Jazz Articles

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Patrick Langham: Grown Up Listening

by Hrayr Attarian
September 28, 2009

Artists' early works generally channels the various influences and styles they have been exposed to during their development. What makes a debut unique is the way the different influences fuse and what the musicians can add to the mix themselves. Alto saxophonist Patrick Langham's Grown Up Listening is a perfect example. Langham is an associate professor of jazz studies at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music and a distinguished educator. He has taught various workshops ...

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Fred Hersch: No Limits

by Maxwell Chandler
September 28, 2009

From the start of his career as a sideman in the 1970s for such jazz luminaries as Joe Henderson, Art Farmer and Stan Getz to his own ensembles and solo projects, there has always been a great diversity and intensity to Fred Hersch's art. Having won a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition (2003) and having been the first pianist in The Village Vanguard's 70 year history to do a week's solo residency, Hersch has managed to be both a musician's ...

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Jesse Elder: The Winding Shell

by Mark Corroto
September 27, 2009

There is always room for a new songsmith in jazz. Pianist/composer Jesse Elder is a prodigious new voice in modern jazz, and his debut recording displays not only his nonpareil composing talents, but those of a very skilled arranger and performer.

The Winding Shell finds him working with kindred spirit drummer Tyshawn Sorey, the much heralded voice of the new Brooklyn sound. These two artists don't confine their music to the jazz vocabulary; they just might be the descendants of ...

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Julie Tippetts / Martin Archer: Ghosts Of Gold

by Glenn Astarita
September 27, 2009

British vocalist Julie Tippetts' teaming with eminent jazz-rock keyboardist Brian Auger dates back to the late 1960s, featuring her minor-classic covers of works by Bob Dylan and Donovan, among other little gems. Moving forward, she's become a prominent exponent of the European experimental circuit, largely enveloped within her homeland's free-jazz scene. With Ghosts Of Gold, she aligns with the always adventurous, avant-garde and free form artiste Martin Archer, here performing on an arsenal of keys, guitars, percussion instruments, woodwinds and ...

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Summertime Jazz: Still Alive and Swingin' in Los Angeles

by Chuck Koton
September 27, 2009

When the news hit that the Jazz Bakery's last shows (at least at its Culver City location) would take place at the end of May, I feared that a bleak summer lay ahead for Angeleno jazz lovers. Even the reassurances and optimism of the Bakery's long-time director, Ruth Price, about reopening at a new site, did little to assuage my fears that the Southland had lost one of the world's great jazz venues forever. Yet, now that the summer is ...

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Harvey Sorgen / Steve Rust / Michael Jefry Stevens Trio: A Scent in Motion

by Jerry D'Souza
September 27, 2009

Back in the 1990s, pianist Michael Jefry Stevens, drummer Harvey Sorgen and bassist Steven Rust set in motion a trio project which would have them reassemle in a studio every year to improvise. The collaboration led to four albums: Novella (Leo, 2001), Aercine (Drimala, 2002), Decade (NotTwo, 2003), and now, A Scent in Motion.

Stevens, Sorgen and Rust have cast their roots as improvisers. All possess expressive intuition, allowing them to play off each other and work in tandem towards ...

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Leonard Cohen in Belgrade

by Nenad Georgievski
September 27, 2009

Leonard Cohen Belgrade Arena Belgrade, Serbia September 2, 2009

There is a saying that “all wine improves with age," but despite this well known adage it is only in the nature of a few select wines to significantly improve with time. This wisdom also applies in the case of a select few artists as they and their work age gracefully and tastefully as time goes by. Leonard Cohen is someone whose appeal, charm, grace ...

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Mark Buselli: An Old Soul

by Woodrow Wilkins
September 27, 2009

Big band music never really gets old. That is to say that it doesn't have to sound like it's something from the past and ought to stay there. In the hands of an effective composer, arranger and band leader like Mark Buselli, the swinging sound of large horn sections is bound to please. Buselli, who also plays trumpet, is director of Jazz Studies at Ball State University. Since 1994, he has teamed up with trombonist Brent Wallarab to ...

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Live 1973-2007

by John Kelman
September 27, 2009

With all of British mega-group Genesis' studio discography now available in remixed/remastered form, including 5.1 surround mixes and a bevy of bonus audio and video features, the only commercial material left to receive engineer Nick Davis' careful attention is its series of four live albums. These begin with Genesis Live (Charisma, 1973) and end with The Way We Walk--originally issued as two separate releases, The Shorts (Atlantic, 1992) and The Longs (Atlantic, 1993). While Davis' work on the ...

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Sainkho Namchylak / Dickson Dee: Tea Opera

by Glenn Astarita
September 26, 2009

Dickson Dee (Li Chin Sung) is an enterprising artist and businessman, responsible for opening up many doors via Independent label distribution and various production efforts for artists in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He's embedded his wares into a global setting, while also recording for John Zorn's Tzadik label on his 1996 solo debut, PAST. An adventurous proponent of avant live electronics, Dee's craft shines radiantly throughout this persuasive collaboration with experimental and highly-regarded Tuvan throat singer, Sainkho Namchylak.