Jazz Articles

like 566

Denny Zeitlin's Inhabiting a Parallel Universe

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 25, 2009

The artist is alone. Not woefully or desperately alone, but more like willfully alone and enraptured... He empties his head of thought to make way for the flow of air. And in the air, notes of varying pitch and character. They bring their sound alone... then sometimes strung together like necklaces of varying beads--whole ones, halves and quarters... eights... sixteenths... a myriad... The artist feels good to be alone, emptied of all thought now he is prepared for the waves ...

like 380

Carl Maguire's Floriculture: Sided Silver Solid

by Nic Jones
June 25, 2009

It's been three years since Floriculture (Between the Lines, 2006), but it's been worth the wait. Maguire has one of those talents which manifest itself in singularity of vision, as opposed to prodigious technique that is analytically applied. What's happened in the period between his first release and this one is that his gifts have coalesced and become more of a coherent whole, even while he's evidently moved into a rarefied stream of chamber jazz. Perhaps that has as much ...

like 215

Ralph Lalama at The Turning Point Cafe

by David A. Orthmann
June 25, 2009

Ralph Lalama The Turning Point Café Piermont, NY May 18, 2009

On Mondays, tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama plays in the reed section and is one of the featured soloists of the venerable Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He recently took a night off to lead a quartet at The Turning Point Café, a small, comfortable venue about 25 miles north of Manhattan. The gig generated some advance buzz because Lalama was slated to come in with ...

like 197

Steven Hashimoto's Mothra: Tradewind

by Matthew Warnock
June 25, 2009

Tradewind is an intellectually stimulating and highly entertaining modern jazz album by Chicago bassist Steven Hashimoto's group, Mothra. It features a highly accomplished lineup of musicians including guitarist Neal Alger, vibraphonist Kathy Kelly, saxophonists Dan Hesler and Michael Levin, and drummer Heath Chappell. Their adventurous grooves, complex chord progressions, and twisting and turning melody lines flow naturally throughout with a high level of ensemble interaction.Hashimoto's electric bass style is reminiscent of the recordings of the late, great Jaco ...

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June 2009

by Michael Ricci
June 25, 2009

Dear fellow AAJ contributor,

2009 continues to be our year as we recently won our 8th consecutive Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) Jazz Award for best website. For more exciting news please read on... AAJ: Built to Last Embedded Comments and Pagination Gina Vodegel: How You Can Help Big Numbers Jason Crane's Podcast of the Week CD Assignments Looking for reviews of... Get Your Jazz Widgets! Thank You, Chris May! AAJ: Built to ...

like 364

Peter Evans: Nature/Culture

by John Eyles
June 25, 2009

Peter Evans' previous solo album, More is More (Psi, 2006), began an unbroken sequence of releases that demonstrates why the trumpeter is increasingly regarded with a mixture of awe and wonder. That solo album was followed by his debut as a leader, The Peter Evans Quartet (Firehouse 12, 2007) and Check for Monsters (Emanem, 2009), featuring a fine chamber improv trio with cellist Okkyung Lee and multi-instrumentalist Steve Beresford. These albums have been backed up by a variety of gigs ...

like 446

Eleni Karaindrou: Dust of Time

by John Kelman
June 25, 2009

For nearly 20 years Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou has been scoring the films of fellow countryman Theo Angelopoulos, perhaps the single greatest nod to ECM producer/label head Manfred Eicher's ongoing love of both music and film--and, in particular, the way the two, at their best, seamlessly intersect to create something bigger than either one alone. The most obvious and quoted instance of how music elevates film has been Bernard Hermann's memorable score to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)--in particular the infamous ...

like 195

East West Quintet: Vast

by Glenn Astarita
June 25, 2009

Enthusiastic youth coupled with solid musicianship and strong compositions offer the winning edge by this Brooklyn, New York-based ensemble that started in 2003 as a bop unit inspired by Cannonball Adderley. Time marches on and now this quintet delves into that opaque line that teeters between jazz-rock and jazz-fusion. Recorded to two-inch tape, the band projects a massive wall of sound, especially during the driving and rhythmically forceful pieces. It's a judicious representation of the artists' distinct stylizations that casts ...

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Louis Sclavis: Lost on the Way

by John Kelman
June 24, 2009

Over the course eight albums, French clarinetist/saxophonist Louis Sclavis has carved his own niche on ECM. Every album possesses a different complexion--from the acoustic free play of Acoustic Quartet (1994) and aggressively open-ended variations of composer Jean-Phillip Rameau's work on Les Violences de Rameau (1996) to the more structured soundtrack for Charles Vanel's 1929 film, Dans La Nuit (2002) and outstanding writing on the oftentimes knotty but always captivating L'affrontement des prétendants (2001). As different as each project is--including 2007's ...

like 1,102

Bill Frisell: The Quiet Genius

by Lloyd N. Peterson Jr.
June 24, 2009

If there is a given within the music of guitarist Bill Frisell, it's the honest approach in every note he composes and plays. There are no compromises. His magical world of creativity incorporates yet transcends all styles and genres of music, and as one of today's most original and innovative composers, he has created a unique and distinct voice that has developed into his own personal musical language. Without perhaps trying to do so, Frisell creates the ...