Jazz Articles

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Frank Wess Nonet: Once Is Not Enough

by Edward Blanco
July 24, 2009

Known affectionately as “Magic" to his professional colleagues, saxophonist/flautist Frank Wess is a living legend in the jazz world. His résumé includes stints with Billy Eckstine, the Clark Terry Big Band and a decade performing with the Count Basie Orchestra, and he is recognized as one of the first major flautists to have an impact on the music. Once Is Not Enough is an audacious recording that follows his most recent collaboration with Hank Jones on Hank and Frank II ...

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Molde Jazz: Day 6, July 18, 2009

by John Kelman
July 23, 2009

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

Break of Day in Molde / Crimetime Orchestra / Jaga Jazzist / Arve Henriksen Closing ConcertMolde Jazz Molde, Norway July 18, 2009

It's almost impossible to believe, that after the late nights of Molde Jazz, hundreds of people would make the trek halfway up the hill towards where singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen performed the previous evening, to ...

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The New Black: The White Album

by Clifford Allen
July 23, 2009

Percussionist Gino Robair's Rastascan label, based in the Bay Area, has long been a sort of outpost for non-idiomatic improvisation in the US, recording groups like the Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton Trio, German reedman Wolfgang Fuchs, saxophonist John Butcher and guitarist Derek Bailey. Robair studied with AMM percussionist Eddie Prevost in England, as well as composition with Anthony Braxton and Lou Harrison in the United States. In his approach to “selected and unselected" drums (to quote drummer Paul Lovens), cymbals ...

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3Play+: American Waltz

by Bruce Lindsay
July 23, 2009

3Play+ are a quartet, featuring trumpeter Phil Grenadier, pianist Josh Rosen, bassist Lello Molinari and drummer Marcello Pellitteri. Originally a trio, the band became 3Play+ with the addition of Grenadier; presumably the idea of calling the band 4Play was dismissed at an early stage. On the group's debut, American Waltz, it is joined on some tracks by guitarist Mick Goodrick and tenor saxophonist George Garzone. Rosen and Molinari are both professors at Boston's Berklee College of Music. ...

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Brian Blade & Friends at Highline Ballroom

by David Miller
July 23, 2009

Brian Blade & FriendsHighline BallroomNew York, New YorkJune 24, 2009Brian Blade took the Highline Ballroom stage on a humid Wednesday night to mark the release of his singer-songwriter album, Mama Rosa (Verve Music Group, 2009). There was relatively little fanfare, appropriate given Blade's humble disposition and the no-frills content of Mama Rosa and the show to come. Blade wasn't even the first musician to speak. When he and guitarist Daniel Lanois ambled up onstage, Lanois ...

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Shirley Johnson: Blues Attack

by Nic Jones
July 23, 2009

Shirley Johnson can't be accused of lacking musical experience. The weekly artist in residence in Chicago's Blue Chicago club for the last seventeen years, she brings all of that to bear here in a program which exudes the kind of authority only experience can instill.

She covers bases too. The title track is notable for its funk content as much as anything that falls within the blues, but it doesn't seem to matter as she has the kind of voice ...

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Tom Abbs and Frequency Response: Lost + Found

by Lyn Horton
July 23, 2009

Rarely does a recording's clarity of purpose come through in one listening, but bassist Tom Abbs and Frequency Response's Lost + Found fits the bill. The significance of this record originates in the brevity of each of bassist Abbs' eighteen pieces--lasting, on average, only slightly over three minutes, with the longest being six and the shortest about two.

The key to plugging into this album is recognizing that the major concern is the expression of one musical concept after another. ...

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Take Five With Amy Barlow Liberatore

by AAJ Staff
July 23, 2009

Meet Amy Barlow Liberatore: Born in Binghamton, raised among jazz musicians who mentored her from her first club appearance at 17, Amy Barlow Liberatore began her vocal/piano career (New York, Los Angeles, Bermuda, Puerto Rico) playing jazz standards. A lucky break put her on the road with Rickie Lee Jones' first national tour. She later began writing soulful jazz/blues and gospel and recently self-produced her first CD, Jazz Baby Hits Her Stride. She is a resident of the road.

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The Sophisticated Ladies: The Sophisticated Ladies Play Ellington

by John Patten
July 23, 2009

To successfully play a set of standards by Duke Ellington--such as pianist Marie Louise Schmidt, bassist Helle Marstrand, drummer Benita Haastrup and horn player Christina Dahl do on The Sophisticated Ladies play Ellington--requires musicians to become arrangers.

After all, many people are familiar with “Caravan," “In A Sentimental Mood," and Ellington's other master works. Most will be looking for something new.

The Sophisticated Ladies offer up 10 clever and fresh versions of Ellington, handing much of ...

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Kat Edmonson: Take To The Sky

by Holly Holmes
July 23, 2009

Jazz vocalist Kat Edmonson summed up her musical philosophy best when she told journalist Joey Guerra, “I just think good music is good music." The Austin-based singer's album Take To The Sky draws half of its repertoire from America's most timeless Tin Pan Alley songwriters, including the Gershwins and Cole Porter. The other half of the album draws from a wide range of contemporary popular songwriters, including the Cure and John Lennon.This strategy of mixing the classic with ...