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Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb: Reunion
by C. Michael Bailey
Both Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb were active on Los Angeles jazz scene going on 50 years ago, and the two tenor saxophonists actually performed together at the time. Real life got in the way, guiding each man in his allotted direction. Origin Records' house pianist (and All About Jazz Contributor) Bill Anschell brought the two together for Reunion, composing a good old fashioned cooker to open the disc. “Little Dex" (after Dexter Gordon) is thus titled ...
Continue ReadingHadley Caliman / Pete Christlieb: Reunion
by Dan McClenaghan
Reunion showcases a couple of old saxophone pros diving deep into the jazz mainstream, backed by an energized rhythm section. Tenor men Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb worked together on the Los Angeles Central Avenue jazz scene back in the 1960s, at a club called Marty's, where Caliman was the mentor. Forty-plus years later, they're back together again, on an absolute jewel of a straight-ahead offering.Caliman's recording career went dormant for thirty years--a drug problem, jail time, rehabilitation, ...
Continue ReadingJohn Bishop: Nothing if Not Something
by Dan McClenaghan
John Bishop heads one of the most dynamic new jazz labels, Origin Records, out of Seattle, Washington. In addition to his chores running the company, Bishop also designs some of the coolest cover art out there. Origin has released two hundred-plus CDs, garnering four Grammy nominations along the way.Bishop plays some drums, too, co-leading a fully intregrated piano trio, New Stories, and he sits in the drummer's chair on dozens of Origin recordings. In spite of all the ...
Continue ReadingJohn Bishop/Jeff Johnson/Rick Mandyck/John Stowell: Scenes
by Dave Nathan
With this Origin label release, the fruitful Northwest music scene continues to manifest high caliber jazz music sessions. This time it's the 8 year-old trio of John Bishop, Jeff Johnson and Rick Mandyck enhanced by guitarist John Stowell, for more than an hour of modern and progressive jazz. The play list is certainly an attractive one combining three originals with standard and jazz classics. Stowell. who worked with David Friesen for seven years, plays a clean lined guitar avoiding smears, ...
Continue ReadingJohn Bishop/Jeff Johnson/Rick Mandyck/John Stowell: Scenes
by Joseph Blake
Guitarist John Stowell's liner notes to this recently released CD makes Scenes sound almost serendipitous. He writes that “I suggested that we make a little music and turn on the tapes if we liked the chemistry...We did a couple of gigs in Seattle and went into the studio for a couple of sessions."
Stowell and drummer John Bishop produced the two sessions recorded at Seattle's Ironwood Studios. They showcase the quartet's very democratic approach on a repertoire including Tom Harrell's ...
Continue ReadingNew Stories Trio: Speakin' Out
by Jason West
Does the Seattle jazz community-that nebulous amalgamation of big-eared musicians, students and listeners-realize the good fortune that we possess as friendly, backyard neighbors to John Bishop, Doug Miller and Marc Seales: the New Stories Trio? It's a question that is undoubtedly answered with countless nods in the affirmative from those of us who have heard the trio perform with local sax legend Don Lanphere, Grammy-nominated vocalist Mark Murphy, numerous Port Townsend and Earshot festival groups, and Ernie Watts—L.A. saxophone heavyweight ...
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