Jazz Articles about Joe McPhee

Joe McPhee: New York, NY, 1971 and Pieces of Light

by Clifford Allen
June 27, 2006

What makes Joe McPhee's music so special is something that you may not consciously register at first--it moves differently from the music of his contemporaries. It's slower, polychromatic, concentrated and thick, and its dynamics are deeply subtle.

In the liner notes to his album Oleo (Hat Hut, 1982), McPhee discusses the concept of lateral thinking and its relationship to the Po Music ensemble. One often thinks of music vertically (scales, modes, crescendos and dynamics), but the idea of lateral music ...

Joe McPhee: Remembrance, Next to You, In Finland, Everything Happens for a Reason

by Robert Iannapollo
May 29, 2006

Joe McPhee Remembrance Cadence Jazz 2005 Boni, Lazro, McPhee, Tchamitchian Next to You Emouvance 2006 McPhee, Shipp, Duval In Finland CIMP Records 2005 Joe McPhee Everything Happens for a Reason Roaratorio 2006

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary ...

Joe McPhee / Matthew Shipp / Dominic Duvall: In Finland

by Rex Butters
May 21, 2006

With its beautiful sound, In Finland captures three master improvisers live and spinnin' takes. Longtime fans of Matthew Shipp who miss his prolonged flights into thundering, gothic creations: this is your fix. With two tracks hovering around the thirty-minute mark, the performances allow Shipp room to stretch and flex. Joe McPhee sticks mainly to a rich-toned soprano sax, although he plays some playful pocket trumpet. A veteran of Mark Whitecage's ensembles as well as a frequent collaborator of McPhee's, bassist ...

Joe McPhee – Matt Shipp – Dominic Duval: In Finland

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 27, 2006

Prendete un duo consolidato. Aggiungetevi un terzo elemento e … tutto può succedere. A volte disastri, altre miracoli. Il duo consolidato è quello composto da Dominic Duval e Joe McPhee. Il terzo elemento è Matthew Shipp. Il risultato è meraviglioso. Questo album documenta un concerto tenuto in Finlandia nel 2004. Il primo mai tenuto da questo trio, e speriamo che non sia anche l’ultimo (ma se diamo retta ai titoli dei brani, quello della traccia due - Never Again - ...

Trio X: Joe McPhee, Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen: Moods: Playing with the Elements

by Ty Cumbie
November 8, 2005

I'll bet anyone $50 that the wonderful multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee could play beautifully on an old length of PVC pipe. Any takers? You'd lose. I've seen him do it, and there were at least thirty other witnesses. Neither PVC nor any other sort of plumbing material is listed on this Trio X release, and silver-haired tunes like “Stella by Starlight appear in the track list, but don't worry, this is no standard issue jazz CD. It's what you'd expect--including the ...

Cato Salsa Experience and The Thing with Joe McPhee: Sounds Like A Sandwich

by Eyal Hareuveni
August 18, 2005

Sometimes you can't help bursting out laughing while listening to a record. Sounds like a Sandwich, a twenty-minute EP with a most appropriate title, is one of those releases. It features a Norwegian psychedelic rock band, Cato Salsa Experience, together with a jazz power trio, The Thing, and reed man Joe McPhee--or as they call themselves, two bands and a legend. The idea of Joe McPhee blowing Led Zeppelin's “Whole Lotta Love" may sound outrageous at the beginning, but after ...

Dominic Duval and Joe McPhee: Rules of Engagement Vol.2

by Trevor MacLaren
July 22, 2005

Rules of Engagement Vol. 2 is the first recording by this duo in roughly five years. Though they often play together, it is still a rare treat to get a collaborative disc out of them. Dominic Duval makes a great choice for his second volume in the Rules of Engagement series by choosing a familiar player who can work within his style.

The record lacks the punch of Rules of Engagement Vol. 1, which featured Mark Whitecage; still, McPhee proves ...