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Jazz Articles about Greg Ward
Nature Work: Nature Work
by Mark Corroto
Jason Stein and Greg Ward are two stalwart Chicago musicians who continually stretch boundaries and search for new experiences. Stein, a devotee of the bass clarinet, maintains two trios, Hearts & Minds (with Paul Giallorenzo and Chad Taylor) and Locksmith Isador (with Jason Roebke and Mike Pride), plus his quartet with Joshua Abrams, Keefe Jackson, and Tom Rainey. Ward's alto saxophone (and occasional clarinet) can be heard in his large ensemble 10 Tongues and Rogue Parade (with Matt Gold, Dave ...
read moreNature Work Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam
by BIMHUIS
This spring sees the release of the debut album by this new supergroup and the first clips on YouTube are convincing in every way: imaginative, fluid themes by the founders of the group, alto saxophonist Greg Ward and bass clarinetist Jason Stein, and boneshaking grooves by a first-class rhythm section, double bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jim Black. Greg Ward is respected as a saxophonist and composer working with many jazz bands in New York and jny: Chicago, ...
read moreGreg Ward presents Rogue Parade: Stomping Off From Greenwood
by Jerome Wilson
On this CD saxophonist Greg Ward presents a new group, Rogue Parade, which features a front line with two guitarists, Matt Gold and Dave Miller, alongside Ward's alto. Such a configuration, combined with the graffiti-covered walls on the CD cover, suggests this band might work the slippery, interlocking street-funk path explored by Steve Coleman's groups with similar instrumentation. That style is present here, but it's just one of many utilized by Ward and his band . “Metropolis" and ...
read moreGreg Ward: Stomping Off From Greenwood
by Mike Jurkovic
"Metropolis," the genre-shifting, stomping, opening track on alto saxophonist Greg Ward's acrobatic sophomore disc, introduces his electric jazz vision with a bristling and nervy rock 'n' roll verve. It's anchored by the sprawling kinetic energy of Chicago's tireless rhythm duo of drummer Quin Kirchner and bassist Matt Ulery, and the cutting clarity and dissonance of guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller. With rhythmic atmospherics and reverberant dual six-string manipulations, Rogue Parade (the quintet's official tag) make gutsy Ward ...
read moreGreg Ward Presents Rogue Parade: Stomping Off From Greenwood
by Gareth Thompson
After a stint in New York, saxophonist Greg Ward was lured home to Chicago in 2016 by a project based on Charles Mingus's The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (Impulse! Records, 1963). Ward's new vision of this record was widely acclaimed, not least for its performance with a ballet company, as Mingus had desired. Around this time Ward began a jamming fellowship, aimed at “those who don't hate, but appreciate." Whether this hate/appreciate referred to race relations ...
read moreGreg Ward & 10 Tongues: Touch My Beloved's Thought
by Vic Albani
Tanti ma tanti anni fa, di passaggio da quelle parti per un giro chicagoano, mi domandai cosa cavolo potesse lasciare ai posteri un posto come Peoria (capitale dell'omonima contea) a parte un celebre discorso di Abramo Lincoln del 1864 sulla schiavitù e i diritti del popolo nero, l'aver dato i natali a un paio di discreti scrittori e a Dan Fogelberg di cui strimpellavo le facili linee delle sue folk songs e una bella omonima improvvisazione dei King Crimson registrata ...
read moreGreg Ward & 10 Tongues: Touch My Beloved's Thought
by Mark Corroto
To describe saxophonist Greg Ward's Touch My Beloved's Thought as his magnum opus is to impede his development as a composer. Let's just say for many a jazz artist, if this recording were included in their discography, it would be their signature piece. For Ward, it just represents the possibilities. The backstory to this live recording is Charles Mingus' The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (Impulse!, 1963), a six-part composition written for dancers. Ward was commissioned to ...
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