Jazz Articles about Billy Bang

Billy Bang - Bill Cole: Billy Bang - Bill Cole

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 18, 2011

Pochi mesi fa, l'11 aprile 2011, Billy Bang è deceduto. Il bell'articolo di Claudio Sessa da noi recuperato per la rubrica Déjà lu e pubblicato il 3 giugno ha rappresentato un doveroso ricordo del violinista americano. Questo CD, registrato dal vivo il 17 aprile 2009 all'Università della Virginia, costituisce probabilmente, almeno per il momento, l'ultimo documento discografico lasciatoci. Il esso egli duetta con l'esperto ed attempato Bill Cole, uno dei massimi interpreti degli strumenti a doppia ancia nell'ambito del jazz ...

Billy Bang: Prayer for Peace

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 4, 2010

Tira una certa aria di disimpegno, in questo nuovo album del sessantatreenne violinista dell'Alabama, fatto del resto non isolato nella sua produzione più recente (l'incisione, qui, risale peraltro al 2005), assai lontana dai pruriti dello String Trio of New York, di cui Bang incarnava d'altro canto l'anima più radicata alla tradizione afroamericana. Affidata alle cure di un quintetto senz'altro brillante, la musica di Bang (ma c'è anche “Chan Chan," di Compay Segundo, presenza - vien da dire - quanto mai ...

Billy Bang: Prayer for Peace

by Troy Collins
August 13, 2010

Protesting the inhumanity of war through creative endeavors takes on far greater significance when the artist in question has been personally involved. A veteran of the Vietnam War, violinist Billy Bang confronted his own personal demons on such albums as Vietnam: The Aftermath (Justin Time, 2001) and Vietnam: Reflections (Justin Time, 2004). Prayer for Peace is a thematic continuation of sorts, expanding beyond Bang's concerns about global conflict to address clashes of a more universal and personal nature.The ...

Billy Bang Quintet featuring Frank Lowe: Above & Beyond: An Evening in Grand Rapids

by Jeff Stockton
June 6, 2007

Few musicians in any category combine violinist Billy Bang's intrinsic understanding of his instrument's tradition with the adventurousness associated with the New York City loft scene of the 1970s and wrap it up in an inside-out style honed and refined over the course of a thirty-plus year career. For the last few years Bang has been enjoying a creative peak, particularly as a member of the William Parker Violin Trio, which released Scrapbook (Thirsty Ear, 2003), and ...

Billy Bang: Sweet Space / Untitled Gift

by Terrell Kent Holmes
February 25, 2006

Violinist Billy Bang has reissued two of his earlier albums on CD for the first time--Sweet Space, a live album from 1979, and Untitled Gift, a 1982 studio set. Both discs have lineups including luminaries like Frank Lowe and Don Cherry. The free structure and embrace of atonality give this music its kick. Billy Bang Sextet Sweet Space 8th Harmonic Breakdown 2005 (1979)

The tune that opens Sweet Space, “A Pebble ...

Billy Bang: Vietnam: Reflections

by Eyal Hareuveni
September 2, 2005

On the second installment of his Vietnam trilogy, following the highly acclaimed Vietnam: The Aftermath (Justin Time, 2001), violinist Billy Bang continues the healing process. His great achievement is not only personal, having faced the demons of that bloody and futile war as a GI, but also musical as well. Bang succeeds in transforming the harrowing experiences of terror and war into a profound musical document that combines the fluidity and the swing of a hard bop jazz band with ...

Billy Bang: Configuration & Vietnam: Reflections

by Jeff Stockton
July 9, 2005

Sirone/Bang Ensemble Configuration Silkheart 2005

The recently reactivated Swedish Silkheart label boasts of its track record for discovering and nurturing noteworthy young drummers, and it's found another one in Tyshawn Sorey. Recorded live at CB's Gallery in New York, the drummer opens this fabulous one-off (so far) with the first of a series of solos by each member of the Ensemble, a warm up for them and the listener. Sorey bashes it out on ...