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Chicago Edge Ensemble: Paradoxes In Freedom
by Mark Corroto
Listening to guitarist and bandleader Dan Phillips' music can feel like trying to keep a scorecard to track all the musical lines he weaves together. Fortunately, despite his wide-ranging influences and concepts, he structures his compositions in a way that remains accessible, always grounded in the rich jazz traditions of Chicago. Paradoxes In Freedom marks the fourth release from his Chicago Edge Ensemble. The lineup remains mostly intact from their previous album, The Individualists (Lizard Breath, 2023), with ...
Continue ReadingChicago Edge Ensemble: The Individualists
by Mark Corroto
Let's trot out the old New York versus Chicago rivalry. Just like with their sports teams (Jets vs. Bears, Knicks vs. Bulls, etc.) music fans feel a need to chose sides. It has been like that since Louis Armstrong left the Windy City for the Big Apple in 1924 and Sun Ra in 1961. Sure NYC is the center of the world for individual jazz musicians, but Chicago has always been a more communal place for music making. Consider the ...
Continue ReadingDan Phillips He's Back And He's Proud
by Mark Corroto
In just a few short years listeners have changed their thinking about Dan Phillips from “who is dis guy?" to “fantastic news, another Dan Phillips release." Maybe we can attribute this response to the wandering nature of the guitarist. He has lived in Chicago, New York, Bangkok, and Tokyo. Now, back in Chicago his music has jelled, crystallizing in several high profile ensembles including the Chicago Edge Ensemble with Hamid Drake, Jeb Bishop, Krzysztof Pabian, and Mars Williams and with ...
Continue ReadingDan Phillips Quartet: Converging Tributaries
by Mark Corroto
Sorry New York, but Chicago jazz hits harder. And maybe it always has, with players like Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Fred Anderson and today's stars, Dave Rempis, Frank Rosaly, Hamid Drake, and Fred Lonberg-Holm, to name just a few musicians. Maybe it is the winters, or is it the searing heat of summer that mutates the DNA? Whatever the cause, once altered, the musical whomp is fixed. Even when the musicians have left the Windy City, its influence remains. A ...
Continue ReadingDan Phillips Returns To Chicago
by Mark Corroto
Somewhat of a mystery man, guitarist Dan Phillips recorded two CDs in Chicago in 2015 and 2016. One a trio session, and the other a septet with a cast of heavyweights from the Windy City. Phillips, a Berklee and Northwestern graduate, has been living and teaching in Bangkok, Thailand since the turn of the new millennium. Born in Illinois, he spent five years in New York, and returned to Chicago for another five before decamping to Bangkok. It's just as ...
Continue ReadingDan Phillips BKK Quartet: Bangkok Edge Live
by Ian Patterson
Guitarist Dan Phillips has long been a leading figure in nurturing jazz in his adopted home of Bangkok. Whether teaching in the city's universities or through his club gigs, Phillips has mentored and inspired many of Thailand's upcoming jazz musicians. With the excellent pairing of drummer Chanutr Techatana-nan (aka Hong) and bassist Pornchart Viriyapark, the trio's impressive debut Bangkok Edge (Self produced, 2012) featured Danish saxophonist Jakob Dinesen on half the tracks. That collaboration is reprised here in a vibrant ...
Continue ReadingDan Phillips BKK Trio: Bangkok Edge
by Dan Bilawsky
Thailand isn't exactly known the world over as a jazz mecca, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of talent in this department; one need look no further than the back cover of guitarist Dan Phillips' Bangok Edge to discover the names of some of the movers and shakers on the Thai jazz scene. Phillips, who hails from America but lives in Thailand and serves on the music faculty at Silpakorn University, put together ...
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