Jazz Articles about Alex Norris

About Alex Norris

Album Review

Cuban born and raised, pianist and composer Manuel Valera moved to the US in 1994, attending high school in Florida before moving to New York City in 2000 to study at the New School. His classmates included Robert Glasper, Mike Moreno, Michael Rodriguez, Marcus Strickland and E.J. Strickland. Fast company. Valera's career as a leader moved up a notch when his band New Cuban Express received a Grammy nomination in 2013 for Best Latin Jazz Album for ...

Album Review

Ilya Dynov: Bridges

Read "Bridges" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 17, 2023

Russian-born composer and drummer Ilya Dynov, a New York-based internationally recognized jazz musician, presents his debut recording on Bridges, a nine-piece repertoire of all original material capturing a neo-bop style of blistering up-tempo jazz with an adventurous slant. After immigrating to Belgium and obtaining his citizenship, where he pursued an advanced musical education, Dynov moved to New York City in 2018, quickly becoming emersed in the city's vibrant jazz scene. For this first album, the drummer assembles an ...

Album Review

Ilya Dynov: Bridges

Read "Bridges" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
May 17, 2023

Is there a distinctive NewYork post-bop sound? If there is, does it owe its existence to some common ancestry? To the revolving cast of players who have populated a number of clubs and bands on a rotating basis since the 1990s? To licks, formulaic harmonies, or just a kind of jazz version of the median voter idea to be a little different, but not enough to scare the audience off? To do justice to the question requires on-the-ground experience, and ...

Radio & Podcasts

Alex Norris, Sheila Jordan and More

by Jerome Wilson
March 29, 2023

This eclectic episode features celebrated jazz musicians such as Stan Getz and Sheila Jordan as well as lesser-known but equally strong players such as Alex Norris and Adam Larson. Playlist The Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Jim Self/John Chiodini Duo “Lydian Afternoon" from Hangin' Out (Basset Hound) 00:55 Chico Hamilton “Penthouse A" from Twelve Tones of Love (Joyous Shout) ...

Album Review

Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: The Pan American Nutcracker Suite

Read "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 5, 2023

Yes, Peter Tchaikovsky's timeless Nutcracker Suite is basically holiday music; and, yes, the 2022 holiday season is squarely in everyone's rear-view mirror. Even so, there is always room for a fresh approach to the annual festive staple, which is what drummer Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band brings to The Pan American Nutcracker Suite. The Nutcracker has been rhythmically amended before, but never quite like this, as McCarthy and the band use the strong ...

Album Review

Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Imagenes Latinas

Read "Imagenes Latinas" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 2, 2023

L'ottavo album della Spanish Harlem Orchestra celebra il secondo decennio della formazione e colleziona un'altra nomination al Grammy, dopo averne vinti tre. Guidata dal pianista e compositore Oscar Hernández, la big band è una delle voci più acclamate del latin jazz, e si pone sulla scia dei leggendari Manny Oquendo, Barry Rogers, Andy e Jerry Gonzalez alla cui memoria il disco è dedicato. L'impronta stilistica della Spanish Harlem è ovviamente legata alla quarantennale storia musicale del leader, formatosi ...

Album Review

Amina Figarova: Joy

by Dan McClenaghan
November 2, 2022

Pianist Amina Figarova released an album in 2005 that was about as far away from the theme of “joy" as could be. September Suite (Munich Records) explored the deadly events of September 11, 2001 (she was in New York at the time; she experienced it). It is an album that she called: “An Ode to Mourning striving to articulate the various stages of grief in musical terms." In 2022 Figarova turns 180 degrees to embrace optimism and a ...