Jazz Articles

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2009 Montreux Jazz Festival : Chickenfoot, Dave Matthews Band, Steely Dan

by Phillip Woolever
July 15, 2009

Chickenfoot, Dave Matthews Band, Steely Dan Montreux Jazz Festival/Auditorium Stravinski Montreux, Switzerland July 4, 2009

The United States were impeccably represented as the land of the free form during a Fourth of July special that showcased three distinct improvisational imports.

A packed, international crowd of well over 4,000 was ready for fireworks as Steely Dan proved up to the task of opening in the emotionally electrified environment. The veteran songwriting duo of guitarist Walter ...

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Mike Clinco: Neon

by Glenn Astarita
July 15, 2009

As a first-call support artist, you must be an adaptable and, of course, knowledgeable player, possessing a broad musical vernacular. Guitarist Mike Clinco transmits these attributes on his 2009 release, featuring a top-flight ensemble of proven jazz veterans. It's easy to discern why Clinco has been summoned to perform with vocalists Bobby McFerrin and Natalie Cole amid sessions with the late operatic star, Luciano Pavarotti.

Sparked by radiant horn choruses atop the guitarist's largely melodic original compositions, the ...

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Crimson Jazz Trio: King Crimson Songbook Volume 2

by Bruce Lindsay
July 15, 2009

With The King Crimson Songbook Volume 1, (DGM Live, 2005), the Crimson Jazz Trio reinvigorated some of the best tunes from one of the most influential progressive rock bands of all. The trio's drummer, Ian Wallace, played with King Crimson in the 1970s and was crucial to the sound of their fourth album, Islands (Island, 1971), while pianist Jody Nardone and bassist Tim Landers are clearly fans of the band and together the three musicians form a tightly knit ensemble. ...

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Iron City: Put the Flavor On It

by Hrayr Attarian
July 15, 2009

How is it that a record can sound so pleasant but at the same time disappoint? That is the case with Iron City's Put the Flavor On It.

Iron City is an organ trio led by guitarist Charlie Apicella and presumably named after the legendary album by Grant Green, John Patton and Ben Dixon. Although this may bring to mind the guitar/organ/drum trios led by Green himself, Jimmy Smith, and other hard bop giants, the music Put the Flavor On ...

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Vision Festival 2009: Day 3

by John Sharpe
July 14, 2009

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

Yvonne Meier's Scores / David Budbill / William Hooker's Bliss Trio--A Silent Film/Live Music Project / Jason Jordan and Friends / Ernest Dawkins New Horizons Ensemble / Sunny Murray Philly Quartet 14th Annual Vision Festival Abrons Arts Center New York City June 11, 2009

Day three was one of ...

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Jennifer Lee: Quiet Joy

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
July 14, 2009

You cannot judge a jazz CD by its cover, particularly in this age of frankly shoddy-looking self-produced sleeves that may well detract attention from good music inside. The cover of Jennifer Lee's Quiet Joy is not amateurish--on the contrary, it is very tastefully assembled. Nevertheless, it could be misleading. The cover depicts the San Francisco Bay Area-based singer and instrumentalist seated in a leafy flower garden, the details spelled out in a sunny font. The packaging promises the musical equivalent ...

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Fred Anderson: Staying in the Game

by Lyn Horton
July 14, 2009

Bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Tim Daisy open with a rhythmic standard for tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson in Staying In The Game. An innate sense of melody springs from Anderson, a pure-tone player if there ever was one. But even more noteworthy is the ease with which Anderson improvises on one set of phrases.

“Sunday Afternoon" absorbs nearly half of the recording. Mastery of his musicianship over sixty years allows Anderson to manufacture unstoppable variations on his first back-and-forth, up-and-down ...

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Alvin Queen at The Turning Point Cafe

by David A. Orthmann
July 14, 2009

Alvin Queen The Turning Point Cafe Piermont, NY June 22, 2009

A couple of minutes into Shirley Scott's “There's Blues Everywhere," Alvin Queen's medium tempo shuffle beat had a galvanizing effect on his band as well as the normally decorous audience at The Turning Point Cafe. Throughout the fifty minute set, which encompassed a brash rendition of Horace Silver's “Nutville," a ballad treatment of the standard “Old Folks," and a wickedly fast version of ...

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Mark Alban Lotz and Lotz of Music: Bite!

by Bruce Lindsay
July 14, 2009

Jazz has brought many innovative and original approaches to the world of music, but an entire album inspired by fish could well be a first. Flautist Mark Alban Lotz's Bite! offers 19 tracks of fresh, entertaining and uplifting music inspired not just by fish, but by “a dutch view on fish," a combined video and music project. Bite! is a joyous work. The quartet's musicianship is consistently excellent and conveys a clear feeling that the players had ...

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The Sisterhood Of Saxophone Players: Sharel Cassity, Nancy Wright and Pattie Cossentino

by C. Michael Bailey
July 14, 2009

Once a novelty, women saxophone players have been claiming center stage in the last twenty years. Virginia Mayhew, Idit Shner, Clair Daly and Christine Jensen are among the most notable artists in this sisterhood. Add to this list three more names to consider.

Sharel CassityJust for YouDW Records2009

Sharel Cassity is a New School-Julliard trained reedist with a fluid alto tone and assertive approach that says, “Hey, look at me when I'm talkin' to ...