Jazz Articles about Brad Shepik

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Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite

by Matt Marshall
February 5, 2009

Guitarist Brad Shepik has admitted that a strictly musical approach to environmental issues may not be as persuasive as a song that can speak directly to specific problems with its lyrics. Nevertheless, his Human Activity Suite, a series of world music pieces intermixed with pieces highlighting the causes and effects of global climate change, is a powerful call for awareness, unity and action. It inspires with a universal glow rarely touched by song. Commissioned by Chamber Music ...

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Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite

by Troy Collins
February 3, 2009

A powerful indictment of mankind's role in global warming, Human Activity Suite is guitarist Brad Shepik's most expansive and earnest project to date. Global warming is an issue close to Shepik's heart, as explained in a December 2008 interview with Frank A. Matzner.A well-versed world traveler, Shepik has explored many cultural traditions--both on his own albums, and as a member of “world music" collectives such as Babkas, Lingua Franca, Pachora and Triduga, as well as Matt Darriau's Paradox ...

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Brad Shepik: Sounding A Global Warming Warning

by Franz A. Matzner
December 8, 2008

As can only happen in New York, I stumbled upon guitarist Brad Shepik's portentous suite Human Activity entirely serendipitously. Visiting New York for the day on extra-musical business, the evening began as a step around the corner to the 55 Bar to sample whatever music was on tap and quickly transformed into a night of singularly arresting music in the form of Shepik's debut of a suite constructed around the theme of global climate change.Salient due to both ...

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Brad Shepik: Places You Go

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 3, 2007

Da tempo il chitarrista Brad Shepik sta costruendosi una carriera importante, nel solco del jazz moderno. Sembra non aver fretta di arrivare e i suoi progetti discografici hanno la giusta cadenza per rimanere fissati come chiodi piantati con cura sulla parete, ognuno ben saldo per diventare uno snodo di passaggio che facilita la scalata complessiva. Questo Places You Go non fa eccezione. Il disco nasce da quella che i professionisti del marketing identificherebbero come la classica situazione nella quale un ...

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Brad Shepik: Places You Go

by Celeste Sunderland
March 17, 2007

Gracefully human moments contrast with digital video game syncopation on the Brad Shepik Trio's new album Places You Go. Hammond B3 organist Gary Versace and drummer Tom Rainey join the guitarist on the ten-track journey through quiet times that nod at nostalgia, to full on jam rock ballyhoo. hepik's gorgeous tone and intricate skill reverberate with a dusty, American open-road mentality on slow tracks like “Five and Dime . You can almost feel the breath of each ...

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Brad Shepik Trio: Places You Go

by Matt Cibula
February 7, 2007

Brad Shepik is a very good guitarist, but there are a lot of other people out there who can match that description. He has assembled a nice trio here featuring Gary Versace's canny Hammond B-3 work and the nifty drumming of Tom Rainey, but there are a lot of guitar trios fighting for space in the jazz world. So what makes this album special?

One reason is the fact that Shepik seems pretty comfortable in a whole lot of different ...

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Brad Shepik Trio: Places You Go

by Troy Collins
February 6, 2007

Venturing beyond styles and categories, guitarist Brad Shepik is one of today's pan-stylistic artists. From seminal gigs with trumpeter Dave Douglas' Eastern European folk-influenced Tiny Bell Trio to membership in the collective avant-Balkan trio Babkas, multi-ethnic investigations with the trio Lingua Franca, and his own world music-influenced quintet, the Commuters, Shepik is the quintessential postmodern musician.

Places You Go is a surprisingly traditional recording for the restless guitarist. With his regular bassist unavailable to travel in the summer ...