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Ray Obiedo: Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2
by Pierre Giroux
There is a train of thought which proposes that the beginnings of the modern Latin jazz movement originated with the co-mingling of mambo and bebop. Although there is no empirical evidence to support this proposition, the uptake of the Latin style by boppers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Herbie Mann gives some credence to the notion. The music presented by guitarist Ray Obiedo in Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2, while grounded in the Latin jazz construct, is delivered ...
Continue ReadingThrottle Elevator Music: Final Floor
by Chris M. Slawecki
Final Floor marks the last stop of a band that one might say never really was. Throttle Elevator Music was the name given to a jazz-punk studio cooperative project organized and operating from 2011 through 2017 around saxophonist Kamasi Washington, drummer Mike Hughes (aka “Lumpy") and composer and guitarist Gregory Howe. Howe also founded and serves as producer and engineer for Wide Hive Records, the label that recorded and distributed their music. He notes on the back jacket ...
Continue ReadingThrottle Elevator Music: Emergency Exit
by Karl Ackermann
The sub-genre of “punk jazz" has existed—on paper— since the 1970s when Patti Smith proposed a collaboration with Ornette Coleman. That partnership did not materialize. When all the moving pieces are pulled together there is little substance to suggest that the category ever shared specific practices or conventions. Then, in 2012, Throttle Elevator Music emerged with their self-titled debut (Wide Hive Records). The original group was a trio posing as a quintet. Drums and guitars were manned by Mike “Lumpy" ...
Continue ReadingErik Jekabson Sextet III: One Note At A Time
by Dan Bilawsky
By the time One Note At A Time's first two songs have finished, it's been made abundantly clear that trumpeter Erik Jekabson appreciates a groove as much as he values space. The opener—"Days of Haze"—provides an introductory shot of adrenaline in the form of a tight, funk-framed blues, and “Dusk," in contrast, looks to open vistas, with longer lines and a less-is-more attitude reflecting the liminal spirit in its name. Foreshadowing what's to come, those early offerings prove complementary through ...
Continue ReadingElectric Squeezebox Orchestra: Cheap Rent
by Jack Bowers
Yes, the name is intriguing--but what should one expect musically from the San Francisco-based Electric Squeezebox Orchestra? Bits and pieces of a number of disparate elements, really, from straight-ahead contemporary motifs to shuffle beats and old-line swing, from down-home New Orleans rhythms to throwback grooves from the '70s and even a seductive ballad. What matters most is that every number is capably performed by an ensemble comprised of some of the more seasoned sidemen (and one woman) the Bay Area ...
Continue ReadingErik Jekabson: Anti-Mass
by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Erik Jekabson likes to stroll through San Francisco's DeYoung Museum and imagine what the visual works there would sound like. In league with his Sting-tet ensemble, he explores the textures and colors, the harmonies and melodies of these artworks, translating them into sounds on Anti-Mass. Teaming with violin, viola, saxophone, bass and drum, and with the occasional addition of vibes, he paints a vibrant variety of sounds that stretch from chamber jazz to third stream, from avant-garde to The ...
Continue ReadingTake Five With Erik Jekabson
by AAJ Staff
Meet Erik Jekabson: Erik Jekabson is a freelance trumpet player, composer and educator who has recorded or performed with Illinois Jacquet, the Woody Herman Big Band, John Mayer, Galactic, Mark Turner, Brian Blade, and Nicholas Payton, among others. He has a Bachelor's of Music from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Master's of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Erik has two solo albums out: Intersection, which was recorded in New York and released in the fall of ...
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