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John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time
by Jack Bowers
The insuperable spirit of swinging big-band jazz is everywhere apparent on Points in Time, the seventh recording by New York-based composer, arranger and trombonist John Yao, and the second with his marvelous 17-Piece Instrument, a decade after its well-received debut, Flip-Flop. (See Tao, 2015). As on that earlier album, the playlist consists of seven of Yao's original compositions (and one outlier) written with the band in mind to exemplify in musical terms experiences and emotions Yao has ...
Continue ReadingJohn Yao and his 17 Piece Instrument: Points In Time
by Pierre Giroux
Trombonist and composer John Yao presents a heartfelt and personal retrospective with Points In Time. This ambitious album delves deeply into the emotional and professional journey he has undertaken over the past twenty years in New York City. Leading his precisely coordinated ensemble, aptly called His 17-Piece Instrument, comprised of talented musicians from various points along Yao's timeline. The eight original compositions in this session stem from key moments in Yao's life and artistic development. This work is not just ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Boone: Caught in the Rhythm
by Paul Rauch
The connection between poetry and jazz music is a delicate one. It has been documented so infrequently, in performance and recordings, that one still conjures the flicker of an image of Jack Kerouac reading in some dark Greenwich Village cafe with Steve Allen or Zoot Sims, surrounded by beret-wearing, cappuccino-sipping beatniks. The work of Fresno-based saxophonist Benjamin Boone has assisted in widening that view through four albums recorded for the Origin Records label, including the fourth, Caught in the Rhythm ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Boone: The Poets Are Gathering
by Paul Rauch
Saxophonist Benjamin Boone continues his ambitious foray into jazz and poetry, this time recruiting an impressive cadre of poets for his aptly entitled release, The Poets are Gathering (Origin, 2020). The union of poetry and jazz has never been so powerfly presented, reflecting the past year of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, the universal role of the poet, and the power of art and voice to raise awareness and inspire change. The album employs the likes of US Poet ...
Continue ReadingHashem Assadullahi: Pieces
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Hashem Assadullahi and his core band returned to the studio to release an exceptionally strong sophomore effort with Pieces. The Texas born-Northwest cured-New York-based musician revealed his penchant for melody on his prior release Strange Neighbor (8bells, 2009). Here he builds upon that foundation with a scattering of themes from pop tunes, avant-garde leanings, and some deftly orchestrated group improvisations. Assadullahi's returning partners here are guitarist Justin Morell and trumpeter Ron Miles, who yearly receives the “artist ...
Continue ReadingThe Hashem Assadullahi Quintet: Strange Neighbor
by Glenn Astarita
Oregon-based musician and educator Hashem Assadullahi introduces a wealth of attention-grabbing points of view into this quintet date, featuring eminent trumpeter Ron Miles. It's a democratic, group-focused modus operandi, spinning with variable harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings, where Assadullahi is more concerned with compositional depth and use of space. Still, the soloists receive ample breathing room to improvise and engage in thematic expansion.
On “Hypothesis B--The Wildflower," the quintet merges a sense of quietude via Justin Morell's simple guitar ...
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