Jazz Articles

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Big Awards Day in Gotham

by Dan Morgenstern
August 25, 2009

It's been a while since we last met in my Den, so I thought I'd share a very special summer doubleheader with you.June 16 was a big jazz day in New York. It began in mid-afternoon at the Jazz Standard, with the 13th Annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards. Arriving not long after starting time, I found the joint already jumping with jazz scribes, nominees and acolytes, most of them on line for the club's very good food, ...

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Wayne Krantz/ Keith Carlock / Tim Lefebvre: Krantz Carlock Lefebvre

by Ian Patterson
August 25, 2009

Although notable for being guitarist Wayne Krantz's first studio recording in fifteen years this is, as the title plainly suggests, very much a trio outing. Previously, Krantz, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Keith Carlock have released live recordings through Krantz's website which whilst lacking to a degree in audio quality, nevertheless capture the power and excitement of one of the great electric trios. The challenges and freedoms engendered by recording with a serious outfit like Abstract Logix, for ...

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Wayne Krantz: Back on Track

by Ian Patterson
August 25, 2009

Guitarist Wayne Krantz is one of the great non-conformists. An improviser who avoids stylistic limitations and cliche like the plague, his music draws from diverse elements and welds them sonically to create something quite personal. Krantz has turned his back on recording studios for the last 15 years, choosing instead to release live shows through his own Website. After a month or so, these recordings are removed, as Krantz has little interest in the work which lies behind ...

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U.K., Danger Money and Night After Night Reissues

by John Kelman
August 25, 2009

With violinist and keyboardist Eddie Jobson out of a self-imposed retirement that lasted over two decades, he's been wasting no time getting his name back out to progressive rock fans. 2008 saw the formation of UKZ, a new group following in the footsteps of late 1970s progressive rock supergroup U.K., which he formed alongside ex-King Crimson bassist and vocalist John Wetton, ex-Crimson and Yes drummer and percussionist Bill Bruford and guitar icon-in-the-making Allan Holdsworth, but with an entirely new and ...

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Jake Langley: Here and Now

by Raul d'Gama Rose
August 24, 2009

Like all musicians who inhabit a groove, Jake Langley may very likely get mired in the Hammond B3 and drums trio; that is, record after record could start to sound familiar. But Here and Now gives ample evidence that the guitarist has seized the day and broken free from the blues-laden, Wes Montgomery style that he came to inhabit for some time. And that is good news indeed, for several reasons. First, the relative break from the ...

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Michael Olatuja: Speak

by Eugene Holley, Jr.
August 24, 2009

At its very best, pop music is supposed to be inclusive, and open to a wide variety of styles and genres; that's what makes it pop right? But what is heard on the Internet and the airwaves is at best formulaic, at worst uninspired and superficial. Along with that diagnosis there's the almost Apartheid-like exclusion of any jazz influences, making an already dire sonic situation worse.

Thankfully and miraculously, Speak, the debut recording by the impossibly talented Michael Olatuja--a Nigerian/British ...

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Organ Donations Welcome: Larry Goldings, Gary Versace, Jared Gold

by Mark Corroto
August 24, 2009

Organ jazz records flow into and out of our consciousness evoking memories of the roots of jazz, R&B and easy listening, but also awakening us to the possibilities of new musical exploration.

Whatever inspired Wild Bill Davis, Milt Buckner and Jimmy Smith to take up the organ may never be known. Maybe it was the electricity of the powered keyboards, and the horsepower opportunities to rev up a night club audience, that inspired (and still inspires) artists to ...

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Jim Snidero: Crossfire

by Glenn Astarita
August 24, 2009

Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero is a jazz musician who can perhaps assert that he's “been there, done that." A clinician, author, first-call session ace and solo artist, his craft is synonymous with general excellence within the modern jazz realm. Featuring a resonating and blustery tone, dappled with the occasional edge, Snidero transmits an authoritative presence on Crossfire.

With a top-notch band providing sympathetic support, Snidero effortlessly whirls through snappy bop grooves, abetted by sharpshooter guitarist Paul Bollenback's dark-toned ...

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Take Five With Sean Nowell

by AAJ Staff
August 24, 2009

Meet Sean Nowell:Sean Nowell is a tenor saxophonist and composer from Birmingham, Alabama steeped in the southern traditions of blues, gospel, jazz, and funk fused with the complex harmonic and world rhythmic concepts that permeate the music of New York City.

While in Alabama, he sang in cathedrals with a national touring a cappella choir and was exposed to vocal music from Germany, Eastern Europe, and Africa. He received a BA in Composition from Berklee College of Music ...

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Glenn Patrik: Nuthin' But a Thang!

by Jim Santella
August 24, 2009

From America's heartland, Glenn Patrik sings and plays the kind of blues that made Kansas City a hub where musical pioneers met and exchanged ideas about swing, rhythm, blues, and being spontaneous. It was shortly before World War II and just about the same time that bebop was getting noticed in New York, when Kansas City began its parlay with the blues. Give Charlie Parker credit for much of that early action along with Big Jay McShann, but don't forget ...