Jazz Articles

like 238

Peter Kowald / Vinny Golia: Mythology

by Nic Jones
August 16, 2009

Kowald and Golia have been valued players in the realms of the free for long enough to have established their musical identities, but what makes all the difference in this program is the extra-musical knowledge they bring to bear.

Golia brings a veritable arsenal of instruments whilst Kowald employs various techniques. Both of these points lend the music depth as well as the substance that can be taken for granted. As if to emphasize the importance of this, the track ...

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Tyshawn Sorey

by Kurt Gottschalk
August 16, 2009

This month at The Stone could be seen as a number of things. It might be a belated and prolonged birthday party for Tyshawn Sorey, who turned 29 in July. Or it could be a send-off for the percussionist/pianist (and erstwhile trombonist), who will be moving to Connecticut to study composition at Wesleyan University. Or it might just be a much-deserved opportunity for a gifted and prolific musical mind. Sorey took the opportunity to curate the month as ...

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Steve Kuhn Trio w/ Joe Lovano: Mostly Coltrane

by Troy Collins
August 16, 2009

Mostly Coltrane is pianist Steve Kuhn's venerable ode to his onetime employer, John Coltrane, with whom he played for eight weeks in early 1960 at New York City's Jazz Gallery. Kuhn revisits those seminal days without ignoring Coltrane's later period advancements, extrapolating his controversial innovations with rare lyricism and tenderness--a uniquely beautiful tribute unencumbered by nostalgic sentimentality.

Mirroring the instrumentation of Coltrane's Classic Quartet, (which featured pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones), Kuhn is ...

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Icons Among Us: An Epic Jazz Documentary, Part 2

by Nick Catalano
August 16, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2

This seminal documentary continues on the second CD with a scene straight out of a typical Gotham jazz collaboration: singer Gretchen Parlato and pianist Aaron Parks are together in a NYC apartment working out a vocal arrangement. Gretchen is heard commenting on the vagaries of jazz singing and the associated career moves that she continues to work at. In the background the camera pans areas of the New York skyline while a delightful ...

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Take Five With Erik Applegate

by AAJ Staff
August 16, 2009

Meet Erik Applegate: Erik Applegate has been called “a top-notch acoustic bass performer" (Jazzreview.com), and he has appeared with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Nnenna Freelon, Milt Jackson, Jeff Coffin, Eddie Daniels, Ingrid Jensen, George Garzone, Tom Harrell, Marlena Shaw, and others. He toured with James Williams and in a trio with Harold Mabern and Ed Thigpen, and has performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Applegate's CD Red Skies showcases his playing and songwriting in a ...

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Yes with Special Guest Asia at The Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury, NY

by Mike Perciaccante
August 15, 2009

Yes with Special Guest Asia Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury Westbury, New York Friday, July 31, 2009

British Progressive supergroup Asia and Progressive Rock godfathers Yes each performed strong sets “in the round" on the revolving stage at the intimate Westbury venue on this rainy Friday evening in Long Island.

Asia, the early 1980s group created by melding the talents of members of King Crimson (bassist John Wetton), Emerson, Lake ...

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Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker: Work To Do

by Angela Davis
August 15, 2009

On Carl Allen and Rodney Whitaker's Work to Do, their second collaboration with Mack Avenue Records, the musicians focus on groove, beauty and respect for the tradition.

Allen and Whitaker provide a swinging backdrop for some of New York's finest and most respected musicians, including guitarist Rodney Jones and saxophonist Vincent Herring, two very distinctive contributors to the album. Joined by five other accomplished artists, the A-list lineup combines to make an electrifying 9-piece ensemble.

Work ...

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Jessica Williams: Art of the Piano

by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2009

Pianist Jessica Williams' third Origin Records CD, The Art of the Piano, brings to mind Brad Mehldau's Art of the Trio series that ran through five discs. In Mehldau's case the recordings were, of course, with his trio, featuring bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy (later, Jeff Ballard). Williams' three sets on Origin are all solo efforts, and they are all marvelous explorations of the pianist's singular artistry.Williams, who sat in with Philly Joe Jones' group back ...

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The Ghosts of Harlem (Sessions with Jazz Legends)

by Russ Musto
August 15, 2009

The Ghosts of Harlem (Sessions with Jazz Legends) Hank O'Neal Paperback; 496 pages ISBN: 0826516270 Vanderbilt University Press 2009

Hank O'Neal is a jazz renaissance man--an author, photographer, concert promoter, label owner and record producer. Best known for his role as the owner/operator of Chiaroscuro Records, O'Neal's appreciation of the “older pioneers of traditional jazz" has long been recognized. His considerable abilities as a photographer, while not as well known ...

like 208

Boris Savoldelli / Elliott Sharp: Protoplasmic

by Nic Jones
August 15, 2009

Boris Savoldelli doesn't even occupy the same rarefied territory as Phil Minton when it comes to free vocalizing. Instead, he carves out his own niche through his use of various electronic manipulations. However, it's guitarist Elliott Sharp's input that makes all the difference on Protoplasmic.

“Prelude To Biocosmo Pt. One" could almost be a comment on these media-saturated days. Savoldelli takes language, and doesn't so much manipulate it as deconstruct it, stretching syllables so they're eventually overcome by the ether. ...