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Jazz Articles about Carmen Staaf

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Play This!

Carmen Staaf: Monk's Mood

Read "Carmen Staaf: Monk's Mood" reviewed by John Chacona


There is an iconic image in Charlotte Zwerin's 1988 documentary film Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser that shows Monk, cigarette in hand, silently contemplating a misty Manhattan skyline. As heard on her recording Sounding Line (Sunnyside Records, 2025), Carmen Staaf's arrangement of “Monk's Mood" that begins with Dylan Vado's spectral bowed vibes perfectly captures the soft-focus melancholy of the image. That Staaf's piano style bears little resemblance to Monk's speaks to the enduring influence of his music, the ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Meet Carmen Staaf

Read "Meet Carmen Staaf" reviewed by Cheryl K.


In this hour, an interview with pianist, educator, and Musical Director for NEA Jazz Master vocalist and actress Dee Dee Bridgewater, Carmen Staaf. Playlist Brian Molley Quartet with The Asin Langa Ensemble “Journeys In Hand In Hand" from Journeys (BGMM) 5:24 Alexa Torres “When the Wind Breaks the Chime" from IN SITU (Alexa Torres) 6:58 Jenny Scheinman “The Sea Also Rises" from All Species Parade (Royal Potato Family) 1:48 Carmen Staaf Trio “Prospect" from Eye to Eye (Fractamondi) ...

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Album Review

Owen Broder: Hodges: Front and Center: Vol. Two

Read "Hodges: Front and Center: Vol. Two" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Owen Broder's Hodges : Front and Center Vol.Two is a respectful yet refreshing tribute to Johnny Hodges, a saxophonist with an iconic sound while injecting a contemporary vitality into the mix. Hodges' influence looms large throughout the album, guiding Broder's approach to the music. In this quintet's musical journey, Broder, on both alto and baritone saxophone, is accompanied by trumpeter Riley Mulherkar, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist Barry Stephenson and drummer Bryan Carter. In both his playing and composing, Hodges showed ...

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Album Review

Owen Broder: Hodges: Front and Center: Vol. Two

Read "Hodges: Front and Center: Vol. Two" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


At times, while listening to random classics in the collection, one can have the idea that everything in jazz evolved from the late '40s to early '50s bebop. But before bop was swing. Duke Ellington stayed with swing through bop, funk, and fusion. And so did alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges (1906-1970), who played in Ellington's band from its early days, the late-1920s. A much-admired player with a distinctive tone and a beautiful way with a melody, Hodges also ...

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Album Review

Erica Seguine: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Impegnandosi nel ruolo di produttore, Darcy James Argue dà particolare considerazione al debutto discografico di quest'ensemble, fondato nel 2011 a New York dalle compositrici Erica Seguine e Shon Baker. La prima è anche arrangiatrice e guida dell'orchestra, la seconda entra nel cast come sassofonista. Dopo varie esibizioni in locali chiave della Big Apple, le due leader hanno selezionato sette composizioni originali dal loro repertorio, incidendole con un ampio organico comprendente talentuosi solisti della metropoli. Alcuni di essi ...

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Album Review

Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The New Day Bends Light, the debut recording by the twelve-year-old Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra, is interesting on a number of levels, not the least of which is emotional. The leaders and their twenty-one piece ensemble are clearly committed to the music and do their best to breathe life into each of the album's seven numbers, three of which were written by Seguine, three by Baker and the other ("Ose Shalom") by Nurit Hirsh. Aside from that, there is the ...

Album Review

Allison Miller, Carmen Staaf: Nearness

Read "Nearness" reviewed by Stefano Merighi


Una leggerezza inquieta attraversa le tracce di questo bel disco realizzato in coppia da Allison Miller (batteria e percussoni) e Carmen Staaf (pianoforte). La strumentazione è particolarmente adatta alla formula del duo, basti pensare a quanti esempi possono tornare alla mente nella storia del jazz moderno. In questo caso, invece di stupire con le rispettive qualità di virtuosismo—che comunque non mancano -, Miller e Staaf si affidano alla naturalezza della conversazione, senza porsi chissà quale obiettivo, tranne quello ...


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