Jazz Articles

like 427

Oz Noy: Schizophrenic

by John Kelman
September 22, 2009

While other fusion guitarists have received wider international acclaim, Israeli-born, US-resident guitarist Oz Noy has been working in the trenches, slowly amassing a discography as impressive for its writing as it is his tastefully virtuosic playing. Schizophrenic, the guitarist's fourth release since his 2005 Magnatude Records debut, Ha!, demonstrates considerable growth in both departments. Straddling the jazz-rock fusion line--sometimes leaning a little more heavily on one than the other--Noy's music has always defined by visceral groove, inventive melody, and an ...

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Dafnis Prieto Si o Si Quartet: Live At Jazz Standard NYC

by Mark Corroto
September 22, 2009

This date is drummer Dafnis Prieto's fourth as leader and second on his own label, Dafnison Music. Following the 2008 studio date Taking The Soul For A Walk, Prieto reenlisted saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum (Hieroglyphics Ensemble, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Orchestra, Kamikaze Ground Crew) and pianist Manuel Valera (John Patitucci, Paquito D'Rivera, Seamus Blake) for this live session at New York City's Jazz Standard.

Here is a mature player and composer. This 30-something musician was born in Cuba, only moving ...

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Stefon Harris: Authenticity and Audacity

by R.J. DeLuke
September 22, 2009

Authenticity is a special word for vibraphone wizard Stefon Harris when it comes to his art, which springs from the tradition of jazz music, but is approached through a modern lens that takes into account the sounds and perspective of 2009. He has enough audacity--also a special word for Harris--to say it clearly, to elucidate what he is going for in his music. And he has enough audacity on the bandstand to go for it. “It's ...

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Taylor Ho Bynum / Spider Monkey Strings: Madeleine Dreams

by John Sharpe
September 21, 2009

That this is cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum's fourth leadership date so far this year speaks volumes about his growing stature as a bandleader, writer and virtuoso instrumentalist. Justly known as one of celebrated composer/saxophonist Anthony Braxton's foremost interpreters over the last decade, Bynum's star now shines even more brightly in the creative music firmament, thanks to these multiple projects, and parts in Jason Kao Hwang's Edge, the Convergence Quartet and the orchestras of Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor. ...

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Ornette Coleman: Music is a Verb

by Warren Allen
September 21, 2009

"Some people think of music as being on some higher level," Ornette Coleman says by phone from his apartment in New York City. “But basically it's the human being that receives the pleasure from sound. Not from the argument over what it is." There are a lot of questions about Ornette Coleman and the music he makes. Talking with him, trying to parse these questions, can be a learning experience in many ways. Simply put, Coleman isn't ...

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Fred Simon: Since Forever

by John Kelman
September 21, 2009

A pianist of rare compositional lyricism, it's remarkable how one event in Fred Simon's life has led, almost inescapably, to the present. Touring with woodwind multi-instrumentalist Paul McCandless in support of the Oregon co-founder's Premonition (Windham Hill, 1992), the keyboardist found himself onstage with Pat Metheny Group bassist Steve Rodby and soon-to-be-Oregon drummer, Mark Walker. That tour ultimately led to Simon's Remember the River (NAIM, 2004), an intimate chamber jazz affair featuring Rodby and McCandless. With that trio still intact, ...

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Gordon Grdina's East Van Strings: The Breathing of Statues

by Matt Marshall
September 21, 2009

Guitarist/oudist Gordon Grdina has gathered a marvelous string trio to fulfill a longtime desire of producing music in the mode of Béla Bartók. The compositions on The Breathing of Statues were written specifically for the trio involved--violinist Jesse Zubot, violist Eyvind Kang and cellist Peggy Lee--after Grdina had played with them freely. Grdina's writing then served as the structure for the recording date, but “the resulting execution and arrangements," Grdina says, “were forged by the ensemble."

The album opens with ...

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George Colligan: Come Together

by Dan McClenaghan
September 21, 2009

New York-based pianist George Colligan has been prolific since his 1996 debut, Activism (Steeplechase Records), releasing nineteen CDs as a leader. He keeps it fresh with Come Together, a very energetic and modern-sounding piano trio affair.The set opens with the title tune, written before Colligan was born (just barely, in 1969). Penned by John Lennon--the lesser jazz-covered songsmith of the Lennon/McCartney team--Colligan and his trio-mates put some powerful and percussive funk into the tune, using hard edges and ...

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The Beatles: Masterful in 2009

by Doug Collette
September 21, 2009

As with most news concerning The Beatles, the announcement of the release of remastered and repackaged CDs of the group's entire discography seemed at first something to celebrate. Second thoughts arose when details of the exercise were divulged. But over-cerebralization gets in the way of enjoying the music. The nature of the marketplace, and diversities of personal preference, are perhaps more productively viewed as different ways to enjoy the work of a band that has exerted more influence than any ...

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Derek Smith: Latin Expression

by Raul d'Gama Rose
September 20, 2009

The title of Derek Smith's Latin Expression falls somewhat short of the actual experience. It does not even begin to describe the utter joy that arises from the resonant, fluttering, dancing music that swathes the record. Perhaps “Latin Explosion" might have been more appropriate? Steel panist/vibraphonist Smith plunges, body and soul, into a veritable carnival of Afro-Caribbean sounds, acquitting himself with distinction. To many it might have been a challenge to switch back and forth between pans ...