Jazz Articles
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Snarky Puppy's Bob Reynolds Channels Eddie Harris + Tunes from South Africa's Linda Sikhahkhane, Leigh Pilzer, Ralph Alessi, and Early John Coltrane Remastered
by Hobart Taylor
We're a little saxy this week, this one also features Muriel Grossmann and Greg Abate. Playlist Host Speaks 00:00 Linda Sikhakhane Uzalo" from Linda (Blue Note) 00:24 Stella Cole Polka Dots and Moonbeams" from Imagination (Decca) 04:58 Leigh Pilzer Just Another Pretty Song" fromKeep Holding On(Strange Woman) 09:39 Host Speaks 15:00 Ralph Alessi A Sun That Never Sets" from A Sun That Never Sets (ECM) 16:33 Myra Melford Sure Grand Out" from Sure Grand Out (Rogue Art) 23:24 ...
Continue Reading...New Releases From Linda Sikhakhane, Elias Haslanger, Skinny Hightower, Plus Classics From Willie Bobo, Weldon Irvine, Gilberto Gil And Eddie Henderson
by Andy Crowther
The latest smorgasbord of jazz-ish sounds old and brand new, from across the world. With up-tempo jazz-funk bangers to round out the show. Playlist Linda Sikhakhane Indlela" from L I N D A (Blue Note) 00:00 Elias Haslanger Legacy" from Legacy (Cherrywood Records) 04:36 Ulysses Owens Jr. And Generation Y Touch Me I'm Sick" from Kind Of Grunge (Cellar Live) 10:45 Skinny Hightower Nimbus" from Feels Like Destiny (Castover) 16:13 LOX Healing" from The Eight Gates (Jazz Re:freshed) ...
Continue Reading...John Donaldson: We Were Together, I Forget the Rest
by Neil Duggan
Pianist John Donaldson reunites an exceptional cast of long-time collaborators for We Were Together, I Forget the Rest, a deeply personal album written in memory of his late wife, Agatha Coffey. The musicians featured on the recording represent relationships forged across Donaldson's five-decade career. Vocalists Norma Winstone and Rebecka Edlund are joined by drummer Jeff Ballard, saxophonist Iain Ballamy, guitarist Rob Luft, trumpeter Graeme Flowers and bassist Tom Mason. Many of these professional partnerships have evolved into enduring friendships ...
Continue Reading...Bria Skonberg: Indigo
by Jack Bowers
Jazz triple-threat Bria Skonberg is back, singing, scatting and playing eloquent trumpet on Indigo, the Canadian-born artist's eighth recording as leader of her own group (one of which, Bria, earned Canada's JUNO Award in 2017 for best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year). In Skonberg's ongoing back-and-forth between voice and trumpet, voice seems to have gained the upper hand here, as she sings on every one of the album's nine numbers (including one of her own) and plays ...
Continue Reading...Lisa Marie Simmons: NoteSpeak (In a Word)
by Acacia Grace
Lisa Marie Simmons has a story to tell, and she tells it through melody, harmony, spoken word, lively woodwinds, jazz-inflected instrumentation, and a cast of special guests in NoteSpeak (In a Word). This is a unique vocal project, one that feels as much like a work of jazzy poetry and storytelling as it does a traditional album. And Simmons has a way with words throughout the entire project. For NoteSpeak (In a Word)there is a lot happening ...
Continue Reading...Ashley Kahn on the Miracles and Wonder of Paul Simon’s Graceland
by Leo Sidran
Forty years ago this month, Paul Simon released Graceland, an album that became one of the defining records of his career, and one of the most celebrated and debated albums of its era.The story famously begins with a cassette of South African township music that Simon couldn't stop listening to. He followed that sound to Johannesburg, where he began recording with local musicians, eventually building an album that also incorporated zydeco, Norteño music, gospel and the sounds of ...
Continue Reading...CC Syndicate: Flying High
by Ian Patterson
The CC is Peruvian drummer-composer Cote Calmet; the Syndicate is a jazz-funk quartet baring multiple musical signposts. Based in Granada after a decade in Ireland, Calmet has found new creative energy under the Spanish sun. In Andalusia, he has reactivated both Phisqa, his Afro-Peruvian jazz quintet, and CEO(L) Experiment, after long periods of hibernation. African and Latin rhythms are essential drivers of both groups, but with CC Syndicate, Calmet turns to '70s funk and jazz-rock for his grooves.
Continue Reading...Mike Lorenz: I'm Not There
by Andrew Hunter
Following a period of change, upheaval and reflection in his personal life, Mike Lorenz says that this record demonstrates a new approach for him, reflecting both his roots in jazz and the fact that he has been listening to a lot of songwriters; writers such as Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith. The opening track Where Do You Go?" certainly shows songwriterly dexterity in combining different harmonic and melodic ideas into a congruent whole. The trio setting is pure ...
Continue Reading...Dorota Piotrowska, Seamus Blake, Elsa Nilsson, Christian Dillingham & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Two ways to pay tribute to Eddie Harris, and other discoveries from the new releases vault.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Seamus Blake Mean Greens" The Electrifying Seamus Blake--EH! (Cellar Live) 0:16 Host talks 6:11 Slow Poke Listen Here" At Home (Baby Tank) 7:25 Host talks 14:59 Dorota Piotrowska & Sound Circle Upon" Voices of Human Consciousness (Inner Circle Music) 16:40 Christian Dillingham Special Relativity" As It Relates ...
Continue Reading...New releases from Bruce Williams, Rachel Spencer, Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band and Kay Kostopoulos
by George Graham
George Graham spotlights four new releases from Bruce Williams, Rachel Spencer, Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band and Kay Kostopoulos.Playlist Bruce Williams Every Time We Say Goodbye" from Solid Perspective (WJ3) 05:05 Bruce Williams The Matriarch" from Solid Perspective (WJ3) 05:40 Rachel Spencer The Next Right Thing" from The Next Right Thing (self-released) 03:29 Rachel Spencer Bias" from The Next Right Thing (self-released) 07:00 Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band I Saw Her Standing There" from What Next (self-releases) 04:54 ...
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