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Yelena Eckemoff: I Am a Stranger in This World
by Mark Sullivan
Russian-born pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff began setting verses from the Bible's Book of Psalms shortly after her conversion to Christianity, even before her emigration to the United States. But she waited until she had considerable experience working with jazz musicians before producing her jazz arrangements. They were first recorded on her album Better Than Gold and Silver [L&H Production, 2018], which presented ten Psalm settings in both vocal and instrumental versions. The detailed story of how Yelena Eckemoff came to set ...
Continue ReadingBen Monder / Tony Malaby / Tom Rainey: Live In Lisbon
by Mark Corroto
Although we mourn the millions (estimated 6.5 million) of lives lost in the the great pandemic of the 21st century, some good things have survived. For our purposes, great expressions in music making. Live In Lisbon is a perfect example. Guitarist Ben Monder assembled a trio with saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey at the cusp of the pandemic in March of 2020 to perform at his Tuesday gig in New York. Eschewing written composition for an all improvised ...
Continue ReadingDave Liebman: Trust And Honesty
by Chris May
Dave Liebman's Trust And Honesty is the third release in Newvelle Records' limited edition audiophile-vinyl autumn 2022 Renewal Collection. It follows Elan Mehler's There Is A Dance and Michael Blake's Combobulate, both previously reviewed on these pages. Liebman's album is an unassuming little gem. It takes a master musician to take a selection of familiar ballads, give them simple, straightforward readings with an average duration of around four minutes, and come up with something so lovely and ...
Continue ReadingRandal Despommier: A Midsummer Odyssey
by Jerome Wilson
Lars Gullin was a Swedish baritone saxophonist active mainly in the Fifties and Sixties and known for his work on his native jazz scene as well as playing with American stars such as Chet Baker and Lee Konitz. His compositions were an early example of a European musician mixing the sounds of his home country with American jazz, bringing a thoughtful Nordic calm into the cool jazz realm. Alto saxophonist Randal Despommier is a long-time Gullin fan and, on this ...
Continue ReadingRandal Despommier: A Midsummer Odyssey
by Mark Corroto
If it was possible to fall in love with a set of music, Randal Despommier's A Midsummer Odyssey might be the one. The backstory to this recording begins in Perugia, Italy in 2005, where the American saxophonist heard the composition “Danny's Dream," by the Swedish saxophonist Lars Gullin (1928--1976). He was captivated by the music performed by this Scandinavian luminary and master of the baritone saxophone. Gullin was little known to American audiences, but has been hailed by contemporary bari ...
Continue ReadingTony Malaby: The Cave of Winds
by Vincenzo Roggero
Nel lontano 2000 il sassofonista Tony Malaby debuttò discograficamente come leader di un super quartetto denominato Sabino. A distanza di più di vent'anni ripropone la stessa formula con il chitarrista originale Marc Ducret sostituito da Ben Monder—collaboratore di lunga data di Malaby—e licenzia un disco di tutto rispetto. Vi troviamo le diverse anime che da anni contraddistinguono il percorso musicale di Malaby. Il suo districarsi con naturalezza tra tradizione e innovazione, l'interesse per le forme folkloriche ed il coinvolgimento nella ...
Continue ReadingTony Malaby: The Cave of Winds
by Mike Jurkovic
Veteran of Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and many of Kris Davis' intriguing forays, saxophonist Tony Malaby is by far no stranger to the other side of the music where paradigms slip from measure to measure, not to note. So The Cave of Winds, Malaby's dust-up with his electric quartet Sabino, follows a grandly familiar arc but sounds like nothing before it, and quite possibly like nothing that will come after it. Potent ...
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