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Steve Lehman & Sélébéyone: Xaybu: The Unseen
by Karl Ackermann
Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman debuted his Sélébéyone project in 2016 with a self-titled release on the Pi Recordings label. It was nothing short of revolutionary; an amalgamation of jazz improvisation and globalized hip-hop, it was an intrepid declaration. Originally a septet, Sélébéyone returns as a quintet on Xaybu: The Unseen. The five current members are from the original formation, with bassist Drew Gress and pianist Carlos Homs absent from the sophomore outing. Lehman is a renaissance artist; composer, ...
Continue ReadingMark Small: One Day
by Edward Blanco
Saxophonist Mark Small is an active performer and educator teaching at Miami-Dade College and New World School for the Arts. He also serves as an instructor in other programs throughout the Miami community, in addition to his time spent in the New York jazz scene. He brings his considerable knowledge and talents to the fore on his first solo recording of One Day, where he presents eight original compositions penned over many years, fulfilling one of his major musical dreams ...
Continue ReadingLiberty Ellman: Last Desert
by Jerome Wilson
Guitarist Liberty Ellman has been doing valuable work in recent years as a sideman for musicians such as Henry Threadgill, Stephan Crump and Myra Melford. Once in a while he also puts out his own music as a leader. Inspired by a marathon race that takes place in Antarctica, the music on this disc is a constantly moving bundle of sounds with some resemblance to Threadgill's recent work in its use of tuba and its overall jangling ensemble ...
Continue ReadingLiberty Ellman: Last Desert
by Mark Corroto
Guitarist Liberty Ellman doesn't release many albums as a leader. Last Desert is only his fifth in more than twenty years, and fourth for Pi Recordings, following 2015's Radiate. But that doesn't mean he isn't a busy artist. He can be heard with JD Allen, Jason Robinson, Myra Melford's Snowy Egret, Stephan Crump's Rosetta Trio and, of course, Henry Threadgill's Zooid. He also produces music, mixes and masters recordings. Those last three crafts may explain why his recordings as a ...
Continue ReadingRobert Glasper: Canvas
by Chris May
Of the three dozen albums released in Blue Note's 180gm vinyl Blue Note 80 reissue series, Robert Glasper's 2005 debut, Canvas, is the only one recorded in the twenty-first century. Almost all of the other releases were recorded during Blue Note's 1950s and 1960s belle epoque. It is a singular distinction and an appropriate one, for several reasons. Top of the list is Glasper's place in jazz's piano trio lineage. Since Bill Evans elevated piano trios to ...
Continue ReadingSteve Lehman Trio, Craig Taborn: The People I Love
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il timbro asprigno, acidulo, e l'incedere di preferenza incalzante, spigoloso, dell'alto di Steve Lehman (i cui principali modelli, dichiarati, sono com'è noto Jackie McLean e Anthony Braxton) attraversa pressoché a senso unico questo nuovo lavoro del quarantunenne sassofonista newyorchese, determinandone climi e disegno complessivo, il tutto confezionato con la complicità del suo trio abituale (nonché ormai decennale) rinforzato per l'occasione dal pianoforte di Craig Taborn (sodale e amico di Lehman a sua volta da un buon decennio) con la volontà ...
Continue ReadingDamión Reid: On Drum Artistry, The Robert Glasper Trio, and Beyond
by K. Shackelford
International drummer Damión Reid has crafted a style that is inimitable without sacrificing the ardor of modern jazz and its traditional stylistic approaches to drumming. Listening to Reid is like a history lesson on the drum--he can play everything with artful dexterity from Be-Bop to Hip Hop. Adrian Kirchler, owner of AK drums, was so impressed by Reid's performance at a concert that it inspired him to create a snare drum entitled, “The Damión Reid Signature Model." However, ...
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