Jazz Articles about Joe Fonda

like 133

Fonda/Stevens Group: Forever Real

by Ernest Barteldes
September 22, 2005

The mood on Forever Real goes from the pleasant groove of the title track to more experimental moments in which trumpet player Herb Robertson and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens exchange jabs, as on the eight-minute “From The Source and the more up-tempo “The Stalker (eleven minutes that go in every possible direction), in which Robertson makes you think he's switched to a flute at times--which he hasn't, it is just his technique on the instrument.In one of the ...

like 459

Joe Fonda: Forever Real

by Robert Iannapollo
March 9, 2005

Talk to bassist Joe Fonda for even a short time and you get caught in the whirlwind. Conversation flows easily from one topic to another: from Anthony Braxton to Duke Ellington to Marvin Gaye or from Paul Wolfowitz to the best wine that goes with salmon. Fonda's one of those incessantly curious people who seems to want to know about everything. “Nuclear Joe is what I call him," says trumpeter Herb Robertson, his band mate in the Fonda/Stevens Group.

like 141

Fonda/McPhee/White/Karetnick: Heat Suite

by AAJ Staff
April 15, 2004

Heat Suite, a four-part, freely improvised performance, is a towering achievement. It is music that is constantly flowing, constantly growing. It is full of flux and variety, and every note, every rhythm evolves organically and logically from what has previously been created.“Part 1" begins with Fonda's scraping arco bass, which becomes the platform for White's alto. Soon enough, White and Karetnick engage in a duet, an unmetered meeting in which a fast pulse is suggested ...

like 256

Joe Fonda/Barry Altschul/Billy Bang: FAB: Transforming the Space

by Jeff Stockton
February 1, 2004

When I hear musicians shouting or humming on a recording because they can't help themselves, I take it as a good sign. The spontaneity, intensity, and pure joy that comes across in those brief outbursts raises the level of excitement and intimacy so that you almost forget you're sitting in your living room listening to a CD. Bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul, and violinist Billy Bang clearly enjoyed playing the tunes on Transforming the Space , and the disc's ...

like 124

Joe Fonda & Gilbert Isbin: Blisters

by Jerry D'Souza
October 20, 2003

Joe Fonda and Gilbert Isbin, partners in time, create vivid imagery via the many manifestations of sound they take their instruments through, over, and across. What is more remarkable is that they do it with an astute aesthetic: there is no howl or cry in their music. What they have is rhythm, a pulse and a kinetic energy that constantly bristles.

The compositions are credited to Fonda and Isbin, but the heartbeat lies in the improvisation that gives ...

like 183

Joe Fonda: When It's Time

by Michael A. Parker
December 1, 2001

It would be a mistake to try and situate this record in a continuum of solo bass works that have been created in the past 30 years, starting with Barre Philips and Motoharu Yoshizawa's work in the late 60's.Joe Fonda is not on some kind of mission to redefine the bass and its role in contemporary music; he's not a Dresserian guru of extended techniques or someone who has a concept of solo bass that's independent of his ...

like 168

Joe Fonda: When It's Time

by AAJ Staff
December 1, 2000

Joe Fonda's sole solo excursion from 1999 demonstrates a degree of maturity in concept and execution that marks it as a unique high point in his oeuvre to date. On When It's Time, Fonda approaches mostly original tunes with a melodic focus, accompanied by ever-present vocalizations. (Listeners with a phobia of humming and moaning take notice.) The recording has a warm, full-bodied sound which captures nuance and detail. While the core of these acoustic bass improvisations tend to rely on ...