Jazz Articles about Jim Lewis

About Jim Lewis

Album Review

The number Twelve has several explicit meanings on Israeli-born composer/pianist Noam Lemish's eighth album as leader of his own ensemble, which is twelve members strong (well, thirteen on the first two numbers, on which Laura Swankey adds wordless vocals, and twenty-five if one counts the thirteen-member chorus on Track 3). Returning to the basic premise, Lemish composed his first piece of music at age twelve, and it has been twelve years since he relocated from San Francisco to Toronto, Canada. ...

Album Review

San Gabriel 7: Under The Stars

Read "Under The Stars" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
June 26, 2022

How many times has one heard the saying, “This isn't rocket science"? Well, in this case, it is. One might be tempted to think Jim Lewis' biography is fictional, but no. Lewis is the trombone player and founding member of San Gabriel 7 (SGS). He was a student (and friend) of Bill Watrous, and began life as a sessions player in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, after graduating from the University of Alabama. He moved to LA in ...

Album Review

Mark Segger: Lift Off

Read "Lift Off" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 21, 2020

This Canadian band throws almost everything imaginable at the studio walls in synchronous fashion. And while the album may be classified as an EP, due to its 29-minute length, quality is the underlying factor throughout. Based out of Edmonton, Segger started this band via its first album, The Beginning (18th Note Records, 2011). Nine-years later, the sextet extends its resume with this high-impact and compelling release, brimming with gobs of counterpoint, sizzling free-form detours and complex modal narratives.

Album Review

Mark Segger Sextet: Lift Off

Read "Lift Off" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 2, 2020

Fracas and focus are not mutually exclusive concepts. In purely linguistic terms, invoking the label “avant-garde" when addressing sound often calls to mind a melee-as-music scenario. The audible truth, however, is something else entirely. An artist's work can lean far to the left without falling off the comprehensibility scale, and drummer Mark Segger makes that argument with brevity and brio. With twelve years of existence binding concepts and compadres, Segger's sextet operates like a well-oiled, though highly irregular ...