Jazz Articles about David Kikoski

Oz Noy: Snapdragon

by Mike Jacobs
November 17, 2020

It's an old sentiment but it still holds that great instrumental chops, enthralling as they may be, are fairly meaningless on their own. And quite frankly, they are pretty ubiquitous these days with the internet exposure machine going full tilt. Given all that, it's quite easy for the listener to become inured with technical prowess-- especially wizardry of the fretboard. So to say Oz Noy is a fantastic guitarist just isn't enough anymore. It's fortunate then that what ...

David Kikoski: Phoenix Rising

by Jack Bowers
June 24, 2019

Pianist David Kikoski and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, among the brightest lights on New York City's jazz scene for more than two decades, have known each other for almost as many years but Phoenix Rising marks the first time they have recorded together. After listening, one observation springs immediately to mind: it's about time. A second premise is that the album swings and dazzles from start to finish--but one would expect no less from such masters of ...

Kikoski, Carpenter, Novak, Sheppard: From The Hip

by Dan Bilawsky
July 12, 2013

In 2006, pianist David Kikoski was invited to perform and record in front of a live audience at the private Beverly Hills studio of George Klabin, President of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation. Kikoski brought in some of his first-call friends for the occasion and, with nary a rehearsal to be had, put on a stunner of a standards-based show; the nine tracks that make up From The Hip were recorded at that gathering. Kikoski, saxophonist Bob ...

Opus 5: Introducing Opus 5

by Dan Bilawsky
January 10, 2012

Collectively delivered jazz albums almost always fall into one of three categories: some are outings from neophytes looking to pool their resources, while trying to build a fan base from the ground floor up; others marry the musical skills of seasoned musicians who've crossed paths in various situations and/or share a commonality in approach; and the most commercially successful, yet artistically regretfully, are usually hastily conceived or rendered performances that simply attach several big names to a project in order ...

Seamus Blake: Bellwether

by Robert Dugan
December 19, 2009

This is a great period for tenor players, with some of the best in our midst: Chris Potter, Jimmy Greene, Donny McCaslin, Marcus Strickland, and Seamus Blake, among others. Surfacing in the Mingus Big Band during the nineties, Blake's aggressive edginess was impressive in a group which took no prisoners. The tenor saxophonist more than held his own. Recently, he seems to be refining and elaborating his improvisational style while further developing his compositional skills.

With Bellwether, Blake brings a ...

Pat Martino: Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery

by John Barron
February 23, 2007

The last thing jazz needs is more tribute projects that merely perpetuate the ever-increasing stagnation of an industry trying to make a fast buck off the legacy of fallen giants. At first glance it would appear that this is exactly what Remember is all about. But fortunately, the artist paying tribute here is Philadelphian Pat Martino, a bona fide giant of jazz guitar who maintains the same rapid-fire intensity that put him on the jazz map in the 1960s.

Martino ...

David Kikoski: Lighter Way

by John Kelman
December 20, 2006

There was a time when most artists pursued linear careers. While the Miles Davis of Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959) was very different than that of Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969), a straight line could be drawn through his career, with each successive album usually representing an incremental step. These days artists often run multiple and vastly different projects concurrently, to some extent because of broadening interests resulting from the ever-expanding and cross-pollinating nature of improvised music.Pianist David Kikoski's ...