Jazz Articles

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Genesis: The Movie Box 1981-2007

by John Kelman
November 21, 2009

Genesis Genesis: The Movie Box: 1981-2007 Rhino Records 2009 With its entire audio discography now remixed and remastered on 1976-1982 (Rhino, 2007), 1983-1998 (Rhino, 2007), 1970-1975 (Rhino, 2008), and, most recently, Live: 1973-2007 (Rhino, 2009), legendary progressive popster Genesis finishes its series with Genesis: The Movie Box. Like the Live CD box, The Movie Box: 1981-2007 collects a series of concert performances--some making their appearance on DVD for the first time--leaving space for When In ...

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Singing Jazz: Judy Niemack Master Class

by Jessica Raimi
November 21, 2009

"Part of the fun of jazz is like seeing someone ski down a dangerous slope. When you improvise, you have to take a chance. If you fall, you fall," Judy Niemack was telling her master class on September 26. The nine women with her, most of them professional singers, in the studio of Second Floor Music on West 28th Street in New York City, had come to study with a musician who has been called “one of the best and ...

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Hank Jones / Oliver Jones: Pleased To Meet You

by Raul d'Gama Rose
November 20, 2009

What a surprise to hear the first-ever recording that joins piano maestros Hank Jones and Oliver Jones. A Detroit native, ninety-year-old Hank Jones is from the family that gave us Thad “Bartok with Wings" Jones and polyrhythmist Elvin Jones, and he has participated in historic bebop sessions with Charlie Parker and memorable duets with Tommy Flanagan. Montreal's Oliver Jones, who once followed in the footsteps of Oscar Peterson, has emerged to forge a virtuosic path as a ...

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The Flying Luttenbachers, Seabrook Power Plant, Zevious, Many Arms: We're No Punks

by Mark Corroto
November 20, 2009

The greatest holiday film ever made was not Jimmy Stewart's It's A Wonderful Life, from 1946, but the 1955 black comedy We're No Angels. Its three stars--Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray--play escaped convicts from Devil's Island who hide out in the home of a naive family running a local haberdashery. The trio set out to rob the family, but end up defending them against their evil and wealthy cousin on Christmas Eve.

We're No Angels demonstrates ...

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David Murray and the Gwo ka Masters: The Devil Tried To Kill Me

by Mark F. Turner
November 20, 2009

This global block party, by saxophonist David Murray, blends ebullient African- rhythms with funk and jazz, brought by a fiery band that integrates two Gwo ka masters (Guadalupean drummers/vocalists), some sassy urban soul from pianist/vocalist Sista Kee, and the world renowned blues voice of Taj Mahal. The Devil Tried To Kill Me is Murray's third release with the Gwo ka Masters, following 2004's well received Gwotet (Justin Time), a recording that also featured avant-garde icon, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.

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Ari Hoenig Quartet: Niu's Jazz & Blues Bar, Bangkok

by Ian Patterson
November 20, 2009

Ari Hoenig Quartet Niu's Jazz & Blues Bar Silom, Bangkok, Thailand November 5, 2009

There is no other drummer quite like New Yorker Ari Hoenig. Watching him play is like marveling at a cross between Animal, the wild drummer of Muppets fame, and Max Roach. His approach to drumming is intense above all, ferocious even at times, and yet his harmonic manipulation of his kit is subtlety itself. The crowd at Niu's Jazz ...

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Gal Costa & Romero Lubambo Duo at The Blue Note

by Ernest Barteldes
November 20, 2009

Gal Costa and Romero Lubambo Duo Blue Note Jazz Club November 10, 2009 New York City

For only the second time (the first having been in the fall of 2008), Brazilian singer Gal Costa and guitarist Romero Lubambo shared the stage for an evening that celebrated the music from their native land, nodding specially to the unforgettable 1958-1963 era that spawned bossa nova, arguably the country's best-known contribution to the ...

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James Moody: 4A

by Edward Blanco
November 20, 2009

Saxophonist James Moody has been an important fixture in the jazz world since the late 1940s, when he emerged and gained notice as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra. Now, a robust 84 years young, Moody offers 4A, the first release from a two-day recording session which took place in July of 2008 with the inevitable 4B to follow. Still going strong, as his sharp solos demonstrate, his suave tenor voice glides over the melodies slightly more gently than ...

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Fela Kuti: The Best Of The Black President

by Chris May
November 20, 2009

Twelve years after his death, activity around the legacy of Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti is growing exponentially and the US, finally, is getting in on the act. Choreographer Bill T. Jones' musical, Fela, is to open on Broadway on November 23, 2009, and meanwhile New York's Knitting Factory label has begun a reissue program which will, between fall 2009 and the close of 2010, see 45 Kuti titles released.Jones is a leading light of American modern dance, and ...

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Jakko M. Jakszyk: Waves Sweep The Sand

by John Kelman
November 20, 2009

It's rare that an album of outtakes and rejected music not only succeeds, but actually hangs together as a cohesive work in its own right. As the only member of 21st Century Schizoid Band (performing late-1960s/early-1970s-era Crimson repertoire) who wasn't a King Crimson alum, Jakko M. Jakszyk not only handled the daunting challenge of Crimson co-founder Robert Fripp's guitar parts, but lead vocals as well. Jakszyk emerged as a confident and compelling leader on The Bruised Romantic Glee Club (Iceni, ...