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The Bad Plus: Complex Emotions
by Mike Jurkovic
For those out there who may have inadvertently thought The Bad Plus had nothing major left to say after two-plus decades of saying major things, guess again. Because Complex Emotions--their sixteenth statement of purpose--doubles down and ups a hundred. Proof positive is how guitarist Ben Monder's valedictory “LiPo"--equal parts biblical wind and prairie sandstorm--sleigh rides Category 5 nonstop from Complex Emotions's changeling opener, founder/bassist Reid Anderson's “Grid/Ocean." Seemingly with a mind of its own, the track thrashes then ...
Continue ReadingAmanda Gardier: Auteur: Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson
by Robert Middleton
Amanda Gardier's Auteur is not just an album--it is a cinematic experience captured in sound, an exploration of one of America's most singular film directors, Wes Anderson, through the language of modern jazz. The album showcases Gardier's ability to translate visual storytelling into a sonic narrative that is vibrant, eclectic and highly expressive. With Auteur, Gardier has created what is, arguably, one of the most fascinating and inspired jazz albums of 2024 (it was released in January) and ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Cartwright: Stick Insect
by George Cartwright
Recently, Davey Williams spoke up to me and he said: “George that's dang good band ys got there in the frozen zen like neither atmospheres three up way up there and:" It was pretty good there down in Lower Alabama. The frog of time has hopped about on my memory of the show or even when the two of us got together. Two bedroom apt, Dave was working a country band playing drums and playing the ...
Continue ReadingJulian Lage: View With A Room
by Dan McClenaghan
View With A Room looks in on two generations of American guitarists; the younger generation is represented by Julian Lage, the leader of the effort, and the older generation by Bill Frisell, who sits in on seven of the ten original Lage tunes ("Echo" is co-written by Lage and the set's bassist Jorge Roeder). Following up on Lage's 2021 Blue Note Records debut, Squint (and let's give the label's boss, Don Was, a big tip of the hat ...
Continue ReadingViktor Haraszti: Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale
by Chris May
Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale is the debut album from Viktor Haraszti, a Hungarian-born, Dutch-based tenor saxophonist and composer. It is a solo project, recorded in isolation in 2021, on which Haraszti also plays clarinet, EWI, flute and keyboards. Bad Plus drummer Dave King helps out on one track, drummer Marshall Curtly on another three, and poet Lisa Marie Simmons adds spoken word to a further two. As the title suggests, the music is a suite. It ...
Continue ReadingJulian Lage: Squint
by Mario Calvitti
Dopo aver scritturato negli scorsi anni due chitarristi di indubbio valore come Nels Cline e Bill Frisell, la Blue Note mette a segno un nuovo colpo assicurandosi i servigi di un altro virtuoso della sei corde, l'ex enfant prodige Julian Lage (che in realtà era già comparso in un titolo della label al fianco proprio di Cline come membro del suo quartetto in Currents, Constellations). Questo Squint rappresenta il suo esordio da titolare per l'etichetta, alla guida di un trio ...
Continue ReadingJulian Lage: Squint
by Chris May
Before discussing guitarist Julian Lage's album, some food for thought... A credible argument could be put forward to say that the jazz piano trio reached its pinnacle of perfection with Bill Evans' Village Vanguard performances of June 1961, with the trio of bassist Scott La Faro and drummer Paul Motian, and that trios led by guitars, another chordal instrument, have long since replaced piano led trios at the evolutionary edge of the music. Still thinking aloud, as it ...
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