Jazz Articles about Allan Mednard

About Allan Mednard

Album Review

Matt Pavolka: Disciplinary Architecture

Read "Disciplinary Architecture" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
February 19, 2025

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 ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

Read "Ballads" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
February 13, 2025

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 ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Ballads

by Jack Kenny
February 4, 2025

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. ...

Album Review

Jeremy Pelt: Tomorrow's Another Day

Read "Tomorrow's Another Day" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
January 7, 2025

L'avvio non è dei più incoraggianti, lambendo abbastanza pericolosamente la deriva dell'easy listening, ma poi, per fortuna, le cose migliorano e questo nuovo lavoro di Jeremy Pelt, virgulto ormai quarantottenne di certo “nuovo" jazz, riprende abbastanza convintamente la retta via. O meglio la strada maestra, perché è questo il nuovo verbo cui il trombettista californiano fa riferimento, glissando con una certa disinvoltura su tutto quanto avvenuto dopo (o attorno a) l'epoca aurea di suoi colleghi di strumento quali Clifford Brown, ...

Album Review

Caroline Davis: Portals, Volume 2 : Returning

Read "Portals, Volume 2 : Returning" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
October 23, 2024

Alto saxophonist/composer Caroline Davis, a rising star in the jazz world, has unveiled her second installment of the “Portals" series, titled Portals Vol. 2: Returning. This album serves as a sonic memoir, inspired by her grandmother, Joan “Lady" Anson-Weber, and it represents a deeply personal journey of reflection and healing. As a gifted saxophonist and composer, Davis draws upon her grandmother's poetic legacy to craft a musical experience that is both moving and evocative. This album stands as ...

Album Review

Matt Pavolka: Disciplinary Architecture

Read "Disciplinary Architecture" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 6, 2024

Matt Pavolka, a seasoned bassist and composer, has carved a distinct niche in the New York jazz scene for over two decades. Initially focused on trombone (studying under the legendary David Baker), Pavolka's path took a sharp turn at Berklee College of Music. There, he switched to bass and blossomed as a composer, earning accolades for both performance and composition. His latest offering, Disciplinary Architecture, is a record brimming with ambition and a unique sonic atmosphere. The album ...

Album Review

Guillermo Klein Quinteto: Telmo's Tune

Read "Telmo's Tune" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
May 6, 2024

Sono passati tre decenni da quando l'argentino Guillermo Klein debuttò a New York col magistrale El Minotauro (Candid) evidenziando quelle doti di fantasioso orchestratore e bandleader che abbiamo apprezzato nei vari dischi incisi col suo ensemble Los Guachos e con la Swiss Jazz Orchestra. Negli anni l'abbiamo visto esibirsi anche con organici ridotti, dal quintetto presentato al Village Vanguard nel 2014 al minimale concept album con Rebecca Martin, Larry Grenadier e Jeff Ballard (The Upstate Project, Sunnyside, 2017). ...