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Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day: Quartet Live
by Stefano Merighi
Il talento percussivo ma ancor più compositivo di Harris Eisenstadt viene confermato da questa incisione dal vivo, che la formazione modulare Canada Day—qui ridotta a quartetto—ha realizzato ad Avignone nel marzo 2018 durante un fortunato tour europeo. Anche se Eisenstadt ha approfondito tradizioni percussive sia africane che centroamericane, la sua musica non sfrutta queste suggestioni, preferendo la lingua franca del jazz internazionale contemporaneo, dove una scrittura sintetica ma solida apre fondali per improvvisazioni dei singoli, che si ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins: Iron Into Wind
by John Sharpe
On his second solo album pianist Alexander Hawkins creates an adventurous and deeply personal synthesis which draws from both jazz and classical wellsprings. One of the foremost representatives of an exciting younger generation of British musicians, his talents are on display not only on his own projects, like Uproot (Intakt, 2018), but with growing circle of collaborators that reads like a who's who of contemporary jazz: Evan Parker, Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, Rob Mazurek, Joe McPhee, Wadada Leo Smith, ...
Continue ReadingBen Allison, Anais Drago, Reinier Baas and Other Great New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
The new albums bonanza goes on! And we happily oblige, revelling in some gorgeous new releases, some of which will definitely end up on the “Best of 2018" lists of many critics. Surprises, confirmations, re-releases, unexpected collaborations and much more make up this week's playlist full of aural pleasures... Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Phillip Johnston & The Coolerators “Frankly" from Diggin' Bones on (Asynchronus) ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet at Sonorities Festival Belfast 2018
by Ian Patterson
Alexander Hawkins/Elaine Mitchener Quartet Sonic Lab Sonorities Festival Belfast Belfast, N. Ireland April 21, 2018 Sonorities Festival Belfast is one of Ireland's longest-running contemporary music festivals. This year saw the biannual SFB hit the thirty-year mark and to celebrate the milestone festival directors Miguel Ortiz and Simon Waters assembled an eclectic programme of contemporary musicians, composers and sound artists that straddled the worlds of multi-media performance, classical, contemporary string and choral, electronica, audio-visual ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot
by John Sharpe
Adventurous pianist Alexander Hawkins seems intent on exploring as many different avenues of expression as is humanly possible, having already released solo set Song Singular, (Babel, 2013), duo set Leaps In Leicester, (Clean Feed, 2016), trio set Alexander Hawkins Trio, (AHM, 2015), and ensemble set Unit[e], (AHM, 2017), as well as documents of rewarding encounters with outfits as diverse as Rob Mazurek's Chicago Underground and Turkey's Konstrukt. Uproot represents a new venture for him as he teams up with vocalist ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot
by Alberto Bazzurro
Alexander Hawkins, pianista avventuroso pur senza eccessivi salti nel vuoto, frequenta svariati organici, di cui questo --piano trio più voce --potrebbe anche apparire abbastanza usuale, se non fosse che poi, alla prova dei fatti, tutto procede abbastanza eccentrico rispetto a tale assunto. La cointestataria del quartetto, la vocalista anglo-giamaicana Elaine Mitchener, per cominciare, non è minimamente una cantante tradizionale. Non è, anzi, neppure una cantante. Non solo, almeno. Dice, porge, declama, oltre a cantare (comunque secondo parametri ...
Continue ReadingAlexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet: UpRoot
by David Rocheleau-Houle
Taking risk is--among other things--the essence of free jazz and experimental music. It is by taking risk that musicians can develop their own identity and push further the too many musical borders. With the possibility to take risk, a sense of freedom emerges--whether this sense of freedom refers to something real is not important here--and a range of new possibilities are now being unleashed. A sure sense of freedom emanates from UpRoot, and The Alexander Hawkins / Elaine Mitchener Quartet ...
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