Jazz Articles about Bill McHenry

Bill McHenry: Sonic Pressure & Rediscovery

by Tom Greenland
May 4, 2008

Bill McHenry Sonic Pressure Fresh Sound 2007 John McNeil & Bill McHenry Rediscovery Sunnyside 2008

Bill McHenry's eclectic sound, blending West Coast cool with the restless interplay of New York's downtown practitioners, has matured into a uniquely personal voice over the past decade and a half. On Sonic Pressure, the tenorist ...

Bill McHenry Quintet: Sonic Pressure

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 5, 2008

Il quintetto allestito da Bill McHenry per questo Sonic Pressure, lo potremmo immaginare appena uscito da una lezione con Lennie Tristano, o da un incontro con il Miles Davis fine anni Cinquanta, o fedele seguace delle teorie colemaniane (Ornette si intende). Il sassofonista newyorchese e i suoi amici sono tutto questo e molto altro, in una visione musicale che ha assorbito influenze varie ma le ha rielaborate in un suono e in uno stile del tutto contemporanei e assolutamente personali. ...

Bill McHenry: Roses

by Joel Roberts
January 14, 2008

Bill McHenry's daring approach to the tenor saxophone has earned him strong critical acclaim in recent years, as well as choice gigs like headlining the Village Vanguard in New York City. While he's in the line of left-of-center tenor sax predecessors like Dewey Redman, the 35 year-old McHenry has developed a unique sound that blends free form and structured elements into an organic whole. He's that rare free player with a gentle tone and an unhurried demeanor. ...

Bill McHenry: Bill McHenry Quartet Featuring Paul Motian

by Florence Wetzel
October 5, 2004

Saxophonist Bill McHenry's latest CD is a successful meeting of three of jazz's finest younger talents with one of the music's most venerated players. McHenry, who produced the CD and composed all nine selections, has a beautiful tone, strong and clear with an open freshness. He has a fluent sense of melody, but he can also let go of structure and work with the insides of chords. McHenry is also an excellent composer with a gift for inventive structures, and ...

Chris Lightcap Quartet: Bigmouth

by Phil DiPietro
October 15, 2003

The jazz world has more than a few parallels to the world of sports, but unfortunately isn't given the same level of coverage and scrutiny. The rise of the formerly- regarded “team player" to sudden “all-star" status based on a reshuffling of the supporting cast is common to both worlds. Chris Lightcap now affirms his talents deserve wider recognition with this slam dunk followup to his debut, Lay-up. Blurring distinctions between the what-is-free and the what-is-harmony-based informs the playing of ...

Bill McHenry: Bill McHenry Quartet feat. Paul Motian

by Phil DiPietro
July 25, 2003

Bill McHenry, Reid Anderson and Ben Monder are members of a collective of musicians currently based in Manhattan who have recorded for the Catalonian label Fresh Sounds , representing one of jazz's futures. They're forward thinking, rejecting tradition in their composing and playing, “Downtown" without being so far downtown as the Knit or Tonic, free without being classifiable as avant-garde. Now 31, McHenry brings along a special guest drummer, the 70-plus Paul Motian, for his third release, taking the occasion ...