Jazz Articles about Bear Garden

About Bear Garden

Multiple Reviews

Even though they came at different times and are good for all seasons, this is a batch of small delights that all share a certain brightness and playfulness. They make a fine bill when put together, with or without any direct connections. Chance Hayden Grab & Go Ropeadope 2020 The life of a working player is often a nonstop whirl, at least under normal circumstances: zipping around from one setting to the ...

Album Review

Bear Garden: Bear Garden

Read "Bear Garden" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
February 20, 2020

There's just something about the saxophone that goes with sounding big and ambitious. Bear Garden (or Martin Wirén when he's at home) certainly shows some of those signs with unashamedly grand melodicism and a feel for the expansive and cinematic. Though Bear Garden's running time leans toward the short side of LP length, this octet—rhythm section, piano, guitar and four juiced-up horns—makes it feel enormous with wailing lines ringing through the heavens at full volume. With the weighty thundering ...