Jazz Articles about Ches Smith

Ches Smith & These Arches: Finally Out of My Hands

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 14, 2011

Esce su Skirl Records [e già questo basterebbe per comprarlo a occhi chiusi] l'atteso debutto di Ches Smith, batterista dal talento mostruoso che da qualche anno sta esattamente al centro della nuova Brooklyn. Dopo averlo scoperto con The Door, The Hat, The Chair, The Fact di Ben Goldberg e ascoltato nei Ceramic Dog di Marc Ribot, dal vivo con i Los Totopos di Tim Berne e con Mary Halvorson nel meraviglioso Dragon's Head, la curiosità di tastare il polso alle ...

Ches Smith & These Arches: Finally Out Of My Hands

by Troy Collins
November 10, 2010

Despite its brief 35-minute runtime, Finally Out Of My Hands is one of the year's most intriguing releases. The debut recording of Ches Smith & These Arches, this visceral studio session features an unorthodox instrumental combination courtesy of some of New York's finest improvisers. Leading the unusual quartet from his trap set, Smith is joined by Downtown luminaries Mary Halvorson (electric guitar), Andrea Parkins (accordion, organ and electronics) and Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone). Eschewing conventional roles, they erase preconceived boundaries ...

Ches Smith: Congs for Brums

by Florence Wetzel
November 18, 2006

This solo percussion set by Ches Smith offers ten songs full of depth and imagination. About half of the tunes on Congs for Brums feature the vibraphone, the other half drums and percussion; some songs include both. Smith wrote all the vibraphone pieces on piano and his drum pieces borrow ideas from the vibraphone songs, allowing the tunes to play off one another and create a uniquely beautiful cohesion. Several songs deserve mention, including the first cut, ...

Todd Sickafoose Group: Blood Orange

by Nathan Haselby
December 27, 2005

The young composer and bassist Todd Sickafoose waited a full five years to put out his second release, Blood Orange, following his debut, Dogs Outside (2000). Considering the advances he has made as a composer and arranger, the wait is worth it. Sickafoose still writes pensive mainstream jazz enriched by free improvisation, but his tighter new group makes possible writing which demands no less from individual players and gets much more from the whole.

To be fair, Dogs Outside was ...