Home » Jazz Articles » JC Sanford
Jazz Articles about JC Sanford
Dylan Hicks & Small Screens: Modern Flora
by Neil Duggan
In years gone by, record stores would sometimes categorise their albums by genre, so there would be sections on jazz, pop and singer-songwriter, etc. Modern Flora from Dylan Hicks & Small Screens is the sort of album that could cause the record store owner a problem, as the album would comfortably fit into all those categories. Even from a 2024 perspective, a 1970s-style singer-songwriter backed by a jazz nonet is not a natural fit in our genre-specific, box-ticking world.
Continue ReadingJC Sanford with Anthony Cox and Michael Cain: New Past
by Troy Dostert
Although he has shown himself to be adept in crafting big-band releases such as Views from the Inside (Whirlwind, 2014), trombonist JC Sanford usually works in a pared-down setting, such as his quartet release Keratoconus (Shifting Paradigm, 2019) or, more recently, the two volumes of his trio-based Imminent Standards (Shifting Paradigm, 2021 and 2022). Here he continues this trend, joining with two veterans, pianist Michael Cain and bassist Anthony Cox, for a mix of Sanford's own compositions and a couple ...
Continue ReadingJC Sanford: Imminent Standards Trio Vol. 1
by Jack Bowers
Trombone-led trios are few and far between, but Minnesota-based JC Sanford, a protégé of the late great Bob Brookmeyer, gives it a go with bassist Jeff Bailey and drummer Phil Hey on Imminent Standards Trio Vol. 1, whose title does not derive from imminent, as in “soon-to-be," but as in “Imminent Brewing," the trio's monthly performing space in Northfield, MN. As for the album's groove, the trio has chosen relaxed, and glides easily through a program comprising ...
Continue ReadingQuinsin Nachoff: Pivotal Arc
by Friedrich Kunzmann
Canadian saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff's newest outing out on Whirlwind Recordings once again proves what was established long before: that nothing about his approach to jazz is common. As a matter of fact, if his name weren't almost exclusively mentioned in jazz publications, jazz wouldn't necessarily be the first thing that came to mind when confronted with his music. A fact that appears even more valid with regard to his new effort, Pivotal Arc. Opening with a ...
Continue ReadingJC Sanford Quartet: Keratoconus
by Alberto Bazzurro
Il trombonista JC Sanford, protégé del grande Bob Brookmeyer, dirige in questo lavoro un quartetto di solida conformazione che ha la sua base nel Minnesota. L'incisione risale al febbraio 2019 e include tutti temi dello stesso Sanford, tranne ovviamente l'iperstandard “All the Things You Are." Si parte col breve, funkeggiante brano che intitola il CD, per proseguire col ben più ampio “Umm, Yeah!," felicemente calibrato. Qualche fase di persino eccessiva leggerezza-disinvoltura attraversa il successivo “Bates Brothers Boy ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Rathbun: Atwood Suites
by Angelo Leonardi
Sassofonista e orchestratore canadese, Andrew Rathbun ha 47 anni e una ricca carriera alle spalle, svolta negli Stati Uniti con studi al New England Conservatory sotto la guida di Ran Blake e dal 1997 professionalmente a New York in vari contesti. A partire dal debutto del 1999 con Scatter Some Stones, ha inciso alcuni dischi da leader, il più noto dei quali è Sculpture (Fresh Sound 2002) inciso in quintetto col suo mentore Kenny Wheeler. Con quest'ultimo Rathbun ha collaborato ...
Continue ReadingJC Sanford Quartet: Keratoconus
by Friedrich Kunzmann
A bubbling ostinato on trombone to the right. Treble register double-bass lines join in the middle. Muffled electric-guitar riffs imitate the same to the left--the guitar's dry tone seemingly hailing straight from a rustic 1960s Telecaster. Drums start banging ahead relentlessly; not in a constant motion though--they stop and go and stop and go, unsure whether what they're doing is allowed or not. They all decide it's fine, let's go ahead with it. This is rock and roll. It's rudimentary ...
Continue Reading
