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Jazz Articles about Dayna Stephens
About Dayna Stephens
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar ToJohannes Wallmann: Elegy For An Undiscovered Species
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Johannes Wallmann's Elegy For An Undiscovered Species opens with the eleven minute title tune, a musical protest against the Anthropocene Extinction. That extinction is happening right now. Human activityhuman predominance of the planetis its cause. This opener does have an apocalyptic feel, with a dark piano trio intro and a dark strings backdrop seeping into the mix, followed by tenor sax (Dayna Stephens) and trumpet (Ingrid Jensen) solos. Of Dayna Stephens' sound: if Paul Desmond's ...
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Da quando ha lasciato The Bad Plus l'attività di Ethan Iverson s'è sviluppata in più direzioni, passando da lavori strumentali in duo (con Mark Turner: Temporary Kings ECM 2018) o in quartetto (Common Practice ECM 2019) ad opere estese come il concerto per pianoforte con l'American Composers Orchestra (Concerto to Scale). Tra le altre cose ha curato una celebrazione di Thelonious Monk alla Duke University e scritto la colonna sonora per Pepperland, l'opera sui Beatles del coreografo Mark Morris.
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Kristiana Roemer is a young German singer whose voice has a lilt and plush texture reminiscent of Annette Peacock. On this, her first album, she uses her intriguing sound in the service of both conventional jazz tunes and floating, airy pieces which border on art songs. Most of the material here is her own writing, though some lyrics derive from others' poetry. In addition, she proves her jazz bona fides by including familiar tunes by Stanley Turrentine and Charles Mingus. ...
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by John Chacona
In his 2018 book, Playing Changes, Nate Chinen argues that the fundamental jazz dialectic of the 1980s and 90s, namely tradition vs. innovation, was ultimately a false choice. Two years later, Dayna Stephens' Right Now! Live at the Village Vanguard proves the point in the most eloquent way possible. In many ways, Right Now! is a traditional undertaking, from the classic horn-and-rhythm-section formation to the set list heavy with tunes taken at a mid-stroll tempo. And nothing cements ...
read moreDayna Stephens Quartet: Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard
by Dan McClenaghan
New York City's Village Vanguard has a history. Founded by Max Gordon in 1935 and, after his passing in 1989, operated by his wife Lorraine until her death in 2018, the venue became famous for launching jazz careers and hosting the recordings of more than a hundred jazz albums, including saxophonist Sonny Rollins' A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1957), pianist Bill Evans' Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961) and saxophonist John Coltrane's Live At The Village ...
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A pianist of uncommon sensitivity and graceful temperament, Julian Shore crafts music with atmosphere and feeling, aiming for emotional depth rather than settling for typical jazz devices. On Where We Started, his third release, he offers eight well-honed tracks which are both evocative and nuanced; while they might not win over the uninitiated in a crowded club, they offer plenty of introspective delights to listeners prepared to settle in with the music. Joined by a fine ensemble, Shore ...
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Mark Murphy's 2018 release Pocketful of Rainbows (Self Produced, 2018) was a surprise stand-out recording that year. Now, this Mark Murphy is not that Mark Murphy (1932 -2015), icon of jazz vocals. This Mark Murphy is a singer/songwriter whose 2016 release, Slip Away (Mini Movie) scored points for one of Downbeat Magazine's recordings of that year. Murphy returns with Hiding Place, a slim collection of seven songs, originals mixed with imaginative covers, in keeping with his previous offerings.
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