Jazz Articles

like 276

Emanuel Ruffler: Nightflight

by Bruce Lindsay
November 28, 2009

Emanuel Ruffler keeps extremely talented company on Nightflight, the first album as leader for this German-born pianist who is now based in New York. The 11 self-penned tunes are characterized by an apparent simplicity and a propulsive rhythm, creating an immediately appealing recording. Despite his role as leader and composer Ruffler is a relatively low key presence on the album. His piano playing has style but he is well aware of the talents of his band members ...

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Gerald Wilson Orchestra: Detroit

by Robert J. Robbins
November 28, 2009

Commissioned by the Detroit International Jazz Festival and premiered on the occasion of the composer's 91st birthday, Gerald Wilson's six-movement “Detroit Suite" demonstrates that after nearly seven decades in the music business, the nonagenarian composer and arranger still has a great deal to offer in terms of musical creativity. Wilson spent the latter part of his teen years in the Motor City, where he studied trumpet, piano, percussion, and composition at Cass Technical High School from 1934-39, and he still ...

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Konnex Records

by Celeste Sunderland
November 28, 2009

One night in the early '70s, saxophonist Trevor Watts and drummer John Stevens were playing a concert in West Berlin. After the show, a tall, elegant, German man by the name of Manfred Schiek asked if he could buy one of their records. But they didn't have one. “There was an oil crisis at the time and vinyl was expensive," Schiek explained during an interview at his home in Berlin. “In England the story was, if you brought an old ...

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moira smiley & VOCO plus Teslim, Half Moon Bay, CA

by Bill Leikam
November 28, 2009

moira smiley & VOCO + TeslimBach Dancing & Dynamite Society at the Douglas Beach House Half Moon Bay November 8, 2009

Seldom does Pete Douglas book two groups to share a concert at the Douglas Beach House (aka Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society). So on Sunday November 8, no one knew exactly how the concert would unfold. People wondered aloud whether it would be folk group moira smiley & VOCO performing the first set ...

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Dave Liebman / Michael Stephans: Nomads

by John Kelman
November 28, 2009

If ever there was a title to best fit Dave Liebman, it would be Nomads. Stylistically, the reedman's life has represented an endless traverse of infinite musical landscapes, ranging from freely improvised music with Australia-based pianist Mike Nock on Duologue (Birdland, 2007), and modern, open-ended mainstream with longtime musical partner, pianist Richie Beirach--heard most recently on the Mosaic box set, Pendulum: Live at the Village Vanguard (2008)--to Miles Davis-informed fusion on Back on the Corner (Tone Center, 2007) and the ...

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Take Five With Johnny J Rivera

by AAJ Staff
November 28, 2009

Meet Johnny j Rivera:Johnny (j) Rivera is a guitarist/songwriter, multi instrumentalist, and vocalist originally from Southern California, currently living in Las Vegas Nevada. He's been writing songs most his life. Some of his influences range from Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Heatwave, Steely Dan, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Paul Jackson Jr, Joe Sample, Donnie Hathaway, The Winans, Albert King, Al Jarreau, Michael Franks, The Beatles, and Miles Davis. A songwriter of instinct, Johnny draws from personal experience, ...

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Michael Bellar As-Is Ensemble: Turned On Turned Up

by Glenn Astarita
November 28, 2009

Fans of Medeski, Martin & Wood and the generally hip might dig the upbeat and refreshing sounds of keyboardist Michael Bellar's As-Is Ensemble. Its band members perform with notable artists when not on tour, amid previous duties as the house band for New York City's famed Blue Note club. And while the trio abides by a manifesto balanced with aggression, chops and clever song-forms, it manages to carve out an attention-grabbing and distinct music persona throughout.

The trio ...

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Komeda Project: Requiem

by Chris May
November 28, 2009

Despite the snowballing emergence of European jazz musicians on the world stage, relatively few European jazz composers have, in 2009, made it into the global repertory, which continues to be dominated by American voices. Perhaps it always will be, and perhaps local singularities--Italian or British or Scandinavian or whatever--are in any case better treasured, rather than absorbed into a single, universal body of work. But the fact remains that a cornucopia of great “foreign" compositions remains neglected in jazz's birth ...

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Joe McPhee & Fred Lonberg-Holm: Their First Duet, University of Chicago

by Lyn Horton
November 27, 2009

Joe McPhee and Fred Lonberg-Holm Bond Chapel, University of ChicagoChicago, IL November 9, 2009

Saxophonist Joe McPhee and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm have long been bandmates in Peter Brötzmann's Tentet, as well as in McPhee's Survival Unit III and in other groups formed during their mutual acquaintance. But never have the two had the opportunity to play with one another in a simple duo. The opportunity came when on November 9, immediately following several ...

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Magnus Hjorth Trio: Old New Borrowed Blue

by Jakob Baekgaard
November 27, 2009

The legacy of pianist Bill Evans has become so predominant among emerging pianists that it is refreshing to hear someone who shuns the late pianist's lyrical introversion in favor of a more outgoing and playful approach. This is certainly the case with Swedish pianist Magnus Hjorth, whose second album in his own name, Old New Borrowed Blue, shows an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz history, ranging from ragtime to post-bop.

Hjorth's vehicle is the trio, with his countryman Petter Eldh taking ...