Jazz Articles about Alex Sipiagin

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Alex Sipiagin: Returning

by John Kelman
November 4, 2005

Some artists leap into visibility; others almost insidiously find their way into the public eye. Russian-born, New York-resident trumpeter Alex Sipiagin has made considerable strides in the past decade in establishing his reputation within the New York jazz community. He's been recruited for increasingly high profile gigs with the Mingus Big Band, Michael Brecker and, most notably, Dave Holland's big band--touring and appearing on both What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) and Overtime (Dare2, 2005).

With his own series of Criss ...

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Alex Sipiagin: Equilibrium

by C. Andrew Hovan
May 27, 2005

Russian native Alex Sipiagin has been a first call trumpeter for several New York big bands for the past five years or so. A veteran of the Mingus Big Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, and the Dave Holland Big Band, Sipiagin has been a favorite with critics but has yet to break though to the jazz public at large. Over the course of his three previous Criss Cross sides, the trumpeter has shown growth from a mainstream hard bop interpreter ...

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Alex Sipiagin: Equilibrium

by Robert MacBain
November 25, 2004

In sifting through a collection of critical commentary on Alex Sipiagin, one would be hard-pressed to find a review or a set of liner notes that neglects to mention the apparently pervasive Russian influence present in the trumpeter's writing and playing. The curious thing, though, is that one would be equally hard pressed to come up with some solid examples of this commingling within Sipiagin's music.

In the liner notes to his latest effort, aptly entitled Equilibrium, Sipiagin, a native ...

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The Dave Holland Big Band: What Goes Around

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2002

I've never been overly impressed by popularity contests, and as British-bred bassist Dave Holland swept the field in this year's Down Beat magazine critics' poll, I was thoroughly prepared not to like What Goes Around by Holland's thirteen-piece big band.

Surprise! The album is far better than expected; in fact, I'd go so far as to concede that it is thoroughly absorbing, enlivened every step of the way by notably innovative charts and earnestly inspired blowing from Holland's company of ...

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Dave Holland Big Band: What Goes Around

by AAJ Staff
September 9, 2002

With a musical force like bassist Dave Holland at the helm, it's hard to imagine a group going wrong. But his new big band has a singular problem: too many players. Thirteen musicians, each more than capable, join forces on What Goes Around, which features seven tunes composed and arranged arranged by the man himself. Unfortunately this increase in scale just doesn't translate into much except redundancy. The core quintet (Potter, Eubanks, Nelson, Holland, and Kilson) has repeatedly proven its ...

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Alex Sipiagin: Steppin' Zone/Hindsight

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 13, 2002

Russian native Alex Sipiagin comes to American jazz via many sources and inspirations. While he cites Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer as one of his favorite albums, the breath of his influences includes Russian folk music, European classical forms and the whole scope of jazz in its many forms. A valuable sideman and member of the Mingus Big Band for several years now, Sipiagin has just recently had the opportunity to present himself as a leader on two fairly current Criss ...

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David Binney: Free To Dream

by John W. Patterson
August 1, 1999

Binney is known to many as the sax genius of Lost Tribe and his skill is no less evident herein — in Binney's chosen dreamworld, a musical vibe, a flow, where he is free. Running his own record label, going the freshly popular independent route, affords total control and thus creativity and style unbounded by the prickly hedges of commercialism's maze.Believe me, this spirit works well to my ears. Binney's eleven compositions echo a fuller, matured Lost Tribe ...