Jazz Articles about Brad Shepik

Brad Shepik Quartet: Across the Way

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 6, 2011

Across the Way è il primo lavoro discografico del nuovo quartetto di Brad Shepik, con Tom Beckham al vibrafono e Mark Guiliana alla batteria, che con lui hanno già condiviso la militanza in alcuni dei gruppi di Dave Douglas. Completa la formazione Jorge Roeder al basso, componente anche del più recente quartetto di Gary Burton. Se nel precedente disco pubblicato da leader, Human Activity Suite del 2009, Shepik aveva proposto una suite per quintetto jazz in dieci movimenti, in Across ...

Brad Shepik Quartet: Across The Way

by Glenn Astarita
April 8, 2011

One of the modern day pioneers of integrating Balkan music into the progressive jazz vernacular, guitarist Brad Shepik's solo and session career spans a comprehensive panorama. He lingers on the cutting-edge of matters amid collaborations with like-minded artists, such as trumpeter Dave Douglas, reedman Chris Speed and other jazz VIPs. And on this quartet date, Shepik and vibraphonist Tom Beckham impart a jubilant union within more traditional jazz quarters. Across The Way is a sinuous endeavor, packed with ...

Brad Shepik Quartet: Across The Way

by Jerry D'Souza
February 11, 2011

Guitarist Brad Shepik mines a lode of styles on his compositions. Shadow and light play through his music, and he is not averse to opening the door to let a swath of sunshine in. The mood is never static, the wheel of invention is constantly churning out ideas that surprise and delight. Shepik wrote most of Across The Way's tunes while he was on the road, where he teamed up with vibraphonist Tom Beckham, bassist Jorge Roeder and ...

Brad Shepik Quartet: Across the Way

by Matt Marshall
February 9, 2011

The opening strains to Brad Shepik's Across the Way--repeated six-string figures of wistful longing, tending toward melancholy, with strains redolent of Radiohead's OK Computer (Capitol, 1997)--signal that the guitarist is exploring darker, more insular spaces than on his previous effort, Human Activity Suite (Songlines, 2009). To be sure, that work, which takes on global climate change and humanity's active role within the growing disaster, could hardly be labeled trivial or lighthearted. But Shepik's tone and the music as a whole ...

Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite

by AAJ Italy Staff
November 4, 2009

Commissionato dalla Chamber Music Orchestra, Human Activity Suite è un progetto ambizioso incentrato sul tema della salvaguardia ambientale. Un'opera che trascende i confini del jazz per concentrarsi sul retaggio musicale dei continenti. Suoni etnici, musica folk e rock per un percorso variegato in cui a spiccare è la chitarra del leader. Pur non essendo un disco di solo jazz, è jazzistico il modo con cui Shepik spazia con libertà tra musica e istanze sociali. Vi si ritrovano rimandi all'Asia, Africa, ...

Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite

by Jerry D'Souza
March 16, 2009

In June 2008, Brad Shepik premiered his work Human Activity Suite: Sounding a Response to Climate Change in New York. It was born out of his concern for the environment and the impact of climate change.

Shepik, who is drawn to the music of other countries, wrote one tune for each of the seven continents, augmenting the suite with three more. His compositions soak up the music of various lands, showcasing his adaptation of the folk forms--albeit, as ...

Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite

by Stuart Broomer
March 14, 2009

Brad Shepik's Human Activity Suite is a ten-part mingling of world music materials from various cultures and ecological concerns. Sponsored by Chamber Music America's New Works program, the project sees guitarist Shepik enlarging his usual trio with Gary Versace on keyboards and Tom Rainey on drums to include trumpeter Ralph Alessi and bassist Drew Gress. The result is downright orchestral; Alessi adding clarion leads to the guitarist's works as Gress thickens the already complex, underlying textures. Seven ...