Jazz Articles

like 347

Anthony Braxton: Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989

by Glenn Astarita
June 27, 2009

Multi-reed artist and modern visionary, Anthony Braxton's output for the Swiss record label symbolizes his influential methodologies while residing as some of his finest work ever. This reissue of the 1990 Hat Hut Records release is a tour de force featuring British free-jazz drummer Tony Oxley's distinct mode of attack and Austrian bassist Adelhard Roidinger. The program is a study in geometrically designed jazz frameworks, spanning linear and spherical movements, augmented by intersecting sub-themes.

Braxton's spiraling passages consist ...

like 329

Melody Gardot: My One And Only Thrill

by Ian Patterson
June 27, 2009

The old saying 'stick to what you know' has paid handsome dividends for Melody Gardot, for in writing her own songs she is able to express her considerable talent to the full. With the exception of one non-original, (a Brazilian tinged “Somewhere Over the Rainbow") these self penned songs show that Gardot is a poet bursting with lyricism and a balladeer of real class, spiced with panache. Gardot's voice is her own, but exhibits the intimacy of Peggy Lee, the ...

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Discover Jazz Festival, Burlington, Vermont: Garden of Musical Delights

by Doug Collette
June 26, 2009

Discover Jazz Festival 2009: Garden of Delights Burlington, Vermont June 5-14, 2009

---> Observing how the Queen City of Burlington Vermont comes alive during the ten days of the Discover Jazz Festival is akin to the way the spring and summer evolves in the Green Mountains. The plenitude of rain that preceded the inaugural event on June 4th gave way to balmy weather, both trees and grass are as green as they get this ...

like 421

Bonerama Rocks Long's Park in Lancaster, PA

by Wade Luquet
June 26, 2009

Bonerama Long's Park Amphitheater Lancaster, Pennsylvania June 14, 2009While many communities have free summer concerts, few have as an impressive a lineup as the Long's Park Summer Music Series in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With very strong local business support, the Long's Park Amphitheater Foundation is able to bring in such groups as Papa Grows Funk, Kathy Mattea, Los Lobos, Buckwheat Zydeco, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The 71 acre park consisting of picnic ...

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Peter King

by Martin Longley
June 26, 2009

Even though the English alto saxophonist Peter King has only occasionally appeared in New York, over the decades he's visited often enough to be very gradually establishing a connection with the city's scene. This month, King is part of Made In The UK, a touring package organized and funded by The Arts Council Of England, with a host of UK performers set to invade both NYC and the Rochester International Jazz Festival. King's first significant entry onto the ...

like 179

Chris Bates / Jay Epstein / Chris Olson: Framework

by Matthew Warnock
June 26, 2009

Framework is a well-written and engaging modern jazz album featuring the Minneapolis based trio of bassist Chris Bates, drummer Jay Epstein and guitarist Chris Olson. The tunes on the album are a collection of original compositions written by the members of the trio as well as two Wayne Shorter tunes and the scarcely performed, but definitely deserving more attention, “Camino de las Tropas" by Carlos Moscardini. Every tune is creatively arranged in a manner that allows each member of the ...

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Lucky 7's: Pluto Junkyard

by Troy Collins
June 26, 2009

The brainchild of trombonists Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert, the Lucky 7's are a consummate example of post-Vandermark Chicago-based collectivism. Bishop's longstanding work with fellow artists such as Rob Mazurek, Ted Sirota and Ken Vandermark informs his inside-outside approach, lending a forward thinking but historically aware sensibility to this versatile mid-sized ensemble. A New Orleans native, Albert brings the weight of his hometown's history to play in this rousing septet, finding common ground between Big Easy swagger and Windy City ...

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Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: The Moment's Energy

by John Kelman
June 26, 2009

Over the course of a dozen years and four albums, British saxophonist Evan Parker's groundbreaking Electro-Acoustic Ensemble has grown in size and scope, from the sextet that released Toward the Margins (ECM, 1997)--and still remains at the core of the group today--to the 11-piece ensemble responsible for The Eleventh Hour (ECM, 2005). Retaining the careful balance between acoustic instrumentation and electronics, sampling, and processing, the 14-piece Electro-Acoustic Ensemble on The Moment's Energy adds more instrumentation in the form of Peter ...

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Ami Yoshida / Toshimaru Nakamura: Soba to Bara

by John Eyles
June 26, 2009

Over the past decade Japanese Onkyo musicians such as vocalist Ami Yoshida, no-input mixing board player Toshimaru Nakamura, Sachiko M, Taku Unami and Otomo Yoshihide have had a profound effect on improvisers outside Japan, as far away as London, Berlin and USA. Albums by such musicians and their collaborators have been common among the releases from Erstwhile, so it is hardly surprising that the label's latest offering has a distinctly Japanese look to it, including sleeve notes in Japanese by ...

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Scientific Map: Power to the Babies

by Matthew Warnock
June 26, 2009

Power to the Babies brings together funk, house and jazz influences to produce an album that grooves hard with a healthy dose of creative improvisation. The quartet of Will Baggett (bass), Dave Holloway (keys), Matt Hudson (guitar) and Anthony Reid (drums) lay down some seriously funky grooves on every track with a tasteful amount of jazz fusion soloing thrown in for good measure. Melding all of these genres together, Power to the Babies is a cornucopia of groove and melody ...