Jazz Articles

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Take Five With Amanda Monaco

by AAJ Staff
December 3, 2009

Meet Amanda Monaco: Playing guitar has led Amanda Monaco to perform at the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Tonic, Joe's Pub, and the JVC Jazz Festival, as well as other venues in the United States and Europe. Amanda has recorded several CDs as both a leader and a sideman, and has shared the stage with musicians such as Milt Hinton, Matt Wilson, Matana Roberts, and Harvie S. As an educator, Amanda has served on the ...

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Graham Dechter: Right On Time

by Jerry D'Souza
December 3, 2009

Graham Dechter steps out from the guitars chair with the Hamilton/Clayton Jazz Orchestra, fronting a quartet with fellow Orchestra members Jeff Hamilton on drums, John Clayton on bass and Tamir Hendelman on piano. The familiarity amongst the players brings about an easy assimilation of style and development.

Dechter is a lyrical player, his succulent notes drinking deep from the melody before going out into wider pastures, where he develops the theme with layered harmonies. The selections offer a ...

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Ed Palermo Big Band: Eddy Loves Frank

by Nic Jones
December 3, 2009

With the dubious benefit of hindsight, it could be argued that Frank Zappa's music could--and on the basis of this release can still be--defined by what it's not. Zappa was both astute and knowing enough to realize that both progressive and jazz rock could easily become stylistic straitjackets. His music was reflective of this knowledge as much as it was infused with a sense of humor so sophisticated as to be entirely at odds with his often low-brow verbal satire. ...

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Champian Fulton: Sometimes I'm Happy

by Ken Dryden
December 3, 2009

The daughter of jazz trumpeter Stephen Fulton, Champian Fulton had plenty of early exposure to the music through her father. She began piano lessons at the age of five and as she grew interested in singing as well, she began accompanying herself. Fulton is a refreshing change from many of the singing jazz pianists of the past two decades, as she excels in both areas while never resorting simply to doing the minimum to get by in ...

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Andrew D'Angelo: Gay Disco

by Wilbur MacKenzie
December 3, 2009

In the time between the debut recording by reedman Andrew D'Angelo's trio with bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Jim Black and the release of the group's follow-up, some dramatic and widely talked about circumstances have befallen the saxophonist. D'Angelo's battle with a malignant brain tumor proved to be an inspiring and transformative process, as the rumbling intensity and nervous energy of the debut has maintained its edge while giving way to a more harmonious disharmony. The most ...

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Herb Robertson / Mark Solborg: [NOD]

by Martin Longley
December 3, 2009

In 2008, Danish guitarist Mark Solborg invited New Jersey trumpeter Herb Robertson to join his quartet. Around the same time, they laid down the tracks for this duo set in Copenhagen. Although Robertson can boast much more of a substantial history within the global sweep of jazz improvisation, this meeting possesses a strong sense of egalitarianism, where Solborg's contribution stands on an equal level. It seems as though Robert Louis Stevenson's poem “The Land Of Nod" had a significant influence ...

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Jim Hart's Gemini: Narrada

by Bruce Lindsay
December 2, 2009

Jim Hart is rapidly establishing himself as one of the top vibes players in jazz: an inventive, adaptable and exciting musician capable of playing in a range of styles and ensembles. As well as being a much sought-after sideman, Hart also leads two bands. The Jim Hart Quartet made its recorded debut on the excellent Words And Music (Woodville Records, 2009). Narrada is the second album from Gemini, the freer, more improvisational of the two bands that Hart leads. Emergence ...

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Chano Dominguez: Piano with 'Duende'

by Guillem Vidal
December 2, 2009

The meeting between Chano Domínguez and All About Jazz took place hours after the opening ceremony of the 41st Barcelona International Vol-Damm Jazz Festival, starring Wayne Shorter. Chano's enthusiasm is contagious: “Wayne Shorter's quartet is a fully fledged group with very clear objectives and led by one of the greatest living jazz legends," says Chano, who even though he was completing his next record with his flamenco quartet, did not miss the chimerical evening featuring the saxophonist, pianist Danilo Pérez, ...

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4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra: East Atlanta Passover Stomp

by Raul d'Gama Rose
December 2, 2009

Close to a century ago, Egyptologists, chief among them Cheikh Anta Diop, suggested that there was only one race: The Human Race. The Diaspora scattered from the Rift Valley and the rest, as they say, is, well, nations with severely controlled borders. Music and radio--before the advent of the record--broke some of that down, but most cultures were downright silly enough to box in the various musical dialects. Still, the Afro-American musician and the Yiddish-American musician have often crossed over ...

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The State of Skip Heller 2009

by C. Michael Bailey
December 2, 2009

Guitarist Fred “Skip" Heller has spent much of 2004 to 2009 burning through the American soundscape searching for the the heart of these United States. In 2004, Heller released Fakebook (Hyena). Considered the pinnacle of the guitarist's organ trio period, Fakebook sheltered hints of Heller's musical restlessness in his inspired readings of Grant Green's “The Yodel" and Eddie Harris' “Cold Duck Time."

Already back to basics, Heller was to distill his vision of American music further with Mean Things Happening ...