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Jim Hall / Geoffrey Keezer: Free Association
by Dan McClenaghan
Free Association, the latest ArtistShare release from veteran guitarist Jim Hall--paired with a relative newcomer, pianist Geoffrey Keezer--offers music in a pure state. The duo creates a timeless, genre-less sound, a combination of virtuosic beauty and fluid give-and-take combined with a deft use of space.Jim Hall has collaborated on records with drummer Chico Hamilton, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, all legends. A legend himself now, the guitarist has also explored the duo setting with ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall / Geoffrey Keezer: Free Association
by Jerry D'Souza
Guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Geoffrey Keezer continue their association, which began in the nineties, with Free Association, a record that testifies to the intuitive interplay that they have developed over time. The music is at once stimulating and tantalizing as the two weave webs of intricate design. As always, Hall speaks an elegant language that's ornate without being overbearing, his notes singing his craftsmanship. Keezer also has that lyrical edge and an intuition that keeps his explorations focused and ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall in Duet with Enrico Pieranunzi & Geoff Keezer: Duologues and Free Association
by Michael McCaw
It's becoming well-documented how Jim Hall has and is exploring the art of the duo in depth, whether with Pat Metheny, Bill Evans, or more recent associations with Enrico Pieranunzi and Geoffrey Keezer. And as classic as albums such as Undercurrent (Blue Note, 1963) or Jim Hall and Basses (Telarc, 2001) are, these more recent duo efforts find Hall continually pushing himself and his partners in ways that build off the past but embrace more modern aspects of jazz without ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall / Geoffrey Keezer: Free Association
by John Kelman
To the committed artist, music is something that represents a calling rather than a job that provides income from which one ultimately retires. Looking at the number of jazz musicians who continue to work into their 70s and 80s and are constantly moving forward, it's clear that it's more dedication than occupation.
Jim Hall's reputation may be as a mainstream player with a spare, economical approach. But throughout a career now in its sixth decade, the 75 year-old guitarist has ...
Continue ReadingFree Association; Duologues; Indian Winter
by Francis Lo Kee
It's an accepted fact that Jim Hall is considered one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of jazz. In fact, December 4, 2005 is his 75th birthday and he is celebrating at the Village Vanguard that week. Two of Hall's most famous recordings are Undercurrent and Intermodulation, duets with pianist Bill Evans. Indeed, that is what links these 3 CDs: guitar-piano duets.
Jim Hall/Geoff Keezer Free Association ArtistShare 2005
On Free ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall: Magic Meeting
by George Harris
Recorded during his most recent tour, Magic Meeting is an excellent testament to the width and breadth of virtuoso guitarist Jim Hall's talents. Playing with long time associates Scott Colley (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums), Hall breathes fresh life into standards and contributes three originals to this intriguing set of understated and discreet guitar playing.
Reflective and spacious on “Body and Soul," Hall strums, picks, and selects his notes with the precision of a diamond cutter. Always holding ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall: Magic Meeting
by Joel Roberts
Jim Hall has long been an island of calm in a sea of overheated jazz guitarists. On countless solo efforts and memorable collaborations with Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, and many others, Hall's subtlety and intelligence have elevated him above the crowd on an instrument where speed and pointless virtuosity unfortunately rule. On his latest, Magic Meeting, recorded before a hushed Village Vanguard crowd last spring, Hall shows no signs whatsoever that his 74 years have ...
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