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Chris Cheek: Saturday Songs
by Budd Kopman
Sometimes, combining seriousness of intent and high musicianship with pure fun is just the thing one needs, and is exemplified by Saturday Songs from tenor saxophonist Chris Cheek. Cheek does not make a lot records as a leader (see Blues Cruise from 2006), but is on literally scores of albums as a sideman (see Paul Motian's Garden of Eden from 2006 and Chris Lightcap's Epicenter from 2015), or his own discography, which is not completely up to date. ...
Continue ReadingThe Swallow Quintet: Into the Woodwork
by AAJ Italy Staff
È troppo affermare che da un consesso del genere sarebbe stato lecito attendersi qualcosa in più di un rotondo album di sostanziale mainstream, con venature soul-funky e qualche svisata nei pressi dell'easy listening ("Still There" e frammenti sparsi)? Per carità, la confezione è impeccabile, l'ascolto gradevole (pur facendosi via via, per forza di cose, un po' distratto), ma è evidente che da musicisti che hanno in buona parte segnato il corso del jazz degli ultimi decenni (chi più chi meno, ...
Continue ReadingChris Cheek / Victor Prieto: Rollo Coaster
by Dan Bilawsky
While all musical settings present different challenges to those involved, duo recordings can often be the hardest to manage well. Repetitive textural elements, characteristic of the instruments on hand, can create a certain similarity across all tracks. Some musicians fall prey to wandering free improvisation, finding various degrees of success or failure, as they try to navigate these waters and avoid unpleasant encounters with the only other musical voice on the map. Thankfully, that is not the case with saxophonist ...
Continue ReadingChris Cheek / Victor Prieto: Rollo-Coaster
by Mark F. Turner
An odd couple of sorts, this union between accordion and saxophone is at once curious but proves a match made in heaven with Chris Cheek and Victor Prieto's collaborative release Rollo-Coaster. With great aplomb, they cover a wide scope of music from Tango to improvisational stints and other influences. Prieto, originally from Galicia, Spain, is fast becoming one of the premier accordionists in jazz, providing mastery and flair to recordings with singers Beat Kaestli and Tessa Souter, ...
Continue ReadingBruno Råberg: Lifelines
by AAJ Italy Staff
Bassista e compositore svedese, Bruno Råberg da qualche anno realizza album da solista con musicisti prevalentemente americani, tutti di gran classe. Sesto lavoro solistico, Lifelines vede assieme al leader il sassofonista Chris Cheek, il chitarrista Ben Monder, Matt Wilson e Ted Poor alla batteria. Si tratta di un album doppio, Blue Disk è il primo disco e Red Disk il secondo, in cui l'organico è stabile eccezion fatta per la batteria alla quale si alternano Matt Wilson e Ted Poor. ...
Continue ReadingRudder: Matorning
by AAJ Italy Staff
Ad un primo ascolto Motorning delude. Perché leggendo sulla copertina dai colori acidi i nomi di Chris Cheek, personaggio di punta della scena newyorchese, gran stilista del saxofono, e di Tim Lefevre, protagonista di alcuni tra i progetti più trasversali di quell'area come il trio Bedrock di Uri Caine, le aspettative erano per una musica creativa, irriverente, ad alto tasso di adrenalina e di rischio. E invece ci si trova immersi in un tourbillon un poco sconclusionato di ritmi binari, ...
Continue ReadingJakob Bro: Pearl River
by Jakob Baekgaard
Sometimes, finding a good jazz record is a bit like fishing: either you catch something or you don't. The search is always on for that particular phrase, beat or tune that will transport the mind to a state of bliss: the state called jazz. Coming across an album like Pearl River seems like a lucky find. Like finding a pearl in a river. But there's more than plain luck involved in the case of Danish guitarist Jakob Bro. ...
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