Jazz Articles

like 537

Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade

by Larry Taylor
September 3, 2009

Bassist Scott LaFaro was killed in an auto accident in 1961 at only 25, cutting off a career in which he was destined for greatness. Before his death he had already made a name for himself in pianist Bill Evans' groundbreaking trio, which also included drummer Paul Motian. This group was immortalized by its 1961 recording at Village Vanguard, Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie, both released by Riverside the same year. These live dates set the ...

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Open-Air Jazz In And Around Moscow

by Cyril Moshkow
September 3, 2009

Moscow's summer is relatively brief: early June is normally the first really warm time during the year, and the final week of August normally the last; which means that most of the fifteen million people who live in and around the Russian capital try to take full advantage of those three short months. Those who can travel, head to favorite Russian tourist destinations, like Turkey, Cyprus or the shores of the Black Sea; those who own patches of land in ...

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Alexander Hawkins Ensemble at the Vortex, London

by John Sharpe
September 3, 2009

Alexander Hawkins Ensemble The Vortex London, England August 10, 2009

If you can judge a person by the company he keeps, then pianist Alexander Hawkins must be someone to watch given his musical associations, both actual and virtual. The packed house at the Vortex certainly thought so, confounding Hawkins' concern that the crowd might be a little light given a Monday night in the holiday season.

Hawkins has recorded as part of the ...

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Dennis Gonzalez: A Matter Of Blood

by Mark Corroto
September 3, 2009

The reemergence of trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez continues. But, to quote an infamous rapper, “Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years." And Gonzalez has been making music for many years. Since he has lived the last three decades in Texas, the New York-centric jazz world tended to overlook him. With a flurry of activity of late, it is nearly impossible to ignore him.

He recorded for Sweden's Silkheart in the 1980s, and more recently Portugal's Clean ...

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The (Modern) Big Band Era: Dave Rivello, James Carney, Joris Teepe

by J Hunter
September 3, 2009

In an economic climate where jazz quartets are reviving the time-honored “Everybody in one Winnebago" tour strategy, it's amazing that big bands even exist, let alone put out the dynamic, challenging music that's come from Maria Schneider, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the assorted large units associated with maintaining bassist Charles Mingus' legacy. What's more, the aforementioned groups aren't acting alone, as these three discs demonstrate.

Dave Rivello Ensemble Facing the Mirror Allora Records ...

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Susanna and the Magical Orchestra: 3

by John Kelman
September 3, 2009

The ability of musicians on the Norwegian scene to live in a multitude of musical spaces was made clear at Molde Jazz 2009, where trumpeter Arve Henriksen performed in a variety of settings, ranging from the sublime beauty of his Cartography group to more aggressive noise improv with Supersilent. The two members of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra are equally spread out, in particular keyboardist Morten Qvenild, who has worked with groups ranging from indie instrumentalists Jaga Jazzist to more ...

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Jack Cortner: Sound Check

by Robert J. Robbins
September 3, 2009

Back in 2007, veteran composer/arranger Jack Cortner (a longtime ghost for the late arranger and orchestrator Billy Byers) released Fast Track, his illustrious debut as a bandleader for the Jazzed Media label, with ex-Kenton and Herman trumpeter Marvin Stamm and his erstwhile sidekick, pianist Bill Mays, as the principal soloists. With Sound Check, Cortner, Stamm, and Mays return triumphantly with virtually the same ensemble drawn from the cream of New York session and Broadway pit musicians.

Stamm's nimble fluegelhorn and ...

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Frank Wess: Once is Not Enough

by Chris M. Slawecki
September 3, 2009

Dominated by the sound of swinging, good-time blues, Once Is Not Enough indisputably plants NEA Jazz Master Wess in the tradition of Count Basie, in whose Count Basie Orchestra Wess played flute, alto, and tenor saxophones for more than a decade.

This set jumps from the very start: Wess' tenor on his opening, title track sounds neither heavy or deep, but still bounces and strolls like a sharp Saturday night player. His minor blues “Sara's Song" exemplifies the ...

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Rasul Siddik: House of Art

by Clifford Allen
September 3, 2009

The idea of playing free within a set of modes or changes is certainly nothing new in the world of creative music, but it can still be striking when a musician talks about following in the footsteps of Charlie Parker or Max Roach as such. To hear music like that of Paris-based trumpeter Rasul Siddik and his Now! Artet is an instant reminder of how truly vanguard playing can exist in timeworn formats. For House of Art's ...

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Bill Frisell: Disfarmer

by Joel Roberts
September 3, 2009

Guitarist Bill Frisell's latest foray outside jazz into folk-country-Americana is a soundtrack of sorts to an exhibit of photographs by Michael Disfarmer, an eccentric and curmudgeonly portrait artist who recorded stark, stunning black and white images of his fellow townsfolk in rural Arkansas in the 1940s and '50s. Most of the 26 tracks here are sparse, evocative sketches or snapshots, with Frisell and his string quartet of longtime cohorts--Greg Liesz on steel guitar and mandolin, Jenny Scheinman ...