Home » Jazz Articles » Allison Miller
Jazz Articles about Allison Miller
Allison Miller: Breaking Ground
by Franz A. Matzner
It takes a rare individual to excel in multiple artistic genres, particularly when success unfolds in the public spotlight and presents very different contexts. Certainly technical ability is important, but it also takes a peculiar blend of flexibility, curiosity, and determination. Perhaps that is what makes drummer, composer, bandleader, and outspoken feminist Allison Miller such a charismatic musician and personality. As a drummer, she has distinguished herself in both the jazz and singer-songwriter genres, playing with some ...
Continue ReadingAllison Miller: Boom Tic Boom
by Mark Corroto
Just say yes to records led by drummers. Why? Because drummers may rarely be the leaders or composers, but they're always the soul of any good recording. Where's Coltrane without Jones, or Jarrett without DeJohnette? Nowhere. That's why, when a session is commanded by a percussionist, as is Boom Tic Boom by drummer Allison Miller, there is reason to revel.
Miller has held the drum chair for jazz artists such as Marty Ehrlich, Steven Bernstein, George Garzone, Rachel Z, to ...
Continue ReadingAllison Miller: Boom Tic Boom
by Lyn Horton
Opening with a set of cymbal crashes amid a tight-knit kit rumble that segues into the rhythmic pulse, drummer Allison Miller begins her second album with “Cheyenne," one of four original compositions written for this group. Joining Miller in her trio are Myra Melford (piano) and Todd Sickafoose (bass). Violinist Jenny Scheinman does a sprightly guest spot for Miller's “CFS (Candy Flavored Sidewalks)." The leader's music is infectious. Its multiple chorus structure brings with it an orientation ...
Continue ReadingTodd Sickafoose: Tiny Resistors
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
With lush orchestrations of finely honed compositions, bassist Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors reveals a broad musical vision. A stalwart of the new music scene, playing improv and indie-rock projects and blurring those distinctions, Sickafoose's third CD highlights his maturation as a composer and talents as a multi-instrumentalist, with pieces incorporating a swath of stylistic influences--rock, Americana, jazz, blues and touches of modern classical. Sickafoose works a sweeping aural range, with instrumentation that includes two guitars, drums and ...
Continue ReadingTodd Sickafoose: Tiny Resistors
by John Kelman
An active sideman, bassist Todd Sickafoose is best-known for his work with DIY singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco. But he's also been very busy on the outer edges of jazz, working with artists including John Zorn on Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik, 2003), Tin Hat Trio on The Rodeo Eroded (Ropeadope, 2002), and Scott Amendola Band on the drummer's very fine Cry (Cryptogramophone, 2003). It may be Amendola's disc that hooked Sickafoose up with Cryptogramophone for Tiny Resistors, his third record as ...
Continue ReadingLindsey Horner: Don't Count on Glory
by AAJ Italy Staff
Contrabbassista flessibile e sicuramente troppo poco considerato, Lindsey Horner ha condiviso sin dagli anni Ottanta alcune importanti esperienze del jazz creativo newyorkese, a fianco di Myra Melford e di Herb Robertson, di Muhal Richard Abrams o di Bobby Previte, distinguendosi per timbro preciso e acuta sensibilità. Nelle sue prove da leader, come nel caso di questo nuovo Don't Count on Glory, l'attenzione è focalizzata sulla scrittura, con sette temi a firma propria e una rilettura di “Green Chimneys" di Thelonious ...
Continue ReadingMeet Drummer Allison Miller
by Elliott Simon
A child of the '80s, drummer Allison Miller came of age outside Washington, DC listening to jazz, funk, rock and pop. Studying with Walter Salb and later Michael Carvin, she has developed a personal technique that uses an exceptional command of phrasing to allow for what can best be described as a “melodic" approach to drumming. As she tells it, melody is paramount. “I base everything off of the melody. It's the way I play naturally--it's how I hear the ...
Continue Reading
