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Jason Kruk: Beyond the Veil
by Glenn Astarita
Veteran New York City-based drummer and composer Jason Kruk leverages decades of technical precision and international touring into a major leap forward on Sun Goose Records. Rather than a standard rhythm showcase, his latest release is an ambitious, collaborative suite bridging structured composition and open improvisation. The album unfolds as a deeply conceptual journey through tracks named after natural elements and archetypes. Kruk anchors complex polyrhythms with a muscular yet nuanced touch, swinging seamlessly between aggressive fusion workouts ...
Continue Reading...Clarence Penn: Behind the Voice
by Dan Bilawsky
Drummer Clarence Penn, a serious force on the scene for more than three decades, has worked with a who's who of vocalists--Betty Carter, Kandace Springs, Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, Nellie McKay, Claudia Acuña, Paula Cole, Melissa Walker and Nneena Freelon, to name just a few. He knows more than a thing or two about history and creativity behind the voice, and he's here to show it with this sharply-constructed date. Working with a stacked lineup of singers and instrumentalists, and ...
Continue Reading...Yelena Eckemoff: I Am a Stranger in This World
by Mark Sullivan
Russian-born pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff began setting verses from the Bible's Book of Psalms shortly after her conversion to Christianity, even before her emigration to the United States. But she waited until she had considerable experience working with jazz musicians before producing her jazz arrangements. They were first recorded on her album Better Than Gold and Silver [L&H Production, 2018], which presented ten Psalm settings in both vocal and instrumental versions. The detailed story of how Yelena Eckemoff came to set ...
Continue Reading...Yelena Eckemoff: I Am a Stranger in This World
by Tyran Grillo
To feel estranged from one's own mind is among the quiet terrors of modern life. It is this condition, ancient yet urgently contemporary, that Yelena Eckemoff confronts on I Am a Stranger in This World, a double album that treats the Psalms of David not as scripture to be recited but as psychic terrain to be crossed. Following 2018's Better Than Gold and Silver (L&H Productions), Eckemoff returns to these texts with renewed gravity. Where the earlier album relied on ...
Continue Reading...Alternative Guitar Summit: Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1
by Jack Bowers
Each year the Alternative Guitar Summit, led by Joel Harrison, presents a concert to honor a living jazz composer/guitarist. That wasn't possible in 2021, however, as venues in and around New York City were shuttered tight by the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, it was clear that the chosen honoree, the great Pat Martino, was gravely ill and might not have another year to live. With that in mind, members of the Summit took their guitars straight to a studio to record ...
Continue Reading...Edward Simon: 25 Years
by Angelo Leonardi
Al pubblico del jazz non piacciono molto le compilations ma questa del pianista Edward Simon è speciale. I diciassette brani del doppio CD sono stati scelti da lui--come bilancio e riflessione personale nel 25° anno della sua attività da leader--e forniscono una variopinta retrospettiva delle sue tappe musicali. «L'idea mi è venuta l'anno scorso (2019) quando ho compito 50 anni--ha detto al Columbia Daily Tribune--La raccolta è nata da uno spirito di celebrazione e dalla consapevolezza di quante cose siano ...
Continue Reading...Oz Noy: Snapdragon
by Mike Jacobs
It's an old sentiment but it still holds that great instrumental chops, enthralling as they may be, are fairly meaningless on their own. And quite frankly, they are pretty ubiquitous these days with the internet exposure machine going full tilt. Given all that, it's quite easy for the listener to become inured with technical prowess-- especially wizardry of the fretboard. So to say Oz Noy is a fantastic guitarist just isn't enough anymore. It's fortunate then that what ...
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