Jazz Articles

like 367

Miles Davis: That's What Happened: Live in Germany 1987

by Graham L. Flanagan
September 13, 2009

Miles DavisThat's What Happened: Live in Germany 1987 Eagle Eye Media2009The idea that Miles Davis “lost his chops" sometime after the '70s has been stated many times. This DVD offers proof that they simply evolved along with the changing musical landscape in order to be (as Miles says in a bonus interview) “up to date." In fact, this performance, captured in Munich circa 1987, shows him in excellent technical form. Davis--often hunched ...

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Darius Jones Trio: Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing)

by Troy Collins
September 12, 2009

Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) is the premier recording of Virginia-born alto saxophonist Darius Jones, a prodigiously talented instrumentalist whose Southern roots shine through on this vivacious debut. A regular sideman to Lewis Barnes, William Hooker, Mike Pride, and Mara Rosenbloom, Jones also leads his own trio, which features bassist Adam Lane and drummer Jason Nazary.

For his first record, Jones recruited drummer Rakalam Bob Moses and multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore--two of his mentors--to be his rhythm section. ...

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Mel Martin Sextet at the Douglas Beach House, Half Moon Bay, CA

by Bill Leikam
September 12, 2009

Mel Martin Sextet Douglas Beach House Half Moon Bay, CaliforniaAugust 16, 2009

Mel Martin and his sextet stepped into a “new" Douglas Beach House Sunday afternoon, August 16 and presented the first acoustic jazz concert to be held there in decades. During the previous week, owner and impresario Pete Douglas decided to go back to the roots of jazz by stripping out the mixing board and the sound system, leaving only a hot ...

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Frank London / Lorin Sklamberg: Tsuker-zis

by Eyal Hareuveni
September 12, 2009

Trumpeter Frank London and vocalist/accordionist Lorin Sklamberg have always attempted to introduce a fresh perspective when redefining traditional Jewish music. As founders of the Grammy award-winning alt-klezmer band The Klezmatics, they adapt ancient and traditional holiday songs of the Jewish diaspora into a modern, surprising sphere.Tsuker-zis, (sugar-sweet), their third installment of Hasidic religious songs and melodies, nigunim--after Nigunim (Tzadik, 1998) and The Zmiros Project (Traditional Crossroads, 2001)--are all exemplary for their vision. They dress the beautiful and touching ...

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Tunto Performs in Helsinki

by Anthony Shaw
September 12, 2009

Tunto Art Goes Kapakka Urho's PubHelsinki, Finland August 22, 2009

There's something rather reassuring about a band that takes the stage with only one microphone between its four members, especially when it's a pub venue. This might seem particularly unusual when one thinks that the group's name in the local lingo means “Feel," and might imply powerful modes of expression. But remember this is a northern locale, where emotions do not run riot ...

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Dominick Farinacci: Lovers, Tales & Dances

by Hrayr Attarian
September 12, 2009

The mass appeal of a jazz recording does not necessarily compromise its value or its artistic integrity; it simply means that the artist has mastered the difficult task of balancing the creative and the commercial. Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci has done just that on his debut album, Lovers, Tales & Dances. Farinacci sounds a lot like Clifford Brown, with the same lyricism albeit without the same range, mastery and fluidity. Some of the material also hints at Brown's ...

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Ladies From Afar

by Nick Catalano
September 12, 2009

This month we celebrate the ever-increasing expansion of jazz overseas, particularly two foreign women who, for different reasons, have captured the jazz spirit: Roberta Gambarini from Torino, Italy and Amina Figarova from Baku, Aserbaijan. Gambarini arrived in New York not long ago and immediately jumped into the Gotham jazz scene, sharing the stage with superstars. Legendary pianist Hank Jones, who appears on her recent CD You Are There (Groovin' High/Emarcy records, 2007), raised many eyebrows when he dubbed ...

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September 2009

by AAJ Staff
September 12, 2009

Jenny ScheinmanLe Poisson RougeNew York City August 4, 2009The chameleon-like but ever electric Nels Cline seemed at first to be an unusual partner for violinist Jenny Scheinman, but if anything the guitarist knows how to make things work and he pushed the quartet (with bassist Matt Penman and drummer Jim Black) even higher in a set that lasted well over an hour at Le Poisson Rouge Aug. 4th. They spent much of the first ...

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Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations

by Karen Hogg
September 12, 2009

Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations Sanford Josephson Softcover; 208 pages ISBN: 0313357005 Praeger 2009 Jazz Notes is more than just a compilation of interviews with jazz greats. In addition to talks with luminaries like Hoagy Carmichael and Dave Brubeck, it includes updated conversations with those who are still living, as well as musicians who played with or were influenced by them. While admittedly not comprehensive, it does ...

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Randy Brecker: Nostaglic Journey: Tykocin Jazz Suite

by Dan McClenaghan
September 11, 2009

Trumpeter Randy Brecker's jazz credentials are of the highest order. The Brecker Brothers, the group he co-led with younger brother/saxophonist Michael, was one of the most successful jazz/funk/fusion groups of the 1970s and '80s. But jazz snobbery/elitism never ran in the family. Brecker has played and recorded with seemingly everybody, from the original Blood, Sweat and Tears on its debut, Child is Father to the Man (Columbia Records, 1968), to albums by Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Dire Straits and Aerosmith.