Jazz Articles about Jay Sawyer

About Jay Sawyer

Album Review

Aubrey Johnson: The Lively Air

Read "The Lively Air" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
August 17, 2026

Dopo il notevole debutto di Unraveled (Outside in Music, 2020), penalizzato nella diffusione dalla tempesta pandemica, Aubrey Johnson ritorna alla testa di un proprio ensemble, in cui va oltre il ruolo di cantante accompagnata ma è parte integrante delle dinamiche strumentali, nonché autrice di metà del repertorio. Dal passato organico ritroviamo solo il violinista Tomoko Omura che è anche autrice e arrangiatrice di un brano. Aubrey Johnson è un soprano di eccelse doti tecniche ed espressive, le cui ...

Album Review

Premazzi / Nasser Quartet: From What I Recall

Read "From What I Recall" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
September 15, 2025

Dopo saltuarie collaborazioni durate un decennio, la pianista Simona Premazzi e il sassofonista Kyle Nasser hanno deciso tre anni fa di varare questo combo, completato con il contrabbassista Noah Garabedian e il batterista Jay Sawyer. Frequenti esibizioni nei club di New York City e alcuni tour hanno rafforzato la coesione del gruppo che pubblica ora il suo primo disco. Anche se vive e lavora a New York dal 2004, il pubblico--soprattutto italiano--del jazz conosce bene Simona Premazzi che ...

Album Review

Premazzi / Nasser Quartet: From What I Recall

Read "From What I Recall" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 16, 2025

Pianist Simona Premazzi began her journey in Italy, in a small town on the outskirts of Milano. She took her early musical education in her homeland and moved to New York in 2004. She made a name for herself there--no easy task. Her on-the-bandstand education includes stints with saxophonist Greg Osby and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. She eventually found herself playing gigs with saxophonist Kyle Nasser. The two began their collaborative musical partnership in 2021, forming the Premazzi / Nasser Quartet ...

Album Review

Itamar Borochov: Arba

by Maurizio Zerbo
April 26, 2024

Il sistema modale del maqam arabo, la tradizione sefardita e quella jazzistica degli anni Sessanta convivono felicemente nel sesto CD del trombettista Itamar Borochov. Arba è un'importante finestra sul variopinto laboratorio musicale della scena contemporanea, che mette in luce un musicista originale e lungimirante. Al di là dei buoni esiti artistici, va sottolineato soprattutto il coraggioso caledoscopio musicale prodotto dalle nove tracce di impianto modale. Arba costituisce un ponte di solidarietà tra mondo israeliano e mondo ...

Album Review

Russell Kranes/Alex Levine/Sam Weber/Jay Sawyer: Anchor Points

Read "Anchor Points" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 7, 2023

No leader is given on Anchor Points, simply the names of the four musicians who comprise the group on its debut recording. This is truly a co-op enterprise by jazz artists who have been performing together for a number of years in and around the New York City area. The studio session is divided roughly in half, with four numbers by a quartet balancing four others by a drummerless trio, a nod to similar groups once led ...

Album Review

Itamar Borochov: Arba

by Jerome Wilson
October 21, 2023

Trumpeter Itamar Borochov is originally from the Middle East but is part of the New York jazz scene. He plays a quarter-tone trumpet which helps bring an unusual expressiveness and calm to his sound, This is well-suited to the music he plays which is steeped in the chords and scales of the Mediterranean area where he grew up. Tracks such as “Abraham" and “What Broke You?" spotlight the ethereal beauty of Borochev's sound as he broods over Rob ...

Album Review

Tito Carrillo: Urbanessence

Read "Urbanessence" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
November 23, 2022

Trumpeter Tito Carillo's second bite of the apple on Origin was more than a decade in the making, following up his outstanding first release, Opening Statement (Origin, 2011). With Urbanessence (Origin, 2022), the Chicago-based artist is truly up to the task, producing a work which is an homage to everyday life in the city. The narrative makes the point that cities are home to creators, visionaries and an army of people who are motivated by the hope they provide. Cities ...