Jazz Articles about David Kikoski

like 117

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 ...

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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 ...

like 228

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 ...

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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 ...

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David Kikoski Quartet: Limits

by John Kelman
November 6, 2006

Limits may seem like an odd title for this disc, an unassuming but thoroughly captivating quartet session that reunites pianist David Kikoski with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Bill Stewart from his 2004 Criss Cross release, Details; it also brings back tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake from earlier Criss Cross discs, including 2002's Combinations. But while this set of all-original material situates itself firmly in the mainstream, it also exudes a sense of adventure that makes it anything but restrictive.

What ...

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Pat Martino: Remember: A Tribute To Wes Montgomery

by Russ Musto
August 18, 2006

The tribute album allows an artist to document his indebtedness to another's influence on his own style with a more fully formed personal approach and individual voice. It shines a spotlight on the honoree's body of work in a way that no single record in that artist's discography did during his lifetime. And it introduces a new generation to the efforts of a player from a previous era. This album achieves success on these planes in a way that few ...

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Pat Martino: Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery

by Nic Jones
April 28, 2006

Make no mistake--this is a tribute not only to Wes Montgomery, but also the resilience of human creativity. While this might smack of hyperbole, it should be remembered that Martino completely forgot how to play the guitar some 26 years ago as a result of brain surgery, and if diligence and application can supply the kind of results heard here, then any suggestion of hyperbole is surely questionable.

To hear a musician as in touch with his or her instrument ...