Jazz Articles about Cortex
About Cortex
Instrument: Band / orchestra
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsCortex: Legal Tender
by Mark Corroto
The Norwegian quartet Cortex answers the question, what would have happened if the Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis, had advanced the jazz canon instead of looking backwards for inspiration. Remember when the two young lions burst onto the scene in the 1980s with their self-righteous mission to save jazz? They did so by stuffing it, much like a taxidermist, to preserve an endangered species. Their neocon approach actually can make us grateful for bands like Cortex with their inclinations to ...
read moreA Musical Portrait Of Cortex
by Centro d'Arte Padova
For this new installment of our “50/50" series, we asked the members of Cortex (Thomas Johansson, Kristoffer Berre Alberts, Ola Høyer, Gard Nilssen), one of the most interesting groups in the burgeoning Norwegian jazz scene, to choose five tracks that inspired them in their music making. We then completed the selection with five other tracks taken from the band's already rich discography. Playlist Cortex “Opening" from Live! (Clean Feed) 00:00 Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath “Mra" from ...
read moreCortex: Avant-Garde Party Music
by Vic Albani
Fossero tutte così le party-band! Cortex e Clean Feed colpiscono ancora e questo nuovo e ironico Avant-Garde Party Music la dice lunga sulle prospettive dello straordinario quartetto norvegese che dà alle stampe un nuovo capitolo della loro fortunata discografia. Se qualcuno cercasse una naturale evoluzione di un moderno hard-bop che attraversando gli insegnamenti di Ornette Coleman giunge ad un iper-realista punk-jazz mediato dalle filosofie del “free," lo può certamente trovare nelle spire di questa incisione e, più in ...
read moreCortex: Avant-Garde Party Music
by John Sharpe
Why change a winning formula? If Norwegian crew Cortex has considered that question, then the response was likely an unconcerned shrug. Studio session Avant-Garde Party Music continues firmly in the winning vein established by Clean Feed predecessors Live! (2014) and Live In New York (2016), mashing 1960s New Thing tropes with contemporary inside/outside soloing. Trumpeter Thomas Johansson pens all eight pieces in the 38-minute program, for the by now familiar cast list, completed by reedman Kristoffer Berre Alberts. bassist Ola ...
read moreMark Corroto's Best Releases of 2017
by Mark Corroto
And what a year it was. With all hurricanes, raging fires, and end-of-the-world politics, we were fortunate to have the magical salve that is music. Complied here are my favorite releases of this past year. I tried to pare down a long list of 50 to 10, but it was impossible. The music you see below has continued in heavy rotation in my house, my car, and on my phone. Matthew Shipp Trio Piano Song
read moreCortex: Avant-Garde Party Music
by Mark Corroto
Do you have Blue Zone envy? You know the places where people live the longest and happiest lives on the planet. They seem to get more physical activity then we do, eat better, love their communities and politicians. Politicians? I know. They even make some of the best modern jazz. Case in point the Norwegian quartet Cortex. It includes trumpeter Thomas Johansson (Friends & Neighbors, Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit), saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts (Saka, Snik, Starlite Motel), bassist Ola Høyer ...
read moreCortex: Live In New York
by John Sharpe
Live In New York constitutes the fourth outing by young Norwegian outfit Cortex. It's one of a stream of top notch dates emerging on the Portuguese Clean Feed label by a welter of interconnected bands from the burgeoning Scandinavian scene. All four members share a common background in jazz studies from Trondheim, but are now active in a variety of guises. Trumpeter Thomas Johansson appears on All Included's Satan in Plain Clothes (2015)and Friends & Neighbors' What's Wrong? (2016), while ...
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