Jazz Articles about Jim Black

About Jim Black

Album Review

Julius Gawlik: It's All in Your Head

Read "It's All in Your Head" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
December 30, 2025

When jazz musicians talk about composition, they often mean something closer to architecture--blueprints that guide but do not dictate. Julius Gawlik's debut album takes this idea seriously, treating written material as a starting point rather than a destination. The Berlin-based saxophonist and clarinetist has assembled a quartet that thrives on incompleteness, where sketches become conversations and melodies exist to be challenged. The personnel tells part of the story: drummer Jim Black brings decades of boundary-pushing work, vibraphonist Evi ...

Album Review

Natuski Tamura, Jim Black: NatJim

Read "NatJim" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
October 18, 2024

Un bel dialogo franco e convincente illumina le varie città evocate nei diversi momenti della giornata e stati d'animo dai titoli degli otto brani che coprono la parte preponderante del CD, tutti a firma di Natsuki Tamura, dove peraltro il propellente-Black è senz'altro decisivo per tracciare il perimetro espressivo, il climax, dell'album attraverso una prova di grande sostanza cui il trombettista nipponico si adegua assolutamente di buon grado. Un quarto di secolo dopo il loro primo incontro ...

Album Review

Andrea Grossi Blend 3 + Jim Black: Axes

by Angelo Leonardi
August 26, 2024

La spinta avventurosa che ha animato la musica del Blend 3 fin dal 2017 (due anni dopo il primo disco Lubok, seguito dal progetto orchestrale Four Winds e da Songs and Poems con Beatrice Arrigoni) trova nuove e palpitanti forma d'espressione. Nel nuovo disco il trio riformula alcune prospettive di base inglobando il formidabile batterista Jim Black, uno dei protagonisti dell'avanguardia degli anni '90 e successivi, accanto a Tim Berne, Ellery Eskelin, Chris Speed, Dave Douglas e col ...

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Album Review

Natsuki Tamura & Jim Black: NatJim

Read "NatJim" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 6, 2024

Few albums capture the sheer joy of music-making as vividly as NatJim, the first duo recording from trumpeter-composer Natsuki Tamura and drummer Jim Black in over a quarter century. This avant-garde jazz session is a spirited reunion, highlighting their exceptional synergy and limitless creativity. The artists have previously collaborated on two albums led by eminent pianist-composer Satoko Fujii's Four, among others. Tamura, a globetrotting trumpeter since his initial U.S. visit in 1986, infuses the presentation with his powerful, ...

Album Review

Andrea Grossi Blend 3 + Jim Black: Axes

by Mark Corroto
May 22, 2024

When Sonny Rollins recorded “A Night At The Village Vanguard" (Blue Note, 1957) and later toured Europe in 1959, he was frequently asked about performing without a pianist. His saxophone, bass, and drums lineup was unconventional at the time, but it gave him the added freedom to explore his creative powers. Similarly, bassist Andrea Grossi's trio, Blend 3, which includes alto saxophonist Manuel Caliumi and electric guitarist Michele Bonifati, has taken a similar approach. On their previous releases Lцbok (We ...

Live Review

Jazz&Wine of Peace 2023

by Neri Pollastri
November 13, 2023

Jazz&Wine of Peace 2023 Cormons e altre località del Friuli e della Brda slovena Varie sedi 26-29.10.2023 Tagliato un importante traguardo con la splendida edizione celebrativa del venticinquennale, il Jazz&Wine of Peace di Cormons ha ripreso il suo corso, che ne fa uno dei festival più interessanti della penisola, approntando un programma come sempre tanto estremamente vario, quanto ricco di personalità di spicco. Dopo un'anteprima andata in scena lunedì 23 ottobre al ...

Album Review

Jim & the Schrimps: Ain't No Saint

Read "Ain't No Saint" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
March 27, 2023

Although the group's name (and album title) sound like something one might associate with a second-rate bar band, there is nothing oafish or pedestrian about drummer Jim Black's latest outfit, a hard-hitting ensemble which channels the distinctive energies of Black and his well-chosen compatriots. With saxophonists Asger Nissen (alto) and Julius Gawlik (tenor) and bassist Felix Henkelhausen alongside him, Black brings his characteristic manic intensity and crafty songwriting to an album filled with interesting and engaging musical interactions.