Jazz Articles

like 392

Fake Orchestra: Made In China

by Chris May
August 12, 2009

If you pulled out a map of the western hemisphere, and drew lines tracing the cross-cultural pathways that compose Slovenian band Fake Orchestra's music, the map would end up resembling something an inky spider had been traversing. Its European and Americas areas, in particular, would resemble a complex diagram of highways, arterial routes and secondary roads. Like the British band Orqestra Mahatma, whose Stay Cool (Babel, 2005) inhabits similarly wide ranging cultural territory, Fake Orchestra has an admirable disregard for ...

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Various Artists: Love Train - The Sound Of Philadelphia

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
August 12, 2009

Various ArtistsLove Train--The Sound of PhiladelphiaLegacy/Philadelphia International Records2008 Love Train, 71 songs sprawled across four CDs, brings together a mass of music that has already been anthologized in a variety of forms over the years, though not as exhaustively or attractively. The package accomplishes two things. First, it successfully situates the classic Philly sound as an integral link in the chain of soul music's development, particularly in the interim between the flowering ...

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Paul Taylor: Burnin'

by Woodrow Wilkins
August 12, 2009

It's refreshing when a contemporary artists steps outside the box and revisits an old style of music. Even more so when it's not simply a collection of covers. Paul Taylor scores with Burnin'. A native of Denver and a musical product of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Taylor began developing his saxophone skills at age seven, growing into a garage band that played funk, Top 40 and fusion. As a professional, he's carved a niche as a solo ...

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Fred Hersch: Plays Jobim

by Victor L. Schermer
August 12, 2009

It is a pleasure to follow pianist Fred Hersch's recorded output as he delivers creative and deeply felt solo and small group jazz, seeking to express ideas that sometimes approach the mysterious and ineffable, yet remain rooted in the best of musical expression. In this excellent release, Hersch offers nine solo piano versions of the work of the late great and beloved co-inventor and master of Brazilian bossa nova, Antonio Carlos “Tom" Jobim, many of whose songs, initially brought to ...

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Take Five With Bob Albanese

by AAJ Staff
August 12, 2009

Meet Bob Albanese: Bob Albanese was born in Newark, N.J. in 1957. Growing up and the Jersey shore, he began practicing the piano at age 8. At age 15, he won top honors in the Garden State Talent Expo which culminated in a solo performance at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J. This was the beginning of his professional career. Graduating Neptune High School (Neptune, N.J.) he moved to Boston where he studied at Berklee college of Music ...

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Ben Neuman: Introductions

by John Barron
August 12, 2009

Chicago pianist Ben Neuman explores the realm of piano trio jazz for his debut release Introductions. A straight-ahead affair with clever re-harmonizations of familiar standards, as well as classics by John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Horace Silver, the young pianist demonstrates an enlivened approach to hard-swinging improvisation. A pair of Chicago stalwarts, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer George Fludas join Neuman. Coltrane's challenging “26-2," the disc's opening track, is a bold way to introduce oneself to the listening ...

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Generate Records

by Marc Medwin
August 12, 2009

"It was the DIY movement that inspired me to create a platform for projects that I thought should see the light of day," says percussionist Jeff Arnal of his label, Generate Records. “Friends and I used to make cassettes, which we would distribute in small quantities, but the label format and moving to CDs has allowed more people to hear what we're doing. Having the finished product brings a sort of closure to each project." The small but vital outlet ...

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John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: Eternal Interlude

by Mark F. Turner
August 11, 2009

Like fragments of crystal, John Hollenbeck's large ensemble casts angular lines, unusual shapes and refracts music (rather than light) differently than typical jazz big bands. The prolific drummer/composer's progressive slant has been at the core of The Claudia Quintet's For (Cuneiform, 2007) and Semi-Formal (Cuneiform, 2006); music marked by enigmatic ideas of swing, modern chamber music and wider influences. Like his first large ensemble recording A Blessing (Omnitone, 2005), Eternal Interlude documents Hollenbeck's inventions on grander scale ...

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Matt Renzi: Between the Lines

by Blaine Fallis
August 11, 2009

Matt Renzi is a multi-reedist, best known for his tenor sax playing and clarinet (his two main horns), but who has a knack for picking up other instruments as needed such as oboe, piccolo and flute. His New York City-based trio has been well-recognized for its group improv and composition and has recorded several CDs. Also performing internationally, it tends to push the limits of music that is simultaneously structured and wide open.

A San Francisco native, Renzi ...

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Ramblin' Jack Elliott: A Stranger Here

by Ian Patterson
August 11, 2009

Few living artists can claim to have been mentor and model to Bob Dylan, but the man Dylan described as the King of folk singers-- Ramblin' Jack Elliott--has influenced a host of singers and story tellers from Johnny Cash and Ry Cooder to Tom Waits. Now in his sixth recording decade, Elliott returns in great voice with A Stranger Here, a collection of Depression-era blues numbers.

Elliott has carried on Woody Guthrie's folk tradition, though the blues has ...