Jazz Articles about Ben Allison

About Ben Allison

Album Review

Da alcuni anni Ben Allison si è andato affermando, più ancora che come valente strumentista, come visionario poeta musicale dalla squisita vena lirica, compositore che va delineando un personale approccio a quel linguaggio, profondamente statunitense, che va sotto il nome di “Americana". Nell'avvertire la molteplicità di echi e rimandi che popola le affascinanti pagine di Think Free, qualcuno potrebbe pensare ad una sorta di rivisitazione, influenzata egualmente dal jazz come dal rock, di materiali folklorici americani. Che la musica popolare ...

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Album Review

Ben Allison: Think Free

Read "Think Free" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
October 6, 2009

Gradually moving away from the chamber music-like aesthetic of his Medicine Wheel and Peace Pipe ensembles of the nineties, bassist Ben Allison has begun embracing his formative influences, leaning towards a slightly more rock-oriented sound. Think Free is his third Palmetto album in as many years, thematically following Little Things Run the World (2008) and Cowboy Justice (2006). Looking beyond traditional jazz for inspiration, Allison weaves bittersweet pop melodies, folksy Americana, and subtle rock music flourishes into an evocative sonic ...

Album Review

Ben Allison & Man Size Safe: Little Things Rule the World

Read "Little Things Rule the World" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 7, 2008

Sono ormai diversi anni che il contrabbassista Ben Allison è alla ribalta come uno dei musicisti e compositori più interessanti della scena newyorchese. Tutti i suoi progetti, dall'Herbie Nichols Project degli album Love is Proximity, Dr. Cyclops' Dream e Strange City a Cowboy Justice del 2007 (passando per Peace Pipe e i Medicine Wheel), si sono sempre rivelati originali e di ottima qualità. Se Cowboy Justice era stato un album di svolta rispetto al precedente Buzz (per formazione e sonorità), ...

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Album Review

Ben Allison & Man Size Safe: Little Things Run The World

Read "Little Things Run The World" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
January 28, 2008

On his eighth album, Little Things Run The World, bassist/composer Ben Allison delves further into the cinematic Americana explored on his previous release, Cowboy Justice (Palmetto, 2007). Inspired by a quote from biodiversity expert E.O. Wilson, the album features a selection of multi-layered tunes that rely on structural interdependency as much as the social organisms Wilson studied. Naming the ensemble Man Size Safe, after a news item about the ominous item located in the office of Vice President ...

Album Review

Ben Allison: Cowboy Justice

Read "Cowboy Justice" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 3, 2006

Il contrabbassista e compositore Ben Allison rientra in quella pattuglia di nuovi jazzmen che amano confrontarsi con moduli espressivi plurali, insofferenti di griglie imposte, tanto più di connotazioni ideologiche. Non che questo voglia dire disimpegno sociale, tutt’altro. Anzi, Allison insieme ad altri ottimi musicisti coordina da anni i lavori del Jazz Composers Collective, egregio esempio cooperativo di creatività e didattica. Questo nuovo Cowboy Justice cambia sostanzialmente i contenuti e il formato della musica di Allison, che sceglie un quartetto anomalo ...

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Multiple Reviews

Two Bass Hits: Cowboy Justice and A Fine Balance

by Matthew Miller
June 13, 2006

Ben Allison Cowboy Justice Palmetto Records 2006 Michael Bates' Outside Sources A Fine Balance Between the Lines 2006 Bands led by bassists are something of a novelty, even today. From the blowing sessions led by Paul Chambers in the 1950s, to Mingus' innovations, and on to modern day masters like Mario Pavone, the gentle ...

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Album Review

Ben Allison: Medicine Wheel

Read "Medicine Wheel" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
May 4, 2006

Bassist Ben Allison was a virtual unknown when this album was originally released by Palmetto in 1998. After Seven Arrows (Koch, 1996), this was Allison's first major release. Combining conservatory training, ethnic/world music fusions, post-bop energy and free-jazz vigor, Allison and company were on the cusp of a new movement. Listening to this recording in retrospect reveals a blueprint for the new breed of jazz improviser. Medicine Wheel is a watershed moment in end of the century East Coast jazz.