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Eric Harland's Voyager: Vipassana
by Dan Bilawsky
Much is said about records once they've come into the world, but little is discussed about the motive(s) surrounding the birthing of a record. Sometimes it's simply about marketing, exposure, money, and pure narcissism. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that on some level(s), and many classic albums have been made with little to nothing else in mind, but it's harder to appreciate the artistry and the artist when records made for such reasons appear on the horizon. It's far more ...
Continue ReadingEric Harland's Voyager: Going Places
by Zach Hindin
Where most debut acts aim to make a statement, Eric Harland's first lead project, Voyager, is decidedly conversational. Harland, arguably the consummate jazz drummer of his generation, has staffed his quintet with a potent if precocious musical brain trust. The year after pianist Taylor Eigsti first played with pianist Dave Brubeck (he was 12 at the time), guitarist Julian Lage became the subject of the 1997 Academy Award-nominated documentary Jules at Eight (Lage began performing publicly when he was six). ...
Continue ReadingEric Harland: Voyager Live by Night
by Mark F. Turner
The long wait for Eric Harland's debut release is understandable. One of modern jazz's most dynamic and in-demand drummers, he's been a little preoccupied: early stints with Terence Blanchard and Wynton Marsalis; high profile gigs with Kurt Rosenwinkel, McCoy Tyner, and The Monterey Quartet; and tenures with the SFJAZZ Collective and Charles Lloyd's ensembles, are just a few of his many endeavors. Possessing consummate skills defined by superlative timing, propulsion, finesse and flexibility, it's no wonder it's taken him so ...
Continue ReadingEric Harland: Voyager Live By Night
by John Kelman
In the space of a few short years, he's become drummer of choice for icons like saxophonist Charles Lloyd and bassist Dave Holland, established next-generationers including trumpeter Terence Blanchard and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and young up-and-comers such as pianists Taylor Eigsti and Aaron Parks. Behind all of them--and as a member of the SFJAZZ Collective since 2005--Eric Harland has proven capable of everything from incendiary firepower to subtle shadings. Some artists don't wait long enough before donning the ...
Continue ReadingEric Harland: Searching the Patterns in Life
by John Patten
Drummer Eric Harland is between gigs, just back from a dates and clinics in Japan and getting ready to head to Europe. He's got new recordings out with several bands-- including the Charles Lloyd Quartet, The Monterey Quartet with Dave Holland and Jason Moran--and a handful of compositions to get recorded with his own group.But then, in a way, this was foretold by an eight year-old Harland to his mother. --->“She said I told ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Greene: Gifts and Givers
by Joel Roberts
It's probably time to cast aside labels like “up-and-coming" and “rising star" when describing Jimmy Greene. As Gifts and Givers makes clear, the Connecticut-born tenor saxophonist has definitely arrived. An inventive, technically-advanced mainstreamer, Greene made his mark in the bands of Horace Silver, Tom Harrell and Harry Connick Jr., as well as with younger studs like Jason Lindner and Avishai Cohen. On his fifth effort as a leader, he's paired with another young tenor titan, Marcus Strickland. ...
Continue ReadingJason Moran: Soundtrack to Human Motion
by David Adler
Can we all just agree that this is the debut of the year, if not the record of the year? Jazz has seen its share of excellent young players, but 24-year-old pianist Jason Moran really raises the bar with his superb Soundtrack to Human Motion. Moran explains the title as follows: “I like to think this recording could serve as the soundtrack to all movements a human might make in a given dayï." If only my daily movements were anywhere ...
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