Jazz Articles about Dom Minasi

About Dom Minasi

Album Review

Those familiar with guitarist Dom Minasi and his adventurous releases may be surprised by the more “straightforward" Me, Myself and I. On this solo outing Minasi is heard on two acoustic guitars contributing both the cadence as well as the melodies. The two parts were then overdubbed in the studio. The nine mellifluous originals that Minasi interprets here with sensitivity and intelligence were written between 1976 and 1995. The haunting “The Color of Her Eyes is Gray" is ...

Album Review

Dom Minasi: Eight Hands One Mind

Read "Eight Hands One Mind" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
May 2, 2021

Restlessly innovative, guitarist Dom Minasi is a stalwart of the creative music scene. A brilliant improviser and composer, Minasi deftly utilizes his inventive ideas as launching points for his equally exciting extemporizations. On the unique Eight Hands One Mind, Minasi joins three other intrepid guitarists for a fiery and poignant tribute to another trailblazer, the late guitarist Bern Nix. The others in the group are the master of prepared guitar Hans Tammen, the virtuoso Harvey Valdes and the ...

Album Review

Dom Minasi: Remembering Cecil

Read "Remembering Cecil" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
May 12, 2019

Innovative pianist Cecil Taylor, who passed away on April 5th 2018, was a transformative force in the world of improvisational music. His signature percussive pianism was imbued with dynamic poetry and he, together with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, is credited with starting the free jazz movement. Taylor has also been a source of inspiration for fellow New Yorker, guitarist Dom Minasi. Minasi who is equally idiosyncratic, and similarly pushes artistic boundaries, pays tribute to Taylor on the emotive and vibrant Remembering ...

Album Review

Dom Minasi: Remembering Cecil

Read "Remembering Cecil" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 18, 2019

Guitarist Dom Minasi counts the late pianist Cecil Taylor (1929-2018) as one of his idols. Taylor was among the true pioneers of free jazz, with free-flying ensemble recordings like Unit Structures (Blue Note, 1966), Conquistador (Blue Note, 1967), and scores of solo piano outings, notably including Silent Tongues (Freedom, 1974), and For Olim (Soul Note, 1986). For many free jazz fans, it was the solo sets that showcased Taylor's true genius, so it is fitting that Minasi goes solo for ...

Album Review

Dom Minasi & Juampy Juarez: Freeland

Read "Freeland" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
April 12, 2019

American guitarist Dom Minasi and Argentinian guitarist Juampy Juarez have performed as a duet several times, first during a tour in Buenos Aires, then at some shows in New York. Recorded in Buenos Aires, in April 2018, Freeland documents their playing partnership. Minasi has a history of duets, most recently on record with guitarist Jack DeSalvo on Soldani Dieci Anni (Unseen Rain Records, 2016). Like that album, the program here is much more diverse than its title suggests.

Album Review

Improvising Trio: Manna for Thought

Read "Manna for Thought" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
August 2, 2018

This is the house that Ornette Coleman built some 60 years ago. Guitarist Dom Minasi and his like-minded colleagues, vocalist Nora McCarthy and saxophonist Ras Moshe, show that the free jazz tradition is very much alive as we approach the third decade of the new millennium. Minasi has for the past 20 years, progressed further into the heart of improvisation, sporting a round, fuzzy guitar tone that seems to proceed from slow melodicism to light-speed electron sparking off the edge ...

Album Review

Dom Minasi & Jack DeSalvo: Soldani Dieci Anni

Read "Soldani Dieci Anni" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
July 5, 2016

Guitarist Dom Minasi is known as an experimentalist and free player, so there is much in this set of acoustic duets with fellow guitarist Jack DeSalvo that will confound expectations. Opener “The Indelible Delible" is a free improvisation with the expected outside playing and flurries of notes--but there is also some delicate textural playing. Then Minasi's “Angela" announces a complete change of mood. It's a beautiful bossa, with DeSalvo taking the lead on classical guitar, followed by Minasi's acoustic flat-top ...