Jazz Articles

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Willie McBlind: Bad Thing

by Todd S. Jenkins
January 14, 2010

Many elements comprise the spirit of the authentic blues, from the weary, lonesome and forlorn lyrics and voices to the bent, plaintive notes coaxed from weather-beaten, jury-rigged instruments. It's that off-kilter, almost microtonal aspect of true blues tonality that is too often overlooked by cover artists and wanna-bes who reduce the music to three chords and the truth. Guitarist Jon Catler and the other members of Willie McBlind work near-miracles in bringing that raw aspect of the blues sound to ...

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Buenos Aires Jazz Festival 2009: Growing Into a Tradition

by R.J. DeLuke
January 14, 2010

Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival '09, Part 1 December 3-8, 2009In the land of the tango, Argentina--specifically the stylish city of Buenos Aires--there is a movement afoot to bring great jazz to the land, expand the audience for the music, and increase public exposure for the growing number of outstanding jazz musicians in that South American country.

That movement is the driving force behind the Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival, whose second edition took place in ...

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Chad Eby: Broken Shadows

by Mark Corroto
January 14, 2010

Attention grabbing music these days is either accomplished by the loudest voice (American Idol anybody?) or the rudest performance. While not saying jazz has descended to that level, certainly the squeakiest wheel often gets the most attention. Then again, hearing a genuine voice like saxophonist Chad Eby reaffirms the instinct that an authoritative performance from a rock steady musician need not be imprudent to get noticed.

This trio session, with bassist Steve Haines and drummer Jason Marsalis packs ...

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Buenos Aires Jazz Festival 2009: Orchestra National de Jazz is Fantãstico

by R.J. DeLuke
January 14, 2010

Second Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival '09, Part 2December 3-8, 2009

Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival '09 holds up its “international" status with outstanding groups from most all South American countries, as well as the United States, France and Spain. It's hard to imagine it could have done better in dealing with French cultural officials than by grabbing the Orchestra National de Jazz for the grand closing show of the six-day festival.

This cutting edge ten-piece orchestra, directed by ...

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Thierry Lang: Lyoba Revisted

by John Kelman
January 14, 2010

New sources of inspiration can sometimes be no farther away than your own backyard. Coming from Fribourg--a small, beautifully preserved old town in the west of Switzerland--the classically trained and jazz-savvy pianist Thierry Lang has long been drawn to area's endemic music, in particular that of Joseph Bovet, a priest who lived in the area from 1879 to 1951. Bovet's music for male choir reflects an unmistakable Alpine flavor, a cinematic openness redolent of mountain vistas and lazy rivers. Lang ...

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Alan Hewitt: Retroactive

by Dee Dee McNeil
January 14, 2010

The CD artwork to Alan Hewitt's Retroactive looks like a reproduction from the old TV series, Miami Vice. Hewitt is dressed in a white suit with V-neck T-shirt, shades and shoulder-length blond hair. As a pianist and smooth jazz keyboardist, he travels on a flashback journey in both his attire and music.

Hewitt opens the recording with the title track from Shaft (1970), scored by the legendary Isaac Hayes. The pianist's rejuvenated arrangement rides parallel to the original ...

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Gretchen Parlato: In a Dream

by Ken Dryden
January 14, 2010

Gretchen Parlato grew up in a musical household, the daughter of bassist/guitarist Dave Parlato (who worked with Don Ellis, Warne Marsh, Gil Melle and Frank Zappa, among others). She won the 2004 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition and released her debut CD on her own label the following year; In a Dream is her long awaited follow-up and it does not disappoint. Like many jazz musicians of her generation, Parlato casts a wide net in choosing her repertoire, drawing from ...

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Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade

by Stuart Broomer
January 14, 2010

In his brief career between 1959 and 1961, Scott LaFaro may have done as much to revolutionize the way the bass is played in jazz as Jimmy Blanton, another gifted and tragic figure, had with Duke Ellington 20 years before him. Like Blanton, LaFaro only took up the bass when he entered college and also died very young: Blanton of tuberculosis at 23 in 1942; LaFaro at 25 in a car accident in 1961. LaFaro recognized no ...

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Misha Piatigorsky: 17 Rooms

by Marcia Hillman
January 14, 2010

A clue to pianist Misha Piatigorsky's 17 Rooms is the title of its opening track, “Open Window"--a window that lets in a breath of fresh air. Joined by bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Ari Hoenig, Piatigorsky offers a mixture of bebop, gospel and classically-based styles that shows off his pianistic and composing abilities. The material is all original with the exception of three selections. As a composer, Piatigorsky is melodic and innovative. He displays a healthy respect ...

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Eberhard Weber: Colours

by John Kelman
January 14, 2010

As the jazz-rock fusion movement gained ground from its early years in the late 1960s through its glory days in the early-to-mid-1970s—blending the more sophisticated harmonies of jazz with rock music's rhythmic power and high volume—all too often it was about muscular chops and complex writing for the sake of it. Little attention was paid to nuance and understatement. While guitarist John McLaughlin's high octane Mahavishnu Orchestra and keyboard player Chick Corea's guitar-centric incarnation of Return to Forever were tearing ...