Jazz Articles

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Stockholm Jazz Fest 2009

by Dan Hafstrom
July 22, 2009

Stockholm Jazz FestivalSkeppsholmenStockholm, SwedenJuly 15-19, 2009

Lee Ritenour/Richard Galliano/Jon Hasse Lennart Aberg/Oddjob/Nina Simone Tribute/SMV/Sonny Rollins Joss Stone/Erykah Badu --->

Lee Ritenour/Richard Galliano/Jon HasseJuly 15, 2009

After financial problems and last year's peculiar bookings, (Patti Smith on a jazz festival program?) The Stockholm Jazz Fest seems to be back on its feet. Held for the 26th time, this year's program could be the strongest ...

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John Zorn: O'o

by Troy Collins
July 22, 2009

Named after an extinct Hawaiian bird, O'o is the charming follow up to the self-titled debut of composer John Zorn's most accessible project, The Dreamers. Culled from Zorn's inner circle of longstanding collaborators, this all-star sextet of Downtown veterans explores his most tuneful compositions, threading aspects of easy listening, exotica, film soundtracks, surf, and world music into an evocative panorama.

Zorn's recent forays into conventional song forms and traditional structures reveal a softening approach to composition. Though no ...

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Molde Jazz: Day 5, July 17, 2009

by John Kelman
July 22, 2009

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

Leonard CohenMolde Jazz Molde, Norway July 17, 2009

One of the best parts of attending a Norwegian festival is the incredible hospitality and generosity afforded to its guests. From Tuesday through Friday during the course of Molde Jazz, there's the opportunity to take a boat out to Hjertøya, an island not far off the ...

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Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings: Renegades

by Nic Jones
July 22, 2009

Here's where Nicole Mitchell's art comes together. Whereas her previous releases could have been marked by the perhaps inevitable signs of individuality coming into being, here the overall coherence of the music is extraordinary, aided in no small part by her choice of cohorts and their evidently strong commitment to group identity and singular music possessed of infinite variety and shades. In short, both Mitchell and the Black Earth Strings have come of age.

The knowledge of it starts from ...

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Adam Shulman Quintet: Patterns Of Change

by Bruce Lindsay
July 22, 2009

Patterns Of Change is pianist Adam Shulman's second CD, and features the trio of musicians who appeared on his debut, On Second Thought (Kabocha Records, 2008)--tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist John Wiitala and drummer Jon Arkin. This release also sees the addition of trumpeter/flugelhornist Mike Olmos, bringing added depth and a wider palette of sounds to this assured collection of eight Shulman compositions. In Shulman's liner notes he discusses the inspiration for the album and its title: ...

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Arve Henriksen: Cartography

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
July 22, 2009

Arve Henriksen Cartography ECM 2008

Talking about the album Cartography, trumpeter Arve Henriksen says, “...I've been feeling uncomfortable with the idea of ending up playing 'improvised jazz.'" It's an unusual thing to say, particularly coming from a musician who has contributed vitally to a host of releases on ECM, one of the most celebrated jazz labels in the world. Is he opposed to improvisation, or to jazz? Or both? It turns out ...

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Grateful Dead: Road Trips Volume 2, Number 3

by Doug Collette
July 22, 2009

Recorded in the summer of 1974, marking the initial use of the famed “Wall of Sound" system, this latest edition of the Grateful Dead archive series finds the band scaling what may be the pinnacle of its performing powers. At the same time, the group was devoting its organization's resources of time, money and expertise to the massive sound system that offered them and their audiences the most realistic sound imaginable.

Secure in the knowledge that one of their primary ...

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Take Five With Sinan Bakir

by AAJ Staff
July 22, 2009

Meet Sinan Bakir:Sinan Bakir is one of the most unique and exciting young jazz guitarists on the scene today. The sound that Sinan is striving for described often as fresh, clean and lively yet intense and full with emotion. Sinan Bakir is hailed not only as a virtuoso player, but also a masterful composer. His album On My Way, with Thomson Kneeland and Mark Ferber, s described by Richard Kamins of The Hartford Courant as “a solid debut. ...

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Pablo Held: Forest Of Oblivion

by Jerry D'Souza
July 22, 2009

Pianist Pablo Held showed early promise by winning three Young Jazz Musician competitions in Germany, the first when he was just 13. He then went into august company playing with the WDR Big Band and trumpeter Manfred Schoof.

On Forest of Oblivion, his first as a leader, Held shows just why he has been such a strong presence. He plays with a subtle urge for nuance, letting his music glow. Just as certainly, he can turn up the beat and ...

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Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2009

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 21, 2009

Copenhagen Jazz Festival Various Venues Copenhagen, Denmark July 3-12, 2009 In a survey conducted recently by the renowned Monocle Magazine (volume 03, issue 25), Copenhagen was selected as the second best city in the world due to its safety, atmosphere, welfare, infrastructure and--one could be tempted to add--its jazz festival. Over the years, Copenhagen Jazz Festival has established itself as an international event, which brings together a plethora of people ...