentopp's instruments artfully ...

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Chicago Underground Duo: Boca Negra

by Chris May
January 19, 2010

Drummer Chad Taylor's and cornetist Rob Mazurek's intention with Boca Negra is to present the listener with “an emotional experience that transcends the idea of genre or label." The principle of inclusiveness starts with the recording location, Sao Paulo in Brazil, and continues through to the album's packaging: the cover shot was taken on the shore of the Dead Sea, while the title, which means “black mouth," comes from Tenerife in the Canary Isles (where it was coined to describe ...

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Greg Burk: Many Worlds

by Troy Collins
January 19, 2010

A startlingly original improviser, rising pianist Greg Burk straddles a confluence of traditions, seamlessly balancing the spontaneity of free jazz with the discipline of mainstream conventions. A former Either/Orchestra member and student of Paul Bley, Yusef Lateef, George Russell and Archie Shepp, Burk possesses an uncanny gift for melody that surpasses many of his peers. On Many Worlds, Burk unveils an evocative array of pre-written tunes and collective compositions that exude a rich chiaroscuro, bolstering frenetic free improvisations with mellifluous ...

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Signs Along The Road

by Jakob Baekgaard
January 19, 2010

Signs Along The Road Henry Grimes Soft cover; 128 pages ISBN: 978-3-00-020142-4 Buddy's Knife 2007

Bassist Henry Grimes was one of the leading lights on the free jazz scene in the 1960s, playing with many of the music's most famous names, including pianist Cecil Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Don Cherry, reed player Pharoah Sanders and saxophonist Albert Ayler. Financial struggle forced him away from jazz and in 1968 he stopped ...

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Joe Locke: For the Love of You

by Larry Taylor
January 19, 2010

Honoring various composers, vibraphonist Joe Locke has led his group for three years in an annual gig at Dizzy's Coca Cola Club in New York. Recently Locke decided to record the output with the happy result being For The Love Of You.

Four top-flight musicians are gathered for this gig--pianist Geoffrey Keezer, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Clarence Penn. Joining the four, little-known vocalist Kenny Washington (not to be confused with the renowned drummer of the same name) is the ...

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Bob Greene: St. Peter Street Strutters

by Nic Jones
January 19, 2010

The more time passes the more important it becomes that traditional New Orleans jazz, like the music on St. Peter Street Strutters, is restored to the public domain. This might not be so much because of the music's history, however, as much as it's due to the fact that the playing of such vintage jazz in this day and age would perhaps sound only like the coldest form of repertory. When the results are as joyous as this 1964 recording, ...

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Gato Barbieri: In Search of the Mystery

by Lyn Horton
January 19, 2010

Argentinean reed man Gato Barbieri began his career in the 1960s, looking to establish a voice that separated him from his native musical language. Having recorded twice in bands led by his mentor, trumpeter Don Cherry, in Paris and with Italian pianist Giorgio Gaslini's large ensemble in Milan prior to this recording, Barbieri decided to go to New York to search for another beginning. In 1967, with a group that included Calo Scott on cello, the late bassist Sirone (née ...

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Amy Cervini: Lovefool

by Andrew Velez
January 19, 2010

For this recording songbird Amy Cervini drops ever so lightly upon songs on the theme of love. The sources are as varied as Jack Johnson and Depeche Mode, covering a broad spectrum of genres, styles and periods. The opener, “Bye-Bye Country Boy," recalls a sophisticate's brief pastoral dalliance. It's a tune that others are rediscovering now that Blossom Dearie, the previous owner, has passed on. Cervini's soprano is of firmer stuff than Dearie's, though her clarity and lyric touch are ...

like 200

Tessa Souter: Obsession

by Joel Roberts
January 19, 2010

New York-based, British-born Tessa Souter is a jazz singer with interests far outside the jazz world. On Obsession, Souter mostly shuns well-trodden standards and classic jazz fare in favor of a varied set of rock, pop and Brazilian tunes. With her rich contralto and crystal-clear diction, Souter delivers lyrics with a theatrical, but never overdramatic, flair. Nothing sounds forced or hurried in her delivery; she's a relaxed, confident singer who succeeds at creating a romantic, vaguely tropical ...

like 1,167

Orchestrion

by John Kelman
January 19, 2010

The first question that has likely crossed the minds of many who've heard about guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion is: why? Metheny has already published plenty of information about this unique project at his website, but it still doesn't get to the real heart of the matter. Orchestrion is a solo album in the truest sense of the word, with Metheny the only human player, and the only improvisational component over the album's five detailed compositions. The rest of the music--a ...