Jazz Articles

like 480

Keith Jarrett: Testament - Paris / London

by John Kelman
September 29, 2009

What makes a performance release-worthy? There are those who would like to see any and all recordings made by an artist released in some fashion, and with the advent of digital downloads there are artists doing just that. Still, as the old adage says, “just because you can doesn't mean you should." Greater discretion may, indeed, undoubtedly be the better part of valor. Having released the mammoth ten-LP (now six-CD) Sun Bear Concerts (ECM, 1978), it's clear that ...

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Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade

by David Rickert
September 29, 2009

In the six years that he was active in the music industry, Scott LaFaro had a more notable career than many other bassists have in a much larger lifetime. He was a member of the Bill Evans Trio, one of the greatest piano trios of all time, and participated in Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz (Atlantic, 1960), a session he really had no business being a part of. Most importantly, however, he developed an entirely new mode of expression for the ...

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Rodrigo Amado: The Abstract Truth

by Mark Corroto
September 29, 2009

Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, bassist Kent Kessler, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love is an international trio featuring players from Portugal, United States and Norway, respectively. But on its second recording, The Abstract Truth, the assemblage speaks the same language; its mother tongue being hard-hitting, concise improvisation.

This disc follows the Teatro (European Echoes, 2006), the trio's very first meeting. Where the previous disc was wide-ranging, barbarous, and marked by lengthy pieces, the music here is more concise, with most tracks ...

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Theo Travis: Slow Life

by John Kelman
September 29, 2009

Between solo albums like Earth to Ether (33 Jazz, 2004) and Double Talk (33 Jazz, 2007), and working with progressive/fusion bands including Porcupine Tree, Gong, The Tangent, and Soft Machine Legacy, Theo Travis has become one of England's hardest working woodwind multi-instrumentalists. A fine player with a broad vernacular--blending the jazz tradition with a deeper understanding of the distinctively English sound of many of these groups--Travis would be a double threat if all he did was play his instruments and ...

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Miles Davis: Unlimited Miles

by Bill King
September 29, 2009

I can't think of an artist who has had greater influence over jazz the past forty years than Miles Davis. For music, style, language and business, Davis was at the top of the game. One to never step aside and let critics dissuade or impede his aspirations, he constantly retooled his band with the brightest most gifted young players of the moment. There are those who will argue that Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Oscar ...

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Joe Martin: Not By Chance

by Greg Camphire
September 28, 2009

Bassist/composer Joe Martin has assembled an all-star cast for his second release as a leader, Not By Chance. All of the tunes, with one exception, are written by Martin, and his interplay with pianist Brad Mehldau, saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Marcus Gilmore is masterful. The group explores rhythms through unending variations, creating instant responses with minute details and close attention to structure.

But while the interaction is deep, the band doesn't immediately distinguish itself as particularly unique; it could ...

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Mo'Fone: Sling Shot

by Ian Patterson
September 28, 2009

It must be challenging for Mo'Fone to secure gigs and, no doubt, many a venue refused them once the trio explained its lineup as two saxophones and drums. It's a setup sure to suggest an avant-garde trip or vaudeville novelty outing but the music on Sling Shot is, in fact, both tremendously listenable and serious.

While Jim Peterson's baritone sax anchors the trio, and he lets rip on occasion, most of the soloing is left to alto saxophonist/clarinetist Larry De ...

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Jazz Middelheim 2009

by Martin Longley
September 28, 2009

Jazz Middelheim 2009Park Den BrandtAntwerpenBelgium The Jazz Middelheim festival is nearing its fortieth anniversary, but it's a weekender that hasn't relinquished a fondness for adventure. Nuzzling up against its stellar bookings are acts, Belgian and otherwise, who seek to jolt the expectations of many audience members. The entertaining middle way is subverted by the sideways thrust of jazz extremity. This, too, can often be entertaining. 2009 is the second year that Bertrand Flamang has ...

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The Joshua Redman Trio

by AAJ Staff
September 28, 2009

Joshua Redman TrioIndianpolis Jazz FestivalIndianapolis, IndianaSeptember 19, 2009

By the inner compass one finds one's direction, and Joshua Redman didn't fail to find his on the first night of the Indianapolis Jazz Festival at Clowes Memorial Hall. With Gregory Hutchinson on drums and Matt Penman on bass, they played a few classic covers, but also many songs from his new double-trio album, Compass (Nonesuch, 2008), another exquisite journey from the 40-year-old saxophonist.Progeny of great musicians ...

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Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls: Seize The Time

by Troy Collins
September 28, 2009

In the grand tradition of such revolutionary bandleaders as Charles Mingus and Max Roach, Chicago-based drummer Ted Sirota leads his flagship band, The Rebel Souls, through their fifth long player, Seize The Time, with the same vivacious energy he fostered over their four previous releases, hearkening back to Rebel Roots (NAIM, 1996).

Despite a rotating roster of sidemen (former members include Jeb Bishop, Rob Mazurek, and Jeff Parker), Sirota has maintained the Rebel Souls for well over a ...