Jazz Articles about Jimmy Owens

About Jimmy Owens

Extended Analysis

Heiner Stadler: Brains on Fire

by Hrayr Attarian
April 20, 2012

Heiner StadlerBrains on FireLabor Records2012One of the most exciting reissues of the first quarter of 2012 is composer and pianist Heiner Stadler's pioneering Brains on Fire, originally released in 1973. The two-CD reissue adds three lengthy, previously unreleased tracks and informative and well-researched liner notes by critic Howard Mandel. Interestingly, Stadler occupies the piano chair only on five of the eight pieces, recorded over a seven-year span in a ...

New York Beat

Jimmy Owens and the Monk Evolution

by Nick Catalano
February 11, 2012

When an artist comes along who convolutes traditional form, it sometimes takes eons for that artist's contribution to be understood, evaluated and finally appreciated. Initially, composer Igor Stravinsky was thrown out of Paris at the premier of “Le Sacre du Printemps," author James Joyce was banned in Boston for Ulysses," and composer John Cage ridiculed for his performance of “4'33." The list of convoluters is a long one. In the 1940s, pianist Thelonious Monk finally settled on ...

Album Review

Jimmy Owens: The Monk Project

Read "The Monk Project" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 14, 2012

Jimmy Owens' tribute to the indomitable music of Thelonious Monk is a luxurious road trip that travels on smooth roads once precarious and quite perilous. His septet, an experienced large/small ensemble, glides almost effortlessly through the opulence of this music.The ease in which these musicians maneuver through the nine Monk compositions, plus Duke Ellington's “It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," is a testament to their talents, but more so to Owens' deft arrangements. ...

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Album Review

Jimmy Owens: The Monk Project

Read "The Monk Project" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
January 10, 2012

With a career spanning over 45 years, legendary trumpeter Jimmy Owens has had the privilege of performing with many giants of jazz, including trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Billy Taylor, bassist Charles Mingus, drummer Max Roach and the incomparable pianist Duke Ellington. Though he never had the opportunity to record with pianist Thelonious Monk, he did know and admire him, and has played the icon's music throughout his career. The Monk Project is Owen's tribute to a special man and his ...

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Album Review

Jimmy Owens: The Monk Project

Read "The Monk Project" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 1, 2012

Albums built on the idea of reworking the music of Thelonious Monk have become so commonplace as to risk being seen as old hat before the shrink wrap even comes off the CD, but the success or failure of these projects doesn't rest with the actual recasting of the legendary pianist's work. The manner by which an artist recasts Monk is of greater importance than the act itself, and everybody has their own take on the man and his music. ...

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Album Review

Jimmy Owens: The Monk Project

Read "The Monk Project" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
December 2, 2011

Thelonious Monk is not suffering from inattention in 2011; it seems, in fact, that he's having a great year, for someone who died in 1982. His singularly quirky tunes have become the staples of hundreds of set lists, and it's hard to swing a dead cat in a record store without hitting dozens of new releases that include at least one Monk song. And why not? Monk's compositions are among the most original, identifiable and substantial music in the jazz ...

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Album Review

Jimmy Owens: Peaceful Walking

Read "Peaceful Walking" reviewed by Joel Roberts

by Joel Roberts
November 7, 2007

Trumpeter/flugelhornist Jimmy Owens is truly one of the unsung heroes of jazz. Over the course of his forty year career, the New York native has worked with giants like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach, and recorded as a leader for major labels like Atlantic and Polydor. He's also been active as a jazz educator and activist. But he's never really achieved major name recognition. Owens' Peaceful Walking is a collection of ...