Jazz Articles about Ben Street

About Ben Street

Album Review

Yelena Eckemoff: Lonely Man and His Fish

Read "Lonely Man and His Fish" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 18, 2023

A Moscow-raised, classically-trained pianist, Yelena Eckemoff made the move to the United States in 1991, after being bitten by the jazz bug via a Dave Brubeck concert she attended in Moscow in 1987. In 2010, after settling with her family in rural North Carolina, she released Cold Sun (L & H Records), a trio outing featuring bassist Mads Vinding and drummer Peter Erskine. She followed up this fine debut with several more albums, all on her L & H Label, ...

Album Review

Andrew Cyrille: The News

Read "The News" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
November 3, 2021

There is no denying the significance of Andrew Cyrille's oft-cited association with Cecil Taylor, not to mention his collaborations with other avant-garde luminaries such as Walt Dickerson, Ahmed Abdul Malik and Marion Brown. However, such reductive narratives tend to overlook Cyrille's own, fairly extensive output as a leader, beginning with What About? (BYG Actuel, 1971). Whilst there have sometimes been long gaps between his records, the Brooklyn-born drummer has struck a rich vein of form in his autumnal years on ...

Album Review

Andrew Cyrille Quartet: The News

Read "The News" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
October 19, 2021

Con una carriera che attraversa gli ultimi 60 anni di storia del jazz, dall'alto dei suoi 80 anni (compiuti un paio di mesi dopo le sessioni di registrazione di questo disco nel 2019), il veterano batterista Andrew Cyrille non ha alcun timore di mettersi ancora in gioco, come aveva già dimostrato pochi anni fa con il notevole The Declaration of Musical Independence (titolo decisamente programmatico per il suo esordio da leader per l'etichetta tedesca), di cui questo nuovo album rappresenta ...

Album Review

Ethan Iverson & Umbria Jazz Orchestra: Bud Powell in the 21st Century

Read "Bud Powell in the 21st Century" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
April 1, 2021

Da quando ha lasciato The Bad Plus l'attività di Ethan Iverson s'è sviluppata in più direzioni, passando da lavori strumentali in duo (con Mark Turner: Temporary Kings ECM 2018) o in quartetto (Common Practice ECM 2019) ad opere estese come il concerto per pianoforte con l'American Composers Orchestra (Concerto to Scale). Tra le altre cose ha curato una celebrazione di Thelonious Monk alla Duke University e scritto la colonna sonora per Pepperland, l'opera sui Beatles del coreografo Mark Morris.

Album Review

Edward Simon: 25 Years

Read "25 Years" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
March 11, 2021

Al pubblico del jazz non piacciono molto le compilations ma questa del pianista Edward Simon è speciale. I diciassette brani del doppio CD sono stati scelti da lui--come bilancio e riflessione personale nel 25° anno della sua attività da leader--e forniscono una variopinta retrospettiva delle sue tappe musicali. «L'idea mi è venuta l'anno scorso (2019) quando ho compito 50 anni--ha detto al Columbia Daily Tribune--La raccolta è nata da uno spirito di celebrazione e dalla consapevolezza di quante cose siano ...

Album Review

Dayna Stephens: Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard

Read "Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard" reviewed by John Chacona

by John Chacona
February 12, 2021

In his 2018 book, Playing Changes, Nate Chinen argues that the fundamental jazz dialectic of the 1980s and 90s, namely tradition vs. innovation, was ultimately a false choice. Two years later, Dayna Stephens' Right Now! Live at the Village Vanguard proves the point in the most eloquent way possible. In many ways, Right Now! is a traditional undertaking, from the classic horn-and-rhythm-section formation to the set list heavy with tunes taken at a mid-stroll tempo. And nothing cements ...

Album Review

Dayna Stephens Quartet: Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard

Read "Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 5, 2020

New York City's Village Vanguard has a history. Founded by Max Gordon in 1935 and, after his passing in 1989, operated by his wife Lorraine until her death in 2018, the venue became famous for launching jazz careers and hosting the recordings of more than a hundred jazz albums, including saxophonist Sonny Rollins' A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1957), pianist Bill Evans' Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961) and saxophonist John Coltrane's Live At The Village ...