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Amanda Tosoff: Earth Voices
by Dan Bilawsky
Building off the lure of language planted in Amanda Tosoff's Juno-nominated Words (Empress Music Group, 2016), this sixth album from the Toronto-based composer and pianist waves poetic in wondrous fashion. Pairing different guest vocalists and collections of musicians with personalized takes on Parnassian beauty of varied sorts, Tosoff cements the bonds between earthly voices and heavenly sounds with a questioning spirit. The list of subjects and styles, both in words and music, varies widely on this playlist. ...
read moreRemy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows: Assembly of Shadows
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo aver debuttato in veste di leader nel 2019 con il ricercato album Light as a World (un sestetto con, tra gli altri, Aaron Parks e Walter Smith III) il 33enne sassofonista e compositore d'origini californiane, presenta un ambizioso progetto orchestrale comprendente la suite “Assembly of Shadows," un'altra sua composizione ("Strata") e una riscrittura di “Honeymooners" di Ornette Coleman. Prima di questi lavori ha condiviso la leadership del gruppo Le Boeuf Brothers col suo gemello Pascal. La ...
read moreAlex Goodman: Impressions in Blue and Red
by Friedrich Kunzmann
One thing's for sure: there's a whole lot of music to be heard on Alex Goodman's new double album Impressions in Blue and Red. At 27 tracks and a running time of over 100 minutes, the Canadian jazz guitarist has taken a stand when it comes to quantity on his newest album. Any concern that the quality could suffer as a result is extinguished after the first few bars into the opener. Divided over two different sets according to the ...
read moreAlex Goodman: Impressions in Blue and Red
by Rob Shepherd
For most, there is a clear divide between musical and visual arts. But for individuals with chromesthesia, a condition where one sees colors when they hear a particular sound, the two can prove inseparable. Throughout history, many jazz musicians have exhibited chromesthesic symptoms, including Marian McPartland, James Francies, and drum legend Elvin Jones. Duke Ellington saw dark blue burlap when he played a D note and light blue satin for a G. Another, guitarist Alex Goodman, shares his experience on ...
read moreRemy Le Boeuf: Assembly Of Shadows
by Glenn Astarita
With his second date as a leader, multi-woodwind artist Remy Le Boeuf performs these largely self-penned comps with an orchestra, featuring notable musicians Anna Webber (woodwinds), Alex Goodman (guitar) and other jazz VIPs. Here, the leader's composing acuity brims with multicolored hues and harmonious arrangements, largely executed with a composite of modern jazz and classical inferences via gradual buildups, brash outbreaks and complex unison choruses that occasionally mimic single note bop lines. Sure enough, this young visionary's unflagging creative spirit ...
read moreRemy Le Boeuf: Assembly Of Shadows
by Dan McClenaghan
Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly Of Shadows, an ambitious jazz orchestra recording, opens with his original composition, the cinematic “Strata," followed by a majestic take on alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman's “Honeymooners," a tune from the free jazz pioneer's Virgin Beauty (Portrait Records, 1988). These sounds--collectively clocking in at fifteen and a half minutes--set the stage for the five-part “Assembly Of Shadows Suite." Saxophonist Le Bouef considered the voices in his orchestra for the purposes of highlighting the individual musical personalities, a ...
read moreAlex Goodman: Second Act
by Mark Sullivan
Canadian guitarist/composer Alex Goodman has been living in New York City for five years. Second Act is his fifth album, but the first to employ a New York City based band, and all the music was composed there as well. After a solo bass introduction from Rick Rosato “Questions" opens the set with fast swing, the whole group in acoustic mode. Pianist Eden Ladin takes an extended solo before the leader takes over on guitar. “The First Break" includes an ...
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