Jazz Articles about Chris Speed

About Chris Speed

Album Review

Craig Taborn: Compass Confusion

Read "Compass Confusion" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 4, 2021

Compass Confusion, the long hoped for return of Craig Taborn's depth defying, solo-gone-quintet from Junk Magic (Thirsty Ear, 2004), climaxes early and often and, however you like to be lured, It pulls you along with a lush velvet hook in your mouth. Reeling it in is a struggle but a blessing. We know that. We get it. CTJM thinks so too. First timers, saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Speed and bassist ((Erik Fratzke}} are welcomed brotherly into the fold by pianist ...

Album Review

Craig Taborn: Compass Confusion

Read "Compass Confusion" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 18, 2021

Although a peerless pianist, Craig Taborn has been captivated by electronics since the age of 12, and he scratches that itch big-time on Compass Confusion. The role of post-production treatments in the creation of jazz records has a long history, from Orrin Keepnews piecing together the issued version of Thelonious Monk's 1956 classic “Brilliant Corners" from among 24 takes of the tune, to Miles Davis and Teo Macero forging masterpieces like Bitches Brew (CBS, 1970) from studio jams. Taborn's ethos ...

Album Review

Junk Magic: Compass Confusion

Read "Compass Confusion" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
November 1, 2020

Density. Shifting ground. Textural discord. Sharpness like glass. Resonant emptiness. Explorative improvisation, electronica sound spaces and electric beats. Released by the Craig Taborn project Junk Magic, Compass Confusion moves the fusion of live performance with electronica to the next level, making the division between the two often difficult to discern. The album incorporates a cross section of electronica techniques, including often lesser recognized subgenres like ambient, trip-hop, and minimalist industrial. This diverse representation of electronic music coupled with ...

Album Review

Simon Nabatov: Plain

Read "Plain" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
October 28, 2020

Dopo aver riallacciato proficui rapporti con l'ambiente musicale di New York (e il precedente album per la Clean Feed, Last Minute Theory lo dimostra), il pianista Simon Nabatov coinvolge altri notevoli esponenti del jazz più innovativo, in equilibrio tra mainstream avanzato e post-free. Nomi d'alto rilievo come il sassofonista Chris Speed, il trombettista Herb Robertson, il bassista John Hébert e il batterista Tom Rainey. Il pianista d'origine russa -cittadino americano dal 1986 e da anni residente in Germania-chiarisce ...

Album Review

Chris Speed Trio: Respect for your Toughness

Read "Respect for your Toughness" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
June 22, 2020

Nuovo album, ancora una volta targato Intakt, per il sassofonista Chris Speed in trio con Chris Tordini, contrabbasso, e Dave King, batteria. Un trio, ormai ben rodato, in grado di tradurre con alta coerenza stilistica e formale architetture di classica derivazione bop ma lavorando come Speed ci ha ormai abituato da tempo. La sua verifica strutturale è infatti un'intelligente operazione di modernizzazione del suono della tradizione lavorando con mood versatili e dalle ampie peculiarità di interessante e godibile ricerca.

Album Review

Simon Nabatov with Chris Speed, Herb Robertson, John Hébert, Tom Rainey: Plain

by Mark Corroto
June 11, 2020

How fitting is the comparison between the music of Simon Nabatov and a Matryoshka doll? The Russian-born American's music is a nesting of not dolls but musical genres, placed one inside the other. Classically trained as a child, he can often be found in the free jazz wilds, moving easily between European and American brands of instant composing. He also has a passion for Brazilian music, chamber music, computer-interfaced sounds, and solo performance. Maybe the easiest introductions to his multi-faceted ...

Album Review

Billy Mohler: Focus!

Read "Focus!" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
April 15, 2019

Strano quartetto quello che dà alle stampe Focus. Vi troviamo Shane Endsley e Nate Wood dei Kneebody, Chris Speed degli Human Feel e Claudia Quintet e... Billy Mohler dei The Calling, proprio la pop band di “Wherever You Will Go" tormentone ai primi posti delle classifiche di mezzo mondo (tra cui anche quella italiana ) nell'ormai lontano 2002. Perché Mohler, dopo la laurea al Berklee College of Music e l'esperienza al Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, diventa ...