Jazz Articles

like 349

Wynton Marsalis: He and She

by Florence Wetzel
October 4, 2009

He and She is a full-bodied meditation on love and the complexities of the human heart. The CD is a rich offering of 12 Wynton Marsalis compositions as well as a long poem by Marsalis, interspersed between tracks and then read in its entirety at the end. Marsalis culminated 2007's From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (Blue Note) with a poem, and He and She finds him further exploring the marriage between jazz and poetry. It can ...

like 388

Dizzy Gillespie: I'm Beboppin Too & The Cool World

by George Kanzler
October 4, 2009

Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big BandI'm BeBoppin' Too Half Note2009 Dizzy GillespieThe Cool WorldPhilips-Verve2009 The legacy of Dizzy Gillespie's pioneering bebop big band could not be served better than by the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, the successor to the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star Big Band that featured Jon Faddis. Since his departure the band ...

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Count Basie: Swiss Radio Days, Vol. 20: Mustermesse Basel 1956, Pt. 2; On My Way & Shoutin' Again! & Swinging, Singing, Playing

by George Kanzler
October 4, 2009

Count Basie OrchestraSwiss Radio Days, Vol. 20: Mustermesse Basel 1956, Pt. 2 TCB2009 Count BasieOn My Way & Shoutin' Again!Verve2009 Count Basie OrchestraSwinging, Singing, PlayingMack Avenue2009 If the rhythm section of Count Basie's Old Testament big band of the '30s-40s is remembered as the “All-American Rhythm ...

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Cellar Live: Cory Weeds & Ross Taggart

by Graham L. Flanagan
October 4, 2009

For Canadians, it sure is a good time to be a jazz fan. Much of the reason can be attributed to Cory Weeds; he owns a popular Vancouver venue called the Jazz Cellar, runs record label Cellar Live and—on his “down time"—plays the tenor sax in his own ensemble.On Everything's Coming Up Weeds, the jazz mogul leads a quintet of Jim Rotondi (trumpet), Ross Taggart (piano), John Webber (bass) and Willie Jones III (drums). The group tackles nine ...

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Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes

by Florence Wetzel
October 4, 2009

Ron Carter: Finding The Right Notes Dan Ouellette 435 pagesISBN: 978-0-615-26526-1 ArtistShare 2008 The biography of bassist Ron Carter possesses everything one could desire: an introduction by noted jazz writer Nat Hentoff, a judicious discography, copious photographs, and a stream of well-researched facts and anecdotes about Carter and his 50+ years as a professional musician. Born May 4th, 1937 in Ferndale, Michigan, Carter started cello lessons at age ten, then ...

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Marty Napoleon: Covering all 88 Keys

by Elliott Simon
October 4, 2009

Post-WWII New York City was a vibrant and musically creative club environment and pianist Marty Napoleon was a significant part of that scene and continues, through what is now a 60+-year career in the music business, to add more than a dash of pizzazz to any musical endeavor with which he is associated. His impressive resume includes stints with saxophonist Charlie Ventura, drummer Gene Krupa and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars. It is not surprising that Napoleon became ...

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Eyal Maoz / Asaf Sirkis: Elementary Dialogues

by Glenn Astarita
October 3, 2009

Tzadik recording artist/guitarist Eyal Maoz teams with U.K.-based drummer/leader of The Inner Noise, Asaf Sirkis. Here, the duo projects style, substance and gobs of variety on these sprightly duets for the avant-garde Swedish record label, Ayler Records. Elementary Dialogues is an album built on cunning improvisation, where the instrumentalists delve into laidback funk-rock, noise-shaping maneuvers and quirky deviations, among many other elements.

Maoz's odd-phrasings and Jimi Hendrix-like cosmic meltdowns are abetted by his fierce soloing escapades in line with Sirkis' ...

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Deck the Halls with Big Band Carols

by Jack Bowers
October 3, 2009

With the holiday season on track and hastening toward us like a runaway locomotive, it's time once again to hunker down and prepare for the annual onslaught of “Rudolph," “Frosty the Snowman," “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," “Sleigh Ride," “Silver Bells," chestnuts roasting on an open fire and everyone's perennial favorite, “White Christmas." Not to mention the many traditional songs of praise that help to make the season bright. There was a time not long ago when big bands ...

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Oliver Lake: Makin' It

by Hrayr Attarian
October 3, 2009

Changing a few elements of a well known musical format may be all that is needed to create a new and fresh sound. Makin' It, Oliver Lake has taken the old saxophone organ trio popularized in the 1950s by the likes of Ike Quebec and made it into a new vehicle for 21st century improvised music. He has replaced the tenor saxophone--the instrument traditionally associated with this combo--with his alto. Though he remains true to the gospel-inflected ...

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New Artists Records

by Marc Medwin
October 3, 2009

"We prize individuality," states pianist Connie Crothers emphatically of New Artists Records. “It's an integral part of our label identity and we have always safeguarded the individuality of each musician." New Artists being a cooperative, such a statement may contain an element of contradiction, but it stands at the heart of a label that has moved beyond simple categorization for nearly 30 years. The music produced blurs all manner of boundaries while maintaining a recognizable aesthetic, one in ...