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Chris Dingman: Inner Child
by Scott Lichtman
Vibraphonist and composer Chris Dingman is well known amongst top-level musicians. He's played with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ambrose Akinmusire and Steve Lehman; appeared on over 40 albums; and won industry critics polls. His own recordings stand out for blending technical facility on vibes with introspective ambience. “Inner Child" is one such track, an early path-setting trio composition. After playing the piece with a number of personnel, he discovered exceptional chemistry with bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tim ...
Continue ReadingSara Caswell: The Way To You
by Angelo Leonardi
Formalmente il precedente album da leader di Sara Caswell risale al 2005 (But Beautiful, Arbors) ma questa nuova incisione a suo nome non è il ritorno dopo una lunga pausa. Ci sono infatti le quattro incisioni --dal 2013 al 202-col trio cooperativo 9 Horses e la leadership condivisa con la sorella Rachel del 2014 (Alive in the Singing Air, Turtle Ridge) nel un gruppo comprendente Fred Hersch. Aggiungiamo poi la ventina di collaborazioni, anche discografiche, con Brad Mehldau, Miho Hazama, ...
Continue ReadingSteve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz: Ex Machina
by Mark Corroto
Does Ex Machina settle the long-standing debate about whether saxophonist Steve Lehman is human or a replicant. Lehman and his approach to music may remind one of Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner (1982) a movie adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick; Deckard was tasked with hunting and destroying humanoid replicants i.e. robots. The film never answers the question viewers might have as to whether Deckard is actually a replicant himself. ...
Continue ReadingSteve Lehman: Ex Machina
by Karl Ackermann
When native New Yorker Steve Lehman releases an album, the odds are it will turn up at the top of year-end polls. If the composer & saxophonist has a formula for success, a listener would be unlikely to discern a methodology across his previous sixteen leader releases. What sets Lehman apart is a hunger for knowledge and risk. With advanced degrees which culminated in a doctorate from Columbia University, he is a researcher, scholar, and Professor of Music at The ...
Continue ReadingSara Caswell: The Way To You
by Jack Bowers
Although The Way to You is heralded as Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell's first album as a leader in more than seventeen years, it was actually recorded in 2019, roughly four years before its release date. Still, it is Caswell's first new album in quite a long time, and those who relish her tasteful and melodic violin should be grateful for that. Caswell leads her longtime working quartet here, with vibraphonist Chris Dingman sitting in on four of ...
Continue ReadingJohn Ellis, Andy Bragen: The Ice Siren
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo Dreamscapes e MOBRO John Ellis e Andy Bragen firmano un altro lavoro d'ampio respiro, che si snoda in equilibrio tra scrittura cameristica, jazz e opera contemporanea. Ellis ha scritto la musica e partecipa come strumentista; Bragen ha composto il libretto, ispirandosi al filone gothic fantasy di autori come Tim Burton ne “La sposa cadavere" (titolo originale The Corpse Bride). L'opera è stata commissionata dalla Jazz Gallery di New York e presentata lo scorso anno durante ...
Continue ReadingMiriam Elhajli: The Uncertainty of Signs
by Angelo Leonardi
Miriam Elhajli è una giovane cantautrice e musicologa attiva a New York, influenzata dal folklore venezuelano e marocchino. Una tradizione assimilata in famiglia, che lei fonde con la sensibilità del jazz moderno e i modelli di Joni Mitchell e altre vocalist degli anni sessanta/settanta. Il suo debutto discografico Observations, inciso nel 2018 e pubblicato due anni dopo, ha colpito critica e pubblico per la bellezza delle sue composizioni, interpretate con un'intima colloquialità romantica che ricordava la Mitchell ...
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