Jazz Articles about Dana Hall

About Dana Hall

Album Review

Julia Danielle: Julia Danielle

Read "Julia Danielle" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
November 1, 2024

Julia Danielle has been working hard on her craft. She grew up in the Chicago area, singing in the Campanella Children's Choir, winning the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition in 2022 and earning an undergraduate degree from DePaul University in 2023. She is on track to graduate with a master's in jazz studies from Juilliard in 2026. On Julia Danielle, her self-titled debut, she reveals her skills as a budding singer and arranger in a set of familiar standards, ...

Album Review

Andy Baker: From Here, From There

Read "From Here, From There" reviewed by Scott Lichtman

by Scott Lichtman
October 24, 2024

Andy Baker has crafted an uplifting recording featuring his trombone plus trumpet, upright bass and drums--no chordal instruments. From Here, From There is a fresh take on swing/bop ballads that melds top-notch instrumentalists--Baker, Russ Johnson on trumpet, Clark Sommers on bass and Dana Hall on drums--with beautiful compositions and cover arrangements. Baker luxuriates in “the incredible freedom you get, without explicit chords, to stretch the color of the solo and negotiate anything from there." The sparse 4-piece orchestration ...

Liner Notes

Ralph Bowen: Five

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 1, 2024

Although he's better known in educational circles due to his solid commitment to jazz pedagogy as a member of the faculty at Rutgers University, Ralph Bowen has been a vital member of the jazz community since debuting with the group Out of the Blue back in the mid '80s. His adaptability to a diversity of musical situations has made him a valuable sideman over the years, although the opportunities for Bowen to call the shots as a leader have not ...

Album Review

Geof Bradfield: Colossal Abundance

Read "Colossal Abundance" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
August 8, 2024

In the summer of 2023, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and trumpeter Chad McCullough launched Calligram Records--a label focusing on the Chicago creative music scene and its branches. The first batch of albums was strong, with showcases for each of the label heads' respective combo projects, trumpeter Russ Johnson's chordless quartet, and newcomer tenorist Arman Sangalang. A wide variety of offerings followed--the global stew of Atlantic Road Trip's first flight, a kicking trio date from guitarist Scott Hesse, a broad-minded gathering with ...

Album Review

Ethan Philion: Gnosis

Read "Gnosis" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
July 15, 2024

L'impronta di Charles Mingus torna a caratterizzare il secondo album di Ethan Philion, il contrabbassista di Chicago che ha felicemente debuttato due anni fa con Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside). Rispetto a quel progetto dedicato alle composizioni politiche del contrabbassista ci sono differenze formali e sostanziali che rendono la nuova opera diversa e ancor più coinvolgente: le composizioni sono tutte di Philion (eccetto la mingusiana “What Love," già riscrittura di uno standard di Cole Porter); il tentet di allora è sostituito ...

Album Review

Ethan Philion: Meditations On Mingus

Read "Meditations On Mingus" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 28, 2024

Questa rilettura del songbook mingusiano, conferma la potenza evocativa e l'attualità di quelle composizioni. La scelta da Ethan Philion ha privilegiato brani che testimoniamo l'impegno civile e politico del contrabbassista di Nogales e sono particolarmente d'attualità oggi. Il disco di apre con un brano dal titolo emblematico, “Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America," che Charles Mingus non registrò mai in studio ma è presente nella registrazione live (a lungo introvabile) di At ...

Album Review

Scott Hesse Trio: Intention

Read "Intention" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
January 30, 2024

Guitarist Scott Hesse self-released his debut album, Intuition, in 1998, but he has been criminally under-recorded since then. At least, that is the conclusion many will draw after listening to his superb trio disc, Intention, recorded live in Chicago in 2023. His most recent date as a leader since 2015's The Stillness of Motion (Origin Records), here he is partnered with bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall, with an opportunity to showcase his formidable talents in a way sure ...