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Jazz Articles about Aubrey Johnson
Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass
by Jack Bowers
There are a handful of things you should know about Hyeseon Hong (pronounced hay-sun hong), as each of them impacts the scope and purpose of the music on Things Will Pass. First, she is well-versed in the shaping and subtleties of contemporary big-band jazz; second, she was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea; third, she formed her own big band after relocating from Korea to New York City more than a decade ago; fourth, and perhaps most important, she ...
Continue ReadingThe Jamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These
by Angelo Leonardi
Nella sua nuova incisione Jamie Baum coniuga impegno civile e ricercata varietà di soluzioni musicali con voci e suoni di particolare freschezza. A distanza di sei anni dal precedente Bridges la flautista e compositrice firma l'album più riuscito del suo ensemble, in gran parte rinnovato con l'ingresso del trombettista Jonathan Finlayson, del pianista Luis Perdomo, del bassista Ricky Rodriguez e del percussionista Keita Ogawa accanto ai fidi Jeff Hirshfield alla batteria, Brad Shepik alla chitarra, Chris Komer al ...
Continue ReadingAubrey Johnson, Randy Ingram: Play Favorites
by Angelo Leonardi
Il debutto discografico del duo Aubrey Johnson/Randy Ingram nasce dopo una lunga frequentazione tra la cantante e il pianista, frequentazione iniziata quasi per caso nel 2015 in un recital di facoltà e proseguita con costanti esibizioni negli ultimi anni. Docente al Berklee College of Music, Aubrey Johnson ha rivelato le sue alte capacità tecniche ed espressive in svariate collaborazioni (con Billy Childs, John Patitucci, Fred Hersch, Bobby McFerrin ecc...) e soprattutto nel bel debutto del 2020 Unraveled. ...
Continue ReadingJamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These
by Katchie Cartwright
Reading Marge Piercy's poem “To Be of Use" (track two onWhat Times Are These), Jamie Baum could be speaking of herself, one of those “who jump into work head first without dallying in the shadows, who swim off with sure strokes," knowing that “the thing worth doing has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident." What Times Are These is a satisfying form of this sort. Confined to her New York apartment during the Covid-19 lockdown, Baum responded ...
Continue ReadingRandy Napoleon: The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch
In and around the formidable jazz studies program at Michigan State University is a plethora of jazz talent devoted to instrumental and compositional excellence. Most of this talent is young, benefiting from a wide array of world-class instructors that includes program director Rodney Whitaker and veteran guitarist Randy Napoleon, among other notables. Within this labyrinth of jazz wisdom in the Detroit / Lansing metroplex is composer Gregg Hill, a former truck driver and tech entrepreneur whose performing ambitions were superseded ...
Continue ReadingJun Iida: Evergreen
by Gary Fukushima
They are everywhere, dotting the undulating terrain of the great Pacific Northwest, from the winding, twisting shorelines of Puget Sound to the mountains that rise in the distance in every direction: the Olympics to the west, the Cascades to the east, Mt. Baker to the north and the majestic Rainier to the south. The trees are a constant, comforting blanket over this land, ever-present, ever-green. Jun lida has called this place home for the past three years, another ...
Continue ReadingJun Iida: Evergreen
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Evergreen from trumpeter/flugelhornist Jun Iida is a textural panorama of multi-cultural jazz flavors, offering original and known fare. Each of the ten tracks is a portrait, and they display fine solo and ensemble playing. To describe Evergreen in one word is to call it “intriguing." “Gooey Butter Cake," one of six originals from Iida, opens things in a jovial, hippity-hop, New Orleans-esque groove which develops into a trumpet-bass solo ride, with solos following from pianist Josh Nelson and ...
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