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James Brandon Lewis: Jesup Wagon
by Mark Corroto
Most listeners have long since moved saxophonist James Brandon Lewis from the rising star category to one labeled virtuoso. But then, pianist Matthew Shipp signaled this status when he mentored Lewis early on and certainly bassist William Parker ordained his arrival by recording with the saxophonist on his major label debut, Divine Travels (Okeh, 2014). Parker returns for this latest release, as does drummer Chad Taylor who can be heard on the quartet recording Molecular (Intakt Records, 2020) and two ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis & Red Lily Quintet: Jesup Wagon
by Vic Albani
Erano anni che il jazz attendeva un lavoro come questo. Splendido nella totale sua interezza, capace di riportare “il jazz nel jazz" dopo tanti anni e tante nuove incisioni che i critici hanno valutato con attenzione e spesso incensate come lo sforzo creativo del guardare avanti, pur “rimanendo nobilmente avvinghiati alla tradizione" e via di conserva. Potremmo analizzare a lungo il jazz contemporaneo ma davanti a dischi come questo è ovvio riflettere e considerare ciò che in ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis Quartet: Molecular
by Alberto Bazzurro
Trentotto anni, di Buffalo, James Brandon Lewis è uno dei più solidi tenorsassofonisti della sua generazione. A confermarcelo arriva questo suo nuovo lavoro in quartetto inciso a inizio 2020 (quindi fra gli ultimi ante-pandemia) in cui la solidità di cui sopra si manifesta sotto diversi profili: il suono, post-coltraniano aggiornato (non senza una patina di lirismo più o meno sotterraneo che rimanda a Gato Barbieri), le geometrie e gli equilibri quartettistici (complessivi), la cifra compositiva (tutti del sassofonista gli undici ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis, Chad Taylor: Live In Willisau
by Vic Albani
Il set finale dell'edizione 2019 del festival di Willisau in Svizzera (uno degli appuntamenti di assoluto riferimento del jazz contemporaneo della stagione festivaliera europea) è tra quelli da ricordare. Ovvio che per far sì che questo accada i protagonisti dello stesso debbano essere “a livello" e se, come in questo caso, si chiamano James Brandon Lewis e Chad Taylor è allora facile comprendere il perché di tanto riscontro e successo. Oltre a improvvisazioni e brani firmati dai due citati, brani ...
Continue ReadingSoundpath
by Victor L. Schermer
Muhal Richard Abrams (1930-2017) was a revered pianist, composer and teacher of great capability and range who, in addition to his own achievements, inspired and influenced many jazz musicians in both the mainstream and avant-garde categories. Largely self-taught as a result of a personal decision to follow his own path, and early on pursuing church music, big band, blues, bebop and avant-garde jazz in his home city of Chicago, he grasped music from its roots, and so was able to ...
Continue ReadingRob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra: Dimensional Stardust
by Karl Ackermann
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist Rob Mazurek has made his Exploding Star Orchestra the centerpiece of his larger groups. In this formation, he finds ample room to channel his disparate influences such as Sun Ra and Bill Dixon, and the distinctions he's absorbed as a global citizen. On Dimensional Stardust Mazurek and a dozen collaborators present an energetic, always changeable, genre-less mélange of styles held together by imagination and daring. The imposing Exploding Star Orchestra includes flautist Nicole ...
Continue ReadingEric Revis: Slipknots Through a Looking Glass
by John Sharpe
On Slipknots Through a Looking Glass, bassist Eric Revis helms a five strong unit to experimental ends juxtaposing emotionally ambiguous abstraction with gut punch drive. To cover the bases he unites saxophonists Bill McHenry and Darius Jones from the quartet which waxed In Memory Of Things Yet Seen (Clean Feed, 2014), with the pianist Kris Davis from Sing Me Some Cry (Clean Feed, 2017), along with drummer Chad Taylor who powered both. Joining on two numbers out of 11 is ...
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