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Randal 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 ...
Continue ReadingTony Malaby: The Cave of Winds
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Tony Malaby releases a 21st century version of Sonny Rollins' The Bridge (RCA Victor, 1962). During Rollins' three year voluntary hiatus from performing in the later '50s, he took to practicing on the Williamsburg Bridge near his Lower East Side neighborhood. Malaby, a resident of Jersey City in 2020, was also on a hiatus of sorts, an involuntary one. The pandemic had cancelled all performances, so he took to practicing under a turnpike overpass and soon invited other musicians ...
Continue ReadingDiego Pinera: Odd Wisdom
by Phillip Woolever
In certain musical occasions the essence of time is more vividly pronounced than others. That equation is often pronounced clearly in the technique of how a drummer applies various rhythms, and the resulting effect those metrics have on a song or project. Drummer Diego Pinera is a widely travelled percussionist from Uruguay, currently based in Berlin. His second release on the German-based ACT label demonstrates a vast range of compositional skills recorded during one brief, extremely productive session ...
Continue ReadingGreat New Guitar Music
by Bob Osborne
It's all about guitars on this show with fantastic new albums featuring six strings. Thumbscrew return with their sixth album and Mary Halvorson is continually inventive with her approach to the instrument in a jazz context. There's also a debut from Mike Freedman, ground breaking sounds from Johnathan Kane and Dave Soldier, and the New York sounds of Justin Rothberg. Reza Khan, also with a sixth album, delivers a great new set of tunes, while Charlie Apicella interprets classic jazz ...
Continue ReadingKristiana Roemer: House of Mirrors
by Jerome Wilson
Kristiana Roemer is a young German singer whose voice has a lilt and plush texture reminiscent of Annette Peacock. On this, her first album, she uses her intriguing sound in the service of both conventional jazz tunes and floating, airy pieces which border on art songs. Most of the material here is her own writing, though some lyrics derive from others' poetry. In addition, she proves her jazz bona fides by including familiar tunes by Stanley Turrentine and Charles Mingus. ...
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