Jazz Articles about Alex Pope Norris

About Alex Pope Norris

Album Review

Trombocalist Big Band: The Vigil and the Sleeping Giant

Read "The Vigil and the Sleeping Giant" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 18, 2026

Even those whose batting averages are high are not immune from life's unforeseen and often disastrous curve balls. Low-brass multi-instrumentalist Ron Wilkins, riding the wave as a successful musician and bandleader, learned that the hard way when he was struck by Covid in 2020 and spent more than a month in a medically induced coma with the outcome clearly in doubt. As it turns out, fortune smiled on Wilkins, and after relearning such basics as breathing normally, walking, ...

Album Review

Amina Figarova & Matsiko World Orphan Choir: Suite For Africa

Read "Suite For Africa" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 12, 2024

Happenstance played a hand in two of pianist Amina Figarova's finest recordings. The first time around it was September Suite (Munich Records, 2005). Though based in the Netherlands at the time, Figarova was staying in New York City when the planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings on September 11th, 2001. The music for the album was her reaction to the event, to the grief and mourning it caused. Heading a superb sextet, she created a beautiful ode to ...