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Jazz Articles about Chris Speed
Craig Taborn: Compass Confusion
by John Sharpe
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 ...
Continue ReadingJunk Magic: Compass Confusion
by Franz A. Matzner
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 ...
Continue ReadingSimon Nabatov: Plain
by Angelo Leonardi
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 ...
Continue ReadingChris Speed Trio: Respect for your Toughness
by Vic Albani
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.
Continue ReadingSimon Nabatov with Chris Speed, Herb Robertson, John Hébert, Tom Rainey: Plain
by Mark Corroto
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 ...
Continue ReadingBilly Mohler: Focus!
by Vincenzo Roggero
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 ...
Continue ReadingChris Speed: Platinum on Tap
by Geannine Reid
Saxophonist Chris Speed releases an album in a chord-less trio format entitled, Platinum on Tap on Skirl Records, a label dedicated to Brooklyn based creative music, now with over thirty-one releases. Speed is known for skirting the boundaries between: jazz, rock, electronic, classical and improvised music and the music on this project is in alignment with that visionary concept. Speed, revered for his compositions and commendable technical faculties within in small, medium-size and large ensemble, joins forces with bassist Chris ...
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