Jazz Articles

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Ted Daniel: Tapestry and The Loft Years

by John Sharpe
July 4, 2009

Ted Daniel Tapestry Porter Records 2008 Ted Daniel The Loft Years Volume 1 Ujamaa 2009

Though sometimes proposed as a period when little new was happening in jazz, the '70s saw the blossoming of one of the most fertile grassroots periods in the music's history with the Loft Jazz movement. By ...

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Quartet Base: Allo ?

by Henry Smith
July 3, 2009

Pulling from a number of musical outlets, Quartet Base--part of the exciting French Circum collective--voids genre delineations on this, its first offering. Largely stemming from its unique instrumental line-up, including guitarist Sebastien Beaumont, trumpet and vocalist Christophe Motury, bassist Nicolas Mahieux and drummer Peter Orins, the group is able to find the common ground between, at various points, funk, metal, free improvisation and experimental rock, melding them into a unified and distinctive whole.

Fluid and improvisationally ...

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Bill Henderson

by Marcia Hillman
July 3, 2009

To quote Bill Henderson: “The one constant in my life has been singing." So, it is not surprising that in his 83rd year he is still recording and performing live. Born in Chicago, Henderson made his show business debut as a singer and dancer at the age of four, winning in Phil Baker's Artist and Models amateur show. He did a two-year stint in the Army, serving in Europe with a Special Services orchestra and sharing vocal duties with Vic ...

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Ornette Coleman's Reflections on "This Is Our Music"

by Marcus O'Dair
July 3, 2009

Ornette Coleman Royal Festival Hall London June 21, 2009

Like the equally successful All Tomorrow's Parties festivals, London's Meltdown--now in its 16th year--leaves the artist selection process in the hands of a guest curator. Though past candidates have included such phenomenally original artists as Massive Attack and David Bowie, asking Ornette Coleman to oversee the 2009 event must still qualify as one of the festival's braver choices. And the line-up was appropriately impressive, from ...

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Clifford Brown / Sonny Rollins / Max Roach Quintet: Complete Studio Recordings

by Eric J. Iannelli
July 3, 2009

Even now, fifty-three years after Clifford Brown's untimely death (a multiple tragedy that also took the lives of pianist Richie Powell and his wife), his recordings are still being mined for fresh--or rather, refreshed-- releases. Although it's not entirely clear why this particular lineup merits this particular release at this particular time, any Brownie is good Brownie.That said, this is a release for neither longtime jazz listeners nor Brown devotees. It combines two easy-to- find 1956 albums, Clifford ...

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Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band: Tell It Like It Is

by John Kelman
July 3, 2009

Sometimes it's better to work on home turf, with familiar musicians. Mark Isaacs' studio disc, Resurgence (ABC Jazz, 2007), paired the Australian pianist and guitarist James Muller--another Australian talent deserving of far greater attention--with American heavy hitters including drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Jay Anderson and saxophonist Bob Sheppard. But as fine as the relative miniatures of Resurgence were, Isaacs' revamped Resurgence Band and the extended workouts of the live Tell It Like It Is far surpass anything on the previous ...

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Irene Atman: New York Rendezvous

by Edward Blanco
July 3, 2009

Canadian songbird Irene Atman follows her highly acclaimed self-titled, indepedent debut of 2007 with another remarkable effort, this time recording ten gentle standards in an auspicious New York Rendezvous with pianist Frank Kimbrough and other New York players, providing a new meaning to the phrase “New York state of mind." Meeting Kimbrough twenty years ago on, as she states, “a forgettable cruise," Atman reached out to Kimbrough with the thought of recording her second album in New York, to which ...

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Copernicus: disappearance

by Glenn Astarita
July 3, 2009

New York-based performing poet Copernicus talks about sub-atomic particles such as quark gluon plasma, which pertains to the building blocks of matter, and issues centered on the possibilities of an atomic New Orleans. As the press release states, the artist generally improvises upon themes and motifs. Copernicus' artistry and discography spans several decades, with Disappearance effectively transmitting his authoritative presence.

With longtime musical director and instrumentalist Pierce Turner steering the current, the music is firmly entrenched within the ...

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Roberta Gambarini at Dazzle's in Denver

by Geoff Anderson
July 3, 2009

Roberta Gambarini Dazzle Nightclub Denver, Colorado June 19, 2009The really great ones make it sound easy: like walking down the street, nothing to it. That applies to instrumentalists as well as singers. Vocalist Roberta Gambarini unequivocally falls into that category. Friday night at Dazzle, Gambarini showed why she's garnering increased attention in the jazz world and why many people are placing her in the very top rankings of female jazz vocalists.

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Ottawa Jazz Festival 2009: Days 4-6, June 28-30, 2009

by John Kelman
July 2, 2009

Days 1-3 | Days 4-6 Amina Claudine Myers / Gary Burton Quartet Revisited John Roney Silverbirch Project / Julian Lage / Enrico Rava-Stefano Bollani DuoAndy Milne/Benoît Delbecq Crystal Magnets / Sylvain Kassap QuartetTD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival Ottawa, Ontario, Canada June 25-27, 2009 With hot, humid weather hovering over Ottawa and a threat of rain that, other than one brief shower, failed to materialize during ...