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Tom Guarna: Spirit Science
by Friedrich Kunzmann
With The Wishing Stones (Destiny Records, 2017) New York-based guitarist Tom Guarna released something of a breakthrough album, featuring a prominently cast quartet made up of Brian Blade on drums, John Patitucci on bass and pianist Jon Cowherd. With that album Guarna perfected his personal style of composition, which sees post-bop language taken to more extensive structures filtered through modern sonic production values. Spirit Science picks up where that album left off and delivers another engaging set of modern post-bop ...
Continue ReadingAlexa Tarantino: Clarity
by Paul Rauch
Saxophonist Alexa Tarantino has as impressive resume in jazz as any artist could hope for at this stage of a career. As a performer, she has contributed notably to The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Cecile McLorin Salvant Quintet and Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, to note a few. She has lived the jazz life, juggling responsibilities as an educator, musician and curator, somehow fitting all the pieces together that illustrate the intricacies ...
Continue ReadingAlexa Tarantino: Clarity
by Dan Bilawsky
Alto saxophonist Alexa Tarantino is an indefatigable spirit, plain and simple. In the past two years alone she's worked with everybody from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant, held down the lead alto chair in The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, co-led the fiery LSAT quintet with baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian, directed her self-founded Rockport Jazz Workshop, and appeared on more than a half dozen albums, including three collective-minded gatherings on the Posi-Tone imprint and her own debut for the ...
Continue ReadingArt Hirahara: Balance Point
by Kyle Simpler
There are times in life when many of us try to find a sense of stability in an uncertain world. New York-based pianist Art Hirahara refers to this as homeostasis, or “a sense of balance within ourselves regardless of what is happening around us." With Balance Point, his fifth release for Posi-Tone Records, Hirahara uses the idea of homeostasis as his central concept. He presents his own “transformative journey," inviting listeners come along for the ride. Balance Point ...
Continue ReadingJoe Martin: Etoilee
by Neri Pollastri
Il contrabbassista Joe Martin, artista solito lavorare con musicisti di primo piano (tra i tanti ricordiamo Chris Potter, Gilad Hekselman, Edward Simon, Anat Cohen e perfino Brad Mehldau), ripropone qui il quartetto del suo disco d'esordio, (Passage, Fresh Sound 2002), con mark Turner ai sassofoni e Kevin Hays alle tastiere, sostituendovi solo il batterista, allora Jorge Rossy e adesso il suo antico compagno di strada Nasheet Waits. L'album include tutte composizioni di Martin, in gran parte dedicate alla ...
Continue ReadingJoe Martin: Etoilee
by Peter J. Hoetjes
Bassist Joe Martin's Etoilee is a family affair, as defined by both his muse and his musicians. The album's title is inspired by his youngest daughter's middle name, which is most likely derived from his wife's Parisian roots. Saxophonist Mark Turner and pianist Kevin Hayes performed on Martin's debut album Passage (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2004), while Nasheet Waits has played drums with him since the early 1990s. All of the songs recorded on Etoilee are originals, and Martin clearly ...
Continue ReadingJoanna Wallfisch: Wild Swan
by Bruce Lindsay
After immersing herself in the New York jazz scene, English singer/songwriter Joanna Wallfisch decided to return to the city in December 2011 to record her debut album, Wild Swan. A great decision—Wallfisch's soaring and expressive voice combines with superb playing from Big Apple musicians to create a fascinating and original set of songs. The young vocalist cites Joni Mitchell and Norma Winstone as inspirations. Winstone is the most obvious vocal inspiration of the two, but Mitchell's quirky approach ...
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