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Julian Shore: Sub Rosa
by Jack Kenny
Sub Rosa demonstrates that Julian Shore now plays a key role in the evolution of the jazz piano trio. The jazz piano trio can be seen as the genre's answer to the classical string quartet. Both demand exceptional playing skills, intense listening, and a delicate balance among musicians. However, achieving this quality in a jazz trio is arguably more challenging, as musicians improvise rather than relying entirely on scores. This makes a deep, collusive camaraderie essential.
Continue ReadingNoah Preminger: Ballads
by Pierre Giroux
Noah Preminger has long been an artist who thrives at the intersection of tradition and innovation. On Ballads, the tenor saxophonist delves into the depths of lyricism with a quartet that exudes understated intensity: pianist Julian Shore, bassist Kim Cass, and drummer Allan Mednard. This release communicates in whispers rather than shouts, yet it never loses its sense of adventure. Preminger's tone -warm, breathy, elastic, guides the listener through a charming set of originals, carefully selected ...
Continue ReadingCaroline Davis: Portals, Volume 2: Returning
by Vincenzo Roggero
Il precedente Portals Volume 1: Mourning nasceva dalla necessità di rielaborare la morte improvvisa del padre attraverso una musica che curasse il dolore e conservasse i ricordi migliori. In quel disco, Caroline Davis, sassofonista, flautista, compositrice ed educatrice statunitense nata a Singapore da padre inglese e madre svedese, accostava al suo classico quintetto un quartetto d'archi. Portals vol.2 : Returning è invece un omaggio a Joan Anson-Weber, poetessa nonché nonna di Caroline, e farla da padrone sono in questo caso ...
Continue ReadingNoah Preminger: Ballads
by Dan Bilawsky
Balladry becomes Noah Preminger. And that may come as a surprise to some. Over the past seventeen years and about as many releases, this critically-acclaimed tenor saxophonist has often made his mark going the opposite way--in myriad bold-and-beyond settings where he's thrown haymakers with precision, explored duo dynamism with bassist Kim Cass, pushed the envelope through the demanding music of Steve Lampert, or investigated the gravity of the delta blues with a probing mindset. Yet there's something about his softer ...
Continue ReadingMatt Pavolka: Disciplinary Architecture
by Vincenzo Roggero
Pur essendo da oltre vent'anni una presenza importante della scena newyorchese il bassista, trombonista, compositore Matt Pavolka ha pubblicato solo tre album a proprio nome: l'esordio di Something People Can Use (Toneofapitch, 2008), l'ottimo The Horns Band (FSNT,2014) e, a dieci anni di distanza, questo Disciplinary Architecture per la prestigiosa Sunnyside. Se nell'album precedente a farla da padrone erano naturalmente i fiati, e che fiati (Kirk Knuffke alla cornetta, Loren Stillman al sax alto, Jacob Garchik al ...
Continue ReadingNoah Preminger: Ballads
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il ritorno a casa. Col suo bellissimo suono di tenore, Noah Preminger inanella in meno di trentotto minuti sette sue composizioni ispirate--anzi totalmente concepite--nel segno del titolo, molto semplicemente Ballads. E qui naturalmente si apre la querelle: i tradizionalisti andranno in brodo di giuggiole (evocando magari l'omonimo album di John Coltrane), perché il disco è assolutamente perfetto (o lì nei pressi), altri--come chi scrive--conoscendo, e apprezzando, la curiosità creativa del trentottenne sassofonista del Connecticut, la sua capacità di mettere il ...
Continue ReadingNoah Preminger: Ballads
by Jack Kenny
Noah Preminger is a philosophical, thought-through artist who can gauge the impact of his playing and his thinking on his intended audience. It is interesting to compare Preminger's Ballads to John Coltrane's Ballads (Impulse!, 1963), an illuminating set of familiar tunes that was reputedly instigated after his quartet's first tour of Europe, with Eric Dolphy in tow. Accusations of “anti-jazz" flew. It was hoped that this step back into the Standards on his Ballads album would answer the"anti- jazz" accusations. ...
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