Jazz Articles about Alex Claffey

About Alex Claffey

Album Review

Mike Clark: Standard Deviations

Read "Standard Deviations" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
October 7, 2025

The goal of Mike and Mike--as in Mike Clark on drums and Mike Zilber on saxophone--the co-leaders on Standard Deviations--was to take eight jazz and pop standards (with one Zilber original) and reinterpret them by adding their 21th century interpretation to them (with the help of Jon Davis on piano and Alex Claffy on bass). Over the course of nearly an hour, the success ratio of the quartet is high. Clark first appeared on record in the 1970s, ...

Album Review

Mike Clark: Standard Deviations

Read "Standard Deviations" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
August 6, 2025

Bringing new life to jazz standards is a longtime tradition in jazz, whether it be on the bandstand or in the studio. With their latest Sunnyside recording, Standard Deviations, the iconic drummer Mike Clark and Los Angeles-based tenor saxophonist Michael Zilber venture there once again, following Mike Drop, their 2021 Sunnyside release. The result is a swinging session of jazz pearls in quartet mode, with pianist Joe Davis and bassist Alex Claffey joining in the fun. Clark, for ...

Album Review

Kristiana Roemer: House of Mirrors

Read "House of Mirrors" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
March 27, 2021

Kristiana Roemer is a young German singer whose voice has a lilt and plush texture reminiscent of Annette Peacock. On this, her first album, she uses her intriguing sound in the service of both conventional jazz tunes and floating, airy pieces which border on art songs. Most of the material here is her own writing, though some lyrics derive from others' poetry. In addition, she proves her jazz bona fides by including familiar tunes by Stanley Turrentine and Charles Mingus. ...