Jazz Articles about Gregg August

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JD Allen: Americana

by Franz A. Matzner
July 25, 2016

JD Allen is an artist who always delivers. He is also an artist who takes risks, willing to explore his limitations, and then break them; to expose his vulnerabilities, and reflect upon their source and meaning. His experimentation is not obvious. It spirals inwards, orbiting the central axis of jazz, while traversing its various trajectories with elegance, depth, and intense regard to produce deeply personal statements that draw in audiences and listeners like moths to flame. His latest ...

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The Caribbean Tinge: Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

by Steve Bryant
July 29, 2014

Ever since the jazz was created in the clubs and dancehalls of New Orleans, there was always a significant influence from the Caribbean region, specifically from Cuba. The island, which was just a ferry ride from the port city, had such a significant effect on the development of the music that Jelly Roll Morton always spoke of the importance of Afro-Cuban based rhythms (the Spanish Tinge) in creating and performing this nascent music. However, it was the arrival of a ...

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Gregg August: Four by Six

by AAJ Italy Staff
June 11, 2013

Fattosi apprezzare e conoscere come componente del trio di JD Allen, il contrabbassista Gregg August porta avanti dal 2005 un percorso da leader, iniziato nel 2005 con Late August e proseguito con One Peace del 2007 e l'attuale Four by Six, inciso nell'estate 2011. Se i primi due lo vedevano a capo di sestetti, il titolo di questo lavoro allude all'alternarsi di due formazioni: un quartetto comprendente il sax soprano Sam Newsome, il pianista Luis Perdomo e il batterista EJ ...

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J.D. Allen Trio: Shine!

by AAJ Italy Staff
June 8, 2010

Disco insolito per un trio batteria-basso-sax tenore, normalmente terreno di conquista per esecuzioni dilatate, muscolari, virtuosistiche e assoli interminabili. Al contrario Shine! racchiude in quarantasei minuti ben dodici brani, alcuni dei quali non superano i tre minuti di durata. J.D. Allen è sassofonista dalle profonde radici bop, testimoniate da una manciata di ottimi album tra cui In Search Of apprezzato debutto per la Red Records di Sergio Veschi. Ma in questo Shine! Allen abbandona (momentaneamente?) la via maestra per dar ...

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Gregg August Sextet: One Peace

by Michael P. Gladstone
January 21, 2008

When last heard from, Gregg August's debut, Late August (Iacuessa, 2005), left listeners with a smile for the bassist/composer's bipolar emphasis on Latin and hard bop interests.

One Peace indicates a new direction for August. While Late August took advantage of a number of high profile guest musicians including saxophonist Frank Wess and percussionists Ray Barretto and Wilson “Chembo" Corniel, One Peace presents August's working group, featuring only two holdovers--trumpeter John Bailey and altoist Myron Walden. ...

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Gregg August Sextet: One Peace

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 5, 2008

This is the second release by classical conservatory-trained New York-based bassist and composer Gregg August, an Assistant Bass Principal of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and a frequent collaborator with experimental composers collective Bang on a Can. One Peace is a more straight-ahead jazz showcase than August's Latin-flavored debut, Late August (Iacuessa Records, 2005). This time August worked closely with the experienced members of his sextet over the last year in a way that solidifies the interplay and trust between them all.

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Gregg August Sextet: One Peace

by Terrell Kent Holmes
September 13, 2007

Bassist Gregg August is a dynamic and vastly underrated arranger and composer. On One Peace he enhances a hard bop template with complex chord structures, layering of inimitable horn arrangements and echoes from other musical genres. On “Nastissimo for example, trumpeter John Bailey, altoist Myron Walden and tenor man Stacy Dillard play almost mournfully over the quicksilver vamp by August, pianist Luis Perdomo and drummer EJ Strickland. “One for Louis" showcases Bailey, who plays throughout with a ...