Jazz Articles

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Take Five With Mark Alban Lotz

by AAJ Staff
July 30, 2009

Meet Mark Alban Lotz: Improviser and composer. Exponent of the new generation of truly European jazz musicians. Highly skilled and broadly informed heading for something new. Gained a lot international acclaim for his interpretations of Afro-Cuban religious folklore, quickly followed by his creations of: “Pygmee-Bop" and “Whisper Music." In his music Mark builds a bridge between jazz and contemporary music, often crossing boarders with other traditions.

Released 12 CDs as leader. Performed/recorded with top improvisers, jazz ...

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National Health: National Health / Of Queues and Cures

by John Kelman
July 30, 2009

Keyboardist Dave Stewart first emerged with Uriel and Egg--two early Canterbury groups that initially expanded on the psychedelia of earlier progenitor Soft Machine but ultimately created their own space where rock, classical and even hints of jazz music met. But Stewart truly hit his stride with Hatfield and the North, whose two Virgin albums--the impressive Hatfield and the North (1973) and undisputed Canterbury classic The Rotters Club (1975)--beautifully side-stepped all traces of progressive rock self-indulgence with a self-effacing sense of ...

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Pori Jazz: Finland's Finest Festival

by Anthony Shaw
July 29, 2009

44th International Pori Jazz FestivalPori, FinlandJuly 10-18, 2009

Summer festivals have been a feature of the music scene probably since time immemorial--Wolfgang Mozart was very familiar with the concept at least, writing commissions for evening fêtes and soirées. And it has surely always been an inescapable fact that the weather can make or break the show. All festival organizers and audiences have to contend with this unfortunate fact of life, and one can only guess how Wolfgang and ...

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John Surman: Brewster's Rooster

by John Kelman
July 29, 2009

After a string of more jazz-centric ECM releases--1992's relatively free Adventure Playground, the large ensemble of 1993's The Brass Project, and the only document of his ongoing quartet with pianist John Taylor, bassist Chris Laurence and drummer John Marshall, 1994's Stranger Than Fiction--saxophonist John Surman's subsequent output for the label has consisted of unorthodox but no less intriguing projects. From solo recordings (1995's A Biography of The Rev. Absalom Dawe) and works for saxophone/bass clarinet and string ensemble (2007's The ...

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Amadou & Mariam: The Magic Couple

by Chris May
July 29, 2009

Amadou & Mariam The Magic Couple Wrasse Records 2009

For most people outside Mali, and maybe France, Amadou & Mariam came out of nowhere in 2005 with Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch). But the duo had released three other, Paris-recorded CDs before their Manu Chao-produced breakthrough, which were themselves preceded by a series of cassette-only albums recorded in Cote d'Ivoire. The excellent anthology The Magic Couple cherry picks 76 minutes of beaten gold ...

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Jimmy Bennington Trio: Another Friend: The Music of Herbie Nichols

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 29, 2009

The music of pianist and composer Herbie Nichols (1919-1963) has experienced something a renaissance in recent years. This is, in no small part, due to the tireless work of trombonist Roswell Rudd, who has recorded his compositions and published the book Herbie Nichols: The Unpublished Works (2000), containing 27 of Nichols' compositions.

Thus, thanks to the work of Rudd, drummer Jimmy Bennington and his trio have been able to record a tribute album to Nichols: Another Friend: The Music of ...

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Sylvain Provost: Desirs Demodes

by Robert J. Lewis
July 29, 2009

Sylvain Provost Désirs Démodés Effendi Records 2009

If you've been among the very best in your chosen field (of jazz piano) over a long career, there will inevitably come a time when what you say carries as much weight as what you play. So when pianist Oliver Jones, second perhaps only to the great Oscar Peterson in the genre, sings the praises of Montreal jazz guitarist Sylvain Provost, people take notice--and listen. ...

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Jon Alberts / Jeff Johnson / Tad Britton: Apothecary

by Dan McClenaghan
July 29, 2009

An Internet search for the Fu Kun Wu Lounge in Seattle, Washington's Ballard neighborhood, reveals one patron's assessment of it as “one of the best kept secrets of the Seattle Jazz Scene." Many of the city's dynamic Origin Records stars perform in the converted Chinese herbalist's shop; players like pianists Bill Anschell and Marc Seales, saxophonist Hans Teuber and bassist Jeff “Free" Johnson. So how the lounge remains a secret is a mystery.Pianist/entrepreneur Jon Alberts, the owner of ...

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Take Five With Adam Shulman

by AAJ Staff
July 29, 2009

Meet Adam Shulman:Adam Shulman has been a staple of the San Francisco jazz scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before the move, Adam was a student at UC Santa Cruz, where he studied with the great Smith Dobson and trumpeter/arranger Ray Brown. He received his degree in classical performance under the tutelage of Russian pianist Maria Ezerova. Currently, Adam plays regularly with Marcus Shelby, in large and small group contexts, and with Anton Schwartz mostly ...

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Second Sight: Flying With The Comet

by Warren Allen
July 28, 2009

Some jazz fans have come to look down on the '80s as a lost decade. A band like Second Sight shows just how wrong they can be, with the reissued Flying with the Comet (1986) thrumming with intensity.

The brainchild of pianist and composer John Esposito, the band refuses to choose between tradition and innovation. All the traces of the past greats who inspired this music show up clear and sharp as ever in the sound and spirit; that said, ...