Jazz Articles

like 163

Large Ensembles: John Hollenbeck & Nicholas Urie

by Kurt Gottschalk
November 7, 2009

John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Eternal Interlude Sunnyside Records 2009 Nicholas Urie Large Ensemble Excerpts From an Online Dating Service Red Piano 2009 In 1965, Duke Ellington asked the question (by way of album title) “Will the big bands ever come back?" As the New Thing was beginning to take hold, it may have seemed ...

like 471

Azar Lawrence: Prayer for My Ancestors & Speak The Word

by Francis Lo Kee
November 7, 2009

Azar LawrencePrayer for My AncestorsFurthermore2009 Azar LawrenceSpeak the WordZarman Productions2009 The tenor and soprano saxophonist Azar Lawrence should be known to all by his seminal work with pianist McCoy Tyner, especially on the double LP set Enlightenment, which is one of the most powerful recordings of the '70s. The two modern CDs reviewed here ...

like 421

Joey Baron: Heaven on Earth, Stolas & Dream Dance

by George Kanzler
November 7, 2009

James Carter/John Medeski/Christian McBride/Adam Rogers/Joey BaronHeaven on EarthHalf Note2009 Masada Quintet Featuring Joe LovanoStolasTzadik2009 Enrico Pieranunzi / Marc Johnson / Joey BaronDream DanceCAMJazz2009 Some drummers bring a unique personal sound and approach to everything they do, so that they are instantly recognizable, regardless of the context. ...

like 205

Globe Unity: Japan

by Tom Greenland
November 7, 2009

Akira SakataFriendly PantsColumbia-Family Vineyard2009 Itaru OkiPhantom NoteRecord Label #2Year The Miyumi ProjectLive in PolandSouthport2009 Japanese culture has historically championed jazz and, not surprisingly, produced some champions of its own. Recent releases by Akira Sakata, Itaru Oki and Tatsu Aoki (a 30-year Chicago resident) document the work ...

like 554

Flutes: Jeremy Steig, Krzysztof Popek & Anne Drummond

by Fred Bouchard
November 7, 2009

Jeremy SteigHowlin' for JudySolid State-Blue Note2009 Krzysztof PopekEstatePower Brothers2009 Anne DrummondLike WaterObliqsound2009 Full-time flutists don't get much respect in the male-dominated, hard-driving jazz culture (certain Latin leaders like Dave Valentin and Maraca Valle excepted). Truth to tell, two of the three flute specialists here don't exert ...

like 411

Brooklyn Jazz Underground: Randy Ingram & Rob Garcia

by Terrell Kent Holmes
November 7, 2009

Randy IngramThe Road AheadBrooklyn Jazz Underground Records2009 Ron GarciaPerennialBrooklyn Jazz Underground Records2009 Pianist Randy Ingram's fine new recording, The Road Ahead, exemplifies smooth jazz, though thankfully not in the sense of the FM radio genre. Ingram, bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Jochen Rueckert play with such skill that they almost make it sound effortless. ...

like 274

Miles Revisited: Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Edition) & Miles Ahead Live

by George Kanzler
November 7, 2009

Miles DavisSketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Edition)Columbia-Legacy2009 MSM Jazz OrchestraMiles Ahead LiveJazzheads2009 Third Stream, an attempt to meld aspects of jazz and European classical and world musics, as a term may have gone away, but that can't be said for the musical movement of that name that flourished at the mid-point of the 20th ...

like 266

Three with Chris Speed/Skirl Records: Big Choantza; Smell The Difference; Esopus Opus

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
November 7, 2009

The New Mellow Edwards Big Choantza Skirl Records 2009 Tyft Smell The Difference Skirl Records 2009 Ben Perowsky Quartet Esopus Opus Skirl Records 2009

Since founding Skirl Records in 2006, saxophonist Chris Speed still hasn't led a project for the label. But that hasn't diminished ...

like 356

Transit: Quadrologues & Nate Wooley: The Seven Storey Mountain

by Clifford Allen
November 7, 2009

The work of trumpeter Nate Wooley falls into a number of camps: free improvisation, experimental noise or restructuralist post-bop. It would be easy to lump him in with a young trumpeters/ extended techniques setting but Wooley is decidedly an individual. And while brass players tend to elicit an expected bravura, Wooley is very much at home in collective exploratory endeavors as one color in a very broad palette.Transit is one of the first outfits that Wooley began working ...

like 243

40th Anniversary Celebration of Jazz at New England Conservatory in Boston

by Timothy J. O'Keefe
November 6, 2009

Jazz 40 SummitJordan Hall, New England ConservatoryBoston, MassachusettsOctober 23, 2009Perhaps it was only fitting that the opening piece for the Jazz 40 Summit, part of the 40th anniversary celebration of jazz at the New England Conservatory, was conducted by Gunther Schuller. After all, it was Schuller founded NEC's jazz studies program in 1969, making it the oldest advanced jazz degree program in the United States. For this occasion, Schuller dusted off his ...