Jazz Articles about Brian Blade

Mike Holober: Canyon

by Michael P. Gladstone
December 4, 2003

Mike Holober, pianist and composer of most of these songs, is the nominal leader of this combo. However, the bulk of the melody chores are handed to saxophonist Tim Ries. Herein lies the difference. Ries, a veteran New York session player and recording artist with three releases under his own name, plays both soprano and tenor sax. On soprano, he plays with a more metallic sound that takes away from the melody; his approach on tenor is much in the ...

Mike Holober: Canyon

by Dan McClenaghan
October 19, 2003

Pianist/composer Mike Holober's songs brim with shifting textures and moods, like the color changes wrought by the inexorbably-shifting angles of sunlight playing upon the striations of a canyon wall. Holober spends free time hiking and climbing, and he wrote the title tune for Canyon after a trip to Utah's Paria Canyon, an experience that inspired a song full of seamlessly shifting grooves.Those shifts and changes within a composition – done while maintaining an entrancing accessibility – are Holober's ...

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

by C. Michael Bailey
January 7, 2003

Few artists have generated as much press in recent memory as Ms. Norah Jones. No fewer than five thoughtful reviews have been published in this magazine alone . A unifying theme found in all criticism is the question of whether the music Jones plays is jazz. This might be similar to the question of whether the music Josh Groban or Andrea Bocchelli is classical.

In keeping with the ecumenical spirit of this magazine, I submit that it makes little, or ...

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

by Roger Crane
June 11, 2002

Okay--first things first. Yes, in my opinion, the strikingly beautiful, vaguely exotic Norah Jones is worthy of the buzz and publicity that she is receiving. But is she a jazz singer? Probably not but I don't know why anyone should care. Her singing is certainly jazz influenced. Jones does not use her lovely voice as a horn at the expense of lyrics. Jones is a natural storyteller and the stories that she chose to tell on her impressive debut, Come ...

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

by Bobby Dodd
May 1, 2002

One can't help being curious about the contents of Norah Jones' music collection after listening to her debut, “Come Away With Me". They would probably not be far off in assuming she grew up singing into various makeshift microphones around her household alongside the vocals of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, and Sarah Mclachlan. Despite the album's various jazz standards, one should not be so naïve to classify Norah Jones as a jazz singer. Hardcore jazz ...

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

by Jim Santella
April 12, 2002

Convincing in her storytellin' role, Norah Jones sings popular ballads with an emphasis on the blues. Her delicate voice sparkles gently alongside the band's twangy guitar chorus and straightforward rhythm section. She accompanies on piano. The title song, resembling a spiritual, beckons the listener to waltz away with her to a place where life will be better: better than the tension-filled surroundings we face all too often. Her original, the song belies Jones' fragile persona and warm soul. Country ballads ...

Norah Jones: Come Away With Me

by Jim Santella
March 1, 2002

Convincing in her storytellin' role, Norah Jones sings popular ballads with an emphasis on the blues. Her delicate voice sparkles gently alongside the band's twangy guitar chorus and straightforward rhythm section. She accompanies on piano. The title song, resembling a spiritual, beckons the listener to waltz away with her to a place where life will be better: better than the tension-filled surroundings we face all too often. Her original, the song belies Jones' fragile persona and warm soul. Country ballads ...