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Ambrose Akinmusire: A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard
by Mark Sullivan
Live recordings at the venerable Village Vanguard are immediately part of a storied tradition. Fully aware of the spirit of the place, trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire brought his longtime quartet with pianist Sam Harris, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Justin Brown--but he took the unusual step of performing all new, original compositions. This is his third Blue Note album as a leader, following When the Heart Emerges Glistening (2011) and the imagined savior is far easier to paint (2014). He also ...
Continue ReadingAmbrose Akinmusire at SFJAZZ
by Harry S. Pariser
Ambrose Akinmusire SFJAZZSan Francisco, California June 15, 2017 For trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the band is everything: “When I'm playing with other people, it's hard to produce, because I don't have that relationship. But when I play with my band, it's endless," he told the New York Times in March 2011. Akinmusire has been playing with drummer Justin Brown since they were 14 or 15 years old; they grew up together in a rough-and-tumble ...
Continue ReadingThe Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet at the Library of Congress
by Joseph Boselovic
The Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. May 20, 2017 Although he only has two major label releases to his name, Ambrose Akinmusire has established himself as one of the most exciting trumpet players in recent years. The last appearance he made on a recording was Wolfgang Muthspiel's 2016 album Rising Grace (ECM Records). The fact that the Oakland-born trumpet player appeared on that thoroughly enjoyable album alongside no less than Brad ...
Continue ReadingBray Jazz Festival 2015
by Ian Patterson
Bray Jazz Festival 2015 Various Venues Bray, Ireland May 1-3, 2015 Sunshine and squall. The sun and the clouds chased each other's tails throughout the May Bank Holiday weekend of the Bray Jazz Festival. In a way the weather mirrored the music--a pleasingly eclectic, bracing mixture--and the fortunes of the festival itself, which has been buffeted by the recent storms of funding cuts, yet remains unbowed. In spite of a reduced budget ...
Continue ReadingMark F. Turner's Best of 2014
by Mark F. Turner
Typically, when music is labeled it gets thrown into a box that limits its artistic scope. But the four letter word “jazz" in today's environment obliterates typical categorization as found in these diverse releases. Ambrose Akinmusire The imagined savior is far easier to paint (Blue Note) In his early thirties trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire is developing his own voice as one of today's brightest and most imaginative young leaders with a ...
Continue ReadingFestival International de Jazz de Montreal 2014
by John Kelman
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Ambrose Akinmusire By Invitation Tigran By Invitation Tord Gustavsen Quartet / Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana, Mehliana June 26-July 6, 2014 There simply isn't a festival in the world like the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. Where else in the world can you find a city where, with a population of well over 1.5 million people, six square blocks are closed down for the entire duration of ...
Continue ReadingAmbrose Akinmusire at Dazzle, Denver, June 21, 2014
by Geoff Anderson
Ambrose Akinmusire Dazzle Denver June 21, 2014 Einstein taught us that time is a relative thing. Time can pass, or seem to pass, at different rates depending on how fast you are moving; especially in relation to an observer who is moving at a different speed. For Ambrose Akinmusire and his quintet, time is a relative thing too. And it may well be different for the observers than it is for the band. Akinmusire brought ...
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