Jazz Articles

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Laurent Coq: Eight Fragments Of Summer

by Mark F. Turner
August 21, 2009

Eight Fragments of Summer is French pianist Laurent Coq's seventh recording as a leader and his fourth quartet release. A personal ode and memoir to a full summer in New York, in the heat of the city that never sleeps, Coq has recruited an equally hot group including bassist Joe Sanders, drummer Damion Reid, and saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh, who is also from France. An award-winning composer/film scorer who's well lauded in his homeland, Coq finally crossed the ...

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Jeff Rupert: From Memphis to Mobile

by Nicholas F. Mondello
August 21, 2009

Sound and swing. It seems that these two elements of the very DNA of jazz are sadly absent from much of what is offered up in some of today's recorded music. It might be smooth or contrived, but much that's heard doesn't seem in synch with the very essence of the art form. Happily, with From Memphis to Mobile, saxophonist Jeff Rupert and cohorts excel supremely at both sounding and swinging. The CD offers up eleven selections ...

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Take Five With Jerry Engelbach

by AAJ Staff
August 21, 2009

Meet Jerry Engelbach: Jerry is a jazz pianist and graphic designer living in Brooklyn, NY, with his illustrator/comics artist wife, Ann Decker.

Jerry works solo and as leader of his quintet, Weaver of Dreams. He has worked at virtually every major club date venue in the New York Tristate Area, including the Rainbow Room, Cafe Carlyle, Four Seasons, Copacobana, and Tavern on the Green.

Jerry studied art at Cooper Union and briefly, music in the Juilliard Extension Program. He was ...

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Mike DiRubbo: Repercussion

by Woodrow Wilkins
August 21, 2009

Seven originals among nine songs usually means the music will be fresh. Originality and improvisation are key ingredients to saxophonist Mike DiRubbo's Repercussion.After playing clarinet in his early years, DiRubbo, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, switched to alto saxophone and later studied under Jackie McLean. His associations include Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi and Michael Weiss. On Repercussion, he is supported by vibraphonist Steve Nelson, drummer Tony Reedus and bassist Dwayne Burno.The title song is an ...

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Ben Neill: Night Science

by Mark Corroto
August 21, 2009

Miles Davis certainly smiled on musical innovations. Years ago, to keep up with the latest, all that was required was to check out what the late trumpeter was investigating. With Miles gone, the hunt maybe a bit more difficult, but then again Peter Gordon's Thirsty Ear label, under the creative direction of pianist Matthew Shipp, has been a leader in bringing innovation and ingenuity into an intersection with the jazz world.Enter trumpeter Ben Neill. Actually, reenter Ben Neill. ...

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Sean Nowell: The Seeker

by Chris May
August 20, 2009

It would be foolish to describe saxophonist Sean Nowell as a 21st century schizoid tenor man, but two distinct strands characterize the New York-based player's work. On the one hand, Nowell is active in funk and post-fusion styles, with the Kung-Fu Masters and his own MonAtomic groups, among other line-ups. On the other hand, he's a precociously talented straight ahead player, with a gritty and exuberant approach displaying traces of such illustrious forebears as Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Michael ...

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Aaron Choulai Trio: Ranu

by Raul d'Gama Rose
August 20, 2009

It is almost as if just because he does not see like most folks that Papua, New Guinea-born pianist, Aaron Choulai has a heightened sense of hearing, which is so unlike anyone else's sense of hearing. All sound, to Choulai appears to resemble a sort of patchwork quilt with random, vividly colored aural swatches and swathes, at once dissonant and symmetrical, seemingly disparate textures colliding and creating new structures as his fingers touch and feel the white hot and ebony ...

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Alfredo Rodriguez at the Jazz Standard: Cuban Piano Prodigy's NYC Debut

by Giovanni Russonello
August 20, 2009

Alfredo Rodriguez Trio Jazz Standard New York, New York July 28,2009

Alfredo Rodriguez is fond of saying that music has been his life since he was very young. The thing is, he's still very young.

But the story of this 23-year-old pianist's daring defection from Cuba, his uncanny virtuosity--enough to pique the interest of Quincy Jones--and his all-hands-on-deck enthusiasm at the keyboard indicate that music will be his fiber for as long ...

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Steuart Liebig / The Mentones: Angel City Dust

by Glenn Astarita
August 20, 2009

Angel City Dust marks the third outing for bassist Steuart Liebig's largely aggressive and rowdy quartet, where progressive and avant-garde jazz uncannily coexist with high-impact blues-rock. Nevertheless, the musicians can lay claim to a deviating, multi-genre outlook that is morphed into a singular sound, partly due to chromatic harmonica ace Bill Barrett's frontline work with alto saxophonist Tony Atherton. Then Leibig adds another compelling element via his limber bottom-end and fluent unison lines with the soloists.

Drummer Joseph ...

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Dexter Gordon: Doin' Allright

by Matt Marshall
August 20, 2009

Dexter Gordon Doin' Allright Blue Note / Music Matters 2009 (1961)

From the first track of this record--in Blue Note's 45rpm double-disc reissue series--tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon certainly seems to be doing just fine. That opener, “I Was Doing All Right," lilts along with a nice 'n' easy, early 1960s treatment of an insistently positive George Gershwin melody. Gordon doesn't rush his solo, but allows it to intensify naturally from the surrounding breeze. He ...