Home » Jazz Articles » Joe Fonda
Jazz Articles about Joe Fonda
Joe Fonda: When It's Time
by Michael A. Parker
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 ...
Continue ReadingJoe Fonda: When It's Time
by AAJ Staff
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 ...
Continue ReadingJoe Fonda/Carlo Morena/Jeff Hirshfield: What We're Hearing
by AAJ Staff
Joe Fonda's swinging straight-ahead trio on 1994's What We're Hearing includes Carlo Morena, a four-year prior collaborator; and Jeff Hirshfield, a relative newcomer to Fonda's musical universe. The trio plays with a degree of tightness and clarity that generally characterizes more long-term associations. The corners are all tucked in on What We're Hearing, a studio performance. (One has the sense that this trio could deliver a much more viscerally exciting performance in the live setting.)
Fonda's abundant soloing on this ...
Continue ReadingJoe Fonda/Xu Fengxia: Distance
by AAJ Staff
This release documents a May '99 collaboration between New York bassist Fonda and Shanghai guzheng player Fengxia. (The performance, oddly enough, took place in Germany. The guzheng is a stringed instrument resembling the koto.) The ironic title of Distance refers to both the geography and the musical conception behind this disc. Given their relatively brief collaboration, these two players have a remarkable intuitive understanding of each other's approach to the music. For the most part, Fengxia takes the lead, directing ...
Continue ReadingJoe Fonda Quintet: Full Circle Suite
by Derek Taylor
Like the majority of his peers Joe Fonda has spent a large segment of his career on the fringes of public recognition, plying his skills resolutely and biding his time with a patience that would sour far sooner in the case of many musicians. Rewarding posts with the likes of Anthony Braxton and Mark Whitecage sustained his resolve and as this disc illustrates he's still going strong with no signs of flagging. Full Circle Suite is demanding on a host ...
Continue ReadingJoe Fonda Quintet: Full Circle Suite
by Derek Taylor
Like the majority of his peers Joe Fonda has spent a large segment of his career on the fringes of public recognition, plying his skills resolutely and biding his time with a patience that would sour far sooner in the case of many musicians. Rewarding posts with the likes of Anthony Braxton and Mark Whitecage sustained his resolve and as this disc illustrates he's still going strong with no signs of flagging. Full Circle Suite is demanding on a host ...
Continue Reading
