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Billy Mintz: The 2 Bass Band...Live
by Glenn Astarita
Venerable first-call session artist and bandleader, Billy Mintz (Alan Broadbent Trio, Eddie Daniels Quartet) has logged years of productive time within the East and West Coast USA jazz communities. Calling New York home since 2001, he formed the 2 Bass Band, which is a unit that performs at many of the well-known Manhattan venues, but surprisingly, has never recorded an album until now. And it's probably fitting that the large ensemble--anchored by bassists Masa Kamaguchi and Cameron Brown --is captured ...
read moreLena Bloch: Feathery
by Alberto Bazzurro
Moscovita di nascita ma giramondo per natura dopo un primo trasferimento alla volta di Israele datato 1990, Lena Bloch è una solida tenorista formatasi studiando, fra gli altri, con Yusef Lateef, Joe Lovano e in fondo più di tutti Lee Konitz, che l'ha introdotta all'estetica tristaniana, forgiando per sempre il suo linguaggio (e la sua pronuncia, la sua sonorità), che si avverte oggi inequivocabilmente imparentato con quello del grande Warne Marsh. Per questo che risulta essere il ...
read moreLena Bloch: Feathery
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Lena Bloch's Feathery is a cerebral album laced with a mature, tender passion. It is also a collaborative effort with her sidemen contributing to the creative process democratically while maintaining their individuality.Drummer Billy Mintz's thunderous beats and crashing cymbals set an expectant and dramatic mood on Guitarist Dave Miller's solemn and ethereal “Rubato." Miller's haunting almost baroque explorations add a mystical touch while bassist Cameron Brown's bowed and reverberating strings maintain the western classical sensibility while meandering ...
read moreLena Bloch: Feathery
by Dan McClenaghan
Russian-born tenor saxophonist Lena Bloch carries a cool burning torch for the music of saxophonist Warne Marsh and the Lennie Tristano school of jazz. For Feathery, her debut CD as a leader, Bloch has assembled a quartet that can rival the loose and interactive and spontaneous ensembles of alto saxophonist Lee Konitz--a Tristano acolyte and Bloch's friend and mentor. Like the marvelous Konitz outing, Live at Birdland (ECM Record, 2011), where the saxophonist was joined by top notch ...
read moreLena Bloch: Feathery
by Jack Bowers
On one level, the Russian-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist Lena Bloch's debut album is like stepping into a time machine; on the other hand, one could argue that her approach to music in general and jazz in particular is timeless. Foremost among Bloch's influences are Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh and Lennie Tristano, and the mood on Feathery clearly reflects those associations. In fact, the word “feathery" could serve as an apt description of Bloch's style, which is for the most ...
read moreBilly Mintz: Mintz Quartet
by Hrayr Attarian
What is remarkable about drummer's Billy Mintz's debut recording Mintz Quartet is his masterful versatility on his instrument. That is no surprise as Mintz, an in demand sideman, has played with a wide variety of musicians during his career ranging from disco diva Gloria Gaynor to saxophonists Lee Konitz and Charles Lloyd. A well-known educator and writer, Mintz also showcases his sophisticated compositional skills on this intriguing album.“Ugly Beautiful" for example, is an intense and free flowing piece. ...
read moreMintz Quartet: Mintz Quartet
by Dan McClenaghan
The jazz world is packed with dynamic drummers, and players who raise the job of timekeeping--and beyond--to a fine art. And then there are the supreme poets of the drum kit: The late Paul Motian, with his gentle orchestra of textures, colors, and diaphanous accents; Jack De Johnette, with his bustling undercurrents and rock steady grooves; and, perhaps lesser known, but no less noteworthy, is Billy Mintz, with his melodious, metallic, shuffle-and-bump rhythmic dance. Mintz--who has recorded with ...
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