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Jazz Articles about Dayna Stephens
Kristiana Roemer: House of Mirrors
by Jerome Wilson
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. ...
Continue ReadingDayna Stephens: Right Now! Live At The Village Vanguard
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 ...
Continue ReadingDayna 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 ...
Continue ReadingJulian Shore: Where We Started
by Troy Dostert
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 ...
Continue ReadingMark Murphy, Folk Artist: Hiding Place
by C. Michael Bailey
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.
Continue ReadingTommaso Gambini: The Machine Stops
by Angelo Leonardi
Trasferitosi a New York, dopo aver studiato al Berklee College, il 28enne chitarrista torinese Tommaso Gambini debutta con un album maturo e ricco di sottigliezze, ispirato dal racconto distopico di Edgar Morgan Foster “The Machine Stops," tradotto in italiano col titolo “La macchina si ferma." Pubblicato nel 1909, lo scritto anticipa alcuni temi approfonditi successivamente da George Orwell, Aldous Huxley e Philip K. Dick descrivendo un universo totalitario dove tutto è controllato da una “Macchina," adorata come divinità e adibita ...
Continue ReadingDayna Stephens Trio: Liberty
by Friedrich Kunzmann
Saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist Ben Street and drummer Eric Harland, together with two handfuls of original compositions, make Liberty a hip and bopping success. Who needs chords, when three voices and tones are able to interact so seamlessly and easily with one another--carefully planting ideas, picking them up and elegantly developing them over the continuing stream of bars and measures? Stephens' round tone and clear melodic language are remarkably well accompanied in a set of tunes made up of catchy ...
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