Jazz Articles

like 190

Ramona Borthwick: One of Us

by Raul d'Gama Rose
January 17, 2010

The wonderful music of One of Us dwells on the interconnection of all things. Pianist Ramona Borthwick and her quartet make this happen on two important levels. First, they play from the same script as if they had studied the pages and came to make each their own in a very special and individual way. Second, there is a seamless connection between each of the songs and the quartet's leader; Borthwick brings her considerable talent in weaving everything together with ...

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Mark F. Turner's Best Of 2009

by Mark F. Turner
January 17, 2010

I listened to tons of great music and missed a lot more, but these are some that made a lasting impression.

Jazz New Releases

Allen Toussaint The Bright Mississippi(Nonesuch) Fly Sky & Country(ECM) Ravi ColtraneBlending Times (Savoy)

John Hollenbeck Large EnsembleEternal Interlude (Sunnyside) Jeff “Tain" WattsWatts (Dark Key) Omar SosaAcross The Divide:A Tale Of Rhythm & Ancestry (Half Note)

Leo Blanco Africa ...

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Edna Golandsky: The Art of Rhythmic Expression

by Don Glanden
January 17, 2010

Edna Golandsky The Art of Rhythmic Expression The Golandsky Institute 2005

The Art of Rhythmic Expression is a three-DVD set featuring lectures given by Edna Golandsky at Princeton University in the summer of 2004. The lectures represent the next chapter in the presentation of the Taubman approach to piano performance. In a previously released 10-volume video set from the Taubman Institute, Golandsky presented the foundational principles of the Taubman approach and showed ...

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Geoff Leigh / Yumi Hara: Upstream

by Nic Jones
January 17, 2010

The former Yumi Hara Cawkwell is obviously intent on fashioning her own musical territory, if this and her previous Moonjune release --Dune (2008), as one half of a duo with the late bassist Hugh Hopper--are anything to go by. Her partner here is one-time Henry Cow member Geoff Leigh, whose concentration on the flute for a lot of the music presented here adds a layer of meaning to a shared aesthetic, one in which the meditative is kept at bay ...

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Gov't Mule at The Beacon: New Year's 2009, NYC

by Doug Collette
January 17, 2010

Gov't Mule Beacon Theatre New York, New York December 30 and 31, 2009

Gov't Mule may have never sounded more powerful than they did at The Beacon Theatre, December 30th and 31st. Having jelled as a foursome during a year of touring with bassist Jorgen Carlsson plus recording their eighth studio album By A Thread (Eveil Teen, 2009) guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Warren Haynes and company exhibited a versatility to match their ambition during their eighth ...

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Eri Yamamoto Trio: In Each Day, Something Good

by Lyn Horton
January 17, 2010

Half of the ten tracks on Eri Yamamoto's In Each Day, Something Good were composed to accompany a 1932 silent film by historic director Yasujiro Ozu, called I Was Born, But... Pianist Yamamoto describes the film, in the liner notes of this sixth album with her trio, as “a film about the unchanging human situation...serious and sometimes heartbreaking...[but also having] lightness and humor."

Working with Yamamoto are bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi. A studio recording made in Brooklyn ...

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Enrico Pieranunzi / Marc Johnson / Joey Baron: Dream Dance

by Dan McClenaghan
January 17, 2010

Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi's music is often said to incorporate European classicism, suggesting seriousness and, perhaps, a staid erudition to those who haven't heard him.Pieranunzi has fronted a trio with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron since 1984. While not a working band like Keith Jarrett's enduring Standards Trio, Pieranunzi's recordings and tours over the past quarter century have engendered a joyously telepathic interplay, running with the Bill Evans piano trio approach of three way equality.

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Ben Monder On the Side: Brian Charette & Mika Pohjola

by Laurel Gross
January 17, 2010

Brian CharetteUpsideSteepleChase2009 Mika PohjolaNorthern SunriseBlueMusicGroup2009 There's a reason why, at Ben Monder performances, the guitar geeks sit in the first row. He is an outstanding soloist, inventive improviser and composer of highly original and engaging works featured on several of his own recordings. Monder has also proven himself to be the consummate sideman. ...

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January 2010

by AAJ Staff
January 17, 2010

Michael Attias BarbesBrooklyn, NY December 3, 2009Michael Attias is known for his work on alto and baritone saxophones, but on the new Clean Feed disc Renku In Coimbra he plays only alto. This was his game plan too at Barbes (Dec. 3rd), where he gathered together his Renku trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. The music of Attias' alto sax heroes bookended the set, starting with Jimmy Lyons' “Sorry" and ending ...

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Opsvik & Jennings: A Dream I Used To Remember

by Robert Iannapollo
January 17, 2010

Over the past five years, bassist Eivind Opsvik has gained a considerable reputation around New York as a strong, resourceful jazz bassist. He's been tapped by the likes of Tony Malaby, Paul Motian and Kris Davis for their groups. His own ensemble Overseas (currently Malaby, Kenny Wollesen and Jacob Sacks), with three albums to date, has impressively shown his jazz credentials as an instrumentalist, composer and arranger. He's a player who's comfortable with all of the post-John Coltrane/Ornette Coleman permutations ...