Home » Jazz Articles » Joe McPhee
Jazz Articles about Joe McPhee
About Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee and Decoy: Cafe Oto, London, October 29, 2011
by John Sharpe
Although at an age when many might be happier looking to past glories, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee still seeks new answers to the questions posed by music-making on the fly. Given the success of the solutions proffered in the concert which produced the acclaimed Oto (Bo Weavil, 2009), it was only a matter of time before the older man reconvened with British group Decoy to see if there were yet more resolutions to be found. Stopping off in London en route ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee / Michael Zerang: Creole Gardens (A New Orleans Suite)
by John Sharpe
In these recessionary times, the duet offers the optimum solution: the opportunity for dialogue and interaction, but with logistics and expense kept to a minimum. Of course, such strictures are nothing new for the avant-garde, those flowers which bloom between the cracks in the marginal wastelands. Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee's résumé includes more than its fair share of twosomes, with drummers forming a prominent strand. Recent partners include Hamid Drake, Paul Hession, Paal NIlssen-Love and Chris Corsano, but this encounter with ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee: A Band Apart
by Clifford Allen
You might expect a musician who has been a steady figure on the creative improvising scene for nearly 45 years to have some variance in their discography and a diverse range of projects and band concepts. Reedman (and sometime pocket trumpeter) Joe McPhee's vast number of recordings and ensembles speak to that impulse, but the curious thing is that there doesn't seem to be a preferred instrumental context for his playing--not really. McPhee's cultish free-funk sides of ...
Continue ReadingAlbum Review
Joe McPhee - Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: Blue Chicago Blues
by AAJ Italy Staff
Da quando, negli anni Settanta, la Hat Hut gli dedicò un'imponente serie di LP (portandolo, ultratrentenne, alla ribalta internazionale), fino alla riapparizione in questi ultimi anni su varie etichette, Joe McPhee è stato un personaggio per lo più appartato con una voce personale che si è espresso soprattutto come strumentista, convinto e originale. Il suo sax, inteso come naturale strumento-propaggine della voce e del pensiero dell'autore, ha sempre posseduto una pronuncia free esasperata, onestamente scontrosa; la sua musica, lirica e ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee / Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: Blue Chicago Blues
by John Sharpe
Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee has demonstrated a particular affinity for the string bass. Among his discography are multiple duets with Dominic Duval and Michael Bisio, and even a double-disc set with four bassists, Angels, Devils And Haints (CJR, 2008). Now, Blue Chicago Blues can be added to that esteemed catalogue, from a 2007 session recorded in the Windy City with Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, with who the American has collaborated many times as a special guest with The Thing. It's ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee / Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: Blue Chicago Blues
by Troy Collins
Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee has long favored intimate performing situations that highlight the subtle nuances of timbre, volume and dynamics, confirmed by an extensive discography comprising solo, duo and trio recordings. His duet with Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (Atomic, Scorch Trio, The Thing) on Blue Chicago Blues is a prime example of the sort of spare setting McPhee has championed since the mid-1970s. A veteran of numerous tours with The Thing, McPhee has developed an empathetic rapport with Haker Flaten, ...
Continue ReadingJoe McPhee / Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: Blue Chicago Blues
by Mark Corroto
The pairing of saxophonist Joe McPhee and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten seemed inevitable. Both the US-born McPhee and Norwegian Håker Flaten have worked in the same circle of players for years. The Ken Vandermark (Chicago) and Mats Gustafsson (Swedish) connections have made their services valued in varying bands.This meeting, in Chicago 2007, is a fine bookend to McPhee's duo recording Tomorrow Came Today (Smalltown Superjazz, 2009) with Håker Flaten's longtime collaborator in tThe Thing, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Connoisseurs ...
Continue ReadingAlbum Showcase
Trending
Interview
Lou Marini: A Solo Career Starting At The Age Of 80
History of Jazz
John Coltrane in Detroit: A Brief History
Live Review
The Tension Is Where the Music Lives: Miles Davis at 100,...
Chats with Cats
Michael Ricci: Still Building a Home for Jazz
Radio & Podcasts
Sullivan Fortner, Jim Rotondi & Dena DeRose, Ardeshir,...
Reanimating Conversations Past
Charlie Haden: Anatomy of a Jazz Classic
Radio & Podcasts
Miki Yamanaka, Stefon Harris, Paul Yonemura, Amber Weeks...
Premium
VOTE!
