Jazz Articles about David Kikoski

About David Kikoski

Liner Notes

The Evident Charms and Secret Powers of Five For all the myriad varieties and contextual possibilities under the rubric of what makes for a valid jazz group, there is something distinctively powerful and tradition-enriched about the number five. Smaller groups tighten up the focus on individual voices involved, and often frame a specified protagonist leader, while larger groupings accentuate the greater good of the team. By contrast, the quintet format, especially in the conventional format of trumpet and tenor sax ...

Album Review

Opus 5: Swing On This

Read "Swing On This" reviewed by Paul Beard

by Paul Beard
August 4, 2022

Recorded in September 2021, at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio under the direction of Mike Marciano, this is the fifth album from contemporary jazz group, Opus 5. Entitled Swing On This, it comprises eight tracks that average around seven minutes each. Hailing from the Netherlands, Opus 5 is a stylish quintet made up of Seamus Blake on tenor saxophone and Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, with drums by Donald Edwards, bass in the hands of Boris Kozlov and last ...

Album Review

Yuval Amihai: My 90s Summer

Read "My 90s Summer" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 5, 2022

This fourth album from Yuval Amihai takes inspiration from the halcyon days of a summer long past, recalling formative experiences of a youth spent in the desert city of Beer Sheva in Israel. But it also draws heavily on the guitarist's globetrotting as an adult, looking toward years spent in France and a new life in New York. A work supported by those broad interests and influences spanning decades, My 90s Summer is nevertheless a remarkably focused date showcasing a ...

Album Review

Oz Noy: Snapdragon

Read "Snapdragon" reviewed by Mike Jacobs

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 ...

Album Review

David Kikoski: Phoenix Rising

Read "Phoenix Rising" reviewed by Jack Bowers

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 ...

Album Review

Kikoski, Carpenter, Novak, Sheppard: From The Hip

Read "From The Hip" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

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 ...

Album Review

Jürgen Hagenlocher: Leap in the Dark

Read "Leap in the Dark" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
July 30, 2012

Il contenitore “mainstream" continua ad ampliarsi esponenzialmente grazie a produzioni e collaborazioni in ogni angolo del mondo, consentendo un confronto artistico attraverso uno stile che - pur se in parte codificato - lascia ampio spazio a creativitità, complessità e virtuosismo. In Leap in the Dark abbiamo modo di ascoltare il sassofonista tedesco Jürgen Hagenlocher insieme ad uno dei musicisti più interessanti degli ultimi anni, il trombettista russo, naturalizzato statunitense, Alex Sipiagin (autore di numerose incisioni, da leader per la casa ...