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Joe Locke: Nocturne for Ava & Mutual Admiration Society 2
by George Kanzler
Bob Sneider/Joe Locke Film Noir ProjectNocturne for AvaOrigin2009 Joe Locke/David HazeltineMutual Admiration Society 2Sharp Nine2009 The versatility of vibraphonist Joe Locke comes to the fore here, one album moody with intricately arranged, programmatic/impressionistic music, the other a loose quartet date emphasizing solos as much as tunes. There's a mid-20th Century feel ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke / David Hazeltine: Mutual Admiration Society 2
by David A. Orthmann
In the last year of the twentieth century, Sharp Nine Records released Mutual Admiration Society, a quartet date co-led by vibraphonist Joe Locke and pianist David Hazeltine, which also included bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Billy Drummond. A brainchild of Sharp Nine honcho Marc Edelman, the collaboration between these two longtime friends was based on a desire to explore each other's strengths. Hazeltine was keen on interacting with the blues-oriented, earthy side of Locke's playing, as well as experiencing the ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke / Frank Kimbrough: Verrazano Moon
by John Kelman
With the now 37 year-old ongoing partnership of Chick Corea and Gary Burton, it might appear that the gold standard for piano/vibraphone duets has been set. But while they don't perform or record nearly as often, vibraphonist Joe Locke and pianist Frank Kimbrough have set their own standard for playing as a duo. Much like friends who, despite the passing of many years between encountering each other, pick up where they left off as if no time has passed, Verrazano ...
Continue ReadingBob Sneider-Joe Locke Film Noir Project: Nocturne for Ava
by C. Michael Bailey
In 2006, guitarist Bob Sneider and vibraphonist Joe Locke assembled a collective devoted to the jazz soundtrack of noir fiction called The Film Noir Project. That same year they released Fallen Angel (Sons of Sound). Switching labels, Sneider and Locke release their second Film Noir Project installment in Nocturne for Ava, honoring the brunette bombshell Ava Gardner and her contributions to the noir genre like the film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's The Killers.
It is a subtle hypnotism Sneider and ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke: Force of Four
by Ken Dryden
Joe Locke has emerged as one of the dominant jazz vibraphonists in recent years, releasing several outstanding CDs with various musical partners. Force of Four is no exception, a tight post-bop session with a new quartet: pianist Robert Rodriguez, bassist Ricardo Rodriguez and drummer Johnathan Blake. The pianist contributed “Like Joe," a tribute to Joe Henderson, which incorporates rapid-fire lines with a Latin undercurrent reminiscent of the late tenor saxophonist. Locke's understated “Available in Blue" is an ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke: Force of Four
by John Kelman
Joe Locke couldn't have picked a better name for Force of Four. While not as overtly plugged in as the potent, near fusion-esque Live in Seattle (Origin, 2006) with his Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, it's an equally electrifying date that revisits the same format--vibes, piano, bass and drums--but with an all-new line-up. It's taken time for critics and fans to catch up, but with Down Beat's Talent Deserving Wider Recognition nod, the Jazz Journalists Association's Mallet Player of ...
Continue ReadingJoe Locke: Force of Four
by Dan McClenaghan
Certain sounds are so easy to love: the blurry whine of a muted trumpet, the beefy growl of a robust tenor saxophone, the rich, frictional cry of the cello, and the buoyant, sustained ring of a mallet hitting a key on a vibraphone.Vibraphonist Joe Locke's profile seems to have risen on a sharp angle since Live in Seattle (Origin Records, 2006), a CD that found its way onto several critic's top ten of the year lists. Since then ...
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