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Carmen Staaf: Sounding Line
by Dan McClenaghan
Thelonious Monk (1917 -1982) was often grouped with the bebop pianists of the late 1940s and early 1950s. But he was not bop. He was a pianistic world unto itself. Quirky, dissonant, often playful. Mary Lou Williams (1910 -1981) did not fit the bop category either. She came in before bop's advent. Her music was stylistically closer to Duke Ellington's eloquence, sass and swing. Bop aside, pianist Carmen Staaf heard a musical kinship between these two 20th-century contemporaries. ...
Continue ReadingSamo Salamon Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites vol. 1
by Alberto Bazzurro
Basta scorrere i nomi dei musicisti coinvolti nell'operazione per capire di quale rappresentatività per una data scena della più creativa e verace attualità jazzistica “unga" questo assolutamente notevole album cofirmato dal chitarrista sloveno Samo Salamon e dal batterista newyorchese Bob Moses. Lo compongono tre soli ampi brani (dai tredici minuti alla mezz'ora appena scarsa) incisi nel novembre 2023 e fondati sulla pratica della libera improvvisazione (non si parla neppure di conduction, in questo caso), raggiungendo una dimensione formale assolutamente invidiabile, ...
Continue ReadingBen Goldberg, Anna Webber, and Sarah Hanahan
by Jerome Wilson
This show features 2024 music from Ben Goldberg, Anna Webber, and Sarah Hanahan as well as older music from Helen Merrill and Lee Morgan. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Charles Tolliver Music Inc. “Impact" from Live at the Captain's Cabin (Reel to Real) 1:19 Bill Charlap Trio “Sometimes I'm Happy" from And Then Again (Blue Note) 7:54 Host ...
Continue ReadingBen Goldberg / Todd Sickafoose / Scott Amendola: Here to There
by Mark Corroto
There was a very good reason that James Brown would shout “take me to the bridge." In an interview, he explained: “I heard someone use that expression maybe 45 years ago, referring to the middle part of a song, and I changed it to mean a release." Clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Todd Sickafoose and drummer Scott Amendola utilize that same release with an exploration of the bridges from Thelonious Monk's compositions. Goldberg and Amendola have explored Monk's music ...
Continue ReadingGeof Bradfield: Colossal Abundance
by Dan Bilawsky
In the summer of 2023, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and trumpeter Chad McCullough launched Calligram Records--a label focusing on the Chicago creative music scene and its branches. The first batch of albums was strong, with showcases for each of the label heads' respective combo projects, trumpeter Russ Johnson's chordless quartet, and newcomer tenorist Arman Sangalang. A wide variety of offerings followed--the global stew of Atlantic Road Trip's first flight, a kicking trio date from guitarist Scott Hesse, a broad-minded gathering with ...
Continue ReadingRaffi Garabedian: The Crazy Dog
by Hrayr Attarian
Bay area composer and saxophonist Raffi Garabedian is the descendent of survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. These life defining events have had a major impact on family lore and on cultural expressions primarily in the form of literature. Garabedian draws inspiration from these oral and written stories to craft the cohesive eight part suite that is his third release as a leader, the lyrical The Crazy Dog. The music is not a fusion of Armenian and ...
Continue ReadingTodd Sickafoose: Bear Proof
by Vic Albani
Era dai fasti di Tiny Resistors (uscito nel 2008 per la Cryptogramophone dell'amico Jeff Gauthier e che invitiamo a riascoltare per la bellezza che lo ammanta) che il signor Todd Sickafoose non regalava al mondo un nuovo lavoro. Inneggiato da più voci quale coerente ed intelligentissimo musicista nonché compositore e produttore Sickafoose è stato talmente occupato da non avere avuto tempo per dilettarsi ancora una volta con l'idea che lo ha subito posto all'attenzione del mondo musicale sin ...
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