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Jazz Articles about David Hazeltine
Mike DiRubbo: Human Spirit
by C. Andrew Hovan
In an era that seems to more fully embrace the idea of the 'tough young tenor,' alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo puts forth a singular voice that stands apart from the crowd. With exceptions such as Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, and Vincent Herring, DiRubbo is one of the few musicians of this generation to choose the alto horn as his main axe, although his sound and approach seems heavily rooted in the conventions of the tenor and its many historic practitioners. ...
Continue ReadingSteve Davis: Systems Blue
by C. Andrew Hovan
From Kid Ory to Roswell Rudd, the role of the trombone has changed dramatically over the brief span of jazz history, as we know it. Whether it be keeping a beat via the style of “tailgating," exploring a multitude of textural possibilities through the challenges of the avant-garde, or working somewhere in that middle ground that we call mainstream jazz, the instrument has remained a highly expressive vehicle for communication within the idiom. It's somewhat surprising then that a fairly ...
Continue ReadingLouis Hayes: Crisis
by Jack Bowers
Louis Hayes--who has been a force in jazz drumming for more than sixty years, anchoring legendary groups led by Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Peterson, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, among others--has assembled a quintet of New York City's finest for Crisis, wherein he pays musical tribute to some of his jazz colleagues, past and present, including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Farrell, Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson and two members of his working unit, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and bassist Dezron Douglas.
Continue ReadingCory Weeds Quartet: Day By Day
by Jack Bowers
At a time when classic jazz seems fractured and flying off in a hundred or more separate directions, it is comforting to encounter sessions like this one, a superlative quartet date led by alto saxophonist and Renaissance man Cory Weeds, and featuring David Hazeltine, one of the more proficient and enterprising pianists on the scene. Day by Day, their second recording together, awakens memories of a bygone era when giants ruled the jazz landscape, trail-blazers whose music remains as fresh ...
Continue ReadingCory Weeds: Day By Day
by Pierre Giroux
As we struggle though this period of self-isolation caused by the 2020 global health pandemic, along comes Cory Weeds with a charming new quartet release anchored by pianist David Hazeltine and called quite fittingly Day By Day. Little did the participants realize when the recording was undertaken in August 2019, that most people would be living day by day, looking forward to having a world-wide nightmare come to an end. In this ten track set, most of the ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: With Strings
by Jack Bowers
To paraphrase Cole Porter: “Bird did it, Chet did it... even many vocalists I bet did it..." And now tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander did it--recorded an album with strings, that is. This represents quite a departure for Alexander who is widely known as one of the more emotive and resourceful improvisers on the scene; but so it was too for Charlie Parker, the foremost architect and unquestioned sovereign of the bop movement who was the first post-Swing Era superstar to ...
Continue ReadingDavid Hazeltine: The Time Is Now
by David A. Orthmann
David Hazeltine's thirty-fourth date as a leader juxtaposes his strengths as a composer, interpreter of standard material, improviser, as well as the capacity to converse and interact with his peers. There's something magical about the ways in which the pianist employs these skills, avoiding emphasizing one at the expense of the others, and in doing so fashioning tracks that are balanced, agreeable, incisive, and substantive. It's fascinating to consistently hear him chart a middle course, melding emotion and intellect while ...
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