Jazz Articles about Darren Johnston

Aaron Bennett / Darren Johnston / Lisa Mezzacappa / Frank Rosaly: Shipwreck 4

by Glenn Astarita
October 13, 2016

Chicago-based session ace and solo artist, drummer Frank Rosaly aligns with San Francisco Bay Area notables for a meeting of like-minded, highly skilled improvisers. After a gig in Frisco, the musicians' scheduled time to record this quartet date. Unfortunately, Shipwreck studios was destroyed in a fire a few months after this session and the musicians decided to pay a bit of homage via the album moniker. As improvisers amid the semi-structured song-forms, they do what they characteristically do ...

Aaron Bennett / Darren Johnston / Lisa Mezzacappa / Frank Rosaly: Shipwreck 4

by John Sharpe
August 16, 2016

Named after the Oakland studio where the disc was recorded, the Shipwreck 4 brings together three West Coast improvisers with Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly for a program of six collectively created selections. As apparent on Everybody's Somebody's Nobody (Clean Feed, 2016), his duet with guitarist Fred Frith, trumpeter Darren Johnston's work maintains a melodic core, albeit one masked by occasional extended techniques. Aaron Bennett matches the trumpeter with adventurous but controlled tenor saxophone, delivered in a light airy tone. Bassist ...

Darren Johnston's Gone to Chicago: The Big Lift

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 6, 2012

The Big Lift testimonia l'incontro del californiano Darren Johnston con un gruppo di amici musicisti tra i più attivi e creativi della scena jazzistica di Chicago. Ne risulta un disco delizioso in mirabile equilibrio tra ebrezza dell'improvvisazione e attrazione per la forma compiuta. Non è un caso quindi se i due standard presenti sul disco portano la firma di Ornette Coleman e Duke Ellington, forse i massimi interpreti di questi riferimenti stilistici. “Love Call" è una splendida dimostrazione di come ...

Darren Johnston's Gone To Chicago: The Big Lift

by Glenn Astarita
December 13, 2011

Canada-reared, but calling San Francisco home since 1997, trumpeter and composer Darren Johnston delves into the Chicago's avant, modern-jazz establishment and kicks off a vibrant set, with prominent constituents of The Windy City's fertile soundscape. With The Big Lift, the trumpeter's ascending status within the outer reaches of jazz attains another hierarchical level. Peppered by an undulating groove-quotient, the ensemble combines a frothy and infectious mode of attack by incorporating the blues, mainstream jazz, and avant-garde musings with ...

Darren Johnston - Aram Shelton - Lisa Mezzacappa - Kjell Nordeson: Cylinder

by AAJ Italy Staff
August 25, 2011

Provenienze diverse, sia geografiche che stilistiche, ma lo stesso comune amore per la musica improvvisata, avventurosa, di ricerca. Tutto ciò abbinato allo spirito particolare di San Francisco, città dove è stato registrato il disco, e ad un concetto cooperativistico e paritario del quartetto anche dal punto di vista compositivo (ogni musicista contribuisce con almeno due brani). Quartetto che è stato da più parti paragonato a quello rivoluzionario di Ornette Coleman, non solo per tipo di formazione, ma anche per una ...

Darren Johnston: The Edge of the Forest

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 9, 2009

Nato nell'Ontario, ma attivo musicalmente nell'area californiana, il trombettista Darren Johnston ha collaborato con i musicisti del Rova Saxophone Quartet, con Fred Frith, Myra Melford e Ben Goldberg. Quest'ultimo è presente nella formazione che ha registrato The Edge of the Forest, un quintetto che Johnston ha selezionato con cura per la propria musica, giungendo a risultati eccellenti. L'organico riunisce quattro fiati, affidati a tre solisti, in grado di fornire una gamma timbrica ampia e articolata: tromba, clarinetto, sax tenore o ...

Darren Johnston: The Edge Of The Forest

by Mark Corroto
January 31, 2009

Thoroughly modern doesn't always equate to thoroughly enjoyable and exceedingly complex rarely yields delight. But if the composer is Darren Johnston and the musicianship is of these high standards, the outcome is instantly satisfying.

The Edge Of The Forest is the trumpeter's first Clean Feed disc as leader, but he has been heard on Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra's New Magical Kingdom (Clean Feed, 2007) and No(w) Music (Cadence, 2002). He also leads United Brassworkers Front, an eclectic ...