Jazz Articles about Colleen Clark

About Colleen Clark

Album Review

Picture this: Having assembled a supporting cast, finalized the playlist and booked a studio, you are ready to make the debut recording as leader of your own ensemble, only to learn that, hours earlier, said studio in East Lansing, Michigan, had been devastated by a tornado. That is exactly what happened to trombonist Eli Howell in May 2025. Fortunately, thanks to some quick thinking and deft maneuvering by album producer Michael Dease and others, a room was found at Howell's ...

Album Review

Matt White: Matt White's Dolly

Read "Matt White's Dolly" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
May 25, 2026

A miniature doll-like effigy of the great country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton adorns the cover of trumpeter-composer Matt White's Dolly. How did the Queen of Country become the subject of this fascinating (if awkwardly-branded) mainstream jazz album? Happenstance. White was researching Gullah songs for his 2023 album, Lowcountry (Ropeadope), when YouTube “Pandorized" him into a video of a young Parton, guitar in hand, performing “The Bridge," solo, on the Porter Wagoner television show in the '60s. He made ...

Album Review

Alliance: Alliance

by Jack Bowers
December 24, 2024

Alliance is an impressive all-female co-op quartet whose self-titled debut album, recorded in 2023, offers a luminous snapshot of their remarkable talent and versatility. Reed virtuoso Sharel Cassity, an alumna of New York City's world-class DIVA Jazz Orchestra, oversees the front line, while pianist Hannah Meyer provides an eloquent reciprocal perspective and shares the essential rhythmic duties with bassist Carmani Edwards and drummer Colleen Clark. Up-and-coming trumpeter Kellin Hanas makes a guest appearance on the session's closing number, Harold Mabern's ...

Album Review

Michael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill

Read "Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 11, 2024

Even though all but unsung outside his customary locale, Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill has drawn into his orbit a small but well-respected circle of jazz artists including bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist Randy Napoleon and trombonist Michael Dease, all of whom have recorded albums dedicated to Hill's diverse and sophisticated music. Found in Space is Dease's second homage to Hill, with a third one in the planning stages. Hill's compositions, which traverse the spectrum from straight-on jazz to ...

Album Review

Michael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill

Read "Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
October 16, 2024

Leaving a legacy in this life is a subject that holds different meanings for people. For some, it involves building a structure of permanence that will stand up to the test of time after one's entrance into eternity. For others, it is more fleeting, something that can be shaped and reshaped, and if desired, completely torn down. For some it is a function of building a monument to oneself. For others, like Central Michigan composer/arranger Gregg Hill, it is a ...

Liner Notes

Michael Dease: Found in Space - The Music of Gregg Hill

by Bill Milkowski
August 9, 2024

The title itself is revealing. A clever play on words of the old '60s sci-fi show Lost in Space, it immediately suggests an irreverent wit and slightly twisted perspective; qualities that also permeate the unique music of prolific Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill. How this fairly obscure presence on the national music scene has managed to garner such a fervent following remains a mystery to those of us outside the Great Lakes State. Converts include bassist-educator Rodney Whitaker, Director ...

Album Review

Alliance: Alliance

Read "Alliance" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 1, 2024

The eponymous debut from Alliance--a collective quartet spearheaded by saxophonist Sharel Cassity and drummer Colleen Clark, and harmonically hinged on pianist Hannah Mayer and bassist Carmani Edwards-- is a shining example of the strength behind a pact in play. A sorority built on substantial musical prowess and possibilities, this is a band that's locked and loaded for action. Mixing carefully-chosen covers with winning originals, Alliance confidently endears itself to ears across this nine-song program. Opening on Mulgrew ...