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C. Andrew Hovan's Best Releases of 2017
by C. Andrew Hovan
The landscape is constantly changing when it comes to the viability of jazz recordings in our world of free downloads and pervasive internet exposure. Add to that a propensity these days for media to tout anything that is a bit off-center and right wing as the next greatest thing. Much of what passes for jazz these days eludes this reviewer's understanding. As such, some might deem my year end compendium as too safe or mainstream. I prefer to think of ...
Continue ReadingBrian Charette: Kurrent
by Friedrich Kunzmann
The density of new releases and their voluminous level of innovation and experimentation in the current New York jazz scene is somewhat remarkable. The usage of Synthesizers, programming and bending up to completely dissolving compositional structure, as ever so often exemplified by Mary Halvorson, are experiments more and more frequently encountered every day. Leading jazz organ voice Brian Charette finds his rightful place among these evolutionary artists and proves this once more with his newest Circuit Bent Organ ...
Continue ReadingKurrent Duo at The Bop Stop
by C. Andrew Hovan
Kurrent Duo with Brian Charette and Jordan Young The Bop Stop Cleveland, Ohio October 26, 2017 Taking the tried and true organ trio format and turning it on its side, Brian Charette's latest self-produced release is a mind-bending mélange of colors that is certainly one of the best recordings of 2017. Kurrent finds Charette in the company of drummer Jordan Young and guitarist Ben Monder, with each member of the trio adding electronic elements ...
Continue ReadingBrian Charette Circuit Bent Organ Trio: Kurrent
by C. Andrew Hovan
A mainstay of the New York scene since the '90s, organist Brian Charette has a worldly view on music that makes it hard to contain all his pent up musical energies in a conventional way. This partly explains why his recent spate of records for the Posi-Tone label seemed to satisfy while still leaving one with the nagging feeling that Charette has so much more to say then can be contained in the radio-friendly time limits set by the label.
Continue ReadingBrian Charette/Jim Alfredson Organ Duo at Nighttown
by C. Andrew Hovan
Brian Charette/Jim Alfredson Organ Duo Nighttown Cleveland, Ohio October 20, 2016 It's not often that you get the chance to hear two organists going head to head in a live setting. Jimmy Mc Griff and Groove Holmes did it, but few others have dared to tread in such territory. Nonetheless, if New York heavyweight Brian Charette and Michigan marvel Jim Alfredson have anything to do with it, we might see a new precedence set for ...
Continue ReadingBrian Charette: Once & Future
by Dan Bilawsky
Nobody who wields an instrument of any sort can truly escape the gravitational pull of history. There are many who try to fight it, but better to embrace what came before, acknowledge where a sound or concept originates, and use that knowledge as both a port of arrival and a point of departure. There are no severed ties between past, present, and future; there are only visible and obscured links. Organist Brian Charette's fourth album on the ...
Continue ReadingBrian Charette: Alphabet City
by C. Andrew Hovan
Clearly producer Marc Free loves the jazz organ. His roster on the Posi-Tone label includes two of the best up and coming talents, Jared Gold and Brian Charette. Of his three albums for the label, Alphabet City may be Charette's best effort yet. While the previous Good Tipper relied too heavily on quirky versions of some odd pop tunes, this set is comprised of a dozen of his own originals and this makes all the difference. The opening ...
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