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Akua Dixon: Akua's Dance
by Chris M. Slawecki
My ears are not accustomed to hearing cello as the lead instrument in an ensemble, and so Akua's Dance by cellist and baritone violinist Akua Dixon took some getting used to. Dixon took quite a circuitous route to her third release: After graduating from New York's Fame High School of the Performing Arts, then studying at the Manhattan School of Music, one of her first jobs was in the pit band at the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, ...
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by Hrayr Attarian
Lyricism and elegance are two words that come to mind while describing cellist Akua Dixon's third release under her own leadership, Akua's Dance. Two sessions comprise this engaging album on one of which Dixon plays, the rarely heard, baritone violin. The joyous ambience and the instrumentation, Dixon accompanied by guitar, bass and drums, are reminiscent of gypsy jazz. This is most apparent on the undulating “If My Heart Could Speak To You" with guitarist Russell Malone engaging Dixon's ...
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by Dan Bilawsky
A visage of joyousness fills this album cover. Cellist Akua Dixon, with back arched and eyes closed, can't contain herself. A knowing smile washes over her face as she bathes in the light with cello in hand. It's a picture that perfectly illustrates the artist's place in the moment: Dixon has reached a point of supreme confidence, where percipience permeates her every move and guides her every turn. She doesn't miss a step on Akua's Dance. This ...
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by Hrayr Attarian
Virtuoso cellist Akua Dixon is one of the few exclusive practitioners of the instrument in jazz. Whether in a supportive role or leading her Quartette Indigo she deftly fuses intimate chamber decorum and spontaneous ingenuity for an elegant and vibrant style that is hard to pigeonhole. She spices her eponymous release with Latin passion and an understated, earthy groove making it uniformly fresh and delightful. The album opens on a high note with bassist Charles Mingus' fiery “Haitian ...
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by Dan Bilawsky
Cellist Akua Dixon has been at it for decades: She's performed with jazz royalty like Duke Ellington, penned arrangements for non-jazz giants like Lauryn Hill and Aretha Franklin, and recorded with everybody from trumpet titan Dizzy Gillespie to trombonist Steve Turre to David Byrne, the beyond-category former frontman of the Talking Heads. Unfortunately, all of that support work has given Dixon little time to focus on putting music out under her own name. Akua Dixon, believe it or not, is ...
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