Jazz Articles

like 233

Big Train: Travels

by John Patten
September 25, 2009

Big Train, a quartet composed of pianist Jeremy Bacon, drummer Jeff Ballard, saxophonist Justin Flynn and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, showcase nine original compositions on Travels, with songwriting duties split between Bacon and Flynn.This third recording shows Big Train to be full of flexibility, tackling complex rhythms while still swinging strongly throughout.

Flynn gets a lot of work on the release, stating most of the heads and generally getting the first solos. He's got the chops for ...

like 306

Urban Hansson: Flute Fascination

by Hrayr Attarian
September 25, 2009

Instrumental jazz duet recordings that are not piano-based are a rarity; one that comes to mind is guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter's Alone Together (Milestone, 1972). But a disc made up of exclusively flute “conversations" with other less commonly used instruments (at least in this setting) is almost unheard of. Swedish flutist Urban Hansson pulls off this daunting task with some degree of success on Flute Fascination, as he utilizes different partners on each track, ranging from a ...

like 630

Part 3 - Tunde Williams / Lekan Animashaun: Mr Big Mouth / Low Profile (Not For The Blacks)

by Chris May
September 24, 2009

The first two entries in the Afrobeat Diaries looked at the extraordinarily courageous albums with which Fela Kuti took on the Nigerian military regime during the mid to late 1970s. Part 3 revisits two outstanding albums made by key Afrika 70 members during the same period--trumpeter Tunde Williams' Mr Big Mouth (Afrodisia, 1977), recorded in 1975, and baritone saxophonist Lekan Animashaun's Low Profile (Not For The Blacks) (Kalakuta Records, 1995), recorded in 1979 with additional recording in 1986.

like 515

Next Order: Live-Refined

by John Kelman
September 24, 2009

Despite locating its releases in places requiring a journey off the beaten path, the music of Next Order has always been well worth the trip. Since emerging with the appropriately titled Live-2003 (Order Tone, 2003), this Japanese fusion outfit has been working an intriguing nexus point where high energy, metal-edged improvisation, hints of British Canterbury, touches of King Crimson, and trace elements of American jazz guitarists including John Scofield and Pat Metheny meet. Live-Refined represents a further honing of the ...

like 151

George Colligan: Come Together

by Raul d'Gama Rose
September 24, 2009

Mathematically, it would be well nigh impossible to count the multitude of sensory organs and multiplicity of fingers (and thumbs) at work in pianist George Colligan on Come Together. Sometimes they work in unison, while at other times quite independent of each other, to produce daring polytonality. In a voice as charismatic as an evangelist at a convention, Colligan often sounds blasé and forthright; but there are times, when the music calls for it; that he turns so soft and ...

like 477

John Tchicai at Cafe Oto in London

by John Sharpe
September 24, 2009

John Tchicai / John Edwards / Tony Marsh Cafe Oto London August 24, 2009Having played with John Coltrane on his groundbreaking Ascension (Impulse, 1965), it was no surprise that Danish reedman John Tchicai attracted a large crowd on one of his infrequent London appearances at Dalston's Cafe Oto.

What was more of a surprise was the predominantly young audience, none of whom would have been born when Tchicai first made waves ...

like 255

Ken Vandermark / Barry Guy / Mark Sanders: Fox Fire

by Mark Corroto
September 24, 2009

The audience has been removed from these live concerts, recorded in 2008 in Birmingham and Leeds, featuring American reedman Ken Vandermark alongside British drummer Mark Sanders and bassist Barry Guy. Despite the constraints of a short, five-day UK tour of only six concerts, there's much to savor in the resulting two discs, for connoisseurs of creative music.

Granted, there is no such thing as a “perfect" freely improvised recording. Listening to a recording is different from attending the ...

like 513

September 2009

by Michael Ricci
September 24, 2009

Dear fellow musician: We have some good news to share, and we'd also like to invite all interested Beatles fans to submit a quote to AAJ for possible inclusion in our upcoming “Jazz Honors the Beatles" article. Please read on...Index Submit Your Beatles Quote! Update Your Profile With Your Twitter and Facebook Links Free PR: “Take Five With..." and MP3 Download of the Day Add Value to Your Website, Blog or Facebook ...

like 309

Jan Garbarek Group: Dresden

by Dan McClenaghan
September 24, 2009

For those new to the explorations of jazz, Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek could be a new name. Never a prolific artist, Dresden is his first release in five years, following In Praise of Dreams (ECM Records, 2004). It was another five years between that disc and its predecessor, Mnemosyne (ECM Records, 1999).But for fans who have been in it for the long haul--and for those open to the European jazz listening experience--Dresden is further proof of Garbarek's ongoing ...

like 353

Paul Motian: On Broadway Vol. 5

by Mark F. Turner
September 23, 2009

An unorthodox timekeeper and masterful drummer, Paul Motian's momentum has not waned since working with Bill Evans in the 1950s, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and Keith Jarrett's American Quartet in the 1960s, and, more recently, younger artists including Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik and Mat Maneri in Two Miles a Day (Loyal Label, 2007). Among Motian's many recordings as a leader, his On Broadway series started in 1989, on the German JMT label, featuring past members Bill Frisell and Joe ...