Jazz Articles

like 507

Keletigui et ses Tambourinis: The Syliphone Years: 1968 - 1976

by Chris May
July 18, 2009

Keletigui et ses Tambourinis The Syliphone Years: 1968 - 1976 Sterns 2009

In Memoriam: Keletigui Traore: 26 May 1934 - 11 November 2008

The fourth release in the Sterns label's series anthologising Guinea's tradition-rooted “authenticite" bands of the 1960s and 1970s follows close on the death of its illustrious subject. The tenor saxophonist, flautist, organist and vocalist Keletigui Traore, who did much to shape the authenticity movement and who led ...

like 243

Hiroshima: Legacy

by Jeff Winbush
July 18, 2009

For a band as long-lived as Hiroshima--and one that has enjoyed as extensive a recording career--the gap in its career is the lack of a proper retrospective of 30 years in the music industry.Legacy represents both a celebration of Hiroshima's first decade and something of a compromise. Over 11 tracks the group revisits some of its best-known recordings, including “One Wish," “Hawaiian Electric" and “Winds of Change," but these are new re-recordings of the songs, not the original ...

like 398

Icons Among Us: An Epic Jazz Documentary, Part 1

by Nick Catalano
July 18, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2

A host of visionary producers in Seattle have produced an extraordinary TV documentary on the state of contemporary jazz art and artists. Dubbed Icons Among Us: Jazz In the Present Tense, the four-part program features a virtual who's who of young jazz performers talking about their creative struggles and playing their music as they forge new paths of expression. The program is so comprehensive and carefully wrought that it deserves a review that ...

like 319

Nicolas Thys: Virgo

by Woodrow Wilkins
July 18, 2009

Layers, blends and individuality can make for a diverse music set. Bassist Nicolas Thys brings that with all-original songs on Virgo. Thys is a native of Brussels, Belgium. His first instruments were piano and flute, but at the age of 13, he switched to electric bass. Over the years, he's earned several European jazz honors, and he's performed at some of the region's main events, including North Sea and Montreux. He has performed as a sideman for ...

like 233

Take Five With Mike Beasley

by AAJ Staff
July 18, 2009

Meet Mike Beasley: I started playing the piano at a early age taking a couple of years' lessons but got bored with classical music. I drop reading scores and spent most of my time picking tunes on the piano. I started a band around 18, and played in a number of funk and rock bands. I now perform music for plays, exhibitions, and demos for electronic instruments (XLN Audio). I play in three different bands (la petite machine) and have ...

like 245

Talibam!: Boogie in the Breeze Blocks

by Raul d'Gama Rose
July 18, 2009

At first, Talibam!'s Boogie in the Breeze Blocks appears to be regurgitated Doors-meets-Frank Zappa-meets-Ornette Coleman-meets razor-sharp punk. But then, why waste time trying to do what many would, which is put anything new in a category?

This is wildly new music, fresh in its approach to the collision of melody, harmony and rhythm that makes for quite a soup for the songs to swim in. The clear influence of Jim Morrison gives the lyrics edgy and intoxicating raucousness. ...

like 853

Billie Holiday Fifty Years Later: A Tribute and Reassessment

by Victor L. Schermer
July 17, 2009

Fifty years ago, on July 17, 1959, Billie Holiday died an untimely death at age 44 in a New York hospital from complications of drug and alcohol dependency. Now, half a century after her passing, it is an appropriate hommage to reflect once again on her legacy as a singer, an African American woman, a victim-- of a traumatic childhood, spousal abuse, and substance dependence--and a powerful creative force for the times she lived in. Though less of a “pop ...

like 368

Laurence Hobgood: When The Heart Dances

by Warren Allen
July 17, 2009

The old adage of “less is more" shows up more than it should, but every now and then proves itself remarkably apt in the world of music. When The Heart Dances features pianist Laurence Hobgood scaling back the typical rhythm trio to just himself and bass maestro Charlie Haden. And while it's hardly the first time the setup has been tried, it works to great effect with these two.

The result is mellow but nuanced music. An opener like “Que ...

like 221

Josh Berman: Old Idea

by Nic Jones
July 17, 2009

If it really is about old ideas, as the title of this album by cornetist Josh Berman states, then the ones expressed here are done so in collective tongues fresh enough to be transformative, from mouths breathing new life into them. Berman has been a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music community for awhile now, and he brings his experience to bear on his first date as a leader, in a manner that others would do well to observe.

This ...

like 879

Vision Festival 2009: Day 5

by John Sharpe
July 17, 2009

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Seth Meicht's Big Sound Ensemble / Bear and Eagle / Darius Jones Trio / Matthew Shipp / Rob Brown Trio / Milford Graves Quartet / Lisa Sokolov Trio / Joe Morris GoGo Mambo 14th Annual Vision Festival Abrons Arts Center New York City June 13, 2009

As in previous years the Saturday afternoon ...