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Jazz Articles about Harish Raghavan
Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew
by Pierre Giroux
With Old Knew, tenor saxophonist Gregory Groover Jr. offers a mature and deeply rooted statement that gracefully balances reverence for tradition with openness to spontaneous expression. Recorded without rehearsal and driven by a diverse group of top-tier collaborators, including Joel Ross on vibraphone, Paul Cornish on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums, this 11-track set reveals a leader eager to let the music flow, communicate, and develop in the moment. The result is a highly interactive ...
Continue ReadingGregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew
by Jack Bowers
Even though he has surely heard this more than a few times, Gregory Groover is a pretty hip name for a jazz saxophonist. Not so much for the pastor of Boston's Charles Street AME Church, the position held by the Groover for whom he is named, Gregory Sr., who no doubt grooves in his own way. Gregory Jr. plays high-energy tenor on Old Knew, the second recording under his name, wherein he leads a sturdy quintet through its paces on ...
Continue ReadingAlex Hitchcock: Letters From Afar
by Don Ball
Alex Hitchcock made his name as an emerging talent in London when he decided to move to New York City to, as he put it, “engage with the music being made here, because as a white British musician playing Black American music, engaging with the context in which that music is made is important." Letters from Afar is his first shot across the bow from America, putting together a stellar band from the city's local jazz scene. The songs are all ...
Continue ReadingGeoffrey Dean: Conceptions
by Jack Bowers
Conceptions, the second album by pianist Geoffrey Dean's able quartet, is a neatly drawn recording whose ten original compositions were written by members of the group: five by Dean, three by trumpeter Justin Copeland, and a pair by drummer Eric Binder. The concept behind the album was to showcase a diversity of genres within a jazz setting while emphasizing the group's versatility. As such, it works quite well. Dean is a sure-handed soloist and accompanist, Copeland a ...
Continue ReadingTravis Reuter: Quintet Music
by Glenn Astarita
Released as the long-anticipated encore to his avant-garde debut, Rotational Templates (New Focus, 2011), Travis Reuter's Quintet Music is a masterpiece of musical sorcery, brimming with bold invention and innovative creativity. Reuter, a maverick guitarist who is unafraid to color outside the lines, leads his band of equally audacious virtuosos through a sonic wonderland that most musicians only dare to visit in dreams. The quintet, with Peter Schlamb swapping the traditional piano for the vibraphone, tosses the jazz ...
Continue ReadingGeoffrey Dean Quartet: Foundations
by Jack Bowers
Foundations is a generally swinging debut recording by Washington, DC-based pianist and educator Geoffrey Dean's quartet. The studio date pays tribute to the groundwork laid by its storied predecessors, especially those steeped in the hard bop movement that helped change the course of jazz, well before Dean or his sidemen were born. The album consists of seven relatively unsung compositions by Sam Rivers, Sonny Clark, Duke Pearson, Elmo Hope, Peter Bernstein and Andrew Hill, and two others--Miles ...
Continue ReadingWalter Smith III: Return To Casual
by Dave Linn
Walter Smith III released his debut album, Casually Introducing (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2006), to enthusiastic reviews. On it, he covered Sam Rivers, Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman and wrote the other six tracks, showcasing a mature and varied sense of composition. His playing and arrangements showed him to be a new, young (he was 26 years old) artist on the rise. Over the ensuing years, he released eight other albums, mainly for European labels. These recordings (including one live ...
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