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Jazz Articles about Jeff Hirshfield
Yoko Yates: Eternal Moments
by Jack Bowers
On her second album, Japanese-born, New York City-based pianist and composer Yoko Yates, ever the genial story-teller, presents ten of her elegant original compositions. Based on feelings and emotions she has experienced while living and working in and around the New York area, they encompass a wide range of phenomena--from outer space and a serpentine river to seasonal changes and even the penultimate day of a flower. Yates leads her quintet along an avenue whose bedrock is ...
Continue ReadingThe Jamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These
by Angelo Leonardi
Nella sua nuova incisione Jamie Baum coniuga impegno civile e ricercata varietà di soluzioni musicali con voci e suoni di particolare freschezza. A distanza di sei anni dal precedente Bridges la flautista e compositrice firma l'album più riuscito del suo ensemble, in gran parte rinnovato con l'ingresso del trombettista Jonathan Finlayson, del pianista Luis Perdomo, del bassista Ricky Rodriguez e del percussionista Keita Ogawa accanto ai fidi Jeff Hirshfield alla batteria, Brad Shepik alla chitarra, Chris Komer al ...
Continue ReadingJamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These
by Katchie Cartwright
Reading Marge Piercy's poem “To Be of Use" (track two onWhat Times Are These), Jamie Baum could be speaking of herself, one of those “who jump into work head first without dallying in the shadows, who swim off with sure strokes," knowing that “the thing worth doing has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident." What Times Are These is a satisfying form of this sort. Confined to her New York apartment during the Covid-19 lockdown, Baum responded ...
Continue ReadingGui Duvignau: Baden
by Dan Bilawsky
Gui Duvignau has had Baden Powell's sound in his sights for some time now. Born in France and raised in Brazil, the rising-star bassist delved deeply into that legendary Brazilian guitarist's work at the behest of several six-stringer friends. And as he studied guitar too, Duvignau came under the sway of Powell's advanced harmonic concepts, personalized technique and keen ability to skirt easy categorization by blending classical stylings, jazz sensibilities and a broad mixture of Brazilian traditions. Having then performed ...
Continue ReadingGui Duvignau: 3,5,8
by Glenn Astarita
As a youngster, French bassist Gui Duvignau was exposed to several disparate cultures and musical forms thanks to his adventure seeking parents' relocations to Morocco, Brazil, Portugal and back to Paris before landing in Boston, MA., to attend the Berklee School of Music, and subsequently ending up in New York City. Duvignau advises that in his early musical endeavors he found rock music less challenging than jazz. Hence, on this effort with well-known jazz warriors, saxophonist Billy Drewes and drummer ...
Continue ReadingJeff Hirshfield on Rich Perry's SteepleChase Recordings
by David A. Orthmann
"Some drummers get carried away and stop listening, maybe because we are doing four or five things at the same time. You want to see if things will work out or not, but you're not paying enough attention...We think we need to make everything happen, but it's not true: Everything is already happening, all you need to do is find your place." Albert “Tootie" Heath. Interview by Ethan Iverson in Do The Math, the bad plus blog and webzine.
Continue ReadingPaul Bley: Notes On Ornette
by C. Andrew Hovan
These are the tunes that have become the stuff of legend. And don’t just take it from this reviewer, ask Pat Metheny and countless others who have found something to say in the early compositions of Ornette Coleman. Either because he was on the West Coast working with Coleman and Don Cherry at the time or because he sees their inherent greatness too, pianist Paul Bley has chosen from the Ornette canon pieces dating from the late ‘50s for this ...
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