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Jazz Articles about Ike Sturm
David Bixler: BEATitude
by Dan Bilawsky
Felicity finds its way into the heart and soul of David Bixler's music on BEATitude. Reconvening the quartet that drew wonder out of adversity on In The Face Of Chaos (Red Piano, 2019), this acclaimed alto saxophonist delivers eight numinous originals that speak to conviction and faith in moving form(s). “A Power Deferred," opening the proceedings, artfully deals in the divine, exhibiting strength through patience. Providence--encircling this entire affair, and making its initial presence felt in this ...
Continue ReadingSara Caswell: The Way To You
by Angelo Leonardi
Formalmente il precedente album da leader di Sara Caswell risale al 2005 (But Beautiful, Arbors) ma questa nuova incisione a suo nome non è il ritorno dopo una lunga pausa. Ci sono infatti le quattro incisioni --dal 2013 al 202-col trio cooperativo 9 Horses e la leadership condivisa con la sorella Rachel del 2014 (Alive in the Singing Air, Turtle Ridge) nel un gruppo comprendente Fred Hersch. Aggiungiamo poi la ventina di collaborazioni, anche discografiche, con Brad Mehldau, Miho Hazama, ...
Continue ReadingSara Caswell: The Way To You
by Jack Bowers
Although The Way to You is heralded as Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell's first album as a leader in more than seventeen years, it was actually recorded in 2019, roughly four years before its release date. Still, it is Caswell's first new album in quite a long time, and those who relish her tasteful and melodic violin should be grateful for that. Caswell leads her longtime working quartet here, with vibraphonist Chris Dingman sitting in on four of ...
Continue ReadingMiriam Elhajli: The Uncertainty of Signs
by Angelo Leonardi
Miriam Elhajli è una giovane cantautrice e musicologa attiva a New York, influenzata dal folklore venezuelano e marocchino. Una tradizione assimilata in famiglia, che lei fonde con la sensibilità del jazz moderno e i modelli di Joni Mitchell e altre vocalist degli anni sessanta/settanta. Il suo debutto discografico Observations, inciso nel 2018 e pubblicato due anni dopo, ha colpito critica e pubblico per la bellezza delle sue composizioni, interpretate con un'intima colloquialità romantica che ricordava la Mitchell ...
Continue ReadingNadje Noordhuis: Gullfoss
by Dan Bilawsky
There's a beyond-category beauty emanating from trumpeter Nadje Noordhuis' Gullfoss. Recorded live at Musig im Pflegidach in Switzerland, inspired by the splendors of nature in their many forms, and showcasing the breathtaking work of an incomparable ensemble, it plays like a warm and inviting refuge for the ears and soul. Painting aural pictures befitting natural wonders is no easy feat, but Noordhuis and her well-chosen bandmates are more than up to the challenge here. Sympathetic to one ...
Continue ReadingIke Sturm - Jesse Lewis: Alive in the Wilderness
by Angelo Leonardi
Sono trascorsi più di 50 anni da quando Paul Horn pubblicò Inside the Taj Mahal registrando sotto la cupola del famoso tempio indiano. All'alba degli anni settanta nacquero di Oregon e nella metà di quel decennio William Ackerman fondò a Palo Alto l'etichetta Windham Hill, dando vita a un filone che avrà molte diramazioni e un'infinità di esecutori, fino a legarsi—nel bene e nel male—a etichette onnicomprensive e generiche come new age e ambient. Da allora non ...
Continue ReadingEndless Field: Alive in the Wilderness
by Geno Thackara
It would have been simple enough just to evoke the feel and mood of various nature spots, but Endless Field--Ike Sturm and Jesse Lewis--would rather show us that there's nothing like being there. Alive in the Wilderness was recorded in precisely that way, in a series of places through the desert of southwestern Utah, with all the natural meandering and quiet majesty that implies. The nature- conscious angle makes this session a perfect fit, Fabian Almazan's brainchild Biophilia Records (released ...
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